Intertwined: An FMA story
TWO: Attained
"Ed!" Alphonse shook his brother in his bed. Clothes were strewn around the room, where Edward left them. He fell asleep unpacking. As Al looked at the clock by his bed, he read nine o' clock in the morning. "Ed! Wake up! You fell asleep with your stomach out again." He sighed, haven given up, and slumped to the ground. He also fell asleep organizing his things, but of course, Ed fell asleep long before him. Rays of sunshine poured in from the window, flooding the room. Al bent his head back to feel the heat of the sun warm his cheeks. "Day dreaming I see?" A girl's voice interrupted the moment, Cylene. "Gah!" Al gasped, bumping into his brother's bed and knocking Ed's automail to the floor. "Oh, I'm so sorry." Cylene apologized. She rushed over to help him pick them up. "I just came here to ask if you needed anything." She brushed her hair back and looked out the window. Stalling something. "Do you, by any chance, have artificial limbs?" A sympathetic look crossed her eyes. "Nah." He laughed. "There Ed's. He was supposed to get up early today." Al sighed again and kicked his brother's clothes. "Oh, I know someone like him. Well, anyway. I can see that you guys need help." She bent down again and began collecting the clothes off the ground. "When you unpack, you unpack the clothes into things called droors, see?" She pointed to a wooden bureau beside the door, and there was laughter in her eyes. "Yeah, we know. It's just been us for a long time, sooo…we lack a woman's touch." Al laughed. "Humph, that's pretty sexist." She snickered, opening the droors and folding the clothes inside. A wind picked up and blew the blinds on the window, letting in even more light. "Edward! Get up!" She suddenly screamed, poking his head rather hard. "HEY!" Ed yellped. The scream defiantly startled him. "What are you-…Oh, you're that lady." He looked up and studied Cylene. He almost looked…innocent, which made Cylene laugh. "Edward Elric. Some how I've heard of you…oh well." She shrugged. "What are you doing in here so early?" Ed rubbed his eyes, completely ignoring the fact Cylene recognized him. "Ed, it's nine fifteen, you were supposed to get up hours ago!" Al scolded. Ed lied back down on his bed, only to find a bunch of papers thrust on his head. "Hey, what the hell?" He cursed, taking the paper of his head and reading over it. "Their job listings." Cylene said on her way out. "You gathered these for Ed?" Al asked surprised. "Heh, you should be surprised." She smirked. " 'Cause Ivy was the one who gathered them." She was right in the doorway, and suddenly acted as if she was snatching something. She pulled Ivonne into the room. "Ivonne?" Al was now even more surprised. The little girl shrugged and pulled behind Cylene's dress. "Seems Ivy took a liking to you." She gripped Ivy's color and dragged her in front. All she did was stick out her tongue. "Yeah, thanks for that." Ed frowned, but then started to laugh. "I guess I'll check these out." He waved the newspaper in the air.
'Tick-tock tick-tock' The brown clock on the walls sound cut through the awkward silence, it read four o' clock. Cylene was chewing her nails on the main desk, and Ivonne was fiddling with an electrical board. "Service is pretty down, huh, Ivy?" Cylene whined. Ivy looked up and gave her a stern glare, then rolled her eyes with a slight smile. "Yeah, yeah. If the Elrics needed work, they should work here to pay off their debt, is that what you're saying?" She lifted her eyebrow. Ivy beamed, and held up the electrical board. "You really like them, don't you?" Cylene chuckled. Ivy shrugged, and kept on messing with the board. "Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you, that Edward boy, has automail." She said this quietly, and was not surprised when Ivy's screw stopped turning, and she gave Cylene a strong glare. "Hey! Don't get mad at me! I'm really not lying." She went back to chewing her nails as Ivy got up and walked slowly down the hall. "Ivy! Remember, no eavesdropping!" Cylene called last minute. "Eavesdropping? Does Ivy really do that?" Al asked worriedly as he and Ed walked through the door. Cylene, surprised, turned around and smiled. "Nah, she's fine. Just confused." Her gaze down the hall looked almost as if she was dreaming. "Never mind that. Did you boys find what you were looking for?" She turned back to look them in the eye. "Hey, don't call us boys. I'm as old as you!" Ed angrily screamed, rushing over to her desk and pounding his fists on her desk. Cylene's smile faded and her stare hardened. "That may be. But didn't Al say he was only thirteen? Well, I must say he looks seventeen at best." She said strangely. Ed's face loosened, and his eyes dashed back and forth, he was deep in thought. "Ed," She said soothingly. "Was there something you forgot?" Ed became angry again, and his fists trembled on the table as Ivy walked back in. Her eyes became frightened, the sight of Al confused, Ed angry, and Cylene stern. She glanced questionably at Al, her worried stare burrowing down on him. "Ivy, are you okay?" He asked. She ignored his remark and walked right over to Cylene's desk and glared at Ed. "Ivy, it's okay." Cylene rested her hand on Ivy's shoulder; warmth came back to her smile. Al walled over to the desk, too. "We had little luck finding any work around here, we may even have to move again, that's what Ed said." Al sadly commented. He gazed at his shoes, hiding his face. All that happened, everything he had done, had seen, those changes, and he thought it'd finally settle down. Ivy shook him out of his trance; she had walked over to his side and clutched the base of his shirt. He glanced down at the little girl; she slowly looked up and shook her head. "That won't be necessary." Cylene added in. "You've already stayed a night, we can't let you move again without payment, we'll have to let you work here." She laughed. Ivy released Al's shirt and smiled at her older sister, it made Al smile, too. Somehow, it seemed smiling meant a lot for these two girls, and he was also glad. He would have a place to stay, his brother, newly acquired friends, and another adventure.