"It doesn't seem like it," Naomi replied. "You would think they would, but I doubt they do."

I think even vacations for them are work-related somehow. Osanna rolled her eyes at the two. Workaholics.

"I would say it must be an alchemist thing, but Winry seemed to be the same way," Naomi commented.

Maybe it's just them? I know we saw some people just lazing around when we were at the military building. Osanna shrugged. It was nice to know there were some normal people around here.

"Maybe," Naomi replied. She stretched a little and leaned back against the tree. "Whatever. It's their business, really."

Osanna nodded her agreement and shifted so she was more comfortable in the shade.

How much you wanna bet he'll burn and complain about it later? Osanna grinned.

"You're the one with the aloe seeds," Naomi pointed out teasingly, grinning. "May as well be ready with them."

Osanna grinned and found a place to plant a few of the seeds, working on slowly making them grow. It would take her most of the rest of the day to get them to grow enough that she could get a few leaves off to give to Duo, but she didn't mind.

Naomi watched, making sure to stay far enough away from the little plants to keep from giving them terminal frostbite, and settled in to relax. It was just one of those lazy days, it seemed.

When Duo finally moved out of the sun a few hours later and promptly discovered that yes, he was sunburned, Osanna just broke off a small leaf to give him for the moment, still working on making the plant bigger. Duo grumbled a little but did as she instructed.

"I would have burned even worse than that," Naomi commented. She wrinkled her nose a bit. "The sun and I aren't on good terms. I burn really easily, and it won't even fade into a tan at all."

Same.

Duo grimaced. "Yeah, I'm not used to the sun. Ow..."

Shouldn't have stayed out so long then.

"Shuddup."

"It'll heal in a few days," Naomi said. Lowering the temperature in her hands, she touched his arms gently. "It'll hurt like hell tomorrow, though. And it'll likely peel."

Duo sighed but didn't try to move. Her hands were nice and cool, and he closed his eyes after a few moments.

"Worth it, though."

"I'll bet," Naomi replied as she moved her hands from his arms to the back of his neck. His skin was hot under her hands, and she worked on cooling it down some. "The aloe will help the sunburns. Moisturizing lotions help, too, I learned that one real quick."

Duo nodded. "Yeah. You got any more of this plant?" He waved the bit of aloe around at Osanna.

Not yet. I'll have more before nightfall, and tomorrow. Don't worry about that.

"Thanks. You too." He grinned briefly at Naomi.

"No problem," Naomi replied, pulling her hands back and rubbing them together to warm them up a little again. She grinned. "Now think about this one for a bit: I managed to get sunburn once in the middle of winter, out in the snow. Got it all on my face and neck."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Duo said, blinking at her. "Snow and ice both reflect sunlight, so people frequently get sunburned if they're out in the sun around snow for too long. I have a friend who did that once. He complained for days."

"Yeah, I didn't realize that when I was eight," Naomi replied. "I just knew it was winter and was cold and sunburns happened in the summer. It didn't compute."

Duo snorted at that. "Yeah, I can guess." He shrugged and moved to lay down again, in the shade this time. "So how different is your world from this one?"

"From this one?" Naomi asked. She shrugged a bit. "We're a bit more technologically advanced than this one, and there's no alchemy, but otherwise it's not all that different. This one is all human, though, rather than split about sixty-forty between humans and not."

"I still can't believe there are demons," Duo grumbled.

Hey, you're part one yourself.

"Doesn't make it any easier."

"We'll bring you back with us next time, if you want," Naomi offered. She grinned. "It's really hard to ignore the water-element living in the pond not far away." He grin faded a bit. "You don't have enough demon in you to really be more than human, so I doubt you'll get any dirty looks or anything."

Duo blinked. "I take it all isn't peaceful between the races, then?"

Not exactly. Humans don't like half-breeds, and demons look down on anyone less than full-blooded. Osanna shrugged. Neither of us exactly fit in, which is why we live on the outskirts of town.

"Osa is closer to the human end of the spectrum than I am, but it doesn't help all that much," Naomi said. She shrugged a bit. "It's something you get used to, after long enough. I doubt anyone will bother you, though. We only noticed because of the lack of ambient demon energy around, so back home, everyone will see you as completely human."