Not Allowed

To Eat

Ed ignored the protest of his limbs as he walked to the office, Al walking just behind him. "You know that report isn't due until Friday, right brother?" He could practically hear the frown in Al's voice. And the pout. "It's only Tuesday!" His stomach churned, twisting and burning with every passing second. But still, he heaved a heavy sigh.

"Better get it out of the way before Colonel Bastard annoys me about it!" Ed placed his hands behind his head, an A4 package in his automail hand. A scowl came onto his face as he kissed his teeth. "Last time I missed a deadline, the bastard had me do half of his stupid paperwork...!" It was truly hell. Half of his paperwork meant roughly 350 pages. Whilst reading was no challenge to Ed and neither was forging Mustang's signature, it was still a pain in the arse for someone who didn't eat. Speaking of...

"Well, did you have to go as soon as you woke up?" Al grumbled, "You didn't even eat breakfast." There it was. You. Al never faced the challenge of getting up in the morning anymore. He never faced the challenge of hunger. Never gained the satisfaction of getting a good night's sleep. Never gained the satisfaction of eating a good meal. "Isn't that bad for you?"

Ed bit his lip. His little brother didn't even remember the feeling of hunger. "I'll just eat later!"

Mustang stared incredulously. Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, notorious for ignoring all rules, was handing a report in early. By three days. He didn't even try to disguise the shock and awe in his eyes. There was hope after all. Shaking his head, Mustang let a smirk take over his expression. "Well, this is a surprise. I never would have imagined you being responsible."

Ed felt a vein pop, "The hell did you say, bastard!?" Al barely hid a snicker as Ed grit his teeth.

Embarrassing moment of being caught off guard: forgotten. Mustang's ego inflated once more. "Sorry, did you not hear from down there?" From his side, Riza sighed.

And then, the unexpected happened. "Whatever!" He dismissed it. Ed never dismissed comments on his height. Al paused from his snickering and stared at his brother. Mustang and Riza shared a look before moving their line of sight to Ed. The blonde squirmed. "What?" He murmured. There was definitely something going on with him. Riza took note of his body seemed to tremble. Ed didn't even tremble after a fight. If anything, he bounced from adrenaline or slouched from exhaustion. Her gaze sharpened. What is going on?

Mustang seemed to have noticed too; he signals Riza to lean close to him and whispers in her ear. She nods and leaves promptly.

Meanwhile, Al is still confused by his brother's behaviour. No matter the circumstances, even when he was in the middle of a fight, his older brother would always defend his height. Or more specifically, he'd accuse the other of calling him something a whole lot more specific. If he could, he would furrow his eyebrows with a frown.

"Quit staring at me, bastard!" Ed fumed, glaring at his superior.

Mustang's gaze lingered on Ed before he turned to the report. He took out the five sheets and skimmed over them. As usual, his handwriting is atrocious but the contents itself was something else. He'd read many reports from people who'd been in the military for way longer than Ed, but Ed's reports were always leagues ahead grammar and detail wise. Still...

Whilst Ed converse with his brother, Mustang stole a glance. There was something up with the youngest state alchemist. And he was going to get to the bottom of it.

After skimming the last page, Mustang patted the sheets on the table, levelling the pages and then inserting them back into the packaging. He placed his elbows on the table, clasping his hands together as he rested his chin on them, eyes closed. "Once again, a very well written report." His smirk never appears to leave his face. "It's easy to forget that a small kid is a prodigy in everything." Mustang opened his eyes, a calculating gaze to them as he awaited Ed's reaction.

Or lack of.

Ed simply clicked his tongue, "Thought you would be used to it, by now." Once again, the kid didn't react to his comment about his height. Al gasped lowly as Ed crossed his arms and looked away. It was then that he noticed how his fingers tightened against his shaking arm.

"Brother--"

Riza walked in. "Pardon my intrusion." She carried a small bag. Walking up to where Ed sat on the couch, Riza placed down a bottle of water and two loaves of bread on the coffee table in front of him. Ed blinked at them.

Al practically beamed at the sniper. But he did feel a bit guilty. Riza seemed to have noticed before he did. And she only left to get the food and water after Mustang talked to her, so he obviously noticed as well. Al, Ed's only brother, was the last to notice that his brother was hungry.

"Eat, Fullmetal." Mustang sighed, leaning back in his wheeled chair. "You look like you need it."

Ed's stomach groaned at the sight of food right in front of him. His face flushed red. "I-I shouldn't. I can buy my ow--"

Riza glared. "Eat."

Gulping, Ed ignored the guilt in his chest and picked up a loaf of bread. Al made a noise of content as Ed ate the food provided to him. In his glee, he remained oblivious to the way Ed's breathing hitched and to the way his hands curl into a fist behind next to his left thigh.

Ed watched as Al laid on the floor of their apartment. "You should pack up soon, brother!" The excitement in his voice was undeniable. "We gotta leave tomorrow morning!" They'd received a mission in a city three train stations away. Apparently, there's an underground fighting ring for alchemists. It was another useless mission - but then again, it's not like they're gonna search for a philosopher's stone. Not after learning the truth.

"Mhm." Ed walked past to the bathroom. "I gotta take a leak." Al nodded his head and stayed lying down.

Walking in, Ed locked the door behind him. Clapping his hands, Ed created another layer to prevent Al from hearing what will happen next. Ed stumbled over to the toilet bowl and took off the glove on his flesh hand. He didn't like doing this. That's why he usually just skipped out on meals. Not only was it disgusting to smell, but it also left his throat burning.

His hand trembled - not because he was hungry this time. Because he was scared. His ring finger, pinky and thumb curled, leaving his index and middle finger extended out. He could already feel his throat constricting as if trying to thwart his plans. Ed planted his fingers down his mouth, pushing past his tonsil and into his throat. As planned, his gag reflex kicked in and suddenly, everything he'd eaten at the colonel's office came rising up and out of his mouth.

A mixture of liquid and solid fell into the toilet, the water now coated in an undecided colour between orange and pink. There were chunks of white and pale brown from the bread he forced down his throat. There was a lot more liquid than the disgusting combination of solid and lipids. Whether it was from the water bottle or the toilet water, Ed did not know.

And he did it again. He broke past the epiglottis and immediately removed his fingers, retching violently into the toilet. There wasn't much to purge from his stomach. Two loaves of bread and water were the most he ate in months. The last time he ate more than that was when he was forced into a military event where Mustang kept tabs on him. Not eating would've made him suspicious.

Ed rubbed his flesh forearm over his mouth, the stench of his own puke burning his nostrils. He had to make sure though. So, he retched again. And again. And again. Until all that came out was the clear substance of stomach acid.

Because if Al can't have the satisfaction of a full stomach, neither can Ed. Ed would not eat.

Edward Elric is not allowed to eat.