Pills and Buttons

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"P-promise?" Edward was shaking, fumbling for Roy's collar. "You have to promise me!" Blood stained tears were rolling down his cheeks, his usually golden orbs now dull grey and white. "Please."

"I promise, Fullmetal, I promise." Mustang is taken back when Edward finds the strength to pull him closer. The young alchemist wraps his arms around his shoulders, face pressed flush against his neck. He could feel the warm tears on his flesh but ignored it, opting to sitting on the edge of the bed. His arms found Ed's body, curling around him protectively and a bit possessively.

They sat in silence a moment, Edwards' hands tracing the soft blue fabric and buttons on the familiar military jacket. He had to rely on his hands and ears, his eyes and nose failing when he needed them. He was still shaking, his body a leaf in the wind that clung for dear life to a tree branch. "Tell me where it hurts." Roy's breath was gentle and hot on his cold, slightly dead skin and the blonde shutters.

"My legs... eyes, my forehead... nose, my shoulders." His bottom lip was quivering again, and Ed felt like crying. He was a fucking mess. "Everything feels heavy and my whole body is pulsating."

"Your heart is working too hard." Mustang runs his fingers through Edward's golden strand on silky hair, pressing his cheek to the other's temple. "Relax, everyone is okay and no one will hurt you-."

"What happened to Luna?" Edward remembered about the red head, memories of her body falling over each time she was shocked. "Is she okay? He hurt her too, shocked her and beat her-." He started digging his hands into his hair, breathing hard.

"Sh, she's okay Ed. I promise she's okay." Roy reaches for the box Alphonse told him held the button she gave him. "She said that she wanted this back, right?" He pressed the smooth silver carving into the alchemist's palm, watching his suddenly lively eyes flicker around the room for a minute.

Fullmetal took a moment to reply. "She said that... three years ago." He swallowed thickly around the growing ball of emotion that hung in his throat. "She said it was from her sister's jacket... she's a Colonel, like you." He calms his breathing, trying to do the same with his pulsing heart as Roy softly braids his hair back. "She told me stories and I told her about all of you guys." The boy let out a shuttered sigh, closing his eyes even if he would still see darkness when he opened them. "I told her about you, and Riza, and Hayate and Al's cats." Edward smiled, laughing a bit. "I listened to her stories, about her mother, sister. They even have a dog I would pet. She would braid my hair differently every day, read me chapter of a book too. We were just finishing Die For Me, which is really good." Ed pushed a piece of stray hair back out of the way, pulling the sheets up into his lap. His fingers felt around on his thigh, touching the soft flesh and then the hard steel and carbon of his automail.

"What else did she do?" Roy wanted to keep him talking, get him to relax before letting Al and Winry know he was awake. If he wanted to see them, that was. "I haven't had the wonderful opportunity to meet her."

"She let me braid her hair. It's always been really soft and she has so much of it." He leans back into Roy's hands as he finishes the braid. "I could braid about fifty strands in an hour. It took a while to give her dreadlocks." He brushed away a strand tear that clung to his chin.

"How many books did you finish?" Roy offered, sensing the young blonde needed the push.

"Die For Me would be the 87th. She had so many about the MPs, it was really fun to read them."

Mustang mentally snapped his fingers in an idea. "Would you like for me to read the rest of that book to you?" He could ask Armstrong to retrieve it from the basement.

"That would be wonderful." His eyes lit up like a little kid in a candy store. "She would also sneak me some different treats or other things that would keep my hands occupied when my muscles started to spam. Luna was good to me and she would make different voices with her own." He laughed kinda loudly. "She could sound perfectly like you, and I would make her scripts and I pretended I was back here with all of you." Mustang felt his heart clench, sorta glad for all these little things that kept him sane. Luna deserves the Metal of Honor for all of this, truly.

"Well, there is only one of me and only one of you, and Al and Riza. I don't think anyone would want a second Riza anyway." Edward started to laugh again. "She's scary." Roy joined his laughter, absentmindedly tucking a stray hair back into place. Ed didn't seem to notice.

"Can you let Al in? I missed him." Mustang squeezed his shoulder, nodding. Then he remembered himself.

"Yeah, I call him in." Roy stood, noticed how cold it was in the room and had an idea all at once. He turned to his subordinate and posed a question. "Do you remember where Luna kept your books?" The Flame Alchemist shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over Ed's shoulders. He jumped but immediately calmed down when he realised what it was.

"In a cabinet underneath the coffin box thing I slept in and was held in. She would always lock it too. The key is around her neck but she gave me the second one." Edward felt around his neck for something that wasn't there. "W-where's the key? I wear it everywhere." He started to panic and Roy pushed a button on the side of the bed. More morphine flooded Ed's veins.

"I'll find it, I promise. And I will read you that book, only if you explain the beginning to me." Roy flashed a smile, the slightly sleepy boy smiling back without realising.

"Course." His words were slurred a bit, and his eyelids drooped.

"Good night, Fullmetal."

"Good night, pony boy." He dropped back into the pillows, leaving Roy stunned.

Pony boy? He thought with a snort as he shut the lights down and pulled out his phone. He pressed five, Al's speed dial. That's a new one. "Yeah Al? He was awake before. Did he have a key around his neck at any time?"