Welcome to Gaia! ::

She moved out of her house some time ago for unknown reasons. She stays in one of the apartment buildings a few blocks from Naruto's apartment.

Okay, so, this wasn't what either were expecting. Not that it was bad or anything, as far as apartments went they both figured it was nice. They just hadn't expected it. They followed her in and stood in the middle of the living room, each looking rather awkward at being in someone else's, someone they had just met, no less, home. A home they were expected to stay in for...well, who knew how long?

Wait. Share a bed? Geeze, they hadn't done that since they were kids. Barring the occasional nightmares, of course...Al always seemed to end up in Ed's bed after a bad dream. Or a particularly bad storm...Or, well...okay, point taken. Ed shrugged "I don't mind, I guess..." Obviously Al didn't care, seeing as how he nodded right along with his brother.

Ever since the two had been reunited after the gate incident, Al had been finding excuses to curl up next to Ed. After so many years of being trapped in armor, one could forget just how nice the warmth of another body was. Especially when coupled with the comfort of family.

"Ramen?" What in the world was that? Another wonderful thing about being human again? He could eat. New foods were always exciting.

Alphonse shook his head, he'd never even heard of ramen before. The younger brother laughed lightly at Sakura's description of Naruto's addiction and seated himself at the table. Dark gold eyes watched her move around the kitchen, the teen rather interested in the whole process, it seemed.

Edward nodded, though still feeling a bit awkward, and took her invitation to familiarize himself with her home. Books? Great! He'd been craving some new reading material. Movies? TV? Bah. Give him books. The blond went directly to the shelf and began picking through what was there.

((Hm...I can't remember if they actually have movies/television in the FMA universe...Do you? I really don't feel like picking through my manga ^_^; ))

((*shakes head* No, no, I know about the tv and stuff in Naruto.

I was talking about the Full Metal Alchemist universe. Would Ed and Al have any idea what a television is?))

((M'kay, I just couldn't remember if they may have ever encountered television before. Didn't know whether to have Ed freak out over it or not ^_^))

In the short time it took Sakura to return with the pajamas, Ed was already nose-deep in a random medical book he'd picked up. He'd always loved to know how and why things work, and the human body was one of the most intriguing subjects to research.

The TV was interesting, too...just not nearly as much. He'd figured out how that worked in under an hour. Of course, the first time he'd ever seen one had been in that weird alternate universe and he'd had a little freak-out.

'Little' meaning, naturally, that he'd deconstructed the whole thing, poked and prodded at its innards for near thirty minutes, put it back together, and began an attempt to repeat the process before the owner of the set threatened to throw him out on the streets for the night.

He barely heard her, even when she spoke to him, and accepted the clothing rather absentmindedly.

The behavior got a smile out of Alphonse. The kind of expression one gets when someone close to them does something utterly predictable. Apparently, Ed was already too focused to even overreact about a simple height comment. Al took the PJs, "Thank you, um, you don't have to be so formal, you know..." The odd honorary attached to his name sounded, well, odd. "Just Ed and Al will work."

The smell of food wasn't even enough to get Ed's attention and it wasn't until Alphonse walked over and actually removed the book from his brother's hands that Ed's mind returned to the world around him. "What smells good?" Afterward, he gave the cloth in his hands a curious glance. When had that gotten there?

Al rolled his eyes and placed the book back on the shelf, "If you'd been here for the past ten minutes, you'd know that. C'mon, Sakura made food." Al picked up his bowl, and handed Ed's to him.

Oh. Right. She had said something about food earlier, hadn't she?

Edward set the pajamas down on the couch in order to accept the bowl, then seated himself beside his brother. A hesitant taste on both their parts quickly earned near identical grins. This stuff was good!

((Oh, I jump from site to site *short attention span* ))

While Ed devoured his noodles with all the fervor of a starving man, Alphonse preferred to savor every last bite. He'd never known why, either, until Ed had sat down and explained every last heartbreaking memory Al had lost during the transition back to flesh rather than armor. Now, the teen knew why he had this odd determination to enjoy everything life offered, but especially food.

An attempt to speak around a mouthful of food earned the elder brother a thwap on the back of the head, and Al grinned at Sakura. "That sounds great. I think we've both been eager to explore."

Ed rubbed at the spot where Al's hand had connected, and swallowed the noodles. "Was that really necessary, Al?"

"It is if you keep ignoring basic manners, brother..."

"Ah! Don't tell him that! He's bad enough as it is..." Alphonse sighed, Ed had always had a problem with manners and giving permission to ignore them certainly wouldn't help Al's mission to break the habit.

Ed, on the other hand, just grinned. That is, until the talk turned to their homeland. Then the expression became sadder, "It's really different from here...It's a military controlled country under the rule of the Fuhrer. State alchemists, like us, function as the attack dogs," he sighed heavily, "quelling any uprisings that might occur in whatever city, and manning the front lines during war..."

The elder brother set his nearly empty bowl down and his eyes got that far-away look that often happens when one flashes back to their past. Family? No. Friends? Well..."We have a few friends waiting on us..." He stiffened slightly at the question about their love lives, "How is that any of your business?"

Al rolled his eyes, "She's just asking, Ed." Then a mischievous smirk took over the younger boy's face. "Ed has a girlfriend~"

The comment began a full minute-long argument consisting mainly of Ed telling his brother to shut up, and Al continuing to instigate.