Mirror Sixteen

The set of rooms that Koko showed them to were quite large individually. One bedroom was connected to a bath, and then that bath was also connected to the adjoining bathroom. "Nice," Edward whistled, as they looked the rooms over.

The one that Koko had shown Edward to could have doubled as a library. There were two individual beds, with a night stand between them. A desk was set against the wall, under a large window, and there were two large and comfortably overstuffed armchairs. There were at least seven bookshelves lining the other walls, and an expansive closet. "Much nicer than the barracks."

"Agreed," Alphonse called from the other room. "Uh … Edward?"

Edward paused. This Alphonse had not yet addressed him directly, and it was odd to hear something other than 'niisan' from that voice. "Yeah?"

Alphonse stuck his head into Edward's room via the bathroom, glancing over the room then eyes falling to the bed. "I think our benefactors have a dress code for dinner."

"Huh?" Edward's gaze fell to the bed as well, then he rolled his eyes. A cream-colored dress shirt and dark navy dress trousers were laid out on the bed. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"We are staying under their roof," Alphonse reminded him, his voice rising in volume as he returned to the adjoining room. "We should at least accommodate them."

"I don't do white," Edward growled, stalking over to the closet. When he threw it open, he was rewarded by a wide array of clothes.

Alphonse walked back into the room, this time tugging off his undershirt. "Don't like showing off the automail either, huh?" He shook his head. "Do you have dress shirts in there?"

Edward took a half step back out of the closet. "Don't you have your own closet?"

Alphonse shrugged, flopping down on the empty bed. "It's all girls clothes," he said, amused.

Edward found a black dress shirt and made a noise of satisfaction. He'd at least wear a nicer shirt to dinner, but he was wearing his usual pants.

His usual, grimy, haven't-been-washed-in-at-least-a-week pants.

With a dejected sigh, he headed for the dresser squashed between two bookcases. Alphonse lay back on the bed, the bedsprings squeaking noisily. "This is so weird."

"Staying with the Armstrongs qualifies as temporary insanity, I think," Edward said, pulling open the second drawer. "I thought you said you needed a shirt."

"That's not what I meant," Alphonse said with a frown, propping himself up on his elbows. Edward found a pair of pants and had thrown them over the back of one of the armchairs.

"I know that's not what you mean," Edward said, already pulling on the clean trousers. "It's weird for all of us, but I think we're coping well enough."

"Speak for yourself," Alphonse muttered, dropping his head back to the bed.

Edward paused, then finished fastening the front of his pants. He turned on Alphonse, arms crossed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"My 'niisan is a bit more open about things than your Alphonse, I imagine," Alphonse said, folding his arms behind his head. "He feels that I talk more to you than I do to him. That somehow, having you here overwrites his existence, because there your are in the flesh."

"That's ridiculous," Edward said, dropping his hands to his sides. "If anything, I want to know as much about your world and if the alchemy theories there match ours… I'm not trying to replace my brother with you."

"Likewise," Alphonse said. "I don't know if they know it, though."

"My Alphonse does, I'm sure," Edward said, but doubt crept into his voice. DID Alphonse realize that? Or did he think that Edward favored this "other" brother? With Al, he probably wouldn't say anything, either way.

Alphonse nodded. "Thought so. Anyway, onto other, less dark matters. Were there any other black shirts in there?" he gestured at the closet.

Edward shrugged into the black dress shirt he had appropriated. "Check for yourself," he snorted. "I think I got the last one, though."

Alphonse growled, sitting straight up. "There better at least be some dark blue or something," he muttered. "You can see automail through the light-colored shirts."

Edward smiled despite the cold feeling in his gut. That was exactly the reason why he refused to wear light-colored dress shirts. Alphonse found a dark gray shirt and turned around to walk past Edward. Edward frowned, then grabbed Alphonse's arm as he went by.

Alphonse paused, glancing at Edward curiously. Edward glanced down … they both were barefoot, for the moment, then glanced at Alphonse.

They were exactly the same height.

Alphonse noticed this at the same time, then gave a brief shake of his head. Then he patted the arm Edward grabbed him with and smirked. "I'm two years younger than you are."