To say Ed had been happy when he found out he was being released would have been an understatement. He was much more lively than he had been in a while, dressing himself in some sweats and a t-shirt covered with a zip-up and tying his hair back into a bun. It even seemed like a little bit of colour had finally come back to his ashen skin. After a few days of what he had described as 'the stench of death just barely covered up with sickening lemon antiseptic', he was filled with energy at the notion that he would soon be relieved of it all. That is, until he fell asleep. Again.
All of his excitement must have tired him out, and he had fought it valiantly for a good long while- peeling open his droopy eyelids and snapping himself awake every time he started to drift off, but it had all been in vain. Finally, he gave in to unconsciousness.
A few days earlier, Roy was glad to see Ed getting some rest- but when he had started sleeping for hours on end without stirring, he couldn't help but start to worry. The doctors had assured him countless times that it was normal and that his body needed the rest, but it still rubbed him the wrong way seeing such an energetic kid so lethargic.
He let him rest nonetheless, sparing a glance at him every now and then to make sure he was alright while he filled out a sudoku book he had been suckered into buying from the kind old lady at the gift store. He had never been very good at the game, and Falman could have filled the book three times over while Roy struggled with one page, but it was still something to do. It was just a distraction, something to keep his mind from wandering while he waited for someone from the team to come pick him and Ed up. He assumed it would only be a few more minutes, considering he had been scribbling in numbers in squares for so long that it felt like his brain might implode. However, he kept going anyway since there was nothing else to do. Edward had taken all of his medication, his release forms had been signed, and he had even miraculously filled out all of the paperwork Hawkeye had brought in for him. While it wasn't much, even just mindlessly playing a number gave he was half-convinced he wasn't even doing right felt more productive than just watching Ed sleep.
He continued half-heartedly for a while after that, his resolve dwindling away until he gave up entirely and began to doodle on the inside of the cover. He had nearly filled the entire space up with black pen when he was jerked out of his daydreams by a knock at the door, bringing his attention to a smug looking Jean Havoc in the doorway.
"Sorry, I must be in the wrong place." He joked, feigning confusion. "I'm looking for Edward Elric's room, not art class."
Roy shot the chuckling man an unimpressed glare as he snapped the book closed and tucked it into his jacket.
"Took you long enough." Roy retorted, clicking the pen he was using before tossing it into his pocket.
Havoc chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, sorry boss." He replied, looking not the slightest bit remorseful as a large grin that spoke of mischief spread across his face. "There was this really cute nurse with pretty blonde hair and oh my god you wouldn't believe the size of her boo-"
Roy quickly cut him off, holding up a hand to keep the man from ranting with a tired roll of his eyes.
"As much as I love a large-chested lady every now and then, I have to say I'm not really in the mood to listen to you rave about girls right now."
Havoc just curled into himself slightly with a nervous chuckle and a wide smile. Roy gathered the scattered papers around him and tucked them all together, the edges of his mouth quirking up ever so slightly. He begrudgingly removed himself from the poorly-cushioned hospital chair, locking his knees and stretching the stiffness out of his back, wincing slightly as it gave a few audible pops.
With sluggish movements, he hobbled to Ed's bedside, nearly chuckling at the boy who had been so excited to leave sleep right through the event. He went to pick Edward up into his arms, before stopping when Havoc held out a halting hand.
"Why don't you let me take him, boss?" He offered, looking at Roy with apprehensive sympathy. "You're looking a little worse for wear."
Roy blinked at him for a few seconds while struggling to process what he was saying through his mind clouded with lack of rest. Now that he thought about it, he probably did look a bit rough. He hadn't slept well last night, he hadn't shaved in a few days, and he could practically feel the bone-deep dark circles beneath his eyes. Hesitantly, he nodded.
"Yeah, okay, just be careful with him. They've been weaning him off of morphine to start him on a different pain medication, so he doesn't have anything in his system right now and he'll be hurting a lot more than usual."
Jean nodded his understanding, scooping the sleeping boy up into his arms with more care than Roy thought possible. Ed didn't even stir at the sudden change in position, showing just how gentle the lieutenant had been, also due to the fact that the kid was just plain exhausted. Havoc smiled down at the small bundle in his arms before looking back up to the Colonel.
"Ready to go?" He asked, unable to keep the content grin off of his face. Roy smiled back, though it was weak with weariness. He shrugged off his disheveled jacket before laying it over Edward and giving Havoc a nod in response to his question.
"You have no idea how ready I am."
The three made their way to the car a bit slower than normal, Havoc being dragged down with the added weight of Edward and his automail, while Roy was simply struggling through his exhaustion.
When they finally got there, Roy wasted no time in opening the back door for Havoc and Ed before unceremoniously dropping himself into the passenger seat. Jean laid Edward gently down across the backseat, balling up Roy's jacket to slide under his head as a pillow before removing his own coat to throw over the boy. He pulled the middle seat belt over Ed's midsection before buckling him in in a rather awkward fashion- though if Ed was uncomfortable, he certainly didn't show it. Jean removed his own jacket to lay over the boy as a sort of makeshift blanket and made sure that he seemed comfortable before getting himself behind the wheel.
The rest of the ride was unintentionally quiet. Roy really meant to start up some kind of conversation, he really did, but somehow his words got lost on the way from his brain to his mouth, and he just couldn't seem to form any coherent sentences. Thankfully, Havoc seemed to understand and didn't try to get him to talk.
Before he knew it, they were pulling into his driveway with Ed still sound asleep and softly snoring in the back seat.
Havoc once again gathered Ed into his arms, which Ed quickly snuggled into with a contented sigh. Jean looked to be in cloud nine with his little buddy snuggling up to him, and Roy looked like he belonged in a morgue with skin so dull and lifeless it was nearly grey.
Roy marched haphazardly up to his door, fiddling for a few moments with his keys before he threw open the door, stepping into his house and reveling in the fact that he was finally home. Jean stumbled in after him, eyes darting around in search of somewhere to lay Ed down.
"You can just put him on the couch for now." Roy muttered while rubbing a hand over his face, noting the stubble on his jaw as he plopped himself into his recliner. With a sigh of relief, he leaned back into the comfort, already feeling himself slipping away.
Havoc complied with the instructions, laying Ed gently down on the long couch, minding his incision and sore ribs. He took the blanket off of the back of it to lay over him, which Ed immediately curled into gratefully.
Roy only barely managed to mutter his thanks to his lieutenant as he headed for the door, and if he had answered, Roy had been none the wiser.
With the familiar click of a shutting door, he let himself finally fall into unconsciousness.
As Ed awoke, he found himself to be pleasantly warm and cozy, and the surface he was laid down upon seemed suspiciously much softer than his usual hospital bed.
Another thing worth noting was the smell- it was warm and homey, something undeniably human and lived-in. While it was extremely preferable to the sharp scent of antiseptics and the underlying stench of illness, it certainly raised a few questions.
Why was he so comfortable and why didn't it smell bad anymore?
Though he longed to simply fall back to sleep, there was a niggling feeling in the pit of his stomach that something about his surroundings had changed- so with great difficulty, he managed to pry open his eyes.
To his great surprise, his vision wasn't assaulted with bright white walls or the ever-present glow of hospital monitors, instead the walls were painted a warm grey and the only light came from the thin sunlight pouring in through a nearby window.
For a moment, he was rather alarmed to suddenly be somewhere other than his hospital room, until he heard something that was equally comforting as it was loud and obnoxious. Roy Mustang was snoring.
So, if Mustang was there and sleeping comfortably by the sounds of it, then he must have been safe. But then, where the hell were they?
Quite distantly, he recalled a majorly one-sided conversation from the day prior when he had been drugged and exhausted, which wasn't much of a conversation at all really, more like Mustang just talking at him while Ed struggled to respond. The Colonel had suggested that he and Al stay with him while he recovered, to which Ed replied with a uninterested grunt. At the time, he hadn't thought the man to be serious- but he really had no choice but to believe him at that point.
The man let out another snore that sounded alarmingly as if he were gargling rocks, leaving Ed to wonder how he could even speak whenever he awoke. He sighed- just another note to jot down on the increasingly long list of the strange ways of Roy Mustang.
Then, now that he thought about it, Mustang had been acting much stranger than usual lately. Ed had been much too medicated to realize or protest, but the usually uncaring jerk of a Colonel had been acting oddly... affectionate. Ever since he had been hurt, the man hadn't left his side; quite literally staying pressed up against him like a fly to a flame.
Though hazily, he remembered calming words floating through his fog of pain and medicine, and even if he loathed to admit it, they were entirely welcome- even if they came from a hardly reputable source. He could even recall several times when he had been hugged by the man, leaving Ed with a spark of dread that quickly melted into something warm and buzzing in his chest.
The whole situation left his mind spiralling. Since when had Colonel Bastard become so lovey-dovey? More importantly, why did Ed find himself rather liking the change?
In all of his confusion, one distinguished thought became clear.
He and the Colonel were going to have a long chat the minute he ceased that dreadful snoring.