Chapter twenty-four
Riza parked the car outside Colonel Mustang's house. She wasn't really supposed to be here for another five hours so as to drive the Rockbells back to their hotel by eleven, but there was just no way she could postpone this.
Because fact was, the boot, the passenger side next to her and the entire backseat of the car were now stuffed with flowers, baby clothes, boxes of chocolates, educational books for children, about ten blankets and far too many plush toys, all because word had got around HQ that the Colonel had adopted the Elrics and they were, as proven yesterday, accepting gifts.
Meaning that there were a lot of officers with old baby clothes and equipment that they hadn't used much because their babies grew before they had time to wear the objects out.
It wasn't exactly commonplace for a whole bunch of officers to try to help another officer that had been discharged. And when said ex-officer was in the care of the notorious womaniser who continuously stole their girlfriends and rose through the ranks far too quickly for their liking, then that should only serve to discourage any sympathisers.
...But when the officer being discharged was a thirteen-year-old double amputee that had had his eyes gouged out as his only remaining family was being transmuted back into a baby, there had certainly been a lot of outrage and horror. And now that it was clear that the Elrics had a permanent person to live with, it seemed that nobody cared about it being the Colonel. Because a permanent parent only meant that whatever gifts they gave the Elrics wouldn't be hard to move.
Riza felt her stomach clench at the thought of what had actually happened. Of how Edward appeared to be a shell of his former self now. The change from two days ago to what she had seen of him yesterday made her downright nauseous. He had let go of his pride, had become nervous about moving around on his own and he seemed to cling to the Colonel like his life depended on it.
...And I guess it does.
The fight had simply left the boy in a way that made her want to shoot something. But she hadn't had the time to go down to the shooting range to let off some of her frustration because Colonel Mustang was away, leaving her with a lot more work.
But for once, she wasn't going to demand that he be there at eight o'clock sharp so as to catch up with his paperwork once his leave time was over. He had a lot of things to do with Edward and the fact that he had just decided to adopt the Elrics like that gave her a strong sense of dread in a way. Because if the Colonel had felt such a strong need to keep the boys, then that meant that her worries about Edward were very real. She had told him that it would be okay and that they were actually a lot more alike than he'd think, but she hadn't expected an adoption. At least not so soon.
But she should have guessed that Ed would reach his breaking point with losing Alphonse that way. And especially when it was at same time as losing his eyesight so that he wouldn't ever get to see his brother grow up. The boy couldn't see his brother and so he needed to at least hear him speak, but even that wouldn't happen for a long time.
She felt a tug of pain at the thought that Al was gone. The youngest Elric had been a very sweet and kind boy. She was already missing him. She was missing both Elrics.
And there was one last thing that made her stomach clench.
...Because Mustang had trusted her to shoot him in the back if he should ever deviate from his path. A path that included him one day facing a firing squad after being put on trial as a war criminal.
...And that day would most likely come within the next twenty-five years with how hard the Colonel was working.
But she couldn't let that day come to pass now. She couldn't condone him practically deciding that suicide was better than looking after his sons. She couldn't let him tell them that he'd be leaving them when they needed him like they did. However noble and just it was, fact was still that she'd be condoning him to leave his sons who desperately needed not to have another father leave them.
Which was why she would have to talk with him now.
And so she stepped out of the car and froze as she heard a terrified and pained yell coming from her boss in the direction of his garden.
She pulled out her gun and ran silently over to the corner of the building, watching as her boss was flung through the air by a woman with dreadlocks.
"I suggest that you do not shoot my wife," came a bassy growl behind her and she whipped around to find a giant of a man standing there.
Riza pointed her gun at him, knowing that shooting him before getting answers would be a bad course of action. And especially if they had taken hostages as Lieutenant Colonel Hughes wasn't even trying to stop it. "Where are the others?" she demanded, not letting him intimidate her one bit. He might obviously possess brutish strength, but she could still shoot him dead before he got to use it.
The stranger sighed, putting his hands up in surrender. "You from Mustang's team?"
"I'm his bodyguard. Now tell me who you are and why your wife is beating him to a pulp!"
What she wasn't expecting was for the man to extend his right hand towards her to shake. "I'm Sig Curtis. Izumi is Edward and Alphonse's old teacher and she's currently training Mustang to be a sufficient bodyguard for the Elrics."
Riza stared, but she didn't lower her gun. She had no way to confirm his statement.
"Hey, Izumi, Mustang's bodyguard is a bit worried over here, I think you should give him a break so that he can come and explain the situation," Sig said calmly, his voice only slightly raised.
The pained noises ceased from behind her and she heard her boss groan. "Hawkeye, it's okay... They're not lying... And I'm beginning to get how Ed and Al were so skilled fighters... Did you know, they only started training when Ed was nine?"
Riza paused and lowered her gun. That made sense in a way. "Are you all right, sir?"
"I'm in pain."
"You have nothing to complain about, Mustang," came an unknown female voice, and Riza turned around to find the woman with the dreadlocks standing with her arms crossed, looking down at the groaning lump in the grass that was her boss. "My training began with a whole month in the Briggs Mountains in winter without provisions."
The Colonel groaned again, before getting to his feet cautiously. He had a bandaid over his nose and on his forehead and sweat and dust were covering his entire body. "Yes, Teacher."
Riza paused. It was strange for her to hear him call this stranger by that title. After all, the Colonel had been studying under her own father, and now he was being taught by someone completely different.
And for a second, she felt a stab of fear. It became very clear to her just how much things were changing. How much this was probably going to change her boss. And how uncertain the path ahead had suddenly become. Because the one she had sworn to protect and follow into hell was suddenly the father of someone who needed to be dragged out of it.
But she would still follow him no matter what happened. There was no doubt in her mind.
She was very alarmed, though, when the woman before her suddenly had a bunch of blood gushing from her mouth.
Roy was in pain. His entire body hurt, but today's lessons were finally done. Hawkeye and Sig were carrying the ridiculous amount of gifts inside the house and finding out exactly where to place them. He was thankfully getting the afternoons off to take care of Ed until Roy's leave time was up. Plus that extra one-off half-hour break he had been given just for today to deal with a personal issue. Then they would have to change their schedule. He was also getting five minutes of freedom every sixty minutes to be with Ed. And Ed had also joined him for the transmutation part. Teacher wanted him to learn how to draw up precise transmutation circles despite his blindness. And she'd had him spar with Roy as well. Apparently it was better for Ed to learn how to spar with Roy as they'd be sparring partners once the Curtises went back to Dublith.
Roy was thankful. Despite how scary and how much pain Teacher put him through, he still felt nervous about how she kept vomiting blood whenever she overexerted herself.
He sighed and finished drying himself up, before he pulled back the shower curtain. Then he picked up his boxers, pulled them on, and sat down next to Ed. It was how their procedure went. Roy would help clean Ed up and dry him off with a towel and help him into his boxers. Then Ed would start drying his shoulder port while Roy showered himself.
And so he pulled Ed up onto his lap and held his arms around him as he began working on drying his leg while Ed kept working his other port.
Roy closed his eyes, leaning his forehead into the golden locks below him, sighing heavily.
"Roy?" Ed asked uncertainly. "What's wrong?"
Roy responded with another heavy sigh. "I'm using you as a pillow and your hair is in most ways illegally soft if you ask me," he mumbled, snuggling into it further with the side of his face that wasn't sore from the shiner Ed gave him in the hospital. "So how about you and me just ask for dinner in bed while we have another go at Wally the brainless dog and his obviously defective nose whose sole purpose is to teach us braille?" Roy suggested. He could tell that Ed was still uncomfortable about being around his former teacher and her husband. That he just wanted a break in general after being around people for so and so long. "But that's just if you're interested, Ed. If you want to spend some more time catching up with the Curtises then-"
"No... Wally sounds good..." Ed interrupted him. "I'm not..." Then he suddenly turned around quickly and straddled Roy's thighs so that he could hug him properly.
Roy immediately put his arms around him, holding him tightly as he gently stroked his back with his left hand. "It's okay, Ed," he told him softly.
"I'm just... Roy I feel like everyone's staring at me all the time. And I don't like it... Because that means that everyone's watching me as I let them down..."
"Edward, you're not letting them down by being hurt by what happened. I'd actually be more worried if you weren't as affected by this..." Roy told him softly.
"Roy... I don't... I don't know who I am anymore... My past... How I used to be... It all feels so... It's like a distant dream." Ed's voice was shaky and quiet, and he was obviously hovering on the edge of tears.
Roy sighed heavily. "Listen, Ed... There's a lot of things that have happened and with such abrupt changes in your life, then it's only natural to feel distant from how things were before."
"I can't... I just... Why does it have to be black? Why couldn't it just be some other colour? Why does it have to something that makes me feel like I'm drowning? Like I'm dying? Why couldn't it be something that brings me hope? Because it's everywhere, Roy! Every damn second, there's just black! And the few times that it isn't... When I'm dreaming... Then my brain can't even enjoy it because it thinks that it's as natural as anything! I don't want this darkness! I don't want to spend the rest of my life trapped in the dark! I just wanna open my eyes and see the world around me again!"
And I don't like seeing the way that your eyelids are only covering a plastic conformer now...
Because Ed's face looked so wrong without his eyes. In most ways, it had been easier to deal with the bandages. Because the way that they could just look at the eyeless pits in Edward Elric's face...
It just wasn't right.
And fact was that nobody was looking like Ed was letting them down. What they saw was a limping, double amputee with missing eyes that they cared about. The hurt that they all felt was based on the way that the suffering that Ed was going through was making the kid so...
"...I feel broken, Roy... All that I was... It's just... I don't know who I am anymore. Because everything that happened before this... It feels like an illusion... Like a film that has reached its end. A fantasy... And now it's all been smashed to pieces and I tried to fix it with alchemy, but it wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible, Roy! And Al's gone and everything hurts and I want it to stop hurting, but if it did, then I'd be dishonouring Al's memory!"
Then he broke down into sobs again and Roy just held him tight, closing his eyes.
...Feeling like he had been the one to actually drop the Elrics so that their lives broke in the first place.
"Ed... I... I don't know what to say... But I'm here and I'm not judging you. And I'm not thinking that you're broken..." he told him heavily.
Then something strange happened. For some reason his mouth opened again. "Because you two are perfect... No matter what, you two will always be perfect and I'm proud to call myself your father."
Ed froze. Roy froze.
Then he desperately tried to find a way to make this sound right. "Uh, I mean..." he began.
"...You think that I'm "perfect"? I'm like one of the most flawed people there are so how the hell can you be proud to call me your son when I'm the boy that did so many shitty things and dragged his little brother into hell, knowing that I was defying all the laws in the universe?!"
Roy took a deep breath. "Ed... Legally I'm your father now. I'm proud that people will recognise you two as my sons. I don't really feel like a father... Not even remotely... But while I'm getting used to it, I still feel proud that my sons would be you two. Because you're honestly like my favourite kids, no questions asked. I mean, Elicia's cute, I guess, but she looks like she wants to shove Al out of Gracia's arms because she's getting jealous of him and she's also really noisy... You two are great boys. And in all honesty..." Roy bit his lip, bracing himself. "...I think the two of you are the perfect sons for me now when I should actually find myself a father... I know you don't see me as that, and that's okay, I'd probably be a bit scared if you did... And I... Like I said, I don't feel like a father... But in my mind you're my kids even so... The two of you belong to me and I don't regret that."
Roy was a bit surprised by his own words. Yes, when he thought about what he had just said, he would agree to them being the truth. But he still had no idea where it came from.
Maybe he was just exhausted enough not to plan anything ahead.
...But he didn't really know what to say after that.
"You... You know that that could be taken really wrong, what with your reputation..." Ed whispered quietly after about half a minute.
Roy paused.
But then he couldn't help it as he began chuckling.
And to his great relief and joy, Ed actually chuckled slightly too. It was weak and it only lasted for two seconds, but it was there.
Then came three shakily whispered words filled with both gratitude and pain. "Thank you, Roy..."
Roy closed his eyes and held him tightly. "You shouldn't need to thank me, Ed, it's only the truth."
Ed reached up his left hand and placed it on Roy's cheek again in its lie-detector way. "Then... then I guess you're not so bad yourself..." he said shakily, before he buried his face in Roy's shoulder and broke down into tears once more.
Roy lightly held the fingers of his right hand on Ed's back, knowing that the physical contact helped Ed feel a bit less lonely. A bit less cut off from those around him because Ed was in the darkness while they were not. Roy had felt his stomach clench when he had realised that fact. The thought still made him feel that way.
"Sir, I'd like a word, if that's okay," Hawkeye suddenly said behind them.
They paused and turned around. She was standing there, looking slightly uncomfortable for once.
And her eyes still held the pain that she felt when she looked at Ed. Especially as Ed wasn't wearing the sunglasses right then. Roy wasn't exactly going to explain that it was because the hard plastic made it uncomfortable for both parties when Roy hugged Ed.
"Of course, Hawkeye, just wait here for a minute," he told her, turning back towards Ed.
"I can get back to our room on my own, Roy... I know the route pretty well by now," Ed offered quietly.
"No, Ed, I'll help you first." He placed his hand back on Ed's back and began leading him towards the bedroom, none of them speaking. Ed made his way towards his own bed, but Roy held him back. "Ed, mine's better. It has a headboard we can lean against after all."
"Oh, okay."
And so Roy gently guided him to the bed and helped him inside, gently placing his hand at the top of his head once Ed was sitting comfortably. "I'll be back soon, Ed. Is there anything you want until then?"
"Could I have Arnold?"
Roy paused, trying to figure who or what that might be. Then something clicked, and he couldn't help the small, but fond smile finding its way to his lips. "Is that the sheep?"
"Yeah..." Ed whispered. "Don't tell anyone, though..."
Roy gently stroked the boy's cheek with his hand. "I swear. And I think it's a good name for him."
Ed moved his lips slightly in what would probably have been a smile, but that he couldn't quite get himself to complete. "Thanks."
"Of course, Ed," Roy told him, walking over to Ed's bed, grabbing the plush sheep.
"Hey, Roy?" Edward asked quietly and with his voice once again heavy with halfway repressed pain.
Roy turned around. "Yes, Ed?"
"What... What colour is he?"
Roy paused. He hadn't even thought about it. The sheep was supposed to be a comfort, and then he had gone and forgotten to tell him something as fundamental as that. "He's dark brown... I should have told you earlier, sorry."
"No, that's... That's okay... Sometimes it's just easier not to have everything explained... To just have it black... To pretend that that is how it has always been..." His voice was even quieter than earlier as he spoke.
Roy walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed as he decided to place Arnold in a way that suggested that he was hugging his owner around the neck.
In a way he found it sad how Ed immediately clung to the toy like a much younger child than he actually was.
Then a sudden thought struck Roy. A horrible thought that made his stomach twist. Because Ed had lost so much of his childhood, and now that Roy was letting him be a child again, then Edward might very well be trying to catch up on what he missed out on.
...Either that, or it was that Ed had actually lost so much of himself that he was picking things up so far back as to where his childhood had ended in the first place. And that might just have been the last moment where he had actually known who he was. And that was most likely back to when he was five because that was the last time he hadn't needed to grow up too quickly to fill the empty space left by their mother's passing.
"Roy? Thank you for letting me just... It's just nice to sometimes be a kid... But please don't tell the others... It's just gonna make Winry cry that I've got a plush sheep that I've even named... But thank you for him. To feel that there's something there with me... It's just a bit less lonely in the darkness. It makes it easier not to be so scared of the dark," Ed said quietly. "So you go to Hawkeye while Arnold keeps me company, okay?" Then he smiled weakly, obviously trying to tell Roy that it was all right that he left. And that he wouldn't let Roy keep Hawkeye waiting.
And so Roy sighed heavily and began to realise something important.
His title might be Ed's Miniature Pinscher.
...But instinctively, Ed was acting like Roy was his much-needed parent.
And the thought scared him. Because he didn't deserve it. Not at all. Those boys deserved someone far better.
Which meant that Roy was going to work as hard as he could towards being that someone that they could rely on. That could be there for them. For some reason, he had adopted them and then found himself scared that he had already started becoming Ed's father the moment he had hugged the boy to him in the golf course.
He gently cupped Ed's cheek. "I'll be right back."
Ed nodded once, hugging Arnold tighter to him.
Roy couldn't help but feel honoured that Ed trusted him to see him like this, even if the reasons were all so wrong. And so Roy left for the hallway, finding Hawkeye standing there, and he had a strong feeling that she hadn't actually moved an inch since they left her. "What did you need to talk with me about, Lieutenant?"
"I'd like to discuss this in private, sir."
Roy thought for half a second, he really didn't want to leave this floor of the house because he would be leaving Ed a lot more alone than he'd like. "How about the bathroom?" he asked.
He could tell from her look that she knew his thought process, because she nodded and headed for the bathroom, holding open the door for him and then closing it behind him once he was inside. "I'm defying orders, sir," she informed him.
Roy paused, looking at her in confusion. It was slightly odd to be having a conversation with his Lieutenant in her uniform, while he was barefoot, wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt himself. It was a rather sharp contrast, after all. He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty in a way about taking a new teacher when her father had been the one to teach him. Their relationship was built on that time in many ways. Their mutual understanding had been developed during that time because she had been there to see him at some very vulnerable moments in his life. And she was the only one that had known him before he had joined the military and whom he was still heavily involved with. And so her telling him something like that made him slightly afraid that he was losing some important part of what they had. "What do you mean, Hawkeye?"
"I'm refusing to condone your plans concerning those that were treated as heroes during the Ishbalan War of Extermination being put on trial as war criminals."
Roy froze. He hadn't thought about that. He had been too caught up in the Elrics and their suffering to even consider the effects of the adoption. And he couldn't help but feel that he was letting her down by his actions. And yet he didn't really know what to say in answer.
"I can no longer swear to shoot you in the back if you stray from your path, not when it would entail that the Elrics lose another father."
Roy felt like a part of his safety net was suddenly being ripped away from him. And yet he couldn't blame her. He had trusted her to keep him walking down the path that he had chosen, but that had been when his only responsibility was only to his promise to her. To the way that she had trusted him to let her life end on a note that could let her get some peace and justice for what she had done. And that they would do so together.
He had let her down.
"I will, however, shoot you in the knees, sir. You can still become Führer and restore power to the Parliament with automail legs."
Roy couldn't help the weak smile on his lips at her words. And so he gave her a little nod. "I see. And I guess I can't blame you for your choices."
Her face filled with guilt and shame. "I'm sorry that I am in many ways letting you down, sir, but if things go according to plan, then you would quite possibly be leaving your youngest son before he even turns twenty. And I can't let you raise those boys while you prepare yourself to make your last action in life to leave them in favour of committing suicide. They should not have another father decide that his own needs outweigh theirs. I just can't let that happen, sir."
His stomach clenched painfully at her words. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant. But thank you for telling me."
"Of course, sir. I will still have your back no matter what. But I will be a poor assistant and bodyguard if I do not extend that to your sons. And that means looking after them and their needs too," she said softly, and Roy could see that she was actually near tears.
And so he did something that he had only done twice before. Once when her father died and she had learned that her father's last wishes, despite their strained relationship, had been for Roy to look after his daughter. The second time had been when he had finished bandaging the burns he had inflicted on her back and helped her into a t-shirt as she stood there with her back to him with pained tears in her eyes. Because she had that same look in her eyes as she had had back then. The woman behind the soldier.
And so he stepped forwards and hugged her. "I'm sorry, Riza," he whispered, closing his eyes.
She just leaned into his shoulder. "But I want you to promise me that you won't let it stop you from caring for those boys in the way that they deserve. Because if you do, then I will shoot you in the back, Roy, and make sure that Lieutenant Colonel Hughes adopts them instead."
Roy pulled out of the hug and saluted her. "Duly noted, Lieutenant Hawkeye."
She saluted him back. "I suggest you go look after Edward now, Colonel Mustang. I'll be bringing up your dinner when it's done."
Roy gave her a weak smile. She had just guessed that neither him nor Ed were planning on eating downstairs. And the pyjamas were probably a very strong piece of evidence to support that fact. Roy wasn't one for using regular clothes when in bed. It was a way to just mentally put him in free time-mode.
And so he left and went back to the bedroom. "Hi, Ed, are you ready for some stupid dog?"
Ed turned his face towards him. "Yeah... Thanks, Roy..."
"Of course, Ed... Now how about we do the supermarket one?" Roy asked softly.
The young boy nodded. "Sure. We haven't tried that one yet."
And so Roy went over to the bookshelf that Maes had bought while they were in the infirmary. The one that contained nothing but books in braille. And so he pulled out the book and saw to his horror that his sleep-deprived head had failed to realise something when he had first seen the book. "Ed, Wally's brought his grandmother in this one. That's why they're at the supermarket. He's helping her doing the next week's shopping. Apparently her name is Nanna Dolly, which is very creative when her grandson is Wally." Roy shrugged. "I guess we could say that we're cooling down from our intense sessions of advanced alchemy."
"Guess so..." Ed said weakly. "...But you're actually the one who gets off the easiest. We started our training on an uninhabited island for a whole month without any food, shelter or previous survival training. We got a knife, an order that alchemy was totally forbidden and a masked madman at nighttime who attacked us with a club. So, yeah, that was pretty... exhausting. And apparently the guy that almost killed us every night was sent there to make sure that we didn't die. But we learnt the flow of the universe in a much more efficient way than an other because we got to experience it for ourselves... And you won't have to learn how to cook frogs."
Roy paused. "Edward, please answer me honestly: how likely am I to need half a year's leave time to heal?"
"I'd say about eight per cent."
Roy felt dread sink into his stomach. "I think we should seriously begin to make sure that we have a steady sleeping schedule."
Then he realised his mistake as Edward spent most of his waking moments afraid of falling asleep because of his nightmares. "Ed, sorry, that was tactless of me..." He felt his insides twist slightly and he went over to the nightstand, placing the book on too of it as he sat down at the edge of the bed. Then he pulled out the drawer, sighing as he grabbed one of the objects inside with his left hand. Then he took Ed's hand with his right and placed the small bottle of pills in his palm.
"Roy? What's this?" Ed asked in subdued confusion.
"I spoke with the doctor who treated you at the infirmary earlier today and signed a permission slip for Maes to pick them up while he was out buying groceries at around noon. You and me were busy training and Pinako joined him to the infirmary to give her opinion as a medical professional. They are to induce dreamless sleep and are commonly used for people suffering from PTSD for instance."
Ed clenched the pill bottle in his hand, paling. "You mean to say that you abused your legal power to take out a prescription for something like this without even asking me?! I-I don't wanna have that on my medical records, Roy!"
Roy sighed. "Ed, let me finish explaining. I spoke with the doctor after talking with Pinako about it. They're not in your name, because I asked the doctor to renew an old prescription of mine so that you wouldn't need to wait for weeks to actually get sufficient grounds for a diagnosis. The doctor agreed to me letting you take them because you're actually seeing a certified surgeon with complete medical training on a daily basis. As she is highly familiar with the drug already because she has been outfitting people with automail and performing surgery that is often triggering a large variety of PTSD episodes, the doctor agreed to it. He only renewed the ones that are usually used for the trial period, so there's only enough here for a week. But in your case, as you're a child who is missing two limbs, you're only to take half of the amount, so it'll be two weeks instead."
Ed froze. "They... They're yours?" he asked.
Roy sighed. "Yes. I didn't exactly sleep well after the Ishbalan Massacre and Hawkeye wasn't having any of that. So she scheduled a doctor's appointment without me knowing it and then threatened to shoot me if I didn't go. I was quickly sent to a psychiatrist and that was the result. I didn't want to wait anymore because I've been woken twelve times or tonight by you talking in your sleep due to beginning nightmares. Even if you don't remember me waking you, then that doesn't make it any less true. I wasn't going to watch you suffer like that for weeks. So I figured that renewing my old prescription was the best way to do this because the infirmary doctor is a decent man."
Ed just clenched the bottle harder in his hand. "Why didn't you tell me first?" he asked quietly, sounding like Roy had betrayed him to some extent.
Roy sighed, reaching out to cup his cheek, gently stroking it with his thumb. "Because I was afraid you'd say "no" and I didn't want to risk you suffering because of it."
"But what about when those run out? I don't... I don't want something like that on my medical records..."
Roy sighed heavily. "How about we figure that out in two weeks when you know how you feel about it after trying them out? I felt the same in the beginning, but that's better than letting it go as far as it did with me. You really don't need that on top of everything else and I don't... Ed, I know how much it affects your wellbeing to be constantly afraid of falling asleep."
Ed just sat there in silence for about half a minute, before he gave a small nod and leaned his cheek into Roy's hand. "Okay..."
"Thank you, Edward... Now how about some brain-numbing dog?" Roy asked.
Ed gave another weak nod and Roy sat himself next to him, pulling the duvet up to their waists. Then he slid his left arm around Ed so that he was hugging him to his side.
What he hadn't expected was for Ed to lean further into him and tilting sideways to use Roy's shoulder as a pillow. Then he placed his hand on Roy's chest like a child would do when snuggling up to their parent, and Roy had a horrifying realisation strike him. Ed wasn't just seeking comfort because there was no desperate search for salvation in this hug for once.
And Roy was beginning to realise that Edward Elric was currently showing the signs of affection for Roy. Like he was becoming his son.
...And Roy was actually enjoying the hug.
So, just as a bit of an explainer here at the end: canonically (from the manga) they do have films as Ed and Al were discussing a film about a fly-man a few years before the human transmutation.
And so please leave a review!
(but no flames)