Ed blushed and looked away from Al as Winry flipped through the pages of her automail book. Diagrams of his wounds, cross-sections skin flaps, and blueprints for his internal circuitry were all paged through like the non-important pages of a fairytale. Winry shifted in the bed as she finally found the section she wanted, her toes gently brushing down his leg.

"Ed, you're freezing."

"I'm fine, tell me about the automail."

"Brother, don't lie." Al's hands came back up to the bedspread, fussing again with the blankets.

"Just hang on, Al. I said I'm fine!"

"Ed, don't fuss at him, he's just trying to help. Al, take his tea before he spills it." Ed grumbled as Al plucked the cup from his hands. Why does Winry always have to be the sensible one and make him feel childish? He flinched as he felt one of her hands slide over his thigh. "Hold still!"

"Why? What are you doing?!"

"Ed!" Al's warning tone made him freeze instantly. He glared at his younger brother as Winry continued to fidget next to him. He blushed as her grip tightened on his thigh and her leg rubbed up against his. Al giggled at the redness rising in his face. When their hips met, Ed finally figured out what she was trying to do. Ever so gently an arm slid around his waist, carefully avoiding his hurt shoulder and coming to rest just below his left hip, above the stump of a leg he had left. He shifted in her embrace, loving the warmth, but not the uncomfortable feelings it left in him. Al, being always more intuitive, was standing over them, helping adjust the book, blankets, and pillows.

After a few minutes of this, during which Ed remained frozen for a variety of reasons, everyone was resettled and ready to start reading about the automail. Well, almost, ready.

"Ed, lean back." He did as she said, leaning back slowly until their hair mingled and he could feel her breath blowing ever so gently against his earlobe. He felt goose bumps break out across his skin and Winry shifted again. He felt his leg become trapped between hers, her toes massaging warmly around his ankle. "See? You're warming up already." He could hear a hint of innocent pride in her voice.

"Winry, did you draw all of these schematics?" Al broke in, anxious to get started and Ed was grateful for the distraction.

"I did some, Granny did others. There is a whole bunch of stuff here, so why don't you tell me what you want to hear first."

"Tell us about the independently spinning parts you were talking about earlier. I think you really impressed Granny with it, even if she couldn't see a reason someone would want to twist that way."

Ed was surprised to hear this and turned his head to give Winry a questioning look. The expression was fixed, but upon seeing how close she really was he turned away again, his blush coming back hotter as her fingers squeezed into his side.

"I thought it might be helpful if you have to fight or get pinned." He felt her shrug.

"It really is great, Brother. Winry has thought of everything." Ed thought her giggle sounded a little embarrassed.

"Well, anyways I was talking to Al and he thinks you guys might have to do a little fighting. So I came up with a few things that might help. You see, where the carpals are in a normal hand," she pointed to a diagram in the notebook, "I put in a separate connection port. Then there is a spin connection to another connection port. This allows the entire hand to rotate separately from the arm without tangling any of the wires…..In the elbow….." Ed fought to concentrate on what she was saying and not just the soothing sound of her voice by her ear. He felt Al take the tea cup out of his hand again, but didn't fight him. Something else was pointed out in the book and he fought to listen. "The separate connections will need a lot of machine oil to avoid gumming up, but I don't think that will be a problem. Also, the main chassis of both portions are separate and the elbow joint will act as though freely jointed which means….." He could still hear her voice, but the words had stopped making sense. It was comforting to just hear her so close. The cold in his shoulder was slipping away and her toes were almost sweaty next to his.

He could hear Al every now and then ask a question and that was nice, too. It felt good to have his friend and little brother so close. It was nice to be warm and taken care of and not have to smell vomit. Ed leaned farther into the warmth, half turning so he could bury his face into it and inhale the pleasant smell radiating off of it.

"Ed?"

"I think he's going to sleep, Winry." Ed nodded agreement against Winry's warm neck. He was definitely going to sleep. He felt her arm tighten around him and he sighed again.

"Okay, he can go to sleep, but does it have to be on me? I have work to do."

"Mmm-hmmm" He nodded again into her hair, keeping his eyes closed. Beside him, he heard Al laugh.

"Do you want me to move him?" He felt her chest rise against his side and blushed a little, but kept his head down to hide it.

"No, it's alright. Maybe more of it will sink in if he's unconscious. Just help me turn the pages, Al."