Chapter Text
“I thought you said you knew where you were going.”
“Shut the fuck up, Mustang,” Ed snarled. “Al an’ I grew up in these woods. I know ‘em like the back of my hand.”
“Alphonse grew, certainly, but I think you’re overstating just a b—“
“I swear to all that is holy I will leave you here to die if you finish that fucking sentence.”
Roy leapt at the opportunity. “So you admit that dying is an option? As in, we are so tragically lost that if you were to leave me here, the elements would certainly do me in before I could find civilization or before civilization could find me?”
“No, I mean that you would be tragically lost without me, a person who knows exactly where we are, you smug bastard.”
Or, well. Maybe Ed didn’t know exactly where they were, but he’d spent enough time in these woods that he was confident he could find their way out, even if everything did look overgrown and wrong and different from the way things had looked when he and Al were kids.
“I would be tragically lost without you every day of my life, my love,” Roy said, clasping a hand over his heart.
“Fucking save it, you’re already in the doghouse from that short joke.”
“You wouldn’t let me finish the short joke, Edward.”
“For your own goddamn safety, Mustang, and don’t forget it.”
Roy heaved a dramatic sigh and fell back into step next to Ed, watching with a weary misery as the same lightning-damaged tree they’d passed earlier came back into view and Ed winced. Maybe they were lost, but only a little and really, it wasn’t anything Ed couldn’t handle. Besides, it was almost a blessing. Their extended trek was saving them from an afternoon of watching Al and Winry make puppy eyes at each other from across Winry’s work bench while she hurled vague threats Ed’s way over the state of his remaining automail. A little bit of aimless hiking was a balm in comparison.
They walked on in silence for a bit longer, Ed desperately seeking out any familiar landmark and repeatedly failing. He stopped when they reached a small clearing and turned to Roy.
“You got your gloves with you?”
Roy frowned. “Of course. Why?”
“It’s getting dark and we’re probably gonna need a fire,” Ed mumbled, looking down and kicking at the dirt. “We’re maybe just the tiniest bit turned around.”
Roy arched an elegant eyebrow. “Then what’s that?” he asked, pointing through the tree-line to a row of small houses just barely visible in the distance.
Ed whipped around and followed Roy’s gesture with his eyes. “The village, of course,” he said. “Just like I planned. I was only jokin’ about the fire.”
“Of course,” Roy agreed in a tone that very much implied he didn’t.
"And you doubted me!” Ed accused, starting off in the direction of the little town.
“Forgive me for finding the idea of spending a night lost in the woods distasteful,” Roy said, following closely behind him. “Although…”
A pair of arms seized Ed around the waist and turned him on the spot, tugging him close.
"I can’t think of a better companion for the task.”
“Sap,” Ed accused, hiding his fond little smile in Roy’s shoulder. “Come on, you can feel me up later. We’re gonna miss dinner if we hang around here too much longer.”
“A tragedy,” Roy agreed, burying his nose in Ed’s golden hair. “I’d hate to deprive you.”
“Damn right you would.” Ed allowed himself to be held just a moment more before pulling away from the other man. He grabbed his hand and tugged him forward. “C’mon, bastard, before we lose anymore daylight.”