Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or any of its characters. I however own, in later chapters, Fahren and all chimeras.


Al is startled from his reading by the door suddenly opening. From the couch in the living room of the apartment he and Ed share in Central, Al can see the door-and jumps when he sees Ed enter.

"Uhm.. Brother?"

Ed walks in, shutting the door with his foot, a grin on his face. "Well Al, whaddya think?" He holds his arms out and up, tilting his head.

"Uh.. why are you wearing that?"

"What? It's standard issue." He looks down at his attire; the standard blue military uniform issued to all military personnel. It fits him perfectly; after all, his alchemical skill is unrivaled, for tailoring too.

"When did you get that?"

"Hmm.. about ten minutes ago," Ed says, pulling off the hat he'd been wearing. The tucked-in hair falls into place gracefully, and Ed, being so careful with things, tosses the hat onto the counter for later.

"But Ed.. why do you have the rank for colonel on your uniform?"

Ed looks down, and spots the wrong coloration that Al noticed. "Oh, damn. I totally forgot about that when I grabbed this."

"..Where did you get that?"

"Oh, from a.. friend. Trust me, he's got a few, he won't miss one."

Al sighs, giving Ed as much of a condescending look as he possibly can from the armor. "Who, Brother?"

Ed sighs, hearing Al's tone of voice. "Mustang. That asshole won't even know it's gone!"

"Wh-you were in his HOUSE?" Al nearly yells.

"Hey hey, calm down!" Ed replies, putting his arms up defensively. "He said I should get a uniform so I got one!" He gains a wicked grin. "Besides, Al, Prank Day is tomorrow.. and I left him a surprise." After giving an excited cackle, Ed continues. "I transmuted all of his clothes to be just a little bit smaller. He's going to think he gained weight recently!"

Al sighs and picks his book back up. "Well at least it isn't something horribly bad, like you did to him last year."

"Oh, yeah," Ed laughs. "I'll never forget that, and I don't think he will either."

"When you transmuted his uniform into a dress while half of Central watching? Ed, I don't think ANYONE will forget that."

The way Al said that statement, combined with Ed's vivid memory, causes him to double over on the floor, laughing hysterically.

In response, Al himself starts laughing. "That was a good one, though!"

Finally finished after several minutes, Ed sighs and remains on the floor, lying on his back with a relaxed expression on his face. "Ahh. Hey, Al, I think I'm gonna head back out."

"Huh?" Al looks out of the window; it's nearly dark out. "But Ed, it's getting late. Shouldn't you stay in and get some rest?"

"Stop babying me, Al. I'm fine, I just want to get some air." Ed uprights himself and grabs the military cap, putting it on more casually time around. His hair remains out.

Al watches Ed play with the uniform; despite how much Ed has expressed his dislike for the outfit in previous times, he seems to be fond of it now, almost petting it as he brushes a bit of dust from it.

Almost asking Ed how long he would be, he stops himself and instead says, "See you soon, Brother."

Ed waves to Al, smiling as he heads out the door and into the night.


Technically, velociraptors are smaller than presented by popular media, such as Jurassic Park. They're also covered in feathers, which I was unaware of until looking them up. Interesting, huh? On to chapter 2!