"What do you want, Edward?"
The blonde rubbed the back of his neck as he muttered, "Where did you run off to today? We were looking for you." His eyes met mine and I quickly broke eye contact.
"So I heard," I said, and a tense silence fell over the two of us.
"Can I come in?" Ed asked, awkwardly shoving his hands in his pockets as he stood in the hall. Looking him up and down briefly with cautious eyes, I stepped back and opened the door, letting him brush past me and walk into the smaller room.
"It's not as fancy as yours, but it's livable," I joked to try and ease the tension, closing the door and turning only to spot Ed observing my study materials scattered across the bed. I watched him for a moment, observing his slightly uncomfortable posture as he picked up my notebook and skimmed through it in curiosity.
"The military isn't as nice as you may think," he said quietly, and I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. I walked over to stand next to him beside the bed, leaning over to mark my spot in the book with a pen before closing it.
"Can't really be much worse than my current situation." I paused a moment before my saltiness got the better of me and I added, "You know, the one you throttled out of me this morning." I couldn't help the twinge of satisfaction I felt as I saw Ed wince in my peripheral, seeming to have calmed down a fair bit since this morning.
"Yeah, I deserved that one," he mumbled, ears burning with shame. My expression eased and I gently took my notebook from his gloved hands, walking over to put my study materials on the bedside table next to the lightly folded note with Hans' number scribbled on it. I walked over to the chair by the small desk in the corner and grabbed my bag of books off of it, gesturing for Ed to sit down as I went to place it down by my things by my bed.
He took a seat and I bounced on my bed, sitting near the edge and crossing my legs as I braced myself for our inevitably tough conversation.
"Why'd you call Colonel Mustang?" I broke the silence, glancing at Ed curiously, "You seemed like you didn't want anything to do with me earlier, I thought Al was the one who would've come to check up on me."
"He did," Ed answered, slinging his arms against the back of the chair as he leaned back and met my eyes, "You didn't answer, though, and he got worried you had second thoughts and ran off." I sighed.
"So Al really was the one behind the call, huh," I mused, averting my gaze in slight disappointed. Just as I originally thought.
"I never said that." I looked at him in surprise, but after a moment my expression sobered.
"I never meant to lie to you," I mumbled, eyes shifting again to rest on my lap. "To either of you, really. I can't really say why or how I know so much about this world, but I know enough to be certain that there are a lot of people who'd hurt or take advantage of me if they discovered my, uh, situation. Especially because I'm here all by myself, I have to be cautious around everyone." I met his gaze, continuing softly, "Including you and your brother." A flicker of emotion crossed through Ed's eyes, but before I could examine it it vanished.
"I understand," Ed's voice was quiet and a little bit hesitant as he continued, "J-just, if we're going to help you study alchemy, please be honest about what you can and can't do. When you pulled off that transmutation this morning, for a moment I thought you were… like us, and had pretended you weren't." My demeanor eased at what I garnered was his attempt at an apology.
"It's okay, you know," I said, biting my lip. "After getting to know you guys a bit, I can't imagine you did what you did without good intentions, or a reason at least. I just… My circumstances are different, and I've been honestly so overwhelmed these past couple of days that I just didn't want to get into it, especially because it's difficult to know the extent of what I should and shouldn't say if I want to keep both me and the two of you safe." Ed nodded, looking over at my hunched figure and I shot him a tentative smile.
"Truce?" I offered, leaning over the edge of the bed slightly to stick out a fist. A small, relieved smile played at his lips, and he brought the side of his fist down to gently bump the side of mine.
"Truce," he grinned, and I shook out my fist a little, letting out a small huff of laughter as I complained about how dense his automail was. The tension in the room relaxed and I let my legs dangle over the edge of my bed, expression settling on a slight contented smile.
"Where's Al?" I asked, and Ed shrugged.
"Probably still in our room, panicking over whether or not you got kidnapped by some random sicko before you got to your room," he said nonchalantly, and I shot him a look.
"Speaking of which, why did you come by yourself? You said Al stopped by earlier when I wasn't here, right?"
"I may or may not have snuck out to take a walk because I got sick of his worried pacing," Ed responded, and I let out a low whistle.
"Wooooow, coming from the one who called ahead to his superior about me because you remembered I was supposed to meet him today," I retorted, rolling my eyes. Ed's cheeks reddened in embarrassment, and he looked away, crossing his arms.
"It's not my fault you weren't in your room when you said you'd be."
"Well forgive me for assuming you'd want to come chat with me so soon after stretching out the collar of my new shirt and telling me to, what'd you say? 'Get the fuck out'?" I leaned forward, letting a smug grin rest on my lips as the older Elric turned beet red. Least I can do is mess with him a little bit, and payback is sweeeeet.
"I was upset, okay? I'm sorry!" He grumbled, blonde locks obscuring his flustered face, eyes downcast. "I didn't mean to blow up at you like that. Sorry." I laughed, waving a hand at him as his eyes came back to rest on me, widened in surprise.
"It's no big deal, I'd be upset too if I were you," I said, chuckling at Ed's distressed display. "I was honestly far more scared of you guys ditching me than just getting mad at me. Speaking of ditching, I think it's about time we let Al know I'm okay." I hopped off the bed, stepping over to my bedside table to snatch the room key I had tucked into Han's note.
"What's that?" Ed questioned, watching me set down the note as I grabbed my key.
Ears dusting pink, I picked it back up and hid it inside my notebook, squeaking, "Nothing!" Ed eyed me warily as I turned and laughed nervously, gesturing to the door.
"Shall we go?" Ed's eyes narrowed as he got to his feet, casting a curious glance at my bedside table as I stepped away from it. Not knowing how long I'd be with the brothers, I paused before turning back to scoop up my study materials, not daring to remove the note in the off chance Ed decided to snatch it on our way out.
"What is it?" Ed pestered as he followed me out, standing a little too close behind for comfort as I locked my door. When I turned to march past him, he took the opportunity to snatch my notebook, holding it out of my reach as he pulled out the paper I had jammed in the front of it.
"Hey! Give it!" I demanded, my chest nearly pressed against his as I reached forward and waved my right arm at the notebook he held above us, left arm busy clutching my study materials. He held out the note in front of his tilted-back head and I blushed, finally snagging the paper and pulling it out of his grasp.
"A phone number…?" He said, eyes furrowed slightly in confusion as I stepped back, shoving the note in my pocket. I pursed my lips and stalked down the hallway, the sound of Ed's boots following behind as I made my way to their room.
"Yes, a phone number!" I huffed in annoyance, avoiding Ed's gaze self-consciously. "What, I can't write down phone numbers?"
"It wasn't your handwriting, though," Ed said, and I thought I caught a bit of teasing in his voice, "Why are you getting all flustered over it, huh? What, is it a guy's number?" I cringed, my face burning in embarrassment as I wished I could shrink into nothingness.
"Shut up," I muttered, and I heard Ed's lovely voice gasp in incredulity.
"It is, isn't it?" I didn't dare look up at the Elric as we made it to the staircase, starting up the steps side-by-side.
"It's not my fault a cute guy decided to give me his number at the bookstore," I mumbled, and only in the moment of silence after did I realize my mistake.
"Oh, so he's cute now too, huh?" Oh Lord, make it stop!
"Why do you even care?" I stopped on the staircase, daring to look over at the jeering blonde. He stopped, too, and returned my look with an intensity I hadn't been prepared for. His mocking smile faded and his eyes smoldered, drilling into me with an unexpected ferocity.
"Because it's a little frustrating to know that while Al and I were running around trying to find you, worried that you were even alive because you seem to have the awful habit of getting yourself into trouble, you were looking through book stores getting guys' numbers." My shocked expression clouded over with confusion, taken aback by his words.
"I wasn't hitting on anyone, Ed," I said honestly, eyebrows furrowed. "I just went out to clear my head and grab some study materials, I didn't expect either of you to be around at least until tonight, if not tomorrow."
"Right," he said tightly, and I put a hand on my hip and sighed.
"I'm sorry that I worried you both," I apologized, feeling a twinge of guilt. "The number thing just… happened, and honestly I was too stressed out about the possibility of you and Al ditching me altogether to even enjoy the rare miracle of someone actually finding me attractive." Ed's eyes softened at my admission, and after a moment of analyzing my features he looked away with an unreadable expression.
"It's not a miracle," he mumbled, his voice almost too low and quiet for my ears to catch. "You are attractive." With that, he was the one leaving me in the dust, disappearing up the staircase before I could register what he said.
I couldn't help the wide smile that broke out over my face, my heart thundering in my chest as I turned on my heel and raced after the alchemist.
"Edward Elric, you get back here!" I laughed, finally catching up to him a couple yards from his door and nearly knocking him over as I slung an arm around his shoulders. I giggled as he regained his balance, clapping him on his farthest shoulder as I confidently declared, "Running is fruitless, you're stuck with me now." I caught the slight edge of a smile on his face before he turned away, not bothering to shrug off my arm.
The Elric's hotel room cracked open and Al appeared, looking down the hall to see what all the ruckus was about. His glowing eyes flickered with excitement as he spotted me beside his brother, and he stepped out further, opening the door widely.
"Lynette!" The young boy exclaimed, his echoing voice warm with a hint of relief. "You're back!" I nodded, releasing the elder brother as I strode to Al's towering figure in the doorway. I sighed happily, careful not to hurt myself as I reached my arms around the younger brother's armor to pull him in for the best hug I could manage.
"Alphonse," I hummed, tapping my fingers against his metal sides and listening curiously to the reverberations travel through his hollow armor. "Thanks for looking for me." Al let out a small high-pitched sound of surprise and I pulled away, grinning up at the sharp corners of his helmet.
"O-of course!" Al said, giving his brother a slightly puzzled look as I breezed past him into their luxurious apartment, making myself at home.
Ed merely returned his look with a shrug, the corners of his mouth curving up despite himself as he strolled into the apartment after me, Al close behind as he closed the door.
Fluff chapter anyone? Because that's basically all this chapter is, though I have zero regrets because Ed and Lynette are adorable ;;
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