Draped in Wires
by. Poisoned Scarlet

Theme 048: Male Bonding

"What about that one?" Al pointed to a vacant, two-story, house in the distance. The elder of the two critically analyzed the house, noticing that it was rather derelict and isolated from the town. He knew that fixing it up would be a cinch with his brothers master alchemical abilities but the fact that it was far from the center of Resembool didn't settle very well with him.

"What's wrong with the one I chose out?" Ed complained, jerking a thumb to the house that was located near the fields.

"Ed, it's too close to the fields."

"So?"

"Last I know of, pesticides are fatal if you're exposed to them for long periods of time." Al flatly stated, motioning to the other houses that they knew were vacant. The small town, to encourage growth, had begun to add more houses to the neighborhood. The new houses were rather distant from the center but ready for buying.

So far, Ed didn't seem to be biting.

"Alphonse," Ed sighed, stopping. "Let's face it: all these houses suck! If they're not too close to the fields, they're too far from town! If they're not too far from town, they're too big or too small!"

"Well, we don't really have much choice right now." Al replied, rather helplessly. "They haven't finished constructing the rest of the houses on the acre so we have to do with what we have now! Besides, it's not like we could just build our own house from the leftovers!" Al laughed, jokingly, but stopped when he saw the devilish grin that had stretched on the elders face. "Ed...what are you thinking?"

"Well, they do have a lot of left over material, don't they?" Ed smirked, knowing his brother had caught onto what he was saying by the reluctant look on his face.

"Oh, no!" Al shook his head. "We are not going to construct a house using alchemy, Ed! No way!"

"Why not? We've got all the material we need right over there and all the land at our disposal!" Edward stretched his arms out, grinning.

"Might I remind you that you have to buy that land first?" Al rose a brow, watching his brothers face grow sour.

He was silent for a moment, no doubt contemplating his words, and Al was about to suggest they continue searching when Ed's resolute but somber voice interrupted him: "We do have...one piece of land we could use."

"Which one is that?" Al asked, curiously.

Ed dropped his gaze. His hands clenched into fists. "...Our old house..."

Al was silent. He stared at his brother, the emptiness that had gathered in his eyes. "But...Ed..."

"I know we burned it down as a way to solidify our resolve," Ed began softly, "but, as much as I hate to admit it, that old bastard was right."

"How was...dad right?" Al hesitantly asked, stepping closer to listen to him. "Brother?"

"We...I burned that house down because I couldn't stand to look at the house. It was symbol of my—our mistake," Edward confessed, voice nearly inaudible. "To me, it meant that burning down the place of our error would be enough to forget it in the first place but obviously it ...wasn't."

Al gave his shoulder a firm squeeze. "You're not weak because of it, Ed. We both burned our house down because of the same reason," Al told him quietly, smiling a bit weakly when he snapped his head up in surprise. "Think what you like, but you did everything possible for me to be like how I am now," he said, clenching his fist to prove his point. "You never gave up hope and you always persevered even when others said you couldn't. For that, I'm grateful, brother. You're probably the best sibling there can be!" Al smiled kindly, laughing a bit when Ed dropped his gaze to hide his embarrassed flush.

"So, about the house...?"

Al heaved a sigh. "I guess if you really want to reconstruct a house on our property we could." Al was aware that the deed to their home was in Pinako's trustworthy hands. "But are you sure it won't dredged up bad memories? You don't have to get a house in Resembool, you know!"

"Yeah, but where else could we settle down in?" Ed asked, frustrated. "Central's far too noisy and Dublith's just too underdeveloped at the moment! Rush Valley...I don't even want to think about Rush Valley," Ed shuddered. "The east is hot. The west is even hotter. So that leaves us no choice but here!"

Al pursed his lips. "What's wrong with Rush Valley? I thought Winry wanted to settle down there when she was old enough..."

"Trust me, Al," Ed muttered, annoyed, "moving to Rush Valley is not a wise choice at the moment." It was not because he would have his clothes ripped off his body if they ever caught wind of his leg automail but rather it was because of the ghastly heat waves and rising crime rate due to illegal automail commissions.

"Are you sure you want to build a house over the remains?" Al quietly asked, after a few seconds. "I don't mind, but..." He did not need to finish the sentence – Edward did it for him in his head.

He meant if the house would become more of a painful reminder than a sanction. He did not know how to answer that doubt. The pain of their mother's passing and her failed transmutation was something that he would never be able to forget. He still had harsh recollections of that night and the nightmares had only continued to grow worse until the point where Winry began to sleep beside him.

Her presence, just like Al's presence, was enough to stave off the bad dreams. Her presence allowed him sleep but he still awoke to bleak skies and terrible images before he shook them off and continued his day.

He clenched his fists.

The dreams could not rule his life.

The guilt needed to be obliterated.

The memory needed to be accepted but not forgotten.

"Yes." Ed nodded his head firmly. He wouldn't run away. Not again. He'd show his old man just what he was made of. "Rebuilding a house over our old one is a sign of walking forward. We won't let what happened in that house rule over our lives anymore than it already has. I'll show that old bastard who was running away..." he trailed off, challengingly. "We're starting anew," he declared, gazing in the direction he knew the remains of his old house lay. "Winry and I are building our own family... I don't need that nightmare to haunt me anymore than it already has."

Alphonse smiled at his brother, admirably. His brother's resiliency never ceased to to amaze him. "Then lets do it." Al placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling confidently. "Together."

Ed held his gaze for a second before turning away, a confident smirk on his face. "Together."