(Untitled)

[equalexchange]

Edward was miserable. Not in the emotional sense -- in that sense, he was better than he had been in a long time. No, today what was getting to him was the heat. He hid himself inside of the cart he shared with Moril (and now his brother), his right arm slung over a wine jug to hold the metal away from his body. He grumbled, and shifted, trying

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[armoredboy]

Al, on the other hand, was feeling great in most senses of the word. He was rested and, as far as he cared, home. He'd stripped down to his pants and rolled them to the knee, and gone out. He'd found an aloe plant and a water fall, and had brought back a bottle of the cool water and few snipped leaves of the plant, for Ed. He clambered into the cart, smiling widely.

"Brother!" he called, then pulled up short, looking sympathetic. "Still miserable?"

[equalexchange]

Edward shifted again, resting his back against the wall. He stared at Al with half lidded eyes, and then pushed his bangs out of his face. "This sucks," he grummbled in reply.

[armoredboy]

Al smiled sympathetically.

"This heat is really unfair! It's so different then Liore and the desert around it! Even Teacher's island, the air wasn't so heavy. How's your automail doing, Brother?" he asked sitting near him, cross legged, and offering over the bottle of water.

[equalexchange]

Edward took the bottle with his left hand, and experimentally flexed his right hand. "Still functional, atleast." he half-mummbled. He pressed the bottle to his lips, and took a gratifying gulp of water. It helped, for a moment, feeling the cool liquid wash down his throat. He offered Al a little bit of a smile. "Thanks."

[armoredboy]

Al nodded.

"Mmn. This helps, too," he said, offering up the slightly oozing leaf.

"It's supposed to cool your skin. Mostly if you've been burned, but I thought the heat's bad enough, it'll work anyway. Maybe around your shoulder?" he pressed, knowing that most of the misery was stemming from Ed's automail.

[equalexchange]

Edward set down the bottle of water, and then took the leaf, eyeing it strangely. Though he hated admitting that it was really that bad, he was willing to try anything. Especially if the weather was going to persist like it had for the post month. He'd already chalked up the snow storm to a Freak Occurance.

Smearing some of the aloe onto his fingertip, he tenatively applied it around the edge of his shoulder where steel wrapped around scarred flesh. It was surprisingly cool, but a bit on the sticky side, and it's effects wore off rather quickly. He frowned, and rubbed some of the aloe between his finger tips. "I think it's primarily a type of moisturizer," he observed.

[armoredboy]

Al frowned.

"Okay. I'll look for something better tomorrow." Satisfied with that plan, he nodded.

[equalexchange]

"You don't hafta do that," Edward insisted, waving his hand dismissively. "Really, it's not that bad."

He lied. At times it was downright unbearable, and he couldn't wait for night to fall. But Al didn't need to worry about that. He'd been through worse.

[armoredboy]

Al's eyebrows quirked faintly upward as they drew together.

"Brother, I don't think I believe you that much."

[equalexchange]

Edward choked a little bit. He passed it off as clearing his throat. "Really, Al, it's not that big of a deal. Ya know, a little stifling, and... ya know, kinda a pain, but, it's nothing I can't live with." He offered his brother a grin. It was forced though, and faded quickly, as he slumped back against the wall. It was hard to avoid the temptation to simply dump the bottle of water over his head.

[armoredboy]

Al looked worried.

"There are showers in that compound. You could go take a cold one, it might make you feel better."

[equalexchange]

Edward let out a sort of over-exaggerated groan, rolling onto his back, and lying with his arms and legs strateched out. "Yeah... maybe later..." the idea of going outside was not terribly appealing. "Ya know, it'd be a lot easier if I could just go dump myself in the ocean." He scowled at the ceiling in frustration.

[armoredboy]

"The salt and the sand wouldn't be any good for your arm, would it?" Al asked, sighing too, and tucking his knees up, crossing his arms over them and resting his chin on the bend of his wrist. This was a problem that needed solving.

[equalexchange]

Edward nodded to the best of his ability. "I already had my arm and foot start making weird noises and stick because I got sand in the joints." He rolled over onto his side. "Lucky thing there's atleast one decent mechanic around here."

[armoredboy]

Al brightened.

"Is there? Oh, good! They work with automail?"

[equalexchange]

"Well, he never had before," said Edward, shifting again, this time into his back again so that he could spread his arm out over the wooden floor. "But he seemed to pick up it pretty quickly just by looking at it."