Author Note: I am sorry, but since I started college a month ago I have had difficulty finding time to write. So I am sorry, but my posting is going to be even less frequent than it has been. But, I will still do my best to post as often as I can. On a positive note, college is amazing! I love it. Here is theme 57: Feigning Sleep.
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Warning: Ed thinks one (moderately) bad word. Just warning you.
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The back of the cave was dark, as only flickers of light from the bustling fire reached it. The sides of the damp crevice were about 15 feet apart and the top stood at about eight feet. It was barely high enough for Al to stand up straight. At approximately 30 feet deep, the cave made an ideal, if only opposed to hiding under a tree, shelter.
Its current occupants, Al, Ed, Riza, and Roy, were lucky to stumble upon it.
The group had been traveling to Central in a car when they were attacked by a rouge chimera. They defeated it easily, only suffering seemingly minor injuries. Unfortunately, the car was… blown up, in the process. The chimera put a hole in the gas tank, so when one of Roy's sparks got too close, BOOM!
After the fire stopped burning, leaving only a smoking crater where the car once was, they all sighed and started walking; hoping to find shelter before nightfall. Finding the cave was their first stroke of luck all day.
At the moment, Ed was curled up on the ground with his head on his balled up jacket near the back of the cave with his back to the fire. Al had left to collect firewood, and Roy and Riza were sitting by the fire waiting for his return.
Even though Ed was trying to sleep, he just felt restless. His eyes were about to drift shut when the colonels voice jolted him into awareness.
"Interesting day," he said lightly to his companion.
"I suppose so," Riza nodded as she spoke.
Ed, of course, did not see the motion. He figured the two were still sitting near the fire. There was silence for a moment, before a couple footsteps echoed through the cave and Roy said,
"Let's see that shoulder."
"Not right now Colonel," Riza stated resolutely.
"Why not?" Roy asked, "I know it has been bothering you and if we don't clean it then infection may set in."
"The boys," she replied simply.
"They're fine," Roy ran one hand through his hair, "Ed's sleeping and Al is out getting firewood."
Ed could almost hear the glint in her eyes as Riza said, "You might want to check that first one."
Crap, Ed thought as he screwed his eyes shut and attempted to level out his breathing. The colonel was approaching quickly.
Ed could hear the man hovering over him as he feigned sleep, hoping his pounding heart would not give him away.
Then he realized even if he wasn't asleep, the colonel was likely to say he was and treat Hawkeyes shoulder anyway. Ed still kept his eyes shut though, on the off chance she came over to check him too.
"If you move so much as an inch, you will be demoted to private faster than you can clap." Roy's voice hissed almost imperceptibly at the teen. The grown man then straightened his spine and proclaimed in a much louder voice,
"He's asleep."
Of course, Ed thought to himself, Hawkeye knew the colonel was lying. But it seemed she decided to humor him and not dispute his claim.
Or, Ed's brow furrowed slightly, they were speaking in code again. He had spent any minutes listening to the pair talk in this code, and several hours after trying to decipher it. Why should this conversation be any different.
Maybe it was a problem with where the injury was located. Simply saying 'shoulder' was rather vague, it could be in a really hard place to bandage without removing excess clothing. Then the issue would be privacy. But no, that was too obvious, too on the surface for their code.
Maybe they were talking about the weather…
Or the cloud formations…
Or the stars…
Or how long it was taking Al to get firewood…
Ed paused in his brainstorming for a moment to reorganize his thought process. He decided to think about one more idea then try to get some sleep..
What if it was about trust? They both might have known Ed was awake the whole time and were discussing whether or not they could trust him. If they had called him out on being awake, then they didn't trust him. But since they let him pretend to be asleep, then they did trust him.
Ed let out a drawn out yawn as he realized Hawkeye's shoulder had been wrapped while he was thinking. She and the colonel were sitting in comfortable silence by the fire.
Ed shifted positions on the cave floor, assuming it was ok to move, and continued his long battle against wakefulness.
As his tired brain slowed for sleep, it occurred to Ed that, in his act of code breaking, he finally understood his superior officers. It was ironic; the night they decided to trust him was the same evening he figured out what they were saying.
How did they do it? He wondered. It took more brain power to decode than most codes, but the colonel and Hawkeye used different variants every day.
They must be in love, Ed decided drowsily.
He was unable to give it any more rational thought because he slipped into blissful slumber.
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End Note: I find as I go on with this collection, I have been writing more and more about Ed and Al relating to Royai. Do you all like that? Or should I stop? Please tell me.
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