Now, looking at the visage in front of him, Edward was reminded of his altered appearance. Except...he knew that what he was looking at couldn't be his own reflection. Edward scowled -- his eyes squinting shut from annoyance. Balling his raised fists he shouted, "Aargh! Why can't I grow any taller?!"
Envy was still wearing the coat his father had bought for him, and he kept his hair in the ponytail. He had heard Alphonse's voice from behind his closed door and came outside to check, only to have Edward catch sight of him. Envy looked at Edward with a bewildered expression, unsure of what had caused the latter's random and incoherent outburst. He surmised that Edward's fever had returned and walked over to check -- placing a hand on his little brother's forehead.
The younger Elric flinches from the skin-to-skin contact. "Don't touch me!" He swats away the pale-colored hand and marches down the flight of stairs, leaving his older brother behind to watch after his descending figure.
***
"Now was it so hard to put on some dry clothes?" Winry asked, taking note that Edward had changed into a new attire as he made his way into the kitchen.
Ed's eyes traveled from Winry to Pinako. "Winry, so you and your grandmother are staying for dinner, huh?"
"That is correct. Your father invited us over tonight. Speaking of which, where is your father?" Pinako inquires, directing her question to both Ed and Al.
"He said he wanted to work on something in the basement. I already told him that dinner's ready. He should be here any minute now," the younger brother explained.
On the other side of the wall, unbeknownst to those in the kitchen, Envy swiftly departs from the scene.
In no time at all, the Homunculus emerges from the basement, carrying a surprised Hohenheim over one shoulder.
Multiple pairs of eyes looked up. Some blinked. Edward had his mouth wide open. They all watched as Envy plopped Hohenheim down into an empty chair at the kitchen table.
The man fumbles to readjust his glasses before taking in the scene. "Oh! I'm terribly sorry! I was so caught up in my work I completely forgot about the time." He chuckles sheepishly.
It takes a moment for everyone to come to their senses.
***
The hosts and their guests were seated at the dinner table. Edward had chosen to sit at the edge, far away from where his parent and older sibling were.
Pinako looks up from her meal at the pale-skinned boy; who kept his long, dark hair tied back but had left his coat upstairs.
"William, is it?"
A pair of light black, purplish eyes gaze up at the old woman.
"I'm happy to see you back on your feet. Since I have the chance to see you in better light now, you do look a lot like Edward."
The aforementioned blond cringes. "What?! He does not! You need new glasses, Old Woman!"
Pinako blinks.
"Hmm...you're right, Edward. I'm sorry. I misspoke." The elderly surgeon turns to Envy again. "I meant to say that Edward looks a lot like you."
Edward's mouth opens wide.
"Try my cooking, Ed!" Alphonse shoves a chicken drumstick into Edward's mouth, earning him an angry look from the latter. The act however, did serve its purpose, for Edward kept quiet while brooding and munching on his drumstick.
Pinako turns to the master of the house. "By the way, Hohenheim, I was at Trisha's grave earlier and saw some fresh flowers there. Was that your doing?"
"Ah, yes. I went to see Trisha before heading into town." The man turns to his eldest son. "I also brought William to formally meet his stepmother."
Edward stops chewing momentarily -- his grip tightening on the bone of the chicken leg as his ears prick up.
***
The blueberry pie that Hohenheim and Envy had brought back was served for dessert. As Edward was given a piece of the pie, a peculiar thing happened.
Envy grabbed his utensil and took a forkful of Edward's pie for himself.
"Hey!"
The livid blond watched as Envy consumed his piece of pie.
"It's not poisoned," the pale-skinned boy says, after chewing and swallowing the sweet treat.
"Humph!" Edward quickly swaps out his piece of pie for Envy's uneaten piece. He stabs his fork in it and takes a big bite before anyone could say a word.
***
Another peculiar event took place after dessert was finished. After putting his tableware in the kitchen sink, Hohenheim felt a tug on his arm and before he knew it, the man was standing in a hunched over position -- the front of his body resting against Edward's back.
"Son, what are you doing?" Hohenheim asks in bewilderment.
"You said you had work to do, right? I'm taking you back to the basement," Edward says -- straining under his father's weight.
"But Edward, I can walk there on my own. You don't have to carry me."
Edward's face turns red. He continues to strain in his attempt to lift his father off the ground. All eyes are fixated on the two of them.
"Please, Son. Put me down. You might get hurt."
A sudden sound of exclamation emitted from Edward, who toppled forward onto the hard wooden floor -- his father falling on top of him.
An audible cracking sound was heard.
"Ahhhh!" Edward screamed.
"I'm sorry, Son!"
***
"Honestly, Edward! I don't know what you were thinking!" an exasperated Winry says as she slaps a hot towel onto the former's lower back area.
"Ouch! Easy on that, will ya?!" Edward cried. He was lying belly-down on the sofa. His shirt had been pushed up so Winry could administer first aid on him.
"It wouldn't hurt so much if you would hold still!"
"Well I wouldn't be like this if the old man hadn't put his kneecap on my spine!" He winces as another spasm of pain surfaces.
"Good thing there's no broken bones. But at the very least, you'll have to lie down for the rest of the evening."
"You mean I gotta stay here until morning."
"Uh-huh."
"Ugh!" Edward's next words are unintelligible.
***
Winry and Pinako had departed from the house, and Edward was left alone in the living room. The hot compress had been removed and his shirt had been pulled back down. Before she left, Winry had instructed Edward not to move from the sofa. She handed the alchemist a pillow and draped a blanket over him. He would have to sleep there on his stomach that night to allow his aching back to heal.
After cursing at his terrible luck, the young man's mouth became dry. He reached out for the glass of water that had been left for him on the coffee table -- flexing his fingers out as far as he could -- but he couldn't reach far enough.
The next thing Edward knew, another set of fingers had wrapped themselves around the glass of water -- lifting it closer to Edward's line of vision.
Angry, golden eyes met a pair of pale black, almost violet-colored eyes.
"I'm not thirsty," Edward stated as he turned to hide his head in the back of the soda.
Envy still held the glass suspended in the air, hoping for a change of mind from Edward. A few seconds later, when no response came, the dark-haired boy placed the glass of water back onto the table and departed from the living room.
About a minute elapsed before some type of movement came from the boy on the couch. He turned his head around and scanned the living room before resting his eyes on the glass of water, which he noted had been placed closer to the edge of the table now. Thank goodness, for the young man was indeed thirsty.
Unbeknownst to Edward as he was quenching his thirst, his older brother stood nearby -- silently watching the blond from the hallway with a slight smile on his face.
***
All was quiet in the Elric household, save for the sound of light footsteps descending the staircase.
Hohenheim treaded across the floor as quietly as he could in his slippers. The man had woken up during his sleep to check on Edward's condition.
Now, peering into his second child's face, the father noted that his son's discomfort had eased, for the latter's facial expression was tranquil as he slept -- with one arm dangling over the edge of the sofa and the other one tucked underneath his pillow. Smiling, Hohenheim bent over to pull the covers up to Edward's shoulders. Then he reached up and lightly tousled the latter's hair.
As the man straightened his posture, he took note of something -- or rather, someone -- in a dark corner of the living room behind the sofa. Hohenheim walked over to the edge of the room, where he found his eldest son lying curled up on the floor. Envy was fast asleep -- his new coat folded up underneath his head in place of a pillow. He had removed the elastic band from his hair, allowing it to flow freely down his back and across one shoulder.
Hohenheim got down on one knee beside Envy. You were worried about him too, huh?
The man smiled -- brushing back the long strands of hair from his boy's face. He took a quick look around the room from where he knelt, but did not find what he was looking for. So he took off his night robe and draped it over his slumbering child. The father bent down to gently kiss the top of his child's forehead before departing from the living room.
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