Their work in both Arda and Amestris alike has been going exceptionally well - better, after the Fuhrer and most of High Command had an exceptionally tragic dragon-related accident (and Brisingr learned not to eat bizarre monstrosities of dubious origins); Grumman's been a lot friendlier to trade, especially with Mustang as his rising second. Bellona and El's studies have taken off, earning them even more worldwide acclaim, and Bellona is pretty sure she's gotten a variant of the interdimensional transit array that can target unknown universes (and can take parameters for where they land, and can pull things back so she can actually test things like 'do potted plants, fish, and human volunteers survive transit') actually functioning.

She goes to find El, draping herself over her sister once a soft mental poke reveals El's at a point in her work where interruptions won't be unwelcome.

"El," Bellona whines, "I'm bored."