Alphonse Elric is (not_fullmetal) wrote in knowhereic, @ 2017-08-29 09:58:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | fullmetal alchemist: au: alphonse elric, fullmetal alchemist: canon: roy mustang |
Who: Roy Mustang & Alphonse Elric
What: The General Colonel wants to see Al.
When: After this.
Where: Roy’s Apartment - 524
Rating: PG
Status: Log - Complete
The Lt. General wanted to see him. It wasn’t unusual, but he didn’t usually ask like that. And Roy was acting all weird, and there was this guy pretending to be Ed and Riza was missing and.. And Alphonse just really wanted to go home. But failing that, what he really wanted was to be pressed in against Roy Mustang. The General had always protected him and he felt safe with his superior officer. Maybe this was all just some.. Big misunderstanding? He hoped. Wetting his lips, the blonde stared at the number on the door. 524. Lt. General Roy Mustang was behind that door.. Or maybe he wasn’t. Maybe this was all just some trick. Maybe it’d be a monster, or a dragon, or.. A squid of some sort, holding one of those flowers that squirted water in your face when you smelled it. That was to say, maybe this was all a dream. Even if it was, he needed to know. He needed to find out what was going on. Lifting a hand, he knocked on the solid wood door and waited. When the door inevitably came open, Mustang might even think he was staring at Edward Elric, wearing a uniform-- he never wore a uniform, he wasn’t commissioned. Not yet. But there it was, the uniform, and the stars on his shoulder denoted him as a Lt. Colonel. Upon further inspection of his face, however, the shape of his eyes were different, and they were darker somehow. His hair was darker, as well. His face a bit more round. Roy Mustang had never seen Alphonse Elric, not even in photos.. But if anyone would have been Edward’s little brother.. This would have been him. There was no doubt. “Roy?” He asked in an unsure voice once those bronze eyes met the much darker set of his General. *** Something weird was going on. Alphonse Elric had appeared from the nether, good for Edward, but then the boy had began spewing information about a world that didn’t make any sense. Edward was dead, and Al didn’t exist inside a suit of armor? Envy, too? What the hell had any of that been? Roy didn’t understand but it had alarmed him enough to speak to Al about it. This weird, strange Al from someplace other. There was a knock at the door, Roy’s dark eyes darted to it. He’d just returned from that stupid otherworld and was fairly tired of the bullshit, but he was used to crisis after crisis. So he sucked it up and opened the door, pausing when the face of a familiar blonde peered back at him. He looked like Edward. He looked … normal. Human. He looked just as small as his brother. Except for the blue uniform, the stars on his shoulders. Lt. Colonel? This boy? Roy blinked at him. Then he stepped back and let the little boy inside. “Alphonse Elric,” he said smoothly, adopting that ridiculous suave tone he used when he was taking control of the moment. “Nice to finally see you,” he said, closing the door behind the boy. He quirked a dark brow. Why did the boy keep insisting on using informal names here? He didn’t know Al on a personal level, most of his interactions were with Edward, as the State Alchemist. And this boy? His eyes drifted to the pocket watch, his own equivalent which he’d lost. Roy took a breath and then forced himself to relax. What was going on here? *** That was what Al wanted to know. What was going on? Invited in, there was no way for Alphonse to hide the eager look on his face. Impossible for him to pretend he didn’t want to throw himself forward and wrap his arms around Mustang. But he didn’t. He kept his hands at his sides stiffly, a small frown on his lips. “So you don’t know my face.. Roy, I--” But he paused and considered, then corrected himself, “Lt. General, I don’t know how to make any of this make sense. Maybe.. Maybe I’ve come back in time somehow?” But that wouldn’t explain the question about armor. He didn’t know what the other man meant. “My brother-- Ed, he’s been dead for two years now. You’re Lt. General, and Riza-- Hawkeye-- she’s the Colonel.” He knew he had to sound crazy. But he looked so earnest. He looked so much like Ed. But those eyes, they were so very different. He’d gotten his mother’s large, round, expressive eyes. “I know I probably sound insane.” *** Roy raised a brow again, pointed at the stars on his shoulder and the distinct lack of gold bars, “Colonel, Al, if you're going to wear the uniform at least pretend you understand the insignia.” Because now Roy believed it was a farce. Lt. General. Sure, one day, but not yet. And Al wasn't even in the State military so why the hell was he wearing a uniform? Some brainless plan between he and his- But his brother was dead. “How did your brother die?” He asked quietly, stepping forward to sit down on a couch. He didn’t invite Al to sit, keeping that boundary between them because Al seemed insistent on breaking the limits of their relationship, and if he was in the military he needed to respect their roles. So he sat back, folded his arms lazily across his chest and turned those dark, sharp eyes onto his apparent new subordinate. He tipped his head. “Well?” he prompted. “Explain what’s going on, because I don’t understand.” *** “I know what your insignia means, Roy!” Alphonse snapped back in a frustrated tone, one that he clearly regretted and he clammed up a moment later, turning his eyes away. This wasn’t his Roy Mustang. Taking a few seconds to himself, he’d finally look back at the older man. “You haven’t been a Colonel for almost two years. Fuhrer Grumman saw to it you were properly promoted, owing to your talents and.. And you’re a Lt. General now.” He watched as older man sat and began to move for the couch across from him, but paused when he surely got a warning look. Oh. His hands clasped behind his back. “My brother was killed by a Homunculi called Envy. He’d been defending me and.. And Envy..” But he couldn’t say it, his eyes had gone a little glassy and he had to just stand there for a moments as he considered.. Then he began to speak again, “We buried him. And our mother went home. And I was so grief stricken and angry and.. And I did something drastic. And you just happened to be coming by to check on me in the lab and.. And you saved my life. And you put down the creature I’d brought back.” Human transmutation. “I moved in with you a little over a year ago.. And we’ve been living together since.” Maybe that would help to make things clearer. *** Well, that was quite the story. Roy remained stoic and distant while Al explained, his eyes never softening that hard look even when the boy went glassy eyed and had to pause his explanation. Pain was a difficult emotion, but even children had to work their way through it. There was little Mustang could do to help him, so he waited for the boy to get himself together. “You performed Human Transmutation, on your brother.” His eyes swept over Al’s frame, looking for the parts of him that he’d lost in the exchange. Edward had lost his arm and his leg, a literal parable when you thought about it. “Your Mother died, Alphonse,” Roy said it placidly, no inflection, no emotion, just a bare statement of fact. “Edward and you tried bringing her back through the same means. It failed.” Of course it did. It always would. “Your brother is alive and well, that boy out there,” he gestured through the door as if Ed would be on the outside of it. Not so, but close enough given he was just a few doors down. “That’s him as I know him. He tied your soul to a suit of armor, this is the first time I’ve ever seen you as you.” He raised a hand to his face, rubbing his chin briefly. Envy. The Homunculi were more insidious and present than Roy had imagined. But he’d never encountered them on his own. This whole thing was hinky.. Roy frowned slightly. “You and your brother have been on a venture to get your bodies back.” He looked Al over again. “Guess he doesn’t have to worry about that now.” *** That was a lot of information it digest. His mother was dead? Ed was alive. He had no body? He was.. A soul in a suit of armor? It all sounded so.. Crazy. Swallowing, he looked down at his feet briefly, then back up. “That’s my brother?” His question was soft, his eyes having taken on that glassy shine again. Ed was alive? He was okay? He was safe? Alphonse held himself still, but if he hadn’t, perhaps the shift of his weight would have given away his secret, hidden beneath those perfectly pressed trousers. Then again, it may not have. They were Briggs automail, they didn’t need to be as tough as some of the other automail, the war was over. These were far more comfortable. And being as it was both legs, there was no slight limp, no one side heavier than the other. Really, even automail mechanics couldn’t pick him out of a line-up, which Al appreciated more than anyone knew. He just wanted to be normal. “I don’t know what to say.” He admitted, at last. The boy was lost for words. The boy, just a single rank under the Colonel himself, and above both Hawkeye and his older brother. Though, Al really didn’t look fourteen, perhaps closer to fifteen. Really, he was sixteen, but his face was far more childish than Edward’s. He was.. Well, he was what women would call a pretty boy. Large, round eyes. They gave him a strikingly innocent look. *** Again, Roy let the boy slide through the motions, watching him with a decidedly patient expression this time. “That’s your brother,” he repeated. “Alive and well.” What he’d give to be able to say the same about Hughes.. But Roy summoned a small smile, something that wasn’t a lie insomuch as it was just wry and vaguely understanding. He’d been there, he’d lost a lot of friends and men and women he’d call siblings during the Ishval war. “You don’t have to say anything, Al, hell you don’t have to believe it. But it’s the facts. You do what you want with them.” He unfolded his arms again and pushed himself to his feet, stepping closer to the boy, looking down at his sad, young little face with a mixed expression of his own. “But I know that Ed would benefit from having you here.” He’d been an emotional wreck since he’d arrived. Alphonse could help him through it a lot better than he himself and Hawkeye ever could. Give York a break. “Lieutenant Hawkeye is here,” he said, “I’ll have her show you the ropes,” his eyes strayed again to the stars on Al’s shoulders. He remembered when he’d been so young---not sixteen though--when he’d been given his first commission. Had he ever looked so wide eyed and helpless as that? Roy touched Al’s shoulder, squeezing it briefly. “You’re fine.” What else could he say that would make a difference? *** “I believe it.” He admitted quietly, he trusted Roy, that had to be clear. And he lifted his chin a little when the older man came closer, breathing in deeply. He was trying to keep himself together. “Okay, Roy--” He caught himself, though, and set his mouth into a firm line. The expression didn’t belong on his face. “I mean.. Yes, sir.” This was going to take some getting used to. He could be a model soldier in public, but when alone? He diverted immediately into this. It was just difficult to try and be so formal in this sort of setting. But then that hand fell to his shoulder. It was all over. Roy had dug his own grave with that touch. Alphonse was stepping in and wrapped his arms around the older man in a familiar way, holding on tightly and pressing his face in against his shoulder. He didn’t cry, but he did hold tight. Tighter than any normal hug. *** What-- Alphonse was clinging to him suddenly, Roy tensed up, his expression an ugly one for a moment. He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t equipped for this kind of reaction; Alphonse had not once ever touched Roy Mustang in such an unfamiliar, informal way. If ever. He stood there briefly, his eyes narrowing then he awkwardly pat Al on the shoulder. “Alright, kid,” he said, “That’s enough..” Really, Roy? That was what you came up with? Sighing, the Colonel pat Al’s shoulder again and frowned. “You’re violating half a dozen regulations, Al.” Who would care? There was no State Military here. Just a Colonel and his collection of motley subordinates, kept in order by respect for tradition and law and the uniform they wore. Except for Ed, but he never wore a uniform anyway. Roy relaxed a little. “Are you okay?” Real concern, because Roy Mustang was ruthless, but not ruthless enough. *** That’s enough. You’re violating half a dozen regulations. The words made the boy’s stomach clench tight and he held for a moment longer before finally releasing the older man and stepping away. “Yes, sir.” Alphonse was just as bad of a liar as York was. Probably worse. Definitely worse. “Thank you for seeing me while off duty, sir.” He gave him a proper salute, but it wasn’t crisp and his heels didn’t click, it was only a salute. It relayed just how miserable he felt. “I’ll see myself out.” He didn’t want to go, he wanted to stay there with Roy. But this wasn’t Roy, this was Colonel Mustang. The superior officer that Al had known years ago. His salute dropped, he’d turn and head for the door he’d come through. He just wanted to escape. He wanted to get out of this building and just.. run until his body gave out and he collapsed. His entire life was falling apart before his eyes. Still.. Edward was alive. It seemed a fair trade. *** What a pathetic display. But Roy didn’t have the capacity to comfort him more than he’d tried already. He didn’t know Alphonse and he’d never really had the desire. The boys had gone and done their own bullshit over the last three years, Roy had only intervened when he’d felt it necessary. There was a distance there to be respected, a subordinate and his superior officer. So Roy watched the boy slump away and only shook his head. “Don’t go far, Alphonse, I’m sending Hawkeye with you.” Even if she was reluctant to be away from Mustang, given he’d just come back from that other place. It was fine, she could get an assessment of her own and report back. Then they’d discuss what to do about Alphonse Elric and his strange world. *** There was a distance to be respected, a subordinate and a superior officer. Perhaps Roy should have thought about that a bit more, before he’d kissed his subordinate. Really, when had Mustang followed the rules to the letter? Could he really not fathom that he’d bend them for a boy who’d lost his brother? A young boy, only thirteen or fourteen, in his care? One who’d tried to bring said brother back to life? Clearly, Roy had covered that up for him, else he’d be in some prison somewhere. There was a lot to think about. “They assigned me a bed in the barracks, sir. I’ll be there.” He paused at the door, turning to look back. He even managed a small smile. He’d learned that fake, ridiculous thing from you, Colonel. “Thank you, sir.” With that, he’d be opening the door and heading out, closing it up behind him. Al had never felt so alone. |