"This is the worst idea you've ever had." Ed's voice rose in pitch—far too high for seven o'clock in the morning. "I don't know why I'm going along with it." He threw his hands up in the air, let out a loud exasperated sigh, and let them dramatically drop to his hips. "I should've said no. I'm going to regret this tomorrow."

He had some regrets going on right now. A lifetime's worth stuffed into his compact body. Why was he always the one Greed partnered up with to do grunt work?

"But you didn't." Greed grinned that grin of his that reminded everyone around of him of a shark. He ruffled the top of Ed's head nice and hard... just the way Ed hated it. "Now stop bitchin' and help me lift this."

"For fuck's sake, Greed, you're gonna get knots in my hair." Ed felt his scowl shouldn't have made the grin on Greed's face wider, and yet, somehow it had.

"Then take the braid out." Greed nudged Ed's leg with the corner of the chest. "Looks better down anyway."

"It'd just get in the way," he crabbily snapped. "The braid keeps it from falling out of the tie and getting in my face."

Greed simply shrugged. "Suit yourself. Now lift and put your back and ass into it. No slouching."

Ed was pretty sure he didn't have enough back and ass to put into lifting a chest that was damn near the size of his body and heavy enough to make him wonder what the hell was inside to have this much weight on it. "If I pull a back muscle, you're gonna have'ta carry my heavy ass the next couple of days."

"Nonsense." Greed flashed Ed a sassy grin. "This'll help build up those kid muscles you got on ya. Don'tcha want big muscles so you can impress the ladies?"

"What ladies?" Ed hardened his glare. "We're out in no man's land. In case you haven't noticed," He stretched his right arm out, "There hasn't been another fucking soul around in... forever."

Of course, being out in the middle of nowhere hadn't stopped Greed from finding the one abandoned house that had a buried metal chest of all things. Once Greed spotted the corner of it sticking out of the ground, he acted like he had hit the damn jackpot. Ed knew there was no talking him down from digging it up and didn't even bother trying.

"There was another soul here, once," Greed stared at the chest with a bit of wonderment in his eyes. "And they were kind enough to leave this gem for me," he added as he patted the chest fondly.

"You don't even know what's in it. Could be worthless junk they stashed in there." Ed doubted it. Most people didn't take the time and effort to bury something worthless. If the house hadn't looked like it was abandoned years ago, he would've tried to talk Greed out of looting it. Whoever had owned this chest was likely long gone or dead.

"Then it'll be my worthless junk." Greed's face soured some with that thought. He glowered at Ed. "Why do you always gotta piss on my good mood?"

"Because, I'm always the one who gets stuck with the work when you're 'in a good mood' while you bark orders at what I'm supposed to do with whatever weird shit you got me doing." Ed bent down and put his hands underneath the chest. He had originally suggested using alchemy to eject it from the ground, but Greed had acted like Ed was trying to destroy his new best friend so the idea got scrapped. "If we're gonna do this, we gotta do it now before I change my mind."

"You are the reason why we're here." Greed pointed his finger at Ed. "So why don't you take your shitty mood and stuff down somewhere nice and deep until you forget it."

Ed hated that Greed was right. He was the reason why they were out here. "Fine, whatever. You gotta help, though. Darius and Heinkel are off gettin' supplies and won't be back 'till tomorrow. I can't do it myself with these 'kid muscles' of mine."

Greed looked up from his end and raised an eyebrow. "Does it look like I'm sittin' around on my ass while you do all the work? Fuck, I wanna see what's inside this chest not break my favorite minion's back."

"I'm not..." Ed's mouth snapped shut. The hell with it. If Greed wanted to call him a minion then so be it, after all, he was going along with this stupid idea in the first place and the argument that would ensue hardly felt worth it. "Just fucking help me, alright."

"You're a damn sight bossy is what you are," Greed flashed Ed another sharp-toothed grin. "But you're small and adorable so I'ma let it slide."

Ed slammed his right hand down on the chest. "Boss or not, you call me small and adorable again, I'm gonna launch this fucking chest into outer space!"

Greed only gave Ed a puzzled look. "I don't get why you get all bent up over it in the first place. What's wrong with bein' small and adorable?"

Ed grunted as they both lifted the chest. "'Cause no one takes small and adorable seriously. Just another excuse for them to think I'm weak."

"So?" Greed peered at Ed over the chest, pausing long enough until Ed started getting that antsy look on his face. "Look, not gonna say this again so listen to me real good. You might be small and adorable, but you're more than capable of kicking all our asses. Who cares if people think you're weak or they don't take you seriously? You're not and them not knowin' that only gives you the advantage if you need it."

"I-" Ed wasn't sure what to do with that load of information, but hearing Greed say that shifted his perspective. "Oh yeah? You think I can kick all your asses?" He grinned a little. "All at the same time or one on one?"

"You bet, kid," Greed nodded. "All at the same time."

Ed leaned in a bit. "Even Ling?" he half-whispered then waited to see what Greed would say.

"Nah," Greed shrugged. "I have no idea which of you could kick the other's ass and not sure if I'd wanna find out."

Ed's curiosity grew. He held onto his end of the chest but lowered it just a bit. "Oh yeah? How come you wouldn't wanna see us spar?"

"Sparring'd be fine." Greed's expression turned serious. "Fighting isn't allowed, though."

Ed raised and eyebrow to that. "Why not? People fight all the time and then get over it."

"I don't want either of you hurting each other," Greed said, with a finality in his voice that left no room for argument. "If you wanna argue and bicker until you're both worn out, then go for it. But no beating on each other."

He chuckled. "Fine, no fighting… or at least nothing serious." He could always count on Greed's honesty and the reason behind warmed him a little. Ed moved a little to the right. "C'mon, let's get this over there so we can see what's inside this thing."

"Now you're sayin' something I can get behind." Greed's grin was back full force as they both moved the chest out of the hole they had dug and onto solid ground.

Ed returned the smile while they both lowered it down. The way Greed got excited about new things usually put him in a good mood by the end of the day. There was something almost pure and innocent about it,

He pushed his hair away from his face, then plopped down onto the dirt. Ed glanced over at Greed and waited. Greed had his shield up and was already breaking the lock to get inside the chest. The lock easily broke off and fell in the dirt.

There was a moment's pause before Ed grinned again. "C'mon, now, don't make me wait to see what's inside. You wanted me to help with this thing, and I wanna know what we worked so hard to dig up."

They settled in next to each other as Greed opened up the chest. Ed scooted closer and leaned over to catch a glimpse of what was inside. His eyes got big as Greed reached in a picked up the first item.

"What the fuck is this shit?" Greed's grin soured as he dropped the first album and picked up another only to discard it just as fast. "Books and pictures? What the hell am I supposed to do with this shit?"

Ed raised an eyebrow and nodded. Books and albums. Certainly explained why the damned thing was so heavy. "Uhh, I dunno? Read and look through them?"

"This is worthless garbage." Greed made another face and tossed one of the albums.

"It's not..." Ed squeezed between Greed and the chest. "It's not garbage. This chest has memories in it and old books." Something inside of him squeezed in all the wrong ways at the choice of words Greed used. A brief flashback of him and Al burning down their house tried to invade his thoughts before he forced it away.

Greed glowered. "Only you would think books were worth it."

He move back out from under Greed and settled on the left side of the chest. "Well yeah, books are awesome." Ed leaned back and put his hands on his knees as he gave Greed a thoughtful look. "Don't you read?"

"Why would I read?" Greed started rifling through the chest again in hopes there was something else, something better he could use in it. "Seems like an awful lot of work with little payout.

"Why would you—?" Ed's eyes got big and his mouth dropped open a little. "Uh... because books are the best fucking thing ever. 'Specially when you don't got anything else to do." He poked Greed's chest. "You said before you were gonna get bored stayin' in one place, and this," his hand gestured towards the chest, "is exactly what's going to keep you from running out of stuff to do."

"What's so great about 'em?" Greed didn't want to invest his time into something that seemed so… boring.

"You can learn a lot from them." Ed thumbed through one of the albums before setting it down and picking up another. "Al and I used to study our dad's alchemy books all the time. Same with science bo—"

Greed made an indignant sound. While he appreciated Ed's brainy mind, that wasn't his deal. "Do I look like a guy who wants to spend my free time reading about alchemy and whatever other science-y shit you're into?"

"Not all books are about science." Ed set down the albums and dug through the pile. He picked up a book and waved it at Greed then made a face when he saw it was poetry.

"Like that one you're holding." Greed looked at the title of the book. 'Love and Ecstasy.' Straight to the point. Greed liked it already.

"Yeah, like the one I'm holding, but it's… poetry." Ed's face heated up when he saw the title. He cleared his throat, ignoring the fact that his face had to have been as red as a tomato considering the burn he felt on his cheeks and moved on in the calmest voice he could muster. "And most poetry is about romance and flowery shit." That didn't seem like something Greed would be interested so Ed set it aside. Then a thought occurred to him. "Hey, can I ask you somethin'?"

Greed snagged the book anyway and tucked it between his legs. "Knock yourself out," he said while taking more books out of the chest.

"Do you," Ed paused then blew out a quiet breath, "Do you know how to read?"

"The fuck?" Greed turned and looked at Ed like he had lost his mind. "Sure I know how to read. I read shit all the time."

"Like what?" Ed was really curious not. "You just said you don't read books so what do you read?"

"Just 'cause I don't read books doesn't mean I don't know how to. I can read signs and names and letters, 'least if it's in Amestrian." Greed picked up the poetry book between his legs. He had read that title. He could read. That counted.

"You wanna give it try? Reading books? It'll kill some of the boredom for you," Ed offered as he brushed a thin layer of dust off a thick book he had found. The book was about a high-sea adventures of a pirate named Dracole the Victor. "And there're some shorter books in here."

"Give me one good reason, other than killing time, why I'd wanna read a book." Greed leaned back on his haunches, putting his full attention on Ed. "Still haven't said anything that makes them seem all that great."

Ed grinned then nodded. "Easy enough. It's like having an adventure goin' on inside your head."

Greed skeptically looked at Ed. "Oh yeah? What kind of adventures?"

"Anything and everything. Depends on the book and what it's about." Ed set the thick book he held down. If Greed wasn't used to reading then something like this might be too much, although after skimming the back, Ed wanted to give it a go himself. "So you don't read books but have you tried? It's not the same thing as reading a sign or names or even letters. All that stuff is usually shorter and is there to give basic information."

He dug through the chest until he found a stack of children's book. Ed pulled them out and set them down in front of Greed. "There's some that won't take too long to get through and they have pictures and since you've never read any books before, they'll be a good start."

Greed made another offended sound as he looked through them. He picked them up and tossed all of them except one back into the chest. "Kid's books?" He scowled. "What about more of the flowery shit?"

"Uh..." Ed glanced in the chest then back at Greed. "The poetry? I think there's more." He got out a couple more books from the chest and handed them to Greed. "So which kid's book did you keep?"

"Hmm, it's called," Greed turned the book over and slowly read it. "Goldilocks and the Three Bears." He hadn't intended on reading any of them but the blond kid on the book cover reminded him of Ed, and he wanted to keep it.

Ed chuckled, remembering that story from when he was a little kid. He had a feeling even though it was a kid's book, Greed would like what it was about. "We should keep all the books. Maybe it'll give everyone somethin' to do."

"I sure as shit ain't gonna throw any of it out." Most of it might be garbage, but it was his garbage, and if Ed was right about reading, maybe he'd find some use for them. "We'll haul it up to the house in a few trips."

"Nah, we don't gotta do that. I can make something we can pull it on," Ed said with a casual shrug.

"We'll go in trips. I wasn't joking about building up those kid muscles." Greed knew Ed needed to be at his absolute best before they went up against his old man. "No short cuts from here on out unless we need to use them."

Ed stood up and brushed the back of his pants off. "Okay, fine but once I build 'em up, you gotta stop callin' me small and adorable."

Greed stood up and reached out to ruffle Ed's head then reconsidered. No sense in ruining the good mood they had going on. "Stop bein' bossy and I'll consider it."

"No deal." Ed hardened his expression to fully get his point across. "If I wasn't a little bossy now and then, you'd try'ta walk all over me."

Greed picked up a small stack of books and laughed. He tucked his stack underneath his left arm and started walking fast towards the abandoned house. "Suit yourself, but the only way I'm gonna stop callin' you that when you're not small and adorable anymore."

Grabbing his own stack, Ed jogged to catch up to Greed. After they had found the house, the first thing Ed had done was fix the porch so that they could walk on it without the wooden boards collapsing underneath them. Then he had sealed up any large holes from the outside to keep the cold out. They weren't planning on staying here forever so he had only done the bare minimum and left the home's outside looking run-down and abandoned. A casual passerby during the day wouldn't think anyone was staying here.

"Where you want these?" Ed asked once they were inside.

"In the front room."Greed cocked his head towards the large living room in the house.

There was a big stone fireplace that Ed planned on sleeping next to at night. All of them had piled in there on the floor last night, but this morning, before Greed had pulled him outside to dig up the chest, Ed had used his alchemy to give the chimney a good cleaning and repair the damage to the stone, and Darius and Heinkel had wandered off upstairs and picked out a bedroom at the far end of the house they liked.

No one said anything about them sharing a room, although Ed was curious about it. He considered asking questions but didn't want to intrude on something so private, and asking Greed about it was out of the question. The past couple of weeks he had noticed, had thought that he might... He shook those thoughts away and focused on the task at hand.

The last time he had tried to work it all out, it only confused him more. It was best to push it aside and think about what really mattered. Ed set the books down, turned around, and headed back outside.

They made their trips back and forth in silence until the sun started to rise in the late morning and Ed's hair stuck to his forehead. The chill in the air, coupled with him moving slower than normal and the few small breaks they had taken, allowed him to avoid sweating.

Ed had insisted on them taking a break for lunch. Darius and Heinkel wouldn't be back until probably in the middle of the night or tomorrow morning. The run Greed had sent them on would take a while for them to complete. While Ed missed their quiet presence, but spending the day with Greed hadn't turned out too bad.

By the time they were finished, the sun had set and Ed settled into the large living room while Greed started a fire in the hearth. Warmth filled the large room. Ed moved closer to the fire so that he didn't feel the drafts coming from near the windows and door. His muscles ached and his stomach growled.

He tore himself away from the fire and stood up. "There're some leftover sandwiches from lunch. I was gonna make some soup to go with them. You want some?"

Greed shrugged. "Not hungry." He was bent over rummaging through the pile of books on the floor. "Gonna pass on dinner."

"Ling's gonna kill you if you don't eat." Ed stared down at the pile then back at Greed. "Why don't you see which ones catch your interest and give it a go? Then you can read while you're eating."

"And why would I wanna do that?" Greed stopped rifling through the books and raised an eyebrow.

"I dunno." Ed shrugged as he picked through their haul. "It'd be a good way to give one of them a try without pissing off Ling."

"I'll be too busy shoving food in my face to pay attention to the book." Greed tossed a couple books aside into a separate pile. "You've seen how Ling eats. That's why I was gonna skip dinner. I don't need food to get by."

Ed sighed. "All I'm sayin' is that if you're not all that hungry to begin with, you can take your time eating and going through one of the books. Unless you plan on letting Ling out, I don't see why you gotta shove food in your mouth."

"When we eat, he's at the forefront of my thoughts and will bitch at me until I give him what he wants," Greed argued.

"If you don't eat, you won't get a moment's peace if you do try to read," Ed countered.

Greed made a frustrated, resigned sound. "Fine. You make us food, I'll feed the brat, and then I'll look at one of the books."

He tried to hold back a snicker as he went to get the food he had stored in a make-shift cooler. Ed had used an old, rusted out unit used for storing wine and applied alchemy to keep the inside cool. They could make due with the set up the rest of the winter if they had to, although, Ed wouldn't mind getting something larger. Maybe he could use that metal chest Greed found, and if it snowed he could utilize that to keep their food cold.

As he fixed their dinner, Ed thought over what still needed fixed up and done. Greed had said no using alchemy unless needed, and he wasn't the best at that kind of hands-on work. Teacher had taught him the basics, but still, Ed had spent most of his time learning and using a skill he excelled at to save time so he could focus on what mattered the most to him. Getting Al's body back. He might have to convince Greed that he was better use doing what he knew rather than taking more time to do everything the hard way. Time was something none of them could afford to waste.

Ed carried their food back into the living room. He sat down next to Greed and handed over one of the sandwiches then started eating his own.

"What'd you put in this?" Greed lifted the top of the bread and looked at the sandwich. "Looks a bit lean."

"Same stuff I put in them earlier, only not as much." Ed took another bite of his sandwich and shrugged. "'Cause until Darius and Heinkel bring more food, we're runnin' low. Didn't wanna use it all up in case we get hungry before they're back."

Greed gave Ed a long, hard look before breaking his sandwich in half. "Here." He nudged the half towards Ed. "Take it. Don't want you runnin' out of energy and gettin' all weak on me."

Ed swallowed the food in his mouth and chuckled. Greed sometimes acted like a big, bad hardass, but he was learning fast that deep down Greed was a softy. "'m fine. I don't need to eat your food. 'Sides, Ling'll want his share."

"Ling's not gonna care if I give you a little extra food. It's not like we need much of it." Although, that he needed food at all bothered Greed more than he would admit. During his short stint working for his old man, Envy had rubbed it in his face a few times that he needed to eat at all. Pure homunculi didn't need inconveniences, Envy had told him. They didn't need to sleep or drink either, but he needed to do all those things to an extent or else he would eventually run out of energy and pass out from exhaustion.

"Suit yourself then." Ed took the offered half and set it down while he finished the one in his hand in a few bites.

They ate in silence until Greed finished and started digging in the stack of books. Ed watched while Greed carefully considered each book but said nothing. He was curious which would be chosen. The poetry book captured Greed's interest for a bit until about ten minutes had passed and it was set aside in favor for something else.

Greed could definitely read. Not that Ed had thought Greed had lied, but he had wondered how well. He recognized the focus, although it didn't take long for it to be broken and for Greed to move onto another book and then another until he settled on the kid's book.

Ed quietly watched for a bit until he couldn't help but smile a little. Seeing Greed, sitting by the fire place reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears was endearing in a way that made Ed's stomach flutter in an inexplicable manner that he had to look away before a simple glance turned into staring. A small voice in the back of his mind tried to push through with some explanation, but Ed ignored it, pushed it away before before he had the chance to overthink and come up with a reason for it.

Ed stuffed the half of a sandwich Greed had given him into his mouth then knelt on the floor. He had set aside a few books for himself and fussed over each one, unable to chose which he wanted to start with. His attention was broken when he heard Greed chuckling. Ed glanced up and saw Greed watching him.

Greed tapped on the picture of Goldilocks and grinned. "That looks like you, a cute, wee, little blonde thing, wandering around where you shouldn't."

Ed raised an eyebrow to that. "Uh… 'case you hadn't noticed, you're not that much taller than me now…" Greed and Ling still had a few inches on him but that was besides the point. "'sides," A shit-eating grin formed. "If I'm Goldilocks, wouldn't that make you baby bear?"

Greed's head moved back in offense. He held up his right hand and waved it as if he were trying to physically shoo away Ed's words. "What? No way I'd be baby bear."

"Sure you would." Ed snickered. "Did ya think Darius or Heinkel would be baby bear?"

Greed scowled. "Why is that so funny?"

"They're giant compared to us, and 'sides, everything baby bear had was just right, and that's you. Always wanting the finer things in life, right?" Ed casually pointed out.

Greed opened his mouth to argue then stopped. "Can't deny that but Baby bear is too young and too small. Doesn't look like he could fight his way out of a wet paper bag."

"Ling's the youngest one in our group," Ed said as his grin grew. The idea of Greed being baby bear tickled him, and if he had to suffer through Greed telling him he was Goldilocks, then he was going to give it right back.

"Aren't you the same age as him?" Greed gently poked Ed's shoulder.

"I've got a few months on 'im, and in the book I don't think Goldilocks is that much older than baby bear."

"I'm over two-hundred-years-old." Greed leaned in, this time poking Ed's chest as if that would prove his point even more.

"Yeah but you don't remember much of it so in a way it's like you're starting over. That makes you emotionally younger than we are. Plus you're in the body of a fifteen-year-old, and I'm already sixteen." The thought occurred to him, briefly, that maybe he was instigating more than he should, but this was too much fun to let go. Besides, they both knew he was right.

"That's bullshit. I can do more than any human kid can do," Greed argued.

"Not sayin' you're a kid." Ed scrunched up his nose in thought. "'Sides, like I said, baby bear wanted the finest things in life, for everything to be just right. His food isn't too hot or cold. His chair is just the right size. His bed isn't too hard or too soft. All of it is perfect. We both know that Baby bear is damned picky about what he wants and has otherwise Goldilocks would've taken a pass on all his stuff. I bet he probably wants the best steak too and the best clothes and the best drink and that's you."

Greed made a face. How did Ed know so much about the way his mind worked? Their small group hadn't been together that long. He had always been open about what he wanted, but most people either took it as exaggerating or said in jest. Ed was the first person since Father remade him to openly acknowledge he knew how serious Greed was about what he wanted, what he craved.

He felt torn between congratulating the kid for figuring it out and admitting Ed got it right or wanting to be a cooler, more badass character in the story.
"Doesn't matter. I'm not Baby bear. Who else is there?" Greed pulled his knees closer.

"Uh..." Ed paused, looking slightly perplexed. "Who else is in the story?" He stretched his arms out behind him. "I don't think there's anyone else that's important."

Greed made a face. How lame was that? If he couldn't be a better character then he'd have to make up his own, one that suited him better.

"Actually, the original tale was about three male bears and an old woman." Ed brushed his hair away from his face. "I found an original tale of it in the basement before Al and me burned our house down. There was a wee, tiny bear, a medium-sized bear, and a great, big bear but they only lived together and weren't a family. The book never explained why they were all there or how they met or—"

"Maybe they were all fucking." Greed folded his hands over his chest.

Ed's eyes widened a bit and his mouth dropped opened but nothing came out.

"Why else would they be livin' in the same house?" Greed shrugged. "Big bear knew how to take care of his mates. Had to keep them close."

"Let's stick with the story you got in your hand. 'Sides maybe the bears lived together because they couldn't afford to live on their own." Ed glanced at Greed then looked away. "All of us live in the same place and we're not all, you know..." Maybe Darius and Heinkel were together, but he wasn't with anyone of them and neither was Greed or Ling.

"It's a dumb story anyways." Greed closed the book but pulled it close to his chest. He wasn't sure why but he felt it deep in his core that their group wouldn't last. He'd be alone again, except for Ling, and for all his big talk, the story reminded him of what he had right now.

Ed was what kept their group together. As much as Greed wanted to take credit for it, he would be lying. And he knew with absolute certainty Ed wouldn't stick around if they beat his old man. He would miss all of them, but the thought of Ed leaving dug at him, and no matter how hard he tried to push that thought away, it kept coming back.

When Greed said nothing more, Ed finally looked through the pile of books and decided to give the one about pirates a read through. He settled against the old couch and soon found himself lost in the pages until tiredness crept up on him. He set the book down, opened face so he didn't lose his spot. His eyes fell on Greed, who seemed cozy on his spot on the floor.

"Think I'm gonna read a little more then get some sleep. You gonna take one of the rooms upstairs?" Ed glanced out the window and saw the moon in the clear sky. He stretched his arms above his head and yawned.

"I like the fireplace," Greed countered.

It was clear to him where this was going. Ed had thought… he sighed. He didn't know what he had thought. He had assumed that when they found… it didn't matter. "Uh… okay? Just stay on your side of the floor."

Greed gave Ed an odd look.

"It's not as cold in here as it was outside so we don't gotta cuddle anymore." Ed rolled out his sleeping bag on the floor.

"What's wrong with cuddling?" Greed asked.

The question surprised Ed. He worried his bottom lip as he thought of how to explain it in a way that wouldn't sound mean. "Well… I mean, I dunno. Friends don't cuddle with each other like that."

Greed looked confused and put-out. "Who says? If it works, then it works."

He opened his mouth then closed it. It was hard to find an argument for it other than he didn't really want to cuddle with anyone. The last time they had slept in the same sleeping bag outside, Ed had woken up in a state and had hard time settling his thoughts and getting his body to cool down afterwards. Greed hadn't seemed to notice, and Ed had convinced himself it had been a fluke due to him being exhausted and teenage hormones running amok.

It felt a little weird now that they had a house to stay in… like he would be crossing some invisible line that Greed obviously didn't know about. Ed knew that was in part because Greed was a homunculus who had never been raised with human codes of conduct, and honestly them cuddling in his tent hadn't hurt anything but...

"It's hard to explain. It just isn't done, Greed." Ed couldn't find a more specific reason without making everything weird and uncomfortable. "'Sides, I like to have my own space."

Greed sat there and stared at him for awhile until Ed wanted to look away. Instead, he stared back and waited. Then Greed's eyes looked up as they always did when he was talking to Ling, and Ed could almost hear a back and forth going on between them in his head.

"It's 'cause you got hard last time, isn't it?" Greed finally said.

Ed's mouth dropped open. He hadn't even realized Greed had noticed. "I—?!" He closed his mouth before something ridiculously embarrassing slipped out.

"I figured it was that puberty thing Ling goes on about. No big. If you gotta dick, it gets hard now and then for no reason at all," Greed said, waving it off with his hand like it was no thing.

It was exactly because of that. Ever since he had started getting taller and getting hair in places he hadn't before, everything changed. His thoughts. His moods. His dreams. Ed had yet to have his first wet dream, but he knew it was coming and given the other night, how he had woken up in a sweat after a particularly vivid dream, it was only a matter of time.

Biology had everything to do with it, and he knew there was no stopping it, especially at night when he had no way to control what he dreamt about, but it didn't made it any less awkward or embarrassing for him.

"Wanna talk about it?" Greed offered as if he was asking Ed about the weather.

Nothing could convince him that talking about it with Greed was a good idea even though he knew neither Greed nor Ling would judge him. Ed couldn't get himself there. That would lead to more questions that he wasn't ready to answer even in the privacy of his own thoughts. He hadn't dreamt about Winry or even a woman that night. His dream had been about—

Ed stubbornly shook the thought away. "No… absolutely not. Not gonna have this conversation with you or anyone else," he quietly said. His head was down a bit. Ed didn't want to see the look on Greed's face or give any opportunity to be found out. A part of him felt ashamed for his cowardliness.

Ed heard a grunt from Greed then silence. He glanced up and could tell Greed was again talking with Ling about something, and he almost asked what but knew he wouldn't like the answer so he sat there and waited.

A brief look of regret and discontentment flickered in Greed's eyes then he shrugged. "Fine but I'm taking this side of the room. You can have the other."

Ed grabbed the book and buried his face in it again as he tried to ignore how awkward he felt. Maybe he shouldn't have brought up their sleeping arrangements at all, but he had thought Greed would feel the same way and be glad they didn't have to rely on each other for warmth anymore. Instead, a weird feeling overwhelmed like he had made a mistake by opening his mouth. That maybe he should have left well enough alone. Seeing a look of disappointment on Greed's face, even for only a few seconds unsettled him. What threw him off the most, though, was realizing he felt a little disappointed too.

His line of sight followed Greed's gestures, placing exactly where they already were at. Ed forced a grin as he settled onto his sleeping bag, book still in hand, on his side of the floor. He turned away from Greed, knowing if he let Greed see his face for too long, he'd be exposed. "It's a deal," he said before letting his thoughts get lost in Dracole's endless search for pirate booty.