Alphonse, ever the early riser, was the first to wake up the next morning and found himself confused to feel something lying at his feet. He scooted back and sat up to get a better look to find Sev lying there. It took him a moment to process the fact that the chimera was curled up at the foot of his bed, and just a moment longer to remember why that was so.

Satisfied once he recalled the events of the previous night, he lifted his arms to stretch. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Sev looking back at him.

"Did you sleep alright?" He asked.

She blinked and stared at him for a moment before lifting her head slightly and nodding.

He smiled softly at her, "That's good to hear. I'm sorry General Armstrong scared you last night, especially right after waking up from a bad dream."

She ducked her head and gave the closest equivalent to a shrug that a chimera could accomplish before slowly uncurling herself and stretching herself out. It took her a moment as she leaned backward and then forwards, stretching her legs out as far as she could in a sort of instinctual ritual. With a final yawn and a flick of her tail, she sat down on the foot of the bed and looked at Alphonse.

Al smiled and held out his hand, palm down. She already knew him, but it wouldn't hurt to let her continue to get used to him or get her permission before he touched her.

Sev leaned forward and sniffed at his hand before placing her nose underneath and rubbing against it so he would start to stroke her.

Al obliged, giving the top of her nose a gentle scratch before scooting a bit closer to stroke her.

The chimera closed her eyes and let out a low, rumbling purr at the contact.

Alphonse chuckled softly and continued to run his hand from the top of her head down the back of her neck, stopping occasionally to scratch behind her ears.

"Maybe we can see about getting this collar off today," he mused, feeling the leather band as he continued to pet Sev.

Sev just gave a non-committal hum in reply.

They remained quiet for a moment longer before a thought suddenly struck Alphonse.

"Hey… Sev?"

She opened one eye to look at him in question.

"Do you… Do you have to go to the bathroom?"

It had suddenly hit him that he wasn't sure if she'd done so since sometime the previous day.

She blinked and just stared at him for a moment before nodding slowly, looking almost embarrassed.

"Oh… um… Hey, Ed?"

His brother just grumbled sleepily in response.

"Brother!"

"Mnn… What, Al?"

"Sev needs to um… relieve herself."

At that, Edward sat up, looking more awake, "Oh."

The brothers looked at each other for a moment, silently debating. Could they teach Sev to use an actual toilet or would she just have to go outside?

Sev just looked between the two of them, seeming confused about the whole situation.

Alphonse frowned, "Outside's probably gonna be easier for her…"

Ed sighed, but nodded, "You're right. Let's go find Armstrong."

It didn't take too long to find the Major and ask where outside Sev could relieve herself and go there.

Once done, Sev busied herself with sniffing anything and everything new (which, to her, was basically everything). She seemed particularly taken with flowers, and spent a good ten minutes just rolling in the grass, toting her stuffed rabbit along with her through the large estate.

Ed and Al found a bench where they could keep an eye on Sev as she explored and discussed their next move.

"I think we should go to the library to start researching," Ed said.

"At least one of us should stay with Sev at any given time though," Al replied.

Ed nodded, agreeing to the statement, "You're right… Who should do what first, then?"

Al hummed softly, watching Sev frolic under a tree as he pondered, "I think… I think you should go to the library first and I can stay with Sev? We can swap in a few hours, or just alternate every day or something."

Edward nodded again, "Sounds like a plan. Alternating every day seems like a good idea, knowing how we study."

He smirked a bit and Alphonse chuckled, "You've definitely got a point there."

Al looked back over towards where Sev was playing, only…

"Where'd she go?!"

Ed blinked and looked over with mild panic, "Sev?"

Both of the brothers stood up and quickly made their way over to the tree where they'd last seen her.

"I don't understand; we only looked away for a second!" Al exclaimed, "Sev! Where'd you go?"

Ed was about to respond, but he was interrupted by a low yowl. The brothers looked at each other in confusion, and then they looked up.

There was Sev, lounging fairly high up on a sturdy tree branch. She looked a bit upset as she looked down at the ground.

"Dropped her…" she mumbled.

Alphonse looked down and saw Sev's toy lying in the grass, "Oh, your bunny…" he said as he crouched down to pick it up.

"How did she…? Surely she couldn't have climbed up there that fast?" Ed had a hand to his chin, apparently trying to puzzle out how Sev had managed to get herself into this situation.

Stuffed animal in hand, Alphonse looked back up at the chimera, "Sev… can you… are you able to get back down?"

Sev tilted her head a little and blinked. The chimera sniffed a bit, and then stood up slowly on the branch while the brothers watched with bated breath. She gave the tree branches below her a once-over and then began her descent. Sev hopped down to a lower branch and surveyed her path once again.

With almost surprising grace, she made her way back down to the ground, alternating jumping from one branch to another or curling the end of her tail on a branch to walk her way down the trunk to the next tree limb. Once she was about four feet from the ground, she leapt off of the tree completely, landing on her feet; though she hissed a little and lifted her bad hind leg for a moment when he did. In under a minute, she'd made it from somewhere close to twenty feet up back to ground level.

"Sev," Al began as he handed her the stuffed animal in his hands, "how did you get up there so fast?"

Sev paused in her reaching and tilted her head, "Jumped," she said simply, as if it should be obvious.

"You… jumped," Edward echoed, deadpan, "Twenty feet up."

The chimera huffed a little around the stuffed animal that was back in her mouth before lifting a forepaw to set it on so she could talk.

"Good jumper," she responded and gave another almost-shrug.

Ed and Al looked at each other, silently agreeing to drop the matter for the moment, but they would definitely revisit that comment.

"Alright then," Al said, "Are you ready to eat breakfast?"

Before Alphonse had even finished the question, Sev was hightailing it back towards the mansion.

After Sev more or less inhaled a plateful of scrambled eggs and a biscuit (and everything else that "accidentally" fell onto the floor) Edward left for the library, leaving Al to take care of her.

"Okay Sev, what would you like to do?"

Sev paused from grooming her face, "Oh… um… don't know…"

It occurred to Al just then that Sev probably hadn't ever had the option to choose to do something for herself.

"Alright, how about… how about I give you some options, and you can tell me which one sounds the most interesting?"

The chimera blinked and sat up a bit more, "O-okay."

Al smiled at her and thought for a moment, "We could… go back outside or play a game or… read a book?"

Sev's ears perked up slightly and she looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Out...outside," she paused, "Please."

Al smiled wider, rather charmed by her politeness, "Outside it is, then!"

He grunted as he slowly stood back up from where he'd sat on the floor. Al smiled down at Sev and patted his leg a bit to let her know to follow. Together they limped back outside.

Alphonse was watching Sev run around, flop into some grass and roll around, and continue to explore the vast amount of land that made up the Armstrong estate. He had to smile at her enthusiasm, though it was soured a bit in knowing just why she was so excited. To be given free reign to run around as she pleased, just to go outside; she'd been deprived of all of it for who knows how long. How long had it been since she'd seen the sun? Since she'd been able to think of something other than survival?

He shook his head to try and clear away the thoughts as he sunk down onto a bench to continue watching Sev.

She was sniffing at some flowers and jumped a bit when a bee buzzed past her nose. After a moment, she gave a barking laugh and trotted after it. Once she'd lost sight of the insect, she went and picked up her bunny from where she'd dropped it and loped over to Alphonse.

He smiled at her as she got closer, "What's up?"

Sev ever-so-gently placed the stuffed animal down on the bench next to Al and looked at him expectantly.

He chuckled softly, "I'll make sure she behaves," he assured.

Sev gave a satisfied churr and trotted back over to the flowerbeds.

With an amused smile, Al situated the toy so it was sitting up before turning back to watch Sev.

The chimera was sniffing around the flower beds again. She happily chased bees and butterflies around, finding a new one to follow whenever one left her sight.

Alphonse watched intently, both to make sure she didn't get into trouble and to study her a bit.

Sev, even with her limp, was unbelievably fast and agile. She could go from a standstill to a dead sprint in a matter of seconds.

Al would have to clock her speed sometime, but the chimera was definitely at least as fast as a horse at full gallop. With her low center of gravity and long tail, Sev could switch directions on a dime while hardly losing momentum.

Though a bit hard to tell from the distance he was watching from, Al was sure Sev managed to leap up and snatch butterflies from the air. On the one hand, he hoped they didn't make her sick, but on the other, he was impressed. With the height she managed sometimes, he no longer wondered how she'd gotten up the tree so fast earlier.

As Alphonse mentally noted each of Sev's attributes, he felt a sinking in the pit of his stomach. Each of these abilities Sev had would be immensely useful in a fight. That meant that she hadn't just been transmuted with various random species simply for experimentation; every aspect of her had been done on purpose. She'd been made specifically to fight. It made Al sick to think about. Whoever had done this knew exactly what they were doing and they were still out there somewhere.

The young man's resolve to help Sev doubled, as did his desire to put a stop to whoever was responsible. He'd have to talk to Mustang to see if there was anything he could do to help in that regard.

For the moment however, he knew the best thing he could do was make sure Sev was safe, comfortable, and happy.

Al was pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of a splash. He looked up to see Sev hopping around in a fountain. He quickly jumped up, ready to tell her the fountain wasn't for playing, but... she looked so happy. She was making an odd chuffing noise that couldn't have been anything but laughter as she splashed about.

With a sigh and a soft smile, Al walked over to the fountain. He slipped off his shoes and rolled up his pants so he could sit on the side and put his feet in the water.

Sev chirped happily at the sight of him and high-stepped her way over, enjoying the splashes she made.

With a chuckle, Al ran a hand through the water to splash Sev. She squeaked with delight and hopped backwards, slapping a paw in the water to try and splash him back.

They played in the fountain for a long while and, despite his best efforts, Al ended up completely soaked.

If any of the Armstrongs happened to see them messing around in their nice, clean fountain, they said nothing of it.

Later that day, Hawkeye arrived at the estate, accompanied by Feury and Black Hayate.

They headed for the front entrance, but saw a familiar boy laying out on the lawn. Next to him, stretched out in the sun, was a creature that couldn't have been anything other than the chimera.

She was sprawled out on her side, seemingly asleep, but as the three approached, her long ears twitched and her head shot up; the chimera observed them cautiously as Alphonse sat up.

"Oh, hello Miss Hawkeye!" he greeted, waving at Feury and Hayate as well before turning back to the chimera, "Sev, it's alright, these are friends!"

Sev made a rumbling noise in the back of her throat, but seemed to relax ever-so-slightly.

"Hello Alphonse," Hawkeye replied, smiling softly.

Feury waved as well and raised an eyebrow, "Why are you guys all wet?"

Al laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, Sev decided she wanted to go for a swim in the Armstrongs' fountain; we're still drying off."

Hawkeye gave a hum of amusement and crouched down, Feury chuckled and followed suit. The captain stretched out a hand, palm down, for the chimera to sniff.

"Hi Sev," she murmured softly, making sure her movements were slow and non-threatening.

Sev tilted her head and gave a soft hurr and leaned forward to sniff the offered hand, but a bark from Hayate startled her to her feet, a growl rising in her throat.

"Hayate!" Riza reprimanded, moving her hand back.

The dog had been padding forward to greet the chimera, but stopped at the sound of Hawkeye's voice. Obediently, he sat down and looked to his owner.

Sev's hackles were still raised, and her tail lashed back and forth, but she paused when the dog stopped. She chirruped warily at him, eyes trained on him.

Hayate gave a good-natured woof in response and wagged his tail at her.

The chimera seemed almost taken aback. Slowly, the fur standing up along her back started to lay flat again, and she lowered her head a bit to sniff in Hayate's direction, seeming more curious than aggressive. She churred at him cautiously while everyone seemed to hold their breath.

Hayate woofed softly again and gave her a doggy grin, tail still wagging.

Sev blinked and tilted her head. After a moment, the end of her tail started to wag back and forth uncertainly, and she took a step towards the dog, ears perking up as she did so.

Hayate wiggled happily from where he sat and looked up at Hawkeye as if asking permission.

Hawkeye looked back and forth from the chimera to her dog before nodding slowly and giving him a hand signal.

The dog gave a happy whine before standing up. He gave Sev another look as if assessing her before slowly padding towards her calmly, head down slightly and tail still wagging. He stopped a little ways away to let Sev come to him if she wanted.

Sev seemed very curious of the dog now, watching him with interest instead of fear. When he stopped, she padded a couple of steps closer and paused before leaning forward to sniff the small animal. Again the end of her tail started to wag, and her ears were pointing straight up.

Hayate, encouraged by her behavior, dropped into a play bow and wagged his tail a couple of times before giving her an inviting woof.

Sev blinked and tilted her head, simply looking at him for a moment before slowly dropping down to mimic his posture.

Hayate yipped happily and hopped back and forth a little before getting up and darting a short ways away.

The chimera snorted in surprise when he went and watched him go, tilting her head again when he stopped. At his inviting look and another encouraging bark, she got up and trotted after him.

The dog barked again and darted away again with that same silly grin on his face, Sev followed after and Hayate continued to teach her how to play chase.

Everyone seemed to sigh in relief.

"I'm sorry, Alphonse," Hawkeye said, "Hayate is really good when we're dealing with skittish animals because he's proved to be a good calming influence, but I probably should have asked you first before bringing him with us."

Al sighed a bit through his nose, "No, it's alright. Honestly… I'm glad you did. I think she'll appreciate having a playmate with more energy than me."

Hawkeye just hummed softly in response as they all watched Sev and Hayate play.

They were all quiet for a moment before Feury spoke up, "So… what's your next step?"

Al frowned a little and picked at the grass, "Well… Brother's at the library right now, seeing if he can find any useful information on chimera alchemy, so when he gets back, we may have a better idea of how to help Sev. For now, I'm just making sure she's as happy as she can be."

Feury nodded with a small, encouraging smile, "She looks pretty happy right now, so I guess that means you're doing pretty well!"

Al chuckled softly after looking at Sev, "I suppose you're right. I can tell she's hurting though, even though she's pretty good at hiding it. I just wish I knew how to-"

Hawkeye blinked when the boy trailed off, something like realization dawning on his face, "Alphonse? How to what?"

"Help her…" he murmured, before looking up at the captain with a growing smile.

"Miss Hawkeye!" he said, excitement mounting, "I think I know how I can help her!"

The captain couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Well?" she teased, "Don't leave us in suspense."

"Alkahestry!" Alphonse exclaimed, "Mei told us about it; they use it in Xing for healing! At the very least, maybe it can help Sev not hurt anymore…"

Hawkeye and Feury chuckled a bit as the boy turned his attention back onto Sev, a hand on his chin, deep in thought about his revelation. There was the Elric fire they'd come to admire.

As I'm sure you've noticed, my hiatus has been interrupted. Tons of missionaries have been sent home and temporarily released (and some permanently released) due to Covid-19. It's... weird being back already. I've been back for almost two weeks now and I just feel unproductive, heh. I was used to working all day every day and now, suddenly, quarantine. Pretty wack. Still, I guess that gave me time to write, heh. I think we all need some fluff right now, aye?

Hang in there and take care of yourselves!

Love, Jai