Long Time, No See [Alphonse]

[Mei Chang]

x x

Mei was brimming with excitement, her braids bouncing as she stepped off from the train, giving a cheery wave the attendants, before looking around hopefully for the sight of Alphonse. Unfortunately, his blonde head of hair was nowhere in sight, and she sighed, having expected it, yet still hoping. She hadn’t given a day to his older brother, so she didn’t think he would’ve been there, but still… Had she known Alphonse was coming, she would’ve camped out until he arrived! Completely! Then again… His health might not be the best yet, so she didn’t want him risking it. So it was okay.

Still, she would get to see him again! A grin finding itself onto her face, the Xingese Princess flounced down the road, Xiao-Mei giving a small squawk from her position on her shoulder. “Sorry, Xiao-Mei,” Mei told the panda, who quickly nuzzled up to her cheek. That didn’t stop her from making a beeline down the road from excitement, though.

However, when she reached the vicinity of Alphonse’s house, or at least where he was saying, the girl slowed down. After all, she could be seen from the windows, if someone was looking, and she didn’t want to seem too eager! …Sure, she was, but that didn’t mean she had to show it!

Beaming brightly from ear to ear, now, at the thought of seeing Alphonse once more, Mei knocked carefully on the door, light enough so that she wouldn’t be pounding, but yet hard enough so that someone could actually hear it. So, thrumming with excitement and hard-pressed to actually stay still and not bounce around, the girl waited eagerly for someone (hopefully Alphonse!) to answer the door and let her in.

[Alphonse Elric]

[atrb=border,0,true] It was a relatively calm day at Rockbell Automail. Relatively, because Ed and Winry had had some sort of altercation. Alphonse didn't understand why they couldn't stop being so stubborn and admit their feelings already. Surely it wasn't too difficult; they'd have to be completely blind not to see that the other felt the same way. Then again... this was Edward and Winry he was talking about. He was reading a book on the couch, far away from Edward and Winry both, when there was a knock at the door. Assuming that it was just a customer, Al wasn't too surprised that someone had stopped by unannounced. He was, however, surprised to open the door to find a beaming Mei Chang, with Xiao Mei on her shoulder. Still, that didn't mean that he wasn't happy to see her. "Hi, Mei," he greeted with a (slightly confused) smile. "I didn't know that you were coming..." If he had, he certainly would have attempted to put on something a bit nicer. Of course, he was aware of what his brother's jabs about the Xingese girl meant, but... he was fairly sure that he didn't like her like that. She was... how old was she, again? She certainly wasn't his age, at any rate. "Come in," he said, stepping aside and holding the door open for her. "I have to warn you that Ed and Winry had some sort of argument earlier, so..." he trailed off, looking at the girl. Okay, so she wasn't that young. But still, she was younger than he was... Alphonse shook his head slightly. "Um... there's some apple pie in the kitchen, if you're hungry." He had no idea what to do. Had he known that Mei was coming, he would have planned something. "How was your journey?" he asked, for lack of something else to say.

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TAGGED mei. WORDS idon'tcare.
OUTFIT t-shirt & trousers.

NOTES: ohmygod she's so adorable <3 this will be so much fun; Al's going to be going crazy :D

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[Mei Chang]

x x

The door opened, and the face of a confused Alphonse Elric appeared. Oh, he must’ve not realized she was coming today! Perhaps he thought later? “Hey, Alphonse!” Mei returned his greeting rather cheerfully, before frowning slightly and tilting her head to side, Xiao-Mei copying the action in sync. “I called! Didn’t your brother tell you I’d be coming?” she asked, slightly confused. She didn’t see how he couldn’t know… Perhaps it slipped his older brother’s mind? After all, Mei couldn’t understand how anyone could purposefully withhold information from Alphonse.

Beaming at him as he held open the door (Such a gentleman! Definitely!), Mei stepped inside, surveying the interior of the house curiously. It was way smaller than hers, of course, but it had a very quaint and homely feel to it. Immediately deciding that she liked the house, the Xingese Princess turned her eyes back upon Alphonse, who was honestly looking way better and not so skinny. That had been awful, when he was all bones and felt so fragile, and… Whoops, she had missed the whole first part of what he said!

Tuning back into his words, Mei nodded enthusiastically at the thought of having some apple pie (with Xiao-Mei mimicing her every movement), before hesitating. “Well, if it’s not too much trouble… I can wait and eat something later.” If it was Alphonse’s special apple pie, or someone else’s, and he was just offering to be polite, she didn’t want to take that away! Oh no!

Brightening up at his question, Mei began to chatter excitedly. “It was so much fun! It seems like forever since I was in Amestris and all of the people were so nice as always, well not as nice as you but still…” And then she caved in and did exactly what she had been wanting to do since she had seen Alphonse: Hugged him.

Launching forward that last couple of steps, her arms encircling him and her face burying into his shirt, Mei felt much better. After all, she was always more of a touchy-feely person. “And I missed you!”

[Alphonse Elric]

[atrb=border,0,true] Alphonse furrowed his brows at Mei's question. "No, he didn't." He made a mental note to ask his brother about this later. Of course, he wouldn't have put it past Ed to forget, but... Alphonse was sure that he wasn't being entirely subtle with trying to set his brother up with Winry - perhaps Ed had finally noticed and conveniently "forgot" to mention it to him. Shutting the door behind Mei, Alphonse took this as an opportunity to observe the girl. She seemed to be prettier than he remembered, or was that just from not seeing her in so long? Xiao Mei was the same as he'd remembered, though, so perhaps there was something different about her... Alphonse grinned. "Don't worry about it; we have plenty. It's one of our favourites, so we always have some around. Do you want me to get a small piece for Xiao Mei, too?" He wondered if Xiao Mei knew who he was, in this new body. His grin broadened as Mei chirped on. "That's great!" he exclaimed. Of course, he'd have to be blind not to see that the girl had a crush on him, and, to be honest, seeing her again, for some reason, was really confusing him. He was noticing all sorts of things about her that he'd never noticed before, but he just attributed this to being in his human body and healthy. Alphonse was a bit taken aback at the hug, but he supposed that he really should have been expecting that. It was Mei, after all, and she'd hugged him before. As such, he hugged her back a bit awkwardly. "I missed you, too, Mei." It was true, and he'd be lying if he said that she weren't part of the reason he'd been wanting to go to Xing instead of to the West... "So," Alphonse started, still hugging Mei. "How about we go into the kitchen and I get out the pie? You can tell me all about your journey." He found it a bit strange that he was enjoying hugging her so much, but he shrugged it off and attributed it to having not seen her in so long.

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TAGGED mei. WORDS idon'tcare.
OUTFIT t-shirt & trousers.

NOTES: SO WHEN IS HE GONNA START BEING REALLY AWKWARD AND STUFFF?

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[Mei Chang]

x x

Alphonse’s reply in the negative made both Mei and Xiao-Mei frown slightly, contemplating whether or not Edward had actually forgotten to tell him, before dismissing it. After all, she was here now, right? So it didn’t really matter if he had known, or not. Plus, it was kind of cool to have surprised Alphonse of all people!

At the question, Mei immediately nodded. “Yeah, Xiao-Mei would definitely like some!” The panda quickly agreed with her, nodding in unison. They both quite liked food, and always ate together, so it was a definite yes. Besides, how could she eat when Xiao-Mei was hungry, and not offer her anything? That’d be too cruel! …And the panda would totally steal her food if she ever even though of it.

Xiao Mei, for her part, was a tad confused. After all, Mei was treating this new person like she had treated the armor boy before, who didn’t even get hurt… Maybe this was what he looked like without the armor? She sniffed the air warily, staring at Alphonse. Hm…

Mei, ignoring one of the idiosyncrasies of her panda (after all, Xiao-Mei would figure it out eventually), was quite delighted at the hug she received back, snuggling into her favorite person. Even though she hadn’t liked being away from Alphonse for so long, especially so soon after he had gotten his body back, it felt nice to hear that she had been missed too, and that their whole relationship (not that kind of relationship… yet) wasn’t just in her imagination.

Listening to Alphonse’s words, Mei was faintly displeased to hear that they made so sense. She was definitely okay with going and eating pie with her two most important people (…even if one was a panda, she counted!), but she really didn’t feel like letting go of Alphonse. She really did like hugs! “Okay…” With one last squeeze, she let go of him and stepped back, already feeling bereft.

But quite quickly, as usual, her mood piped right back up and she began to chatter once more. “I don’t know how you two can ride around on the trains so much, Alphonse! It was fun at first but it gets boring really quickly and I’ve tried to read books a few times but it always makes me feel kind of sick! Do you just get used to it or something?” Mei’s way of telling stories about what happened to her usually consisted of her chatting about whatever she had thought about the trip, not about the trip itself, and this time was no different.

[Alphonse Elric]

[atrb=border,0,true] Alphonse smiled. "Then I'll get her a slice, too. Smaller than yours, right?" He wasn't quite sure that the panda could eat as much as Mei, but he wanted to make sure. Then again, Winry's pie was absolutely delicious, and he never felt like he'd had enough. He smiled at Xiao-Mei, hoping that she realised who he was. He resisted the urge to pat her head to try to calm her down; he could actually feel pain now, and while feeling was wonderful, he imagined that being bitten by a tiny panda would not be so great. Alphonse was quite surprised when Mei snuggled into him. He wasn't quite sure why, but, for some reason, he didn't want to let her go. He wondered why he felt the urge to kiss the top of her head. It would certainly be a different feeling than he was used to... still, he wasn't sure how Mei would react (then again, he doubted that she'd react badly to any display of affection from him). Giving in, he quickly planted a soft kiss on the top of her head. Alphonse was fairly disappointed when Mei released him (for some reason that he couldn't quite fathom). He shrugged upon hearing Mei's question. "I don't know... I think that you sort of get used to it after a while," he explained. "It didn't hurt that for most of my time spent on trains, I wasn't in a human body." He smiled at her, hoping that she didn't get upset at his statement. "Shall we go into the kitchen, then?" he asked. Though Mei's visit had been entirely unexpected, this was nice. "If you're tired, I can show you where you can lay down." He smiled. "After the pie, of course," he added. He showed her into the kitchen and got out three slices of pie. He pulled out a chair for Mei to sit down in before searing himself. "How long are you staying for?" he asked. Fearing that his question could be perceived as if he wanted to get rid of Mei, he added, "Feel free to stay for however long you want; I'm sure everyone else will be okay with it." He wondered why Mei was having this effect upon him. More importantly, why couldn't he stop smiling?

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TAGGED mei. WORDS idon'tcare.
OUTFIT t-shirt & trousers.

NOTES: oh, Al, do you not realise what is going on? <3

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[Mei Chang]

x x

Nodding at the question, even though her panda pouted, Mei answered brightly. “Yup! If she wants more, she’ll let me know, though.” The last was said with an affectionate glance to Xiao -Mei on her shoulder, who returned the glance with an equal amount of love, before fixing her gaze on Alphonse. She was almost a hundred percent positive it was the armor boy, out of his armor, but she couldn’t be sure…

The kiss on the top of the head startled both the girl and the panda. Mei, because she hadn’t really expected such affection from Alphonse. Sure, he had definitely hugged her all those times, but she didn’t think that he would actually kiss her, even on the top of the head! He was so innocent, and so charming, and… Well, it made the Xingese Princess want to stand on her tip-toes and peck him on the lips. She had a feeling it might not be a hundred percent well received, though, and settled for beaming brightly at Alphonse, not the slightest bit embarrassed. Xiao Mei, on the other hand, had finally connected the two dots and realized the Alphonse was indeed the armor boy from before. With that, she crossed the small distance between the two with a small jump before scrambling up onto Alphonse’s shoulder, snuggling into his neck. The absolutely adorable image made Mei giggle.

Alphonse’s answer to her question, though, made Mei’s mouth drop into an ‘o’ of understanding, though her mood took a slight downturn. That he had spent all that time, unfeeling, in that body of armor… Still, he was good now, and she roughly shoved that thought aside. No need to dwell on it! Returning the older boy’s smile, Mei nodded, taking his hand (and resisting the urge to thread her fingers through his). “Sure!”

The offer made Mei blink in surprise, however, and she quickly waved her free hand about. “Oh no, I’m not tired! Besides, I came this far to see you, I can’t just sleep now!” She really wasn’t tired, honestly, and even if she was, she didn’t think she could just fall asleep with Alphonse around, so embarrassing! (…Unless she fell asleep on his shoulder or in his lap…)

Reluctantly releasing his hand to plop down in the chair that Alphonse had (so kindly!) pulled out for her, Mei blinked at the question, surprised, and then giggled slightly at how quickly he followed up with it. (Aww, he was so sweet!) “Forever!” she announced, grinning, before following up with her actual answer. “I dunno, actually. Probably until the Clan makes me come home…” Hopefully, that wouldn’t be soon, but who knew with those fuddie-duddies!

Smiling as she saw her panda friend leap off from Alphonse’s shoulder and to her own slice of pie, Mei took a bite of her own, eyes widening in delight as the taste hit her tongue. Swallowing quickly, she exclaimed, “Wow, this is great! Who made this?” She had never really had pie, so it was doubly good for the Xingese Princess, especially with her panda in sound agreement.

A thought occurred to her, from Alphonse’s last statement, and Mei spoke up once more, asking a question. “Oh yeah, Alphonse, do you think you could show me where the inn is, later? I should probably get a room before it’s too late…” She was pretty sure they only had one inn in a small town like this (although she could be wrong), but that didn’t mean that she shouldn’t pick up a room, thinking that it wouldn’t be full. For all she knew, it could be!

[Alphonse Elric]

[atrb=border,0,true] Alphonse nodded. It might have been strange, to others, asking if the panda would want her own slice, but Alphonse had learnt very early on that Xiao Mei was almost as human as himself. It was cute, really, and it wasn't like Winry would mind if Al gave the panda some pie. Once Al realised what he'd done, he'd begun to blush. Mei, on the other hand, didn't look embarrassed at all. Why would she? She clearly seemed to be enamoured with him; why would she object to a kiss on the top of the head? Her smile certainly was pretty, though. He was prevented from having more thoughts in this vein when Xiao-Mei jumped onto his shoulder. He patted the panda softly, glad that she seemed to have made the connection that he was, indeed, the boy from the armor. He couldn't help but smile at Mei's giggle. "Well, I'm glad that she finally remembers me," he commented with a soft chuckle. Alphonse felt a blush creeping up his cheeks when Mei grabbed his hand. Her hand was so tiny and so soft... He shook his head slightly. She probably didn't mean it in any special way; she was rather affectionate toward him anyway, so why was this having such an affect on him? Perhaps it was just an off day. He hadn't got very much sleep the night before, and, though he wasn't actually tired, perhaps it was just throwing him off. Yes, that had to be it. Al nodded at Mei's response. "If you do feel like you need to lay down, just ask me, and I can show you where. It's no trouble." He was somewhat reluctant to let go of her hand, but he made no objection. As soon as she was seated, he pushed her seat in for her (though he knew perfectly well that she could do it herself; he was a gentleman, after all). "Honestly, you're free to stay as long as you like; it's not like Ed and Winry don't know you... and it's definitely not like we wouldn't be happy if you were to stay for a while." Well, he would certainly be happy, and he was sure that Winry would be as well... he didn't think that Ed would have a major problem, either, which was, really, sometimes as good as you could get from him. Alphonse smiled and went to get three pieces of pie. He couldn't help but smile at Mei and Xiao Mei's reactions to the pie. "Winry made it," he said in response. "It's our favourite, so there's almost always some in the house." It really was delicious... definitely the best apple pie that he'd ever had, even though he hadn't really had any other apple pie since he'd got his body back. He was sure that Winry's was the best there was. Alphonse furrowed his brows and felt a stab of disappointment. "You want to stay in the inn?" he asked. He'd sort of expected her to stay with them, but... she was a princess, after all. Perhaps that was it. Still, it couldn't hurt to offer. "Mei, you can stay with us. You don't need to waste your money on a room at the inn. We have enough room and it won't be any trouble, I promise." He paused, considering. "Well, it won't be any trouble for us. Ed and Winry might be a bit much to handle twenty-four/seven." Still, he hoped that Mei would choose to stay there. He felt strangely excited about the idea.

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TAGGED mei. WORDS idon'tcare.
OUTFIT t-shirt & trousers.

NOTES: Sorry that I am super super late. I have had lots of stuff and frankly little inspiration for this. Sorry if this seems a bit flat. <3

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[Mei Chang]

x x

Xiao Mei accepted Alphonse’s patting quite readily, content with the knowledge that this was who Mei liked, not a complete stranger. Mei herself simply grinned and nodded at the other’s statement. “Mhm! And she didn’t have to bite you to do it!” she was pretty sure, judging by the fact that he didn’t seem overly embarrassed, Alphonse hadn’t made the connection between the kiss on the top of the head and Xiao Mei’s realization (although, really, what else would make her suddenly remember?), but it didn’t matter. He’d probably blush more, though, and she really didn’t get why he was so embarrassed… Or maybe it was a happy blush? Could be!

She did have to admit that a blush looked quite fetching on Alphonse, though she didn’t say anything, of course. Whether he was happy or embarrassed or blushing for some other reason that she couldn’t think of (and honestly, she didn’t think there were any other reasons), his cheeks tinted hues of pink and red looked really nice on him… Something she was glad she was getting a chance to see, finally.

Sending a beam at Alphonse as he pushed in her chair – really, he was such a gentleman, what had she done to deserve him? – and listening to him speak, the princess decided that stating, again, that she wasn’t tired probably wouldn’t do anything here, so she simply smile and nodded. “’Kay, I’ll remember,” she told him, though she highly doubted she would bring up the topic again. Still, it was very nice of him to make sure that Mei could sleep, if she needed to, and she might have to use it for Xiao Mei later on. That is, unless the sugar made her hyper…

Pushing that horrible thought to the dredges of her mind, Mei felt delight grow inside her at Alphonse’s words. “Great!” she told him enthusiastically, Xiao Mei echoing her brilliant smile. Alphonse has said that he was happy to have her here~. Well, he had been included in the ‘we’, but still! “It’s nice to be in Amestris again, so I’ll be sticking around as long as I can,” she spoke honestly. Xing was her home, for sure, where she had been born and raised and where she lived and grew up, but Amestris… It was where she had made actual friends (of course, there was Xiao Mei, but she was family,) and met Alphonse, so Mei was quite delighted to be back here.

Though part of her had wished that it was Alphonse’s pie, so that she could try some of his cooking, being able to taste Winry’s legendary apple pie was definitely good in her books. “I understand why you go on about it so much, then!” she told him with a giggle, remembering how he mentioned it in their letters. She hadn’t thought what the big deal then was, but now, well… It was certainly on the list of some of her favorite foods, now. With that, she took another bite with relish, smiling at the sight of Xiao Mei enjoying hers, as well.

At Alphonse’s disappointed-sounding question, Mei paused, slightly confused. Where else was she going to stay, besides the inn? His next statement, and his offer, made her eyes widen slightly. Stay in Alphonse’s house? With him? Of course she’d never turn that down! And even if it wasn’t with Alphonse, or his house, this place was very nice and cozy and homey, and everything that her rooms back home weren’t. But would it really not be any trouble? She hesitated, considering it, before the other’s next statement made her giggle slightly. “I’d love to, if it really isn’t too much trouble,” Mei told him with a big smile. “And if your brother and Winry get to be too much, we can always sneak off to town or something!” she tacked on, actually liking the idea. Ooh, it could count as a date…!

[Alphonse Elric]

[atrb=border,0,true] WIP

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TAGGED mei. WORDS idon'tcare.
OUTFIT t-shirt & trousers.

NOTES: SUPER SUPER SUPER LATE I AM SORRY. I have had no muse and yeah.

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