There is a lemon coming up. Not in this chapter. Or, sadly, the next. Buuut, the one after that. There is a lemon coming up. Not in this chapter. Or, sadly, the next. Buuut, the one after that.
Enjoy ~
"Oh, gosh, Ed. I am so sorry. I saw those statues down by the gate! I just wanted to know what you were looking at. I…Do you have copies? So sorry." Jeb continued to babble, looking half ready to jump into the fire after the crisped pages.
"Eh…" Ed smiled. "It's fine. Lousy paperwork anyway. So, you saw them, huh?"
Jeb turned back to Ed. "Lousy paperwork? Thought your job was all paperwork?"
Ed scratched the back of his head, smiling in an apologetic way. "Yea, well, most of it is, really. Sometimes."
"So, what do you do? Those look like military files."
"Well, they are. I'm with the military."
"Oh?" Jeb waited to hear more.
Ed wanted to ask why he was being questioned, when the other boy had just torched his assignment. He had a feeling Mustang would come up with some choice words, a long winded lecture, and at least three short jokes for that. "I'm a state alchemist." Ed finally admitted, sinking into his chair. He picked up the abandoned drink, wanting to get rid of the sober feeling that the worry for his brother and the shock of his files seemed to bring about.
"Oh?" Something in Jeb's voice made Ed look up, but the boy offered no other words, simply dropping back into his chair and holding out a glass for Ed to refill. "Do they know about you?" He changed the subject.
"Know what?" One glance at Jeb answered Ed's question. "The officer I report to does, I think. I mean, I'm sure he suspects. He came by earlier, actually, to give me that file. He's going to be pissed when he finds out I incinerated it on the first day."
Jeb winced. "Tell him it was me? That it was a mistake."
"Eh. Why bother?" Ed shrugged. "Anyway, he'll simply say Ed, I'm amazed you could see the top of the gate on the fire to toss it in. This is just like you. Thinking is too difficult for someone like you, huh? Just got to act on impulse. And what am I suppose to say?" Ed's Mustang impersonation made Jeb smile, and they let the torched papers conversation fall.
"Mikah fell asleep." Al whispered, standing in the doorway to the room.
Ed glanced at the bottle in one hand and the cup in the other. He set them down as discreetly as one could who had already been caught, and stood. "I don't blame him, it's pitch black outside."
"Can he stay over?" Al was looking at Jeb, already knowing Ed would give him permission.
"If that's okay with your brother, I don't see why not." Jeb smiled.
"Are you staying, too?"
Jeb shot Ed a questioning look, who shrugged. "Well, I don't see why not." He repeated, and Al smiled.
He ran across the room and slid his arms around Ed. "Goodnight, Brother." He turned and headed back down the hall. They heard the bedroom door click shut, and both boys turned to face each other.
"Where were we?" Jeb smiled, one hand finding Ed's cheek while his lips met the other boy's.
Ed forgot all about burnt papers, statues, and lectures as they made their way clumsily to the bedroom, hissing and whispering as they tried not to wake their brothers.
This has nothing to do with the story, but I just wanted to say. While I was typing, I erased some lines that made me think of these papers I was reviewing. And the people were using some sort of…similes or something, I don't know. Anyway, they had phrases like "Her eyes were a dark as a tunnel that was dark" and "The river was as still as a river that didn't have any rocks skipping the surface or ducks swimming around and was therefore very still" I was laughing so hard at these sentences. Just thought I would share