Encounters in a Coffee Shop

Sophia blinked as she stood outside the shop. The smell coming from inside was delicious and she contemplated going inside to taste it. It was a herbal tea.. but it smelt almost like nectar. Sophia was practically drooling at the smell. She quickly gathered herself, ducking inside. The little silver bell above the door rang cheerfully upon her entrance.

Sophia made her way to the counter and asked for one of whatever was producing that amazing smell. The woman at the counter nodded and quickly produced the cup of tea. Sophia grinned and was about to take the cup when the woman asked for the 300 Cens that the drink cost.
She sifted through the pockets of her coat, producing only 200 Cens.

"Really?" she muttered, "I don't even have that much."
Sophia sighed, "I'm sorry... I guess I don't have enough to pay for it..."

Suddenly, the door to the coffee shop opened again and, lo and behold, Brigadeer General Kimberly Wynn stepped into the door; her face not exactly the epitome of enthusiasm. Kimberly would always prefer her post in the bitter North to the city streets of Central, but there was always a time when she had to return to Central Command for re-certification as a State Alchemist. And THAT ment, on top of how much she already disliked Central, she had to be in the same vicinity as Roy Mustang for an extended period of time. Kimberly may not have had the same animosity towards Roy that her closest friend, Oliver Armstrong, did, but he always seemed to find a way to drive her up a wall regardless. Kimberly gritted her teeth and tried to force herself to think of other things as she approached the counter. She decided some tea would be a nice break from the crappy coffee they had back at Central Command, and she was on break so why the hell not?

Kimberly noticed the plight of the girl in front of her and just thought for a moment. She then stepped up and, without a sound, slapped the remaining 100 Cens on the girls tab down without any hesitation. "An Alchemist's motto is 'Be thou for the people'. I guess that applies to more than just alchemy after all." she muttered aloud with an extremely faint grin forming at the corners of her mouth. Kimberly wasn't one for a lot of emotion.

Blinking as the money was slapped down on the counter, Sophia looked to Kimberly. There was obvious confusion in her facial expression, before it spread into a smile.
"Thankyou!" she replied, her blue-grey eyes practically shining with gratitude for the alchemist before her.
"I would offer to buy you a drink as thanks.. but as you can see I'm kinda short on cash," she chuckled as the woman at the counter pushed the drink towards Sophia, taking the money from the counter.
Sophia gently picked up the cup, feeling the warmth of the tea in her hands.

"I don't need a reward for watching out for the public, kid. That's my job." Kimberly stated as she payed for her own drink. "Besides, having a break away from that Mustang is reward enough.........." she muttered. "All in the life of a State Alchemist, I suppose."

"Wait.. you're a State Alchemist?" blinked Sophia, tilting her head to the side as she asked, much like a bird would occasionally. It had only just clicked that the motto she had recited was the one from that division of the military.

"I'm Sophia by the way," she smiled, holding out her hand, "Pleased to meet you!"

"Yeah, I'm one of the military's 'dogs'." Kimberly replied, putting air quotes around the word dogs. After the events that had passed, that term was now more a joke than anything, although some people still held some hostility towards the state alchemist program. "Brigadeer General Kimberly Wynn, the FoxFire Alchemist." she said as she took Sophia's hand and gave it a good, stiff, soldier-like shake.

"I've always thought it would be quite cool to be a State Alchemist, especially now since everything is so peaceful and there's less likelihood of the military trying to use them like human weapons." smiled Sophia cheerfully.
"I'm quite handy with alchemy myself... but not so much that it's anything particularly special..."

The Brigadeer General was quiet for a moment, a flicker of a shadow crossing her face. It was true that Amestris was attempting to de-militarize itself, but at the same time.... there was something beneath the surface that just didn't feel right.

"Potential doesn't appear unless you're looking for it. You may have potential that you aren't aware of; potential you can't see on your own." Kimberly mused. Her cold eyes studied Sophia's face thoughtfully for a moment. "Since we're here, and since I'm making an honest attempt at avoiding Central Command, why don't you show me what you can do?"

Sophia blinked at the brief shadowed look that appeared on Kimberly's face. However it soon passed and Sophia just shrugged it off. She tilted her head slightly as Kimberly spoke of potential that perhaps she wasn't aware of. The movement was reminiscent to that of a bird, not that anyone would particularly notice this without an actual bird to compare it to.

Sophia would have asked why Kimberly was trying to avoid Central Command, but instead she grinned at the chance to demonstrate her alchemy.
"I don't exactly wanna wreck anything in here...so perhaps we should go outside?"

Once outside, Sophia stood in thought for a moment. She wondered what she should do. The possibilities were all out there... and she had the knowledge to pull of just about anything as long as she drew the right circle.
Deciding to just do something simple and traditional, she clapped her hands together. To anyone who didn't know Sophia better, it would have looked like she had merely clapped her hands together in order to transmute, however, beneath her long black coat was a pendant inscribed with a transmutation circle. It glowed with a pale blue light but due the the thickness of the coat's material, it wasn't visible from the outside.

Sophia then bent down, her pale hands touching the stone pavement as she concentrated on what she wished to create. Within the space of a few seconds a large stone statue formed, creating a small crater around it where the materials had been taken from the surroundings. The statue was detailed even down to the last feather and depicted a bird carrying a rose in it's claws, in mid flight.

The secret to such a swift transmutation lay in her pendant. She was so used to doing it now that she could create transmutation circles in the blink of an eye and then transmute those circles again without much thought. Sophia had merely altered the pigmentation of the pavement to create the transmutation circle she needed and then had transmuted the pavement using that second circle, thus creating her stone statue.

Sophia turned to Kimberly and grinned.
"So what do you think?" she asked.

Kimberly walked around the statue, observing the quality and overall neatness of the statue Sophia created. After fully checking it out, she concluded that it was quite impressive for an impromptu transmutation. Kimberly stepped back and nodded her head slightly in approval.

"I'm not one to be easily impressed, but this is quite good for something you just created on the spot. Have you considered looking into taking up a profession that focuses on Alchemy?"

"Considered it; Yes. But I've never really been confident enough to pursue one. I've helped around a few times though, fixing things and stuff. It's always nice to do that for people but because I don't charge anyone I never have enough money for anything, as you saw back there."
Sophia proceeded to laugh slightly awkwardly at her own predicament.
"Oh well. People do say that it can only get better."

"You know, with your level of potential, you could even apply for a job in the Military. As a State Alchemist, I mean." Kimberly mused, crossing her arms in a thoughtful fashion. "You'd need a tutor for the written exam, of course... Or just a large supply of study materials...."

"Really?" she asked, her head tilting once more, mimicking the movements of a bird.
"You think I actually have a chance?"
Sophia seemed to have gotten quite excited all of a sudden at the prospect of holding down an actual job, as well as one where she could still help people like she did now. She stood in thought for a moment, considering her options. Did she really want to join the military? She knew that at some point she might have to make hard decisions... but perhaps she could avoid having to kill anyone, especially because of the now more peaceful times.

"Do you think... you could tutor me?" she asked suddenly, "I mean... if I decided to apply... You've been through it before so perhaps you could give me some insight as to what the test might have in it...?"