A/N: I would like to dedicate these, my unworthy attempts, to the great drabble-ists who have been evoking my emotions in so few words...and helping me learn to bond with the plot bunnies.
Short 1: Snap
Al didn't really sleep, but he lay on the too-small bed anyway, staring at the square of streetlamp-light on the ceiling and musing over the day's events. It had not been an eventful day today, but it looked like tonight would be more interesting. He could hear his brother twitching in his sleep, not enough to wake himself, but enough to let Al know he was having a vivid dream. It might turn into another nightmare, or Al might be treated to another show like the one two weeks back when the somnambulating alchemist woke himself by running repeatedly into the door—with his pants pulled over his head.
'Poor Brother. He has so much on his mind'. Al turned his helmet to watch Ed's mouth move, most likely in a soundless tirade at some perceived insult to his height. The blonde teen eventually calmed, and Al had almost given up the show for over, when Ed suddenly sat bolt upright, golden eyes half open, turned toward the door. Al froze—it would be spoiled if a careless creak woke Ed before the entertainment was finished. Ed's eyes widened momentarily, and a short exclamation of "No!" left his lips, before he stumbled out of bed and made his way—in a sleepwalker's slow hurry—to the window. As he fumbled the sash up, a light breeze found its way in, teasing his loosened hair but not succeeding in waking him. Al then bemusedly observed his brother as he proceeded to pick up, first his coat, then his belt and boots, and then his shirt and pants, and pitch them out into the street. The armor-bound boy decided the finale had arrived when Ed's searching hands found Al's chalk pouch—a two-story drop could lead to some unusably broken chalk. He sat up on the bed, taking his brother's shoulders in his long reach.
"Brother! Wake up! What are you doing?" Al watched Ed's struggle for consciousness, the blinking of his eyelids, and removed his hands from his shoulders as those golden eyes swept the room and came to rest on him.
"Where did that damned Colonel run to?" Ed mumbled, his voice gritty from sleep.
"Colonel Mustang? Brother, he was never here."
"He was here, Al. He snapped."
The End