A/N: I used to be so good at updating on time, but this time I have a good reason. I'm still catching up my ACEN sleep debt, but it was totally worth it because my boyfriend and I got to tell Vic Mignogna how we met because of FMA :D (http:/bit [dot] ly/JE3hNW). If you ever get the chance to see him at a con, GO. He is seriously one of the sweetest people I have ever met.
Anyway, here's your chapter. This one makes me smile.
93. A place to return to
"So, now that the 'Promised Day' crisis has been averted, what's next for the Fullmetal Alchemist?"
Ed was quickly learning that he detested reporters. "I dunno, vacation?" he replied without enthusiasm. Never one for appearances, he rested his head in his still-metal hand and let his gaze drift out the window.
The reporter shuffled some note-cards around, presumably fumbling for a question that would get Ed engaged in conversation. "Surely," she started, "you'll have a place to return to. Don't you want to visit your hometown?"
"Nah, nothing and no one's there anymore," Ed sighed, and he made a show of checking the time on his silver watch. The reporter sighed and shuffled through her cards.
"Isn't there anyone you want to see now that you've saved the country?" she asked. Ed tried not to react- keeping Winry out of the military and public eye was one of his top credos- right after 'no more human transmutation' and right after 'give Mustang hell at all opportunities'- and he wasn't about to spill his heart out to a stupid reporter. Unfortunately, she'd locked on to something and was shuffling through her notes with a new fervor. "Is there some lucky girl you've met on your journeys?" she asked with a sly grin.
"No," Ed grunted and crossed his arms.
The reporter wasn't daunted, and Ed was cursing himself for whatever he'd done to peak her suspicion. "Many of the girls here in Central have a thing for the Fullmetal Alchemist- is she one of the local girls?"
Ed merely glared. This woman was treading on thin ice- even Al knew better than to pry about some things. Granted, Al knew what was or wasn't going on, but he usually refrained from teasing them.
"So no one peaked your interest?" she asked, "or do Amestrian girls prefer taller boys?"
"I am taller, I've been taller than her for months!" Ed shouted, completely unable to stop himself. Fuuuck…
"So there is a special girl, and you're taller than she is!" the reporter cried with an ear-to-ear grin. "A girl from Risembool, perhaps who doesn't live there anymore? Let's see…"
Ed glared, trying to set her on fire with his mind and considering that possibility of trying the colonel's snapping move. A few atomic modifications and his gloves could easily become ignition cloth. His hands were balled in fists at his side, and it was requiring all his will power not to clap. "I don't see how any of this is relev-"
"It's human interest, kid," said the reporter. "If I'm interested, it's relevant. Now, isn't your mechanic from Risembool? They say she left Rush Valley months ago and hasn't been seen since- are you worried? Do you know what happened to her? You have northern automail; will she be mad that you used another mechanic, or-"
The reporter found herself cut off as all her notes suddenly fell to the ground in ashes. Ed stuffed his hands (which had been outstretched on the table) in his pockets as he stood up. "Screw it, if Mustang wants 'public outreach' and 'human interest' then he can do it himself," he muttered. "Two offices down on the right. Make sure you ask him lots about Lieutenant Hawkeye," he told the reporter, and stomped out of the office.