a joy hard learned/the first cringe of morning
chapter five of low lamp light/soothes the soul
"Quit talkin' with your mouth full, idiot," Ed calls out. Havoc startles and nearly chokes, swallowing roughly and coughing a couple times before he catches his breath. "Geez, Chief, you don't gotta yell." He and Hawkeye share an unimpressed glance, and Ed rolls his eyes. "I didn't even yell that time, bastard." "Hey," Roy injects, that trademark smirk— that Ed hates and has fiercely missed— tugging at the corner of his mouth, "I thought 'bastard' was my name." Everyone breaks out into chuckles, even Hawkeye. "Shut the hell up," Ed laughs, crossing the room. "You're not the only bastard in my life and you know it." Roy splays his hand across his chest. "I am wounded," he says dramatically. "I am hurt. All the years I've known you, and I'm not your one and only bastard ?" Grinning, Ed swats at the side of his head. "You're so stupid," he says. He'd intended it to come out snippier, but even he can hear that he just sounds fond. Roy looks up at him, then, and Ed can still see the faint evidence of the pain he's in: he's still holding himself with tension, weight focused on his left side, but he's smiling. He's smiling and laughing and smirking and teasing Ed and talking with the others and he's started to relax, as much as he can with how much his hip must hurt.
