"Hey, Al, I'm back!" Ed threw down the newspaper he'd picked up on his return, then collapsed on the hotel sofa. He lay back, put his feet up on the arm rest, and tucked his arm behind his head. Where the hell was Al? "Al?"

A loud clang sounded from the bathroom, and then Al appeared in the doorway. "Oh hi, Brother! How was lunch?"

"Fine," Ed replied warily. Something was up. Al was a shit liar, even with a steel face. "What's going on?" Ed studied Al's face, Al's posture. "You seem like you're-"

"Kittens!" Ling cried. "They're so cute!" When the fuck did Ling get here? And why was he in their bathroom? Ed jumped up from the couch and started heading toward the bathroom door. Al tried to block him, but gave up when Ling stepped out from behind him with a tiny, gray kitten held up to his nose. Wait, why was there a kitten in their room?

"Al?" Ed questioned through gritted teeth, shifting his glare back and forth between his brother and the prince.

"Brother," Al held up his hands, palms out. "I can explain."

"I can't believe they were abandoned," Ling exclaimed, ignoring them both. He nuzzled the kitten with his cheek and then tucked it under his chin.

Ed turned his glare fully to Ling. "Don't you people eat cats?"

"Some do," Ling answered over Al's scolding of Ed, which then became a cry of disbelief, "though it's generally frowned upon - it's said that the cats will return at night to seek their revenge." Ling smiled. "A silly superstition perhaps, but still."

"So you've never eaten cat?" Somehow, Ed didn't believe that Ling hadn't. At this point in his life, Ed's experience with Xingese people had been extremely limited, but it had been enough to teach him that they were strange, strange people.

Ling stopped cuddling the kitten and looked up into the middle distance, thinking. "Well, there was that one time when I was visiting the Chang province, though I didn't know it was cat at the time. Dragon and Tiger Fighting they called it."

Al stopped remonstrating Ed and asked, "What does that mean?"

"Cat and snake stew. It was actually quite good, but not something I've sought to repeat." Ling resumed petting the kitten.

"Wait, snakes and cats stewed together?" Ed asked. What was wrong with these people? Ed was pretty adventurous when it came to food, but that just sounded gross.

Ling seemed to pick up on Ed's thoughts. "Changs will eat anything except their father and mother."

"Apparently. Al, give the cats to Ling. That'll save us the trouble of finding them a home and we won't have a huge food bill."

"Brother!"

Ed pushed past Al and stalked into the bathroom. There was a small paperboard box sitting on the floor. The top was open, and some of the hotel towels were carefully tucked inside. Also inside the box were two more kittens. One was black and white, and the other was solid gray like the one Ling was holding. This was a problem.

"Al, you can't just keep picking up cats whenever you find them. How are we supposed to take care of three cats? Three cats!"

"But Ed, they were hungry and alone and they're just babies-"

"We should order them some food!" Ling added, unhelpfully.

Ed jabbed a thumb at Ling. "This is why you shouldn't pick up strays: you feed 'em once and then they keep showing up and annoying you."

Ling ignored Ed's comment and kissed the kitten square on top of its little, fuzzy head. "I hope they find a good home, Al."