run, i'm a natural disaster
23. Drowning
The simple fact of the matter is that Ed cannot swim. This shouldn't really have been news to the others, because they've heard her complaints of aching automail ports when it rains, seen her taking some of the fastest and efficient showers ever (especially for a girl) and generally not going near water except from when she drinks. Ed is not afraid, per se, of water, but she is wary of it.
Automail is heavy and dense, like having a concrete brick attached to your feet. It would be a stupid idea to go any deeper than a toe. If she can lay down without her ears in the water, face above it so that she can breathe, she is happy. She's grateful that there are no water alchemists that can drown you, and hates herself for an over-active imagination when she thinks there are people (enemies) that could simply alchemise her showers and baths into water filled death traps. She never learned to swim, either, because it was a universally accepted truth that no-one ever leaves the country town they grew up in, and Risembool was land-locked anyway.
So when Greed, looking for a laugh after a particularly stressful day on the run, decides to amuse himself by pushing her into the lake by their current campsite, he is not aware of the mistake he is making. All he's thinking about is how cute sopping wet kittens look in the pictures on birthday cards that are popular with little girls, and how nice Ed's eyes are when they're full of angry light.
But when she doesn't come up, spluttering and yelling, he realises. Cursing himself (with Ling agreeing and joining in, mostly in Xingese, as well as lending Greed the Dragon's Pulse ability so that he can find her), Greed dives in.
Ed is twisting, and turning, and her face is pale white. Her hair is floating out behind her, golden in the dappled light, and she almost looks like a corpse [beautiful, broken, breathless]. Greed snarls at his stupidity, and propels himself towards her, grabbing her roughly and pulling them both up to the surface.
Heinkel and Darius grab them and help them out, and Ed's arms are tight around Greed, not letting him go. She struggles to breathe and Greed is watching her as closely as possible, trying to figure out what to do. He's never had this problem before.
Heinkel- study, smart, sensible Heinkel- grabs their improvised medical kit, and Darius grabs the cloth they use as clothing and blankets and towels and they try and keep Ed alive. They seem rather apathetic about the whole thing, but the emotion in their eyes betray them as they fuss around Ed in a skilled fashion. It's not the first time they've experienced something like it
Ling regrets not learning Alkahestry because he could've helped them out, and Greed regrets not knowing everything about his possessions, holding onto Ed's hand tightly, feeling her fluttering pulse and forcing the thought of nearly losing her out of his mind.
It's a rough night for them all.
A.N: Well, ta-da! One that actually seems to follow the prompt! :D
And your X-mas prezzie one-shot thing is nearly ready! I just need to write the "+1" part and then it is done. :D So that should be up with #25.
I haven't actually written #33 for this yet (I like to keep myself 10 drabbles ahead, yeah?) but you can have this one anyway, because otherwise I think you'll actually kill me D:
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed
- Tom
[Thanks to:Roy-Mustang's-Girl, Fluehatraya, Hyper V, , and Fuhrer Mustang!]