Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Equivalent Trade: When Alchemy Goes Terribly Wrong ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Phoenix Hoshika 
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Psychological / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 11.05.2005 | Updated On: 12.23.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 409 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Psychological / Comedy | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 11.05.2005 | Updated On: 12.23.2005 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.8K | Visits: 409 | Status: Completed
When Alchemy Goes Terribly Wrong
By Phoenix Hoshika
Chatper Five
Alphonse sat quietly in a chair looking out the only window there was in the tiny bedroom; it faced the front of the house which gave anyone looking out of it a great view of the land. At that moment he was feeling extremely useless as he watched Edward toiling in the fields with everyone else. The siblings didn't have any money on them at the time and the only way to repay the doctor for his kindness and serves was to work on the farm land that whole town seemed to share, that's what they had decided to do since they didn't want to cause a stir by using alchemy which would have been easier considering the fact Edward didn't care too much at all for any kind work that involved heavy lifting. Despite being worn out Edward continued working as hard as he could; tilling ground, and helping with the harvest. Even from where he was Alphonse could see that his brother was struggling to keep up with everyone else and this made him worry. Ever since Alphonse received his flesh and blood body back along with his brother being turned into a girl Edward had also become prone to passing out and dizzy spells, but still he would not tell Alphonse what was wrong with him.
Pulling a rather large wagon full of corn Edward stumbled and fell face first onto the ground and the wagon tilted dumping nearly all of its contents on top of him. "Uugh," Edward groaned. "I have half a mind to just stay buried under here." He said out loud feeling a bit of relief to be lying down despite the pile of produce coving his body. Sighing he unearthed himself from beneath the corn and sweat dropped when he saw an angry Mr. Brawly looking down at him. "Hey pops." Edward said pretending he didn't see the look on the old man's face.
"What are you doing out? Didn't I tell you to stay out of the fields? Since when do people in your condition run around working like an ox? Neither you nor your brother will recover if you keep this up. If I catch you out here again I'm gonna make you start paying your stay and care." Brawly said as he piled the corn back into the wagon. The small farming town was by no means what anyone would call rich, except where generosity was concerned.
"Listen pops, I don't mean any disrespect, but me and my brother can pull our weight. We don't need anyone giving us charity."
"Stupid child, would it kill you to accept the kindness of others," Brawly asked pausing in his work. "Now, get back in the house."
"Okay, okay." Edward said turning on his heels. "Thanks." He said solemnly as he looked over his shoulder.
"The only thanks I want is for you and your brother to get better. Besides don't you think you should keep him company? I'm sure that brother of yours is bored to tears just sitting around in that room." Brawly said in a much gentler tone.
"Yeah." Edward said nodding then continued walking up the dirt road until he came to the doctor's home.
Alphonse watched as his brother came from the fields to the house. He could even hear Edward's foot steps as they landed heavily on the front porch and up the stairs. A few moments later Edward was walking into Alphonse's room. Coming to a stop in front of the table across from the foot of the bed he leaned back on it letting out a frustrated sigh.
"Ugh, it's hot in here." Edward said pulling down the zipper on his shirt. "Hey, don't tell me you've just been sitting there all day?"
"The Doctor said I should stay off of my feet for a while. Plus Susan wouldn't talk to me except to yell at me and order me back in here whenever I tried to help her with the choirs. That's left me nothing to do but watch everything from here."
Edward sighed. "Well, it looks like you're not the only one under house arrest now." Edward said as he sat on top of the table. "The old man just yelled at me for trying to help him out in the fields and then ordered me back here." Edward said hopping off the table. The room seemed to spin and for a second he lost his balance and had to grab hold of the metal rail at the foot of the bed to keep from falling.
"Ed, are you okay?" Alphonse asked.
"Yeah, just got a little dizzy," Edward answered trying to sound convincing and stood up straight.
Hearing the door creak they both turned to see who it was. "Oh, hi Sus-." Alphonse begin, but the little girl dashed off. Alphonse sighed. "Brother do you think Susan's afraid of me for some reason?" He asked feeling a bit shunned by the girl's reaction.
"Huh? You can't be serious." Edward said looking at his brother in disbelief.
"Well she seems to clam up around me but with you she seems more open. Earlier she seemed to open up to me a little when we were having breakfast, but down stairs during lunch she wouldn't talk to me and then just now she ran away."
"Awe, come on, Al. You're taking it the wrong way; she's probably just shy around strangers. The only reason she doesn't clam up around me is because we share a room together so she just probably got used to me being around faster." Edward smiled showing his teeth. He honestly did find Alphonse's self-consciousness a bit amusing. "Well I'm going to go clean up. See ya later bro." Edward said leaving the room.
"Why won't you tell him what's wrong, sis?" Susan asked Edward when came into the room they shared.
"Aaaagh! Don't call me that!" Edward shouted.
"Is that why Alphonse calls you brother, because you wouldn't like it if he called you sister?" Susan asked innocently.
"That's right!" Edward responded still in a nasty mood because Susan called him 'sis'.
"Sorry, geez. You don't have to yell at me." Susan said obviously hurt. "I just want us to be friends." She said tearing up.
"Hey, quit that. Stop it right now!" Edward ordered, but Susan only cried more. "Greif you're a crybaby." Edward said feeling drained just listening to the girl's wailing. "It's because I really like you and you hate me!" Susan said as she continued bawling, the tears gushing from her eyes.
"I don't hate you so calm down already." Edward said feeling a bit nervous, he really hated it when girls cried. "Listen I didn't mean it. You can call me big sis if you want."
"Really?" Susan said sniffling.
"Yeah, consider it a special privilege of being my friend, but don't do it in front of other people." Edward added.
"Can we be best friends?" Susan asked calmed down."
"Yeah." Edward said giving her a slight smile.
"And do things for each other we would never do for anyone else?" Susan asked cheering up even more.
"What are friends for?" Edward asked beads of sweat forming on his head. "What kind of things?" He asked nervously not really loud enough for Susan to hear.
"Yay!" Susan cheered. "As a special privilege I'll let you wear one of my mom's dresses. Susan said going through the clothes hanging in her closet. Most of the dresses were too big for Edward to wear, but finally Susan found something that looked like it wouldn't be too long on him. "This one!" Susan said triumphantly pulling a dress out of the closet; it was a simple short sleeved, navy blue dress with white polka-dots and a white collar.
"I can't wear you're mom's clothes." Edward said sweat dropping. "These clothes your grandfather let me and Al barrow are just fine. Edward said holding up an old pair of pants with a matching vest and white button down shirt.
"You can't wear that, they're boy's clothes!" Susan said frowning as she snatched them away with one hand and held the dress in front of Ed with another.
Edward sweat dropped. "You really want me to wear this?" He asked hoping the girl was having second thoughts about letting some body she hardly knew wear the treasure which were her mother's old dresses.
"Yes, best friends don't let each other go around wearing men's clothes." Susan said adamantly.
"Thanks." Edwards muttered taking the dress and leaving the room. At that moment he truly felt like crying but just swallowed it and went to get cleaned up.
Susan leaned against the wall and sighed. "Phase one of operation 'Make Alphonse My Husband' is complete, me and his sister are best friends. Now, I just need to show him what a great choice I am which means spending more time with him, but I can't get my knees to stop shaking." Susan thought suddenly becoming nervous. Hearing a knock on her room door she screamed. The sound wasn't that loud at all but it was enough to startle the daylights out of her as lost in her thoughts as she was.
"It's just me." Alphonse said opening the door hoping that would calm her down. Susan stood in front of him with a terrified expression on her face. "Susan, are you okay?" Alphonse asked sweat dropping.
"Answer him stupid. Say, you're okay." Susan thought as her heart beat raced.
"She is scared of me…" Alphonse thought. "I guess even without the armor there's something about me that makes people uneasy." He thought looking at Susan who seemed to be frozen in fear. "I'm sorry, I scared you again, didn't I?" Alphonse apologized. He had come to see if she was okay since he heard her crying after Edward's yelling fit, but at that moment he was thinking perhaps all he was doing was upsetting her more. "I'll be leaving now." Alphonse said feeling awkward then went back to his room and closed the door. "Brother was just trying to make me feel better, but the truth is I just seem to put people off for some reason." Alphonse thought as tears fell like rapidly flowing rivers from his eyes.
Susan sweat dropped. "I scared him away!" She thought then fell back on her bed and pressed her face into her pillow so no one could hear her scream. "How am I going to fix this? He probably thinks something is wrong with me! No, no he can't think that, that would utterly ruin things. I have to fix this, but how?" Susan thought as she lay with her face pressed against the pillow. She wanted to scream again.
Downstairs Edward was undressing with his eyes closed. "Don't look at anything and don't touch anything unless you have too." Edward's face turned red. "But I have to touch everything!" He thought then started cursing.
After taking a shower in record time Edward was clean and wearing the dress Susan hand lent him. To say he felt uncomfortable would be an understatement. Susan's mother was a tall woman and the dress Edward was wearing would have came half way down her thighs but on Edward it hung just above mid-calf making him feel even more stunted than he already was. Other than that the dress fit Edward quite well. Unlike his black zippered shirt he was wearing before it didn't squeeze his chest uncomfortably making it easier to breath and the cloth didn't irritate his skin. It was mostly because the dress fit him so well was the reason behind Edward's awkward emotions concerning the garment. Knocking on the door before entering his brother's room he found Alphonse sitting on the floor, with his back to the wall, sulking.
"Why are you so upset?" Edward asked stepping into the room.
"Do I seem like a scary person?" Alphonse asked looking up at him.
Edward smiled nearly laughing in his brother's face. "Not hardly, why," He asked sitting down beside him.
"That dress looks good on you." Alphonse said getting a better look at the outfit.
Edward's expression turned sour. "Shut up." He said punching Alphonse and knocking him out. Looking down at his handiwork Edward sweat dropped. "Yeah, he's not a suit of armor anymore so I can't be so careless, but then again if he were still armor I wouldn't have punched him in the face 'cause that would have probably knocked his head off." Edward paused in his thoughts then laughed slightly. "Oh well." He said pulling Alphonse up off of the floor and laying him in the bed.
Twenty minutes later Alphonse opened his eyes to see his brother leaning over him. Edward was sitting with his legs folding under his body on the bed next to him. He was holding a cold compress to Alphonse's face to keep the swelling down. It helped a bit; however, there was still a nice bruise on the left side of his face. Alphonse sat up and grabbing his head as a headache quickly set in. "You didn't have to hit me, Brother." Alphonse grumbled. Being able to feel pain again Edward's punches and kicks hurt something fierce and at that moment Alphonse was making a mental note to pay him pay in full the next time they spar, despite the fact he never held back on tossing Edward around like a rag doll in the first place. When sparring with his brother Alphonse behaves just like cat does with its prey; he'd toy with Edward for a while before sending him flying in which ever direction of choice.
"Sorry about that." Edward said sweat dropping. "I guess I was a little careless."
"A little?" Alphonse questioned giving his brother a dangerous stare.
"Okay, I was a lot careless and you lost consciousness, but you aren't missing any teeth or anything right?" Edward asked but Alphonse's only response was stark silence as he brought his hands to rest in his lap keeping his head lowered.
"Right?" Edward said again leaning on his brother's shoulder trying to get a better look at his face to see if it lopsided due to missing teeth on one side.
Finding himself giving in to temptation, without warning, Alphonse lifted the arm his brother was leaning on and punched him in the side with enough force to send him flying off the bed onto the floor. "Quit getting so carrying away. I'm not armor anymore and the punch you gave me really hurt." Alphonse whimpered bringing his hands back up to his aching head.
"Tell me about it." Edward thought holding his side as he lay on the floor. "Hey, Al." He said with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah?"
"When did you become such a wimp?" Edward asked sitting up.
"Who are you calling a wimp?" Alphonse asked looking over at Edward.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you just whining about how much that little tap I gave you hurt?"
"Tap? You knocked me out!" Alphonse shot back.
"Well then I guess that makes it twice I beat you." Edward grinned as he stood up.
"How do you figure? That wasn't a fight and that so-called win was because you cheated." Alphonse reminded.
"Fine, this time it wasn't a win, but you know in a real fight anything goes, so there's nothing 'so-called' about that win. I beat you."
"If I had actually fought you back you probably would have reopened the gash in your side again, so that wasn't a win for the simple fact it wasn't a real fight." Alphonse argued back.
"Hmph!" Edward said walking around the bed to the door, then turned around with a sneaky grin on his face. "Okay, fine we settle this outside right now, you and me."
Alphonse scowled at him. "You know I can barely walk, Brother, you cheater."
"Heh, then I win by forfeit and that ends this argument." Edward grinned.
"I'll make you eat those words soon enough, Brother."
"Now get your rest so you can heal up as soon as possible." Edward said closing the door as he exited the room.
"Rest? I've had enough rest. If my feet didn't hurt so much we'd be outside and you'd be getting your backside pounded." Alphonse thought as he looked down at the bandages that covered his feet and ankles. They needed to be changed. In some places blood had started to soak through. Standing up Alphonse was going to get the bandages and whatever else he need to do the job himself but when he opened the door Susan was standing there holding the small box that continued the fresh bandages and everything else needed to clean the wounds before they were applied.
Susan felt jittery. Why was it that before she could handle being in the same room with him, but today whenever the opportunity presented itself to get closer to him she either ran or stayed away?
"Hi, Susan." Alphonse greeted her cheerfully as usual.
"H-hello." Susan said nervously. "Okay now this is your chance to fix things, don't mess it up by running or just standing here like an idiot." Susan thought then took a deep breath. "It's time to change the bandages on your feet." She said with more confidence.
"Okay, I can handle it." Alphonse said reaching for the box, but Susan snatched it away. "I'm the doctor here, I'll do it." She said with her usual spunk.
"I'm so lucky to have such a dedicated physician." Alphonse smiled.
Susan smiled back her cheeks a slightly rose colored, but the smile disappeared when she saw the bruise on his face. "Ah! Did you fall out of bed and hit your face?" She asked with concern.
Alphonse sweat dropped. Was the bruise on his face that noticeable? "Oh, it's nothing." Alphonse said laughing uncomfortably as he put his hand up to his swollen cheek.
"Okay." Susan said not really believing him but letting the matter slide anyway.
It didn't take long for Susan to finish changing his bandages this time around. She had been practicing on her dolls and had managed to cut her time in half. "All done she said with a smile."
"Thank you very much." Alphonse said feeling little better now that he wasn't wearing blood soaked bandages.
"You know if you don't stay off your feet they won't heal." Susan said looking down in the box at the bloody bandages.
"You're right." Alphonse said his thoughts leaning toward Edward. "Brother must be getting impatient." Alphonse thought looking down at his feet. "It will probably be a while before my feet heal enough to walk on." Alphonse paused in his thoughts when he noticed Susan hesitantly standing with her back to him in the door. "Is there something wrong?" He asked noticing the girl's worried demeanor.
"I wanted to say something to cover up my reaction to him earlier but it seems he's already forgotten. I'd probably only be bringing up unnecessary things and embarrassing myself all over again if I say anything dumb to try and justify it." Susan reasoned before answering. "No, it's nothing. I just thought I forgot something, that's all." Susan said keeping her back turned the quickly went to dispose of the bloody bandages.
To be continued…
~*~*~*~
Author's Note:
You Damn Pervert!
Hm, that's what I think some people might have said out loud or thought once they read the first chapter of this fiction and/or realized what was going on. Oh, yeah! Someone did say something about this being a "pervy" storyline. Yes, I am laughing at this because while this story is a bit strange and puts Ed in a rather awkward position (and that's putting it lightly) I have my reasons for putting Ed in the pickle he's in, most of which I think should have been very obvious from chapter one if not the entirety of it. :D
If anyone has read any of my other stories you pretty much know what to expect from me, but as for the rest of yous I'm having too much fun making your hearts jump so I'm not sayin' nothing as to the "why would you write such a thing?" question.
By Phoenix Hoshika
Chatper Five
Alphonse sat quietly in a chair looking out the only window there was in the tiny bedroom; it faced the front of the house which gave anyone looking out of it a great view of the land. At that moment he was feeling extremely useless as he watched Edward toiling in the fields with everyone else. The siblings didn't have any money on them at the time and the only way to repay the doctor for his kindness and serves was to work on the farm land that whole town seemed to share, that's what they had decided to do since they didn't want to cause a stir by using alchemy which would have been easier considering the fact Edward didn't care too much at all for any kind work that involved heavy lifting. Despite being worn out Edward continued working as hard as he could; tilling ground, and helping with the harvest. Even from where he was Alphonse could see that his brother was struggling to keep up with everyone else and this made him worry. Ever since Alphonse received his flesh and blood body back along with his brother being turned into a girl Edward had also become prone to passing out and dizzy spells, but still he would not tell Alphonse what was wrong with him.
Pulling a rather large wagon full of corn Edward stumbled and fell face first onto the ground and the wagon tilted dumping nearly all of its contents on top of him. "Uugh," Edward groaned. "I have half a mind to just stay buried under here." He said out loud feeling a bit of relief to be lying down despite the pile of produce coving his body. Sighing he unearthed himself from beneath the corn and sweat dropped when he saw an angry Mr. Brawly looking down at him. "Hey pops." Edward said pretending he didn't see the look on the old man's face.
"What are you doing out? Didn't I tell you to stay out of the fields? Since when do people in your condition run around working like an ox? Neither you nor your brother will recover if you keep this up. If I catch you out here again I'm gonna make you start paying your stay and care." Brawly said as he piled the corn back into the wagon. The small farming town was by no means what anyone would call rich, except where generosity was concerned.
"Listen pops, I don't mean any disrespect, but me and my brother can pull our weight. We don't need anyone giving us charity."
"Stupid child, would it kill you to accept the kindness of others," Brawly asked pausing in his work. "Now, get back in the house."
"Okay, okay." Edward said turning on his heels. "Thanks." He said solemnly as he looked over his shoulder.
"The only thanks I want is for you and your brother to get better. Besides don't you think you should keep him company? I'm sure that brother of yours is bored to tears just sitting around in that room." Brawly said in a much gentler tone.
"Yeah." Edward said nodding then continued walking up the dirt road until he came to the doctor's home.
Alphonse watched as his brother came from the fields to the house. He could even hear Edward's foot steps as they landed heavily on the front porch and up the stairs. A few moments later Edward was walking into Alphonse's room. Coming to a stop in front of the table across from the foot of the bed he leaned back on it letting out a frustrated sigh.
"Ugh, it's hot in here." Edward said pulling down the zipper on his shirt. "Hey, don't tell me you've just been sitting there all day?"
"The Doctor said I should stay off of my feet for a while. Plus Susan wouldn't talk to me except to yell at me and order me back in here whenever I tried to help her with the choirs. That's left me nothing to do but watch everything from here."
Edward sighed. "Well, it looks like you're not the only one under house arrest now." Edward said as he sat on top of the table. "The old man just yelled at me for trying to help him out in the fields and then ordered me back here." Edward said hopping off the table. The room seemed to spin and for a second he lost his balance and had to grab hold of the metal rail at the foot of the bed to keep from falling.
"Ed, are you okay?" Alphonse asked.
"Yeah, just got a little dizzy," Edward answered trying to sound convincing and stood up straight.
Hearing the door creak they both turned to see who it was. "Oh, hi Sus-." Alphonse begin, but the little girl dashed off. Alphonse sighed. "Brother do you think Susan's afraid of me for some reason?" He asked feeling a bit shunned by the girl's reaction.
"Huh? You can't be serious." Edward said looking at his brother in disbelief.
"Well she seems to clam up around me but with you she seems more open. Earlier she seemed to open up to me a little when we were having breakfast, but down stairs during lunch she wouldn't talk to me and then just now she ran away."
"Awe, come on, Al. You're taking it the wrong way; she's probably just shy around strangers. The only reason she doesn't clam up around me is because we share a room together so she just probably got used to me being around faster." Edward smiled showing his teeth. He honestly did find Alphonse's self-consciousness a bit amusing. "Well I'm going to go clean up. See ya later bro." Edward said leaving the room.
"Why won't you tell him what's wrong, sis?" Susan asked Edward when came into the room they shared.
"Aaaagh! Don't call me that!" Edward shouted.
"Is that why Alphonse calls you brother, because you wouldn't like it if he called you sister?" Susan asked innocently.
"That's right!" Edward responded still in a nasty mood because Susan called him 'sis'.
"Sorry, geez. You don't have to yell at me." Susan said obviously hurt. "I just want us to be friends." She said tearing up.
"Hey, quit that. Stop it right now!" Edward ordered, but Susan only cried more. "Greif you're a crybaby." Edward said feeling drained just listening to the girl's wailing. "It's because I really like you and you hate me!" Susan said as she continued bawling, the tears gushing from her eyes.
"I don't hate you so calm down already." Edward said feeling a bit nervous, he really hated it when girls cried. "Listen I didn't mean it. You can call me big sis if you want."
"Really?" Susan said sniffling.
"Yeah, consider it a special privilege of being my friend, but don't do it in front of other people." Edward added.
"Can we be best friends?" Susan asked calmed down."
"Yeah." Edward said giving her a slight smile.
"And do things for each other we would never do for anyone else?" Susan asked cheering up even more.
"What are friends for?" Edward asked beads of sweat forming on his head. "What kind of things?" He asked nervously not really loud enough for Susan to hear.
"Yay!" Susan cheered. "As a special privilege I'll let you wear one of my mom's dresses. Susan said going through the clothes hanging in her closet. Most of the dresses were too big for Edward to wear, but finally Susan found something that looked like it wouldn't be too long on him. "This one!" Susan said triumphantly pulling a dress out of the closet; it was a simple short sleeved, navy blue dress with white polka-dots and a white collar.
"I can't wear you're mom's clothes." Edward said sweat dropping. "These clothes your grandfather let me and Al barrow are just fine. Edward said holding up an old pair of pants with a matching vest and white button down shirt.
"You can't wear that, they're boy's clothes!" Susan said frowning as she snatched them away with one hand and held the dress in front of Ed with another.
Edward sweat dropped. "You really want me to wear this?" He asked hoping the girl was having second thoughts about letting some body she hardly knew wear the treasure which were her mother's old dresses.
"Yes, best friends don't let each other go around wearing men's clothes." Susan said adamantly.
"Thanks." Edwards muttered taking the dress and leaving the room. At that moment he truly felt like crying but just swallowed it and went to get cleaned up.
Susan leaned against the wall and sighed. "Phase one of operation 'Make Alphonse My Husband' is complete, me and his sister are best friends. Now, I just need to show him what a great choice I am which means spending more time with him, but I can't get my knees to stop shaking." Susan thought suddenly becoming nervous. Hearing a knock on her room door she screamed. The sound wasn't that loud at all but it was enough to startle the daylights out of her as lost in her thoughts as she was.
"It's just me." Alphonse said opening the door hoping that would calm her down. Susan stood in front of him with a terrified expression on her face. "Susan, are you okay?" Alphonse asked sweat dropping.
"Answer him stupid. Say, you're okay." Susan thought as her heart beat raced.
"She is scared of me…" Alphonse thought. "I guess even without the armor there's something about me that makes people uneasy." He thought looking at Susan who seemed to be frozen in fear. "I'm sorry, I scared you again, didn't I?" Alphonse apologized. He had come to see if she was okay since he heard her crying after Edward's yelling fit, but at that moment he was thinking perhaps all he was doing was upsetting her more. "I'll be leaving now." Alphonse said feeling awkward then went back to his room and closed the door. "Brother was just trying to make me feel better, but the truth is I just seem to put people off for some reason." Alphonse thought as tears fell like rapidly flowing rivers from his eyes.
Susan sweat dropped. "I scared him away!" She thought then fell back on her bed and pressed her face into her pillow so no one could hear her scream. "How am I going to fix this? He probably thinks something is wrong with me! No, no he can't think that, that would utterly ruin things. I have to fix this, but how?" Susan thought as she lay with her face pressed against the pillow. She wanted to scream again.
Downstairs Edward was undressing with his eyes closed. "Don't look at anything and don't touch anything unless you have too." Edward's face turned red. "But I have to touch everything!" He thought then started cursing.
After taking a shower in record time Edward was clean and wearing the dress Susan hand lent him. To say he felt uncomfortable would be an understatement. Susan's mother was a tall woman and the dress Edward was wearing would have came half way down her thighs but on Edward it hung just above mid-calf making him feel even more stunted than he already was. Other than that the dress fit Edward quite well. Unlike his black zippered shirt he was wearing before it didn't squeeze his chest uncomfortably making it easier to breath and the cloth didn't irritate his skin. It was mostly because the dress fit him so well was the reason behind Edward's awkward emotions concerning the garment. Knocking on the door before entering his brother's room he found Alphonse sitting on the floor, with his back to the wall, sulking.
"Why are you so upset?" Edward asked stepping into the room.
"Do I seem like a scary person?" Alphonse asked looking up at him.
Edward smiled nearly laughing in his brother's face. "Not hardly, why," He asked sitting down beside him.
"That dress looks good on you." Alphonse said getting a better look at the outfit.
Edward's expression turned sour. "Shut up." He said punching Alphonse and knocking him out. Looking down at his handiwork Edward sweat dropped. "Yeah, he's not a suit of armor anymore so I can't be so careless, but then again if he were still armor I wouldn't have punched him in the face 'cause that would have probably knocked his head off." Edward paused in his thoughts then laughed slightly. "Oh well." He said pulling Alphonse up off of the floor and laying him in the bed.
Twenty minutes later Alphonse opened his eyes to see his brother leaning over him. Edward was sitting with his legs folding under his body on the bed next to him. He was holding a cold compress to Alphonse's face to keep the swelling down. It helped a bit; however, there was still a nice bruise on the left side of his face. Alphonse sat up and grabbing his head as a headache quickly set in. "You didn't have to hit me, Brother." Alphonse grumbled. Being able to feel pain again Edward's punches and kicks hurt something fierce and at that moment Alphonse was making a mental note to pay him pay in full the next time they spar, despite the fact he never held back on tossing Edward around like a rag doll in the first place. When sparring with his brother Alphonse behaves just like cat does with its prey; he'd toy with Edward for a while before sending him flying in which ever direction of choice.
"Sorry about that." Edward said sweat dropping. "I guess I was a little careless."
"A little?" Alphonse questioned giving his brother a dangerous stare.
"Okay, I was a lot careless and you lost consciousness, but you aren't missing any teeth or anything right?" Edward asked but Alphonse's only response was stark silence as he brought his hands to rest in his lap keeping his head lowered.
"Right?" Edward said again leaning on his brother's shoulder trying to get a better look at his face to see if it lopsided due to missing teeth on one side.
Finding himself giving in to temptation, without warning, Alphonse lifted the arm his brother was leaning on and punched him in the side with enough force to send him flying off the bed onto the floor. "Quit getting so carrying away. I'm not armor anymore and the punch you gave me really hurt." Alphonse whimpered bringing his hands back up to his aching head.
"Tell me about it." Edward thought holding his side as he lay on the floor. "Hey, Al." He said with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah?"
"When did you become such a wimp?" Edward asked sitting up.
"Who are you calling a wimp?" Alphonse asked looking over at Edward.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you just whining about how much that little tap I gave you hurt?"
"Tap? You knocked me out!" Alphonse shot back.
"Well then I guess that makes it twice I beat you." Edward grinned as he stood up.
"How do you figure? That wasn't a fight and that so-called win was because you cheated." Alphonse reminded.
"Fine, this time it wasn't a win, but you know in a real fight anything goes, so there's nothing 'so-called' about that win. I beat you."
"If I had actually fought you back you probably would have reopened the gash in your side again, so that wasn't a win for the simple fact it wasn't a real fight." Alphonse argued back.
"Hmph!" Edward said walking around the bed to the door, then turned around with a sneaky grin on his face. "Okay, fine we settle this outside right now, you and me."
Alphonse scowled at him. "You know I can barely walk, Brother, you cheater."
"Heh, then I win by forfeit and that ends this argument." Edward grinned.
"I'll make you eat those words soon enough, Brother."
"Now get your rest so you can heal up as soon as possible." Edward said closing the door as he exited the room.
"Rest? I've had enough rest. If my feet didn't hurt so much we'd be outside and you'd be getting your backside pounded." Alphonse thought as he looked down at the bandages that covered his feet and ankles. They needed to be changed. In some places blood had started to soak through. Standing up Alphonse was going to get the bandages and whatever else he need to do the job himself but when he opened the door Susan was standing there holding the small box that continued the fresh bandages and everything else needed to clean the wounds before they were applied.
Susan felt jittery. Why was it that before she could handle being in the same room with him, but today whenever the opportunity presented itself to get closer to him she either ran or stayed away?
"Hi, Susan." Alphonse greeted her cheerfully as usual.
"H-hello." Susan said nervously. "Okay now this is your chance to fix things, don't mess it up by running or just standing here like an idiot." Susan thought then took a deep breath. "It's time to change the bandages on your feet." She said with more confidence.
"Okay, I can handle it." Alphonse said reaching for the box, but Susan snatched it away. "I'm the doctor here, I'll do it." She said with her usual spunk.
"I'm so lucky to have such a dedicated physician." Alphonse smiled.
Susan smiled back her cheeks a slightly rose colored, but the smile disappeared when she saw the bruise on his face. "Ah! Did you fall out of bed and hit your face?" She asked with concern.
Alphonse sweat dropped. Was the bruise on his face that noticeable? "Oh, it's nothing." Alphonse said laughing uncomfortably as he put his hand up to his swollen cheek.
"Okay." Susan said not really believing him but letting the matter slide anyway.
It didn't take long for Susan to finish changing his bandages this time around. She had been practicing on her dolls and had managed to cut her time in half. "All done she said with a smile."
"Thank you very much." Alphonse said feeling little better now that he wasn't wearing blood soaked bandages.
"You know if you don't stay off your feet they won't heal." Susan said looking down in the box at the bloody bandages.
"You're right." Alphonse said his thoughts leaning toward Edward. "Brother must be getting impatient." Alphonse thought looking down at his feet. "It will probably be a while before my feet heal enough to walk on." Alphonse paused in his thoughts when he noticed Susan hesitantly standing with her back to him in the door. "Is there something wrong?" He asked noticing the girl's worried demeanor.
"I wanted to say something to cover up my reaction to him earlier but it seems he's already forgotten. I'd probably only be bringing up unnecessary things and embarrassing myself all over again if I say anything dumb to try and justify it." Susan reasoned before answering. "No, it's nothing. I just thought I forgot something, that's all." Susan said keeping her back turned the quickly went to dispose of the bloody bandages.
To be continued…
~*~*~*~
Author's Note:
You Damn Pervert!
Hm, that's what I think some people might have said out loud or thought once they read the first chapter of this fiction and/or realized what was going on. Oh, yeah! Someone did say something about this being a "pervy" storyline. Yes, I am laughing at this because while this story is a bit strange and puts Ed in a rather awkward position (and that's putting it lightly) I have my reasons for putting Ed in the pickle he's in, most of which I think should have been very obvious from chapter one if not the entirety of it. :D
If anyone has read any of my other stories you pretty much know what to expect from me, but as for the rest of yous I'm having too much fun making your hearts jump so I'm not sayin' nothing as to the "why would you write such a thing?" question.