Chapter fifty-three

Al found it to be very encouraging that Brother had made a friend that was his age. Al had been worrying about it because Ed needed friends his own age and he hadn't really been working towards getting them so far. It was understandable, though: the two people that were their options had been kind of over-shadowed by Ed's trauma. Al was the one who had really connected with Nina because Ed had spent so much of his time being terrified of Tucker and Brother just didn't seem to be "compatible" with Elicia. Maybe it was the age gap. Three and five weren't that far apart, but Ed was also nearly twice her age. Maybe it was the way she had proclaimed them to be her big brothers without Ed's consent. Ed had met her only a week after the Pentons and it would make sense that he was instinctively trying to avoid being forced into any sort of familiar relationship. He seemed highly reluctant to let her call him that. He didn't mind Nina doing it, but she had done so after over a week of knowing him and Ed felt a lot more protective of her than Elicia, probably because he had been the one to pick up on what Tucker was up to. And Ed seemed to connect with Nina to some degree because they were both about to become the unwitting victims of the twisted people calling themselves their "parents".

But for Ed to just have someone to go on a playdate with would be very good for him. Just to have a regular friend. And Al had agreed with Dad that unless either Ed or Charlie specifically asked him to join them, then the two kids were going to be playing alone. Dad had told him that Charlie's mother was absolutely thrilled about their friendship because Charlie had a hard time getting friends herself. She had a tendency to avoid large crowds and noise because she got tired from it, not unlike Brother after what he went through. She usually avoided other girls her age too and she was a lonely girl, but she found it preferable to being in large groups.

In a way, she sounded like the ideal playmate for Brother.

But that also meant that her mother had gone all the way so that all four of them were invited for dinner.

And so Al was pretty excited in a way as he stood next to Ed, Dad and Riza on the doorstep of this new house with the turtles.

Al was grateful that Dad had gone with the agreed-upon lie that Al wore his armour because he got injured in the same accident as Ed did when Ed lost his limbs and had lots of scars and burns, meaning that he preferred to wear the armour and ate at home.

Then the door was opened and a grinning redhead was standing there with a little girl peeking out from behind her left leg. She looked scared and unsure, but very sweet.

"You found us!" the woman exclaimed happily. "Hello!"

Then she gave Dad a hug, followed by Al and Riza, but she shook Ed's hand, most likely having been told that Ed didn't like strangers hugging him.

"Well, I'm Audrey! So nice to meet you two as well! I'm sorry we had to leave yesterday before we got to meet you! Well, come in, come in!"

Then she stood back to let them through, while Charlie didn't move, but just looked at Ed. "Wanna see the turtles now?"

Ed nodded and next second, the girl had run upstairs without saying a word to the rest of them.

Audrey smiled at Ed. "You just follow her, Ed, that's no problem."

And so Brother kicked off his shoes and disappeared up the stairs after checking that it was okay with Dad.

Audrey chuckled as they came into the hallway and Dad and Riza removed their shoes and coats and handed them to Audrey who was eagerly waiting with two coat hangers. "Charlie's a bit shy with new people, but she'll warm up to you!" she explained fondly as she fumbled a bit with the garments, but made it work even so.

Al closed the door behind him and turned around to find Audrey standing so that she nearly crashed into him while her head was tilted up at him. "I'm so sorry that you lost your big brother in such a way, Alphonse."

Then she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him again.

Ed had learnt a lot of new things about turtles and was watching them where they stood in the upstairs living room, listening to Charlie talk about them with enthusiasm, explaining to him how to tell Wally apart from Sebastian.

"Hey, kids: it's dinner!" a voice said behind them. Ed turned around to have his eyes fall upon a man with dark grey hair in a loose ponytail who was smiling kindly at them, just before Charlie darted out of the room past him and in the direction of the bathroom. The stranger had a thin face and square glasses and was wearing a cream-coloured knitted sweater and plain grey trousers. He looked like he was about forty. "Hi, I'm Charlie's father. I didn't get to say hello earlier because I've been busy making dinner, but it's very nice to meet you." He held out his hand and Ed went over to shake it, noticing that the skin was just a bit dry. "That's a firm handshake you've got there, you'll reach far with a handshake like that," he said, smiling. Ed had a good feeling about this man, he was infectiously calm.

"Daddy taught me. We meet lots of people so it's really practical," Ed explained.

He kneeled down in front of Ed. "He's right about that. Well, I'm Terrence and I'm a GP."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Ed said. "I'm Edward Elric-Mustang with a hyphen and I'm an alchemist."

"Charlie told me. You're really an accomplished alchemist already, that turtle was very impressive."

"Thank you, sir."

"You don't have to be so formal, just call me Terrence."

"Okay."

He got to his feet again. "Well, now that that's in order, how about that dinner?"

"Mhm." Ed nodded.

"Then after you, good sir," Terrence said, teasingly, but not the mocking kind. More like he was having fun with the wording.

Ed walked past him just as Charlie returned from the bathroom, lifting her hands up for her daddy to see. "All washed up!" she announced and then she ran down the stairs.

Terrence chuckled fondly and smiled at Ed, but there was some sadness in his eyes. "She's been very excited about your playdate, she's not too used to other kids her age, so I hope you don't find her to be rude."

"Oh… That's fine …"

Once they were done with dinner, Charlie looked at Ed's forehead with her green eyes and opened her mouth for the first time since they started eating. She seemed just as fond of eating as he was himself. "Wanna see my room now?"

"Sure!" She had taught him a lot about turtles earlier and even if she was a bit different, she was kind and smart and liked animals.

…Besides, Ed was different too, but she didn't seem to mind, even when she knew about who he used to be and that he was really fifteen.

Apparently "But you're five now" was enough for her.

And so after a thorough introduction to her collection of plush hedgehogs, they soon found themselves jumping around on pillows and chairs in the upstairs living room, playing that the floor was made of lava.