Author's Note: 8/14/2012. This week's suggested theme was "Yarn." So we have another visit to the past, to Edward's teenage State Alchemist years (fits in any of the worlds really), on a mission with someone who doesn't get to show up nearly enough.
There were worse things than being caught out in the rain without cover on an assignment.
Like being caught out in the rain without cover on an assignment... with the Strong Arm Alchemist.
Or... being caught out in the rain without cover on an assignment with the Strong Arm Alchemist... with a huge hole in one sock.
"Oh, yuck, this is gross." Ed pulled off the nearly destroyed sock as he sat crammed into a cave under an overhang in a rock face, that was far too small in his opinion given Armstrong took up roughly half of it, and the fire in front of them only made the space seem even smaller. His socks, like his boots, pants, and half of the rest of him, were cold and stiff and caked in mud. "That's the last time I let you talk me into being bait for guard dogs."
"I'm sorry, Edward," Alex commented, looking at least half-way actually sorry. "But the ploy worked, and we'll have those stolen military messages back in Central in no time."
"Yeah, if those friendly fuzzballs don't find us first." Ed wrung out the socks once he had both off stuck them out in the rain for a minute, and then used alchemy to pull most of the water and mud out of them, so they were just damp, but relatively clean. He fingered the huge hole in the bottom. "Damn it, that was my last pair." And, if he was honest, there wasn't enough material left to transmute them whole again. Al had chided him about not having enough good pairs of socks before he left on this assignment.
"Let me see that," Alex cried excitedly, snatching away Ed's sock before the teenager could stop him.
"Hey, give me that!" Ed reached out, but missed. "What do you think you're going to do with an old sock? I'm not eating it."
"Of course not, Edward!" Alex scoffed as he reached into his travel pack and started fishing for something. Almost immediately out bounced a bawl of yarn... .bright, orange, fluffy yarn.
Ed recoiled. "Major, why do you have ugly yarn in your bag?"
"For emergencies just such as these," he chuckled deeply, pulling out a pair of humongous needles.
For a moment, Ed thought he might crawl out of his skin. But these weren't medical needles, just huge, metal, blue things. "What, you're going to knit us out of here?"
"Not knit," Alex shook his head as he picked up the ugly orange yarn and the sock. "Darn!"
"What's wrong?"
Alex looked amused. "Very clever, Edward. This darning technique has been in the Armstrong family for generations!" And with that, he began to use the yarn to do something to the huge hole in Ed's sock.
Ed couldn't help but watch as, within a few minutes, the entire hole in his sock had been filled by orange yarn. It was even, thick and, most importantly, it looked warm. Given it would be stuffed in his boot, he supposed he could live with orange. It was better than pink. "Wow... thanks, Major." He took his sock back, inspecting it. "That's actually sort of cool."
Alex's deep rumbling voice filled the little cave as Ed put his newly dried and repaired socks back on. "I hope not, Edward. They're support to be sort of warm."