A/N The idea for this fic comes from a tumblr post from ruinsofxerxes and the cover image is a drawing on that post by tumblr user pax-etlux
Ed had been scouring central, cardboard box in arms, for about two hours now. He knew he should be getting back to Al at the hospital soon, but he wasn't quite finished yet. He had to make this perfect. No one knew about plan, and he intended to keep it that way so as to make it a surprise for Alphonse. Finally, he spotted the final one, and he tenderly added it to his now complete collection in his box.
Hurrying back to the hospital, he covered the box with his red coat whilst trying to keep it steady. Harder than it would seem thanks to his new arm, but he got there just fine. He had been visiting every day, hardly leaving thanks to Mustang's work to allow him to, which was done with no short amount of flirting with the nurses from his hospital bed, despite still being blind. Because of this, he had no trouble getting to Al's room with the covered up box, although he received quite a few raised eyebrows from some of the staff.
Slowly entering the room, being careful to keep the box steady, Ed couldn't help but smile when he saw the way Al's face lit up when he entered the room.
"Brother!" he said as he pushed himself up into a seated position, "You're back!"
Ed's grin got even bigger at this point and he gestured to the box in his arms as he spoke, "Yeah, and I got you a little present as well."
Al was tempted to ask what, but knowing his brother he would want a dramatic revelation in which he would present a poorly made handcrafted object of sentimental value, so he just smiled to say he could show him.
As expected, Ed dramatically whisked his coat off the top of the box, and that's when Al first heard the mewing sounds. Eyes wide in disbelief, Al watched him pour the box of kittens onto his lap, filled with conflicting thoughts that went along the lines of 'KITTENS KITTENS I LOVE KITTENS KITTENS KITTENS KITTENS' and 'BROTHER YOU IDIOT YOU CAN'T HAVE KITTENS IN A HOSPITAL'.
But seeing Ed's sheepish grin on his face as he waited with anticipation for his brother's reaction, Al couldn't help it and he started laughing whilst petting two different kittens at once.
"Ed you are such an idiot!" He laughed, to which Ed started laughing too. Before long the room was filled with the boys laughed and kittens, until one of the nurses came and in a saw what had happened, and then the room was filled with shrieking as she screamed various lines of 'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?'