trans_9 | The Art of Beach Alchemy [Open]

Night had fallen and Ed was out in full force.

Having decided to wait till the evening to make the effort even more spectacular, Ed had waited till the sun had set before performing his alchemy. A fitting tribute and all together frivolous, he clapped his hands.

A ring of energy formed and a statue formed of Alphonse in what he considered to be a heroic pose. He clapped his hands again and more statues formed; Armstrong without his shirt and posing, Fuery looking heroic with gun at his side while petting Den, Breda with a sandwich, Havoc in mid-drag of his ever-present cigarettes, Granny Pinako with her pipe, and even Hoenheim, as much as Ed was frustrated with him deserved a spot on his little beachfront adjustment. May stood at the bottom of the group, hands folded into her sleeves, and Ran Fan's grandfather stood in the final position.

It would stand here on the beach, rimming a set of rocks that he also had transmuted into strong glass and marble. A statement that the Fullmetal Alchemist had been here, and he was leaving his mark across the universe.

Ed grinned as he tapped his sneaker against the sand. "Looks pretty decent," he said to himself.

He felt that he didn't need to add statues of those awake. They being on this planet was enough.

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Smiling almost gently, he nods.

"Build it in front of Research. It'll be just like before, him shoving his happiness in everyone's face as they come and go," he says, edges of mirth lurking somewhere in his tone.

He peers down at Ed and the picture, eyebrows lifting.

"That's an interesting camera. It develops pictures automatically?"

Ed did chuckle at the thought of doing that, just so that the giant Elysia would be everywhere, although he nodded. "It's a disposable, or at least that's what the woman said. Once I make 25 pictures, it'll flake into nothing but leave these holographic photos. I'm thinking I'll invest in a real one before we leave."

He smiled. "I'd like to get a picture of everyone at the base of the statue. You know, for old times sake."

Studying the photo in Ed's hand, he nods appreciatively. Cameras are so much slower than this in Amestris, he can't help being quite fascinated.

"May I?" He holds his hand out for the camera, quite intent on studying the thing.

He smirk at Ed, eyebrow once again quirked, though the expression manages to be mildly surprised at the same time as it is smug. "I never knew you to be so sentimental, Fullmetal," he says, though he has to admit it's a nice idea. "Hughes would be proud."

Ed handed the camera over to Roy, knowing full well he wouldn't take it apart or anything. "If there's one thing I've learned from the Brigadier General, it's that being sentimental isn't a flaw, it's a strength. Something I never really learned to be."

He looked at the statue that gleamed in the lights of the beach. "They look good like that."

Turning the camera over and around slowly, he examines it carefully, trying to imagine what the inside would be like that it allows pictures to shoot out of it like that. Were he Miss Rockbell, he would have it in pieces by now. Fortunately, he's an alchemist, not a mechanic, so he's fairly satisfied with his surface study, and hands it back after a few minutes.

He studies Ed with something akin to the expression he just used on the camera, head tilting slightly as he wonders when the kid figured that one out. He would never have pegged the blond for such tangible nostalgia, as firm as he is in his "Walk forwards" philosophy.

"Actually, Fullmetal, I think Hughes would be crying if he heard you say that. From joy." He's amused, yes. Rather a lot.

Following Ed's gaze, he looks at the array of figures again, agreeing silently. It occurs to him to ask about the two Xingese-looking people.

"Who're those two? I don't kn--I haven't met them... yet."

Ed suppressed a snicker. Yeah, Hughes would be probably crying tears of joy. Dang he was going soft. But this place was full of good feelings, and it really made him feel warm and fuzzy inside whenever he did stuff like this. "I guess I can give you that."

He indicated the small girl. "May, and the old guy's Fu. They're from Xing. Al and I encountered Fu along with Ran Fan and Ling in Rush Valley, and May later on near Central. The little animal is May's pet. Al thought it was a kitten or some sort."

"I wasn't aware that I needed your approval, Fullmetal," he says with a spark of the eyes at Ed's phrasing of that sentence. He's chuckling on the inside, really, he is.

He eyes the small girl and the old man, trying to pin faces on Ling and Ran Fan. It takes him a second, but his infallible memory supplies the correct features, and he nods. "I take it they were more than helpful." Though he's tempted to wonder how a tiny girl like that could possibly be helpful, he's learned enough to know not to question people's relative usefulness.

"Isn't that a kitten, though?"

Ed "Feh"ed at Roy's usual banter and he nodded. "They're really good, and they helped solve some of the harder mysteries of the entire situation back home."

He chuckled. "It's not. It's what they call a miniature panda."

He nods, focused on the representation of the old man. After a moment, his curiosity piques, and his eyes slide sideways to peer at Ed.

"What kind of mysteries? I can't imagine anything escaping your robust mental capacity." And yeah, there's sarcasm lacing his tone, because when isn't there sarcasm lacing his tone?

Squinting at the little animal, he frowns, saying, "I think I saw a panda once in a zoo. It was much larger than this one." Hence 'miniature', but oh well.

"Figuring out where the homunculus came from, the secrets to alchemic power and flow, and May showed us the art of Medical Alchemy from the East." said Ed.

He nodded. "Mei was the first time I experienced the tiny little thing. Both it and May really likes Al for some reason."

The Art of Beach Alchemy [Open]

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