The Lightest Touch

Chapter Two

Notes: Oh. My. God. I updated. I’m sorry for the wait. Much thanks to Nostalgic5947. :3 Reviews like that keep me going. And hey. If you read this story, please review it. I really, really appreciate it. :)

When it came to waking up, the brothers were used to surprises. Angry landowners, drunken beggars, kittens… But being literally rattled around by a snake chimera, and an extremely irate-looking one at that, was a new one even for them.

“Get your lazy asses up!”

Realizing the “just five more minutes” gig wasn’t likely to work on Martel, Ed groaned and restrained himself from banging his head on the inside of Al’s chest.

“M-Martel! What are you doing here?!” Al sputtered. Ed snorted. He wasn’t the least bit surprised. Chances were when Martel had her mind set on something, she was apt to get it. He’d known from the start there was no getting her to stay behind.

“Aw, c’mon, Alphonse. Didn’t think I could leave you two alone, did you? After all, I didn’t want to lose you two so soon. I’d rather not have to rely on Ed after he’d transmuted his foot up some poor guy’s ass for calling him small.” Martel finished this statement with a smirk and a wink.

“WHO DID YOU SAY WAS LIKE A GRAIN OF RICE SO TINY YOU COULD NEVER FIND HIM IF YOU DROPPED HIM IN THE GRASS?!” Ed quite literally erupted from Al’s armor, knocking his helmet clear off. It was kind of a funny sight: a psychotic blonde creature flailing around with half his body outside a suit of armor, with said armor desperately groping around for his brother’s arms so as to restrain him.

“Self-conscious, eh?” Martel was as laid-back as ever, nothing but amusement was apparent across her sharp features.

“Seriously, Martel,” Al started, still trying to calm Ed down. “You shouldn’t have followed us!”

“I don’t know if you noticed, but snakes aren’t exactly the most cooperative species,” Martel remarked before briefly flashing the tip of her tongue.

“We noticed,” the brothers responded in unison.

“Come on, it’s not like the two of you are doing anything special,” Martel said. Her eyes briefly flickered across the sky. “Looks like rain tonight, eh?”

“But Martel… You were supposed to remain back in town in case something happened! It’s no good if all three of us get killed!” Ed combated, still seething over Martel’s brief mention of his size.

“That’s optimistic,” she snorted.

“Nii-san hasn’t been optimistic for quite some time,” Al chimed in, speaking so casually that he might as well have been mentioning the oncoming rain.

“Okay, Al, that’s enough! All I was saying is that…”

“Yeah, yeah… Best not to always get your hopes up,” Martel said, waving him off. “Greed had us follow a similar outlook. It was pretty useless, seeing as none of us had much left to lose, anyways.”

“That’s why you followed us, wasn’t it?” Al asked.

Martel shrugged. “Guess so. Gives me some purpose. Not to mention that there’s next to nothing to do elsewhere. Snakes are always in need of a little fun, you know.” Once more, Martel gave her trademark wink.

“…Something tells me that your adventurous nature has nothing to do with the nature of your species, Martel,” Ed remarked.

For the first time that they’d seen, Martel blushed. They had to guess it was the closest thing to a true compliment she’d received in a while. A remark about who Martel was, not the nature of what she was.

“You’re not so bad, kid.” Martel gave Ed, still half-outside Al, a quick flick on the forehead. “Guess that’s why I stick with you.”

Ed smirked, and then heaved himself out of Al in one fluid, graceful motion. He landed almost perfectly on his feet and straightened to meet (or, rather, look up into) Martel’s eyes.

“Well, guess we’d better get going. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can head to Ishbal.”

“You two seem pretty intent on going there,” Martel commented. Ed simply shrugged and walked on, motioning for Martel and Al, who was still replacing his helmet, to follow.

“So, we’re just supposed to wander around?” Al said after a short while.

Ed shrugged and buried his hands in his pockets. “Guess so. According to the map, we’ve got about another couple hours or so before we hit the next town… And that’s if we run.” He sighed heavily and hung his head.

“Say, Nii-san…”

“Hm?” Ed looked up for a moment, as he always did for Al.

“I almost never tire. You up to riding on my shoulders?”

Ed grinned. “I thought you hated it when I did that.”

“Only when you’re doing it because you’re too lazy to do your own running! This time there’s a reason for it. Ed, up! Martel, in-“

“Gotcha,” Martel responded, and hastily leapt into the empty suit just as Al took off his helmet. With a similar grace, his brother hoisted himself onto his younger brother’s shoulders, and smiled as Al found a grip on his legs without so much as looking up. He knew Ed’s body, his movements, his posture that well. Then again, this was far from the first time he’d hitched a ride on his brother’s shoulders… He grinned hard as said brother sped forward, and with his hair, loosely bound in its usual braid, flailing behind him, he couldn’t resist extending an arm and pointing ahead in a mock gesture of directing Al forward.

“Nii-san, you’re having way too much fun.”

“Yeah, right! It’s like I tell you! You’ve got to enjoy these things while they last, Al!”

By the time they’d reached town, Ed was more than tired of riding on cold metal shoulders. This was made further evident as he stepped down from his “seat” rubbing his behind. Martel couldn’t hold back a snicker.

“Yeah, you think this is funny? How about we swap asses for a while and see how hard you’re laughing then!”

“Oh relax. At least we’re here.”

Ed nodded, and, getting back to business, whipped out his map. “Boentine, eh? Weird name for a town. Al and I heard an alchemist here succeeded in transmuting a bunch of different plant species into a complete Philosopher’s Stone.”

Martel raised an eyebrow. “That’s about the stupidest thing I’ve heard all month, and I’ve been frequenting bars full of drunken idiots.”

“Like we said, it’s not much of a lead, but it’s worth looking into. Even if it’s just a cheap substitute, it could mean a lot for alchemic research,” Al responded.

Martel shrugged, and Ed motioned the two of them to follow him. They quickly complied.

The town has much the same as any other they’d visited. Ed sighed and buried his hands in his pockets. Despite the ominous darkness beginning to shroud over the far-off horizon, it was bright out. He briefly closed his eyes, and the hustle and bustle of a busy town receded deep into his mind. Some taverns, food stands, clothing stores and small businesses… It was all the same to someone as traveled as Edward. He’d become immune to the idle chatter – the crowds and the distant whirr of machinery. That’s not to say he didn’t keep his guard up. He’d learned his lesson about relaxing too much after being faced with everything from stray prostitutes to Ishbalan murderers.

“Um, Nii-san… You think we should ask around?”

“Yeah, I’m starting to get a little sick of the ‘wandering around with vague hope of our goal popping up in front of us’ tactic,” Martel grumbled from beside Alphonse.

“Eh, guess so. I could certainly go for a bite to eat about now, too…” Ed mused, before becoming completely detached from their mission by the thought of food.

“Nii-san, have some manners!”

If Al had any breath, he would have been better off saving it. When it came to manners, understanding social boundaries, and general knowledge of communication with the outside world, it was easy to see how the brothers differed. Ed sometimes never bothered to look anyone in the eye when he spoke to them, never watched his posture, his language, or his manners, and worst of all, seldom ate without piling massive amounts of food into his mouth to exceed its capacity and grotesquely chewing it in a fashion that made sure to draw everyone’s attention.

Martel sighed and slouched back in her chair while sipping at her drink with mild interest. She kept an eye on Ed, apparently fascinated. While she’d seen things during Ishbal and the experimentations in Lab 5 that exceeded anyone’s idea of the word “interesting”, she’d never experienced anything quite like what was directly in front of her.

“Where does it all go?”

Al shifted a little in his too-small seat. “Well, despite the two of us being among the most gifted scientific minds in the State, we still haven’t figured that one out.”

“Aw, shawup, ‘oo two,” Ed managed between forkfuls of his dinner. They had to laugh.

By the time they’d headed upstairs to their room, they were all more than ready for the comfort of a roof and bed. The inn was small, but cozy, with a homey feel that seemed to linger in the air as much so as the ever-present aroma of cooking. Ed yawned happily as he fell back into a surprisingly comfortable bed.

“I’m telling you, Al. When we get your body back, I’m taking you back here just to smell this place. It’s enough to make me hungry all over again!”

Martel rolled her eyes. “I was amazed the bed didn’t collapse under you from the weight of all the food you ate…” Al nodded, chuckling.

“Oh lay off, you guys. When most of my meals’ve been stolen from the taisa, can you blame me for enjoying myself?”

It’d be a while before any of them relaxed enough to think about sleep. Even though he was exhausted, Ed had a hard time shutting his mind down. Once again, he was thinking about the boy he should see sitting on the end of his bed, or, better yet, curled in his arms. Or maybe Al wouldn’t want him close when he came to realize that what he’d lost was entirely Ed’s own fault. But it didn’t matter what path Al chose – just as long as his brother could feel again.

“Nii-san, you’ve got that look on your face again.”

For the most part, Ed was hard to read. While he might not be cut out for theatre, he was quite the actor. Very few knew him well enough to know “I’m fine” could just as easily mean “I am roughly two seconds away from pushing up daisies.”

As would be expected, Ed was practically an open book to his brother. The moment something went wrong, or he began to worry, Al knew, and without any hint from Ed, he usually knew why.

Right now he had on his “it’s all my fault” face.

“Al. I don’t want to worry you.”

“Nii-san, we’ll get there someday. That’s all that matters. And when that happens, nothing else will matter besides the fact that we’ll be together.”

“…Yeah.” Ed’s voice caught in his throat, and, wordlessly, he padded over to Al, looking up at the armor before resting his head on his brother, the same as he had the night before.

Al’s immediate reaction was his metallic arms around his older brother, who suddenly seemed so much more vulnerable. Ed always promised Al he’d do anything to look out for him, but it was Al who always kept Edward in shape enough for him to keep that promise.

The two of them functioned like two different components making up one machine. They functioned as one. And in due time, their hearts would beat as one.

They discussed this in soft, hushed voices, so as not to wake Martel. Little did they know, the snake chimera was very much awake, and smiling softly at their words. The two of them really were soul mates, she thought. But… what exactly did that mean for the brothers?

Though they both wondered the same thing, neither spoke of it. Instead, Ed crawled up so that Al’s gaze was level with his, and said simply, “We’ll breathe together.”

Al nodded, and gasped in surprise as his elder brother’s soft lips – the ones he adored so much – kissed him where he would have had a mouth. Ed said nothing more and withdrew quickly, and, with a quick smile, crawled back over to his pillow. “I’m ready for sleep. After all this trucking around, a bed like this is no small luxury. ‘Night, Al. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Nii-san,” Al responded immediately, and sighed contentedly as he began to gently stroke his nearly asleep brother’s hair back away from his beautiful face. For the first time in a long time, Edward carried his smile with him into sleep.