36: Thirty Minutes in Heaven
Asher's P.O.V.
I backed away slowly, tripping over my own feet and landing hard on my butt. My body started shaking and I felt like I was going to fly into a thousand pieces. I grabbed my arms and held myself together. Ed crouched down next to me.
"Asher, what's wrong?" he asked. I was shaking too much to answer.
"Someone is trying to come out. I'll spare you the trouble this time and leave you with this: You can get your beloved Rei back, but only if you kill Father." Lust said, her words barely registering in my brain. I closed my eyes and tried to hold myself together. Suddenly, it went away and I was fine. A little shaken up, but fine.
"we should get back to HQ. Winry should be here by now." Riza said, holding the door open. I stood up and walked out, Ed close behind me.
"how could she get here so fast? You called her to come this morning." Ed asked, holding his empty arm socket.
"She said she had a way." Riza replied. We knew what she meant when we arrived at HQ.
"My plane!!" I cried. She had flown the plane from Resembool to Central and apparently had partially crashed it into something since one of the wings was badly damaged.
"ED!!" she screamed, chucking her wrench at him. I jogged over to my broken plane and began fixing the wing, temporarily fixing it with my powers since I didn't feel like getting all greasy and dirty right now. Caroline kept me company.
"Did you notice Al and Aya?" she asked. I scooted off the wing and dusted off my skirt.
"No. What about them?" I inquired. She pointed at them. They were sitting on a bench talking. "they're just talking. So what?" I shrugged, placing my hands on my hips.
"Yeah. Ever since you were captured, they've been hanging out a lot. Together." She stressed the last word.
"Sorry, I didn't notice. I was busy being electrocuted." I snapped. She giggled nervously.
"Well, I think th--" I cut her off pl placing my hand over her mouth.
"Don't gossip about them. That boy is the brother of my boyfriend, so you better watch what you say around me." I snarled. Caroline squeaked and hid behind Russell, who was talking to Fletcher. Truffle pointed at me and Fletcher ran over.
"can I have a ride, Asher?" he asked, hugging my middle.
"Maybe, when it's fixed." I laughed. His face fell. "but, I can take you flying anyway." I added.
"Really?!" he chirped. I nodded and lifted him off the ground with my powers. He squealed with excitement, flapping his arms like a bird. I made him fly in little circles around the plane.
"Having fun?" I called. He laughed, which I guess meant "yes".
"that was so cool!!" he said when I brought him back to earth. I glanced over at Ed and Winry, who was attaching his new arm in the middle of the courtyard because she needed to go back to Resembool soon. Ed saw me. He smiled and waved. I waved back.
Later, we all sat in my dorm, watching a movie. Ed suggested The Brother's Grimm. I, naturally, protested, insisting we needed to watch The Lion King. I won. Fletcher was asleep on my lap and my legs were starting to fall asleep. I fidgeted uncomfortably. I love Fletcher, but he was getting really heavy. Truffle noticed and picked him up, putting him on one of the beds. I got up and sat next to Ed, who draped his arm over my shoulder.
"this movie's depressing." he said after Simba's father got trampled to death.
"It gets better. Not shut up." I whispered/hissed. I sang along softly to all the songs.
"Is the entire thing full of songs?" Truffle asked. I kicked the back of his head.
"put a sock in it!" Winry hissed, breaking her focus on the movie momentarily. Aya, Al, and Caroline didn't even notice the commotion we were making. I rested my head against Ed's shoulder. Halfway through the movie we started making out. Ed licked my bottom lip, begging for entrance. I hesitated, but let him explore my mouth, wrestling his tongue with mine. His hands traveled down to my hips, pulling me closer to him. I sat on his lap and pulled his head into mine, deepening our kiss. I felt him grow and he pushed me off him. I saw him blush twenty shades of red. I tried to get my breathing to return to normal.
"now what?" Russell asked when the movie ended. I stood up and stretched.
"We could play a game." I suggested.
"seven minutes in heaven!!" Caroline perked up. There were nods and "sure's" and a few "yeahs".
"okay, here's how it'll go. Everyone will put an item in the hat. Whoever's item you pick, you have to spend seven minutes with in the closet." Aya jumped in, pointing at the closet closest to us.
"Seven minutes is too short." Truffle whined. I rolled my eyes.
"An hour?" Caroline suggested. We all shook our heads.
"Too long." Ed said.
"says the guy with a girlfriend." Truffle muttered. I kicked him again.
"Knock it off, you weirdoes!" Aya scolded.
"half an hour." I offered. Everyone agreed.
"I wanna play too." Fletcher said, walking over to us. We all selected our item and put them in a hat Caroline fished out of my dresser.
"you first." she said, thrusting the hat at Truffle. He was about to grab something when Aya stopped him.
"wait. Let's lay down some rules first. Number one, you can't ask to pick another item." Aya said.
"Number two, you have to stay in the closet for the entire thirty minutes." Caroline added.
"Number three, you have to do something. you can't just sit there and stare at each other." I said. "even if you pick someone of the same gender." Russell rolled his eyes and picked his item. A black ribbon.
"Ed, please tell me this isn't yours." he said, standing up.
"it's mine." Caroline said, placing the hat on a table and dragging Russell into the closet. there were wolf howls and whooping. Someone knocked on the door and I answered it.
"what are you doing?" Mustang asked, poking his head through the door.
"Playing thirty minutes in heaven." I replied. "you wanna play?" I offered sweetly.
"C'mon Colonel, let's play." Havoc elbowed him.
"Why? It's such a childish game." He grumbled. Havoc pushed him inside. Riza, Falman, Fuery, Breda, and Armstrong followed.
"Put an item in the hat." Aya instructed. There were some complaints, mostly from Mustang, but everyone obeyed. "times up you two!" She said, unlocking the door. Russell crawled out on his hands and knees, breathing hard. Caroline skipped out.
"your turn, Al!" she sang, holding out the hat to him. He picked a pocket knife. He eyes Russell, who curled up under the couch, sighed, and then walked over to the closet. Aya followed.
"Why are you guys playing this?" Mustang asked.
"we were bored." Caroline replied. I crawled on the floor and poked Russell.
"Are you dead?" I asked. He glared at me, then at Caroline, then back at me. He shook his head.
"I'm not going back in the closet ever again." he gasped.
"Don't be such a wimpy, un-macho girly man." I chided. He crawled out and stood up, towering over me even when I stood on my tippy toes. Man, I was really short.
"Who're you calling a wimpy un-macho girly man?" he asked poisonously.
"you." I said, grinning.
"Suck my dick you brat." he hissed. There were "oohs" and "dudes" and other such noises.
"what dick?" I asked.
"Oh no she didn't!!" Mustang commented. Russell looked like he was gonna explode.
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." He said, sticking out his tongue. I walked away and grabbed a really fat dictionary, turning to chuck it at him. It hit him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.
"wanna bet?" I hissed dangerously.
"go Asher!" Winry cheered. Russell stood up and chucked the dictionary back at me.
"What the hell was that?!" he yelled.
"a dictionary. Words can hurt." I replied. He rolled his eyes and plopped on the floor. Caroline unlocked the door when time was up. She stood in the doorway for a moment before taking a few steps back.
"Um... wow..." was all she said. Aya and Al walked out of the closet holding hands. Al's cheeks were slightly pink. Mustang got stuck in the closet with Armstrong, who nearly crushed him in a hug lasting the entire thirty minutes. Riza went in with Havoc. You couldn't hear anything; both people had huge grins on their faces when they came out. Russell picked Winry and he came out with a black eye and a pissed of Winry. Fuery picked Breda. None of us will know what went on in those thirty minutes. It was my turn. Naturally, I was hoping to pick Ed, but I pulled out a coin.
"Yay!" Fletcher cried, hugging me. Ed gave me a weird look.
"oh, Ed, he's a little kid. Nothing's gonna happen." I pecked his forehead before walking into the closet with Fletcher.
"Have fun." Caroline cooed, locking the door. I heard Ed mumbling something on the other side of the door. I sat against the wall and Fletcher crawled on my lap.
"Are you and Ed dating?" he asked. I smiled and nodded. "Are you gonna get married and have babies?" He inquired sweetly. I blushed five shades of red.
"I don't know. It all depends on if he asks me." I said.
"If you say no, will you marry me?" he asked. I giggled and hugged him.
"Maybe." I replied, kissing the top of his head. Five minutes later he was asleep again.
"Time's up!!" Ed yelled, opening the door. His expression softened when he saw Fletcher asleep on my lap.
"can you help me? My legs are asleep." I grinned sheepishly. He picked up Fletcher and handed him to Russell. I wobbled over to the couch and curled up on the cushion. Caroline picked Falman. Aya picked Al, not to much surprise. Al complained about wanting thirty more minutes, but he left the closet anyway. Winry got Fuery. Havoc got Mustang. Both men had strange expressions on their faces when they rejoined us. Armstrong got Ed, much to his disappointment and horror. When the thirty minutes war up, Ed stormed out of the Closet and grabbed the hat, pulling out the last item.
"a rose petal?" he asked, holding the single red rose petal in his fingers. I stood up, grabbed his hand and led him to the closet, my heart beating erratically.