After the exam Adrienne had slipped out leaving that note for Nina hoping he would hear from her again. He had actually hoped to be able to talk to her more after the exam but his father had given him explicit instructions not to hang around. He couldn’t understand why his father was so paranoid though, it wasn’t like he still had trouble with his condition anymore. It hadn’t been worth arguing over though. It had taken him forever just to convince his father to let him take the exam and go to the Academy, he didn’t want to make him change his mind now.
Once he got home, Adrienne went to his room. He couldn’t get Nina out of his mind. His father had told him about her and her sister Amy after the first time he’d met Edward but he hadn’t imagined Nina would be so, well, normal. His father was actually rather interested in her and her sister as well. He had said something about them being perfect candidates but he hadn’t said for what. Adrienne figured it had to be for the Academy or maybe he’d thought they would make good research assistants. The thought of that actually made him chuckle. He was pretty sure Nina would love the idea of being an assistant to his father.
Getting bored, Adrienne wandered into his father’s study looking for a book to read. He’d read just about all of them at least once already, most many times but there were some that he never got tired of. Finding one, he curled up on the couch that his father kept in the room and started to read. He was actually pretty lost in the story when his father came into the room a few hours later.
“I didn’t expect you home until later Dad,” Adrienne said, closing the book and putting it on the table in front of him.
Dr. Rothstein went over and sat at his desk. When he’d come in he’d had a few file folders and he started going through them. “It didn’t take long to figure out who the new students for the semester were going to be. Of course you made it Adrienne.”
He smiled though he knew his father probably hoped deep down that he would fail the test especially after the fuss he had made when Adrienne had even expressed interest in going. “Who else made it?”
“No one of real note except for Amy and Nina Elric. I’m actually rather impressed with them. Nina scored perfectly making her the first person to ever accomplish such a thing and Amy was second behind her. I shouldn’t be surprised though. I know Edward is extremely talented and so his brother Alphonse. I’ve even heard their mother Natalie has some talent of her own as well.”
Adrienne couldn’t help but to feel happy. He was pretty much guaranteed to see Nina again now. He was actually really impressed by how smart she was too. Adorable, smart, and kind hearted, she really was more remarkable than he’d originally thought.
Taking his glasses off, Rothstein looked over at his son. “So I saw that you were talking with Nina Elric when I came into the room. What did you think of her?”
Adrienne felt his cheeks get warm as he blushed a bit. “I didn’t get to talk to her that long but she seems like a good person. She certainly knows what she wants from her life.”
Rothstein noticed the look in his son’s eyes when he talked about Nina. He was clearly taken with her. That might actually prove to be useful; maybe letting him indulge his desire to go to the Academy wasn’t such a bad idea after all. If Adrienne gained the trust of Nina and maybe her affection as well it would make his plans easier. The added insurance of Nina already idolizing the doctor wasn’t too bad either. “Seems she made an impression on you already,” he said with a chuckle.
Adrienne blushed a bit more. “Maybe. I was really impressed by her though. She seems to really have a kind heart. She told me that she wants to be like her uncle and help people. I think there’s something noble about that. I think I’d like to get to know her better.”
“I don’t see that being a problem,” Rothstein replied.
Adrienne looked at his father a bit surprised. He usually didn’t like him getting too close to people. “Really? You think it would be alright?”
Rothstein chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure it would be fine. Just be careful about keeping your special talents a secret. Nina is a bright and smart girl but I don’t know as she would understand.”
“I’m sure she would understand but I’ll make sure to keep it to myself any way. I’m just glad you’re alright with her.”
“You may even get to meet her sister Amy though she seems to be more inclined to the military applications of alchemy so I don’t know if you’ll have any classes with her.”
“I’ll probably still run into her.”
Rothstein nodded. “I’d be careful with her though.”
“But didn’t you just…”
“I said you might get to meet her that’s all. I wouldn’t spend too much time around her though. She’s friendly with the Fuhrer’s son all of his friends. They could very easily prove dangerous if they knew too much about you.”
“You’re not worried about Edward Elric finding out about me too?”
Rothstein shook his head and sighed. “I am but I’m not. He’s a teacher at the Eastern branch of the Academy now so he really has no reason to care anymore but I know if he should find out it would be problematic. That’s another reason why I’m asking you to keep your secret from Nina. I know Edward still has ties to the Fuhrer and he is State Certified on top of that. He also has deep knowledge of the principles my personal research is based upon, remember that.”
Adrienne was quite confused by his father. If he was that concerned about all of that then why would he be so lenient when it came to the idea of him getting closer to Nina? It just didn’t make sense. It was probably better to just to let it be though, before his father went and changed his mind. For the first time in his life, Adrienne was going to have a chance to live normally, to be a regular teen-age boy. That was something he wasn’t going to jeopardize and something he wouldn’t easily let go of.
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