Previously: "Ahh!" her finger came up warningly. "Do not argue with me. I'm staying here. I'll just lie down with him. I'll rest just fine and I'll be right here if he needs something."
Winry conceded to let Alphonse stay with his brother for long enough for her to get ready for bed, and then proceeded to shoo the younger Elric out of the room so she could turn down the gaslights and watch Edward sleep for a while.
Date: 10. Dec. 19 - Wednesday
Time: 07:16
Location: Central City – Home of General Roy Mustang
Alphonse awoke a few minutes before dawn feeling like he was fully rested for the first time in a month. Albeit it had not been quite that long, but the nightmarish weekend had certainly made it feel that way until now. He lounged in the bed of the guest room he was in for another ten minutes before he quietly rose and made the bed. Pulling on his robe, Alphonse peeked in on his brother first. Winry had left the door slightly ajar overnight, so he was able to just peer through the crack between the door and the frame. His brother was lying on his left side. Wait… Alphonse had to stop a snicker. Winry hadn't left his brother the whole night. However, she had slept, that was obvious as their childhood friend was lying on the bed behind Edward, and appeared to have wrapped herself around the older Elric like one of the blankets they were under. Both were oblivious, so Alphonse decided to let them rest while he made quick work getting himself ready for the day.
Once he was clean and dressed, Alphonse peeked into the room again. This time one of Edward's eyes opened, then both of them. Wide. Alphonse put a finger to his lips as he stepped into the room to keep Edward from freaking out and waking Winry with his noise. With a few hand signals, the Alphonse indicated that Edward should keep sleeping or at least appear sleeping to be while the younger brother gently woke Winry.
It turned out she wasn't sleeping that deeply despite how much she was wrapped around Edward. She woke as soon as Alphonse touched her shoulder.
"Oh!" Her blue eyes flew open as she gasped before Alphonse shushed her.
"It's okay," Alphonse told her quietly, running a hand through his damp hair. "He's not up yet." That was absolutely true, he told himself. That he was asleep again so quickly was highly doubtful, but Winry didn't need to know that.
Winry carefully extricated herself from Edward and slid out from under the covers. "I don't know when that happened," she asserted. "I swear I was just lying on top of the covers." She raised her arms over her head and stretched all the way up onto her toes.
Alphonse couldn't stop the soft giggle. "You must have gotten cold?"
"Mmm…" She rubbed her face. "I guess so… I know I got up to give him his meds. Maybe then…"
"He must have had a more restful night," Alphonse observed, "If you were also able to get some good sleep."
"Yeah," Winry rubbed an eye. "That's probably true."
"Anyway," Alphonse said clearing his throat to hide another snicker. "Did you want to get a bath?"
"Does Mr. Mustang have a shower?" Winry wondered.
"Yeah. There's a really nice shower in the downstairs bathroom," Alphonse told her. "Do you remember where it is?"
Winry nodded with a yawn and another stretch.
"Go ahead, then. I'll get brother up and moving a bit."
"M'kay," Winry agreed. Her hand touched Edward's forehead. "He's a little hot, but don't give him his meds just yet. I want him to eat first," she told him as she headed out into the hallway and then into her own room.
Date: 10. Dec. 19 - Wednesday
Time: 07:32
Location: Central City – Home of General Roy Mustang
Edward kept his eyes closed until he heard Winry start down the stairs. Then they flew open, locked on his brother's. "Al!" he hissed. "What the hell?" He pulled himself up against the headboard awkwardly, thankful that his brother let him do it himself other than adjusting the pillow behind him. He was tired of being fussed over so much. He was equally thankful that he'd been lying on his side, and that this own body's reaction to having Winry's soft curves wrapped around him like that was subsiding.
Edward didn't miss his brother biting his lips. He was obviously trying hard not to laugh at him. He had to have known. Of course he did. Alphonse was a man. He knew how these things worked. At least he could blame the blush he felt in his cheeks on the fever, that wasn't a good thing either.
"Dammit," Edward ground his teeth, his hand coming up to his forehead. "Why do I have to have a fever again? I don't have time for this crap today!"
"You're all right, Ed!" As if to prove it Alphonse's used the backs of his fingers touch his brother's face. "It's not that bad. You're just a little warm. It's not enough to make you crazy, and fever is your body working to fight the infection. Remember? Winry wasn't too worried about it. She said you can have your meds as soon as we have breakfast."
"Well let's get on with it then! What time is it?"
Edward didn't miss the slight eye roll before his brother glanced over at the watch on the night table. "It's early; about a quarter to eight."
"Shit!"
"You need the bathroom?" Alphonse did laugh a little now, but Edward let him pretend that he was laughing at his own stupid joke and not him.
"That too," Edward conceded with a sigh. "I can do it."
"I'm sure you can," the younger brother agreed, "but I'll help you a little anyway, okay? You know I've got my orders."
Edward rolled his eyes, but let his brother help him get into his warm robe and ready to walk. Once he had his crutch in his hand, he got himself up easily enough, though he had to admit at least to himself that he had a lot of strength to regain. He wasn't as well balanced as he'd like. Alphonse to his credit let Edward do the work, and waited for him outside the bathroom door, only coming in to help him wash up afterwards.
Once Edward settled himself against the headboard again, he had Alphonse hand him the binder with the all the house information to date, and his pen. Then he sent his brother to scrounge up some breakfast for them, for once anxious to get his meds out of the way so he could get rid of this thrice damned fever. He took his note book from the binder so he could make sure he had all his questions written down. But first he turned his eyes towards the stack of medicines on the table, narrowing them slightly, and he picked up his pen.
It was only a short while before he heard feet on the steps and the door opened. "Good Morning, Fullmetal." The former general, dressed in his suit for work stepped in with a folding table in one hand. He picked up a pair of folding chairs in his other and stepped into the room, "You look better today."
"Oh yeah?" Edward meant to come up with some snappy comment, but instead he tilted his head looking at Mustang as he set up the table and chairs. "You're dressed for work?"
"Yes I am," the two side chairs were pulled to the table too, and gestured to one of the chairs. "I have some meetings to prepare for in the next few days, and since my house is basically attached to the State Alchemy Board building, I don't have to go very far."
"I don't think I would have wanted to buy my house if it was attached to the university," Edward told him.
"Well now," Mustang rubbed his chin glancing at the ceiling in a fair imitation of thoughtful contemplation. "It has its perks; like not having to go out in foul weather to get to work." He gestured towards the table. "You need help?"
Edward shook his head, "Nah, I got it." It took some effort to get started, but less effort than it had taken the day before, Edward noted. Edward pulled himself off the bed and the couple of steps to the chair and sat. "So… you're just gonna leave us here to our own devices, while we let strangers in your house today?"
"Yes," Mustang sat in the chair opposite his once subordinate. "The dogs have been out and fed, by the way. They are in the run now. I'm going to work, and you're going to have an important legal meeting to attend while I'm gone. I'll offer my congratulations ahead of time." The dark eyes narrowed slightly," Please don't burn my house down in celebration once you take ownership of yours."
"I told you, not while we're in it," Edward snarked back.
The banter ended there, as Alphonse and Winry entered the room carrying breakfast. Edward wondered why Winry paused to give Mustang the stink eye before she sat in one of the chairs. Mustang shrugged at her as she allowed him to edge he chair in. He sat with them only long enough to accept a slice of toast with jam. Then he politely excused himself to go to work.
"What the hell was that look for, Winry?" Edward wanted to know.
Winry gave him the same look, "You two never stop," she quipped, and started piling scrambled eggs onto Edward's plate and then her own.
Alphonse ignored the entire exchange, and added a slice of toast to his brother's plate spread with the same jam. "The Chairman contributed this jam to our breakfast," he said. "I don't know what it is, but it's really delicious."
Edward grumbled but had to admit his brother was right when he took a bite. He rubbed his face and distracted himself with a couple of bites of the scrambled eggs. They were good too, and he was hungry, but he felt like he was already running out of steam. He set his fork down and fiddled with the corner of his toast.
"You okay Ed?" Winry asked.
"Dammit! This fever is just sapping my energy, Winry," Edward snapped. "I don't have time for this." He stopped and rubbed at an eye in frustration.
Winry's hand pulled his away from his face and closed over it for a moment. "You're okay, Ed. You're not as hot as you think you are. You can have your meds as soon as you finish your breakfast, Okay."
Edward sighed harshly, but he snatched up his fork.
"Don't get so worked up, Ed!" Winry told him firmly. "You have plenty of time."
"I know, I know," Edward admitted, taking another bite. "I'm just tired, and this damn fever won't let me be."
"You're much better than you were yesterday, Ed," his brother reminded him. "Stronger too. Don't be so hard on yourself."
Edward snorted at that. "That's what I do, Al!"
"I know," Alphonse agreed, "but it's a waste of time."
"And energy," Winry added tartly.
Date: 10. Dec. 19 - Wednesday
Time: 07:55
Location: Central City – Home of General Roy Mustang
Eventually Edward had eaten enough to satisfy Winry, and didn't seem inclined to eat any more. She left Alphonse to tidy up so she could take command of Edward. Shortly, she had him back on the bed, propped comfortably against the headboard. "I want you to relax for a few minutes, Ed."
"I don't—" one finger in his face shut the elder Elric right up.
Winry put the thermometer in his mouth to keep him that way and turned her attention to his medications. "What the—this—" her fists clenched at her sides, but she bit her tongue and waited until Alphonse was out the door and on his way downstairs before she spun with two the bottles in her hands. The first one shoved in his face. "Mold pill?"
Edward took the thermometer out to snark back "That's completely accurate!"
"You still have to take it."
"I didn't say I wouldn't, did I?"
"It didn't need your commentary. We all know what it is." She put that bottle down, but one second later shoved another bottle in his face. "What does that say?"
"Vomit pill!"
"It's not!" Winry snapped "It's your anti-inflammatory pill."
"Which makes me vomit."
"It doesn't."
"It does. I've been paying attention like you told me to," Edward rebutted. "I take all this junk 4 times a day except that one is twice a day—"
"It's not junk Ed!" Winry barked over him. "It's medicine!"
"Which won't do me any good if it I can't stomach it, Winry."
She grumbled in annoyance. "You can't backslide on your progress, Ed. I don't have anything else, so you're taking it."
"Fine," Edward told her sharply. "I'll tell you 'I told you so' now, because in an hour when you're holding my hair out of the bowl, I probably won't be able to say it."
Winry rolled her eyes. "Give me that!" she snatched the thermometer out of his hand and read it. She knew the fever was making Edward more reactive, but enough was enough. She also knew that she shouldn't have let him bait her into coming down to that level as well. They were both supposed to be adults after all, and Edward at least had the excuse of being ill. She took a breath and let it out. When she spoke again, her voice was intentionally placating. "You shouldn't be so worried about the fever. It's barely over thirty-eight degrees."
Edward didn't appear quite ready to be soothed. His eyes canted away from her, and his left arm was crossed over his chest the hand resting gingerly over his sore right shoulder. She recognized that it was what he did when he would normally have crossed his arms over his chest. Well, he could go ahead and pout. At least he had some fire back in his eyes.
Winry was finished arguing, and started doling out his medications. "Aspirin." Winry led with that one, because she knew it was one he wanted, but she also knew it wasn't what he was expecting. She tore the end off the paper tube and handed it to him.
"What's this?" Edward examined it.
"It's a headache powder from my suitcase," Winry told him. "I always travel with one or two."
"You said Aspirin." Her patient looked doubtful.
"It's not a trick Ed," Winry let a little exasperation slip into her voice, then squelched it. "You said you chewed the tablets so it worked faster. Well it might work a little faster, but this is better still, and will save you breaking your poor teeth."
"Uh…" still doubtful. "It looks pretty small. How much is in it?"
"About the same amount as three tablets" Winry told him as patiently as she could. "Just a little bit more with the added bonus of a bit of caffeine."
Edward peered inside the tube. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "What's it taste like?"
Now Winry let out a snort of laughter "I think it might have a slight citrus flavoring added. I don't know, but it's not any worse than chewing an aspirin I bet!" She picked up the water glass and adjusted the straw.
"Well…" Edward seemed to concede a little. "That's fair I guess." He dumped the powder in his mouth and was quick to take the straw. "Mmm… yummy!" The sarcasm was as obvious as the brief twitch of his left eye while he said it. He shook it off, though he didn't loose the sarcastic tone. "Next!" he took the offered pill. "Mold Pill." He swallowed it anyway just as his brother stepped back in.
Winry didn't care as long as Edward was taking them. She kept handing them to him he and he kept taking them. She was pretty sure Alphonse was giving his brother the eye from over her shoulder. Whatever. If that kept him from arguing again. Then finally it was the last pill. Winry handed it to him.
Edward held it up between his thumb and index finger and pronounced "Vomit pill…"
"ED!" Alphonse's shout made it obvious he had heard at least some of the discussion about this in the last few minutes. And Winry already knew how much he had fought with Edward over taking his medications over the weekend.
Winry showed the bottle with Edward's 'clever' edit to the label over her shoulder.
"TAKE the damn PILL, Ed!"
Winry almost missed how fast Edward popped that pill into his mouth when she started to glance back at Alphonse in surprise. Only the water glass coming out of her hand as Edward took it in that instant turned her back around to see it. In that instant, though, Winry had seen that Alphonse could have that kind of spark in his eyes as well.
"See you later!" Edward opened his big mouth to show them he'd swallowed it, as if that was necessary. He might have left it open to mock them a little too long.
Winry in pretty short order filled that big mouth it with a spoon full of what she knew Edward found to be unpleasantly over-sweet syrup, and smugly showed him the bottle he had marked "Don't Vomit!" while Edward sucked down the rest of the water to get the taste out of his mouth, looking sourly at her.
Once he shrugged off the annoyance of taking every single one of his medicines, Edward stretched his back. "What's next?"
"Bath time?" Alphonse suggested helpfully.
"Rest first," Winry ordered.
"I don't have time for that," Edward argued.
Winry picked up Edward's pocket watch from the table and looked at the time exaggeratedly closely. "You have plenty of time, Ed. You need to settle down." She picked up his binder and notebook. "It seems like you were writing some notes earlier. You can do that for a little bit and just relax. I'll get the bath ready for you shortly.
"I can do that, Winry," Alphonse offered.
"Denied!" Edward told his brother. "I've been sweating and my hair needs washing again, and Winry isn't afraid I'll break if she scrubs."
"But—"
"Nope! I've already decided," Edward told him. "Besides I have another mission for you."
"Huh?"
"Yah," Edward flashed his wide grin, his eyes narrowed. He probably thought the expression looked conspiratorial. Winry thought he just looked silly. "You've know, you have a pretty girlfriend."
"Uh… Thanks?" Al looked like he wondered where this was going.
"You haven't seen her since Friday."
"Well, no… Not exactly… she came over to pick up Kitty while I was getting Ralph on Saturday."
"Ohoho!" Edward's chuckle just sounded evil "Did she now?"
"Ed, stop teasing him!" Winry had had about enough of Edward being such a smart-ass today.
"All right! All right!" Edward raised his hand, the pen woven between his first three fingers. "I just want what's best for my little brother."
"I'm still taller than you!"
"So what?" Edward snapped. Though filled with his usual shark, his reaction was surprisingly contrary. "We can't all be giants! You have a mission!"
"What?" Alphonse wanted to know.
Edward rolled his eyes, "Call Molly, Alphonse."
Alphonse glanced at Winry. She shrugged a little sheepishly nodding toward the hall.
"Fine! I will!" Alphonse ducked out the door like he was escaping. "Have fun fighting with Ed in the bathtub, Winry!" he called with a laugh as he trotted down the stairs.
Either way, she wanted Edward to rest for a little while before his bath, despite his anxiety about not being ready on time, there was no need for him to worry about it. She thought he might get a little nap in if she left him on his own reading boring legal documents for even a few minutes.
Date: 10. Dec. 19 - Wednesday
Time: 08:15
Location: Central City – Home of General Roy Mustang
Winry wasn't wrong. Edward woke with a start when Winry reopened the door. "Shit!" He seemed confused how he had not only dozed off, but had scooted himself down to lie flat, and somehow gotten the covers back over himself. That said, Winry though he seemed little more vital but he was clearly worried about how long he had actually been asleep. He got himself sitting up. "What time is it?"
"Geeze!" Winry groaned. "Stop worrying about it, Ed. You were only asleep for a little while. I promise it was maybe ten minutes." She straightened up his robe. "You're going to be taking breaks all morning so you don't wear yourself out before your meeting. Get used to it."
"I have a lot to do, Winry!"
"And you'll get it done faster if you stop arguing and stressing yourself out." She gave his robe another tweak and handed him his crutch. "Let's get you clean first. I've already got the stool in the tub
Winry hadn't filled the bath this time. Whether he believed it or not, she understood that Edward didn't want to waste any time right now. The tub wasn't really set up as a standing shower, so Winry got him settled on the little three legged stool meant for using the hand sprayer, and started on his hair. Scrubbed and rinsed with the sprayer, scrubbed and rinsed again, cream rinse rubbed into the lengths and left to soak. After that she helped him lather up his body with his own soap, and then rinsed him from head to toe with remarkably little sputtering and complaining from her charge. "Done," She said proudly after she rinsed the last of the soap from the bottom of the tub into the drain and went over his foot once more just to be sure there was no soap residue left on it.
Edward hadn't had much to say at all during the whole process. Winry dried him where he sat, letting him hold the towel around his waist, helped him out of the tub. "You're shaking Ed," Winry kept him sitting on the edge of the tub so she could get his robe around him. "You cold?"
"Mmm…" Was that agreement? She got the soft belt of his robe tied around his waist. And he wrapped his arm around himself.
"You okay?"
Edward shrugged a little listlessly and rubbed his face. "Just… I'm a little woozy."
Winry's hand touched his forehead. "The fever's down," she observed giving him his crutch. "Let's get you back to the room so you can rest for a few minutes." She pulled him up and waited for him to steady himself.
He didn't, really. Edward made one step toward her, but then he went off balance. With a soft cry he grabbed at Winry and clung to her, shakily. His crutch clattered to the floor. "Put me down. I gotta sit down."
"Okay," She tried to sound reassuring. The stool was still in the tub, and Edward had stepped too far away for her to just sit him back on the edge of the tub. His knee started to buckle under him, and now Winry was supporting nearly his entire weight in a bad position for it, and he was not as light as he might have looked. He was a pretty awkward load too even though he was still trying to hold on with his arm. She tried to turn him around so she could sit him on the commode, but it was a step too far in the other direction.
"Just put me on the floor, Winry," he mumbled breathlessly. "You're gonna hurt yourself."
Stupid, more worried about her than himself. Somehow, Winry managed to get Edward down to the floor without dropping him. He lay there for a good minute, his hand seeming to be holding onto the cold tile for dear life. Then he pushed himself upright again slowly, his back against the wall. He blew his breath out slowly, his breathing carefully measured. The little table she'd been using for his toiletries when he was in the bath was on his left now, and the commode on the right. Edward was pale, and still trembling. Winry crouched in front of him and pulled his robe over his legs. "You still dizzy?"
"Yeah," he breathed, "little." Edward pulled his leg up, wrapping his arm around it and rested his face on his knee.
"I'll get you some water, ok?" she got up and started toward the sink.
The guttural grunt was not the answer she had hoped for, nor the sound of the toilet lid being slammed upwards. Winry wasn't sure how he had reached the bowl in time, to catch his mess, but somehow he had, however awkwardly. She grabbed his hair, as Edward's earlier words took on a prophetic truth that Winry knew he couldn't have hoped for even if it probably proved his point. Winry understood that his annoying push back against taking his medicines was less about the medicines, and more about the fact that he was ill enough to needed them in the first place. Still, this hour, Winry decided, was not her finest. As headstrong as he could sometimes be, he wasn't a child anymore. She knew that. Edward had matured significantly while he and Alphonse had been away. His inner brat was used more purposefully, whether it was tied to his somewhat bizarre sarcastic sense of humor, or in some cases knowing he was right and having someone not take him for his word. He had told her so and she deeply regretted not taking his assertion seriously.
"I'm so sorry, Ed." She gathered his hair more gently into one hand, and stroked his back until he seemed finished with his exertions. "I think you still need an anti-inflammatory for a few days, Ed, but I'll consult with Dr. Sheridan later today, and maybe we can find another approach."
"'Kay…"
"You finished?"
"Think so…"
She flushed the toilet, but stopped him from sitting back. "Stay there a minute until you're sure." Winry gave the tail of his wet hair a twist to keep it together, and laid it down his back for a moment so she could reach back to grab his damp wash cloth. "How are you feeling now?" She asked holding it to the back of his neck.
Edward paused to spit before he answered. "Little shaky." Then, "Better. Relieved." His hand reached up to flush to toilet again, and he pulled the cloth from under Winry's hand as he sat up to wipe his face and blow his nose. "Sorry… That was gross," he told her, sounding a little more like himself. "I'm gonna have to brush my teeth again."
Winry rolled her eyes. "You told me so," she sighed. "Isn't that what you wanted to say?"
"No…" Edward shook his head slightly, shoving himself back a little, Winry shifting with him. She must have looked doubtful, because he added, "Sorry, I was just being an asshole. I really didn't. I wanted the nausea medicine to be enough, Winry. It was at first, but it's not anymore."
Winry shook her head, and couldn't help ruffling his wet hair. "I'm surprised Alphonse hasn't come pounding up the stairs."
"Oh?" Edward chuckled. "He's talking to Molly though, so he probably took the phone into Mustang's den." He rolled his eyes a bit. "He's probably lying on the floor with his feet on the couch in front of the fireplace, twirling the cord around his finger," He laughed. "Just as well if he didn't hear me. I'd like to stop worrying him so much." Now Edward sighed, "Can you get me up?"
She guessed he wouldn't ask if he didn't feel ready. "You okay now?"
"Yeah. Just… tired." He rubbed at one eye. "I want to brush my teeth."
Winry shrugged and shifted herself over next to him so she could get his arm over her shoulder. "Ready?" He nodded and pushed with her until he was standing.
A few minutes later, Edward had almost aggressively brushed his teeth, and thoroughly cleaned his mouth. Winry had got deodorant under his arm, and helped him into his boxers and undershirt. Now she followed him closely as he hobbled his way back up the hall to the room he was using. The bout of sickness hadn't drained him of his strength once he had recovered from it, so she had decided not to hit his dignity any more than necessary offering support he didn't want. Instead, her hand rested lightly behind his uninjured shoulder just to be close enough to grab his arm if his step went awry. It didn't, and in a moment, he settled himself on the edge of the bed. Edward was going to take a break whether he liked it or not, and thankfully, for the moment, he wasn't arguing about it. Winry had him lie down with a dry towel across the pillow to keep his wet hair from soaking it. Edward was asleep within a couple of minutes.
Date: 10. Dec. 19 - Wednesday
Time: 09:01
Location: Central City – Home of General Roy Mustang
"Um…" Alphonse popped his head in the door.
Winry looked over from where she was sketching what looked like a diagram of one of the components of Edward's new arm. "What is it Al?" she asked softly.
"Well," Alphonse rubbed at the back of his head feeling a little embarrassed. "I forgot that Dr. Sheridan was coming to check up on Ed today."
"Oh," Winry put her pencil down. "Well that saves me a phone call, since I wanted to talk to him anyway," she said. "What time is his appointment? This afternoon?"
"No," the younger Elric said anxiously watching his brother turn over onto his side. "It's at nine. He's here now. He's waiting downstairs."
Edward's eyes opened now. "Who's waiting downstairs?" he wanted to know.
"Dr. Sheridan, Ed," Winry saved Alphonse from having to be the one to tell him, but not for long. She left the room to bring the doctor up stairs.
The gold eyes snapped wide. "What? Who called him!? I don't have time for anything else."
"I'm sorry, Brother," Alphonse countered. "Nobody called him. You just had an appointment for a follow up. I totally forgot until he knocked on the door."
"Gah!" Edward sat up, clearly annoyed. "What time is it?" This time, for a change, the older brother snatched his own watch off the table and squinted at it for himself. "It's NINE? I don't have time. I haven't even shaved yet!"
"Edward!" Winry admonished coming back into the room with the other doctor. "You have plenty of time for that. Will you stop already?"
"Can't we just reschedule?" Edward seemed almost frantic.
"Well," Dr. Sheridan observed. "You certainly seem to have more energy than when I saw you last, young man.
"Well, I'm a quick healer," Edward snapped. It was pretty clear to Alphonse that Edward wasn't ready to volunteer any information about his difficulties. However, Dr. Sheridan was smart enough to know better anyway.
"Not that I doubt you, Mr. Elric," the doctor said a little more formally than usual, "But since I'm here to check on your progress. I'll verify that if you don't mind."
Edward looked like he was going to blow a gasket for a moment, but Winry stepped up and put her finger in his face. "Don't even, Ed! You have plenty of time, and this won't take long unless you make it take long by wasting Dr. Sheridan's time with your nonsense!"
Edward snorted softly, and awkwardly pulled his undershirt off without being asked to. After he reminded the doctor that he was pressed for time, he pointed his mostly disassembled socket in the other man's direction for inspection.
"Brother!" It was so embarrassing that Edward would be so rude when he had no real reason to be.
"It's all right," the older man's voice was placating. "We can start with that if you like, Ed, but, Dr. Rockbell is really the expert in that field. I'm more interested in the internal part." That said, he put his stethoscope to his ears and got to work. He put his magnifiers on took a good look at the condition of the socket and surrounding flesh, asking Winry a few questions. He switched to his stethoscope and listened to the older brother's chest and back, had him breathe a few times and then had him cough just once which Alphonse knew was to test for feedback. He took a good look at the bruise Edward had inflicted on himself Saturday while Edward self consciously clutched the sheet over himself. Dr. Sheridan shook his head noting that it was still pretty livid.
"It looks a lot better than it was." Winry told him. "I iced it over the weekend. It's pretty hard for him to tolerate that given where it is though, so we've been treating it with an arnica gel several times a day since Monday," Winry told him.
"That seems fine." From that Dr. Sheridan mostly just asked questions first of Edward and then Winry or Alphonse if Edward wouldn't satisfy him with an answer.
Alphonse was impressed with how quickly Dr. Sheridan had Edward in hand. Before five minutes passed Edward was willing to answer questions himself like a real adult, unless he wasn't sure if he remembered or just didn't know the answer. Then Edward would look at whoever he thought could answer best depending on the question.
"He's having problems tolerating the Cycloxia," Winry volunteered.
"MmmHmm…" Dr. Sheridan wrote that in his notes.
"I throw up," Edward added his eyes sliding a little to the side. Alphonse was somewhat amused that his brother seemed less willing to tell the doctor something he'd been shouting the roof off at Winry only a short while earlier.
"I see…" He glanced at Winry, who nodded. "Well, it's generally pretty well tolerated, but," he shrugged, "that's never a hundred percent." The doctor grinned for a moment. "There's bound to someone contrary occasionally."
Edward grumbled a little at the appellation, clearly not too appreciative of the doctor's sense of humor. "Yah?" he said, a little petulance creeping into his voice. "Well I guess that's me, then. Contrary Edward Elric; can't take half the pharmacopeia of modern medicine."
"Don't exaggerate Ed." Alphonse rolled his eyes. He could think of other similar statements that fit. Can't follow orders. Can't keep a civil tongue. Can't listen. Can't drink milk. Well, that last one turned out to be true.
"Oh, I don't think it's all that bad, Ed." The doctor interrupted Alphonse's mental list of what his brother seemed incapable of doing. "You've got a list of the meds you had a bad time with?"
"You bet!" Edward told him. Alphonse rolled his eyes. Edward's list was mental. Alphonse was the one who kept a written list of everything.
"I'll put it in your chart too," the doctor told him. "Ed, I know the state would rather you see the capital doctors because of your service, but you better just stick with me. I would have known not to prescribe Dyadrine. It's effective for most people, but it's still a morphine derivative. You have too much of a negative of a reaction to it for it to be beneficial."
Edward shifted his eyes to the side like he felt chided. "I don't like that place anyway," he mumbled. "The capitol doctor I'm assigned doesn't listen."
The comment made Alphonse wonder if maybe his brother had told that doctor about his issues with specific drugs and he'd still ended up with a medicine he never should have had.
Dr. Sheridan nodded. "That's unfortunate, and frustrating for sure," he acknowledged. "Here's what I want you to remember: doctors at the Capital clinics see a lot more patients than your private doctor. Also you may never even see the same doctor twice. They don't have the opportunity to really gain a real familiarity with individual cases like a private physician. Also since I'm a general practitioner, with additional studies in automail port and socket care, I am able to be more intimately familiar with your specific needs, and can coordinate with your mechanic directly. You have the added benefit of having a mechanic like Dr. Rockbell here, who also has massive experience and a Doctorate in the bio-mechanical interface. I think we make a pretty good team."
Edward glanced over at Winry, "Pay attention, Ed!" she said sharply. Alphonse thought it was to cover the slight blush that was spreading over her cheeks at the praise Dr. Sheridan had just heaped on her.
Sheridan had the grace not to chuckle at the exchange and moved on to his instructions, though he started with a question. "As for your anti-inflammatory, there are other options. Let me ask you this, though. How's your pain been since you started your new pain pill?"
"It still hurts, but it's controlled," Edward admitted. "It's not intolerable any more."
Dr. Sheridan glanced at Winry. "We're still supplementing with aspirin?"
"Yes, but I had him try a powdered formulation this morning just to see how that went."
"And how did it go?"
"I didn't get to chew any aspirin tablets this morning," was the sarcasm from Edward, but he took on a more serious tone then. "Actually, it went pretty well. I think it might be more effective. It was definitely faster."
"Okay." Sheridan wrote that down too, and obviously quite a few more notes before he spoke again. "So, first of all, Ed," Sheridan began his assessment. "I know you still don't feel that well, but you're making good progress for what it's worth. When I saw you on Friday your entire shoulder assembly including your port was so infected that it was in real danger of rejection. What I'm seeing now, is remarkably good recovery considering the damage. The infected areas are regenerating now. I think Dr. Rockbell's decision to remove as many parts as possible was a good one, as it's reduced the level of contamination, and more room for healing. I think we have a good combination of anti-infection medications going now, and expect to see you doing better still when I see you on Friday."
"Friday?"
"Don't look so sour," The doctor told him. You still have to run a complete course of the medications for that infection even if you're feeling completely better by the end. Consider this respite: I'm not giving you the shots myself today. I'll leave it with Dr. Rockbell to do later on, as I'm sensitive to the fact you have an important appointment a little later today.
"Thanks," Edward said flatly.
"Take a good nap after you finish your meeting," Dr. Sheridan warned and continued his instructions. Alphonse made sure to write them down so Edward couldn't argue about it later. "You can drop the Cycloxia. Since the aspirin has been enough to supplement the pain pill and the inflammation has improved quite a bit, let's see if that and the topical will be enough to keep it improving." The doctor shrugged again, glancing at Winry. "I'm sure it would be nice for Ed to be able to start paring down the number of pills he has to take every day."
"No kidding, man!" Edward mumbled, earning a glare from Alphonse.
Despite that, Edward was getting more good news. The doctor said could start moving around some more, but was to go to bed and rest at the first sign of fatigue, fever, or headaches. Due to the bruise on the inner hip of his left leg, unfortunately he was barred from using a weight bearing prosthetic until Dr. Sheridan saw him again.
At that point Dr. Sheridan wrapped the appointment up quickly, even handing Edward back his shirt to put on. He promised to come by on Friday at the same time for one more checkup after which he hoped his patient would on the mend enough that his surgery could be scheduled for the new socket and port he needed, which once the old parts were all out, ought to heal quickly.
Edward's eyes had widened at that suggestion, and Alphonse was pretty sure it was apprehension and not excitement to finally have it over and done. He knew his brother would be happy with it once it was finished and he had his new arm. It was really just the surgery and recovery he wasn't looking forward to doing.
"Dr. Sheridan?" Alphonse asked quietly as he walked the older man down to the door. "Will you let me ask you something?
"Of course, Alphonse."
"Did you know that my brother's meeting is because he's closing on a house today?"
"I seem to recall that. It was really on his mind when he was so sick a few days ago. He seemed to mention it a lot."
Alphonse smiled, "You said he could move around some now, since he's doing better and his pain is more managed. Do you think it would be all right for me to drive him over to the house to have a look around after the signing? I think it will help him settle down and take it easier for the next few days if he's able to see it even just for a few minutes."
The doctor considered the question for a moment. "I'll tell you what," he said. "The weather is better. It's a nice sunny day. If you can get him to eat a good lunch, take his pills, and to settle down for a decent nap after the deal is done, and if he doesn't have any kind of adverse reaction to his medicines with the Cycloxia out of the picture, no more nausea, no more vomiting, no more dizziness, then bundle him up and take him over to see his house. Only for a short while. Say an hour? Less if the house is cold, okay? Take a chair with you, and after, he needs another good long nap. Does that sound fair?"
"Yes sir!"
"But don't tell him that until you and Dr. Rockbell decide if he meets those conditions, you got it?
"Yes, sir!" Alphonse could barely contain his excitement as he let the doctor out the door. He had to stand in the entry bouncing on his toes for a moment until he thought he could keep it hidden. He'd have to tell Winry about it sometime while Edward was napping, which he knew Winry planned on happening often.
Date: 10. Dec. 19 - Wednesday
Time: 09:30
Location: Central City – Home of General Roy Mustang
"Winry," Edward sat impatiently on the side of the bed while she brushed his still damp hair out and tied it loosely well below the nape of his neck to get it out of his way. "I still need to shave. I don't want to be all scruffy."
"You don't need to shave, Ed." She gave his loose tail a tweak and took the brush to the ends so they would dry straight. She knew she shouldn't tease him. If she was honest, she liked him better clean shaved too, so she had every intention of helping him shave. However, she just couldn't resist. "You have 5 days of growth. It's filled in nicely, and you look perfectly fine with a short beard."
"NO!" he practically shrieked at her. "I can't stand it. It's itchy. It's gross. It's not me, Winry! I look like…" he didn't complete the last. Just shuddered looking comically horrified.
Winry could fill in the word he hadn't spoken. Him. He looked like a younger, more petulant version of his father, especially now since he kept his hair long enough that the majority of it stayed tied out of his face. "Good grief, Ed," Winry decided to stop teasing. The wooden hair brush tapped the back of his left shoulder before she tossed it on the bed next to him. "I told you I was going to help you shave, and I will. Settle down, will you?"
"I just feel like we're running out to time. I want to be ready.
"Don't get so anxious! We have plenty of time."
"Uh…" Edward hung his head a little. Winry also kind of liked that it wasn't as easy for him to hide behind long bangs hanging in his face any more. "I don't think you really understand how long it takes me to shave with an actual razor."
"I know. It takes a little time." Winry hopped off the bed to look him in the face. Even though she knew the answer, she asked, "Are you sure you won't let Al do it the way you to normally do? I'm sure it'd sa—
The violent shudder was as loud as if he'd shouted. "You don't understand," he said, his voice low. "We tried it once. When he does it feels…weird!" he waved his hand. "The alchemical reaction…" he shook his head. "The energy… I don't understand it either. It feels like his calculation is different from mine. It's too weird. I just can't do it." To her surprise, he tried to explain it better. "He says it feels like what he imagines a cat feels when you rub its hair the wrong way."
Winry could see Al use analogy like that too.
"To me…" Edward continued, "It feels like a ghost walked right through me." He shuddered again. "I don't even believe in ghosts." That probably wasn't entirely true. He had believed enough to grab Alphonse's soul and attach it to the armor, though Edward had said it was more complicated and that had just been the easiest way to explain it when they were kids. "Besides," Edward took back his usual cocky voice "You sent Al to the store to get more of those powder things."
"And other stuff," she reminded.
"Whatever… I still need to shave."
"Okay," Winry patted his knee. She reached across and pulled his tail over his left shoulder. "Lie down and relax for a few minutes and I'll get everything together, ok?"
Edward grumbled about it, but complied anyway, stretching out and fiddling with his hair.
In a few minutes, she had the two folding chairs facing each other and the table pulled up beside them. Edward sat in one chair, with a towel across his only knee. He had already lathered his face in shaving soap himself, and his folding straight razor was his left hand. Winry sat in the other with basin of warm water, and holding a mirror for him. Edward wasn't exaggerating that it was time consuming. His left hand fiddled with the razor, readjusting the grip often as if he needed a different grip for every change in the angle of the blade or to go in a slightly different direction. It gave the impression that he could never the right feel of it. He worked slowly and was painstakingly careful. Winry would have thought he would get impatient, or at least grumble or growl about it, but he was almost hyper focused on what he was doing.
At one point, he sat back for a moment and sighed. "You need a break?" he asked nodding at the mirror she was holding as steady as she could for him.
Winry shook her head, wondering if—
"Take a break Winry. I need a break for a minute." He sat back, and Winry followed suit as surprised he would admit it as he was for his concern. "I haven't used a razor in a while. I used to be able to do it a little faster, but I'm out of practice." He wiped the blade carefully on the towel and set it on the table, shaking out his hand. "My hand is cramping up anyway."
Winry set her basin and mirror on the table and took a hold of his hand to massage it.
"It's fine," Edward told her. "You don't have to do that." Then his voice took on just the slightest mocking tone as he paraphrased what she'd been telling him all morning. "Just relax for a minute."
Rolling her eyes, Winry massaged his hand anyway. "I got a time table here, Ed," she said half imitating him.
"Ugh!" Edward let his head fall forward. "Am I really that bad?"
They had a good laugh together, and then Edward got back to business clearing his face.
Finally, Edward flipped the towel to the clean side and wiped his face, offering his trademarked toothy grin.
"Wow!" Winry applauded once she had the basin out of her lap. "So clean!" She was actually pretty impressed. As difficult as the task was for him, Edward had not needed his styptic pencil at all. She had been surprised he had the sense to have one in his kit. "Not one nick either!"
That earned her a snort from Edward. "You know, I don't do things halfway," he said. Then he added, "anymore… as much…" now it was an eye roll and a sharp sigh, and an almost singsong sarcastic addendum, "…unless I don't give a shit about it." He laughed. "If I nick myself, it's almost always a cut, and I'm not going to sign for my house with a big slice on my face either."
Winry wasn't sure how to respond to that. She was unaccustomed to him looking her straight in the eye, and it was a little strange for Edward to care what he looked like. She was still getting used to this more adult version of Edward that she was seeing more and more often since the boys had returned. He was still full of sarcasm and salt, but it was definitely more sophisticated, and it wasn't a constant with him any more. "Well," she said, clapping her hands together. "Time for bed!"
"Seriously?" Edward whined "Come on Winry, I gotta get dressed! We have to be running out of time."
"Nope!" Winry pointed at the bed. "You still have plenty of time, Ed. Stop stressing and rest. When Al gets back from the store in a bit, we'll get you up and help you get dressed."
Date: 10. Dec. 19 - Wednesday
Time: 10:15
Location: Central City – Home of General Roy Mustang
When Alphonse returned, his brother was sleeping again; pretty deeply it seemed the younger Elric was happy to see it. Edward hadn't seemed to sleep well in a long time, and certainly not when just taking a nap. To give him as much resting time as possible, Alphonse let Edward sleep, and went to his own room to get Edward's suit. Once it was hanging on a hook on the back of the door in his brother's room he carefully checked it over for any problems. Edward had purchased the suit several weeks before. Alphonse thought the waistcoat was probably the most expensive piece in his brother's wardrobe at present. It was also one of Edward's favorites; a flashy brocade of red and gold with a small paisley design. He had to admit it was sharp. It suited Edward's taste, and fit him well.
When he had everything organized and double-checked, Alphonse got Winry's attention and let her deal with waking Edward. He predicted that she would have her head bitten off for waking him from a deep sleep, and then get it again for letting him sleep too long, which they hadn't, of course. He rolled his eyes when he was proven right and after a minute or so of arguing, Alphonse stepped in. "Stop wasting time then," he told his brother. "It's time to get dressed."
"Finally!"
"Whatever," Winry snapped. "You still have plenty of time."
"Enough you guys!" Alphonse took Edward's white dress shirt off the hanger first, and helped him into it. "Do you want to button it yourself or do you want me to?"
"I can do it," Edward told him. While he worked on that, Alphonse handed Winry one of the black socks. "I can do that too!"
"I know you can," Winry told him. "I'm saving time."
The bickering! How were these two older than him? Alphonse shook his head and went for the suit trousers next. He was surprised his brother didn't complain about the order, but he was too focused on the buttons of his shirt.
Since Edward was just perched on the edge of the bed, Winry could get the trousers up to his hips, but she let Alphonse get him up to finish the job and help him get his shirt tail tucked in. Meanwhile, she rolled the empty sleeve as tight to his shoulder as she could and fastened it with one of the pins Alphonse fished out of his pocket.
"You've lost too much weight, brother," Alphonse observed once they had his lower half dressed. His hand was tugging on his loose waistband.
"Nng! Stop it Al! That feels weird!"
Winry gave Edward a light slap on the back of his head. "He's just trying to help, Ed!"
"Geeze you guys, act like you like each other, okay?" Alphonse kept his tone good natured, but sometimes he wondered if these two would ever get around to realizing how they felt about each other. "Suspenders are out. I could lend him some, but they don't fit him neatly over his automail, and I don't think they would feel any nicer on his sore shoulder."
"Side adjusters," Edward told him.
"Huh?"
Edward reached into the waistband on his left side and flipped it out to show them. "They have side adjusters. I can just tighten it up a bit on each side." He demonstrated, and then tried to reach the one on the other side, but couldn't do it and keep his balance on one foot. That obviously frustrated him.
"Oh, I forgot!" Alphonse had Winry keep Edward steady on his one foot for a moment until he could hand his brother his crutch. "Stand up straight, brother. I'll tighten the other one. He felt around in the other side until he found the little band and tightened it a little. He hummed his approval of the result. "Looks good. Is that comfortable now?"
"It's fine. It was fine before."
"I think your pants would have ridden too low for your waistcoat, brother. It's supposed to cover your waistband so your shirt doesn't show."
Edward growled a bit, but shrugged lopsidedly. "I guess."
"When did you guys get so picky about your clothes?" Winry laughed getting back up from pinning the leg of Edward's pants. "Geeze!"
"I dunno," Edward mumbled as he sat back down.
"On the other side, probably," Alphonse said. "It seemed like anyone who was a little different was viewed with suspicion."
"Like Noah," Edward said soberly. "Her people were wanderers, and they looked a little different from most people in Europe. Their skin color and hairstyles and clothing and lifestyles were different from the majority. So they were judged for it, mistrusted and mistreated."
"She is a good person," Alphonse added. "She helped us a lot of times" He felt the unfairness of it intensely and it showed in his voice he was sure.
"I questioned why she put up with it once when I first met her," Edward said while Winry pinned up his empty pant leg. "She kind of shrugged and said she was used to it." He frowned, obviously not liking it either. "We couldn't really afford to stand out though. We had to find that idiot Huskisson, and then we had to find a way home. So I guess that's part of it. We had a little money that our dad had saved over there, and from selling some stuff before we left Germany, so we managed to keep in decent clothes that implied at least some level of affluence and education. It meant getting better work when we needed it, and less suspicion when we were travelling."
"You guys don't talk much about what you did over there," Winry observed. "I'd like to hear about your travels some day."
The brothers looked at each other for a moment. Alphonse could see the doubt in Edward's eyes and knew his reflected the same. "It's not really a very nice story, Winry."
"But sometime, we ought to tell it," Edward surprised his little brother when he said it. Then he continued, "It's not like we're trying to keep it secret. It's just… a lot."
"Okay…" Winry sounded disappointed, but then added brightly, "Right now, we have to get you dressed. What's next?"
"Waistcoat I guess," Alphonse presented the garment.
"Oooh…That's…" Winry touched one of the little red paisleys on the brocade. "That's really nice, Ed. Where did you find that?"
Edward put on a bit of braggadocio, "I got Major Armstrong to take me to some fancy stores here in Central," he told her as his brother helped him shrug into the garment. "I mean. He always dresses pretty sharp." Edward exaggerated the air of pride further in a terrible imitation of the man "It's an art of clothing shopping that's been in the Armstrong family line for generations!" That got a laugh. "I figured he could help me find something snazzy, but still appropriate. I mean, I'm an adult now, after all. It's nice to be taken seriously, but I still want to express my own tastes, right?"
"Well… That's true," Winry agreed. The waistcoat was double breasted and she noticed that Edward was struggling with the inner buttons. "Will you let me help you out with that?"
Edward ended up letting her do all of the little brushed gold buttons. Alphonse thought the must be getting tired of fiddling with them, or worried about time again. Normally, even in this situation he would have waved off any help. When she was finished, Winry gave the peaked lapels a tweak to straighten them, and tugged the bottom down. "Looks nice on you!"
"Thanks!" He reached out his hand to his brother and gave it a shake.
"Oh!" Alphonse took a hold of his loose cuff. "I guess I'll have to lend you one of the cufflinks you gave me yesterday," he laughed as he fastened the sleeve
"Well, it matches, you know." Edward pulled his wrist up to his chest to show the gold and ruby cufflink against his waistcoat. "Now my jacket." He pulled it on with his brother's help, and buttoned the black shell buttons with less difficulty than he had with the waistcoat. "I'll have to think about getting a different suit next year though," Edward mused running a finger along one of the rare single threads of dark red that occasionally ran through the barely visible dark grey plaid pattern. "The Major says that the double breasted jacket with a double breasted waistcoat is going out of style. Figures, because like I them together. I'll find another waistcoat for this suit, though."
Alphonse was pretty sure that Edward secretly liked the fitted suit because although he had a stocky muscular build, the cut emphasized his slim waist. "You should have put your tie on before the waistcoat," Alphonse observed, presenting the length of dark gold paisley silk, and motioning for Edward to sit down.
"Oh well," Edward sighed. "With three people dressing me, I guess we couldn't figure that out. I'll be glad when you don't think I need a valet," he added with a rueful smirk.
"We know you don't need help, Brother." Alphonse appeased, even though Edward did need help right now. "We're just trying to save you time." Alphonse also knew it wasn't so much about saving Edward time. They were saving it for Winry because she wanted him to have time for one more nap, the longer the better, before the meeting. And Edward was starting to get tired whether he would admit it or not. He was getting grumpy.
"I know, I know!" Edward snapped flipping his collar up. "I was just kidding!" He let his brother tie his tie for him, and plucked at the pocket square, of the same fabric. Once he got the tie jammed down into his waistcoat, he seemed satisfied. He stomped his one foot down into his black and burgundy wingtip. Alphonse had polished them for his brother a couple of days before to occupy his mind, so they didn't need any attention now. "Hey Al, is there a mirror in your room?"
"I think there's one here," Alphonse opened the door to the wardrobe and sure enough, the inside had a full length mirror.
Edward hobbled over to look himself over, turning slightly left and then right to make sure everything seemed to be in the right places. "Oh crap!" he said looking over his reflection's shoulder at the well slept in, unmade bed. "We gotta make the bed. It's gonna look like I've been in bed all day."
"Well you have been…"
"No way! It's not my fault you guys keep making me take naps. "If you won't let me go downstairs then this room should be at least decent."
Winry blew out her breath and rolled her eyes. "Ed, you need to relax. Don't get all wound up again!"
Edward got himself over to the chairs and flopped into one. "I'm not wound up," he told her petulantly. "I just don't want to look like a hot mess. "He tugged the loose pony tail out of his hair and started working on getting it up higher to tie it again." It was pretty obvious that his movements were sluggish and he needed a break, even if he wouldn't admit it even to himself.
"Brother…" Al began, but Winry spoke at the same time more forcefully.
"Ed! Don't worry about your hair," she told him. "I'll make the bed, but you're also going to lie down and rest for a while as soon as I'm finished. I'll brush your hair out for—"
"I don't have time for another damn nap!"
"Brother…"
"You have time. It's only a little after ten-thirty. You can rest for 15 or 20 minutes, take a power nap, and I'll get you up ten minutes early to get your hair up." Her tone brooked no argument, and Edward actually shut up. "Take off your suit jacket so you don't wrinkle it."
Edward didn't offer any more protests other than a grumble of discontent. Winry flung her pony tail behind her, made quick work of the bed and left Alphonse to help his brother out of his jacket.
In two minutes, Edward was flopped out on the neatly made bed, though he didn't look happy about it.
"Al," Winry spoke with a little less annoyance now that Edward had stopped complaining. She clearly didn't care if he looked daggers from his eyes, as long as he did what he was told. "There is a pretty big folding screen in my room. Will you bring it in here? Quietly? We'll put it in front of my work space so it doesn't look untidy." Now she shot a glance over at Edward, who had the gall to snicker. "You be quiet. You're supposed to be resting. If you yawn during your signing, I'm going to laugh out loud at you." She sat in the same chair Edward had so recently vacated as Alphonse when out the door.
When Alphonse opened the door again, he was not surprised to see that his brother, despite his protest, had already fallen asleep. Winry popped out of the chair to help him, so they could get the screen in place without making enough noise to wake Edward. A red blanket was procured as well, it was meant for Edward to have across his lap for the meeting. For the moment it was lying across Edward on the bed from about his ankle to his chest. Alphonse slipped his brother's shoe off and set it by the chair for him to put on later, and he and Winry sat quietly by the windows to decompress after the frenetic activity of the last half an hour with Edward. Winry turned her gaze from the window back to the sleeping man on the bed, and then back to his brother across from her.
"Al," she said after a few seconds of thought. "Didn't he used to snore?" she asked quietly. "Like… kind of a lot?"
Alphonse chuckled. "Winry, I'm about to tell you a very short, but funny story about that."
Winry raised an eyebrow.
"See, when we were on the other side of the gate, Edward got into a fight." He saw the flash in Winry's eyes like she'd never heard of Edward fighting. "Shh!" He shot a warning glance toward his sleeping brother for a moment. "It wasn't his fault. Ed was minding his own business for a change. The guy was drunk and somehow, decided he needed to punch Ed in the face for literally no reason. He broke brother's nose. Ed decked him and the fight was over." The truth was there was a little more to it, but Winry didn't need to know that Edward had also shouted an invitation at the rest of the patrons along the lines of "Anyone else want to try me?" before Alphonse had pulled him out of the bar. "You should have heard him scream when the doctor that set his nose, though!" He laughed softly. "No anesthetic or anything. Just crunch and done. But he did it so perfectly, that once it healed he didn't snore at all any more."
"What?" Winry's blue eyes were wide in disbelief. "You can't set a nose like that! And how could it have made it work better."
Alphonse shrugged and chuckled at her reaction. "Beats me! But he hardly ever snores now."
Date: 10. Dec. 19 - Wednesday
Time: 10:50
Location: Central City – Home of General Roy Mustang
"Al, it's almost time." Winry said, getting up from her chair. "Would you mind putting on some tea for us?"
"Sure," He started towards the door? "You don't need help?"
"Nah, I got this. Just get some tea together to bring upstairs. If they arrive early, you can offer them some. Just don't bring them up until you hear me open the door again, Okay?
"Got it!" Alphonse pulled the door shut behind him and headed down the stairs.
"I'm up," Edward mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "Where's my jacket?" he asked, with a yawn. He found shoe at the side of the bed dropped his foot into it.
Winry handed him the shoe horn so he could finish putting it on properly instead of stomping it on while she picked up his suit jacket. "How are you feeling?" She laid the jacket neatly across the foot of the bed for a moment and picked up his hairbrush and an elastic.
"I'm okay," he yawned again, and stretched as well as he could. "I wish I could stretch my back better."
Winry knew what he meant. He wanted to be able to grab one arm and pull it across his chest with the other. It was almost always the first thing he would do when he got his arm back after a repair. She set the brush down started to dig her thumbs into the tight muscles that he would stretch that way for a moment before he waved her off.
"It's okay Winry. Let me get ready for now. If you want to do that later today though, I wouldn't mind it."
"Sure, Ed." Winry got back on track, "Where do you want your hair? High? Low?"
Edward reached back and pointed to indicate he wanted the tail to pretty much straight out the back of his head.
Winry made quick work of brushing it back into a tail and securing it neatly. "Good?"
"Yeah." Edward agreed feeling the position. He gave it just a slight downward tug and then swiped a hand back across the top of his head to check for strays. He pulled on the jacket she held for him and made pretty quick work of buttoning it. "Hey," he reached inside and in a moment came out of the inner pocket with a small length of gold silk ribbon. "See if you can loop that around over the elastic a couple of times, and then just kind of tuck the ends through on the bottom."
The ribbon looked like the same gold fabric as his tie. Wow! Fussy much? Winry thought laughing at him inwardly, but he had asked nicely enough, so she covered the black elastic and tucked the ends. She considered tying it in a little bow at the top of the tail, but guessed he would check and if he caught it, he'd probably loose his mind at this point, so close to time. Really, it looked smart as just one more small touch to his whole outfit.
Sure enough, he reached back to check it before looking around for his crutch. Winry put it in his hand and steadied him for a moment before letting him up to move to the chair.
The doorbell rang just as Edward got himself settled in the chair. He hated to admit he jumped a little bit. "Winry! Can you tidy up the bed?" He asked noticing the indentation and slightly mussed bedspread where he'd lain. "And bring me the red blanket please?"
She brought the blanket first and tucked it neatly around him covering his legs from just above his automail socket to just skimming the floor. Edward would be able to have his foot out from under it if he wanted. "You ready?" she asked as she quickly sorted the bed.
Edward nodded, "Nervous…" he admitted as she opened the door. He rubbed his hand on the blanket for a moment to try to settle his nerves. "Excited," he amended. Logically, Edward reminded himself, there was very little that could go wrong at this point. It was really just a matter of signing the paperwork and officially taking possession of his house. He heard Alphonse coming up the steps chatting politely with the other men. "Shit!" he whispered patting at the inner pocket of his suit. "Winry, my reading glasses," he said feeling his cheeks flush a little. Truthfully, Edward avoided wearing them, and hoped he wouldn't need them, but though he hated to admit it, fine print was getting harder to read without them. "I left them on the night stand."
Winry's scurried over and scurried back. Once the glasses were hidden away in his inner breast pocket, she also handed him the notebook he'd so scrupulously written any question or concern he could think of. "Take a deep breath." Her hand settled on his uninjured shoulder. She rubbed it for a moment, and gave it a comforting little squeeze.
Edward drew his breath in and let it out slowly. "Will you pull your chair a little closer to me, Winry," he asked in almost a whisper as she moved to sit. "You know in case I drop the pen." He snickered softly when she rolled her eyes at him, but she did it anyway just as his little brother stepped into the room carrying a tray of tea and cups. Alphonse was followed by Edward's agent, Mr. Morrow, the seller's Agent, and the seller himself.
"Mr. Elric," Mr. Morrow greeted him politely reaching out to with his left hand to shake Edward's. "I'm glad to see you're up and around."
"Thanks," Edward nodded, squelching the impulse to feel sour about the other man mentioning he had been laid up. Obviously he'd been laid up. That was the whole reason they had come to him for the meeting. He knew Mr. Morrow's comment was meant well and he didn't need to be such a child about it either. "It's thanks to these two," he glanced at his brother and then Winry. "You've met my brother, Alphonse."
"Yes," Mr. Morrow shook, Alphonse's hand, this time with his right.
"And this is Dr. Winry Rockbell," Edward said with a smile directed at her. He was secretly pleased to introduce her with her full name and the title she'd worked so hard to earn. The pretty little flush that crossed her cheeks for a moment was a bonus. "She's my automail mechanic, but she's been our closest friend since we were all children."
"Dr. Rockbell," Mr. Morrow took Winry's offered hand and bowed over it slightly rather than shaking it. Edward caught her biting her lip to stifle a giggle at the old fashioned gesture.
"Please just call me Winry."
"Let me introduce the Mr. Piper," The realtor gestured to the oldest man in the room, who was the seller.
Edward nodded politely since Mr. Piper was already seated directly across from him in the other upholstered chair. The gentleman nodded in return.
"I think you met Mr. Fulmar a while back, didn't you?" Mr. Morrow indicated the seller's agent, a man who looked to be a few years older than Mr. Morrow, maybe in his late fifties, maybe even a little older.
"I did," Edward leaned forward to shake hands with Mr. Fulmar when he rose. Unlike his counterpart the seller's agent first offered his right hand and then a fleeting look of chagrin crossing his features, he quickly changed to his left with a sheepish grin.
Introductions out of the way, Edward glanced at his brother and then the tea tray knowing he'd get the message.
Alphonse practically bounced out of his chair. "Mr. Morrow, would you like to take my chair?" he asked the older man while he poured five cups of tea.
"No no, young man," Morrow passed around behind Edward and perched himself on the window wide windowsill. "Keep your chair. I can direct things just fine from right here. This is really the easy part; lots of papers to sign and not really much more to it."
"So, we'll start with this one," Mr. Morrow said, sharing what looked to be a pretty simple document. "It states that both parties understand the house is being sold in its current condition. Mr. Piper will not be expected to make any repairs going forward from this date, and Mr. Elric understands that from this date, he will be responsible for any maintenance it needs." The document went to Mr. Piper first, and he signed it. "I did get some estimates done when I first inherited that house, Mr. Elric. These are from people who have done good work for me on my own home in the past now that I'm too old to do that sort of work myself. I imagine once you're fit again, you mean to do a lot of the fixing yourself?"
Edward acknowledged that he did. He knew the house needed work, but he liked the bones of it, and the layout and location suited him more than he had realized the first time they'd looked at it. That was probably why he'd gone back for a second look.
"Well," Mr. Piper said. "I'll leave the estimates for you anyway, just in case you run into something you don't feel like getting into."
Edward thought Mr. Piper seemed like a nice enough old man, and appreciated the gesture. Even if the house needed more than it looked like it did, the brothers had barely ever touched the money from Edward's stipend as a State Alchemist. So this was the first time he'd drawn such a large sum since he'd paid Sheska to copy Marcoh's book for him. Edward could easily rebuild the whole house from scratch if he had to and still come out ahead given what he was paying for it. He signed the document.
The rest of the closing proceeded in much the same way. They all sipped their tea, and passed documents around. Regretfully, Edward had to pull out his glasses and put them on after a while. Otherwise Winry would give him a hard time if he gave himself a headache, but he didn't think she'd ever seen him wear them. The thought made him pause for a second before he finally put them on. Before much longer, he and Mr. Piper and had signed the documents that required signatures from both of them. Edward had asked all the pertinent questions, that hadn't been answered through the process itself. All that remained were documents that only Edward needed to sign, so the keys were transferred from Mr. Piper to Edward. There were handshakes all around, and then Mr. Piper and his agent took their leave and Alphonse showed them back out.
"Well," Mr. Morrow said once Alphonse had returned. "We're not quite finished on our end. We have just a couple more things to settle."
Edward slipped his keys into his jacket pocket a little superstitiously, even though he knew what the final documents were, those keys were his.
Now Mr. Morrow did sit, but pulled the chair around to the side of the table so he could easily reach to point to the lines Edward still needed to attend to. Finally, "This is the last thing we have." Mr. Morrow set the final document on the table in front of Edward. He had already read this one thoroughly, and the realtor knew that because Edward had already asked him some questions about it.
Mr. Morrow began to point out the pertinent places for Edward to initial or sign. "Okay, this is where you write your primary beneficiary," the agent pointed to that line.
"That's Alphonse" Edward said, promptly filling it in.
"Brother?"
"It's just a legal precaution, Al. It makes the transfer simpler if anything happened to me." Edward reached over and gave his brother a light slap on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. You're not getting my house for at least another 75 years."
"Here, you put your contingency beneficiary," The realtor pointed to the next line. "I think we talked about that some too?"
Edward paused here. "That's… um…"
"In the event your primary beneficiary is no longer living at the time of the transfer."
"Ohhh…." Edward breathed. It was hard to think about outliving his little brother. That might have been why he'd forgotten, but—He glanced at Winry for only a moment, before filling her name into that line.
"Edward!" Winry almost snatched the pen from him. "What are you doing?"
"It's okay, isn't it?" Edward asked the realtor. "I don't have any other family living besides Al. Winry is our best friend. She's the closest thing to family we have," he added taking her hand for just a moment and squeezing it lightly.
"Your beneficiaries can be anyone you see fit," Morrow assured him.
"See? It's okay, Win. It's just a formality, but…" he shrugged lopsidedly.
Winry clearly wasn't sure what to make of that, or but once Edward had already known who was going in that line.
He signed in the last few places necessary, and after a final handshake, the deal was done.
While Alphonse was showing Mr. Morrow out, Winry started tidying up the teacups. Edward set the binder full of documents on one of the folding chairs and got himself up from the chair to be out of Winry's way. He wanted to stretch so badly. He tried, but it wasn't really possible with only one leg and one arm, so instead he hobbled to the bathroom on his own.
"You need any help, Ed?" Winry called after him.
"I'll manage." Secretly he was pretty happy that she didn't insist. It felt like a validation that he was on the mend.
Edward popped the door open just as Alphonse topped the stairs with a tray of sandwiches.
"Hey Al,"
"Give me a second, brother," the younger Elric ducked into the room for a moment and then joined his brother. "You need a hand?"
"Very funny!" Edward snorted. Leaning against the sink cabinet he stuck his arm out. "Can you push my sleeve up?"
"Yeah, but let me help you wash your hand too. It's hard to do it one handed, and even with your sleeve up, you could get soapy water on it."
Edward conceded that point and let his brother help. "We should just put a soap array on the counter," he laughed. "Do you remember when we made that hand shaped thing out of a stick and a towel at Granny's so I could wash my hand on my own?"
"You know she kept that thing don't you?" Winry called from the table as Edward and Alphonse entered from the hall. "Those boys actually made something useful." Winry's imitation of Pinako's voice was almost perfect. "Let's Eat!"
Edward liked the sound of that. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until he'd seen his brother with that stack of sandwiches. His happiness, as he settled back into the chair was only slightly diminished when she added "After lunch, Ed, You're going to have a good long nap."
Note: Boy this was a big one! 13594 words!
Note: I realized at the very end, that I had forgotten all about Ed's little dog, Ralph. I knew they wouldn't want him under foot for the meeting and while they were getting ready, but I totally forgot to mention him ANYWHERE
Note: As always reviews are welcome. Please find this story on AO3 for the most up to date versions.