Descent

Chapter Four

Ed got dressed and headed out into the kitchen, where he found Riza putting bacon and eggs on the frying pan. The bacon sizzled and the sweet aroma bacon always created floated around the room, making Edward's stomach growl. He bade her good morning and she did the same. He sat at the table and waited for the food to be finished, not really sure what else to do. It didn't take very long for the bacon and eggs to cook, and she served it up on two plates and sat down opposite him, and gave him a knife and fork. He'd never really used cutlery to eat bacon or eggs, but, out of politeness and etiquette, he used them. They ate in silence again, and when they were done Edward offered to clean the dishes, just for something to do so that he didn't feel so useless. She must have realized and allowed him to do them without argument, and he was thankful. Normally, when you were in someone else's home, they would clean he dishes, because it was their house, but he was still trying not to feel to much like he was taking advantage of her, even though she had offered and insisted. If nothing else, he could at least wash plates and forks. He reached over the table to collect her plate and cutlery, and pulled them over to himself, piling them over his plate and standing up to take them to the sink. As soon as he stood fatigue and dizziness washed over him and he swayed on the spot for several moments, waiting for the little patches of light in his vision to dissipate. When they did, he recovered his form and moved slowly to the sink, filling it with boiling hot water and dish-washing liquid and grabbing the scrubber from the hook it was hanging from above the sink.

"Ed?" Riza asked from behind him. She sounded worried.

"Yeah?" He said, looking over his shoulder at her. Her sherry eyes were narrowed and her brow was creased.

"Are you alright?" She asked him, her tone soft but at the same time not leaving room for any ind of lie on his part.

"I'm just tired is all." He said.

"Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"I didn't sleep at all."

She was silent. He knew that she knew why that was, now that he had actually stated it out loud. "Okay." She said, after along pause. "Well, I might as well get some work done. When you're finished, would you like to play a round of chess?"

"Sure." He said, and returned his attention to the plates in front of him. He was too tired to clean them efficiently and quickly, so he took his time, slowly scrubbing circles over the grease left by the bacon and the trails of egg yoke. He could hear Hawkeye's pen scratching away on paper in the next room, and he gathered she must be signing things for Mustang. That lazy bastard, he thought, making Hawkeye sign his things for him. And then he remembered it would be hard to sign documents when you were blind, and he let it go. His thoughts returned to the previous day, when Mustang had been so harsh towards him, threatening him, and he wondered what that was all about. What could possibly have led him into believing he would ever hurt her? What reason would he ever find to hurt her? Surely Mustang had reason, but Edward wanted to know why. He went a little faster washing the knives and forks, and, instead of drying them with a towel and putting them wherever it was they belonged, he let everything dry out themselves on a dish-rack, and padded barefoot into the living room, where Riza was still scratching away with her pen.

He sat silently on the couch opposite her, finding it increasingly difficult now to keep his eyes open. He was, by now, used to being tired and sleep deprived, but it was beginning to take it's toll on him, and, despite how much he didn't want to close his eyes, he found his eyes drooping more and more as the seconds of silence passed by. He was glad when Riza finished with the document she was signing and put everything aside, taking out the chess set again and setting things up. They knelt on the floor and played a game, while Riza asked him simple questions like what his favourite food was and if he had a favourite colour and did he like music. Simple questions, but the right ones. He knew she wouldn't ask anything too personal just yet. It would be going too far to do that just now, but he appreciated that she was making a bigger effort than he to make conversation.