If Ed had eaten Near's dinner, the boy wouldn't have minded it so much. Eating wasn't one of those things that ranked among Near's priorities as high as it should have, or so Commander Rester would have him believe. Such business was better suited to others, in Near's opinion. It was childish, but the method worked for Near, if only because there had always been someone in his life to cater to such things in his stead. And ironically enough, this prison, with it's cover of trying to bring him back to a state of sanity, was no exception to that rule.

Near didn't miss how Edward had set aside his juice when he came in, and briefly wondered the purpose of it. Taking his toy car from his pocket, Near moved into his chair, and began pushing the vehicle around his dinner with a single finger.

"You're an alchemist." It wasn't a question. Near had learned it from the bulletin, and the potential that ability held certainly made the boy invaluable. Of course, Near had no specific purpose in mind for Edward yet. But he did want to lay the foundation, and get an idea of the limitations of Edward's power for his future reference. "Would you tell me what that entails?"