He and Mustang left the train late in the afternoon with hunched backs and sore butts to find a small procession waiting for them on the platform. It was an incredible relief when they finally arrived and Ed got the distraction he had been hoping for. Ed sprinted forward and ducked into the dark maw just as the entrance sagged and closed up completely. Rock scraped against rock, loud enough to make his bones vibrate and his teeth rattle in his head. The blackness swallowed up his blue uniform within seconds. "We shouldn't go in there."īut Mustang was already moving, striding straight into the shaft without a single word. The darkness seemed to chase the sunlight back, spilling out of the entrance and lapping at their feet like a puddle of liquid shadow. The entrance of the mine gaped open before them, jagged stalactites hanging mere inches above their heads. He could tell that something was wrong, but if asked, he couldn't have said what. The chances of anything going horribly wrong were slim to none.īut Ed had been screwed over far too many times in his life to put his faith in chance.Įd snatched his coat up and moved to an empty seat on the other side of the car. What was he getting so worked up for? Ed had been on plenty of mine inspections, and Mustang had doubtless done the same when he was only a major. He let his eyes slide over to the colonel and had to look away again, cheeks burning when he realized Mustang was still watching him.
He didn't know how much longer he could keep the memories at bay, not with him sitting right across the way reminding him of it every two seconds. The other passengers turned their heads at his raised voice, but Ed treated both them and Mustang as statues, watching the horizon for the telltale columns of smoke that would tell him they were nearing their destination. "It's none of your damn business! Sometimes people can't sleep, Mustang! I don't have to explain myself to you!" Hostile, voracious eyes.Įd slammed his fist down on the arm of his seat so hard that the wood cracked. Did you not get any sleep last night?"Įd's eyes widened slightly at that last remark, and he cleared his throat quickly, suppressing a shiver with difficulty. "So what is it? You've barely spoken a word, and you keep spacing out. If you weren't feeling well, you should have told me before we left." "I thought you looked a little pale when we met at the station this morning," Mustang explained. This line of attack was a strange divergence from their usual banter, and Ed was instantly on his guard when Mustang leaned forward slightly and even had the gall to look mildly concerned. He had been expecting something dismissive and condescending. Like hell he was telling Mustang what had him so twitchy and out of sorts. It might have been intimidating had they been in the office with a desk between them, but Ed refused to be worn down.
"You're imagining things."īut rather than let Ed off the hook, Mustang continued to watch him with a contemplative twist to his lips.
And once Ed started thinking about it, there was no way to get it out of his head again.Įd tapped his automail foot on the floor rapidly to try and dispel some of the nervous energy. But as the hours wore on and he ran out of alchemical equations to recite, he had gradually let his guard down and allowed his thoughts to drift back to last night. Ed thought he had been doing a marvelous job of pretending the man across from him didn't exist. Unfortunately, he hadn't accounted for the train they had to take to their destination, effectively trapping the two of them in close proximity for half a day. All Ed had to do was be a good little soldier, march along at Mustang's shoulder and keep the ass-kicking to a minimum. Mine inspections were easily the most tedious, mind-numbing tasks ever conceived by man. In fact, he had told himself quite firmly when he woke up this morning that he would spend this whole damn mission ignoring Mustang. "And I was under the impression that you have a very strong aversion to everything that looks like me."Įd crossed his arms and redirected his attention to the window, cursing himself as he racked his brains for an excuse that wouldn't sound like an excuse. "You're staring at me," Mustang informed him. "Something interesting about my face, Fullmetal?"