Look! Another chapter! Ha, and InexplicablyKyprioth was worried! (I'm just teasing you)
-----------
Ed titled his head up and tapped a slightly bruised section of his lower jaw.
"Hmm. It doesn't look like he hit you too hard," Roy mused, holding Ed's chin in his hand which caused Ed to squeak, but stay still. He wasn't used to people touching him but at the moment it was comforting, even if it felt like he was being handled for inspection.
"You realize you are going to be in major trouble for running away, don't you?"
Ed made a soft, muttery noise and started pleading Roy with his eyes.
'Must turn on puppy charm.'
"Oh, Ed. Don't try to be cute. I can't do anything."
"Must resist puppy eyes, dammit."
"There you go," Jean let Ed's shirt fall and the blond scooted off his lap and then turned his puppy eyes on the second lieutenant.
"Hey!" Roy snapped, knowing exactly what Ed was trying to do. "Don't corrupt my lieutenant!"
Jean's cigarette was hanging from his lower lip, stuck on by spit otherwise it would have fallen. His first thought was that if Ed ever did this to Fuery, the Master Sergeant would melt into a puddle. He, however, was immune to the look, his sister having used it on him so many times for no good. He'd just been surprised at Ed's talent for it.
"Where did you learn that?" he asked. Ed glared at him for being immune.
"I taught myself. Al can do a lot of amazing things with his eyes, but even he can't come near me when it comes to puppy eyes."
"Sir-" Fuery poked his head in the door, "There's a Sergeant out here. He wants Ed."
Roy and Jean looked at Ed and he looked back and forth at both of them.
Roy sighed, "FullMetal,"
Ed could hear it in his voice. Mustang was making him go back.
"You have to go. Run along, now. Only two more weeks."
Ed wouldn't look at him as he trudged out of the office. Mustang winced at the sound of sharp yelling followed by, "Sir, yes, Sir!" outside. He groaned.
------------------------------
"He came into the office crying today, but after just a few minutes I felt reassured. He was upset, more so than I'd ever seen him before, but he was still Ed. He is by no means broken.
I wonder why it never occurred to me to just run and cry on someone's shoulder. Granted it's against the rules to run away and I don't even want to think about how Ed will be punished, but I went to boot camp with Falman and Breda and Ross. It seems to me now that any one of them would have listened to and comforted me. Then again, I didn't really know any of them at the time. Still, if I had been able to get rid of all that anxiety the way Ed did today, I wonder if I would have come out of it without feeling so beaten."
What the hell? I took off today and tried to get the colonel to help me, but all he did was ask stupid questions. Still, I got cookies from second lieutenant Havoc. But since I ran off, I'm supposed to be penalized, only it was really weird 'cause this other Sergeant, um, Giolio, came into the barracks after training and told me he was in charge of my penalty and that I should be standing outside the barrack door ready to go at three AM! I'm only gonna get like four hours of sleep.
I kind of feel better after seeing Mustang and Hawkeye and everyone, but now I really want to get out of here. All the other guys in here keep giving me this dumb glares like I'm just totally not worthy of their squad. What I wouldn't give to be able to fight one of them. They'd never mess with me again.
------------------------------
"Colonel Mustang recruited me today to take Edward's place in the rehearsal at the park. There'll be a few more but he needed a placeholder to remind everyone where Ed would be. I wonder how Ed's doing. I wonder how he'll react when he finds out how the parade is supposed to end. I guess he might like it, though. He's not really shy..."
----------------------
Ugggh, I'm so sore. That weird MustacheBooby Sergeant made me do all these weird, showy drills by myself until six! There was all this fancy footwork and fake-rifle-twirling I was supposed to do and whenever I tripped, HE SPAT AT ME! I want to go take a shower but Sergeant Abble said I have to wait to use the shower until everyone else is done. Like they even need showers, the bastards! All we did today was learn all the military symbols for a battle field map so we could see how tacticians demonstrate the movement of troops during war. They don't have spit in their hair! Plus I have to get up at three and do it again! Damn, I wonder if there's some kind of dorky military cap I could wear. Maybe I'll sneak over to Roy's- oh wait, he wouldn't be in his office. Well maybe I could steal his. The one he wears to funerals is military, so maybe Sergeant MustacheBooby wouldn't care. I don't know where I'd hide it, though.
---------------------------------------
"The colonel was called for at the barracks at six this morning. Naturally I chauffeured him. I thought I was going to vomit during the entire drive I was so worried about Ed.
Actually, the reason for the summons turned out to be quite amusing. Ed's penalty for running away had apparently been discussed at great length and one of our more prominent State Alchemists offered to teach him drills that would incorporate alchemy.
Somehow, in the middle of the night, Edward had gotten a hold of Colonel Mustang's cap which has his name embroidered on the inside for...identification reasons. So the colonel was called for to retrieve his hat and also so that Sergeant Giolio (who Ed would like to refer to as Sgt. "Mustache-Booby") could ask the colonel to commission a marching uniform for Ed. FullMetal already has a n officer's uniform (minus the cap) but he's not allowed to wear it during boot camp because he would stand out too much. However, after seeing him come in with the colonel's cap, Giolio decided he would like to have Ed practice in a semi-formal marching uniform. The colonel agreed to commission it and it should be here in about three days.
Edward was adorable while I took his measurements. He kept fidgeting and blushing like a normal little kid. It was refreshing in a strange way, to see him not yelling or picking a fight or being rude, but not distraught or crying either."
-------
"No!" Phkplut!
A nice gooey glob of spit landed on Ed's shoe and the blond shook with rage.
"What?" he snapped. Giolio looked surprised that he would dare ask in such a tone, but didn't say anything about it.
"When I say on your heel, I don't want you to wobble around in a circle! Spin! On your heel! Do it again."
Ed grit his teeth and took up his beginning position. 'Head up, arms straight, feet together...'
He clicked his right heel neatly against the tile floor and thumped the butt of his fake rifle against the floor as well. Putting the rifle out in front of his body, he spun it with his hands, eyes narrowing in concentration, remembering what it felt like when his hand slipped and he got bonked by one end or the other.
He snapped the rifle back to his side and marched forward where he pitched back onto one heel and tried to propel himself around to face the other direction.
Phkplut!
"OK, just hold still. Make me do this the hard way..." Giolio grumbled under his breath. Ed frowned at his words and wiped hte spit off his shirt. 'Disgusting.'
Giolio pulled his gloves off and touched them to the wall. Ed jerked when ropes of metal came out of the ceiling and wound around his ankles, body and arms.
"Stop struggling," the Sergeant commanded. The ropes pulled taut and Ed felt his body moving in slow motion. The vines on his ankles pulled his weight onto one foot and then pulled that foot back onto its heel. Ed's arms were pressed in tight against his body as the ropes arranged for his other foot to push off from the toe and Ed felt himself slowly rotating. The ropes set his feet together properly and then loosened their hold a bit, leaving Ed perfectly positioned.
"See? I'll do it one more time."
The ropes tightened around Ed, repeating the sequence and then disappeared into the ceiling. Ed blinked, looking up until Giolio barked, "Now do it like that."
Ed flushed slightly and did as he was told.
---------------
I know that if you're a State Alchemist, you're supposed to have rank equivalent to Major but...well, it's not like this story is really accurate anyway, so let's all just pretend Giolio's a Sergeant, now, shall we? XD
Please check out my blog to see both Ed's Boot Camp uniform and his new marching uniform! (There's a link to it on my profile)