The Pen is Mightier! (penismightier) wrote in chaotic_library, @ 2013-02-17 19:19:00 |
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Current music: | Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts |
Entry tags: | ed x riza, edward elric, fma, fma: alternate anime timeline, fma: alternate post-anime timeline, fma: alternate timeline, fma: anime, fma: post-anime, het, multi-parter, novella, pg-13, post-series, riza hawkeye, yuuo, yuuo: fma |
[Edward Elric/Riza Hakeye; PG-13] That Summer: Chapter 2
Character/Series: Edward Elric/Riza Hawkeye; Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)
Rating: PG-13
Notes: AU to EoS. Generally, assume that Ed never went to Germany and the military group stayed status quo.
Title: That Summer Chapter 2: I'm All Alone And I Need You Now
Author: yuuo
Word Count: 3457
Summary: "Goddamn, I need a shower," Edward griped as he stepped into the house, rubbing his neck with his discarded shirt.
It's a quarter after one,
I'm all alone and I need you now.
Said I wouldn't call,
But I lost all control,
And I need you now.
And I don't know how I can do without,
I just need you now.
-Lady Antebellum
"Goddamn, I need a shower," Edward griped as he stepped into the house, rubbing his neck with his discarded shirt. "I don't care how chilly it is out there, work hard enough and you sweat. I feel disgusting."
It'd been a week already and Edward was still getting down to the aquifer, trying not to disrupt what was down there too much, and having to go through layers of harder substances that didn't want to dig out. The water table was, sadly, dry, so to the Ogallala it was.
Riza smiled in amusement, not looking up from where she was preparing dinner. Which amounted to soup, she wasn't much of a creative cook. "You say that every day," she said. "You can sponge yourself off in the bathroom and hang your clothes to dry over the shower rod."
"Yeah, I know."
Riza looked up and froze. Aside from Alex, who was a bit on the overdone side, she'd never seen a shirtless man that was so... built. It was incredibly attractive, scars and automail and all, and it made her blush, the brief thoughts that flitted through her head at the sight of him.
He's too young for you, she reminded herself angrily. And he's probably got someone back home. His age and looks, it'd be hard for him to not have someone waiting back home for him.
Besides, if something ever came of her sudden infatuation, he'd probably pester her to death about giving up on rehabilitating her hip. And she wasn't ready to give up on that yet. Roy still needed her.
Her annoyance at herself for those thoughts simmered right along with the soup. She stirred it furiously, nearly splashing it out on the stove. Why was she having those thoughts anyway? She was just lonely out there, that was all. No man had ever shown interest in her before, why would someone like Edward? Even if he didn't already have someone, why would he be interested in a crippled old dog of the military?
"Hey, careful there," Edward's voice said behind her. "You're splashing the food."
She jumped, whirling to face him and pulled her hip in the process. She grabbed the counter to keep from going down, crying sharply as pain radiated out from her hip up to her ribs and down her leg to her knee.
Edward's arm shot out and caught her before she went down, holding her up and tight against him. "You okay?" Concern laced his voice like a welcome balm, despite her pride's refusal to accept it.
"I'm fine," she said, slowly righting herself in his arms. His embrace was the kind you could melt into, and her face felt like it was on fire. "I'm fine, please don't be concerned. I'm fine." She pulled out of his grip, pain still radiating like fire along her whole right side. She gripped the counter tightly, trying to will away the pain.
"No, you're not," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Riza, come on, come sit down, I can finish dinner."
Her stubborn pride felt foolish in face of his concern, concern from such a beautiful man, beautiful in every sense of the word. But she couldn't just crumple for him, she wouldn't crumple for anyone, she had to get back to her former position, she wasn't useful for anything else. What could she possibly offer Edward but grief?
"I told you, Edward, I am fine."
He scowled. "Riza, goddamn your pride, no you're not. Come on, come sit down."
She felt herself tearing up in frustration as she slowly let him help her into a chair. Pain continued to tear apart her hip, and her breath hissed through her teeth as she tried to control it. "I'm fine, I can do this," she insisted quietly, voice strained with pain.
Edward crouched down in front of her. "Riza, it's okay to accept help," he said. "I have to sometimes, even with automail. I'm not without my troubles because of my own handicaps. There is nothing wrong with being unable to do everything yourself."
Now she did tear up in frustration. "You don't understand," she said quietly. "I have to get back there, he needs me."
Ed was quiet a second. "You love him?"
That question caught her off-guard, sent her mind reeling. "Not like that, but yes, I do. I want to protect him, and I can't do that if I don't get over this."
"Riza, he has a new adjutant," Ed said. "You're needed more as his friend now, and that's no less important. And as his friend, you should take care of yourself so you can be there for him as he needs you."
A friend. She could be his friend and still protect him, couldn't she? "I have to get back, Edward. I don't expect you to understand why."
He didn't say anything for a moment, staring at her with those intense gold eyes that made her feel exposed, like he could see through her bravada to the naked truth that she kept from everyone. I am useless if I cannot protect him. I have nothing else to offer anyone. For an irrational moment, she almost said it out loud, almost confided in him. It was foolish, he'd only been there a week, she couldn't have let him in that far already.
But she was so lonely.
He finally broke contact with a sigh. "You sit. I'll get you some aspirin and tend to dinner. And don't argue with me on this one."
She hung her head like a scolded child. "All right," she conceded. He had so much power over here. It'd been a week! What was wrong with her? Loneliness, that was all. Well, no more of that nonsense. She'd let him have his way this one time, but only because, if she were honest with herself, her hip was in too much pain for her to move.
She took the aspirin with a glass of muddy water as he brought it to her, then waited silently while he served up the soup. "Thank you, Edward," she said, trying to distance herself with her tone.
He sat down across from her, watching her curiously. "Why're you trying to shut me out?" he finally asked.
She flushed. What was it about the men in her life being able to read her thoughts? Roy was the same way.
"I'm not trying to," she protested, her tone clipped and cool, or at least she hoped it was. "I was saying thank you."
Edward looked down at his soup. "If you say so," he said, starting to eat.
Damnit. It was either give in, which she simply couldn't do, or hurt his feelings, and that tore at her. She didn't intend to make him feel bad, but she had to protect herself somehow. Falling for a man like Edward didn't take much effort nor that much time, and it scared her.
They ate in silence, and he cleaned up as she struggled to her feet. Her hip still hurt, very badly. She hoped she could climb the stairs to get to bed. Well, no help for it. She had to, or she'd be sleeping on the couch, and that made her hip worse. Usually, in this position, she crawled up the stairs, but she would never get away with that with Edward around.
"I'm going to bed early, I hope you don't mind," she said, holding all her weight on her cane.
He watched her. "All right," he said, not moving. Good, he wasn't trying to follow her.
She limped, moreso than usual, to the stairs in the living room leaving him behind in the kitchen. She glanced back toward the kitchen one time to make sure he hadn't followed her, then started up the stairs.
Oh holy hell, that hurt. No, there was no way she could walk up those stairs. She'd wrenched her hip too hard. Damnit. She looked again towards the kitchen, then reluctantly, slowly, carefully, got down on her hands and knees and started climbing the stairs, resisting the urge to cry every time she had to move her leg on her bad side.
She'd only gotten a quarter of the way up the stairs before strong arms grabbed her and hauled her up. She startled, then started to cry as Edward carefully adjusted her in his arms, carrying her up the stairs. "I can do this," she said past a frustrated sob.
"Riza, there's nothing wrong with accepting help," he told her. "I'm not helping out of pity, but because you're my friend."
She clung to him, wishing desperately she didn't need his help, wishing desperately she weren't that close to him, wishing desperately she could just send him home and return to how she'd been, working towards getting better. And wishing just as desperately that she didn't know that Edward was right; she'd never just 'get over' this injury, it'd haunt her the rest of her life.
She felt so useless.
He set her down in her room. "I'll see you in the morning, Riza. I expect you to ask for help getting downstairs if you need it."
She nodded, rubbing her eyes to wipe away the tears. He left, and she changed into her nightgown and crawled into bed, carefully laying on her good side.
Someday, she had to get over this. She couldn't live like this, relying on everyone else to do a simple thing like climb the stairs. Someday, she had to. She didn't know what else to do.