Chapter Text
Ed was lucky. Somehow, against all odds, despite everything, Roy cared about the kid. He really, really cared about the kid. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have let the last of the pain pills disappear into someone else's mouth. Especially someone who was only semi-conscious. Roy was horrifyingly awake. He'd managed to catch frantic snatches of sleep during the night, but not in hours. It was pretty difficult with a broken leg.
But Roy was alright, really. His body had faded into a mass of hurt, but he'd been able to crawl around enough to gather fuel from the fire, and he could still think clearly and communicate with Ed. Roy had had enough serious injuries before, including injuries where immediate treatment options hadn't been available, that he was pretty good at gathering the pain in a ball and locking it somewhere far away. The combination of hunger, dehydration, exhaustion, and exposure were surely making things harder for him, but he had a good few hours left in him, he thought.
Ed, on the other hand, he wasn't so sure. When he'd been setting up the signal fire, Ed had been sleeping, and Roy hadn't been paying much attention to him. But when he'd woken up, Roy had immediately realized he was doing much worse. His eyes hadn't even been able to focus on Roy, and his cheeks held a hectic flush. The fever had left him kind of sweaty before, but now he was almost oddly dry-looking, sunken with dehydration, lips cracking from the heat.
Roy had known they wouldn't be able to walk anymore, and they needed help as soon as they could get it. But once he'd seen Ed, he had started to worry that they just wouldn't be able to get it soon enough. Ed looked ill but also somehow skeletal, like he already had one foot in the grave.
It was about five minutes after Ed had taken the pills that Roy started to notice something was wrong. Ed had twisted sideways and curled in on himself, and was making almost inaudible whimpering sounds. Roy couldn't get a good look at his face, and he bent closer.
"Edward?" he whispered.
In response, Edward levered himself part way up on one elbow and started to gag. Involuntarily, Roy started back, jolting away from the sudden movement. A bolt of pain shot through his ankle, and he hissed, whiting out for the barest of seconds.
As soon as he could see again, Roy overcame his initial instincts and lurched closer to Ed instead, hoping that maybe if he could just get a hand on Ed's back or shoulder, he would avoid what seemed to be coming.
It was too late. It wouldn't have made a difference either way, but as Roy's hand made contact with Ed's back, Ed was already retching onto the ground.
"No, Edward…." It didn't matter. Ed didn't even hear him, and that was probably for the best anyway. The naked despair in Roy's voice would probably just scare the kid, and Roy didn't want that.
As Roy watched, helpless, Ed coughed and retched again, throwing up a mouthful of bile. Somewhere in there were the remnants of the fever reducers and the painkillers, now useless, wasted.
It was over. Ed was going to die.
Roy felt himself falling into a blind, formless panic, and he wasn't sure how to stop himself. He wasn't sure if it even mattered anymore, since Ed had just thrown up the last of their precious medication, and he wouldn't be able to keep anything else down, and his fever would rise higher and he would die. Maybe Roy would just stay like this forever.
And then a sound broke through, very far away at first, like it was coming from underwater. After a moment, it got louder, and Roy surfaced with a jerk.
Ed was still curled beside him, Roy's hand on his shaking back. He was done throwing up now, and he was whimpering. He was in pain, a lot of pain, by the sound of it.
Roy blinked, bringing everything into a sudden, harsh focus. Even if Ed was certainly going to die, he was still alive right now, and he was hurting.
"It's okay," Roy said, moving his hand up and down along Ed's back, feeling him shudder with pain. Ed moaned, unbending slightly, and Roy saw with a dull lack of surprise that his wound had reopened, staining the front of his bandages red. Throwing up was brutal with a stomach wound, not only because it hurt like hell, but because more often than not, the contraction of the muscles ripped open whatever healing had managed to occur.
"It's alright," Roy repeated, continuing to rub Ed's back. "I'm going to get you out of this."
Was he going to get Ed out of this? It seemed unlikely. He didn't have a plan, supplies, mobility, or the capacity to think his way around any of those problems. And yet, allowing Edward to die here was completely untenable.
Where was Riza when you needed her? The signal fire had been going for hours, and there was still no sign of her. She must be looking. He was sure she was here, and that she was looking - he knew it as certainly as he knew he was still breathing. But maybe the fire was too small, or the wind was blowing the wrong direction. Maybe it was too cloudy to make out the smoke, or Riza had spent the morning talking to witnesses instead of scanning the treeline. Hell, maybe he was just too far away from civilization. He really had no idea how far he and Ed were. Maybe they were still miles and miles and miles away from town, and he could keep this fire burning until dusk without any hope of Riza seeing it….
Ed sucked in a sharp, painful-sounding breath. For a moment, Roy was afraid he was going to vomit again, and just thinking about the pain that would cause the kid made Roy's heart twist. But Ed settled fitfully, and Roy found himself brushing Ed's hair off of his forehead, gently smoothing the bangs back in a way he hoped was soothing.
One of Ed's hands reached out blindly. For a moment Roy thought Ed was trying to push him away, but it seemed he was just trying to ground himself. His hand found Roy's thigh, and he settled again with a small whine of pain.
"I know it hurts," Roy whispered. "You're alright. I know it hurts, but I'm…I'm here."
Ed's fingers twitched uncomfortably.
"I'll get you out of here."
Ed's eyelids flickered, but he didn't seem quite able to open them anymore. Roy was pretty sure almost all of his awareness was gone.
"I promise."
There. Roy had promised. There were no two ways about it - Roy would simply have to get Ed to safety.
If Riza wasn't coming - Roy desperately hoped she was, but he still had no actual evidence that she might be - then there was only one other hope Roy had of getting the signal fire spotted. The terrorists who had captured Roy in the first place must still be combing the forest for them. There was a chance they would see the signal fire, especially if Roy made it larger.
That would be bad, but it also…just might be Roy's only hope. They hadn't wanted Ed. They could have grabbed Ed when they first grabbed Roy, but he wasn't important to them. Roy knew he was the real prize. If they did find him, maybe he could offer himself up, bargain with them to save Ed's life….
It wasn't a very good plan. It made everything they'd done for the past few days, including Roy's broken leg, seem kind of pointless. But it was all Roy had.
There was also always the chance that the terrorists would simply shoot Ed as soon as they had Roy under control, and that, far more than dying himself, made Roy's stomach twist. But if there was one thing he was confident on, it was his ability to burn at least a few of them to ash before they could touch Ed. And if they knew his reputation well enough to want to execute him, then they knew him well enough to be frightened by his flames.
It still wasn't a very good plan, especially since it involved Roy's certain death, and it didn't exactly ensure Ed's survival. But there wasn't anything more that Roy could do, and at this point, every second that Roy wasted was one second less for Ed.
He couldn't waste any more time. Roy focused on his small fire and sent three separate shafts of flame to the tops of three different trees in a nearby cluster. The flame licked up the super saturated lanes of oxygen Roy had formed, catching the leaves at the top of the trees with a dry crackle. Even from the ground, Roy could hear the popping as the trees caught and began to burn in earnest.
Now, one way or another, they would be found. They had to be - the smoke from a fire like this would be visible for miles. Roy hoped that Riza would be the first to find them, he really did. He wanted to see his wife again, not die in this stupid forest.
But not if it was at the cost of Ed's life. Nothing was worth that.
Beside him, Ed stirred slightly, moaning unhappily. Roy thought he might be feeling the heat from the nearby fire - it had only just started, but thanks to Roy's alchemy, it was burning at the level of a massive, hours-old bonfire. Roy could already feel the heat licking at his skin, and he thought it felt rather pleasant, but he wasn't running a brutally high fever like Ed was.
"Sorry," Roy told Ed quietly, knowing that he wouldn't understand. "I'm sure this doesn't feel good, but it's our only option."
He wished that he could get Ed a wet cloth to put on his head, but the backpack had fallen a few feet away, and he didn't know where the water had ended up, or the cloth he'd been using. And as much as Roy hated to admit it, he didn't think that he could take his attention off the bonfire right now. It only took a fraction of focus to control the amount of oxygen around a fire and keep it from burning too rapidly, but Roy no longer had any focus to spare. Any adrenaline he'd had was nothing but a distant memory, and his leg was constantly reminding him that the last of the painkillers were lying in a pool of vomit. He hadn't slept properly in days, and he was desperately worried about Ed. If he took his concentration off the fire, even for a moment, there was too high of a risk that it would get away from him, and he'd burn them to a crisp long before help (or harm) came for them.
Roy tilted slightly away from Ed, ignoring the spike of pain in his leg as best he could, and looked up at his handiwork. The thicker parts of the trees were taking a little longer to really catch, but the thin branches and leaves at the top of all three trees were already burning steadily. Roy needed to concentrate to keep the fire from spreading, and he would have needed to concentrate to put the fire out, but he no longer needed to focus at all to keep the trees ablaze.
Every once in a while, Roy paused to be absolutely astounded by the destructive capabilities of fire. If he were to pass out, and stop controlling the fires with his careful channels of oxygen, the entire forest could burn down around them. It was also Ed's infected burn wound that had them in this situation at all, a burn Roy had inflicted in the first place.
But then again, it had taken less than a minute for Roy to create a signal fire large enough to send huge billows of black smoke into the air. And as strange as it felt to admit it, if Roy hadn't cauterized Ed's wound, he would probably already be dead.
Fire was dangerous, but it had given them a chance. Roy just had to stay awake long enough that they could use it.
Roy curled back towards Ed, who was shifting fitfully again, mumbling something Roy couldn't make out.
"Hot," he finally managed, through cracked, blistered lips. "'T's…ngh…."
"I know," Roy said. "But this is the only thing I can think of…we can't walk anymore…."
"Too hot," he breathed. His eyes were still closed.
"It'll be over soon," Roy said, and he prayed that that was true.
When Roy looked back up at the fire, he saw that he'd let his concentration slip momentarily, and the flames had taken over a fourth tree. Roy tried to put the fire out on just that tree, but he was weak and exhausted and dizzy and sick, and his mind kept sliding away from the task. He was pretty sure he would still be able to put the fire out on all the trees at once, if and when they were rescued, but the pinpoint accuracy he normally took so much pride in was completely shot.
Ed settled back down into silence. It took about ten minutes for Roy to look over at Ed and realize that he'd gotten rather short of breath, and another few minutes for Roy to notice that he'd gotten short of breath himself too.
Fuck. The smoke. Roy didn't normally have big fires going long enough that he'd even thought about that as a concern. The smoke was rising, luckily, and hopefully they would be able to escape the brunt of it.
Realistically, if the smoke got thick enough on the ground to pose a problem, it would already have gathered in the sky enough to get them rescued, or recaptured. The smoke was uncomfortable, certainly, but Roy doubted that it would ever be their biggest concern.
After another twenty minutes or so, Roy knew he had been right. Not necessarily that the smoke wouldn't be a concern, but that it certainly wouldn't be their biggest one.
Roy was just simply too tired to maintain the level of control that he needed. The fire was spreading slowly, burning brighter and faster and heating the air around them. By now, if Roy wanted to put out one of the fires, or a specific part of one of them, he would have to put out all of them. The fire was creeping closer, and now Roy's skin was starting to tingle with heat, a problem that felt far more urgent than the smoke tightening his lungs. If his fire got close enough to singe them, and Roy had to put it out, their last hope was gone.
Ed shifted again, making an unhappy, restless sound. Roy looked down at him, his stomach sinking as he saw that Ed's arms and shoulders were red and raw. It wasn't Roy's imagination - the fire was getting too close.
"Hot," Ed whispered again. "Ngh." It looked as though he was trying to move one of his arms to shield his face, but he was too weak to make it all the way there. He abandoned the effort, letting his arm fall listlessly back to his side and coughing weakly.
Without really thinking, Roy reached out to pat Ed's shoulder, or something similarly comforting, and then he looked down and he'd pulled Ed into his arms, shielding him from the heat and smoke. Ed didn't seem to notice, but he stopped coughing, at least.
Roy wondered if he should be embarrassed. He thought that he should, probably. He'd been embarrassed the last time he'd held Ed. But now, none of that seemed to matter. It seemed very much as though he was about to die, and Ed would probably also die, and why waste energy on embarrassment at that point? Right now, all he cared about was making Ed as comfortable as he possibly could.
Roy hunched over a little, trying to provide a better shield for Ed. He was sure that he looked ridiculous, but that didn't matter either. If he could stay awake, control the fire, and keep Ed safe as long as possible, that was all he cared about.
But with each passing minute, that seemed less and less likely. The fire didn't look like it was spreading quickly, but every time Roy took his eyes off it, it seemed to grow in a matter of seconds. Either that, or Roy was losing time, which was also alarming.
Roy forgot to check his watch, so he didn't know how long it took for the fire to encircle them completely. They sat in the center of a massive ring of burning trees, and it was all Roy could do to keep their clearing safe.
The smoke had gathered slowly, but now it was thick enough that it was stinging Roy's eyes, and Roy found himself near-constantly trying to blink away a coating of tears. He wanted to pant for breath, but he knew he had to breathe as slowly and evenly as he could to get enough oxygen. Once he started coughing, he wouldn't be able to stop.
Ed had started wheezing at some point, and his breathing was shallow and labored. Roy didn't know if the smoke was bothering his eyes, since it had been so long since Ed had opened them. But he looked like he had a bad sunburn - his skin raw and inflamed with heat, lips peeling.
Even Roy found the heat uncomfortable now. But he thought if he moved enough to take off his shirt, he would pass out from the pain. And anyways, it must be protecting his skin some, right?
Roy didn't really care if the fire took his life, and as strange as it felt to say, he didn't overly care if it took Ed's life either. They must have been here for…what, an hour? And no one had come. If no one came, Ed would probably die in a few hours. Roy a little slower, but maybe that was bad. Exposure would probably be what got him, since he would have no way to hunt for food or find water, and certainly no way to actually get himself back to civilization either, even without Ed.
So Roy wasn't trying to lose control of the fire, but he thought if he were to pass out, and the fire were to spread, he wouldn't really care if the circle closed. Unfortunately, however, if Roy did pass out, that would just leave the fire to rampage throughout Northern Amestris. Roy was honestly a little surprised at how quickly and easily it had spread, and he knew if he left the fire going he could easily destroy half the forest.
So he decided that if he felt like he was about to pass out, he would try his very hardest to kill the fire before he did so. He wasn't sure if it would be possible at this point. He wasn't sure if he would have enough warning. But he had no choice but to try.
So far, the threat of them both dying, and possibly of the forest burning down around them, had given Roy enough of an edge to stay conscious, and to keep the middle of the circle clear of flames, at least. But he wasn't sure how much longer that could last. Sheer will was a pretty powerful tool, but it could only take a person so far. And Roy was running out.
Some more time passed. Roy didn't know how much. He didn't even know if Ed was still breathing, and he was too nervous to check. Black spots were dancing along the outside of his vision. His eyes kept slipping closed for longer and longer stretches. The safe circle inside the flames kept getting smaller.
"Edward, I'm sorry," Roy whispered, shaking the limp body as gently as he could. "I tried, I tried-"
And then Roy heard a voice.
"Roy!" the voice screamed. "Roy, stop this! Where are you!"
The voice was familiar. So familiar that for a split second, Roy worried it was a hallucination. But if he was hallucinating Riza, he was pretty sure she would be inside the circle of flames with him, not outside yelling his name.
He trusted Riza. Of course she'd looked, and of course she'd found them. It could be some sort of trick, but the simplest explanation was the one he wanted most badly to be true - she was outside the circle, calling to them.
"Roy, please!" she screamed.
With a great, wrenching effort, Roy killed the flames. And there she was.
It wasn't a trick, or a hallucination, or at least if it was, it was a very convincing one. It was his wife, standing at the head of a squad of Amestrian soldiers. She was sweating, and she looked panicked, and to his smoke-watering eyes, she was easily the most beautiful he'd ever seen her.
"Riza." He couldn't raise his voice enough to be able to shout, so it came out as a cracked whisper. He didn't even know if she'd heard, at first. He desperately wanted to speak to her, and not pass out, but black dots were swarming at the edges of his vision and he was nearly too weak to talk.
But it didn't matter, because she was sprinting towards him as soon as the flames died enough for her to see him, running through the last smoking embers as though they weren't even there. He wanted to warn her, tell her that the fire was still hot, not to burn herself, but now his voice didn't seem to be working at all.
And then she was there beside him, her hands on his shoulders and her face only an inch from his. "Roy, oh god, Roy, I thought I'd lost you…."
There was panic in her voice now, but there wouldn't be for long. Roy knew Riza, he could already hear her pulling herself back together. He found his strength in hers, and finally managed a whisper.
"Thank you." He couldn't say any more, but he knew that she would understand what he meant.
Riza laughed, a short, sharp, nearly hysterical sound that stopped as soon as it had started. She blinked unshed tears away from her eyes and he saw some of the tension go out of her shoulders.
"We need to get you to a hospital," she said. "You're hurt, I'm sure you-"
"Ed," Roy whispered, and he saw Riza's eyes flick down from his and widen at the sight.
"What happened to him?"
"Is he-?"
Roy didn't finish the sentence, but he didn't need to. Riza was already reaching down, feeling at his neck for a pulse. "He's alive," she whispered. "I can feel his heartbeat."
Roy could have cried with relief. He was alive, Ed was alive, and Riza was here. Roy knew he was still hurt, very badly, but they would be able to fix that. Riza would take care of them, and everything would be okay.
"What happened to the two of you?" Riza asked. Her hand cupped Roy's cheek. "I can tell he's hurt but…and you…are you alright?"
Roy tried to formulate both the thoughts and the words necessary to answer her question, but the black spots at the edge of his vision were spreading, and all of a sudden he seemed to be falling. He blinked once, twice, trying to clear them without effect. He blinked a third time, and the darkness stayed as Roy finally, at long last, lost consciousness.
Ed stood at the front door of Roy and Riza's apartment, slouching against the wall outside and trying to make it seem natural instead of like he couldn't stand up on his own. He could, mostly, it just kind of hurt.
It had been about ten days since Riza had found them in the Northern forest, or so Ed had been told. He didn't remember most of the final part of their journey, he definitely didn't remember Riza finding them, and his memory remained shaky for a few days after that. He vaguely remembered waking up in a North City hospital, very high on painkillers. The really good kind, that they hadn't been able to get in the forest. Winry had been there, which had been nice. He'd seen Roy briefly that day, but they'd both been so exhausted they'd hardly done more than wave to each other.
He'd spent a few blurry days recovering in the hospital. He hadn't needed surgery, through some miracle, and his treatment had mostly just been a matter of fighting the infection and getting his fluids back up. Roy hadn't needed surgery either, and he'd been put in a plaster cast that went from his toes all the way to his mid-thigh, holding his leg at a stiff, awkward angle. Ed had a vague memory of poking it when he'd first seen it, his high, ill brain shocked that something so funny-looking could be attached to the General.
Once they'd left the hospital, Ed and Roy had each been driven back to their own apartments in Central to finish their recovery. The ride had been rather painful, and Ed had spent as much of it as possible asleep. Ed hadn't seen Roy since then. He hadn't been very mobile, sleeping at least twelve hours a day and spending most of his time awake watching movies with Winry.
He'd heard a group of soldiers had gone into the terrorist cell to clear it out - apparently kidnapping one of their own had been the final push they'd needed to finally deal with the bad guys. For possibly the first time in his life, Ed was nothing but grateful that he wasn't a part of the action.
The past few days, Ed had started to have a little more energy. He was able to walk around unassisted, albeit not very far distances, and he could do simple tasks by himself for the first time in what seemed like ages. He was still on painkillers, but he was still sore constantly, and if he moved wrong or knocked into his healing wound, the pain would send stars in front of his vision. But he was on his feet, at least, and he'd decided that the next order of business was to visit Roy.
So he'd called up Riza and arranged a meeting - Roy was still spending most of his time asleep too, apparently - and then he'd had Winry drive him over to Roy's apartment. And now he was standing outside, waiting for someone to open the door, and wishing very much that he was sitting down instead.
Finally, Riza opened the door. "Edward!" she said warmly. "It's good to see you up and about, but you look like you're about to fall. Come in, come in."
Ed nodded gratefully, and followed Riza into the apartment.
"Roy," Riza said, leading Ed into their sitting room. "Edward is here to see you."
Roy looked like shit. He was still pale, with dark circles under his eyes and a healing cut across one cheekbone. He was propped up by a stack of carefully arranged pillows, and his leg was stretched out on the sofa. While he looked a little perkier than Ed felt, he clearly hadn't regained very much mobility. He was surrounded by a sea of garbage - half-empty glasses, snack bags, newspapers with abandoned crossword puzzles. He was unshaven, and bearing perhaps the most impressive scruff Ed had ever seen on him. Not that that was saying much. Ed figured that he probably hadn't shaved since he'd been kidnapped, which would probably put it at about two weeks - which would mean Roy had about the beard-growing abilities of a fourteen-year old boy.
Ed snickered to himself, and Roy arched an eyebrow at him. "What's so funny, Edward?"
"Your face," Ed said simply. By the time he realized that he hadn't made much sense, he didn't think that it was worth it to clarify. He was feeling a lot sharper than he had when he'd been recovering from the infection, but he was still a little muddled from the painkillers.
Roy frowned, scrubbing a hand over his patchy stubble. Apparently, Ed hadn't needed to clarify after all.
"You look worse," Roy finally snapped. "At least I, unlike you, can grow facial hair."
Ed was trying to think of a good, witty comeback to that one when he was saved by Riza sighing heavily and prodding him gently in the shoulder.
"At least sit down before you start in on each other, Edward. You look exhausted."
"You do," Roy said smugly.
"You don't look any better, Roy," Riza retorted. Ed stifled a snigger as Roy scowled, and Riza swept past them both to clear off the far end of the sofa.
"Ignore the piles of trash," Riza said, piling up an armful of bottles and wrappers and gesturing towards the cleared-off end of the couch with her foot. "It's usually very clean."
"I wasn't done with that crossword," Roy protested.
"Yes, you were," Riza said serenely, without bothering to look at the crossword in question. "Or at least, you are now. Edward, can I get you some water? Tea? Anything to eat?"
Ed wasn't nauseous anymore, or at least, nothing compared to how he'd felt in the forest, but the painkillers still made him queasy occasionally. Something must have shown on his face, because Riza nodded understandingly.
"Ginger tea?"
"Actually, that sounds great," Ed said, nodding. "Thanks."
"I'll be right back," Riza told him with a smile, once again nodding towards the sofa. Ed sat down gratefully, trying not to seem like it hurt. It did, and he was sure Roy knew, but he had his pride.
"Why are you here, Edward?" Roy asked unceremoniously.
"For Riza's tea, obviously."
Roy sighed and nodded. "She does make the best tea, I'll admit it."
Ed laughed, then regretted it as his stomach twinged. "Seriously, though, I brought you something." He took the satchel he had over his shoulder and handed it to Roy, pushing it across the couch so he didn't have to lean forward. Roy struggled a little to grab it - it was heavier than he was expecting, and he clearly still wasn't able to maneuver himself very well. But he managed to grab it and pull it over to his side of the sofa, eyeing Ed suspiciously all the while.
"What is this?" Roy asked cautiously.
"It's a present for you," Ed said. "I put it in the bag. It's not wrapped. Just take it out."
Roy reached into Ed's satchel and pulled out a book. He looked momentarily excited, or at least intrigued, but Ed felt himself starting to laugh almost immediately, and Roy's face fell when he read the cover.
"Edward," he said slowly, "what is this?"
"It's The Updated Guide to Navigational Alchemy," Ed said, completely unable to stop giggling.
"Why are you giving it to me?" Roy said. He was trying to sound annoyed, but not doing a very good job of it. Ed could tell he was amused.
"I mean, you can't even walk, so you must have all this extra time now. And you clearly need to brush up on your navigational alchemy, I mean, come on. Next time we get lost in the woods together, I expect a much better showing."
Roy spluttered angrily, clearly desperate to insult both Ed and the gift but not quite able to decide on a tack. "I don't need to brush up on my navigational alchemy…and it's not my specialty anyways…and we are not getting lost in the woods again…and…and I have hobbies, Edward…."
"Okay, okay," Ed said, still laughing. "But I'll be honest, I think you could really benefit from reading some of the stuff in Chapter Seven…."
Roy clenched his hands. "Edward, I-"
Ed sobered slightly. "I mean, we did miss the last day of the conference. I know you were excited about it. And I know this isn't the same, but I just thought you might…it was stupid anyways…."
"It wasn't your fault we missed the end of the conference, and you don't need to apologize."
"I know it wasn't my fault, bastard. And I'm not apologizing. I was just trying to make you feel better by giving you a present, something you clearly wouldn't understand because you're terrible at gift-giving."
Honestly, this was about what Ed had expected from the conversation, but the shift in mood seemed to have made Roy pensive and almost melancholy. He looked down at his bandaged leg, looked up at Ed, opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again.
"Spit it out, bastard."
"Thank you," Roy said simply. "For rescuing me at all. If you hadn't come…Riza told me she wouldn't have gotten there in time. So they would have…."
Roy trailed off awkwardly, but clearly wanted to continue. Ed nodded.
"And thank you for…you know." He gestured vaguely at Ed's stomach.
"Saving your life?" Ed prompted.
"Saving my life."
"You're welcome. And thank you for not leaving me to die in the woods. And for staying with me the whole time, even when I couldn't walk. And for, you know…burning the wound shut in the first place."
Roy sighed heavily. For a moment, there was silence.
"I brought some movies over too," Ed said. "I've already seen all of them in the past week, but I figured you had probably never seen them at all. If you're tired, I can call Winry back, but I just figured you've been trapped here a while and you may want some company…."
"Riza is excellent company," Roy said stiffly. "Will I like the movies?"
"No."
"Will I hate them?"
Ed considered. "Maybe. There's really only one way to find out."
Roy wouldn't quite look at Ed. "You can stay then. And we can watch them. I'll have Riza set them up for us."
Ed laughed, although he wasn't quite sure why. "Alright."
Roy managed to glance at Ed. "And I intend to complain the entire time."
"I would expect nothing less," Ed said, settling himself into a more comfortable position on Roy's sofa.
Ed was starting to feel a little sick again, and he was looking forward to his tea. He was also feeling pretty damn tired, and, while he hoped to avoid it, he thought there was a small chance he would fall asleep on Roy's sofa. But despite that, it was nice to be out of the house, and he was looking forward to the movies.
And also maybe the company.