Edward had been spending the good part of an hour attempting to get out of the house with the new crutch his brother had made for him ("For emergencies only, brother!") and had made little to no success in getting down the six steps that led down to the dirt path. He had managed one step without falling, but every time he tried to get down the second, he felt his balance start to give out on him and he could feel himself falling forward, so he pulled himself back up onto the first step.
He growled angrily at the wooden planks. At this rate, tumbling down the stairs might be the most efficient way to get down, though it would probably take a while for him to get back up again what with his lack of limbs.
By the time he got down the stairs, Winry, Al, and Pinako would probably be back and force him to go back inside again. He was starting to get sick and tired of being cooped up all day and he still hadn't gotten to visit his mother's grave since... since he'd lost his limbs and his brother lost his body.
He had managed to find a ratty old coat that was a couple sizes too big, but it was good enough for keeping the wind from seeping into his bones and it had pockets so he could bring the bottle of painkillers Pinako had given him with him. He had hoped that he could save the full bottle of pills for later, but with the horrible pain seeping up his stumps, he decided it would be as good a time as ever to take a pill to help dull the pain. He leaned against the wooden railing as he twisted the cap open and swallowed a pill dry before sighing as he put the bottle back in his pocket.
He looked down the path, seeing a man and woman in military uniform coming up on the path. And it seemed that the man had noticed him as well as his predicament, as he veered off his path away from the house and went straight toward Ed, much to the chagrin of the woman, it seemed.
"You need some help?" The man asked with a hint of a teasing smile, which Edward was just itching to wipe off his face. "Fuck off," Edward mumbled, trying, and again failing, to get down the next step. The woman looked on with a hint of sympathy in her eyes, which Ed ignored in favor of the task in front of him. "I don't need your goddamn pity, so just get out of my way-" He slipped down the steps and just before his face met the wooden floorboards, the man caught him.
"I was offering help, not pity," The raven-haired man stated, helping Edward to his feet. Ed merely growled at the man, who only seemed amused by the boy's annoyance.
The man grinned some more and Edward knew the man was up to nothing good even before he picked Edward up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Hey! Let go of me, you fucking pedophile!" Edward screamed, hitting the man on the back, only receiving a boisterous laugh from the older man. "Those are some pretty big words for an elementary schooler!" The man teased, starting down the path, the woman following behind with an apologetic smile, holding his abandoned crutch. "Who're you calling short! I'll break off your legs and stick them on your head!" Edward yelled, kicking the man in the chest for good measure.
The man laughed again. "Where to?" Edward sighed in defeat and kicked the man one last time before ceasing the futile effort. "The graveyard."
Edward propped his elbow on the man's back, attempting to stay upright and so that he could look at the woman's face, rather than having to stare at the creepy old man's ass.
The walk to the graveyard was silent, aside from the muttered curses that left Edward's mouth.
The man set Edward down in front of the graveyard and the woman gave him his crutch and both of them followed as he made his way toward his mother's grave, sitting down in the grass with his bottle of pills. "I've got no money in my pocket and the whole world's bringing me down," Edward mumbled under his breath, unscrewing the cap. One of his two stalkers gave a short gasp and he swiveled on the two as he popped another pill. "What? It's just painkillers," Edward said, receiving a sigh of relief from the blonde, while the raven continued to stare past him at the grave.
"You wouldn't happen to be one of the Elric brothers, would you?" The man asked.
"Yeah, why?" Edward asked skeptically.
"You're a lot younger than the documents said," The man mumbled to himself. "Hawkeye and I," Edward assumed he was talking about the woman. "Came to Resembool because we heard there were two alchemists by the name of Elric who lived here."
Edward stared at the man in disbelief. "And why would you come all the way out here for a couple of kids?"
"You and your brother are candidates for the state alchemist exam. That is, if you choose to take it." Edward continued to stare. "Aren't you supposed to be a specific age to apply?" He asked.
"Exceptions can be made. I, myself, had the opportunity to take the test earlier than the age limit supplied," The man replied. "Of course, if you chose to take the test, you'd have to serve the military during national emergencies, but you'd be able to have access to otherwise restricted materials."
Ed rolled the bottle of pills between his hands in thought. "I'd have to talk to Al first."