Live for yourself this time around, Little Alchemist
Chapter 009
Author: Black Dragon on the Rocks/Animealam/Alandrem
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Nope, the characters here don't belong to me. I'm not making any money out of this, and it's for my own enjoyment and that of those who read it.
Summary: Truth did not accept Ed's alchemy as payment for his brother, instead It asked for Ed's body and two favors. Ed would be able to do what no male alchemist could, bring forth life. The favors? Save a world were his counterpart died during the Human Transmutation, and live for herself this time around. Ed agreed, he'd do anything for Alphonse, even becoming a girl. Not Mpreg, no slash.
Characters: Edward Elric, Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Truth, Jean Havoc, Heyman Breda, Kain Fuery, Vato Falman, Granny Pinako, Winry, King Bradley, Various Homunculi, Alphonse Elric, Van Hohenheim, OCs, Mentions of the Avengers, Maybe some Avengers, Tony Stark almost a given.
Warnings: Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Dimension Travel, Alternate UniverseDe-Aging, Fem!Ed, Violence, Angst, Drama, Gore, Magic, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Alternate Universe, OOCness, Canon typical violence, Mentions of sexual harassment, Roy/Ed very far in the future, World Building, Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, Explicit Language, Ed swears... a lot, Modern Era, Modern Amestris, Protective Team, Parental Roy... for now. Will add tags as I go.
Pairing: Future Fem!Ed/Roy... maybe.
Timeline: Mixed timelines. Starts with Brotherhood - Post Promised Day, then it's mostly Anime 2003 until after Youswell, Some Brotherhood, Starts - Post Ed's 1st human transmutation, Avengers Movie.
Author Notes: Real life has kept me rather busy guys, so while I had this chapter done last year, I didn't have the time to proof-read it. It didn't help that I wasn't quite happy with it, but I've decided this is the best it's probably going to get, so I'm posting it now.
Updates will be rather slow, as the muses have focused on some of my other works which I haven't yet posted. 1 is a Fullmetal Alchemist/Harry Potter crossover inspired by xmenfan33's Fullmetal Dadchemist that's already over 50k, and I've yet to reach the start of Brotherhood! Then there are 3 Fullmetal Alchemist plot bunnies over 30k (all Time and Dimension Travel), and so far 3 over 20k Fullmetal Alchemist/The Mandalorian crossover. So... yeah, there have been a few sleepless nights.
Anyway, I hope you like the chapter, and I already have up to chapter 12, but they all still need some work before I post them.
Sorry about the formatting guys, I don't know why did not respect my html formatting. It used to work quite all right with the other chapters. I caught this on time, so enjoy. :)
Keys:
"Dialog" Normal dialog.
'Thoughts' Thoughts
"Dialog" Conversations on the phone, radio, video.
Words with Notes: 6,222 (W/O Notes: 5,744) (Notes: 478)
The unavoidable uniforms
Falman returned with the Alchemy Apprenticeship Contract copies all bearing the appropriate seals around three thirty. The original was for Ed to keep, while Mustang kept a copy for himself, and the one he would send to East Command's Human Resources Department later. He placed them in a rather handsome looking black leather briefcase. It was big enough to carry not only documents, but a laptop, which she saw was there, although he had not taken it out the whole time she had been in the office.
Mustang packed his things, and asked Havoc to go to the infirmary and borrow a wheelchair for her. Ed bristled at that, she could walk on her own and told them that in no uncertain terms. She had spent quite a lot of time on those things the past year—and in her original Dimension—for her to want to use them again.
The bastard reminded her she needed to be off her feet, at least for the rest of the day, although he preferred it to be at least one more just to be on the safe side. She still refused the wheelchair on principle, but agreed after Havoc offered to carry her instead. That was... humiliating, and much worse than the darn wheelchair, so she gave in with a huff.
The Lieutenant Colonel asked Breda to pick Ed's back pack once Havoc returned with the wheelchair, and give it to the second Lieutenant for him to carry it for her. Then he, Havoc, Ed, and Hawkeye made their way out of the office, the rest were to stay until five, which was the end of office hours and either go to the barracks, or do with their free time what they will.
Mustang did remind everyone to keep their phones charged and on their person in case something came up. He did not have to mention that meant the police found another body, which would be the first one the team had to deal with as they had only been in Central a short time.
The small procession, lead by the Lieutenant Colonel, made their way to the general supply depot which puzzled the soldiers, and the girl with him, as he had not told them where they were going. Ed only knew where it was because she and Alphonse had gotten lost the first time they were in Central Command, they had never been inside it though. They never had a reason to.
Once inside, Roy located the quartermaster's office, and his intentions became clear to his entourage. He presented the signed and approved contract, and requested a full set of uniforms for his apprentice, plus the regulation kit every soldier received during basic training, as well as the field kit every soldier owned. His team was due their annual field and arms training soon enough, and Edward—as his apprentice—would have to participate, so it was better to have her fully kitted, and perhaps spend a Saturday or Sunday at the Academy grounds to show her the ropes.
As to the cost of her gear, since Ed was not true military personnel, it would come out of his own pocket for the time being. At least until they officially signed the Military Officer Apprenticeship—when she would get the initial rank of Second Lieutenant—and later, once she passed the exam and became a State Alchemist, she would be promoted to Major. They would have to return on both occasions to pick up her rank decorations, as he would need the official documents confirming her rank for both. As to her State Alchemist watch, that one would be delivered along with her acceptance and commission into the program.
He was most likely going to get at least a partial reimbursement, if not a whole refund, once the second apprenticeship was registered, so Roy was not worried about the cost. Besides, since it was alchemy related, it could easily come out of his research grant if he felt like his savings were suffering too much, which would receive a hefty increase to cover his new expenses—and he would get it on his next pay check—now that the contract was filed with Human Resources. This was because Roy would now have to pay for whatever his apprentice's educational costs were.
The costs included books, electronics, and alchemy supplies, as well as recognized the natural fact kids grew, so they were bound to require new uniforms more often than adult members of the military. Frankly, he found out those with apprentices—alchemy, or Officers—did not have to really pay for whatever gear their charges required, thanks to the increases in their grants, or allowances, and that included the normal salary of a Second Lieutenant in the case of the Officer's apprenticeship, as well as guns. Those they would get at the armoury later.
He was not happy to give both a hand gun and a rifle to a twelve year old, but it was part of the regulations. Amestris was a military regime, and they were in a constant state of war, even if those in the cities rarely saw any indication of it. It was for this reason all officers were not only allowed to carry their regulations handguns, or their sidearms on their person all the time, there were also mini armouries in most offices. The longer ranged guns along with the handguns and side arms were stored in special gun safes during working hours, and one officer in each unit was in charge of them. In their case, it was Hawkeye.
Personal weapons could be carried as additional protection, but they had to be registered with the armory master in case of improper use of them. Hawkeye carried her own arsenal, most of them were her personal choices. Frankly, Roy had no idea how many she was carrying at a given time, or how she managed to hide them all. The rest of his men also carried secondary personal weapons; and he, himself, had resorted to carrying his regulation sidearm, and a small caliber handgun hidden under his left calf after Ed's warning. The small gun had saved him already.
As an Officer's Apprentice Edward would need not only to learn how to use both weapons, but she also had to at least carry the handgun with her. Roy decided they would visit the armoury after they returned from their appointment with the Judge, and their stop at the police precinct for Edward to give her statement about what happened the previous evening with the pervert she captured. Roy told Ed they would be visiting the firearms range for the first lessons in a couple of days, once her ankle was better. The girl told him she did know how to use both kinds of weapons, as her own dart guns were based on them, Roy was slightly skeptical, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Roy had not expected the military to have uniforms in Ed's size, specially because she was smaller than most of her age group; and that got them a rant about her not being small which was actually quite amusing... once they got over the shock. To his surprise, once the very pretty brunette Corporal in charge of female officers clothing took the girl's measurements, she was able to provide Edward with all the necessary uniforms. They learned there actually were a few Officer Apprentices in recent years, and one had been another girl around Edward's size. She had been ten, but the girl outgrew her uniforms quite fast and they had several sets left over. The sets included winter gear, and up to footwear, she even had a handbag that fit with the uniform regulations.
The girl had looked at the handbag like it was some type of horrifying bug, or something. Roy suspected a real bug would not have even merited a raised eyebrow from Edward, the girl had grown in the country after all, and he could confirm there were rather large bugs in Resembool after being there for only a couple of days. The girl even argued that she would not need it. Ed's protests subsided after both Hawkeye and Corporal Matthews pulled her aside and whispered a few things to her. Edward had looked mulish at first, but then the two women said something else, and the girl blushed a shade of red that practically matched her coat. Roy did wonder what that was about.
The quartermaster took care of providing the rest of what Edward needed, and informed Roy his request for temporary family quarters was already being processed. They had a three bedroom apartment in the relatively new military housing complex located a forty minutes drive from Central Command; unfortunately they had nothing closer available. The apartment was brand new, in pristine condition, and would be fully furnished by the time they moved in on the weekend.
Roy would have to buy his kitchen and bathroom ware, as well as sheets and blankets for the beds. It had one master bedroom—which was only barely larger than the other rooms—with a small ensuite bathroom. There were also two bedrooms with a shared bathroom, and the now two females in his team told him they had no problem with sharing it. Ed did blush a bit, but Roy was beginning to suspect she was in the blushing years, she was soon to be a teenager after all.
It had an open plan for kitchen, dinning, and living room, plus a small office as well as ½ a bathroom. The apartment complex had its own gym, a pool, and ample gardens, plus a parking lot; they had two spaces per apartment. There were convenience stores within walking distance, public transportation passed practically in front of the gates, and a well cared for park practically across the street from the complex. The quartermaster told them many of the inhabitants liked to run and exercise there when the weather allowed.
Roy was probably going to make good use of both, the facilities and the park. As an officer, he did exercise to keep himself in shape, but after Ed's warning, he had taken his training more seriously. Roy had to admit it had saved his life more than once. Both the girl and Riza also looked like the appreciated the gym was in the same complex, and the park only across the street. Their apartment was on the tenth floor, and it had a decent view of the park.
The quartermaster even had some photos, and once the paperwork was processed, they should be able to move in, in three days as they would be changing the beds in the two adjoining rooms. Two double beds instead of a bunk bed in one room, and a single in the other. Roy had to admit the apartment was actually quite nice, he would not have minded living in one if they had had similar accommodations when he was first deployed to East Command.
There had not been many options at the time of his deployment almost two years ago, so Roy opted to live in a civilian neighborhood, and knew he was not the only one who did. His house had a single floor, 4 bedrooms, and an office, with both a garden in the back and a front lawn, as well as a large basement. With Ed becoming his dependent, and going to live with him the extra rooms would come in handy, she could choose a bedroom, and they could turn another as an office.
As an alchemist, he knew she would need her own space to work in. It would help that his house was in the suburbs, in a tranquil neighborhood, and he would have to make sure she got enough fresh air, and maybe socialized with the other kids her age living in the area... maybe. Unfortunately Ed was not a normal kid. He missed home, hopefully they would capture the killer soon, and they would be able to return.
A heavily burdened group made their way to where the military vehicles were parked after they got everything Ed was going to need. Due to his rank—Lieutenant Colonel—Roy had the use of a car plus a driver if he desired. He had barely made use of the vehicle, only when it was raining, and he had refused the driver's services as well because either Hawkeye, or Havoc could drive him should he need to move about in a car. This was because they rarely let him go anywhere without an escort, not since the last attempt on his life a few months ago.
Roy could admit to being a speed demon, and at times a bit of an adrenaline junkie despite the image he projected, that of a rather indolent, womanizing, lazy bastard. He loved his motorcycle and had brought it to Central when it became clear their stay would be a long one. It had been that which he rode to work almost every day—unless it was raining—while his Lieutenants took the car, and followed him.
They too brought their bikes—they had ended buying their own when they realized it was the only way to keep up with him—but his two subordinates had reasoned it was better to use the car, than lose it because they did not. He was going to need to buy a helmet for Ed, if she did not mind riding with him on the bike. From what he knew of her so far, he was sure the kid was going to be as much of a speed demon as he was.
They managed to put most of Ed's new possessions in the car's trunk, including the borrowed wheelchair, and what remained went in the back seat. Then Ed got in the back, with her things crowding her; she looked a bit overwhelmed at the sheer amount of things she received. Riza was riding shotgun with Havoc driving. Roy went to his bike, got his helmet on—not surprising it was black, with flames decorating it, the same as the state of the art bike, they were quite tasteful, and rather subtle.
The hotel was normally—meaning when there was no traffic—a fifteen minute drive from Central Command Headquarters. Unfortunately, these days no traffic was rarer in down town Central City than finding vibranium in nature outside of Wakanda. Being the country's Capital, it was a bustle of activity, and there were people out at all hours of the day and night.
Frankly, in this future Dimension, Central City was considered a megalopolis, it was huge, and there were nearly ten million people living in the city and surrounding suburbs; not counting the military bases, and closed neighborhoods. The amount of human beings living in one place was astounding to Ed, and she did wonder why Father needed to kill all of Amestris, there were almost ten times more people in Central than in all of Xerxes when he became a living Philosopher's Stone.
The homunculus was clearly a greedy son of a bitch. But this also scared her, they had barely been able to defeat him when it had been only half the amount of people involved in the nation wide transmutation array. Now there were over one hundred million souls in Amestris. How were they going to stop him now? They really needed more help than they had before.
It took them nearly three and a half hours to finally reach their hotel, and Havoc had cursed almost as bad as Ed would have for the first forty-five minutes of their trip there. There had been no less than three minor car accidents which blocked the street. Then there was also one poor woman who was hit by one of the city's buses, and this was what delayed them the most. At the time, with Mustang, Hawkeye, and Havoc being military, the three of them were the only authority figures around.
They had witnessed the accident, and Mustang, who was only a couple of cars ahead—the street was so packed with cars not even bikes had enough space to circulate—had had a first row seat to the bus ignoring a red light and running over the unfortunate young woman. The Lieutenant Colonel stopped to provide aid until the police, and an ambulance, could arrive to take charge. Of Mustang's team Havoc was indeed the one with medical training, as Ed remembered, and he was down by the woman's side as soon as he managed to park their car.
The bastard—and Ed had to find a new nickname to call him since he had yet to behave like one with her—had proved he was in much better shape than the one in Ed's original Reality, when he ran after the bus driver when the man tried to escape. The driver had been the imprudent one who did not stop at the red light after all. For her part, Hawkeye got out of the car as well, and surprised Ed by taking charge of organizing the traffic after calling the emergency services.
Ed was not sure what to do at first, but decided to get out of the car as well, and see if there was something she could do to help. She knew alkahestry, it was something she learned when she passed through the Gate this last time. Ed had experimented a bit on herself—much to Granny's dismay—to help with her own healing, and it worked well. She also took care of the usual cuts and scrapes Winry got when working on automail. She was not sure if she could be any help, but Ed was going to try, so she got off the car, and limped to Havoc.
When she reached the site of the accident, Ed could see the poor woman had been thrown into the air and sent flying a few meters from where she was originally hit. Ed had a few moments to take in the scene before her, and found Havoc was having trouble providing aid to the woman. He did not have a decent first aid kit, and the one in the bus—a helpful passenger found it for him—was severely lacking.
Ed made a mental note to give him a small bag Enchanted with a Undetectable Expansion Charm like her backpack for him to carry basic medical equipment. In fact, the whole team might benefit from something like that to carry basic supplies. She just had to wait a bit, until the team fully included her, and she could justify trusting them enough to reveal she could do magic.
Havoc was trying to make the woman—who was surprisingly still conscious, but in a hell of a lot of pain—comfortable, while trying to stem the bleeding from a head wound. The Second Lieutenant looked at her surprised when Ed approached him, and actually asked her to go back to the car. Before, she would have been offended, but perhaps because she was mentally older, Ed could see he was trying to protect her from seeing something that might be too gruesome for a normal kid.
"It's ok, Lieutenant, I've seen worse," Ed said sounding respectful—something which was rather out of character for her, but they were surrounded by a lot of people, so... politeness was the way to go. Alphonse probably would not believe it, the same with Mustang and the team, Ed had rarely been polite back then. "I know a form of medical alchemy, it's from Xing, and they call it alkahestry. I might be able to get an idea of what's wrong, provide some basic first aid, and make her at least more comfortable until an ambulance arrives."
Jean looked at the kid surprised, he had never heard of medical alchemy, but the Boss believed the girl was an alchemical prodigy, and he had seen her use alchemy without those circles earlier. He had worked long enough with an alchemy nerd—no matter how much the Colonel tried to deny it—to know those things were necessary.
His CO was sure the kid would pass the State Alchemist Exam even when she was only twelve, so Jean decided to let her do what she could for the poor woman. There was not much more he could do without proper medical supplies. Most of the contents of the First Aid kit from the bus were either missing or expired, so he resorted to using the woman's own sweater to put some pressure onto the head wound.
"All right, Chief, if Miss..." And he looked at the woman to get a name.
"Hunt, Linda Hunt," the young woman managed to tell them.
"If Miss Hunt allows it, I don't see why not." He turned to the woman. "Miss Elric became State Alchemist, Lieutenant Colonel Mustang's apprentice today, Ma'am, but she's already considered an alchemy prodigy. The Colonel thinks she's going to be the youngest, and the first, female State Alchemist by January."
"You're a girl?" Miss hunt managed to ask a bit surprised. The child looked rather beat up, and her clothes were boyish, she had thought 'he' might have gotten in a fight. Boys tended to do that.
"Er... Yeah. Would you let me..." Ed trailed off.
"Yes."
"Ok, this won't hurt a thing, Ma'am." She was going to find a reason to curse at the bastard—or someone else—later, because she had just exceeded her quota of politeness for the week.
From her belt pouch Ed took out some chalk, and five kunai—which caused Havoc's eyes to widen rather comically because it was definitely too small for those kunai to have been stored there. She stuck them on the pavement forming a star, then drew the corresponding circle, and centered herself. Finding the pulse of the dragon, as the xingese called the energy they used for healing, was not easy for her.
Sensing the Pulse of the Dragon was different than calling the energy from the tectonic plates alchemist used. Although with more practice Ed knew it would become second nature, and she would be able to sense things much like Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu had. She could have also used magic but she was not ready to show that ace yet.
The circle she drew glowed a soft emerald green as Ed manipulated the pulse to go over the woman's body and locate what was wrong with her. It was a basic diagnostic, something she had practiced nearly everyday in Resembool once she had enough mobility, and was able to transmute her kunai.
"She has a rather serious concussion, and I believe there's a small fracture on her skull, and her brain is beginning to swell." Havoc looked at her wide eyed. "I can try to speed the healing there, and lessen the swelling. Frankly, I'm surprised you're conscious," she told the young woman. "Try to keep her that way, Lieutenant.
"Her right cheekbone has another fracture, but that should heal on its own with a bit of help. You're going to have one hell of a black eye, Linda," Ed began reporting what she was sensing, still amazed at what she could read through the pulse, and the knowledge of anatomy she grained when she passed through the Gate. "Her right arm has three fractures... those I think will need surgery, but I can speed the healing a bit as well. She's in good enough physical shape for that," Ed informed Havoc.
She frowned when she found there was internal bleeding, her spleen... but it was not the only thing bleeding. Linda's right hipbone was broken, well more like it shattered, and had pierced her colon in three places. It was bleeding more than the spleen... this was definitely not good.
Ed went lower and found both her legs were broken, the right femur—where the bus had most likely hit her—was shattered, and it was truly a miracle the fragments had not torn the artery, or she would most likely bleed to death in little time. The knees, and lower legs were equally damaged, and Ed was not sure the woman would ever walk without problems again. She also could not understand how it was the young woman was still conscious, that concussion should have knocked her out.
"Edward?" Roy asked surprised at what the girl was doing.
Roy could see from the array drawn around the young woman, it was clearly some type of alchemy, but nothing he had seen before. Even the transmutation light—or whatever it was she was doing—was a color he had never seen used in alchemy before, it was a beautiful emerald green. He knew there had been a State Alchemist during the Ishval war, who specialized in healing alchemy. Roy had never met him, but he had heard the color of his transmutations was red, just like Kimblee's were. He was going to ask Ed later for a report on what she was doing.
He had arrested the bus driver before the man could get too far, and was actually proud he had not needed to use his gun, Flame alchemy... or any alchemy at all. The kid's advice to keep in shape and sharpen his other skills paid off, and done him a world of good. Because even if he had been fit before, as required of any soldier and officer in the military, he had not been in top shape, he definitely was now.
Roy had also improved significantly in hand to hand, as well as with fire arms. Riza was actually quite pleased he spent at least three hours a week on the fire arms range. Even when they were not in East City. Roy had also decided the rest of the team would do well with improving their marksmanship, and had Fuery, Falman, and Breda book time on the fire range.
His chase of the bus driver had not been unnoticed, as there had been two foot officers doing their rounds who saw him running after the driver, and caught up with them. After he captured the man, and explained to the officers what happened, Roy left the bus driver to them to read the guy his rights, and finish the arrest. That done, Roy went back to his people, only to find Ed doing some type of alchemy on the woman, and listing her injuries.
"Colonel," she responded with an acknowledging nod, but kept her concentration on the woman and the alkahestry. She turned to her... patient she supposed. "Linda," Ed began, "I don't want to scare you, but I also won't lie to you. Your injuries are severe, and life threatening if left untended for long. I know Lieutenant Hawkeye reported the accident, and an ambulance should be here soon.
"You need surgery to repair the damage, and it's going to be a long recovery. There's internal bleeding in your upper and lower abdomen, spleen and colon to be precise. There are severe fractures on your pelvis, and both legs, on top of what I reported before. I'm going to do my best to slow the bleeding, numb your pain a little, and get that excess blood reabsorbed by your body.
"Alkahestry'll help your body speed your... healing, and it'll take care of any scrapes. Unfortunately, it can't heal your broken bones in just one session, a xingese Master Healer might've the ability, but well, I ain't one of those," Ed admitted. "I wish I could do more, but... that level of mastery takes more years than I've been alive." She was not happy to admit it, but to reach that point Ed would need to dedicate her life to healing, and... perhaps after taking care of Father she might decide to go to Xing and learn. "This is what I found, but I need your permission to do anything."
"Anything you can do will help," was what the woman told her, as she did her best not to scream in pain.
"Ok," with that Ed started.
Ed concentrated and directed the energy first to Linda's pain receptors. What she was doing would not last more than a couple of hours, but that should be enough. She vaguely heard Linda sigh in relief, and explain to Havoc and Mustang her pain had lessened to tolerable levels. Ed allowed herself a small satisfied smile.
She then concentrated on directing the Dragon's Pulse where it was needed the most, repairing what she could, slowing the bleeding, speeding the healing in other areas, and encouraging a good number of the fractures to heal faster, while soothing the damaged areas to reduce the swelling. By the time the ambulance finally arrived, the head wound, and the minor cuts and scrapes had stopped bleeding. The later two were practically healed, and already scabbed.
The paramedics had been initially sceptical about her 'strange' technique, until they started working on the victim, and saw the scrapes and cuts looked days old even when the young woman got them during the accident. Havoc wrote all of Ed's findings, including the location of the internal injuries causing Linda's internal bleeding, for them to give to the doctors at the hospital as a reference. Hawkeye gave them their office number at Central Command should the doctors need to speak with Ed. The secretaries there would take care of locating them.
Traffic was still a mess, so Havoc suggested they eat something to pass the time until the streets were less full of cars and angry drivers. The street they had been circulating on was rather famous for the number of restaurants on it, ranging from the seriously expensive ones, to fast food, and all you can eat buffets. He had actually managed to find parking space in front of one of the later, which some of the soldiers at Central Command had recommended to him shortly after arriving to the city.
They all agreed the idea was good, and food was just what they needed, so Havoc got the wheelchair, amidst Ed's protests that she did not need it anymore. It had been clear her ankle had still bothered her since she limped to, and from, the accident's site. With three adults overruling her, Ed had no other choice but to comply. To her surprise, she actually pouted at them.
Dinner was great, the was food excellent, as was the conversation. Mustang and Ed spoke alchemy, of course, with Ed actually being the one testing the older alchemist's knowledge. She had not gone easy on him, but the older alchemist had been considered an alchemic genius on his own merit, the State Alchemist exam included general alchemy knowledge, and his score at this point had been unbeaten. The highest so far. Ed had told him not to get comfortable with the title, as she planned on beating his record, he told her to try... if she could.
As they talked and ate, the two of them had filled over three dozen napkins with alchemic arrays and they almost started transmuting things on the table, but Hawkeye actually cuffed the back of Mustang's head reminding him he was not allowed to transmute the restaurant's property. She also gave Ed a pointed look that clearly stated she was not allowed either. Ignoring that little incident, both Hawkeye and Havoc were amused at their antics, while their poor waiter was utterly confused.
The two alchemist then moved to alkahestry, which the bastard was intrigued about, and Ed was more than happy to explain since it would be very useful for Mustang to know. She was frankly enjoying herself in a way she seldom had with anyone but Alphonse. Talking alchemy with someone who not only understood what she was saying, but actually was intelligent and knowledgeable enough to add new ideas, and theories which she had not known until then was such a rare occurrence, and it had never happened back in her Dimension.
Ed had never truly seen Mustang's alchemic genius, and it was a shocking discovery, because she realized the Lieutenant Colonel hid his intelligence under the mask of a lazy, womanizing, procrastinator. He definitely was not the idiot Ed had always claimed he was. It made many of his enemies—and his bratty, underage subordinate—underestimate him. Even other alchemists did not understand the kind of mental equations Mustang did in the blink of an eye when using his alchemy. He had not revealed much about fire alchemy during their conversations, but he did speak about gasses manipulation, and that had been all Ed had needed to understand just how smart the man actually was.
After a while, once the adults of the group—and they chose not to include their boss in the description, because he was practically as giddy as a kid with a new toy, which they suspected a new type of alchemy was for the likes of him and Edward—Riza and Havoc brought them back to non-nerdy subjects. By the time they finally left the buffet, Ed had probably eaten half her weight in food. She had tasted everything, and only shied away from creamy things. Until Havoc dared her to try them, which she did.
It was probably foolish, but Ed could never say 'no' to a challenge, and was surprised at how good some things were. Ed had actually taken out her journal, and made notes on those things she liked. After seeing her eating, Roy decided All-You-Can-Eat buffets would be the restaurant of choice when taking Ed out for any meals. He was also glad they insisted she used the wheelchair, because the kid ate herself into a food coma, after admitting this was the second time in a year she had eaten her fill. The first being lunch at the office earlier. She had finished off everyone's leftovers.
Ed told them she had always needed more food than normal children her age, but adding the automail had left her hungry all the time, because she had not wanted to eat Granny out of her house. The three of them had looked at each other over the practically asleep kid, and silently agreed to make sure Edward Elric would not live hungry anymore.