Theme: #2: Library
Rating: G
Genre: Romance/kinda fluffy/slight angst
Timeline: Mid-game Bluebird's Illusion; onesided AlxSheska, RoyxEd hints, if you squint a little, and EdxWinry.
Words: 529
"Hi, Al!"
"Good morning. I've brought back some of my books today."
"Oh, okay. Put them back in the usual spot, ok?"
"Okay. Thank you."
Little did Sheska know that the books Alphonse Elric brought in were hardly touched from the time they got home to when they were brought back today, not much of a hint of use on the cover and pages. It was the only contact that he had with her, if you could call it that, and to Al, any contact was better than nothing.
He wondered when he started doing this. When he started going to the library everyday just to catch a glimpse of her face, and to hear that bright voice that seemed to make his heart set on fire. He had only been human a short time, and to get the emotions that come with a fully-grown body that didn't experience puberty was part of the deal, but…
Why her? Couldn't it have been someone like Winry, who had a habit of visiting him in Central while his brother was at work ("Becoming the best tea-server in the Amestris Military," Ed had grumbled one day, "Damn it, Mustang just loves to make me suffer, doesn't he?!"), as well as on special occasions (she gave him a stuffed cat for his birthday—since Al had a bedroom now to put it in, he was overjoyed). She doted on him, cared about him, and treated him better than any other woman had treated him in his entire life, save his mother. She was a person he also might have had a CHANCE with.
But Sheska? That was almost as much of a shock to him as it was to his brother, and Ed had let out a rant that nearly woke up the entire neighborhood when he heard. She wasn't anything like his vision of the perfect woman, after all—Sheska was nitpicky, poor at keeping house, distracted, and spent more times with her nose in books than his brother did. What about her made his heart beat so fast? What about that smile of hers made him just want to melt into a puddle? What about her made him want to…
A blush formed on his cheeks, and Alphonse shook his head, forcing the thoughts out. His eyes went down to the book that sat on the table in front of him, and he sighed.
Here he was, eyes dreamy, heart racing, palms not just a little sweaty as he thought about the bustling librarian, and she was about as oblivious to him as Ed was to the fact that Mustang gave him 'looks' whenever his back was turned (Personally, Al hoped that Ed would give up the act and marry Winry already).
But he wouldn't say anything to her. He wouldn't say a word—he'd just watch and wait, and maybe hope that one day she'd look his way.
After all, he didn't think Sheska would believe him if he said that he only really read 16 of those 28 books he checked out, and that the only reason he went to the library every morning was to just see her face…
No, Alphonse decided, I'd best keep it to myself for now.