DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, I only own my own OCs and this particular fic.
Three
Edward pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope. "'National Central Library, first branch,'" he read.
"I see," the Major noted. "It's like that saying, 'if you want to hide a tree, place it in a forest.' Their book collection is beyond compare, there must be millions of volumes."
"I hope we can find it," Delilah breathed.
"Oh, we'll find it," Ed said, tightening his grip on the paper. "Won't we, Al?"
"Of course, Brother! But first, we have to go get you a new arm from Winry," he teased.
Ed blushed, but it was quickly replaced by the look of a doomed man. "….When we get to Resembool, she's going to kill me…."
()()()()()
After they put Alphonse in the luggage car ("You will not put my brother in the livestock car again! What if the sheep try to piss on him or something?"), the Major led them to the neighboring passenger car. The seats were spotted with people here and there, but it wasn't crowded. The last few booths were free, so they sat at the far end. The Major took up a whole seat to himself and Ed took the window side across from him. Delilah took the down time before the train departed to put her briefcase up on the luggage rack beside the men's bags and sat in the free space beside Edward.
She studied the small area they were in before slowly turning to inspect the rest of the car. The seats were wooden and straight, with only a small cushion on each, so they weren't very comfortable. The other people on the train appeared uninteresting, mostly men but also a couple of women and children. Since it was pretty late, it was mostly quiet.
"What're you staring at?" Ed asked.
"The car. It is interesting."
Ed frowned. "What? You ever been on a train before?"
"No, but I have read about how they work. The burning coal boils the water, creating steam pressure—"
Edward ignored her latter words and interrupted her. "Never been on a train before? Really?"
"Not everyone travels as much as you and your brother do," the Major pointed out. Ed had to nod at this.
Delilah wasn't annoyed at being spoken over; there wasn't any point in being so. "The doctor said that he did not like to travel." She frowned, finally understanding why. Of course Marcoh didn't want to travel; he could've been caught a lot earlier than he was.
"Well, you'll probably find Central very interesting," the Major commented. "There's lots of places to go and people to see. Central Headquarters is stunning, and the National Central Library is huge."
Delilah's interest was piqued. "Books… But I will not have much time there if all we are doing is researching the Stone…."
Ed shrugged. "That's just how it works out. But we'll have plenty of time to do nothing in Resembool while my mechanic makes me another arm…." A sudden look of nervousness appeared on his face, and he became silent and stared out the window, his muscles tensed. "…She'll kill me," he muttered.
A few minutes later, the train began to move, pulling out of the station and picking up speed. By now, it was pitch black outside, and Ed said they wouldn't get to Resembool until morning.
The Fullmetal Alchemist stretched and got as comfortable as he could, though he was careful not to bump into Delilah. "Well, no point in stayin' up if there's nothing to do. `Night."
"Sleep well," Delilah wished, and the Major echoed her before making himself comfortable as well.
"Will you sleep as well?" he asked. "We may very well have a long day tomorrow."
"I will later," she replied tonelessly. "Thank you for your concern," she added, almost too late.
Major Armstrong nodded, and before long, he and Ed were asleep.
Delilah listened to them for a few minutes, noting how, though they both snored, Ed's breathing was quieter. That fact was most likely due to age, she thought.
"…knitting has also been passed down the Armstrong line for generations…," the Major muttered, his hands twitching.
Knitting might be a hobby I could take up, Delilah thought. At the very least, learning how to knit could be both useful and entertaining, at least for a while. Oh, but there was also the fact that she could use alchemy—at least to a certain extent. Perhaps putting more thought into basic alchemy could help her shape things. Hm…
Ed's leg jerked, hitting her knee lightly. "Stop hittin' me, Wi'ry…tha' wrench'll kill me…"
Delilah blinked, inching away from him to give him more room. However, as if he sensed there was more space, he shifted, taking up even more of the seat. Realizing that Ed would probably take up all the space despite his size, the girl stood, and sure enough, Edward stretched to take up all of the room.
She stood still for several minutes, feeling the vibrations of the train. She wondered how far away they were from Resembool, and how fast the train was moving. If she knew those things, she could calculate how long it would take until they got there.
"Al," Edward muttered, "save me, Wi'ry's killin' me…"
I assume that must be his mechanic…or perhaps his girlfriend? …I wonder how Alphonse is doing. Can he even sleep, since he is a suit of armor?
The thought of sleep reminded Delilah that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to stay awake all night long. She opened her briefcase, not bothering to take it down from the rack, and pulled out her medicine. After quickly consuming her dosage, she put her medicine away (she also tucked the loose clothes into the briefcase) before closing the bag.
The thought of sleeping on the stiff seat wasn't very appealing to her, but she was quickly becoming tired, so she lay on the empty seat across the aisle. Curling her legs up and using her arms as a pillow, she closed her eyes and willed her thoughts to slow. It was always a difficult process, but with the help of her medicine, she was soon asleep. She dreamed of nothing.
()()()()()
"Miss Heywood? Miss Heywood! We're here."
Delilah awoke slowly, noting how the sunlight slanted into the car. She guessed it wasn't too long after sunrise.
She sat up and rubbed away the sleep from her eyes. "Thank you for waking me, Major."
"Not a problem," said the Major. He held out her briefcase. "We should get going."
Delilah nodded and stood, grabbing her bag. She followed the Major out the door, and he told her to wait while he went to go find Edward and Alphonse, who were supposed to be in the luggage car. While she was alone, she inspected the station. It was quite small, and though there was a small congregation of nearby buildings that served as the bulk of the town, the greater part of Resembool was plains. The sight made her wonder how long she would have to walk until she found something at least resembling civilizations.
…I wonder how far away the doctor is. Her face fell, and she realized that she was with strangers. Friendly people, good military men, but aside from hearing how Ed and Al tried to preform human transmutation, she knew little about them. Had she made the right decision? She wasn't one to question her choices, but she had never had to before. But then again, she wouldn't be staying with them for too long…
…not to mention the fact that she had no idea how to act around Marcoh now.
And in any case, she was where she was, and there was no changing that.
Before long, Edward and the Major appeared beside her; the Strongarm Alchemist was once again carrying Alphonse's crate.
"…shouldn't take too long to get to the Rockbell's," Ed was telling the Major. "It's just a fifteen-minute walk from here, up that hill."
"Should we stop so you guys can eat first?" Alphonse asked. "Oh, good morning, Delilah. Did you sleep well?"
"Good morning, Alphonse. I did."
"Nah, Granny Pinako'll cook up something for us," Ed said in response to Al's first question. "Maybe they'll have leftover stew!"
They set off, exiting the station and heading through the town. Ed and Al called out greetings to some of the people they saw, but neither could give a wave, since Al was broken and Ed was using his remaining arm to carry his suitcase. While they walked, Delilah took the time to look all around at the buildings, and after they emerged out onto a wide dirt road, she tried to estimate how long the rock wall at its side was.
"Are we going to your mechanic's house?" she asked.
"Yep! Winry's the best automail mechanic I've ever known," Ed stated.
"Winry," Delilah repeated. "You were muttering about her in your sleep."
Edward's whole body twitched violently, and he spun his head around, his face red. "W-what?"
Alphonse suddenly laughed, his voice echoing. "Brother, wait till I tell—"
"YOU'D BETTER SHUT YOUR FACE BEFORE I DECIDE TO THROW YOU IN A LANDFILL!"
"—Winry, she'll probably laugh, especially when you see I told her!" Alphonse continued to chuckle, unfazed by his brother's threat.
"Actually," Delilah said, "it sounded like Winry was trying to kill you, Edward."
Alphonse laughed even more. "Yep, that sounds like Winry!"
Ed pouted. "Why Granny Pinako lets her have a wrench, I'll never know. She could definitely kill me!"
"She sounds like a wonderful girl," the Major commented.
Edward shuddered. "I don't want to know what your definition of 'wonderful' is. Anyway, there's the house up there!" He nodded up toward a cozy two-story house. Delilah was able to make out the sight of a short, old woman standing in the yard. "Hey, Granny Pinako!" Edward yelled. "I'm gonna need your help again!"
The woman—Pinako?—waved, but Delilah was distracted when a four-legged creature (or, rather, a three-legged-and-one-automail-legged-creature) trotted up to them and sniffed at Edward before barking in a friendly way.
"Hey there, Den," Ed chuckled.
"…Doggy," Delilah whispered, drifting up to Den and holding out a hand for him to sniff. The dog licked her hand, and that was all the incentive that Delilah needed to drop to her knees in the middle of the road and start scratching the dog behind the ears. After a moment, Den was distracted by the others and went to go sniff at Alphonse (at this point, the Major had set him down on the ground), leaving Delilah a little lost as to what to do now that such an adorable dog was gone.
"This is Major Armstrong." Edward was introducing the State Alchemist to the short, old woman whom he had called Pinako. "And that's Delilah Heywood. They're traveling with us to Central."
"Pinako Rockbell, pleased to meet you," the woman said kindly, shaking the Major's hand.
"You as well," Delilah said absently, getting up off her knees and trotting over to Alphonse's crate so she could pet Den once more. Den seemed pleased by the attention and wagged his tail.
"I see you like dogs," Alphonse noted lightly while Edward and Pinako started to yell at each other ("WHO'RE YOU CALLING 'SMALL,' YOU HALF-PINT HAG?").
"They are cute and they distract me," Delilah replied without much thought, for her attention was reserved for the canine. She didn't notice that Al was looking at her (she wouldn't have been able to discern his expression anyways). He started to say something, but was interrupted.
"Hey! ED!"
Clonk!
Edward yelled in pain and fell to the ground, a large bump forming on his forehead from where a wrench had hit him.
Delilah looked to see a pretty blonde girl come out onto the deck of the second story. "How many times do I have to tell you to call before you come in for maintenance?"
Ed rushed to sit up, holding his head in pain. "Winry, YOU JERK! You could've killed me!"
Winry suddenly laughed good-naturedly. "Welcome back!"
Edward frowned and muttered under his breath.
a/n: I haven't updated this quickly in forever, you guys. Maybe it's because you all are awesome at reviewing! Seriously, I have five reviews already. I haven't gotten reviews so quickly since my last OC-insert, for Shaman King. I'd forgotten what it feels like to get a lot of them. *feels like floating on a cloud*
I wouldn't necessarily call this chapter a filler, since there's some character going on, but eh, it's not a whole lot of plot, I guess. Dunno. XD Tried to make it as funny as I could! Hope you liked it. And usually I'm the type to write in italics when someone's yelling, but Ed's a loudmouth, so I though, eh, why not.
Don't forget to leave a review on your way out, whether you wanna tell me you liked it or didn't like it (though flames will be doused with rain and deemed useless). Doesn't take very long~!
See you next time~