The crutches, the stiffness...Edmund wondered if Al had had polio or something similar, but he thought it too rude to ask, at least right away. But sitting seemed a good idea anyways, in case the walk from the market had tired him. For his part, having come right off the train in England, Edmund felt fresh as a daisy, if in need of a good cup of tea and he certainly wouldn't refuse a round of food.

He listened closely to Al's explanation, putting it together with what he already knew and processing the new information. "Science, hmm? It must be a pretty remarkable knowledge of it, to be able to transform matter. And you're one of the practitioners of this science? How did you end up here?" Edmund gestured around at the rather nice surroundings, where it was clear Al didn't go without. If alchemy really was like what Al had done at the market...was such a skill in high demand, or could most people in this land do that too? Xing, Al had called it...

Not magic. But such advances were so far beyond the science of his day, it might as well be magical. Edmund's eyes were lighting up with the possibilities. Maybe even he could...