IT'S ALIIIIVE! IT'S ALLLIIIIVVVEEEE!!! (Yes, it lives)

Heh, after Nano, the ability to write completly escaped me (and i'm still not sure if i'm back to form yet), at least, that's my escuse for the sheer lateness of this. Anyways, i had two versions of this same chapter written out, and neither one seemed right, so i stuck them together, mixed in a little bit of desperation and voila! A new chapter for all of you who've been patiently (or not) waiting for me to get my ass back in gear.

Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: (since i've realised i've not put one up for a long time) Me no own. Me own a huge variety of FMA stuff though.

Proximity

After giving his brother a minute nod, Alphonse slowly levered himself down to sit on the floor of Roy's living room. Roy himself gave a slight groan of protest as he saw the rain slicked metal touch the deep green of the living room carpet, but a seething glare from a still red faced and dripping Edward stopped him from making any comments.

"This is the only room big enough alright?" Ed finally sighed, shoving the dishtowels into a corner of the sofa and picking one out with a deft flick of his wrist. Al reached behind him and pulled one out too, sending the pile toppling over. Ed gave a small grunt of amusement before draping his dishtowel over one of Al's shoulder spikes and beginning to pat it dry.

"Brother, can you…uh…you know…"Al muttered timidly, his helmet sinking lower, almost like a turtle retracting its head. Edward froze then turned to Roy, eyes narrowed. "You. Out" He ordered, jerking a metal thumb over his shoulder.

Roy huffed slightly, annoyed at being ordered about not only by a youngster, but a subordinate youngster. In his own house too! "Fine, just don't get anything too wet." He replied, turning on his heel and sulking out of the room.

Roy found himself an ideal spy corner in the doorway of his kitchen that allowed him to keep an eye on the two. He observed how careful Ed was as he dried the armour, never overstepping any personal space Al had unless the younger boy gave him permission. Roy wished Ed would give him that kind of respect, but didn't feel like holding his breath.

He sighed and raised himself from his hiding place when Ed had to remove his brother's breastplate and crawl inside the armour. He hadn't missed the flash of horrified guilt that flashed across Ed's face as he clambered clumsily inside his brother and Roy realised that this was the reason Al was shy. How eerie it must have been for Ed to do that, and Al.... Roy morbidly wondered what it felt like to have someone crawl around inside you. He shuddered.

Roy also noticed that every now and again, Ed's hand would gravitate to his automail shoulder and would rub it in a distracted way. It seemed as though Al noticed it too, though how he saw when he'd taken off the helmet was anyone's guess.

"Brother," Al said quietly.

"…"

"Brother!" He raised his tone slightly

"…"

"Ed!" He finally resorted to using his brother's name.

"Huh? What is it Al?" Ed asked, looking up from where he'd been carefully dabbing at the water around his brother's seal. The helm that usually presided as Al's head lay between the younger brothers legs, gleaming as the boy polished it. Ed's motion stopped as he waited for his brothers disembodied voice to continue.

"You've been scratching again." Al sighed, somehow managing to glare at his brother even though his head was between his knees.

"No I haven't." Ed defended hotly, returning to the delicate job of drying the seal. From his hidden corner in the kitchen (He'd gravitated back to his spying spot after curiosity got the better of him), Roy scoffed slightly. Trust Ed to deny something so obvious. Even he had seen the boy rub the automail where it met flesh.

"You're just imagining things." Ed snapped, rubbing slightly too vigorously at the wet armour. His hand then betrayed him by quickly journeying to the junction of his metal shoulder. "There! You did it again!" Al shouted, shifting.

There was a cry from Ed that echoed slightly in the cavern of Al's chest cavity. "Don't move! I almost smudged it." He cried, a small tremor in Ed's voice as he backed out of the armour. There was a silence between the brothers then as Al replaced the helmet, finally whole and dry again. There was tenseness between them until Al broke the silence with a small, "Sorry brother."

"Just don't shift when I'm in there okay?" Ed smiled, punching Al gently on the shoulder, all tenseness gone. Al nodded his head and returned to his reclined position against the sofa. Roy gave a small smile at the brothers and turned back into his kitchen and looked at the clock. It was getting late. Time to start cooking something to eat then. Still, he kept one ear open to the brothers' conversation.

"Do you think I'm all dry now?" Al asked, turning towards his brother. Ed instantly jerked his hand away from where it had once again been rubbing at his shoulder when he realised Al was watching him. Al glared.

With a sigh, Ed threw his hands up in the air and collapsed onto the sofa beside Al. The younger boy seemed able to read Ed's mind, and Roy heard the clunking shuffle as Al repositioned himself. Unable to quell his rampant curiosity, he slunk back over to his spying spot to watch.

Al now sat in front of his brother, slightly away from the sofa and this allowed his brother to slump forwards onto him, arms resting on Al's shoulders and mismatched hands clasped in front of what would have been Al's throat. It looked like a very lousy embrace. Ed then leant his forehead onto the metal of Al#s back.

"You okay brother?" Al asked, soul fire eyes straining to see behind him, but unwilling to shatter his brother's embrace. Ed mumbled something in reply to which Al, heavy metal shoulders lifting up and down in a very good imitation, sighed.

"You should get changed, you're still wet from earlier." Al coaxed his brother when they'd been there long enough. Ed groaned and sat back.

"Yeah, guess I should." He said quietly, rising to his feet. There was a click and the grinding of gears as Ed stretched himself and yawned. "Hmm, ask Colonel Bastard when food's gonna be ready will ya? I'll go get changed."

"Okay." Al chirped as Ed walked out of the room, and his uneven footsteps carried him upstairs. The armoured boy then heaved himself to his feet with a small creak of metal and began to make his way towards the kitchen. Roy made a small 'eep' sound at the back of his throat and hurried over to the stove.

He managed to keep his breathing even as Al appeared in the doorway. "Umm…" The boy started awkwardly. Roy gave Alphonse a nod to continue, and leant back, showing the boy it was alright. Al took an imaginary breath, then finally managed to speak. "Well, Ed's just gone to get changed and was wondering when food would be ready." Roy smiled at the boy, and Al's shoulders seemed to loose their hunched position.

"I'm going to start it now. How much does Ed eat?" Roy asked as he began to rummage round his cupboards. Strange, they didn't look as though they'd been touched. Didn't the boys have lunch?

"Well, he hasn't had anything all day. He thought it would be rude to look through your cupboards." Al told him. Roy laughed. Translation? Al had stopped his brother from destroying his kitchen.

"Thank you Alphonse." He said to the boy. "Tell Ed food'll be ready in about an hour."

"Okay, he'll probably have a nap before then. I'll wake him up in an hour." Al seemed to beam at Roy as he disappeared from the kitchen. He returned a second later with the now sopping wet dishtowels the boys had used to dry off. Roy nodded his head towards the sink and Al deposited them there. With another nod to Roy, Al followed his brother up the stairs and out of sight.

Outside, the rain continued to pour as the smell of food began to permeate the air.

Please, i beg of you...REVIEW! I need feedback like the flowers need the sun, especially since i'm worried my writings gone a bit strange after NaNo.

Anyways, hopefully the next chapter won't be so long in coming. Keep your fingers crossed!

Inuchron