Yoyoyo, whassap?! Finally got my hands on the Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OVA collection! YAY! Everything is so much better on T.V. than on Youtube. My reference of this chapter (an easy one this time);

"You look human."

"No, you look Time Lord!"

And the person who guessed first correctly first last time was ImperialAffliction! Congrats to everyone else who guessed Nullmetal Alchemist.

Now, everyone who lives on Earth that's currently reading this, picture Kambei as a cross between India and medieval Japan.

Of Kambei and Kin Palace

"Woah!" Edward stared wide-eyed at the sprawling city of Ranri, the intricately decorated buildings and fancily-robed people catching his every glance. "This place is totally different to Amestris!"

"Yeah," Roy agreed, holding his case over one shoulder and his free hand in his pocket. "It's so clean here…"

"Meh," Tyrell shrugged. "It's pretty okay. A little bit fancy though."

Describing the place as 'fancy' was probably an understatement, and looking at the canvas duffle bag Tyrell was using as a travelling case made Roy wonder what kind of a country Orato even was; if the royalty lived in a place just as fancy, what unseen force compelled him to dress that way?

The trio had just made their way into the city and were standing on the main street, seemingly a business district. As soon as you stepped through the city's huge main gates you stepped straight into the hustle of this place, where people made their way about like ants, the occasional dog or cat wandering across the scene. The street was an average size, but the sheer contrast between Kambei's capital, Ranri, and Amestris' Central was astounding.

Where Central had tall, grey, concrete buildings and messy cobble streets, Ranri had pretty, oriental-style buildings and neat, clean walkways. Where Amestrians wore trousers and shirts and coats and hats, the Kambeians had odd, robe-like attire, one side folded over the other and held in place with a fabric belt.

The difference was crazy.

Edward ran a hand through his dyed-black hair, still staring around the place like a little child who'd never taken a step outside before. "But look at their clothes! They're all flappy and floaty and folded! It's like they're walking around in dressing gowns!"

Roy watched the boy's antics, amused. He'd only just remembered that this was probably the first time Edward had ever left the country, so it was completely natural that he should be baffled by everything he saw.

It was still funny to watch him, though.

He stared for a little while longer at the foreign city before he dashed back to Roy and Tyrell, looking sheepishly at his superior.

"What?" Roy asked. "What do you want?"

"Um. I'm hungry."

Roy rolled his eyes. "'Course you are. I suppose we have a little time before we need to show up at the meeting. C'mon, let's find somewhere to eat." They started off down the pristine cobblestone road, receiving curious looks from passers-by.

"Hey, wait! I'm coming too!" Tyrell jogged forward and caught up with them. As he drew near, he stated, "No sense in splitting up when none of us have any idea where we're going."

"S'pose you're right there," said Roy, glancing around at the various stores lining the main street and trying to deduce whether any of them sold food or not.

The signs were all in lettering he could read, but the words were foreign to the Colonel. Things like 'nishin soba', 'kimono' and 'onigiri' weren't items he was familiar with.

He shrugged helplessly and tossed Tyrell a glance. "Any idea what we're looking for?"

He nodded. "You need a food joint."

Roy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but which out of all these shops actually sells food?"

Tyrell shrugged. "One or two of 'em, prob'ly."

Roy shook his head. "You're so helpful."

"Thanks!"

He glanced at Edward, who was staring at a particular store a couple of shops down. The boy's eyes moved analytically from building to building, then back to the same one, a place with 'TONKATSU-RAMEN-UDON-SAKE-ODEN' printed over the doorway in bold red lettering.

"That's it," he said slowly. "That's the place we need."

Before Roy could stop the boy, he'd dashed off towards his decided store, his case bumping against his leg and his ponytail flapping. Roy sighed resignedly as Tyrell bounded away after him before following the two teens inside.

Upon entering, Roy was greeted with a myriad of scents, the like of which no restaurant in Amestris had ever supplied.

There were sweet and spicy smells, and the aroma of a variety of meats filled the air. Roy thought he detected a trace of alcohol somewhere in the mix.

The whole place radiated an aura of poshness, the several other patrons talking and laughing quietly at tables scattered around the place.

Edward and Tyrell were standing at a counter with their backs to Roy, seemingly conversing with the man behind.

He walked up to join the two, setting his case down at his feet and glancing around to try and take in all the different aromas and sights.

"What's the closest thing you got to stew?" Edward was saying, leaning on the counter.

"Stew?" The man cocked his head, a puzzled expression on his face. "I don't know what that is."

"Ack!" Edward's eyes widened. "How can you not know what stew is? It's like, gravy with potato, onion and steak and sometimes pumpkin, y'know?"

The man continued to stare blankly.

"Sometimes there's herbs in it? Rosemary? You put it in a pot, and heat it all to cook it? And you mix it, not so much that you squish it all up, but not so little that you burn the parts at the bottom."

Edward kept going as Roy watched, the younger alchemist becoming increasingly descriptive in his explanation of stew. His expression was no longer one of disbelief; it was drifting more towards nostalgic longing.

"Then you put just the right amount of seasoning in it, usually rosemary or chicken stock, and you serve it with bread so you can dip it in it…" Edward trailed off. "Nah, forget it."

"Sounds like nikujaga," the man said eventually.

"Sounds like what now?" Roy asked, cocking his head.

"Nikujaga," the man repeated. "Potato and carrot in a light chicken broth."

"Eh. 'Bout right," decided Edward with a shrug. "I'll have that."

"I'll have ramen. Extra naruto, hold the celery," Tyrell ordered. "If you please."

"Nikujaga, ramen, and you?" The man behind the counter pointed at Roy. "Want anything?"

Roy glanced at Tyrell. "You seem to know your stuff. What do I want?"

"Well, I dunno what type of food you like, but you can't really dislike yakisoba. Easy."

"That, then," Roy said with a shrug, fishing around in his pocket to try and pull out the money from the budget the military had supplied them with for the trip. "How much?"

Tyrell reached for his bag, but Roy stopped him. "Consider it thanks for helping out on the way here," the Colonel said, pulling out the required amount from his wallet.

"Here." He placed the money on the table and a young lady in a silky violet robe embellished with tiny pink flowers showed them to a table.

"Sake?" she offered gently, lifting the jug she was carrying slightly. Roy could tell immediately from the smell it was alcoholic.

He somehow managed to resist the strong temptation to accept the drink, and declined with a respectful tip of his head. "No thanks."

"Can I—" Tyrell started.

"You're underage," Roy put in quickly, before the the boy could even ask. He cast a glance at Edward. "And so are you."

"I wasn't even thinking that!" Edward protested with a scowl. "That's yourself you're thinking of!"

The girl covered her mouth with her free hand as she giggled. "You two sure are a funny father and son," she commented before wandering away.

Edward gawked as she left, then laid his head on the table. "She… She thought we were…"

"That's a good thing, Ed. It means this whole play is believeable and we're not just making fools of ourselves," Roy pointed out.

"Making a fool of myself anyway, even if it succeeds," muttered Edward grumpily.

"You're always making a fool of yourself. You are a fool."

They bickered on like that for a while, if only to pass the time as they waited for their food. Tyrell watched in light amusement as the two tossed insults at each other like they were having fun doing it.

About twenty minutes later, the food arrived. Edward's was gone almost as soon as it hit the table, however, and Tyrell wasn't far behind.

Roy poked around at the mix of noodles, meat and vegetables on his plate a while longer than the two, eventually deciding that it couldn't be that bad. In fact, he decided right now he liked the slight ginger hint to the whatever-it-was, and ended up finishing it.

"Good?" Edward asked, eyeing the few noodles and chunks of meat left on Roy's plate.

"Yeah, pretty."

Edward's gaze remained on the pitiful amount of scraps Roy had left.

"If you're that desperate, have them," he sighed eventually.

"Yes!" Edward grabbed the plate from the other side of the table and greedily wolfed down the scraps. After the boy was satisfied he'd basically licked the thing clean, he sat back and smirked.

"So," Roy started. "You seem to know a lot about making stew."

"Yeah, well, it's pretty much the most widely used dish in all of Resembool," Edward said with a shrug. "Mom cooked it, Granny cooked it, Winry learned how to cook it, I'm pretty sure Alphonse can cook it… Heck, even I could probably cook it if I tried."

"I see."

"But mom's was always the best, I reckon. She always knew just the right amount of herbs to put in it, and she made a separate batch for Alphonse, 'cause he doesn't like onions in his…" The boy broke off, a distant look glazing his golden eyes as he placed his chin on the table, smiling. "Mm-hm…"

Roy cocked his head. He lost his mother really young, didn't he…? Yeah, that's right. He was very young when she died, and then he went off training with his brother. That's when they…

Roy watched the boy continue to sit in silence, grinning a little stupidly and laying his head down sideways.

Tyrell stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom - I'll be back soon, so don't leave without me."

Roy followed the boy's path across the room before flicking back to Edward.

He might be grinning like a cheshire cat, but it didn't reach those tell-tale eyes of his. Everything showed in them. The boy could have the strongest pokerface in the world, but unless he closed his eyes, you could see right through it.

Well, Roy could anyway.

A happy smile, but eyes filled with bittersweet sorrow. Like he was wearing a scary mask, but anyone who was brave enough to look up into the eye slits could see tears.

Edward sat that way for a minute longer, his soft smile frozen in place. It was almost starting to weird Roy out, so he spoke up.

"You okay there, kid?" Roy asked. "You'd best think about something else before Tyrell comes back or he might 'read' you and figure out the truth behind those limbs of yours."

Edward snapped up. "What?"

"You're freaking me out with your state of depression."

"How'd you tell…?" Edward said softly, his expression dubious. "No-one's been able to distinguish the difference on my face before."

Roy's brow twisted into a frown. "It's pretty obvious to me. You can't pull off an expression like that if your eyes aren't on board. Take it from me; I'm sort of an expert at this kind of thing."

"Yeah?" Edward said, folding his arms on the table and putting his chin on them. "Then I'd better improve my mask…"

"No, don't," Roy suddenly put in.

"Huh?"

The Colonel opened his mouth, puzzled, then closed it again. Why did I just say that? He frowned again before saying quietly, "It might get to the point where your brother might not even be able to tell what you're thinking. And before you say, 'That's a good thing', it's not. He might know you even better than you do. And if he doesn't know what you're thinking, you sure as hell won't. And you don't want to get so good at hiding your own emotions that even you can't tell how you feel."

Edward stared blankly, then smirked. "Wow, bastard. That was deep."

"Yeah, that was a bit weird," Roy agreed. "I have no idea where that came from."

"I'm back! If you're done here, let's go!" Tyrell re-entered, waving his arm jovially.

Edward still hadn't fully shaken out of his little daze, and Tyrell was looking curiously his way.

"So, I was thinking, Ed," Roy began, attempting to change the subject. "It might be easier to lie and say that you're only twelve. Because I'm only twenty-nine, and if you really were my son it would mean you'd been born when I was fourteen. I know seventeen isn't much better, but I can stretch a little and say I'm thirty-three. Because you could definitely pass for a twelve-year-old. I mean, you haven't exactly changed much physically since then."

Edward snapped up. "Who are you saying is a little tiny bean so small he hasn't grown an inch since he was a baby?!"

"Oh, no-one. Just a certain boy who admires me so much that he's pretending to be my son and has even dyed his hair black."

"We-heh-ell, it sure ain't me then!"

This argument continued as the trio made their way outside again, looking around for any clue as to which direction they were supposed to be travelling in.

Edward gave a loud, attention-drawing roar as Roy began to ignore him completely, instead focusing his energy on Tyrell.

"I don't suppose there's any way you can use that weird shaman power of yours to foresee which direction we're meant to be going?"

Tyrell shot him a look that made Roy think he might have been retarded his whole without ever having realised it.

"I told you, I read people, not street signs. What are you, stupid?"

"Careful what you say, kid. I am a Colonel, you know. I can do all sorts of things to you."

"And I'm a shaman. I can curse you. Like, to have your face mutilated and horrible itchy spots growing all over you."

"Yeah, right. The likelihood of that ever—Hey!" A small sign caught Roy's eye.

A young man of about twenty stood at the end of the street, his gaze fixed directly on Roy, Edward and Tyrell. His face lit up as he met their gaze, and he gave the impression of a small dog being praised by it's owner. In his hands, he held a papery-looking sign with the words 'Mustang and Torfell' printed on. The threesome's strange attire must have attracted his attention.

"That must be the guy we want, huh?" Edward asked, pointing at the man with a thumb.

"Yeah, I'd put my money on that," replied Roy.

"I didn't know your surname was 'Torfell'. You just introduced yourself as 'Tyrell'," Edward said as the three made their way over to the man.

"Do you really think I wanna tell people my name is Tyrell Torfell?" the shaman grumbled. "Do you know how dumb that sounds? Plus, I seem so much more mysterious when I say 'I am Tyrell. I'm a shaman.' Or, 'I'm a witch doctor', y'know?"

"Fair point," Roy said, nodding. "Fair point…"

"You guys are…Roy and Edward Mustang and Tyrell Torfell?" the young man asked. "Here for the alliance meeting?"

"Yes. Colonel Roy Mustang," Roy stated, holding out his hand. The young man shook it, nodding.

"Inuya Kamagawa," he said. "Pleased to meet you. I'll be escorting you to your accommodation. And these two must be…?"

"Tyrell the witch doctor and and my son, Ed."

"Yo," Tyrell said, waving.

"Yeah, hi," Edward added. "I'm Edward Ehhl…Mustang."

"Good. That means all the representatives are now present!" Inuya said with a grin. "Let's go! To the castle!"

"The castle?!" Edward and Roy echoed in unison. They'd had no idea the place they'd be staying would be somewhere so grand.

Tyrell sagged. "Damn. Another fancy-pants castle."

This earned him a worried look from his two companions, who had several concerns about his sanity.

"Grab your things and follow me!" Inuya exclaimed cheerfully, totally ignoring Tyrell's statement. He whirled around on the spot and bounded away, whistling.

"Now, that's probably the most slap-happy fellow I've ever met," Tyrell commented as they rounded the corner Inuya had been waiting for them at.

"Mm-hm," mumbled Roy in agreement. He glanced off to the side, at a smaller, sophisticated-looking joint just to their right. It had a single window, but bamboo shutters were drawn over it and the walls were painted a charcoal colour. The sign above the door said, 'Ranri Ai', and on the door itself in big red print were the words '18 plus. No minors'.

Sounded like Roy's kind of place.

"Hey, you perverted old doofus…" There was a prod on Roy's shoulder that snapped him out of his scheming to somehow escape the meeting and sneak out somewhere fun. "Quit starin' at that slutty place and look up there…"

Roy followed Edward's gaze up at an imposing building that was rising up in front of them. It stood several stories higher than all the other tall structures in Ranri, and gave off an aura of authoritative power.

The architecture was brilliant; each floor had a slanted protrusion from the otherwise straight design - a pagoda, if Roy recalled correctly - and the top floor had a magnificently embellished roof, with carved stone gargoyles in the forms of faded gold lions and dragons lining the edge.

Each of the protrusions were painted a bright red with a black trim, the corners giving off a golden gleam. If he looked close enough, Roy could distinguish small golden spikes on the very points of the building.

Overall, the magnificence of the structure was overwhelming - from an Amestrian's point of view anyway.

"Meh." Tyrell shrugged. "Pagodas are so mainstream."

This comment made no sense to neither Roy nor Edward, who both continued to be impressed by the Kambeian style of palace.

Inuya led the way right up to the gates of the place, spurting out basically the entire history, landscape and culture of Kambei as he did.

"Down south, you'll come into contact with the eastern side of the South Sea, where the waters are warm and tepid and the beaches are long and golden… The first ruler of Kambei was the brother of a Xingese Emperor, hence the similarity between Kambeian and Xingese culture… The capital of Kambei - the city we're currently in - has various places for all your entertainment needs, from theatres and playgrounds to bars and our very famous 'Ranri Ai', which you may have noticed on the way here…"

Roy tried his best to absorb some of the information their guide was sending at them in rapid-fire succession, nodding where necessary and glancing around.

When they reached the castle's great wooden door, which was built into a brick wall, Inuya said, "This is Kin Palace, the heart of Ranri. Welcome to the place you'll be staying for the next week and a bit."

As the wooden gates were heaved open - presumably by guards on the inside - Roy took a moment to bask in the glory of it all; a little stream running across the grounds, a small pebble path winding it's way up to the entry and a small footbridge to cross the stream, pretty trees with little pale buds showing and wavy grass sprouting all over the grounds.

Maybe, he mused, this won't be so bad.

The grandeur of Kin Palace was enough to shut even Tyrell up; the shaman had resorted to shooting sneaky glances around at his surroundings.

The walls of every room and corridor were decorated with the finest wallpapers Roy or Edward had seen, and you couldn't walk more than a few metres without seeing some fantastic work of art; sculptures littered the building and expensive looking paintings hung everywhere.

The columns that held the building up were carved from marble and trimmed with gold, boasting thin grey lines through the pure white stone.

The towering pagoda itself was only part of the palace, the rest of it being a sprawling ground floor complex sectioned into different areas. The Emperor - a man whom Roy had only heard snatches of rumours about and Edward less still - was said to live on the topmost floor of the place.

Inuya's excited babbling still hadn't ceased. He was beginning to remind Roy of a certain Lieutenant Colonel.

"Oh, Kambei is just so happy to be the host of such a prestigious event! This is the first time it's being held here, you know! No offense to Amestris, but I think the Emperor was starting to get bored of travelling there every time for the meeting!"

"So we're actually staying in this place?" Edward asked, still in a partial state of disbelief. "Here?"

"Yup!" Inuya confirmed with a nod. "In one of the guest rooms! Now, the corridor I'm currently leading you down heads straight to the guest compound, where all of the attendees will be staying. You can take the rest of the day to recover from your journey as the formal meetings don't start 'til tomorrow, 'kay? And by the way, this corridor itself was designed by a very famous architect…"

Around five minutes later, Inuya led them around one more corner before waving his arm in an exaggerated flourish, gesturing at the several doorways that lined this hall.

"And this is the guest compound! Your rooms are right down the end there, next to each other! Lucky! Colonel, Edward, you two have a section to share, but it's the largest of the lot and has two separate beds. I think there may be a spare sleeping quarters in there as well, so three beds in total."

"Goodie," Edward muttered. "More time to spend with my favourite daddy."

With a bow in their direction, Inuya dismissed himself. "Hope you find the rooms to your liking. If you require anything at all, do not hesitate to ring a bell and summon a maid. Now rest up, it'll be busy tomorrow!"

"Thank you for your assistance," Tyrell said with a smile. Roy noticed, with a start, that he wasn't actually that bad in looks. A scrub up and some neater clothes could work wonders for the boy…

"Yeah, thanks," Edward echoed, his eyes on the carved ceiling above their heads.

"Thank you," Roy said as well, nodding in the guide's direction.

"It was my pleasure!" he responded, beaming. "If you need me, just call!"

With his last words hanging in the air, the young Kambeian bounded away down the corridor and disappeared around a corner.

"Slap-happy," Tyrell said again, nodding approvingly. "Yes, I like him. He's good."

Roy turned to the doors the guide had motioned to and then tossed a glance back at the two teens beside him. "Alright. Tyrell, you're that one, and me and Ed are here."

Tyrell was about to move off when Roy intercepted him. Lowering his voice, he added, "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone about Edward's and my situation. If anyone finds out that two of Amestris' most powerful state alchemists are here, we will have hell to pay."

"Eh. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone - what could I possibly gain from it?" Tyrell told him just as quietly. Going back to his normal pitch, he continued, "Plus, I kinda like you guys. You're funny."

Edward pulled a sour expression.

"You just gotta keep the act up yourselves, now," the shaman said in a whisper before opening his door and vanishing behind it.

"And what act would that be, Roy Mustang?"

Roy gave a start at the sound of a cold, saturated-in-dislike tone. He sneered, an unusual expression for his smirking type of face and turned on his heel to face the one-and-only Prince of Aerugo, Claudio Rico.

"Nothing you need concern yourself with, sir," Roy responded, his voice dripping with distaste and laced with venom.

Edward looked back and forth between the two men, his face twisted into a frown of puzzlement. "Eh?"

"Didn't know you had a son, Mustang," the newcomer eventually said, his sentence more a cautious question than a statement.

"There's a lot you don't know about me."

The Prince held Roy's gaze a while longer before narrowing his eyes by the tiniest degree and saying in a falsely light voice, "You're up to something again, Colonel. I don't know what it is, but you'd best watch your back. You and your son both."

He whirled around with a flap of his cloak and disappeared back into his room with a soft click.

"Tense," came Tyrell's voice. He blinked his purple eyes at the two, his face poking out from a crack between the door and the wall. "I sensed something was happening so I had to look." The boy flicked his head at the door. "Watch out for that guy. He doesn't like you."

"And you're not Captain Obvious in the least," Edward said drily.

Tyrell pouted, an offended look on his tanned face. "Aw, I was just tryin' to look out for you guys. If you don't like me, I'll go sulk in a corner over here."

He halted briefly. "But seriously, watch out for him. He's dangerous. Trust me - I know."

He was gone again.

"Roy," Edward said after a few seconds, his voice a little quieter and more cautious than normal. "Hand away from gloves."

Roy's gaze snapped downwards to his right hand, which was reaching for an inconspicuous pocket on his side without him having realised.

"Oh." He dropped his hand. "That would have been a bad idea."

Edward glanced over his shoulder at the room the Prince was occupying, his eyes narrowed. "Hmm…"

"I don't trust him," Roy stated. "Not in the slightest. Don't go near him if I'm not there, okay?"

"You either. If I'm not there, you might accidentally end up sending him sky-high."

"Point taken. It's probably best we share a room, actually. That way we can keep an eye on each other…"

Roy pushed open the doors to their accommodation, not surprised to find that it was decorated with the same lavish design as the rest of the castle. The first room they stepped into had two sofas crafted from some expensive fabric and a coffee table, with a small corridor branching off to the side.

Investigating this corridor, Roy found that there was a small bathroom, a bedroom with one double bed and another bedroom with two singles on opposite sides of the room.

The double was normal enough, a pretty average looking bed to Roy (not counting the fancy sheets and hundred pillows) but the singles were really odd.

They were like two super-sized cushions rolled out on the floor, both sporting bamboo patterns and a tiny pillow which Roy presumed was to be used as a headrest.

He poked one of them and Edward did likewise, the two discovering that they were actually incredibly soft yet supportive.

They exchanged a bemused glance before deciding they could live with sharing the room.

"What time do you reckon it is?" Edward asked nonchalantly, having no means of telling. He couldn't see a clock on the walls of the room and he hadn't brought his pocket watch.

Roy reached for his side, running his finger up the chain hanging from his pocket and drawing out his watch. "It's about…quarter past one. So we've got some time on our hands."

"Hm," Edward looked about the room curiously. "Where in Ranri do you think the library is?"

"No idea. I'm sure we'll find out soon. You can ask around tomorrow," Roy said. "For now, I'd prefer for you to hang about here until we get our bearings. And besides, you can't tell me you didn't bring anything to entertain yourself with. That case of yours feels like it's full of bricks."

"Yeah, I brought a few reference books…" Edward admitted, flopping down on the couch unceremoniously, dropping his case beside himself. "Just in case there was stuff I needed to look back on whilst I investigate the library here. Foreign countries sometimes have different symbols from ours, some I don't really know very well, so I had to bring my notes. All of them."

A grin flashed over Edward's face momentarily. "I normally leave them in a nice, safe place. But they're with me this time. So right now—" He pointed a thumb at his case. "—that case is my most prized possession. It's got all my research notes and everything in it. All the stuff I've found out about alchemy, about forms of human transmutation and the Philosopher's Stone."

Roy looked at the case, which was now acting as the boy's foot rest.

"It's my life's work."

Roy smirked. "You use your life's work as a prop for your feet."

"Sometimes I stand on it," Edward added. "Or sleep on it."

Roy laughed, a single husky noise, and moved over to occupy the opposite sofa. He rested his head against the back of it, blinking wearily.

The palace was nice, he'd admit as much, but Roy was no fan of rapid location switching. Travel did not suit him - he planned to inch slowly up to the spot of Fuhrer and remain there.

Moving to Central he didn't mind, it was similar to East City and meant he was getting closer to his goal. But another country was just an unnecessary shift. And if that Aerugo guy was going to be right there the whole time, so much the worse.

"You don't like to travel, do you?" Edward spoke up suddenly. The boy was subconsciously perceptive.

"Not without good reason. Like I said, this is just a troublesome expedition with no benefit to me," Roy grumbled. "And Ishbal didn't exactly help the fact any."

"Oh." Edward shrugged. He heaved his case up onto the sofa beside him and started to rifle through it. With an amused smile, Roy noticed the boy had packed more papers, books, journals, leaflets and documents than he had clothes.

"I'm gonna revise some of this stuff, 'kay?" Edward said decisively. "If you need me, try tossing a rock at my head. I may or may not notice."

Roy nodded. "Right then. I'm just going to fall asleep on this sofa. If you need anything, try tossing a rock at my head. I probably won't notice."

Fwump.

Edward glanced up just in time to see Roy close his eyes, sigh, slip sideways down the couch and fall asleep all in one smooth motion.

"Huh." Edward's eyes moved back to his notes. "He was tired, then."

Roy's breathing slowed in a matter of seconds, leaving him slumped sideways with his head against the armrest. His neck was being pressed at an awkward angle, giving him the appearance of a man who'd simply collapsed out of exhaustion.

Which, quite frankly, he had.

Edward flicked over the first few lines of the small-ish brown, leather-bound book he'd picked up.

Liore was good. The food was hot. The sun was out the whole day. Our goal is still standing strong. A little baby cried on the whole coach trip up until it's mom shoved a dummy in it's mouth.

He smiled a little when remembering the time he wrote that - it had been hastily written and badly coded. This was his journal from a couple of months ago, in which he'd recorded all his findings of that time. Of course, to protect said findings, Edward hid his words in the form of a rough travelogue, almost with a neglected sort of feel.

That particular day, he'd been sitting up in the middle of the night trying to remember what the ancient alchemic symbol for the Philosopher's Stone was; surprisingly, it often escaped him. When he'd finally remembered, he'd snatched his logue and scrawled out that one phrase before collapsing asleep.

What he'd meant from that sentence was 'The lion swallowing the sun is the symbol for the Philosopher's Stone, dummy!'

His gaze flicked up to Roy.

Then back to the book.

Up to Roy.

Back to the book.

Up to Roy.

He sighed.

The man just looked so…uncomfortable with his neck bent out of shape.

That's gonna hurt in the morning, thought Edward uneasily. There's no way that isn't gonna not hurt.

His gaze shot to the side.

Then the other side, as if he was looking to see if anyone was watching. Of course, the room was empty save for the two of them.

Edward stood, grabbing the cushion off the sofa he was sitting on and shoving it in the gap between Roy's shoulder and the sofa. Then he went around to the other end, grabbed the man's feet and tugged roughly. Roy's head slipped from the arm onto the cushion, albeit heavily.

Edward strode back around to his previous position and sat down, resuming his revision and flicking to the next page.

Yes, he thought proudly, glancing up at Roy to see him roll over and hug the pillow to his neck. Better. Now his his head won't be stuck on sideways. He won't be as grumpy, I don't think.

Likey? Hatey? Don'treallycarey? Mwaha, tell me. I wanna know.

So, we're finally in Kambei. And the excitement begins next chapter! Whoo!

All you readers and reviewers and favouriters and followers are awesome. Thanks for everything - the readers are just about ninety percent of the story!

Responses:

midnightstardust: FIRE IS EVERYWHERE! :D Thanks for telling me about episode twelve being put up!

lotrprincess: HAHAHA! That part. I died. On the inside, obviously, or else I wouldn't be writing this. My favourite outtake in that collection was when Roy was shouting at Riza about Ed's leg in the second last one (I think - haven't seen it in ages).

Next chapter is gonna be awesome. Keep an eye out! *RAINBOWS AWAY AGAIN*