Hello, here is a new chapter, number three,
Learning together:
Ed lay in bed fuming to himself, he could see Al outside hanging laundry through his window. Winry and Pinaco were in town shopping, and Den was dozing in a sunny spot of the lawn. He was supposed to be resting, since he had as Winry put it 'pushed himself too far' in the morning therapy and collapsed, she kept telling him that it was simply not possible to complete the recovery in a year, and he kept telling her she didn't know what she was talking about he could do it, he just wasn't trying hard enough, which usually resulted in her wrench colliding painfully with his skull.
But how could he rest when he should be working on getting the damn metal limbs to work right so he could finally not be a useless, crippled, burden on everyone and get to fixing his brother who was suffering far worse than he would ever, no matter how high a fever or how much it felt like the metal now replacing his lost limbs was trying to eat his body from the inside with flaming poison. So he watched Al silently through the window, watching as Al moved over carefully still trying to judge the movements of that prison right.
Even though Al wasn't fully comfortable (how could anyone ever be) with that awful pseudo-body he could walk, he could carry things, and be of some use. With that thought in mind Ed wriggled out of the sheets and set his feet on the ground taking a deep breath and mentally bracing himself for the pain he knew he would feel when he put pressure on the metal leg before he stood, biting back a scream of pain. "if Al can be that productive with a completely metal body I have no excuse to not be at least that with only two metal limbs" Ed hissed to himself to keep himself from giving into the protests of his body and getting back into bed, instead he took a slow and very shaky step away from it.
He was breathing heavily and soaked in sweat as he leaned against the wall for support as he had to admit that his body needed a slight break. It was absolutely pathetic, he felt like he had just run a marathon in three minutes flat, when it had taken him half an hour to get the twenty five feet from his bed to the top of the stairs. After a minute he decided the break was over, and tried to take another step forward, only to miss the first stair and lose his balance.
Al looked up from petting Den when he heard a yelp, followed quickly by a few thuds and a loud crash. For a moment he wondered if someone had dropped something, but then he remembered Ed was the only one in the house and that knowledge sent him to his feet and rushing to the house as quick as he could.
"Brother!" Al shouted barging in the back door nearly breaking it in his haste; he rushed into the house and at the foot of the stairs found his brother in a heap. "Brother, are you alright? What are you doing, you'll hurt yourself!" Al said kneeling next to Ed.
Ed groaned before pushing himself onto his elbow, noticeably avoiding putting any weight on his automail limbs. "I'm alright" Ed muttered wondering how Al could possibly be worried about him when he was stuck in a situation that was so much worse, but then again that was how Al had always been. "I… I was thirsty" he added as an excuse not wanting to tell Al the real reason he had been in a position to fall down the stairs.
Al made a sound similar to someone letting out a breath in frustration before gently scooping Ed up, ignoring Ed's frantic protests and suddenly flailing limbs. "You're stupid sometimes" Al stated which earned him a growl of protest from the uncooperative boy in his arms "instead of trying to kill yourself, you should have asked me to get you a drink" Al said sitting Ed on the couch.
"You were busy" Ed muttered petulantly, which would have caused Al to raise an eyebrow at the lame excuse if he had a face to make such expressions with.
"Stay" Al commanded "you are supposed to be resting" Al added walking to the kitchen.
"I'm not a dog" Ed muttered looking at Den who had followed Al in "stay" he muttered pointing at the dog, Den just cocked his head before sitting and wagging his tail gently across the floor. Al returned with a glass of water and handed it to Ed, who took it and gulped it down gratefully since his exertion had made him thirsty, while Al sat down next to him.
"You know you shouldn't push yourself too hard, or you won't recover at all brother, you don't have to rush on my account Brother" Al said.
"I can't let you spend more time than you have to like that, I already wasted a lot of time in self-pity before that military guy came and snapped me out of it."
"Are you serious about joining the military?" Al asked looking over at Ed who avoided his gaze. "Well even if you are… the military won't look twice at us until we are at least eighteen, that is still eight years away, what do you plan on doing with all the time in between, there really isn't any reason to rush is there?"
"… I don't know ok Al! I don't know, probably look for a way to fix you without the military, I don't want to join the military… but it is the best option for getting the information we need, if all else fails…" Ed growled. "I'm tired of being so weak"
"…you're not weak brother"
"I am! I couldn't take care of you, I couldn't save you, and now I can't even fucking walk!" Ed screamed in frustration interrupting Al.
"You'll learn brother…" Al said softly "and you did save my life, if it weren't for you I wouldn't be here at all…"
"If it weren't for me you wouldn't have been in any danger at all"
"Brother…" Al hesitated a moment before he gently pulled Ed into a carefully calculated hug to not hurt him. "we'll learn to use these new bodies, and then we'll find some way to fix our bodies, together brother" Al said.
"… yeah together" Ed agreed hugging Al back needing it just as much as Al did, even though he desperately wished he wasn't hugging a huge suit of armor instead of his brother's real body.
reviews are loved, and i am open to suggestions on scenarios to write.
