Alphonse did his best not to sneeze. The photo shoot was scheduled in short order, mostly piggybacking off another shoot for a different product. Vil's time was incredibly valuable, so much so that they almost tripped over themselves to get him.
Since Vil had made it clear that it was all three of them or nothing, even Edna had to endure the treatment. Unlike Al, she was able to sit more or less still since she was used to this by now. Vil was a very thorough instructor in beauty maintenance, and insisted nothing but the perfection when it came to their appearance.
Vil was already done and smoothing things over in regards to their outfit coordination, since that was the most important next to the product demonstration.
Al did his best not to fidget or mess up the make-up, as it made his skin feel weird. Next was the fittings, where he was poked and prodded for a good hour and a half before the on-site seamstress adjusted a few outfits and he was made to get dressed.
He honestly didn't know how Vil or Edna put up with being poked, prodded and made to pose in different ways for three hours straight.
It was exhausting in a way he didn't expect, but Vil and Edna looked as fresh as a daisy...well, as fresh as one could get after being in the hot cameras for several hours.
Alphonse nearly collapsed when it was all over.
"You have to do that all day?" he said impressed.
"Often several days in a row. This was a fairly minor product, and we're not doing a full shoot. It's mostly a test run to see if the public likes you enough to use you as a proper model. Having my endorsement is enough for them to agree to two unknowns being present as well," said Vil.
"Imagine if Mustang ever had to do one of those monthly calendar things. His ego would blow up from being a model," snorted Edna. Al snickered at that.
Vil noticed the photographer nearby, and since the shoot was almost over anyway an idea occurred to him. There was no way to properly pose for a selfie without mangling the shot, and he could pay the man well for a single photo.
The man was all for it, and agreed to send it to Vil's manager after the fact for an agreed upon sum.
Vil got between his two cousins, with Edna grinning and making a 'V' sign (Vil blamed Cater's influence for that) and Alphonse smiling while posing with his older sister and cousin. They hadn't yet changed out of their current outfits and their make-up was likely something of a mess, but Vil didn't really care that much. It was the first real family photo they had taken since Edna managed to bring Alphonse his body back.
Al was just glad to get most of the make-up off his face. He didn't mind a bit of kohl around the eyes, as they made it easier to see in the Scarabia dorm, but a full facial was another story.
Back in Night Raven, one week later...
Vil opened up the magazine that the photos were supposed to be in, and was very surprised when he found the photo of himself, Edna and Alphonse in with the official photographs taken to display the actual products.
Vil was on the phone the second he saw that. He already had his copy and had changed his cover photo on MagiCam once he had it.
"I thought the picture of us was only supposed to be sent to you?" he asked confused. It wasn't sold in a paparazzi magazine, which was the only reason he wasn't pissed about it.
"Apparently the client liked the non-posed picture so much they requested to add it with the others. It got approved, and from what I've been told the magazine has already sold out three times and the picture is trending," said his manager.
Vil blinked before doing a basic search...the unofficial family picture they had taken was trending so much that it had sent Neige's most current picture to the number three spot, with the second being a more professional photo of Vil that Edna had posted by mistake on her own account.
She mostly only bothered with MagiCam to communicate with her friends, family and her boyfriend.
More importantly, there was a considerable amount of buzz over who the 'mystery' blond was next to Edna and Vil. Edna's account had already shot up in followers, not that she really cared the second she was officially tied as part of Vil's family.
As a Master Alchemist, most of Edna's followers were other alchemists, scientists, and potion-masters. There were even more fellow amputees following her, as she had no shame in her condition and was more than proud to display her simply living her life even with fake limbs.
She had already made a lengthy, if somewhat graphic private post for confirmed amputees or their families regarding the surgery she went under to obtain her original automail after the number of inquiries about it. While they were able to recreate her old set and even have a patent on the upgraded version, the problem was that she had no clue what exactly was used in the surgery beyond the fact that it hurt like a bitch and required a lengthy recovery time. She was a bit of an anomaly since it only took her a year, but typically it required three years to recover.
Alphonse had yet to actually make a MagiCam account. If he wanted to contact Edna, he would call her directly with the phone Jamil had helped him acquire.
Vil smirked, as they could used Alphonse's anonymity to their advantage.
Jamil felt little sympathy for Alphonse, who he had come to consider as a younger brother. The trio had come to the Scalding Sands for a few days as Vil's father Eric had to do some location shooting for a week or so, which meant they were able to visit Kalim and Jamil.
Alphonse had taken that opportunity to have a little chat with Kalim's father regarding potential employment.
While he wasn't as active as his sister, he was still considered a master Alchemist because he could use alchemy without circles the same way she could and did know a lot about ancient alchemy.
Right now Alphonse was listed as being 'under training' with Jamil so that the older teen could take an overdue vacation. Kalim preferred to think of him as younger brother regardless.
At least Al had plenty of experience keeping hot heads in line thanks to years of traveling with Edna. Jamil had been amazed and amused at how easily Al had been able to curtail some of Kalim's over the top plans with logic.
And that had been before he had his body back.
Edna was just amused at how quickly Al had taken to Jamil's younger sister Najma. It was beyond cute and if things worked out he would have no more room to talk when it came to her and Idia.
Alphonse found himself being held hostage...mostly...by Vil. Vil was giving him a very thorough and in-depth explanation of things like what each bottle was for, what it did, and why it was necessary. Much like Edna, Alphonse had never understood the necessity of basic things like conditioner.
Alphonse wanted to buy things of his own without having to rely on Kalim or the fact he would eventually be interning under the same people who had trained Jamil once he became a senior. To that end, he agreed to apprentice himself under his cousin and act as a model.
He was under no illusions why Vil was doing this. Since he was unable to oust Neige from the number one spot, he'd use a trusted proxy who had no reason to usurp Vil himself later to do it instead. The fact that mentoring his cousin could bolster his own star was just a bonus, as was the fact Alphonse would give him strong connections to the Al Asim if and when he started his own business producing make-up and beauty products.
To that end, Alphonse was now having to undergo the same headache inducing lessons that Epel and Edna had to endure. Edna had mostly gotten out of them as she was a fast study and took the initiative to look things up and ask questions from Vil after. Epel was far more reluctant, but agreed to do them because he saw Edna as a 'big sister' figure since they were both rather... height challenged...and had a similar fiery disposition.
He still didn't get why half of this was so important, but he understood it was a requirement for his potential new side job as a model.
Apparently the modeling agencies really liked him to a certain extent, as brief as his first attempt was.
Neige was pretty and affable, but he was also old news and from what Vil had told the siblings, had nothing else going for him besides modeling and acting. If he had any other talents, no one had made any big waves about them.
In fact from what he knew Neige didn't really care about modeling or acting at all. He only did it because it paid well for people who were pretty enough and he was cash-strapped while living with seven others in the same house.
So Alphonse endured the headaches that were Vil's make-up lessons, with Epel giving him commiserating looks.
By this point the lavender-haired teen considered the Elric siblings to be unofficial cousins.
Which was why when he got a call from home, his first instinct was to find the Elric siblings.
"So there's an event in Harveston and the headmage already cleared you to return home?" said Edna.
Epel nodded enthusiastically.
"It's one of the major festivals back home," he explained.
"So what's it about?"
Edna was fascinated by the idea of racing plushies of all things. Though it wasn't nearly as surprising as Idia's reaction, as he happened to overhear the conversation.
She...honestly didn't expect her boyfriend to be that interested in such a remote village in the middle of nowhere.
Then Ortho Beta explained it to her.
"Ah, so he's a fan of an anime based off the event. That explains it," she said knowingly. She gave Idia a grin.
"So that's two people. I still need at least one more to race with, since Alphonse can't go," said Epel.
Grim was currently stuck doing revision work for Professor Trein. While Edna's GPA was high enough to allow him to at least have a 'passing' grade, Professor Trein refused to allow him to skate off her hard work. If he wanted to be a proper mage, he had to earn it like everyone else.
Especially if he wanted to avoid detention with Coach Vargas over his recent mishap. He was lucky Professor Crewel hadn't made him clean the gardens for almost burning down several highly valuable ingredients that the Science club had been growing.
Alphonse however was off on a shoot with Vil, who was acting as his mentor.
Edna saw a certain pair of twins enter the cafeteria and an idea came to her.
"You said this was a sled race on a mountain, right?" she asked. Epel nodded. "Wait here a minute. I know the perfect person to ask to act as the fourth member of the team."
Edna walked over to Jade Leech, who seemed mildly surprised to have her approach him so directly. When he heard what she had to say however, he smiled broadly and nodded. Jade followed her back to the group.
"Edna said that you were attending a race on a rather remote mountain?" he asked.
Epel nodded with a smile.
"Mount Moln. It's a sled race that goes on all night on the mountain. Meemaw asked me to bring some friends with me to hopefully liven up the festival."
"I've heard of this race," admitted Jade. "And the fact it takes place on a mountain intrigues me greatly. Count me in."
A thought occurred to Edna as she saw some other students walk in.
"So we have everyone we need for the race right?" she asked.
"It's four people to a team. Why?" asked Epel.
"Because I can think of one way to insure your local festival gets a lot of notoriety," she said, eyeing a certain student. "Especially since he rarely gets invited to anything. I still don't get why people find him so intimidating."
Epel gaped when Edna walked over to Malleus Draconia of all people and asked him something. His Meemaw was sure to be very surprised if he managed to bring an actual prince to their small town festival.
Malleus looked especially pleased at the idea of being invited.
"Meemaw is sure to be happy at such a big crowd," said Epel. Even if that crowd included Malleus.
Edna grinned at him.
"I know how much your home means to you," she said.
Too bad Resembool didn't have any local festivals like that. Being a small town girl herself, she could totally get why it was so important to Epel. Besides, this sounded like a lot of fun and this time she'd be able to go somewhere with Idia.
That being said it was ridiculously cold, and Edna was already fighting the urge to sneeze repeatedly.
Edna took one look at Epel's Meemaw and immediately equated her to a friendlier version of Granny Pinako.
It wasn't until she happened to see an ancient photo, clearly restored that she realized perhaps there was a reason why she got along with Epel so easily.
"Epel...who's that woman in the photo?"
Epel looked at the ancient photograph.
"That's our matriarch, Winry," he said. "Why?"
"Winry as in Winry Rockbell?" said Edna, trying not to smile sadly.
Epel and his grandmother stared at her.
"How did you know that?" said Meemaw.
Edna let out a tired laugh.
"I should have known you got that fiery temper from somewhere. Winry was always rather passionate about her interests," said Edna. Figures Epel was descended from the closest thing she had to a sister figure until this point.