Over the next few weeks, you and Alphonse grew closer and closer. Edward and Winry appeared to be growing on each other as well, but it was a lot more subtle. Most of the time you two could be found together in the library, reading books and sitting in silence. It was a comfortable silence, but it was silence all the same. Both of you secretly wanted to talk more than you had been, but neither one of you wanted to interrupt the other's 'reading time'.
Today was no different. Both of you were sitting in chairs facing a similar direction, at angles to each other so you could easily see each other. Your eyes scanned the paragraph on the page for the third time in a row, yet you still hadn't been able to focus on it. You closed your book and looked over to Alphonse when you realized your reading was getting absolutely no where.
Metal clanged as he hurriedly moved to look back down at the paperback in his hands. He had been staring at you when you weren't looking. You couldn't help but giggle at his flustered movements.
"I-is something wrong (Y/n)?" Al tried to play off the loud and obvious movement he had made. He wasn't doing a very good job of acting cool.
"Nothing, I just can't seem to focus on what I'm reading," you assured him.
"Any idea why?"
You cheeks became dusted in a light pink color, and you looked down at the floor. You did know why you couldn't focus. Alphonse was distracting you just by being there.
'Why can't I focus with him in here? Is it because I want to talk to him? Or could it be,' you shook you head slightly, your (s/c) cheeks returning to their normal hue.
"I think I might be bored. Would you mind talking with me?"
"Of course I don't mind, (Y/n)," Al sounded quite pleased.
'Perhaps he wanted to talk as well,' you thought to yourself.
"What do you want to talk about?" You asked him.
"U-um," Al looked around, trying to think of what to ask you. He'd wanted this chance for a while now, but when the opportunity arrose, all the questions he had thought of disappeared from his brain. "Do you like cats?"
"Do I like cats?" You repeated back to him.
He nodded his head, unsure of himself.
"Well yeah! I love cats! I used to have two cats named Puff and Spook. Apparently Spook used to play fetch when she was a kitten, and I remember she was really tolerant of my antics. She'd let me pick her up and everything." You looked down at the ground sadly, bittersweet memories of your childhood pets returning to you. "But, then we had to put them down, because they were old and in pain. I remember I cried a lot when we did that."
(A/N- True story. I loved those cats so much.)
"I-I'm sorry," Alphonse apologized.
You looked back up at him, surprised.
"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault they got old."
"I brought it up without knowing. It brought back some sad memories, a-and I didn't know-"
"It's fine Al. It's better to remember both the happy and sad memories than forget them both. They make you who you are," you cut him off. You stood from your seat and went to sit down next to Alphonse in the larger chair he was sitting in. As you sat down, you noticed Al's gray face had a pink tint to it.
"Th-that's a good way of thinking about it. Um, is there anything you wanted to ask me?"
You thought for a moment, until a question popped into your head.
"How does your helmet blush when it's made of metal? A-and, what's it like not being able to feel anything?"
At the first question, Al's helmet only grew to a darker pink. He did his best to stutter out an answer.
"W-well, I guess b-because my soul is a-attached to this armor, i-it can reflect my emotions. I don't really know. But since my facial expression can't change, and I can't really show my emotions any other way, I'm okay with being able to blush. And, not being able to feel is, different. Y-you can't feel your muscles moving at all. You just think it and it happens. The only way I can even tell I'm moving, is by hearing my body clink."
"I'm gonna have to disagree with you on part of that," you said as he finished.
"W-what!? How!?"
"I've noticed you show your emotions through body language as well. When you're sad you tend to look at the ground. When you're happy you look up, or skyward. And when you're embarrassed you look everywhere but the person you're talking to. You might not have a body, but you still physically act human."
Al's blush increased in color as you spoke.
"You figured all that out just by watching me?"
"Well yeah," your own face reddened as you realized how creepy that sounded. "Y-you also tend to have your fists clenched." Might as well tell him all the things you had noticed.
"That's the first time anyone has told me that. And the first time anyone's told me I still act human."
"R-really? Because for a big suit of armor, you sure act adorable. I mean cute! I mean, I'm gonna go get blankets so we can build a fort in here!" You rushed out into the hall to get the required materials for said blanket fort, face as red as a tomato. You had been thinking of building a pillow fort earlier, and you would take any excuse to leave the room at the present time.
After you left the room, Alphonse remained where he was, looking at the place you had exited the room from. He was shocked anyone could think he was cute in his current state, let alone adorable. Your hurried exit accompanied by your pretty, shy, blushing face was making his heart beat race at a mile a minute. Or rather, it would be if he physically had one.
'(Y/n) said I was cute. (Y/n) said I was cute,' he kept repeating in his mind.
His train of thought was broken when the library door creaked open. Your arms were loaded with blankets, pillows stacked high in front of your face. Even your face was covered with a blanket. Which meant you couldn't exactly see where you were going.
"I found the stuff for the fort Alpho-that's a table," you interrupted yourself, running directly into a table in the room. You stepped to the side, only to run into it a second time.
Alphonse chuckled at your confusion, standing up and walking over to you. He carefully placed his hands on your shoulders and led you to your seat, since he could see over the pile thanks to his tall stature.
"Thanks Al, I legitimately can't see anything right now," you said.
"No problem. Sometimes this body's pretty useful." A few seconds of silence proceeded his comment, then he asked, "So why did you want to build a fort?"
"Well, it's something I used to do all the time when I was little, and I never really got tired of it. A-and I thought maybe you'd want to build it with me."
Al seemed surprised, but then excitedly said, "I'd love to! But, what are we gonna use as the structure to keep it all up?"
You rubbed the back of your neck, a nervous laugh escaping.
"Just sit where you want the fort to be, and I'll do the rest."
He shrugged slightly, but went over to a good place for the fort and sat down.
"Got all the books you want to read?" You asked.
He leaned over and got his stack of books he had placed down earlier, then sat back up straight. Looking at you, he gave a curt nod.
"Alright," you ran over towards him with a blanket in you hands, holding it similarly to a net. You promptly threw it over Al, who let out a surprised exclamation. "FORT TIME!"
"(Y/n)! Why did you throw it over me!?"
"Um, you're, uh... You're kinda the main structure."
"The structure!? Is that why you wanted to build a pillow fort with me?" He asked, sounding hurt.
"Of course that's not the only reason! It just happens to be a tactical advantage," you said, throwing another blanket over him. After a few times of this, and adjusting some pillows on the outside, you grabbed you stack of books and a pillow, heading into the cavern of fabric.
"I've found the center of the fortress!" You shouted when you reached the inside of the fort. You sat down and inched closer to Al. He stayed where he was, since any movement from him could cause the whole thing to come crashing down.
"What do we do now?" He asked.
"Now?" You repeated back to him. "Now we read." You sat cross legged and put your elbows on your legs, you hands on your face, and looked at him eagerly.
He stared back at you, unsure what you were waiting for.
"Well, are you gonna read me a story or not?"
"S-story?" He asked.
"Yeah, a story."
"I-I'm not that good at reading in front of other people," he explained.
"Neither am I. I have an idea. How about you read me a story, then I'll read you a story. Sound good?" You gave him the best puppy-dog eyes you could and stared at him intensely. Eventually he gave in, sighing.
"Okay, but just one story."
"Yay!" You cheered, throwing your hands up and nearly knocking the entire structure down. Al laughed at your childish action, then pulled open a book and started reading to you. You two were nearly touching, the fort wasn't huge after all. You sat next to him and, over the course of about an hour, started subconsciously leaning against him a little. Neither of you seemed to notice, being too wrapped up in the story.
Edward and Winry silently chuckled at the sight in front of them. When they had entered the library, the first thing they noticed was the large mound of comfortable looking blankets and pillows piled up in part of the room. They could hear Alphonse reading to you, telling you about a wizard with a lightning-shaped scar who went to a school specifically for witchcraft and wizardry, and his adventures with his two best friends and their quest to defeat the evilest wizard ever.
They were picturing you two cuddled up inside the bundle, with you listening intently to every word of one of your favorite books. They had come to get you for lunch, but with a few silent motions they decided to leave the food on the table you had earlier run into. They placed down the plate and looked back at you guys, smiling to themselves, before they exited the room and left you two in peace.