Sicktember Day 27: Blankets
Word Count: 1018
Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl
Rating: G/K
Characters: Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric
Warning:
Summary: Al is cold. Ed's arm is cold. Al comes up with a solution.
Notes:

Blankets

"Here you go, Al, I got you another one."

"Thanks, Brother." Alphonse looked up at Ed with a smile, glad that he could actually feel the muscles in his face smile. It was such a foreign feeling after five years without being able to feel a thing. It was such a wonderous feeling that he had found himself making all sorts of expressions just to be able to feel the muscles moving in response to what he wanted to do or how he felt.

"Al," came Ed's warning voice. "You're doing it again."

"Oh! Sorry, Brother. It's just such a wonderful thing to be able to move my face again, to show expression."

Ed paused, thinking about it, and then moved his face around a little. "Yeah. I suppose it is." He left that thought behind, though, and draped the blanket he was carrying around Al's shoulders, where it sat on top of the other four he already had wrapped around him. "I hope that's enough for you. I think the nurses are getting concerned at the number of blankets I keep bringing in here." He looked back at the door, a little suspiciously. "I think one of them is starting to keep count."

Al laughed, marveling at all the sensations that went along with that and pulled the blankets closer around him. "Sorry. I'm just so cold."

"Yeah, well, who's surprised?" Ed put his hands on his hip and looked Al up and down. "You're so thin there's no way there's any fat on you to keep you warm."

"What about you?" Al asked, nodding his head towards Ed's restored arm. "Isn't your arm cold?"

Ed made a face. "It is. But do you know how hard it is to just wear one sleeve? They don't make jackets like that, apparently, and Mustang threated me within an inch of his life if he caught me tearing up one of the uniforms like that." A pause. "Not that he could tell," Ed muttered. He cleared his throat and raised his voice again. "If they'll let you out of here, maybe you should go sit with Lieutenant Hawkeye. She's freezing too, because of the blood loss. You two could keep each other company."

"Maybe so," Al said, smiling again. He had been worried about everyone for a bit, but he was glad to hear that they were making their own recoveries. He watched as Ed rubbed his thin arm, it clearly colder than the rest of him. "There's got to be something we can do to keep your arm warm," he said.

"Yeah, but what?" Ed said. "I don't know, maybe if I had a cape or something. Not practical, but it would do and look really cool…"

"I know," Al said as an idea struck him. "Come here."

Ed looked at him curiously, but did as his brother suggested.

"Sit here," Al said, indicating the spot in front of him, near the opening of the blankets.

"Okay…" Ed said, sitting down.

"No, no," Al said. "The other way. With your skinny arm facing me."

Still curious, Ed did as he requested, switching sides.

"Scoot closer," Al said. "As close as you can get."

"What are you up to, Al?" Ed asked as he scooted closer.

"You'll see. Just wait." Al waited until Ed was as close as he could get, and then he reached out, pulling Ed's arm to him, and burying it in his layers of blankets. "There we go!"

Ed blinked at him, and then smiled. "Yeah, hey. This might work."

"For a little bit, anyway," Al said. "And in the meantime, I get to hold on to you."

Ed turned his arm so that he could give Al's hand a squeeze. "And I get to hold on to you, Little Brother. It's been a while."

"Mm," Al nodded. "It really has."

"Hey—remember when we were little, and we used to beg mom to let us build a blanket fort?" Ed asked.

"Oh yeah! Every time she would let us, we'd cry and get upset when it had to come down." Al said, thinking back.

"Yeah," Ed said with a grin. "She threatened not to ever let us build another one if we kept putting up a fuss like that."

"I remember," Al said. "Remember when we did it at Teacher's?"

"Do I!" Ed said. "Sig had seen us, and just walked on. But when Teacher came in, I was sure we were going to get in trouble."

"I think that we might have been about to," Al said, "If Sig hadn't of walked back in at that moment with an arm full of blankets for us to expand our fort with."

Ed laughed. "She can't refuse him anything, can she?"

"No," Al shook his head. "They're too in love."

Ed tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling. "Do you remember during the summers, when Granny and Mom would let you, me, and Winry lay out on blankets under the stars all night long?"

"I do," Al said. "We'd lay there for hours and talk about all sorts of things, like what we wanted to do when we grew up."

Ed rolled his head so he could look at Al. "It didn't exactly turn out like we planned, did it?"

Al shook his head but smiled. "No, it didn't." He let the quiet settle over them for a moment. "Hey, Brother?"

"Yeah, Al?"

"When I'm better and they let me out of here, do you think we could go do that?"

"Do what?"

"Lay out under the stars on blankets. You, me, and Winry. Lay out there together and just… talk."

Ed smiled at Al and squeezed his hand tighter. "Sure thing, Al. We can do anything you want to."

"Good." Al said and smiled at his brother once more and settling under the blankets.

Maybe the future was uncertain, and maybe there was no telling what might happen next. But for the moment, Alphonse would be happy to stay in this pile of blankets, as long as his brother was by his side.