When I aligned the last chapter to the center, it messed with it more than I thought it would. A few things were out of place, and I'm lazy, so I won't fix them at this particular moment. I'm still learning the document manager for the site, so it might take me a while to figure all of this stuff out. Otaku's trying, I promise. Leave me alone or I'll cry! .... Anyways. Fullmetal Alchemist still belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, and I'm not gonna say it again.
Here's to hoping you enjoy the second chapter. I promise to think of names eventually. 3
Edward felt exhausted. How long had he been at work today? He recalled some kind of lunch, and brief flashes of conversation with the two aides – Maria Ross and Denny Bloch. Edward had used some of his State Alchemist's funding to pay for document forgers , typists and human photocopiers. It was easier that way; it would allow him to circle and highlight parts of the cookbook without damaging the original. He yawned heavily once more, and leaned back. Breasts? Breasts… Breasts! Edward's face turned pink, and he sat back up, quickly doling out an apology as he turned to see who it was.
"Sorry, Lieutenant Ross."
The lieutenant only smiled and placed ands on his shoulders.
"It's all right, sir. It's my fault for standing so closely behind you."
Edward still felt embarrassed, though. He attempted to diffuse the situation.
"What's up, Ross?"
Her answer was more kind that she would have expected. "Alphonse went to go find something for the great Fullmetal Alchemist to eat, lest he faint form malnutrition. And…" Ross paused in her sentence. And? And what? His question was quickly answered, however. Edward could feel the thumbs of the woman pushing into his muscles. A massage. Great. His right shoulder always had a lot of tension because of his heavy prosthetic arm. Accursed steel was heavy. Edward's back was sore, from being hunched over at the desk. He allowed Lt. Ross's finger to press along his back, and she massaged the spots Alphonse had (unknown to Ed) told her about. "Hey, Lieutenant. Do you know anything about cooking?"
The woman pulled away a bit to look at Edward's scribbled, terrible chicken scratch of handwriting. It looked more like Ed had a severe case of ADHD and freaked out on a sugar rush.
"Major Elric, your handwriting is an abortion on paper. But no, there's no way I could help you. Both Sergeant Bloch and I always eat in the mess hall if we're hungry." At that moment, Bloch happened to come in, talking with Al. He had enough food for three people. The three that could digest food. It made Edward a little down to eat – Al couldn't enjoy those tastes and great food that so many other people loved. But he knew that speaking out about that would depress everyone in the room, so instead he asked what was for dinner. Bloch came forth and offered Ed his plate. Ed spied some meat and mixed vegetables. Blah. Couldn't they bring him some sugar or something? He took his plate through, and thanked them before he started eating. He quietly poked the vegetables around a little bit. He wasn't hungry now. The alchemist didn't put up a fight, though. He was too tired for that. He ate his food, and asked the two who were beneath him in rank about the whereabouts of Scar.
The lieutenant replied to him while Bloch was busy having the munchies. "He's still roaming the streets of Central, sir. Colonel Mustang is under the impression that Scar may be utilizing the sewer system."
Ed looked up from his dinner and spoke.
"Well, that is the best way to get from point A to point B without being seen."
They could all agree upon that.
As much as Edward posed and acted fearless, Scar did make him nervous. This scarred man had killed many military men. He'd even managed to kill Brigadier General Basque Gran. It was quite an accomplishment. Sure, Gran was a prick, but how had Scar so easily killed him? It was almost frightening. Hughes had said something earlier about that: How Brigadier General Gran's head had been turned into 'hamburger meat'. It must have been a scary way to die. Edward couldn't understand why this man was targeting State Alchemists this way. It wasn't unusual to find ambivalence towards the military to target military, but this guy's M.O. was just crazy. He apparently blew them apart from the inside. With alchemy, this unknown scarred man was able to break apart the bonds of the human body. Ed felt a small quiver run down his body. Alphonse looked at Edward, then to the young lieutenant. Her maternal instincts kicked in, and she walked towards the major. A warm hand fell upon Ed's head.
"Are you feeling all right, sir?"
The elder Elric brother looked up.
"Huh? What is it, Lieutenant?" She was quiet, trying to see if he had a fever or something. Though, he was probably just tired. She didn't feel any unusual warmth. Hm. Ross pulled away and suggested that maybe Ed should take a nap, or maybe a short walk outside. Naturally, a walk outside would have meant that Edward couldn't really walk - Ross and Bloch had been assigned to baby-sit him. Sleep sounded nice, but Edward's time was precious to him. He was tired of seeing Alphonse in that armor. He knew his younger brother wanted to feel human again - to get tired, to get hungry, or even those less desirable feelings, like pain when he got hurt. How could he sidestep this offer, though? His mind pondered over how to escape for a while without getting in trouble. As he finished his dinner, he felt a heaviness in his body. He needed to use the restroom. It was then that his mind devised a temporary escape. The restrooms by the mess hall had windows that were small, but big enough that he might fit through. Ed got up and stretched. "I'll be back in a few minutes, you guys."Ross had collected his plate and asked where Ed was going. He muttered that he was going to go take a piss and then walked towards the mess hall restrooms. Both the lieutenant and Al felt restless, but sergeant Bloch's presence made them feel less on edge.
