"I guess so," Garnet said. "I might go take another look, there was something about him that seemed kind of familiar, somehow."

Ruby nodded. "If you want," she agreed easily. "I might go look too."

Garnet nodded and handed Ruby the scroll she found. Then she wandered back towards the blond a few stacks over.

Ruby looked over the scroll with half her attention, though she did keep track of Garnet. Because she was kind of curious about the blond too.

Garnet hesitated a moment behind a shelf, debating whether or not to interrupt the blond. Something about him seemed so familiar, and she just couldn't place it. Finally, she stepped out from behind the shelf, but made a show of perusing the scrolls for the moment.

It took Al a few moments to notice there was someone else there, but when he did he looked over at her. Something felt a little off about her, but he wasn't quite sure why.

Garnet could feel his eyes on her back after a moment or so.

"Sorry," she said, turning a bit to look at him, "did I bother you?"

"No," Al said, startled by the violet eyes. "Sorry. I just didn't expect to see another Amestrian here."

"Neither did we," Garnet admitted with a small smile. "My cousin and I are here for a new course of study."

"Really?" Al grinned. "Good. It's always good to see other people interested in studies too."

"What are you studying, if you don't mind my asking?" Garnet asked, glancing at the book in front of him.

"Alkahestry," Al said with a little grin. "I've seen it used before, but I haven't tried it myself yet, so I want to learn how. What about you?"

"Really?" Garnet asked, surprised. "Us, too. My cousin is really interested in learning it, so we came here to study it."

Al grinned. "That's great! I'm glad to see that other people are interesting in alkahestry, too. It's not common to find Amestrians who embrace other cultures."

"No kidding," Garnet said. She paused. "I should probably introduce myself. I'm Garnet, my cousin a few stacks over is Ruby."

"I'm Al." He held out his hand to her. He was very curious now. Homunculi couldn't learn alchemy, after all, or alkahestry he would presume.

Garnet shook his hand, making sure to keep her grip well within humanlike ranges. She could see the curiosity on his face.

"What?" she asked. "Did I say something odd?"

"No, it's not that," Al said. "You just remind me of someone, that's all."

"I hope it's a good someone," Garnet said, grinning a bit.

Al just smiled without actually saying anything.

"I'm sorry, I'm probably keeping you from some research."

Garnet noticed the evasion.

"Maybe we can all get together at some point and compare notes," she suggested.

"Sure," Al agreed. "I'll probably be here for a while yet." He grinned. "So just come let me know."

"Great," Garnet said with a bit of a smile. She made sure to be careful with that; she knew her teeth were visibly sharper than a human's, at least up close. "I'll talk to Ruby and see where she's at right now."

Al nodded. "I'll see you later, then," he said.

Garnet nodded and headed back over to where Ruby was sitting.

"He's studying alkahestry," she murmured to her cousin. "Like you."