Ed suppressed a yelp as the antiseptic stung his wound, burning away the bacteria and hurting him in the process.
"Sorry, brother, but you know I have to do this or it'll get infected."
"Oh shut up." Ed snapped, though the bite of the comment wasn't really there as he watched his brother's hands as they gathered the needle and thread together. Real flesh and bone, it really was a miracle wasn't it? "You know you like doing this."
"I like helping you, not hurting you." Al pushed the needle through skin before angling it to pull the flesh together. Ed turned away, not wanting to see the needle. He'd always been afraid of them, ironically considering everything else they dealt with in their lives that the older Elric could handle just fine. Al noticed the increased rate of breathing, and spoke up again to make a distraction. "Although if it teaches you to be more careful, I'm not opposed to it."
"I was careful! I just... Bethesda was quicker than I expected." Ed blushed at admitting his weakness. The criminal they'd been chasing after was supposed to just be a lab tech, a book nerd with no combat training, but that had proven to be a lie. At the very least, the man had been going to a gym lately, because his punches hurt like the dickens.
"And you were getting sloppy. Maybe if you hadn't eaten that extra bowl of soup, you wouldn't be so slow."
"Slow? Who you calling slow? I don't seem to recall you doing any better, mister nearly getting your arm torn off!"
Alphonse actually laughed at the come back, head thrown back and golden hair shimmering in the sunlight. Ed squirmed in his position on the bed, not liking the way it sounded like he was being laughed AT. "What, nothing to say, little brother?"
"Nope." Al said, sounding almost happy about it. "I guess we've both gotten soft, haven't we? New bodies but our fighting skills need some work."
"Maybe yours do, but I'm still top notch." Edward puffed out his chest in pride, an action that lost its intended effect when he yelped at another stitch.
"And the fact you kept clapping was what? To applaud yourself?" Al spared a knowing look before returning to his work. "Almost done, just a couple more and then a bandage."
"About time." Ed huffed, arms folding impatiently as he thought. He watched as Alphonse worked, nimble fingers working effortlessly in a way he never had been able to when he was in the suit of armor. Unable to feel pressure, he'd been forced to go slowly in his patchwork, but now with flesh Al had no trouble at all. Ed was grateful for that every day. "Maybe we should go see Teacher again, brush up on our fighting skills."
"That sounds like a good idea, I'd like to see how she's doing too." The younger Elric agreed, pulling the needle on the last stitch and grabbing a bandage on the table. He applied it, setting it with tape and then surveyed his handy work. "There, all done."
Ed looked down, feeling lightly along the stitched line through the bandage. "Not bad, you haven't lost your touch, at least."
Al beamed at the praise, then rose to his feet with a muted groan. "It'll be nice to go back to Dublith again, this'll be the first time she's seen us since after everything that happened.
Ed winced, "Yeah, she's not going to be happy I'm still working with the military."
"She'll understand." Alphonse said with a chuckle, though he winced too. "Although, that'll be AFTER she beats us..."
"Too bad she's not slow like you, huh Al?" The pillow to his face was all Ed received as an answer.
A/N: I just wanted to see some brotherly action after they got their bodies. Nothing special. Let me know what you think? Also I stink at titles.