Revisited 24th of May 2020
Chapter 4: You're open to the skyline, you won't wanna go back home
After he bought his train ticket, Ed figured that he had money left to buy a bottle of water and some fruit.
Money wasn't really a concept he was familiar with. When he was sent to Drachma, he was too young to handle it, and while in Drachma, he didn't have any. Actually, he couldn't remember ever even seeing money. But he had already gained some understanding of it, from what he had gotten in exchange when purchasing the ticket. That was how he was able to estimate how much he could use on food, and what would gain him the most value from his money. He allowed himself to feel optimistic as he sat down on a bench, inside of the station. The bench was hard, but at least he wasn't freezing. He knew he would have to wait for a couple of hours, but it was okay. He had all the time in the world.
But he didn't have that luxury anymore.
He needed someplace to stay, or at least to dry off. Already, his immune system was weak from being a double amputee, and now his pants had gotten wet when from sitting in the snow for too long.
He decided it was time to try and get up again. He reached for his new crutch which he quickly realized was already freezing cold, and he cursed under his breath. The previous crutch was an old wooden one. This new one that Colonel Stinkeye had given him was made of metal. Obviously, it was going to get cold. He blew som hot air on his frozen hand and tried to drag himself off of the frozen ground. A sharp pain erupted on both the inside and outside of his ankle as he tried to put some weight on it, and he was forced to sit back down.
'Great! Goddammit! Just great!'
Ed groaned in both frustration and pain.
'I can't even stand up. Now what?'
It was getting dark, Roy Mustang noticed as he looked up from his work. There was still a lot to do, and all the time wasted on handling that runt hadn't helped with time management. Resting his face in his palms, he couldn't shake the feeling that he should have done something more to help, but he wasn't going to force someone to accept a helping hand from him, that he was resistant to offer in the first place.
There was a knock on his door. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall at the opposite side of the room because of the several times he had sat buried in paperwork, forgetting the time. Once he was still sitting there franticly signing documents with bloodshot eyes as Hawkeye returned to work the following morning. The clock was actually a present from her. It showed a little over half-past seven. Time to get home... About one and a half hours ago.
"Come in," Roy answered. He wasn't surprised when Hawkeye entered.
"You're still here," she said solemnly. It was more of a statement than a question.
"You too," Roy hummed, no-nonsensical.
"You are on overtime, Colonel."
Roy stared at her, not in the mood for any remarks.
"What do you want?" he mumbled, turning his attention to the papers in front of him.
"Have you been worrying about the Elric boy?" she suddenly asked.
Roy looked up at her. A moment of surprise flickered through an obsidian gaze before he quickly sobered.
"Not at all. He seemed to be perfectly fine by himself," he murmured. "He clearly didn't need anyone's help".
"Uhu, If you say so," she stated flatly, clearly unconvinced.
Mustang once again turned his attention towards whatever-the-hell-he-didn't-even-know he had just signed, but quickly turned back towards Riza.
"I don't have any kind of responsibility to that boy," Roy argued.
"No, you don't," Riza agreed.
"So, why are you so sure that I am worried about him?"
"You're clearly not," she nodded as if she was agreeing with him entirely.
"Sure, am I a little concerned that he's all by himself in Central?" he asked rhetorically and added, "right after I told him that his father died? Yes! Am I not at all affected by the thought of him probably sleeping outside in the cold tonight? Of course, I am! I'm not a monster!"
Crossing her arms, Rize watched him emotionless.
"But you're not..."
"Not worried!"
Roy tucked his long black coat firmly around himself and threw a maroon-colored scarf around his neck as he wished the cute receptionist at the front desk a good night. Usually he would stop and exchange a couple of words with the young brunette, but he wasn't in the mood tonight. The raven throttled down the stairs, focused solely on getting to his car, but something in his peripheral suddenly grabbed his attention. Frowning, he turned around, looking back towards the stairs.
Just my luck.
On the lower steps, sat what looked like a really lost grey blanket. A beanie, white from frost and snow peeked over the shaky mass, hardly recognizable from the firecracker it had been earlier the same day. Roy tried to convince himself that he actually just wanted to leave and go home, but before he could leave he heard his own voice call.
"Elric?" The blanket startled, and two golden eyes peeked up from between the blanket and beanie.
"M'tnk m spnd mm mnkl," the shaky blanket muttered.
"What?" Roy stepped closer, bending down a little towards the heap of frost and fabric.
"I sd..." Ed shook his head, letting the snow covering his top fly and uncovered a sulky and utterly defeated looking expression, "I think I sprained my ankle!"
Roy sighed.
"Of course you did," he uttered, rubbing at his worn-out eyes.
"Well..." Roy covered his face with his hands, contemplating for a moment before he walked up to the boy. In one swift motion, the older man picked Edward up with one hand under his back, and one under his knee.
"What the hell? Hey, let me go- No!" Edward struggled angrily, trashing furiously in the colonel's strong arms, nearly striking him several times.
"Stop that!" Roy barked back, grabbing the squirming blanket even tighter.
There was a surprising amount of fight left in the boy, considering his injury and pale look. Roy had gotten him into the passenger seat of his car without too many stares from the passerby. He made a point of smiling brightly and waving at anyone giving him suspicious glares, trying to look as little predatorial as he could, while strapping a feral child into his passenger seat. (All though, Second Lieutenant Havoc had once made a remark that Roy smiling was the most distressing thing he'd seen since the civil war).
With one last thrust, Edward tried to wiggle his way out of the tightly wrapped blanket. He heard Roy say something, but it sounded like underwater in the midst of his fight.
The impact came suddenly. Ed was forced back to the now with a loud snap and a stinging handprint on his cheek. Stern black eyes peered warningly down at him.
"I said... Are you calm?"
Ed grunted, but slid back in the leather seat in defeat. He had lost.
"I'm calm."
They drove through the streets of Central in complete silence, but through the edge of his eye, Roy could see Edward lean forward, curiously observing everything outside his window. The boy's eyes were tired and glazed over with fatigue, but he forced himself to stay awake, overwhelmed by the sights of the large city. A sharp inhale caught Roy's attention as they drove by the Central library, towering over its neighboring buildings. Ed turned all the way in his seat as they passed the historical structure, not wanting to let it out of his sight.
"Do you like to read?" Roy asked, finally finding something to break the silence.
"Huh?" Ed murmured absently. He was almost sitting the opposite way in his seat at this point. "Have you ever been in there?"
"Inside the library? Yes, many times."
"We hardly had any books in Armestrian when I was in Drachma," Ed confessed and turned back to face the road. "Not a lot of books in Drachman either, for that matter."
"So you do like reading?"
Ed looked at him. "Yeah," he replied with a shy smile. However, the small grin shifted quickly when the car headed off the main road and into a new neighborhood.
"Where are you taking me?" Ed asked alarmed. Roy startled, realizing that he had instinctively driven to his house without giving it a second thought. With a small droplet of sweat ran down his forehead and finding its way down his shirt collar. Roy made a nervous grimace. How would Edward react to him taking him home? Would it be better to put him in the dorms? It was not really aloud, and the kid could not even walk.
"We're going home to my place," he stated, trying to make his voice confident and unwavering, while simultaneously assessing how Ed was responding to it.
But, Ed didn't really respond at all. He muttered a soft, "huh," and stared straight ahead, not uttering a single word the rest of the way.