Morning
Ed woke up groggily, trying to catch the last wisps of his dream. It had been one of the rare nights that his brain decided to give him a silly fantasy, and he would be pissed if he couldn't remember it. He was just reaching the conclusion that it had to do with elves and trains, when he noticed that Al wasn't in the other bed. Panic spiked up in his chest. Where could his little brother have gone? To the bathroom, maybe? He could've just wanted a drink of water. But Ed knew from experience that leaving things up to chance always ended up fruitless at best.
"Al?" Ed whispered. "Hey, Al, are you there?"
As if in response, a gust of wind ruffled the blankets. Why is the window open? Al could get sick that way! And in the state he's in…a cold could kill him!
Ed tossed the sheets off him, suddenly fully awake. His steel leg felt like ice, and he felt another pang of worry for Al. He searched the room briefly, then went outside into the hall.
"Al…?" Ed called periodically, searching the house. Again, he wondered, where could Al have possibly gone off to? It wasn't like he had the ability to get very far without help. Ed heard a clank and jumped.
He snuck into the kitchen where the sound came from, almost nervous to see what he'd find; and to his surprise, Al was there, precariously dangling the apple pie they'd received yesterday on his fingertips. He silently laid it down on the counter and removed the tinfoil so quietly it was unnerving. Ed was actually entranced until Al started cutting himself a slice. Ed jumped out and shouted "AL!"
Al leapt a foot in the air and gave an undignified squeal.
"Brother!" Al said in exasperation. "Don't scare me like that!"
"Look who's talking," Ed retorted hotly. "Did you think it was fun to wake up, freezing and you nowhere in sight? What were you doing?"
Al looked down and mumbled something.
"I can't hear you."
"I just wanted to feel the wind," Al repeated, louder, a hint of frustration in his tone. Ed was taken aback.
"You…opened the window in the middle of the ten-degree night," Ed started slowly. "Then went to eat apple pie when your body isn't fully used to solids?"
Al bit his lip, but didn't respond. Ed tried a different direction.
"Al, you know you can't get a cold. You know you have to take care of your new body. Why would you do something so reckless?"
His eyes flared up for a moment, then the fire died down. "Reckless," he murmured softly. "Opening a window and eating pie. Reckless."
Ed huffed in annoyance. "Al, it's reckless for you. Come on, you know it was a bad idea. Just admit—"
"The wind felt nice," he went on. "Even the cold wasn't bad. It was uncomfortable. I felt scared. I knew I could catch a cold. But…"
Ed tried to interrupt, but Al just kept going over him. "…It was the first time I could worry about things like that. It was the first time in so many years I could think it was cold outside, or I could get sick, or feel the wind. So I guess I felt reckless. If I could expose myself to the wind, I thought I could eat some pie. Just a little. Not even a whole slice." Al gave a sigh of resignation. "It was stupid. I'm sorry, Brother."
Ed was, no pun intended, blown away by the speech. He didn't really think about how Al perceived things. And even though he always acted with Al's best interests at mind, he had to factor in what his little brother wanted as well.
"Me too," Ed replied softly. "Come on, lets get back to bed."
Midday
"I…what…"
Ed hadn't even known there had been this many people in Resembool, let alone cats. He stared, dumbfounded, as his little brother tried to balance several of them in his thin arms, his mouth spread with joy as he pet their soft fur.
"Can we keep them, Brother? Please?"
And so began the argument that the brothers had since day one.
"No, Al, we can't keep all those fucking cats!"
"But Brother! They were cold and alone!"
"You found that many fucking stray cats? I bet some of their owners are looking for them now!"
"But look how cute this one is! See, he—oh, Brother, he just meowed at you. He loves you!"
"That cat probably isn't even fucking capable of love at first sight!"
"Watch your language, Brother! You're scaring them!"
"Scaring them?!" Ed asked incredulously.
"Yes! Cats have feelings too, you know!" Al pouted, still holding two kittens in his arms. Many of them had managed to wriggle out of his grip and pour out the still-open door. Finally, one fire-orange kitten squeezed itself away until Al just had one in his grip. This one actually looked like a stray; pathetic, tiny, and ungroomed. Al looked at it, his eyes softening as he pet it.
"I can feel it, Brother," Al whispered softly. "I could feel all of them! I could feel them try to wriggle away, and I could feel their fur, and I could hug them to keep them warm!" He squeezed the black kitten a bit tighter, much to its chagrin. It let out a pathetic mew and he loosened his grip slightly.
Ed immediately softened at the sight of Al excitedly going on a tangent about the stupid cat, but he still didn't budge.
"You have to let him go, Al. I'm sure someone else would take—"
"Oh, just let him keep the darn cat," a voice called.
"Winry?!" Ed spluttered, turning around. Sure enough, the blond mechanic was walking down the stairs, an indifferent expression on her face. Clearly, she didn't know how many times this situation had occurred.
"Really? I can keep him?" Al squealed happily. Ed made a groan that somehow conveyed his exasperation, confusion, and weary acceptance all at the same time.
"I don't know what Granny will say," Winry said with a shrug. "But I'm sure she'd let the little guy stay."
"Really? Really? Yes! Finally! I'm so glad you were here, Winry!" Al jumped up and down, hugging the kitten to his face. Winry looked surprised at how excited he was, unaware of the fact that Ed had deprived Al of this for so many years. It gave Ed a pang of guilt; but perhaps it was for the best. After all, he hadn't seen his brother this happy for a long time.
Night
Ed tried not to doze off. The sound of rain was so peaceful, the sound of it drumming against the roof, dripping down the windowsill…but dammit, he had to take his shower before bed. Al was taking a hell of a long time. Not that Ed blamed him. Going four years without warm water was a good excuse to take long showers. Ed pressed his ear to the door. At least it sounded like the shower wasn't on, which meant he had already gotten out. Well, he couldn't really tell, not with the rain pounding down.
Several minutes passed and Ed got a little worried. Had he gotten stuck somehow? Why hadn't he called out for Ed? He couldn't hear any movement inside the bathroom…
"Al? Al, I'm coming in."
Ed pushed the door open carefully, surprised to find it unlocked and even more surprised to find no resistance—no squeaks of surprise or even a noise of acknowledgement. His initial surprise melted into shocked fear when he saw two key things: one, Alphonse was not in the bathroom. Two, there was no sign that he'd even started the shower at all. Ed had seen his little brother enter the bathroom. The only way he could've gotten out would be…
Ed raced to the window, pissed and terrified beyond all comprehension when he saw it wide open. The floor was covered in small puddles. He thrust his head out and yelled for Al, the wind and water eating up his words before they went far.
Then he saw him; it would be hard to miss his flowing, golden hair. Al was running around in the rain, arms spread out, making airplane noises. Fucking airplane noises. He was in the freezing cold rain, scaring his big brother to death, and he was pretending to be an airplane?
"AL, DAMMIT!" Ed shouted, much louder than before. Al stopped dead, eyes raising up and fixing on the window. Ed could practically hear him thinking "oh, shit".
"What the FUCK are you doing?!" Ed screamed at him. "Get back here!"
Al lowered his arms, still staring at Ed. And, with a touch of a rebellious smile, Al raised them back up and ran around in circles, this time making truck noises. Ed seethed in frustration. It was as if Al was nothing more than a five year old running off from his father. His behavior certainly mimicked that of a toddler. Without a second thought, Ed hoisted himself over the windowsill and landed in the muddy grass below, a jolt shooting up his legs. Al froze in surprise; he knew Ed couldn't stand getting wet.
"Al," Ed hissed with all the authority he could muster. Then Al smiled and ran off.
"Catch me if you can," Al called over his shoulder. Ed was completely struck let out a huff of exasperation and chased after his brother.
"If I rust my leg, Winry's gonna kill me," Ed ground out. "Didn't I fucking warn him about colds this morning?!"
Alphonse had adored showers and such when he first felt them, but this was borderline. Ed felt nothing but fear and searing, seething, explosive anger. Did Al have no common sense whatsoever?!
Ed finally managed to stop Al, taking care not to tackle him. He pulled on Al's wrist with slightly more force than necessary.
"Are you kidding me, Al?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" Ed roared. "Don't do that! I was so worried—you can't—didn't I just warn you about staying away from the cold?! Al, you could get sick! You could—you could—die, dammit!"
Al looked at his brother with surprise in his eyes, not expecting that Ed would be so shaken up. "I…I'm sorry, Brother. I didn't think I'd scare you that much. I just wanted to feel what it's like…"
Ed gritted his teeth. "You couldn't wait until a spring rain for that?! Al, we have to get inside now. You can't catch a cold, okay?! You can't!"
"Ed," Al said suddenly. Ed paused. Al only called him by his first name when he was serious. "Ed, I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking. When I think back on it, I…" Al winced. "That was really dumb of me. And mean. I'm sorry."
Ed sucked in his breath, surprised by the sudden well of emotion. He hugged Al tightly. "Fine, godammit, lets just get back inside."
There's a chapter of Al doing dumb things. I based it around the idea that he was so excited to do everything with his new body that he throws common sense out the window, no pun intended. Sorry if it seems OOC; it's hard writing Ed being the sensible one for once. 8')
