Something About You
Part three
Ed shuffled through the papers in his hand and then flipped through a book that was sitting close by. He dropped it to the floor when he realized it wasn't the one he wanted and picked up a different one. It had already been a few days, and the brothers were still working on the transmutation circle.
Al flipped a piece of chalk around in his hands, something he hadn't used for a while since he'd seen the gate himself and started to use alchemy similar to the way his brother did. "Why don't we just do things my way?"
Ed dropped the new book he was holding too, biting his lip. "Alright, Al. We'll try it your way."
Al smiled and threw his brother a piece of chalk. "Let's get to work then!" He shoved all the random papers off the wooden table and knocked on it, his smile widening.
The older blonde had to smile at Al's enthusiasm and looked at his chalk almost nostalgically. "Haven't done this in awhile ..."
"Yeah, neither have I..." Al laughed a little, readying his chalk for experimental circle drawing. "You know, I almost miss drawing circles."
"I don't ..." He sighed and didn't explain himself; simply looking over toward his brother. "Let's get started then."
"Right. So. If I remember correctly..." The younger alchemist left off, quickly drawing a basic outline, definitely not complex enough for his brother's OCD mind. "...the one that is used most often looks sorta like that."
Ed studied it and wordlessly traced back over it a bit with his own chalk, adding and correcting a few things. "There. Is that what you wanted?"
Al rolled his eyes. "Sure. Now, since we have to practically...what...recompose a few things for Envy to be usable? We have to buy those ingredients..." He drew a couple of small circles around the big one they already had, but when he reached to the top right, his hand almost interlocked with Ed's, much more than a simple brush, and a blush shot up his face. He quickly drew what he wanted and looked away. "..."
"Y-yeah .." The older alchemist looked away himself, holding his hand slightly before paying attention again to act like nothing happened, adding a few more minor details as well. "This is starting to shape up but ... it's nowhere near completed yet, really." He took a closer look at it, his shoulder now touching his brother's as he almost got lost in thought.
Al felt the closeness and began stuttering like mad. "I - I think we'd have to c - combine them altogether...to, um, uh, make a...complex...combo..."
Ed moved away from Al to look at him, snapping back to reality when he heard his brother's voice. "Al? Are you okay?"
"Hmm? Oh YEAH. I'm just...thinking!" He laughed nervously, sounding like a total airhead and cursing himself internally.
Ed eyed his brother almost suspiciously and shrugged it off. "Alright then ... ... ... aha!" He added a couple more things to the circle.
The younger blonde looked it over, chewing briefly on his thumbnail. "That looks almost perfect..."
The older alchemist looked over at Al and had to stop himself from drooling at the sight of his brother chewing on his thumb, and looked away quickly. "Um-uh yeah ... it probably ... could use something else though."
"Yeah, I just can't point out...what..." He took his thumb out of his mouth with a teasing 'pop' noise.
Ed bit his lip hard, clenching his fist, telling himself he was a sick pervert and trying to remind himself that Al was his brother. "I-I just ... don't know ... I guess I need to think about it some more."
"Me too. " The younger blonde rubbed his eyes and stood up. "Maybe I'll nap on it or something."
"That sounds like a good idea ..."
Al gripped a chair and looked deeply at his brother. "So, yeah...I'll be...going to my room."
Ed looked away from his brother's gaze, his face already red from earlier. "O-okay ... I'll be down here ..." He paused before Al disappeared. "Umm ... Al?"
Al turned back at the doorway to look back at Ed. "Y-Yes, Brother?"
"Do ..." He stopped, shaking his head and forcing out a laugh. "Oh wow. I forgot what I was going to ask you now. Sorry about that ..."
Al sighed, a vague feeling passing him that said something important could've happened just then, but decides to ignore it. "That's okay. I...I wish you luck."
"Thanks, Al ..." The older blonde looked up at the ceiling as his brother went upstairs, cursing at himself.
Ed crossed his arms and looked over the circle another time, nodding his head slowly. "I think this is it ... what do you think, Al?"
Al looked over every little detail, taking a minute or so before a smile crosses his face. "It looks perfect!"
Ed finished recopying the circle and it's details onto a piece of paper. Then he shoved it into his pocket, letting out a deep sigh. "You know ... if this actually works ... we might not come back here again, Al. There isn't anything you want to take with you, is there?"
The younger alchemist looked up at Ed. "Brother, the only thing I have here of any value to me is you."
Ed smiled at Al genuinely before feeling a bit flustered and having to look away. "I-I feel the same way, Al." He mumbled as he walked away from his brother to get his jacket off the coat rack. "Let's go then."
Al felt a little embarrassed at his thoughts and tried to convince himself that he was crazy. Any pair of brothers should want to be close, he was just confusing those loves in his head. He gingerly wiped the chalk off the table with his sleeve. "C-Coming."
The older blonde held his brother's jacket out to him as he approached, and repeated his usual insistent statement before they went out. "Stay close to me, Al."
Al let his brother help him get his coat on and turned around to face Ed before they went out the door. "Don't think I would do anything else."
Ed smiled at Al, reaching out to take his brother's hand and squeezed it gently before they left.
The younger blonde hid his face from his brother's because he was blushing profusely, and followed closely behind Ed down the streets of Germany.
Ed stopped his brother before they got back to the bookshelf where they had seen Envy last.
"... Al ... you're completely sure about doing this, right?" He turned to look Al in the eye.
Al sighed. "Brother, something bad is about to happen here. And, I know I can't stop it from happening, so I want...I want to keep us safe...since it took us so long to get back to each other..." He bit his lip because he knew how selfish that sounded.
Ed sighed as well and moved closer to his brother, still looking into his eyes, but having trouble because he can already feel his face getting red. "Al, I know you want to go home. I just want to make sure that this is what you want to do. No regrets. It's not a matter of being selfish."
The younger alchemist held his brother's gaze, and knowing that he wanted to protect the both of them no matter what, spoke in his definite, foot down voice. "This is what I want."
Ed nodded in response and hugged his brother tightly for a moment without saying anything before pulling away and glaring toward the bookshelf. "Time to go talk to the jerk ..."
Al rolled his eyes. "At least he can't complain now, right?"
"You two realize I can hear every word you're saying, right?" Envy unhappily croaked from somewhere above them.
The older blonde walked towards the bookshelf, smirking to himself. "Ouch. I'm so sorry if I hurt your feelings."
"I'll live." The homunculus chuckled. "Oh wait. I won't."
"Ha ha." Ed looked up when he finally arrived at the right spot. "Just out of curiosity, do you sit back here and say weird stuff to the other people who come in here?"
"People have been sort of scared of this wing since the explosion."
"And here I was thinking you might have gotten people to believe this bookshelf was haunted by an evil ghost or something by now. I'm disappointed, Envy." Ed snickered.
Al got out his chalk and began to draw the transmutation circle largely on the floor.
"I was hoping I could've done that, but alas..." Envy sighed. "So, you do THINK you have the right circle."
"Well at least you would have tried. That's something." Ed stated, pulling out his paper and stepping back a bit, watching Al work. "Do you want some help?"
"Great, I get points." Envy muttered sarcastically in the background.
"I think..." Al looked over the drawing on paper. "...I'm pretty sure I have it."
Ed looked at it as well and then patted Al on the head with a smile. "Good job, little brother."
The younger alchemist smiled at Ed, thankful for the praise because he knows how picky his brother his. Envy smirked to himself, totally seeing through their facade so well it wasn't even funny.
Ed looked up at Envy again. "So, do we have the right one, or what?"
The homunculus scrutinized the circle, trying to find even the slightest flaw to taunt the brothers even though he just wants to be relieved of being stuck up where he was. "That...yeah. It's the right one."
The older blonde grinned to himself. "I thought so." He leaned towards Al a moment, speaking softly to him. "I couldn't have done it without you, Al."
He looked up at his brother with a slight blush on his features and smiled. "You ready?"
Ed nodded at Al. "As ready as I'll ever be."
Al bit his lip and knelt down, pressing his hands to the circle and muttered. "You start, I forget a few of the words."
Envy sighed again. "Finally..."
Ed mimics his brother and sighs as if he's annoyed but smiles to show he's not, and starts the chant slowly so Al can follow. The younger blonde slowly felt the words begin to form on his lips and pretty soon they're sliding off as if it was completely natural, the circle below them starting to glow. Ed felt proud that Al could remember the words easier and was somewhat happy to see the glow of a transmutation circle again, since it reminded him of home so much.
Envy squinted his eyes (that weren't really all that real anymore anyways) as the portal started opening and found himself standing by the gate. "Well, now..."
Al was ecstatic as Ed looked up, a bit shocked. "We ... did it?"
"We did it!"
"Yeah...you guys did it...wooohooo." Envy cheered sarcastically.
"We can go home now!" Ed hugged Al, ignoring Envy's mocking words for the moment.
The younger alchemist couldn't help but laugh because he was so incredibly happy and hugged his brother back. Then he turned and in his happy state said a few words that he never thought possible especially considering what Envy had done to Ed.
"Thank you, Envy!" He practically squealed as he stepped towards the path to home.
Ed paused before following Al, now alone with the homunculus. "Yeah, Envy, even though I don't want to say this ... thanks." He almost pouts, hesitant to speak those words.
Envy chuckled a little. "I'm probably the one who should be thanking you two. I mean it doesn't...hurt...now that I'm here all the way." He felt somewhat stupid for actually talking to Ed.
The alchemist was taken back by that, but quickly played it off.
"Well ... you're ... welcome ... I guess." He frowned, starting to turn away.
Envy coughed, hating to sound sentimental, his serious for once demeanor fading away as his signature smirk appeared on his face again. "Have a fun..." He paused, twitching his nose mischievously. "... affair back home. Hehehe."
Ed stopped dead in his tracks and glanced back. "Excuse me?"
"Please. Don't think I can't see through my own half-brother's blatant incestuous attraction."
The blonde clenched his fist, turning to look at Envy. "I-I ... there is no ... ... " He gave up, glaring. "You know, Envy. I still totally hate you in the end."
"I know. Good thing I wasn't talking about me, huh? That's gross." The homunculus flicked Ed's nose. "But seriously. You might wanna tone it down a little, lest young Alphonse get suspicious of your more-than-brotherly feelings for him." Envy laughed, genuinely amused before disappearing in the gate, finally released of all obligations that have to deal with living.
Ed shook his head in frustration, almost annoyed he couldn't take a final swing at Envy. Then, taking a deep breath, he followed after Al.
A/N: I'm probably going to need to change the summary after this. Ideas on a new summary? Feel free to suggest! Thanks for the reviews. c8 As usual: DL, DR.