Their home stands before them just as they left it, and for all they have changed-- for all the hard edges ground onto them both in Amestris-- it is a relief she had not expected to pass through the golden gates and into the imperial capital of Xing. Neither one of them stands out, not with her master (it would hardly be proper to call him the young master anymore, not with everything that's happened and with what will happen once they reach the palace) dressed far below his station and her face bared for the world to see. The time for masks and finery will come when they are closer to the palace; it would not do for any of her master's brothers to receive word of their arrival before they greet the Emperor.
There are places in the capital that make their tenure in Amestris seem positively lavish, and it is one of these purposefully-forgotten corners of the city that they plan for Prince Yao's official arrival in the palace.
"--Prince Li will be easy to avoid, of course, he never pays attention to anything outside of the palace. Princess Min will be trouble, though--"
She should be listening better than she is; it is her duty, not to mention what will keep them alive. Her master can get more gossip in an hour with a grin, a few coins, and a bottle of baiju than a trained spymaster could overhear in a week, and his information is probably good. But duty or no, her mind cannot help but wander to the thought that this will be her last chance to say something, to do something. After this she will once again be nothing but the Prince Yao's masked shadow.
"--beaten us here?" He's asked her something and she has failed to hear it; she needs to do something before it's too late if only to stop this distraction. After he doesn't get an answer, he repeats himself. Does she think that the Princess Chang has beaten them to Xing?
"Mei Chang had nothing to show for her efforts when we left-- if she is here, it is to teach the Elric brothers alkahestry and not to present anything to your exalted father," she says.
"Of course," her master says, a slow smile turning his thin mouth up. It is not the same smile he had used a few hours before to coax information out of palace servants too new to their jobs to know the face of the Prince Yao, and that is what finally breaks her resolve to stay still and silent.
His jacket is coarse and stiff between her fingers as she seizes him by his collar and kisses him. It is brief and startlingly unromantic-- hardly the stuff of poetry or Amestrian dime novels-- and she can only wonder, is this it?
"Thank you," is what he says, their faces still so close together she can almost feel the words as she hears them. It's a strange thing to hear, thank you, but he is still smiling.
His hand on her shoulder as she dons her mask-- a small slip in decorum she cannot help but appreciate-- reminds her that her master has always had a somewhat deficient sense of propriety. It's almost enough to make her want to smile along with him.
FILLED
Their home stands before them just as they left it, and for all they have changed-- for all the hard edges ground onto them both in Amestris-- it is a relief she had not expected to pass through the golden gates and into the imperial capital of Xing. Neither one of them stands out, not with her master (it would hardly be proper to call him the young master anymore, not with everything that's happened and with what will happen once they reach the palace) dressed far below his station and her face bared for the world to see. The time for masks and finery will come when they are closer to the palace; it would not do for any of her master's brothers to receive word of their arrival before they greet the Emperor.
There are places in the capital that make their tenure in Amestris seem positively lavish, and it is one of these purposefully-forgotten corners of the city that they plan for Prince Yao's official arrival in the palace.
"--Prince Li will be easy to avoid, of course, he never pays attention to anything outside of the palace. Princess Min will be trouble, though--"
She should be listening better than she is; it is her duty, not to mention what will keep them alive. Her master can get more gossip in an hour with a grin, a few coins, and a bottle of baiju than a trained spymaster could overhear in a week, and his information is probably good. But duty or no, her mind cannot help but wander to the thought that this will be her last chance to say something, to do something. After this she will once again be nothing but the Prince Yao's masked shadow.
"--beaten us here?" He's asked her something and she has failed to hear it; she needs to do something before it's too late if only to stop this distraction. After he doesn't get an answer, he repeats himself. Does she think that the Princess Chang has beaten them to Xing?
"Mei Chang had nothing to show for her efforts when we left-- if she is here, it is to teach the Elric brothers alkahestry and not to present anything to your exalted father," she says.
"Of course," her master says, a slow smile turning his thin mouth up. It is not the same smile he had used a few hours before to coax information out of palace servants too new to their jobs to know the face of the Prince Yao, and that is what finally breaks her resolve to stay still and silent.
His jacket is coarse and stiff between her fingers as she seizes him by his collar and kisses him. It is brief and startlingly unromantic-- hardly the stuff of poetry or Amestrian dime novels-- and she can only wonder, is this it?
"Thank you," is what he says, their faces still so close together she can almost feel the words as she hears them. It's a strange thing to hear, thank you, but he is still smiling.
His hand on her shoulder as she dons her mask-- a small slip in decorum she cannot help but appreciate-- reminds her that her master has always had a somewhat deficient sense of propriety. It's almost enough to make her want to smile along with him.