To Be A Child

Chapter 4

Edward was awakened from his sleep when sunlight hit his eyelids. He groaned in protest and buried his head underneath his pillow.

"Al, can you get the blinds?" he mumbled.

The lack of response made Ed remember where he was. He snapped his eyes open and sat up on his bed.

Wait, his bed?

He knew for a fact that he fell asleep on the couch last night. This meant . . . dammit, the colonel had carried him upstairs and tucked him in bed like a child!

Ed wanted to be angry, but if he thought about it, it was better this way. Who knew if he would've recovered enough to climb up the stairs on his own? At least Mustang had spared him the humiliation of being carried while he was conscious.

Not that being carried while he was sleeping was that much better.

Ed kicked the blanket off him and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He was pleased to see that Mustang hadn't dared touch his clothes.

Yawning, he stretched his arms above his head, and then walked out of his room. Mustang didn't seem to be awake yet, which meant he got first dibs on the bathroom!

He dashed into the bathroom and quickly shut the door behind him. He caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. The bruise under his eye didn't look too bad, thanks to Mustang's quick treatment of it.

Ed stripped and stepped into the shower. The hot water was glorious. He considered just standing there to waste all of it, but he reconsidered and thought not leaving Mustang an ice cold shower was a great way to thank him for treating his bruise.

When he was done, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself. He wrapped a towel around his waist and opened the bathroom door to find – Mustang.

He was sitting on the floor with his knees up to his chest and his back against the wall. Ed looked – down! – at Mustang.

He was now wearing a white short-sleeved cotton shirt and sweatpants.

Which was more decent than the single towel Ed was wearing.

"What the hell are you are you doing there?!" Ed spluttered, folding his arms across his chest.

Mustang raised a single eyebrow as he climbed to his feet. "What does it look like? I was simply waiting for you to get out of the bathroom."

"I doubt it."

Mustang smirked as he stepped into the washroom. "Doubt all you want; when you have to go, you have to go," he said as he closed the door behind him.

Ed's glare dropped as soon as the door closed. He was willing to admit to himself that he was touched by Mustang's concern, but this – this was just hovering.

If Mustang tried to act like some kind of overbearing father, he would have no choice but to give him a good punch to the face, for his own sake as well.

With that in mind, he returned to his room to put on some clothes.

THISISALINEBREAK

"Do you have any plans for today?" Mustang looked at Edward over his plate of bacon and eggs. Ed shrugged, and continued stuffing his face. The boy must've been starving, having not eaten anything the previous night.