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scienceoftheidiot · 1 year

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Find the word tag game

I was tagged by @residentdormouse thank youuuu love this game !

My words were: Playful, Energy/Energized, Exhausted, Delight/Delightful, Sorrow

I've only found them in recent stuff (so only FMA/Royai stuff, no original, and I think that's also because I really need to translate more OC stuff 😬 sorry!) AND ! I didn't find sorrow, that I needed to replace by sadness (tried in French, tried other synonyms, nothing).

I tag you back @residentdormouse 😁 and I also tag @qs63 @heirsoflilith @musing-and-music @dairogo @goneadrift @riotbrrrd @trombonesinspace I probably forget some and I'm sorry, this is an open tag so if you see this and you want to do it please do and tag me so I can read your stuff !!!

Your words are : Tender/tenderness/tenderly, sleep, restless, feel/feelings, heart

All my excerpts are under the cut 😊

Playful - Poker Night (complete OS - AO3)

"That's it, I'm done," Roy pushed all his chips and cards towards Breda. "This game is only about luck. There is no skill and no honour in winning at poker."

"No honour, maybe, but you owe me a hundred cenz, boss," laughed Breda as he grabbed the chips and counted them. "And I won two rounds with less than what you had on your current hand."

"Pokerface, boss! Gotta work on yours." Havoc clapped Roy's back.

"Work on being a better loser, too, maybe?" Breda snatched the couple of notes Roy was handing him. "At least Fuery is gracious about it."

Roy got up with another groan, leaning on his closed fists on the table.

"I should have you sacked, the lot of you."

"Nah, boss, you'd miss us."

"Everyone's so fond of you, where else would you get your reality check?"

Roy glared at Havoc. The line was very fine between playful banter and insubordination, and he and Breda were currently doing somersaults over it.

"Clean this all and get out, before I snap."

Energy - WIP (codename : dismissed Roy)

She had the time to identify the glint in his eyes, fixed on something that wasn't there – terror. But she didn't have the time to stop him from tackling her, and she could only brace herself before he caught her, clumsily, his hands crushing against her before grabbing at her ferociously, nails digging into her skin.

She wouldn't be taken by surprise again.

"Roy!"

She caught his wrist and pulled it in his back, her other hand snaking around his neck, while he kept squirming, thrashing about. He managed to hit her in the shin with his heel. But she wasn't going to let go. Her leg caught his, and she kept it locked.

Contrary to him, she had gotten back to full training as soon as she'd been cleared by her doctor. Roy himself had barely found the time and most of all the energy after his days in rehab to do much more than a set of pushups a day, and maybe a little more on weekends.

She pulled on his arm again, carefully. She could effectively break his wrist, and she was very aware of this.

"Roy. Roy. It's okay. You're home. You're safe. I'm here. Riza. It's Riza."

He was pushing against her, his free hand pulling on the arm she had curled around his neck. She pushed back, and he ended up with his face almost buried in the bedsheets.

He struggled again for a couple of seconds, then relented. The only part of him that still moved was his chest, heaving rapidly. Riza could feel the frantic beating of his heart in her own chest.

Exhausted - WIP (codename : "bitch, you live like this?")

"Damn, you drink classy, now." Hughes reclined in his wooden chair after finishing his pint of dark ale, taking in the shining brass and polished wood from the pub.

"East City's not Central. We don't have much choice between classy and shady. This is not the classiest place, by the way, I don’t have enough money to go there for fun."

They had run out of news and gossip, and Hughes himself was running low on stories about Gracia and Elicia – a sign he was at least a little tired from his trip. He wasn’t a field soldier anymore.

Roy himself felt the first pint had mellowed him, a warm torpor starting to get through his exhausted body, pulling the corner of his lips into a content smile.

"I take it this is where you take your conquests."

Roy scowled and hummed, his gaze following the waitress, out of habit more than anything.

“Or maybe it’s the waitresses you like. Oh, yeah,” Hughes snickered. “I wonder why.”

He waved at her, and she walked towards their table, her skirt flowing, and her blonde hair shining under the soft light.

Delightful - WIP (codename : dismissed Roy) - there is nothing explicit here but this is the onset of some smut so proceed with caution, you might consider this nsfw

He cleared his throat.

“So, you are committed.”

Riza had an embarrassed chuckle.

“Guess I am.” To underline her affirmation, she tugged on his shirt so that he’d take it off, which he dutifully did before pulling her own top over her head, and throwing both garments away. His hands went back to her waist, her chest, her back, pulling her against him – she followed his pull with a sigh.

Her skin against his. This was delightful. Her silky hair was brushing the hands that caressed her back – the only reminder to him of the tattoo there, being what he had been asked to do to destroy it. His fingers tentatively brushed the scars, testing what her reaction would be. When she didn’t show any discomfort, he placed his palm over the burnt marks, hugging her yet tighter. The last time he had touched her there, it was to tend to them, right after he inflicted them on her.

He remembered waiting, keeping watch over her in the dry hotness of the desert. They were sheltered from the sun, but a few rays had managed to seep through the windows he’d blocked in their hide. He’d watched the dust dance in this light for hours, monitoring her feverish sleep.

Roy only realized he’d been lost in those bitter memories when Riza moved, kissed him gently on the cheek, then pressed her forehead against his temple. Then she managed to push his hand a little lower. Roy smirked.

“Lieutenant Hawkeye. Always perfectly clear in her demands.”

Sorrow - no occurrence of sorrow or sorrowful, so you get sadness 😅 - Phone call (complete OS - AO3)

He took her hand and gently pulled her up, seeing with a pang of sadness that she still behaved like a stringless puppet, following his push without showing neither want nor dislike.

"Look at me, Riza."

The surprise at him using her first name seemed to pull her out of her torpor, and she looked him in the eye.

"Good. Look. I'm here. All in one piece. You didn't shoot me." Unsure of where to place his hands, he put them on her waist - a light touch, as if they were at a formal dance. He wouldn’t dare anything more intrusive than that. "You never did. You came close ... But you didn't have to. You pushed me back on the right track. You always do. And I always follow."

He could get lost in her dark amber eyes for hours if he had nothing else to care about. But he had to care for her, right now. And he couldn't bear the fact that these eyes were rimmed red. Slowly, he brought his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close. He let out a sigh as her own arms circled his waist and he nudged his head in the crook of her neck - careful to choose the right side.

#find the word tag #tag game #wip #royai #this is only royai stuff #oops

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lantur · 3 years

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25,26,31 if you’re still doing the ask game! :)

Yes!! Thank you for the ask, anon :) I hope your week is off to a great start!

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

I’ve written a few other oneshots set in the delicate-verse here - most notably, Roy’s sidestory to delicate, “our days and nights are perfumed with obsession.” :) Low key, I would actually enjoy writing a little series following Roy and Riza and their team in Ishval. Like, how Fuery meets his friend and later girlfriend Almasi, how Scar and Miles become friends, how Miles feels at being in Ishval, how Gracia and Elicia settle into Ishval, etc. It’s a period of time that spans five years in the fic (covered in chapter twenty and the upcoming chapter, twenty-one), and there’s no time in the fic to go over a lot of those cute little moments. But I imagine that after a difficult start, it is a happy time for the team.

26. Is there anything you’ve wanted to write, but you’ve been too scared to try?

No - I think writing my three long fics, Strings and delicate, and Lights in the Shadow, my Azula-centric fic, all dealt with some really dark and difficult subject matter. There are still some topics and themes I want to address in future fics, but I’m not scared to try them. I think that writing delicate, especially, has really helped me gain confidence in how to handle difficult subject matter.

I do want to write an original story someday, and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m too scared to try or not, but I just :( can’t think of any ideas, which is very frustrating.

31. Do you have any OCs? Tell us about them!

I have a lot! OCs have been a significant part of my long fics, from Emi and Roumei, Korra’s friends in the Earth Kingdom, Chan Li, Azula’s husband, and the many OCs in delicate - starting with Reid and Bresler in Riza’s teenage years, and, on a better note, the Ishvalan characters in the current arc.

Kaela Ferran is one of the OCs in delicate. She is about 27 years old, and she’s married to Eliane Ferrran. Both of them own and operate a food stall. Kaela is Ishvalan, and lived in the city of Ugarit prior to the Civil War. Just before Order 3066 was handed down, her family fled to Kassioun, the Ishvalan enclave in Central City. Kaela was a teenager at the time. She returned to Ishval in 1915, with Eliane and her family. She also was a community leader in Kassioun, and was a mentor and a trusted figure among the young people and the women and girls in the community, especially.

Kaela is Riza’s first friend in the Ishvalan community. She is kind, compassionate, honest, and a gifted small business owner. I love her. ❤️

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fluffykitty1999-blog · 3 years

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Burned Chapter 18

"Dinner!" Ed happily dished up two plates on home made mac n' cheese that'd been left in the fridge for them, adding a glass of chocolate milk to Elicia's side of the table before he was chowing down on his own dinner.

Alphonse, as always, didn't eat, but enjoyed watching the two. It'd been fun, watching Elicia. As the night went on she got more tired and silly, and easier to play with. At the moment, her face was covered in mac and cheese.

"After dinner, can we play a board game, big brother?"

"Sure, but you'll need to brush your teeth and get ready for bed first." Ed eyed the clock. It was a little after 8, bedtime was at 9. He was sure it was normally earlier, but he'd spoil the kid, just this once.

"Yay!" Elicia reached for her glass of chocolate milk, only to spill it all over herself and the table.

She sat there, lip trembling and eyes watering, as Al drove for a towel.

"Don't cry! It's okay. Ed will get you another glass."

Ed got up and headed to the fridge, looking annoyed. "Darn. That was the last of it."

A few tears slipped down Elicia's cheeks.

"But don't worry! Al can go get us some more!" Ed fished around in his pants pocket, pulling out a few bills.

"There's a little shop that's open late a few blocks form here. Al can go get the chocolate milk and you finish your dinner and get your PJs on, and he'll be back with some before bed. Is that okay?"

Elicia nodded, and Ed relaxed, crisis averted, before handing the money over to Alphonse.

"Thanks, Al."

"No problem. Make sure you get her cleaned up before Mrs. Hughes comes home." Al said, nodding to Elicia, who was still covered in mac and cheese, as he headed for the door.

"Alright. Now that that disaster is averted, let's finish up dinner so we can get changed into our PJs!"

Elicia finished dinner without complaint, and Ed was able to coax her into her Pjs- a tiny t-shirt and pants covered in teddy bears that was adorable.

He had to chase her around upstairs and catch her to wipe all the mac and cheese off her face, though. Still, it was hard to be mad when she kept laughing like she did. It was cute.

"Now that that's done, how 'bout you brush your teeth?"

"But I can't! Big brother is coming back with chocolate milk soon!" Elicia protested. "I wanna play a board game!"

Ed frowned. He thought he'd heard something, but now all he heard was silence. He turned his attention back to Elicia.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Okay- go to the playroom and pick what you want to play."

Elicia went running off, coming back a moment later with a box that said "Chutes and Ladders" and setting it down beside her bed, looking excited.

Outside the bedroom window, there was the sound of glass shattering in the street below.

Elicia heard it too and looked up, surprised. "What was that?"

"Probably just a stray cat. We'd better hope Alphonse doesn't find it, or he might give it all your chocolate milk." Ed ran through everything in his head- he knew Al had locked the door behind him, and he didn't hear anything downstairs.

With that in mind, he settled down cross-legged on the floor of Elicia's bedroom and cracked his knuckles, grinning. "Now- prepare to be a sore loser! I'm the king of chutes and ladders!"

"Nu-uh!"

In the street below, a sleek black car parked further up the road. A black hooded man got out, lugging with him two large jugs of gasoline and a clanking backpack.

He'd intended to win the election and make Trevors the fall guy. He'd paid off false witnesses and everything. What better way to make sure he was never caught than to frame the wrong man- a political rival, at that- and then slash the funding to the police budget?

But things hadn't worked out as planned. And so Xavier was following his heart. It's what he'd done when he'd grown bored of politics and started butchering those women weeks ago.

He'd grown tired of the rich life. There was nothing more fun than killing- his wife had long since grown boring. Even she couldn't match the erotic pleasure he got from watching the light leave a woman's eyes.

Still, he'd lost the election, and if the calls he kept getting from Lieutenant Hughes were any indication, the walls were closing in. There was nothing better to do than go out with a bang.

He tried the front door of the Hughes' residence to find it locked. Oh well. He went about emptying half his first tank of gasoline on the front porch and struck a match, watching it all light up with glee.

This time, he wouldn't get the pleasure of watching his victims struggle and die. But maybe he'd be lucky enough to smell their flesh cooking- his mouth watered at the thought, and he grew excited, dashing around the back of the home and coating the small back deck in gasoline, lighting that up as well.

He dumped the remainder of the gasoline on the siding of either side of the home, striking matches and setting it aflame with glee.

He was going to jail for life anyways. Might as well take as many lives as he could before he got there. That detective might've caught him- but he certainly wouldn't have a home or family to come home to after this. The thought of the man's ruined life and his panicking wife and child burning filled him with exuberance.

He walked around to the front of the house to admire his handiwork.

The front porch and front of the house were beginning to be devoured in flames. The back porch was well underway as well, and both sides were beginning to catch, the siding smelling like melting plastic as the studs beneath caught and went up in flames...

It was a macabre lullaby- he could feel the heat from the flames, even ten feet back, and he smiled, listening to the cracking and popping of the flames. The second floor hadn't even started to go yet. It was brilliant.

"I get to go up the ladder!" Elicia cheered, looking excited.

"Yeah, well, I'll get you soon." Ed said morosely, rolling the dice hopefully. He tugged on the collar of his shirt- it sure had gotten warm in the house. Then again, maybe he was just frustrated. After all, he was getting beaten at chutes and ladders by a five year old.

He wondered when Al would be back with that chocolate milk.

It wasn't burning fast enough. At this rate, he'd have to wait around all night. Xavier stood on the front lawn, dropping his backpack and hearing glass rattle around. He'd prepared his maltov cocktails just for this. Glass bottles filled with kerosene, with rags stuffed in the top.

He lit the first rag, stepping back and hurling the bottle at an upstairs window- it shattered, and the formerly dark inside of the room lit up in a gorgeous red as the kerosene of the broken bottle spattered on the floor, and the bed linens and curtains caught fire.

The sound of glass shattering pulled both Ed and Elicia from their game.

"What was that?" Elicia asked, looking surprised.

"I don't know. It sounded like it came from the bedroom down the hall- Elicia, stay here." Ed said seriously, hurrying down the hall. His every sense was alert. Had the serial killer climbed on top of the roof overhanging the porch and tried to break in a window? If so, they were going to be met by a world of pain...

He yanked open the bedroom door, ready to go toe to toe with a killer, only to be met with a wall of flame.

He froze.

Skin. Burning skin. Flesh on fire, melting to the fabric of his clothes...

He was hallucinating. He had to be. He could feel his heart start to hammer in his chest, his mouth going dry. His breath hitched- he forced himself to take a deep breath, only to be met with heat and smoke in return.

No. This was real.

Pain. Pain engulfing his entire being- it wouldn't stop!

"Big brother!? What's going on?" Elicia called from down the hall, still blissfully ignorant.

It was her voice that pulled Ed back from the brink of his panic attack. She needed him- he forced himself to suck in deep breaths, to still the rattling of his mind. This was real, they were in danger, and he needed to get them out.

It was that purpose that caused him to slam the door on the burning room, hopefully slowing down the flames, and sprint back to the bedroom where he'd been playing chutes and ladders.

"Elicia! We need to get out..."

He skidded into the room only to see a black object flying at the window- right towards Elicia.

He was running on instinct now, and he dove forwards, tackling her and rolling- he heard glass shatter, and came to a tumbling rest in front of Elicia's closet. Following the first shatter, there was a second- Ed looked up to see a puddle of liquid catching fire in the center of the room, right on top of their game of chutes and ladders, and his eyes widened.

A maltov cocktail... someone is trying to kill us!

"What's going on? Big brother- Hhh." he heard Elicia's breath catch in her throat, and without thinking, he hefted her up and sprinted out of the room as the puddle of liquid- kerosene, from the smell of it- caught fire. He slammed the bedroom door behind him, stumbling into the hallway with Elicia in his arms, shaking and frightened, clinging to him.

Shit- what am I supposed to do!?

Roy was silent as he gunned the engine of his car down the streets of Central. Hughes was twitching enough to drive anyone mad in the passenger seat, clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly and grinding his teeth together and just trying to breathe...

Gracia sat in the backseat of the car, lips pressed firmly together with a white-knuckle grip on her purse. They'd all wanted to call and warn Ed ahead of time, but there simply hadn't been time. Xavier might have already arrived, and a call would've done nothing to help them if Xavier, deranged as he was, was already there and Ed was fighting for his life.

Roy slammed the breaks and made another tight corner, burning rubber on his tires and speeding up again on the straight away. With each passing second, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on and if everyone was alright...

They were almost there, now, just another two hundred yards down the street. He saw it before he got there- orange bursts of flame reaching to the sky, engulfing the Hughes home, dancing towards heaven and devouring everything...

With only one man dressed in back standing on the lawn. No children. No blond boy in a red coat. No suit of armor. No little girl. Roy's heart dropped to his stomach. Gracia burst into tears in the back seat.

Roy slammed on the breaks and Hughes had jumped out of the car before it even came to a complete stop. The man was reaching into his backpack for something- a bottle of some sort was in his hand.

"HEY! YOU BASTARD! STOP!" Hughes was sprinting towards the man, now, and the man glanced over his shoulder before launching the object into the air. It soared in the night, crashing through an upstairs window- and that room, too, burst into flames.

Hughes tackled the man a second later, laying him out on the ground and scrambling, kicking, punching, punching...

Xavier's face was a bloody mess within a minute. Roy had to pull him off before he broke the man's jaw. In his frenzy, Hughes probably could've caved the man's skull in with his bare hands if Roy had let him. Hughes fought him every step of the way- the hellish heat of the flames was in the background, devouring everything.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD, YOU HEAR ME!? I'LL KILL YOU!" Hughes scuffled from where Roy had a firm hold around his waist, his bloodied hands trying to pry himself free so he could keep pounding on the man.

Roy hadn't seen Hughes this frantic since Ishval. And he hadn't seen this much flames since... His hands were shaking? Why were his hands shaking?

"You're going to kill him Hughes!" Roy yelled over the crackling of the flames. "He has to stand trial! Make him pay for what he did!"

Hughes stopped struggling. looking over at Roy uncertainly. "Stand... stand trial?" he asked, voice shaking. Roy had let go of him, and Hughes blood covered hands dropped to his sides, glasses eerily reflecting the light of the flames.

"S-stand trial!? For what, dammit!? Where's Elicia, Roy!? Where's my little girl!?"

Roy had thought Xavier was unconscious, but a cackling laugh came from the bloodied man on the ground- grating, like a rusty gate in the wind- and Hughes silenced the man with a savage kick, the heel of his boot making contact with the man's jaw and shutting him up.

Gracia had gathered herself, and she ran onto the front lawn with them, tears dripping down her face as he hands shook and she stared up into the inferno...

"Elicia! Elicia! Edward! Alphonse! Oh... where's my Elicia!?" she dissolved into frantic, hiccuping sobs, sinking to her knees on the lawn. Her voice had gone up an octave in panic.

Roy had heard that tone of voice before. He'd never understood the words of it, but he'd heard it- the panic, the raw desperation, as Ishvalan mothers dug through smoldering rubble with their bare hands. He hadn't understood the language, but he'd heard it- mumbling prayers, frantically calling children's names, as they sifted through the rubble of the hellscape he'd created. He had to physically swallow back the nausea that bubbled in his throat. Since when had it gotten so hard to breathe? Oh god, Ed was in there...

Hughes looked from his wife to the blaze, as though unsure which he should run to. He turned to Roy, desperate.

"Can you put it out?"

Roy stared up at the hellish flames and slowly shook his head. He created flames- manipulated the oxygen, maintained the blast ratio, and created his own spark- made his own little pocket of destruction- in the open air of combat.

He couldn't do anything here. There was too many occupied spaces- too many items in the house, too much fuel for the flames- even if he did somehow manage to account for every molecule of oxygen arranged in the complex space, which was impossible- he wouldn't be able to remove all the oxygen, wouldn't be able to quench the flames. And even if by some miracle he could- it'd take hours for the heat to dissipate. Hours for it to be cool enough for them to search the wreckage. He wouldn't be able to keep the oxygen out for that long. And even if he could- the kids might smother before they'd get them out. It was all a pipe dream, a theoretical impossibility...

"Put it out, dammit!" Hughes put both hands on his chest and shoved him back, leaving bloody handprints on his blue uniform. Mustang stumbled, looking at his old friend with a mixture of pity and disappointment in himself...

"...I'm sorry, Hughes. I can't." his voice was barely above a whisper.

"Damn you! You're useless!" Hughes sank to all fours on the lawn, shoulders heaving, whole body trembling as the man with a perpetual smile broke.

"Edward." Roy's voice was swallowed up the the noise around them- the sirens in the distance, the sobbing of both his friends beside him, and the loudest of all- the cracking, popping of the flames as the Hughes' home- and everything they held dear- was consumed.

Roy closed his eyes, trying to stay calm despite his heart hammering in his chest. Edward- the boy who cried at night because he could still feel his skin melting. The kid who loved to drink tea with too much honey in it, and eat tatter tots for dinner. He was probably terrified, if he was even still alive...

"Hold on, Ed. Please." water dripped onto the lawn in front of him and all around him, but it wasn't raining.

What do you think will happen next? I love to hear your predictions!

Will Ed and Elicia be okay? Will Roy have a heart attack!?! Will the author have enough coffee to survive the week? Find out soon, when I’m BACK ON MY BULLSHIT!

Homina homina KOFFEE https://ko-fi.com/fluffykitty12

#fma fanfiction #FMA #burned #burns #injury #accident #Edwhumph #edward elric whumph #parentalroy #parental roy #roy mustang #ed whump #whumph #whump #angst #hurt ed #comfort #hurt #hurt/comfort

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flameleads · 3 years

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Yesterday was rough, and today was only mildly better. One could tell, though, that Roy still wasn’t fully present. His journal sat on the coffee table in the living room, open to his last entry from the previous night, and he didn’t care.

Date: 1915 Location: Home, Central City

I can’t focus. Haven’t been able to for the last couple of days. Every time I try to concentrate on something, my mind just keeps wandering and daydreaming. Fox got on my case for it yesterday, and, for once, I don’t blame him. I’m sure he was thrilled I called out today. Just needed a day to pull myself together.

That didn’t work out. I can’t stop thinking about him. It’s not just missing him either---though, that’s part of it. I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would’ve been like to have a life with him. Domestic. Living with me, cooking each other meals, coming home together, him living with me and being my... partner, I guess? Is that the right word? I dunno if it’d even be allowed given current Amestrian laws. I’ll add that to my list.

It’s irrelevant now, and I know that. So why does my stupid brain keep going back to that? Even if he was still alive, I couldn’t have him. I wouldn’t do that to Gracia and Elicia. Part of me wonders if Gracia knows. I’m not gonna spring that on her. It’s the last thing she needs right now. Just gotta focus on finding out who killed the man we both love loved and bring them to justice.

Maybe then, once that’s done, I can let him go.

#burn the evidence | journal #lovesick | magic anon #[ this is the last day of this ]

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jeminy3 · 4 years

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The Things We Carry.

One of many old drabbles I’m finally getting around to finishing. Expect more Blind!Roy in the future.

In this one, Roy visits the Hughes house a few months after the Promised Day. He refused Marcoh’s offer to heal his eyes.

Features: Blind Character PoV, implied self-loathing, depression, character death and the repercussions on their spouse and child, discussions of death and violence with a child.

Read on AO3

Read on Google Docs

Twitter Post

Cool art by Manalfedz

–

"Can you see this, Mister Mustang?"

Roy stares, aiming slightly down and to his side where Elicia's voice is coming from, but he sees nothing besides the usual darkness.

"No, I can't," he says.

He hears the girl huff softly, then the clicking and clacking of plastic as she retrieves another toy.

"What about this? The light's really bright, can you see?"

Roy knows it's pointless, but he strains his eyes anyway. He thinks he can see the tiniest spot of grey flickering in the darkness of his vision, maybe, but it's so faint he can hardly tell.

Well, he can't bear to dash the girl's hopes. So he says, "Just a little bit."

Elicia gasps softly. "Really? Yay!" Her little voice beams with excitement, and she claps her hands vigorously. It warms him, and Roy can't help smiling.

Suddenly there's the sound of her mother, Gracia, entering the room, telegraphed by footsteps on the dining room carpet and the shifting of her clothes.

"Look, mommy! It's so bright, even Mister Mustang can see it!" Elicia says, probably waving the light-up toy around for her mother to see.

"That's nice dear, but I think Mustang's had enough for now," her mother replies, somewhat curtly. There's the soft 'thunk' of dinner plates, heavy with food, being laid upon the table Roy's currently sitting at.

"Can you pick up your toys and play in the living room? We're having dinner now."

"Okay..." Elicia says, not hiding her dejection.

There's more click-clacking as she retrieves her toys, and the sound comes and goes as Gracia joins him at the table and begins to speak. Roy can imagine her carting her toys to the other room one armful at a time - she must have brought more toys than he first thought.

"I'm so sorry if she bothered you, Mustang," Gracia says quietly, slightly strained.

Roy lightens his voice, waving a hand dismissively. "Oh no, no, it's fine. She's just curious is all. Perfectly natural at her age."

Gracia sighs, a bit long-sufferingly. "I suppose. I can't imagine what it's like myself."

"Not many can," Roy says casually.

By now he's felt around for his fork on the table, which he uses to explore his dinner via holding it by the base of its tines instead of the handle, using his fingertips to discreetly touch at the food. Feels like meatloaf slices, with sides of peas and mashed potatoes. Very humble, as Gracia had warned him before he came over, but nonetheless appetizing as the smell wafts up to his nose. It's warm, homely, like the Hughes' household always is. Thank God that hasn't changed.

Roy tries the peas first, enjoying the way the soft seeds gently burst into mush between his teeth, tasting mildly sweet and buttery.

Gracia speaks up again after a soft clinking of metal-on-dinnerware from her direction. "I don't mean to pry, but- how are you, lately? I'm sure it hasn't been easy, at work or otherwise."

Roy pauses to swallow the peas. "...Like I've said, we have a system now, and it works. I should be asking how you've been, Gracia. It's been a while."

Gracia stutters a bit. "Oh- Me? There's not much to tell, really. Just more of the same."

Roy blinks uselessly in her direction, halfway though lifting a piece of meatloaf to his lips. "...Even after the eclipse?"

Gracia laughs uncomfortably. "Ah- Well yes, that was quite the scare, but we're alright now. And very glad that we are!"

His guilt stings at him again at the word, the memory of that day. In all his nerve-fraying preparation for that event, he'd arranged safe passage for his own family out of Central, but not the family of his closest friend. Another wound to pick at himself with until the end of his days.

...And by now Roy thinks he's hearing a pause in Elicia's toy-handling that line up perfectly with every other line of their conversation, but... Eh. He elects to ignore it. Not like she'll understand what they're talking about anyway

Roy clears his throat lightly. "...I'm happy to hear that, but- I worry about you, Gracia. You know I do. And I'm sorry again that I couldn't visit sooner."

He can hear the shifting of Gracia shaking her head. "Roy, please. I'm alright, really! Major Armstrong has been kind enough with electing to watch Elicia for me when I'm out. He's such a great help, you know."

Roy smiles around his mouthful of meatloaf, both at her statement and the juicy texture of the meat. Gracia always was a great cook.

After swallowing, he says, "So I've heard. Working out well, I imagine?"

"Oh yes, Elicia adores him. Says she talks his ear off all the time."

She chuckles lightly. Roy can’t help laughing as well, imagining the tiny girl pestering the relatively massive Strong Arm Alchemist with a deluge of comments and questions, not unlike what she was doing earlier with Roy himself.

But the lightness is short-lasting, falling into an uncomfortable silence as they returned to their food. Roy fills his mouth with a spoonful of mashed potatoes, doing his best to ignore the emptiness that occupies the third seat at the table now - even without eyes, he can still feel it there.

Gracia gives a small sigh, suddenly. "...Still...."

"Mm?" Roy grunts through his mouthful of potatoes.

"...Are... Are you sure you're alright?" she asks, in this strange, almost desperate tone of voice. "I know at work you are, but- what about your personal life?"

Roy swallows thickly, partly because of the potatoes, partly because this conversation was making him uncomfortable now. He clears his throat and forces a chuckle.

"What personal life? I practically live at the office, you know this, Gracia," he says, half-laughing.

Gracia doesn't lighten her tone, though, cutting deeper instead. "...I'm serious, Roy. After what you've gone through, what happened in-"

"The explosion, yes. It was terrible," Roy cuts in, more curtly than intended.

He jerks his head in the direction of the living room, because by now he's confident that Elicia is quietly listening in on them. An explosion had taken his sight - that's the public statement they'd released, among many, many others, to explain what'd happened on the Promised Day.

Gracia catches his hint with a small cough. "Ah- of course. Sorry..."

Roy straightens, clears his throat again. "...It's fine. I'm coping as best I can, like I always do." His tone leaves another sentence hanging between them, unspoken - So please, don't worry about me.

"...That's what I'm afraid of," Gracia says quietly, more to herself, really

Roy can't think of a response - and soon silence falls again, this time pressing down like a great, crushing weight, a sensation of drowning.

There's another clinking of dinnerware - Gracia seems to have stopped eating. She sighs again, this time with an air of finality. "Just... don't run yourself too hard, Roy. You've been through a lot."

"I'm-"

"I would know," she adds quietly, cutting off Roy's response. This time, he swallows nothing. Or perhaps the sentence he attempted to say.

He's not liking this trend of everyone around him worrying excessively for his personal well-being, lately. But it can't be helped, he supposes, with the severity of his condition and the position he's still holding despite it. It's been nearly two months now, and his superiors are still shocked that he's refusing to retire, but at least Grumman's been willing to work with him. He'll admit that it's been anything but easy, but he'll be damned if he stops pursuing his goal and lets himself become a burden to everyone. He simply can't give up now - he's done too much, come too far, and couldn't live with himself if he did.

...Besides, he can hardly live with himself as it is.

He hears Gracia shift, and suddenly feels a warm hand grasping his own from across the table, gentle but firm.

"If you ever need to talk, I'm right here" she says, full of warmth and sincerity like she always is.

...Like Maes was, too.

Roy swallows at nothing again. "...Thank you," he whispers, trying his best to sound sincere.

Because to be brutally honest, he can't see himself taking up that offer very often, if at all.

---

The tension at dinner never quite went away, even into dessert. Sweet slices of pumpkin pie gained a bitter aftertaste on Roy's tongue, and he decided to take this as his cue to take his leave and head back home to his apartment.

“Thank you for the food, Gracia,” he says, somewhat tersely, rising from his chair. “Delicious as always.”

“Thank you, Roy,” she responds, a little stiffly. She shifts and takes his hand to shake it - hangs there for a few moments, awkward, leans closer as if wanting to offer him a hug instead. But she doesn’t, probably sensing Roy’s tension at the idea.

Still, he bows politely, retrieves his cane and makes his way to the living room and the front door beyond it – then finds himself stopped by a small hand tugging on his pant leg.

“Mister Mustang! You’re not leaving, are you?” Elicia chirps at his side.

Roy lowers his head in the direction her voice is coming from (or as best as he can guess). “I’m afraid so, dear. I’m sorry, but it’s getting late-”

“But I wanted to show you somethin’!”

“Ah- Oh. You did?”

“Mommy, can I take Mister Mustang to my room before he goes? Pleeeease?”

“Yes dear, but don’t keep him long,” Gracia calls out from the kitchen over the soft sound of running water, probably starting to wash the dishes.

“Okay!” Elicia bounces against him, and he feels her small fingers reaching up to grasp his own. Roy flusters slightly, caught between his own awkwardness and the whims of this precocious little girl. The girl, of course, wins out, and he submits to being tugged along by the arm across the house and into a bedroom down the hall.

Roy feels for obstacles with his cane instinctively as Elicia leads him inside, helping him around her furniture and scattered toys on the floor. He finds himself lead to her bed near the back.

“You can sit on my bed, Mister Mustang,” she says. Strangely, it sounds more like a command than an offer.

Roy ponders this as he seats himself on the little bed’s soft comforter, along with the silence that’s suddenly settled around him. Elicia doesn’t say a word as he hears her walk across the room, close her bedroom door, then return to the bed. Neither does she stop to retrieve a toy, or a book, or anything.

Roy feels the mattress sink and rise as her small form takes a seat next to him, still saying nothing. He feels very nervous, suddenly.

After a beat, she finally speaks, and in this strange, solemn sort of way. "Mister Mustang, can I ask you something?"

Roy turns in her direction, not sure what she's implying... but he gives her a smile anyway. "Of course, dear. Ask me anything."

"Who really took your eyes?"

Roy is... caught off-guard, to say the least. His smile vanishes in an instant, and he stammers out his response, his eyes blinking uselessly. "My... W- What?"

Elicia pauses for a moment, then speaks again, still in that odd tone of voice. "...It was the monsters, wasn't it. The ones who killed my daddy."

She knows. And she sounds far, far too serious about it. It's frightening.

...But then, Roy thinks, should he really be surprised? This poor girl lost her father when she'd barely turned three years old. She's been living with a grieving mother ever since, and the entirety of her short life in a violent, war-mongering country that's just gone through an earth-shattering upheaval within the past few months. He can't imagine what she's gone through, at such a tender age.

Obviously quite a bit, as she already has the presence of mind to keep up appearances in front of him and her mother while they discuss sensitive topics, and the intelligence to corner him for sensitive information in privacy.

Ah... she's already so much like her father, Roy realizes. Too stubborn to accept anything but the truth. He sees no point in not being honest with her.

He clears his throat to compose himself. "...Yes, it was them."

Elicia grunts. "I knew it."

Now, Roy could ask a sensitive question. "And how did you know, Elicia? Who told you about the monsters? Not your mother, I hope."

Elicia shifts, her hair-ties clinking softly as she shakes her head. "No, not mommy. She gets too sad. Mister Armstrong told me. I asked him over and over and over, 'till he told me all about the monsters living under the ground, hurting people and making them die. They made all that bad stuff happen during the ee-clips."

Oh, Alex... His heart is so soft. And Elicia is so cunning, now.

"They're all gone now, right Mister Mustang? You guys killed them all?" she asks expectantly.

"...Yes, we did. Even the one who killed your daddy. I fought him myself," Roy says, but not with any air of triumph.

Elicia doesn't seem to notice that, though. She gasps with excitement. "You did?! You used your fire, right?"

Roy nods, the memory not being pleasant. "Yes... I burned him a hundred times. Maybe more."

Elicia's hair-ties clink again, nodding her head. "That's good. I hope he hurt before he died."

This voice of cruelty and vengeance has no place coming from the mouth of a four-year-old. Roy frowns, poised to nip it in the bud here and now.

"Well, I don't, Elicia. Not anymore."

"Huh?" Her hair-ties clink again as she turns to face him, probably wearing a puzzled look on her little face.

Roy takes a deep breath, releases it. "Elicia, listen... I know how you must feel about this. I felt it too, when I was burning that monster. But it's not a good thing. I almost lost myself back there."

Elicia makes an odd, confused little sound. "Lost...? Like a maze? Mazes are easy, you just follow the walls 'till you find the way out."

Roy can only chuckle. She's thinking of her puzzle books... Perhaps her innocence isn't completely lost after all. But ah, how to explain this...

"It's... a different kind of maze," Roy says, grasping for the words even as he speaks. "It's more like... a maze that's inside you. With no walls."

Elicia makes another confused sound, shifting and scratching her head. He can imagine her small face scrunched up with exasperation.

"...You're weird, Mister Mustang," she says finally.

"Hah, I know," he chuckles. "But it is like a maze."

He reaches out to touch her little shoulder, patting lightly when he finds purchase. "Listen... have you ever felt so sad, or so angry, that you forgot about everything else? Even who you are?"

Elicia makes thoughtful sounds at that."Um... I dunno. Maybe when Daddy died. Mommy was so sad she forgot to eat sometimes."

"Mm..." Roy scoots closer to her on the bed, draws her in with the arm at her back, hugging her against his side as she leans into him.

"Well, that's how I felt," he continues. "When I found that monster, and he told me he killed your daddy... I was angry. So, so angry. Like it was filling me up, all the way from my feet to the top of my head."

Elicia hums sadly.

"I forgot about everything. I forgot who I was, who my friends were. All I wanted to do was just... be angry, forever, and burn that monster over and over for what he did to your daddy."

Elicia pulls away slightly. "But- you can't just be angry. Not for forever."

Good, she understands. "That's right," Roy nods, "I couldn't. I thought I could, but my friends knew better. They stopped me, before I was lost for good."

Elicia makes a sound like something between awe and sadness.

"It was like... Like I was a completely different person back there," Roy says, getting a bit lost in the memory himself, now. He could almost laugh at it now, in this terrible sort of way. "...Can you even imagine? Being so angry that you're not even yourself anymore?"

"No... That's scary," Elicia says, matter-of-fact.

"Yes, it was," Roy says thoughtfully. "I was pretty scared back then. And I don't scare easily."

Elicia sighs, then wraps her small arms around his waist in a hug. "It's okay, Mister Mustang," she says, as if he were still upset about it now.

...Well he does sound a bit watery in his voice, Roy realizes belatedly. Remembered too much of his emotions back then, perhaps. He chuckles again, but welcomes her comfort, wrapping his arm around her small shoulders.

"I'm fine now, dear, I just don't want that to happen to you."

"Mm..." Elicia hums, snuggling closer to him. Roy leans against her in turn, the warmth a small but welcome comfort.

There’s a beat of silence. Eventually, Roy breathes another long sigh. "Well... it's over now. Hopefully there won't be monsters like that ever again.”

"Yeah," Elicia mumbles, her face half-buried against his torso.

They stay like that, holding each other, for a long while. At least, long enough for Roy to fight back down the tears threatening to well up in his chest. No need for that, now.

Suddenly, Elicia leans away from him and speaks up again. "Mister Mustang... Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course," he says.

"Don't tell Mommy. Promise."

"I promise."

"No, you gotta pinky promise. Like this."

She takes his hand in her two small ones and carefully splays out his fingers, then hooks one of her little pinky fingers with his own. Chuckling a little, he bends his finger, sealing the gesture.

"Alright, alright, I'm doing it. Will you tell me now?"

Elicia giggles slightly, and he can hear her smiling now. "Yeah, yeah! Um-"

She pauses for a moment, as if steeling herself.

Then she says, "I wanna be like you when I grow up. An Alchemist."

Roy's grip relaxes at the revelation, his breath escaping him slightly with bewilderment. An alchemist… like him? Despite the still-cynical part of his mind, he can feel his heart swell in his chest. He can only hope that by the time Elicia reaches adulthood, the State Alchemists will be reformed into something she can be proud to be a part of. Servants of the people and paragons of science, no longer living instruments of war and death. Hopefully...

Elicia releases his hand and makes a worried sound at his tension. "Um- Girls can be Alchemists too, right?"

"O- of course," Roy says, trying and failing to recover. "Just... do your studies and work hard. That's all you need to do, really." Setting aside everything else, he isn't wrong.

"Okay! I will, I promise!" she says, all but bouncing against him on the bed by now.

Roy tries to laugh through the tightness in his chest. "Hey now - I hope you don't want to burn things like me, too?"

She stops bouncing. "Huh? No, not that. I wanna help people. Make no more bad things happen."

And this… gives Roy great pause. Her desires are so pure, so simple - so much like his own, when he was young and innocent and only knew he wanted to learn, to fight, to protect people.

Yes, he definitely wants to cry now. "Oh- Oh?"

"I dunno what I'll do,” Elicia continues. “But- I just wanna help people. Like Daddy did, but with Alchemy. You can do that, right?"

Roy swallows, losing the battle with his emotions. "Of... of course you can. We're supposed to, in fact. It's one of our rules: 'Alchemist, be thou for the people.'“

God, let it be true when this girl grows up.

"'Alchemist, be thou for the people'..." she repeats, slowly. After a beat, she says, "...I like that."

"...I'm glad you do." Roy smiles, now feeling tears gathering in his blind eyes, spilling from their corners.

Elicia startles at him. "-You're crying! What's wrong, Mister Mustang?"

Roy wipes at his eyes with one hand, sniffling. "Sorry, Elicia, I... I-it's happy tears, really."

She throws her little arms around him in a desperate hug, burying her face in his chest. "Please don't cry Mister Mustang! You're gonna make me cry!"

He holds her against him, laughing and pressing small kisses into her hair. "I'm sorry, I'm just- I'm so proud of you, dear.”

When he senses her lift her head to look at him, he adds, “...Your daddy would be, too."

He hears her start to sniffle, and she buries her head against him again, turning her head slightly.

"I hope he watches me,” she says softly. “I wanna be the best Alchemist ever."

"...And I'm sure you will," Roy whispers to her.

And he hopes Maes is watching him, too.

END.

#fullmetal alchemist #roy mustang #gracia hughes #elicia hughes #blind!roy #jeminy writes #jeminy3 art

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fullmetalscullyy · 4 years

Text

the way it was - chapter 15

summary: what if riza never went to war? riza hawkeye has just married the man she loves. six months into their marriage, an unexpected surprise stops her from following roy to the military. a canon divergence au that explores what might have happened had riza been unable to join the military. there will be plenty of family fluff, angst, and royai.

rated: m | warnings: no archive warning apply

chapter 13 | read on ao3

1914

well this is life in colour

today feels like no other

“Hello, Riza,” Gracia Hughes greeted warmly, hugging the host tightly after stepping into her home. “How have you been?”.

“I’ve been well, Gracia. Thank you for asking. What about yourself?”

“The same,” she smiled, glancing down at her daughter, who had just tugged on her hand to get her mother’s attention.

“Mummy?” Elicia asked. “Where’s Mia?”

Riza smiled at Hughes' daughter, and Gracia smiled at her eagerness.

“She’s inside, Elicia,” Riza revealed, crouching to her level. “Let me take your jacket and you can go in and see her if you like? She’s in the living room with Uncle Roy.”

Shortly after her birth, Maes and Gracia had asked Roy and Riza if they’d like to be the godparents of Elicia. They both readily accepted and returned the favour with Mia. The titles of aunt and uncle came along shortly after that, and it stuck.

At that piece of information, Elicia’s eyes lit up and she grinned. “Okay!”

“Aunt Rebecca is already in there too,” Riza announced as she eased Elicia’s coat gently off her shoulders. Elicia’s eyes lit up even more. She was a big fan of Rebecca.

“Yay!” she clapped happily.

“I love this jacket, Elicia. It’s very beautiful.” She beamed at her Aunt Riza.

“I picked it out myself. I like the flowers on it!” she exclaimed.

“You have very good taste.”

Elicia’s eyes positively sparkled, and her cheeks turned a light shade of pink in her pride.

“Head on through, Honey,” Riza gestured. “They’re just in there.”

Elicia was a very confident child, not much phased her, however she tentatively walked to the living room and peeked through the door to see who was there waiting for her. When she spotted Roy, her posture straightened, and that confidence returned.

“Uncle Roy!” she cried happily, running into the room.

“Thank you for inviting us,” Gracia added once Riza had straightened to stand.

“Thank you for coming. I appreciate it, especially after having to reschedule.”

The Elric brothers were out of town for longer than anticipated and then Roy and Riza had to move to Central, so the dinner party she’d arranged with Maes was quickly forgotten about and put on the back burner until they were settled.

“Of course,” Gracia announced. “I wouldn’t miss tonight for the world,” she smiled warmly. “I brought some wine for the three ladies,” Gracia announced.

Just then, Maes opened the front door and entered the hallway, shivering from the cool spring air outside, but sighing in relief from the sudden warmth.

“It’s getting warmer out there, so that’s something!” Maes hugged his arms tight to his body to warm himself before shrugging out of his jacket. “Riza!” he cried with a grin, enveloping her in a tight hug. “How are you?”

“I’m well, Maes,” she smiled. “And thank you for the gift, Gracia. I really appreciate it… but, I won’t be able to drink it tonight, unfortunately. It will just be you and Rebecca on the wine tonight,” Riza revealed, her eyes sparkling as she watched the two of them furrow their brows. Gracia was the one who reached the conclusion first, but Maes was not long after her.

“Are you pregnant, Riza Mustang?” Gracia gasped. Riza nodded vigorously. “Oh, my goodness. Congratulations!” Riza was enveloped in another tight hug by Gracia. Maes joined in as well and the three of them embraced happily in Riza’s hallway.

“Another bun in the oven, huh?” Maes asked, kissing Riza’s cheek. “Congrats! Where’s Roy?”

“In the living room,” Riza told him.

Without another word, Maes entered and shook his hand. Riza watched as Roy stood and Maes pulled him into a tight hug. Roy smiled, clapping his back in thanks.

“I’ll take this out of your way then,” Gracia announced, placing the bottle of wine back in the bag she’d brought with her. “We can save it for after the baby is born. How about that?” she grinned.

“I would love that. Thank you.”

“Would you like any help in the kitchen?” Gracia offered.

“No thank you, I’m all right. Make yourself at home,” Riza offered, showing her through to their living room where the excited chatter continued now that Maes was in on the secret that she was pregnant.

There was another knock at the door, followed by hushed voices, so Gracia excused herself as Riza approached the door.

“Brother, stop fidgeting,” a rather metallic sounding voice stated sharply.

“I’m not, Al,” another replied. They both sounded so young.

“You are, I’m watching you do it. There’s nothing to be nervous about.”

“I’m not nervous,” the boy spat.

“It’s just the Colonel,” a female voice replied, her voice hushed.

“I know who it is, Winry,” the boy grumbled. “And I’m not nervous!”

Riza opened the door and was slightly taken aback when a large metal suit of armour filled her vision. The metallic voice gasped as the door opened, promptly straightening in posture as he saw Riza. That must be Alphonse. Next to him stood a small teenager. His long bangs covered his forehead, dropping down towards his eyes. Matching his fringe, was a long braid that extended down his back. Edward. The girl though, Riza didn't know. Her long blonde hair was gently brushed to the side in the spring breeze. In her hands she clutched a basket with a cover over it, and from the door Riza could faintly smell cooked apples.

She’d learned about everything that had happened with Edward and Alphonse Elric. Edward was wearing a red jacket and gloves, but Riza caught a glimpse of his automail underneath the cloth. She knew Alphonse was a soul bonded to this suit of armour before her. Riza was fully aware they’d been the victim of human transmutation, but seeing them both before her now made the news hit home even harder than it had before. Edward still looks so young. It was a horrifying thought, and Riza’s heart sank a little. They’d been even younger than they were now when they performed the taboo.

Ever since she’d discovered what had happened to them, Riza just wanted to give them both a hug. Roy had told her his plan to keep what they did a secret in exchange for Edward’s loyalty to his cause, but he also revealed that he would hate it if the top brass ever found out what happened to them. Alphonse would be taken away and studied while they tried to figure out how it was possible. Edward would be kept under close watch and wouldn’t have as much freedom to go out and travel the country to find out what happened to them both. Roy liked to gripe about how much of a headache Edward gave him, but she knew he cared for the two boys, and Riza couldn’t think of a better person to look out for them both. She was glad they had Roy’s support behind them.

Pushing down her strong maternal instinct for the moment, Riza smiled at the trio warmly. “Hello Edward, Alphonse. Come in,” she beckoned. Stepping aside, they both entered her home.

Despite the hushed conversation she’d heard before opening the door, Edward did look rather nervous, but he stepped forward and inside the house. Alphonse ducked carefully and stepped inside, filling her hallway, but managed to clear the ceiling with enough room to move comfortably.

“Good evening, Mrs. Mustang,” Alphonse greeted.

“Hello…” Edward greeted, unsure on how to proceed. It felt like he wanted to say something, then stopped himself. “Mrs. Mustang,” he finished sheepishly. Riza smiled at him, appreciative of his manners. Obviously, it would take some time for them to get used to it.

“I do apologise,” Riza added as the girl entered after them. “But I don’t believe we’ve met before. Roy didn’t mention your friend here,” Riza announced kindly.

“My name is Winry,” she replied. “It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs. Mustang.” She shifted from foot to foot for a moment. “And sorry for turning up unannounced,” she fretted. “Mr. Hughes said it would be all right,” she explained.

Riza waved away her concerns. “The more the merrier,” she replied. There was more than enough food to go around as well, so an extra guest was no problem for Riza. “It’s a pleasure to meet the three of you,” she greeted. “And please, Riza is fine,” she insisted. “Everyone is in the living room just now.” Riza directed them to the correct door. “Would you like a drink?”

“Just water, please,” Edward replied.

“The same for me,” Winry requested politely.

“N – Nothing for me please, Mrs. Mus – I mean, Riza,” Alphonse stuttered.

“It’s all right, Alphonse,” she soothed him. “Roy told me what happened to you both.” Edward’s spine straightened, his face was stricken. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything to offer you instead.”

“That’s – That’s okay, Mrs. Mustang. Um, I – I mean we – would really appreciate it if…” Alphonse trailed off.

“If you didn’t say anything,” Edward finished. His eyebrow twitched in irritation. Given his relationship with Roy, something told Riza that Edward was annoyed at him for letting their secret slip.

“Don’t worry, boys,” Riza reassured them. “I’ve known about you two since before you got your automail, Edward.” The pair of them shared a look. “I’ve hoped for a while that I’d be able to meet you someday. How are you both? Are you all right?”

They shared another look. They were surprised by her concern, but her maternal instinct wouldn’t rest. At every mention of those boys, Riza couldn’t help but think about her own daughter, and how she couldn’t bear the thought if something like that happened to Mia.

“We’re… okay. Thank you.” Edward seemed genuinely surprised and his thanks were sincere.

“If there’s anything you need, just let me know,” Riza smiled, showing them the way into their living room. They were greeted warmly by her other guests and Riza left them to it, entering their kitchen.

“I brought something along with me,” Winry announced shyly as Edward and Alphonse entered to speak to the other guests. “I baked an apple pie.”

“Oh, Winry. Thank you so much. I thought something smelled delicious. Would you like to bring it through?”

Winry nodded and followed her to the kitchen.

“Just put it wherever you find a space,” Riza told her. “I can’t wait to dig in.”

“Thank you. I hope it’s all right. Edward loves it, but I think he’s a little biased.” She chuckled, her cheeks turning slightly pink. Riza smiled knowingly, recognising that look.

“I’m sure it will be perfect.”

“Would you like a hand with cooking?” Winry offered.

“I’ll be fine, but thank you for your offer. Go through and enjoy the company. I’ve got things handled in here.”

“Okay, thank you, Mrs. Must - I mean Riza.”

* * *

Riza busied herself with cooking dinner, oblivious to what was happening in the rest of her house. She heard laughter in the background as she worked, and it made her smile. She was pleased everyone was getting along. Growing up, she’d never had a house as warm of this. She never thought she ever would. To hear such happiness emanate from her living room as all her guests enjoyed themselves made her heart warmer than any fire could.

Well, except maybe Roy’s. He always managed to make her feel safe, loved, and happy. To this day she couldn’t believe her luck. The attractive, brilliant, and overall incredible Roy Mustang had fallen in love with sad, lonely, and plain Riza. Sometimes she’d wondered if it had been out of pity, especially after they were first married.

Her father had asked Roy to take care of her on his deathbed. That request still bewildered Riza because Berthold had never shown love or care to her after her mother's death. It was as if he’d forgotten about Riza completely. Riza wondered if it was out of guilt, but didn’t hold out much hope for that reasoning. He probably only wanted Roy to protect her body, not her as a person. After all, she’d been turned into her father’s own personal notebook. The research on her back was more important than Riza.

Being the gentleman he was, Roy had asked Riza to marry him. Riza had often thought it was only because he’d felt it was his duty, but she hadn’t wanted to tie him down like that. So, she questioned everything, because how could she be loved so much by him? It had to be an act. It had to be. He was young, and did the thing he thought was right. In the first few weeks Riza had been waiting for him to come to his senses and leave her, realising he’d made a mistake tying himself to her so young. Her father had drilled it into her that she was useless every day. How could someone so useless be loved by him? Slowly, Roy had chipped away at her walls and broken them down. Riza couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so happy in her childhood.

Then, the bomb was dropped when he’d been called up to serve in Ishval. She’d been loved and cherished for six months, then he’d been roughly pulled away from her. He was going off to war. He could have been killed. Coupled with the hormones from her pregnancy, Riza had spent many days, not just nights, sitting in a depressive state, tears tracking down her cheeks. That was when she was at her lowest.

Rebecca dragged her out of that somewhat. She was taken on days out. They went shopping for Mia together to prepare for her birth. These trips led to lunches out or teas in coffee shops. Before Riza knew it, it was time for dinner. Rebecca invited her around to her apartment for dinner more often than not. Riza had been too tired from their busy days to make it home. Sometimes Rebecca drove her back to her cold, lonely apartment, but Riza always preferred sleeping at Rebecca’s. It helped to have some company.

“Hello,” Roy greeted as he kissed her temple, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. He broke her from her ruminations, but Riza wasn’t going to complain about his more than welcome affections.

“Hello, you,” Riza smiled, looking over the timings on the recipe sheet in front of her. She set the kitchen timer for twenty minutes then relaxed against Roy’s chest. The last thing was being cooked and in twenty minutes, the food would be ready to serve. This was the first time she’d ever hosted a meal and was slightly nervous. She just wanted everything to go well.

“How are you doing?” His arms slipped from around her waist while Riza turned in his grasp. They settled on her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I’m fine.” She was a little bit tired, but not enough to put her off hosting for the night.

“Let me know if you need any help, okay?”

“I will Roy, don’t worry.” She kissed him softly. The grip on her waist tightened in response. “Everything is fine through here. What about through there?” she nodded towards the living room.

“Surprisingly, Edward Elric is good with kids.”

“He’s a kid himself. Why wouldn’t he be?”

“Because he has a terrible attitude that stinks to high heaven?”

Riza scoffed. “Only to you. He was perfectly polite when I met him.”

Roy grumbled under his breath, a scowl forming on his face.

“Maybe if you weren’t so hard on him, he would be nicer to you.”

“I have been nice,” Roy stated defensively. “I gave them the freedom they needed, didn’t I?”

“Followed by a smug look and a snarky comment, no doubt,” Riza teased.

Roy’s scowl deepened but Riza just laughed at him. She pulled away, moving away to cut the last of the carrots.

“Go back to entertaining our guests,” she dismissed him with an amused tone. “And try not to make Edward throttle you.”

Roy snorted. “I can’t make that promise,” he muttered.

Riza entered their living room with an amused smile. Laughter made its way through to her and she wondered what was so funny. Roy was scowling at Hughes – what was new there – while everyone was laughing, most likely at Roy’s expense.

“And then he was knocked flat on his ass,” Maes stated loudly before guffawing, while Rebecca joined in with him. Edward was cackling away while Alphonse’s laugh was slightly nervous, like he felt he probably shouldn’t be laughing. Gracia just smiled, but her attention was on her daughter and Mia. Riza’s heart melted at the sight of Winry sitting on the floor, Elicia in her lap, and Mia by her side as they played with Hayate.

Mia wasn’t laughing, though. Elicia was giggling because everyone else was, but Mia’s face fell as she looked up at her father, then around at everyone in the room. Riza watched as she climbed to her feet, rushing over to Roy.

“That’s okay, Daddy,” Mia reassured him. She wrapped her arms around a surprised Roy’s neck. “You’ll always be my hero,” Riza heard her whisper in his ear. It was spoken quiet enough that the rest of them didn’t hear over their laughter, but Riza was standing behind the couch Roy was sitting on, so she heard every word.

Roy wrapped his arms tightly around Mia. “Thank you, Mia Bear,” he whispered.

“Dinner is served, everyone,” Riza announced. Eagerly, their guests made their way to their dining room. Riza hung back and waited for Roy and Mia. He’d hoisted her into his arms and was carrying her through on his hip, rather than walking with Mia by his side. Hayate walked dutifully by their side, looking up at Mia as they walked.

The whole night was a hit. The drinks flowed and all the food was gone by the end of the night. Most of them went back for seconds, stating it was too good to only have one serving. Riza thanked them sincerely, touched. On the inside she was beaming with pride.

“I told you Riza was an amazing cook,” Roy announced, kissing her cheek. She turned pink at the compliment and went back to eating Winry’s apple pie without saying a word.

“Her cooking is to die for,” Rebecca announced, helping herself to a third plate, unashamed.

“Riza, my dear, you’re an absolutely wonderful cook, however no one holds a candle to my Gracia,” Maes winked. “Sorry.”

“Winry’s apple pie is great too,” Alphonse piped up. “Edward tells me its the best he’s ever tasted.”

Riza watched, trying to hide her laugh as Edward’s face turned scarlet and Winry’s cheeks were dusted pink.

Edward coughed in response. “Yeah, it is,” he muttered quietly in response. “It’s really great.”

“Let’s not compare and contrast,” Gracia announced, keeping the peace. “The meal was wonderful, Riza. Thank you so much.”

A chorus of thank yous sounded around the table.

Riza noticed Alphonse was writing in a notebook under the table. Not wishing to embarrass him, she kept it quiet, but Mia noticed, to her chagrin.

“What are you writing, Alphonse?” she asked, eyes wide and curious.

“Oh! Um…” He sounded embarrassed. Riza opened her mouth to tell Mia to leave her questions for now, but Alphonse continued anyway. “It’s a journal I like to keep.”

“What’s in it?”

“Mia? Let’s leave questions for later, okay?” Riza told her gently.

“It’s okay, Mrs. Mus – I mean Riza,” Alphonse piped up. “Um, it’s a journal of all the food I’m going to eat when… I feel better.”

Mia was too young to understand that Alphonse had lost his entire body and Riza appreciated the teen stating he wasn’t eating because he didn't feel well, rather than revealing he had no mouth. Mia took it in her stride and nodded without further questioning.

“Brother tells me all the things that are particularly delicious, and I take a note of them in here, so I remember to try them when I get my body back,” Alphonse elaborated.

The table awed at his kind statement. Riza felt tears welling inside her eyes. Alphonse was incredibly sweet for saying it, and she was touched.

Roy squeezed her knee in comfort. “That’s lovely of you to say, Alphonse,” Roy told him.

“Yes,” Riza stuttered, taking a deep breath to calm herself. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” Alphonse stated happily. “We’ll make sure to come back so I can try your food. If that’s all right, of course?”

Roy grinned and patted her knee again under the table.

“That would be lovely,” she smiled, blinking furiously. “Thank you.”

* * *

“Um, Mrs. Mustang?” a nervous voice asked as Riza washed the dishes in the sink.

Turning, she saw Winry standing in the doorway.

“Hello, Winry. Is everything all right?”

She nodded. “Sorry, it just didn’t feel right to leave you to clean up by yourself.”

Riza chuckled. “That’s not a problem, Winry. You’re our guest. I wouldn’t ask you to wash dishes with me anyway.”

“Would you mind if I helped?”

“If you insist,” Riza smiled, handing her a dish towel. “I wouldn’t mind the company either.”

“I…” She trailed off, biting her lip as she took the towel from Riza’s outstretched hand.

Riza paused for a second, expectantly. Winry obviously wanted to ask her something, but couldn’t quite form the words.

“Take your time, Winry,” Riza reassured her as she continued in her task. Soap suds were up to her elbows as she made her way through the mountain of plates they’d used at dinner.

“I’m sorry,” she apologised. “I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Go ahead. I’m all ears.”

“Do you… worry about the Colonel a lot?”

“All the time,” Riza replied simply.

Winry nodded and Riza saw her swallow. “How do you deal with it?” Her voice was extremely quiet as she wiped the water off the plate and gently placed it on the counter.

Riza paused, cocking her head in thought. She wouldn’t lie to the girl and say it was easy, because sometimes it wasn’t.

“He’s in a position of power, and in the military. He could be called out to war at any moment, but I think I would worry about him all the time regardless of that fact.”

“What do you mean?”

“I love him,” Riza elaborated. “And when you love someone so much, you worry about them regardless of where they are in their life. Are they happy? Are they healthy? Are they doing okay? I feel the same way about Mia as well. I just want my family to be cared for and happy, so focus on that.”

Winry nodded, picking up another plate. She was silent as she absorbed Riza’s words. The two worked together quietly as Riza waited for Winry to move the conversation further.

“It’s hard,” the young girl whispered.

“I know,” Riza replied sympathetically.

“I… Sometimes I don’t even know where they are. The last I hear from them, they’re in East City, then a few days later they show up at my door, broken.” The plate hit the countertop harder than Winry intended, and the teen jumped. “I’m so sorry,” she stammered.

“Winry, it’s okay. Why don’t we have a seat?” Riza suggested gently. This was obviously not a conversation to be held over washing dishes.

Letting out a breath, Winry nodded in agreement.

In that same moment, Riza caught Roy walking through with two empty glasses in his hands. He opened his mouth to talk, but stopped when he saw Riza’s urgent glare. Behind Winry’s back, Riza motioned for him to stop and leave. Mouth parted in surprise, he spun on his heel and left the two of them alone.

“You worry about them a lot, don’t you?” Riza prompted once they were settled at the dining table.

Winry nodded. “They’re my best friends,” she whispered. “I don’t want to lose them.”

Riza could more than sympathise with that.

“I don’t want to wake up one day and… find out they won’t be coming home.”

“I understand completely. I’m the same with Roy.” Riza eyed Winry carefully for a moment. “You love them, don’t you?”

Her face turned bright pink. “I - I - They’re my friends,” she stuttered.

Riza knew better. There was a deeper connection between the three of them. Perhaps it stemmed from what the brothers went through. Winry had revealed over dinner that she was an automail mechanic, and being Edward’s oldest friend it didn’t take Riza long to connect the dots. Winry had been the one to attach Edward’s automail. She’d seen him and Alphonse through their traumatic past and recovery.

“It’s never been easy,” Riza began, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. “Especially with Roy in the military. I won’t lie and say it has been a breeze, because I do worry every time he leaves for work. However, I trust him. Even though I can’t be with him to make sure he’s all right, I trust him to look out for himself and I know that he has a solid team behind him. So do Edward and Alphonse. Remember that.”

“I’ll try… but…”

“It’s easier said than done, I know that. Do you feel helpless every time you see them struggling?” Winry’s head lifted, expression perking up. “Do you want to help, but don’t know how?”

“Yes,” she breathed earnestly. She looked delighted to have found someone who understood her.

“You gave Edward the ability to walk again, Winry,” Riza stated, sitting back in her chair with a smile. “You’ve helped them so much already.”

“You’re right,” she mumbled to herself.

“Even if you feel helpless, you just being there will help them,” Riza continued. “They might not thank you. They might not even think to. However, they will appreciate it and one day, they’ll realise how big a help you were to them.”

“Is that what you do for the Colonel?”

“I’ll always be there for him when he needs me. You might need to give them some time, but they’ll come when they need you. You just need to tell them that.”

“Right,” Winry nodded, determination in her voice.

“Sorry to interrupt, Lladies,” Roy announced quietly and sheepishly as he crept around the door. “Catalina is demanding more wine.” He shot Riza an apologetic look as he entered with the same two glasses. “And she’s right, Winry. I don’t know what I would do without her,” Roy grinned at his wife.

Riza snorted. “He can be so hopeless sometimes,” she whispered loudly to the teen. “It’s a wonder how he even gets by in life,” she winked.

Winry’s eyes widened considerably. Then she giggled. “I often think the same about Ed,” she admitted. “I’m glad he has Al beside him at least. That gives me some comfort at least.”

They laughed together then Roy took his leave. In passing he paused before Riza, pecking her cheek.

“Mia is asking for her Mama,” he announced. “She says she misses you.”

Winry let out an aw as Riza chuckled. “We won’t be long.”

Roy pecked her cheek then left the room with two glasses of wine.

Riza opened her mouth to suggest joining the rest of them, but she paused. Winry was fidgeting in her chair and it looked like she had some more questions for Riza.

“Did you ever think about following him?” she asked suddenly.

“I did,” Riza revealed. “Once.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, of course,” Winry gushed as an afterthought.

“You want to know why I didn’t?”

Winry nodded.

“Roy works towards making the world a better place and protecting the two brothers. He’s got a good team I trust to keep him on track. However, there’s someone I have to protect too. I have Mia,” she replied, then a slow smile spread across Riza’s face. “And another one on the way too.” She cupped her stomach gently, unable to stop the smile from spreading.

“Are you pregnant?” Winry asked.

Riza nodded. “Roy and I have another one on the way.”

“Oh, congratulations!” Winry cried excitedly.

“Thank you, Winry.”

“Thank you for this talk, Mrs. Mustang,” Winry breathed. She let out a long breath and Riza saw her shoulders sagging in relief, like a weight had been lifted.

“Anytime Winry,” she smiled fondly. “And it’s Riza, please.”

“Okay, Riza.” Winry’s grin was bright.

“And I mean it. If you ever need anything or want to chat, just give me a call.”

“I will, thank you!”

“Even if it’s to complain about how dumb the men in our lives are,” Riza winked. She laughed as Winry’s face turned scarlet and she coughed, but she still thanked Riza with a shy smile on her face.

#royai #royai fic #royai fanfic #royai au #emma writes #the way it was

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lanfan · 4 years

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Um. Ling or Ed hcs pls? 😳

hell yeah baybee!

Ed:

okay this one i came up with @electrictype but Eds kids straight up do not believe the stories abt the things he did as a teenager. He's like "I saved the country and fought G-d with alchemy" and they're like "uh yeah bullshit, you cant do alchemy, uncle al is the alchemist in the family" he'll frantically point to the suit of armor in a picture and be like "uncle al was the suit of armor! i sacrificed my alchemy to get his body back!" and they think he is very unwell in the head but they love him anyway. Ling does not help the situation, pretending to look worried for his husbands mental health.

the one thing they do believe? that he ate a boot with Ling.

Besides that:

🌻he marries Ling and the people of Xing have to process the fact that their Emperor married a grumpy manlet from a rural farming town in the middle of bumfuck nowhere.

🌻hes the best dad ever. his daughter is named Nina. he takes lots of pictures of his family and obnoxiously shares them with people. he may or may not do it in part bc hughes cannot.

🌻he's a professor of alchemy at a university in Xing, and he's beloved by his students. hes the type of professor that does crazy experiments that have definitely not been approved by the school board. what are they gonna do, fire the Emperors husband? ed thinks not.

🌻every year, he and the family go up to Central on the anniversary of Hughes death. They spend the day with Gracia and Elicia.

🌻Ed and Al go to central on the anniversary of Nina's death, and just sit in front of her grave and update her on their lives. sometimes they make up scenarios on what nina would be doing if she was still alive.

Ling:

He has a lot of nightmares from the Promised Day. sometimes its greeds death, sometimes its Fu's. sometimes its Ed's scream when he realizes al had sacrificed himself. on those nights, Ed pushes away his walls and holds him, and Ling will reminisce abt greed and the six months before the promised day.

other hcs

🌻he will randomly challenge ed, lan fan, or mei to spar when hes bored and has been sitting in diplomatic meetings all day.

🌻the King of sass. he does not care if this is the prime minister of drachma, if he gets insulted he will say something.

🌻absolutely terrorizes roy mustang. sends him the most ridiculous gifts and ofc roy can't throw it away bc its unprofessional. if you search the bottom drawer of Roy Mustangs desk, you'll find a hat shoved under a bunch of files that says "Foxy Grandpa"

🌻also the best dad ever. he dotes over his kids, and even lets them sit in on some meetings. he doesnt care if its unprofessional, his daughter just sneezed and and her little button nose twitched and thats a moment he has to cherish.

🌻he will be regarded as the best king in Xing's history. he serves his people and is kind and compassionate. he also once ate a boot in the stomach of a homonculi with his manlet bf. thats some real king shit.

send me a character and I'll share an hc I have for them!

#sorry this took so long i got really into it NDNDNDJD #fma #ed #ling #long post #ask games #ask

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wheremytwinwatches · 4 years

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[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 16

Work continues to drive me crazy, so of course I make my life more complicated by getting online classes set up for the fall. That, and I kinda don’t want to see our babies learn about Hughes. Blissful ignorance, am I right? *sigh* Onwards with Brotherhood.

Do we have captions this time? We do! Awesome, it was so irritating last time not knowing if I was mangling names or not. We’ve got the second intro featuring the Xing contingent, curious how influential it’ll be having a foreign prince bopping along with the Elrics. (Also, I continue to be juvenile and giggle at one of the lyrics in the new song being “shite”. Hee.) We open up with a bird's-eye view of Central, then with Ed yawning at the train station. Al mentions that being spied on for hours is pretty tiring. Right, Ling’s ninja squad don’t trust the Elrics. But where’s the Prince? The Ninjas proceed to freak the heck out, Fu runs around the traintops calling out for the young lord as Lan Fan worries about him collapsing. Is Ling fainting a common thing, then? Ed just shrugs his shoulders at the absence of the freeloader and heads off with Al and Winry. Huh, music’s getting ominous. Oh, there he is, doing a Brooding Anime Rooftop Stare on the station’s clock tower, looking towards the center of the city. [Ling]: “Something about this country doesn’t feel right.” Well, the current speculation (backed by the freaking Fuhrer being a Goth!) is that they’re sacrificing people to make Philosopher’s Stones, so… don’t know much about Xing so can’t say if they’re any better, but it’d be pretty hard for them to be worse. Episode 16 - “Footsteps of a Comrade-in-Arms” In a run-down area of the city, a car stops and the blond-haired smoking guy (Havoc?) of Roy’s crew is checking in with the grey-haired member (I’ll get their names some day, I swear), dropping off food from the colonel. Oh, guess Grey’s been guarding Barry, who cheerfully recognizes “the smokin’ guy”. Not tied up and playing chess? Are they keeping him prisoner to try and get more info or more protecting their only source? Well, I suppose for a serial killer like Barry being kept inside at night and denied any chances to chop someone up would be uncomfortable. Still, Grey’s bored with the assignment, asks how much longer it’ll be. Havoc just says that Roy apologizes for the dangerous assignment, that Grey’s absence it being treated as sick leave… and if he’s seen in public by anyone he’ll get court-martialed. Yikes, ok then. No breaks for poor Grey. Any good news? [Havoc]: “Falman, I found myself a girlfriend!” ...well that’s nice and all for you, buddy, but I think Falman (thank you!) was looking for good news for him. Poor, poor Falman. Hey, it’s Ling! Taking another impromptu nap? A couple of cops are asking if he’s ok, he whispers about food… ah, trying for another free meal? Unfortunately for Ling, the cops less interested in feeding him and more interested in seeing his entry visa. Cue irritated cops dragging a crying Prince away. [Cop 1]: “Outta the way, everyone!” [Cop 2]: “Illegal alien coming through!” The Ninjas continue to freak over the absent master, while Ed says that they should stop by the military offices. Winry… decides to go straight to the Hughes’ house. Oh boy. [Winry]: “I can’t wait to see Miss Gracia and cute little Elicia!” Uuuuuugh. Make it stooooop. The Brothers are off to meet up with Hughes himself, while they think Hughes might have been stymied by Bradley’s orders to stand down they have info on the Homunculi now (and still don’t know the Fuhrer himself is one, gah!). Off to the court-martial office! Quiet somber music as the brothers run through the park. And right by the phone booth that Hughes was murdered in. Bleh this episode is not going easy. In the office, Sheska’s carrying around some books when another lady officer asks for a key to Room #3. Which freaks Sheska out, and she babbles about cleaning up the mess first? What, have you made that your private reading lair or something? Nope, not your lair it seems, but Colonel Mustang’s private napping chamber. Yikes, hope you had an alarm set, and it only wasn’t Sheska waking you that kept you from being late to a freaking Council Meeting. Wait, Council? I don’t think I’ve heard of that group before, I’m just assuming by the tendency for Anime Councils to be Big Deals that it’s the same in the FMA universe. The highest-ranking officers of the military? Sheska worries that Roy’s not getting enough sleep, he just waves her off and goes to the meeting. Staying up late doing research on the conspiracy, I gue- GAH new voice! Sheska freaks and identifies them as Captain Focker, who asks about the open storeroom and what Roy was doing. Uh oh, a watcher sent by Bradley? Double uh oh, in her concern for Roy’s state Sheska is telling Focker about how he seems to be researching the Fifth Laboratory. And the Hughes case. Bleeeeeh, more Hughes feels as Sheska gets sad about her getting her job through Hughes. Captain Focker walks away deep in thought, glasses obscuring his eyes. Uh oh. But then the looks up in surpr- That’s Captain Focker! Oh my Leto, that’s the real Captain Focker! Real Focker’s too busy looking at some piece of paper to notice a shapechange and red electricity as Envy takes on a new disguise. Shapeshifters: A security nightmare.

But it looks like Envy might have made a mistake, as Real!Focker’s now saying good morning to Sheska, who is rightly confused. A simple “Laugh at this clueless character” moment, or a break for the good guys? Roy’s washing up in a bathroom for this Council Meeting, takes a moment to stare mournfully into the mirror- until with a flush of a toilet his angsting is interrupted by The Mighty Armstrong, glinting manfully in his bandages while towering over the stall door. Hah! Armstrong remarks that Roy looks a bit peakish, who asks why Armstrong is bandaged. Oh right, Armstrong was involved in killing all of Greed’s human-chimera crew down South. He mentions that he ran into the Elrics down there, on their visit to their old teacher. But he couldn’t bring himself to tell them about Hughes. Armstrong makes his way out- [Roy]: “The Fifth Laboratory and the Philosopher’s Stone; the Stone’s key ingredients are live humans.” Armstrong comes to a halt. Roy continues about how Hughes died following up on the Elric brothers’ investigation, and how if/when they find out they’ll blame themselves. He says Armstrong not telling them was kind, and Armstrong compliments him on figuring out so much. But warns him that he never knows who might be listening. Riza’s waiting out in the hallway when Ed walks up and says hi, although he’s not as happy when Roy joins them. Oh yeah, Elric didn’t know about Roy’s promotion. Now if he’s hanging out in Central it’ll be the same place as good old Colonel Mustang. The sarcasm in Ed’s “Great” is astounding. As for the Elrics, they’re just doing some information gathering. And might pay Hughes a visit later in the day. Where is he, anyway? Roy… says that Hughes retired. Went out to the country with his family to run the family business. Really, dude? I get that it’s a sore subject, but the “he went out to the farm” excuse only works for so long. They deserve to know what happened. Well, with the false story the boys think that they should tell Winry, they spin around only to run into Lieutenant Ross. She asks about the rush, Ed mentions that they heard about Hughes… and Ross isn’t in on the “tell them the farm story” excuse. Oh boy. Uuuugh, the two conversations sliding right past each other here is painful! And here’s the kicker: [Al]: “He retired to the country and they promoted him?” Ross realises she did a no-no, covers her mouth to keep from saying anything else. And Ed realizes the truth. Mid-episode cards: Captain Focker with an Envy silhouette behind him, and a downcast Gracia Hughes on the second. Notable for both Narrator “Full-Metal Alchemists” being the sad, somber one. Out in the city, Winry’s shopping for apples, presumably to give to the Hughes’ family. And Ed races out of the building after hearing the new. [Lt. Ross]: “Brigadier General Hughes is dead… He was murdered shortly after you were discharged from the hospital, Edward. I’m afraid we still haven’t found the person responsible.” As he runs and cries, Ed blames himself for pulling Hughes into the investigation. Flashes of Happy Hughes and his family, a memory of Hughes seeing them off at the train station and inviting them to drop by again, hosting dinner, first meeting them and inviting them to his home… Al catches up with the suitcase and then stands there silently as Ed slumps against the wall. And now we’re with Winry, who’s arriving at the apartment. The door swings open- [Elicia]: “Daddy?!” Oh no, that’s fine. I didn’t need that heart anyway, go ahead and use it as a footrest show. The Elrics have arrived at the apartment building, when Al asks what they should do Ed tells him to go back, that he’s “the only one who has to take the blame for what happened.” Oh my Leto kid you have enough self-imposed guilt from Mama Elric and Nina, stop taking the weight of the world on your shoulders! Al argues that it’s on both of them, and double all my protests that Ed does not deserve this for his little brother as well. Ed tries to dissuade Al again- [Al]: “We made up our minds; We said we were getting our bodies back, no matter what. But if people are going to die because of that… then I don’t want mine back.”

Freaking A, Al. I cannot overstate how much damn respect I feel for you right now. You are a poor boy, trapped in a cold metal body from a horrible accident. Getting your body back has been your driving purpose, along with healing your brother. But when you discovered that the cost of making a Philosopher’s Stone was human sacrifice, you discarded the method. And when you discover that a friend has died in the process of helping your investigation, you are fully prepared to renounce your goal in order to protect others. I salute your selflessness. Gracia opens the door, and gives the Elrics the same sad smile that she gave Winry, telling the brothers that Winry’s already arrived. The mechanic’s sitting quietly in a chair with Elicia curled in her lap, she looks up with Ed quietly enters. Ed then asks to talk to Gracia and Winry about Maes. The quiet sad theme starts playing as Gracia recaps the Elrics’ message; that Hughes looked into the Philosopher’s Stone, and was killed as a warning against the brothers. Gracia looks down at sleeping Elicia, as Ed bows his head in grief and gasps out “sorry” again and again. [Gracia]: “That would be just like him, dying while trying to help someone else.” The Trio look up in surprise. [Gracia]: “My husband. He always was a busybody and a meddler, and it got him into trouble. A lot. But you know… I don’t think he ever had regrets. Not any… not even in his dying moments, Edward.” So many people to respect in this episode, seriously. Al being prepared to give up on getting his body back, and Gracia insisting that they can’t give up, or else Hughes died in vain. With a little smile, even. Forget about the dead end of the Stone, there still might be another way. [Gracia]: “You boys have to keep moving forward… any way you can.” The door closes as the Trio exit the apartment, Ed turns to look at the others- [Elicia]: “Mommy?... Mommy, please don’t cry.” ...damn you, show. Later in the day now, the sun is setting as the Trio walk through the streets to a sweeping cello melody. The Elrics see Winry to a hotel room, and then go to their own. Right, because they… used to stay at the Hughes’ residence. Winry’s quietly resting on her bed, Al’s sitting in the living room, and Ed’s downstairs in the restaurant too upset to eat. Now he’s knocking on Winry’s door, asking if she’s eaten yet, and she should hurry because the dining room is closing soon. The parallels are strong here: when they were children the Rockbell’s fed the Elrics, and now Ed’s trying to make sure Winry keeps up her strength now. When Winry doesn’t make a move Ed excuses himself to his room, but Winry grabs his automail hand. Aw, aw no. She still has the basket of apples she was planning to take to the Hughes’ family. Seems she was planning to make apple pie. And had hoped that Mr. Hughes would get to try some too. Winry cries as the screen fades to black. WOW OK talk about rough transitions, we’ve got Chimeras in cages. And eff you it’s the Goths, Lust leaning on Gluttony as she talks with still-disguised Envy. Now they know that Roy’s been looking into the matter, and may have found some things out. Lust gripes that they orchestrated Roy’s move to Central to keep a closer eye on him, and it’d be a waste to lose an important sacrifice candidate. Wait… [Envy]: “Haven’t been able to learn anything from your new boyfriend?” Aw hell no, I’d thought that Havoc gushing about having a girlfriend was just a little joke at the beginning of the episode, like a running gag about his relationships or something. You’re telling me Lust is playing Havoc? Run dude, run! Lust goes off to gather more info, calls for Gluttony like a loyal little attack dog. Envy chides Gluttony for leaving some bones scattered around… but then gets an idea. Uh oh, we’ve got string music as Envy suggests making another “play”, giving Roy a bone to chew. What are you up to? We’re at what appears to be a cafeteria now, when someone comes up and taps Lieutenant Ross on the shoulder, introducing himself as Henry Douglas from the Provost Marshal’s office. Flanked by goons, he says that Ross has to come along with them, and demands her gun? Wait, is Ross being arrested? Brosh, where the heck are you, come defend your partner! Whoa whoa what?! They’re accusing Ross for Hughes’ murder?! What the heck, how can you make that claim? What evidence do you have for that absurd claim? Besides… well, besides the shapeshifter accosting Hughes in the phone booth while looking like you… uh oh. Riza is updating Roy on the situation, saying that Ross (man, there are a lot of R-characters involved in this case, huh?) is pleading not-guilty on all charges. The Flame Alchemist just tells Riza to gather all the info on the suspect that she can, secretly. Dramatic string music continues as we see Havoc buying some flowers and then running along to his “hot date”, stubbing out his cigarette as yup, “Solaris” is Lust. Who demurely asks Havoc to sit down and tell her about his day. AAAAAAARGH! Ok then! Was putting off this episode because I knew there would be Feels about Hughes, and damn if it didn’t deliver. But like Gracia said, they can’t let Hughes’ death be in vain, and they can hardly just give up and let the killer go free. Speaking of, framing Ross? As if I didn’t have enough reasons to hate you jerks, Goths! Ugh, this is gonna get complicated, isn’t it?

#wmtw #where my twin watches #ranubis #full metal alchemist #full metal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fmab 16

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by-nina · 5 years

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No Promises

Royai Week 2019 | Day 7 – Picture prompt; couple at sunset Rating: K+ Genre: Romance/Fluff Word Count: 2,140

She drinks the rest of her champagne, not noticing the way Roy has paused to stare at her. Riza quietly resumes watching the view.

Roy hardly recognizes himself in the mirror. It isn’t the handsome black military uniform that he wears in place of his regular one, though it’s true that he hasn’t brought it out for many occasions. It isn’t the freshly shaven look he hasn’t worn for a while—but it is the thinly veiled nervousness on his face that makes all the difference, breaking what he supposes should be the composure of a man giving his daughter away on her wedding day.

The door opens behind him, and he comes back to his senses—the primary realization being that it isn’t his own daughter he is walking down the aisle today. Gracia Hughes enters the room, smiling at him, kind and pitying and amused at the same time.

“Are you all right, Roy? You must be sweating in your suit.”

He lets out something between a laugh and a deep breath. “I’m all right. Thank you, Gracia. How’s everything outside? Is there anything I need to help out with?”

Gracia laughs. “Everything’s under control, no need to worry. Besides, you’re already doing more than enough for Elicia just by being here today.” Her expression turns softer. “It means so much to me, too. Maes would have been extremely happy and grateful.”

Falling into their sentimental thoughts, they look out through the large window of Roy’s rented room, which overlooks the garden where the ceremony is to take place. In the mid-afternoon sun, the decorations are a beautiful tapestry of pastels against a canvas of rich, textured green. Soft white cloths are draped around rows of gold-colored garden chairs and the round shrubs dotting the aisle. At the end of it, an intricately carved gazebo serves as the altar, ringed out with flowers and strings of twinkling lights.

“I still can’t believe that I’m walking Elicia down the aisle,” Roy says quietly. “It should have been him.”

She sighs, gently placing a hand on his arm. “Not a day goes by that I don’t miss him. But missing him and keeping him in our thoughts is the most we can do, nothing more. Maes doesn’t dwell on the past, and he wouldn’t want us to do that.” Her grip turns firm, encouraging. “And you owe the same to your own life.”

He’s heard that tone before—that purposeful, knowing tone she uses when she speaks to him as her own friend rather than one she’d met through her husband, as she has increasingly done in recent years. It must be due to the occasion that she’s chosen to remind him of this again, but he’d be damned if he didn’t want to agree with her—that it had been so long, that he had gone through so much by this point in their lives that there must be more for him, finally, than the single-minded goal of becoming Führer.

Right as he’s entertaining the tempting thought, the door opens once again. This time, a different kind of emotion fills him with Elicia’s arrival. She saunters inside in a billowing, iridescent white dress that gives her the appearance of floating on a cloud, kept on the ground by the small, colorful flowers that adorn her hair at the base of her veil. Never in a million years would Roy have imagined the small, adorable child in an endless array of wallet pictures growing up into this lovely young woman, and it’s as if he’s been punched in the gut. Roy wonders if it’s simply nostalgia that makes his eyes mist, or more an effect of seeing someone in a wedding dress.

“Uncle Roy!” she beams, reaching out and throwing her arms around his neck; he catches her, smiling widely himself. “You look great!”

“What are you talking about, Elicia, look at you!” Roy allows her to step back, and she exchanges a smile with her mother. He doesn’t know how he hasn’t had his breath knocked out of him yet. “Shouldn’t you be with your bridesmaids? The wedding will start anytime soon.”

“It’s not going anywhere, is it? There’s something I need to take care of first.”

“You know, whatever it is, I can take care of it for you.”

Elicia’s grin changes. For a second, Roy swears that he can see his best friend’s devilish smiling face beneath hers. What the hell, Maes.

“Oh, I’m definitely leaving it to you. Mom, could you give us a minute alone?”

“Of course. I’ll see you outside, honey.”

Gracia and Elicia kiss each other on the cheek, and the older woman nods at Roy over her shoulder. Once the door closes behind her, Elicia crosses her arms, and her expression turns smug. He knows that look, too; it’s the look she had used on him so often as a teenager, not entirely rebellious but indeed headstrong. Like he’s always done, he mirrors her pose affectionately.

“All right, kid. What do you want?”

She shakes her head as if he’d asked the most obvious question in the world. “Uncle Roy, isn’t this strange to you? It’s been so long. I’m twenty-three years old, and in a few minutes I’ll be married to a man I fell in love with five years ago. What’s keeping you from doing the same thing?”

Roy laughs nervously and looks away. “What—what are you talking about, Elicia? This really isn’t the time for—”

“No, it’s definitely the time for this. She’s here today, too. I want my wedding day to be as happy for everyone as it is for me. You both deserve it.”

“Elicia.” He casts his eyes down. Roy would be bewildered that he’s being lectured by his best friend’s young daughter, of all people, if the question hadn’t been so piercingly personal. Instead, he’s left with a lonely sense of longing that has no business being this potent, after having been pushed down and away for so long. He sighs. “Listen. This isn’t as simple as choosing to spend the rest of your life with someone who makes you happy. If I could do that—if I’d had the chance or right to do that, I would’ve done it in a heartbeat. But there are greater things than that for people like—people like us. Things that must come before people like us. And if putting those things first is what it takes for other people to love, and be happy, and be free, then it’s the price we’ll pay.”

Elicia’s smile has faded. At first, Roy thinks that he has convinced her to see things the way he does, but she is Maes’ daughter, after all. He looks more closely at her face: he finds no sympathy there, only incredulousness.

“You say ‘people like us’ as if Dad didn’t serve with you before he married Mom.” She sighs. “I’ve known you and Aunt Riza all my life. You two have devoted more than a lifetime to serving our country, even before you became Führer. You can only do so much on your own, but you’ve always worked beyond your own capacity and inspired your men to do the same. How can you still think you don’t deserve each other?” Smiling fondly, she adds, “And besides, I don’t think I’ve heard a lot of people talk like that about someone they love. You really don’t hear yourself, do you?”

Roy bites his lip, looking everywhere around the room except straight at Elicia, whose knowing look he knows will completely win him over. “You don’t think it’s too late for us?”

“You’ve been with each other through your worst, and you still have each other after all this time. No time could possibly be too late for the two of you.”

The clock strikes five. From his window, they can see the sun begin to set and the sky turn into a breathtaking golden color. He has always thought of Riza under a sky like this, and he thinks of all the sunsets that will pass him by for the rest of his life. He cannot know how many there will be, but he knows he will wait for each one.

Elicia smiles and takes Roy by the elbow, and he lets her lead him out to the garden.

The sunset is perhaps the least of all the beautiful things that afternoon. Tears begin to fall the moment Elicia appears at the end of the aisle; she has a glow like the sun itself, and guests wonder in awe where all the years have gone. Roy trembles a little as he leads Elicia to the altar, but he keeps himself together for her and for her father, who might rise from the grave and come for him if he were to mess up. Once the walk has been completed and she has joined her husband-to-be, Major Robert Weiss, the sunlight catches them in just the right places. They look at each other in a way that creates a world all their own, that no one watching behind them could describe.

The ceremony and the immediately succeeding reception turn everyone fondly nostalgic, but none more so than Elicia’s older guests. They are mostly comprised of Maes’ friends from the military, and so the Elrics, Roy’s closest colleagues, Major General Armstrong and his men, and a few others lose themselves in a sea of his memories over glasses of champagne. They talk about how Maes Hughes had always been the biggest hearted man of them all, who wanted nothing more for anyone than to find love. They talk about their loved ones—families they’ve formed, people they’ve met and lost, people who have been with them all their lives.

They talk, and talk, and talk, and Riza soon finds herself entranced by the view of the landscape below, beneath a still warm-colored horizon that fades into a starry patch of light blue sky. She broke away from the group when talk came of grand romantic moments and lovestruck highs. She thinks of love, and she’s unable to see it as anything other than a warm, unassuming place in her chest that comes in moments she can never predict. Riza smiles and tips back her glass. Maybe all she needs to sort her thoughts is more champagne.

Before any other sound comes, she hears a few soft footfalls, carefully placed so they make that nice, full sound of leather soles, and she knows only Roy Mustang could be approaching her. Standing next to her, he leans on his elbows against the balustrade. “How’s the view out here?”

“A welcome change from being in the middle of all those buildings in Central.”

“It’s a lot like your old home, isn’t it?”

She may have misjudged herself. There is a small, pleasant twinge in the middle of the warmth that begins to fill her chest. “I’ve seen a lot that are close. But it’s nothing like the experience of actually living in the countryside.”

Roy smiles fondly. “I know. I still remember the fresh air and the spring water.”

“And people calling you to their homes out of nowhere for tea and freshly baked bread.”

“Oh, I miss the bread from the town! I remember being late for some of my alchemy lessons back then because I’d sneak out for bread.”

Riza laughs as a few faint memories of such instances come to mind. She never expected to look back on them so fondly. “So that’s why! Father would get so mad about that quickly. But I’d always shut him out when he’d talk about it. It got so petty.”

She drinks the rest of her champagne, not noticing the way Roy has paused to stare at her. Riza quietly resumes watching the view.

“Hey,” he says softly.

Their eyes meet, and the warm feeling in her chest grows. It comes with thoughts of coffee in the middle of long working nights and hungover mornings after waking up; of long drives, during which they talk more easily and about more things than they do in anyone else’s presence; of shared umbrellas in the rain and jointly caring for Hayate and years and years of knowing each other through fire and never wavering in their belief in each other.

He breaks away from her gaze, but not before she sees these same thoughts in his eyes as well. Roy stares at the mountains fading into the dark horizon. The wind picks up; she leans towards him in search of warmth.

“What do you think, Riza? About moving to your hometown after retiring.”

His voice quivers at her name. Riza smiles; it will take some time for her to get used to the way he says it, or for her to even say his. She settles for a contented sigh.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

It feels like the easiest thing in the world.

#Royai Week #Royai Week 2019 #RoyaiWeek19 #Roy Mustang #Riza Hawkeye #Royai #Gracia Hughes #Elicia Hughes #Fullmetal Alchemist #Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood #FMA #FMAB #Day 7 - Picture prompt; couple at sunset #fanfiction #fanfic #romance #fluff #writing #written by nina

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scribblescrabblebabble · 5 years

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RoyEd Week 2k19 Day 6!

Title: Seven(?) Days

Rating: T+

Relationships: Roy Mustang/ Edward Elric; Gracia Hughes/Maes Hughes

Chapter: Day 6- Wait for me

Cross- Posted on AO3 and Fanfic.net links- AO3 fanfic.net

Best quality reading will be through the links, not on Tumblr itself because I’m too lazy to do italics and shit right now. For @royedweek2019 ‘s RoyEd Week!

This is a prompt from day 5, but lets ignore that hehehe.... Hughes lives! AU

--------------------------------------

A long time ago, Trisha Elric had told her sons that, “Good will come to those who wait,”. It was a common phrase, and she had meant this to mean more on the lines of “wait your turn” and “don’t skip in line” and that sort of thing.

Ed mused on his mother’s advice. He noted wryly that waiting hadn’t done her much good at all- it probably did her a whole world of bad, in fact. He never understood why she waited so dutifully. Never, that is, until now. As he looked upon his garden that Friday evening, the alchemist realized that he, unexpectedly, took after his mother in this way.

----~----

Ed awoke on Saturday two hours after he fell asleep; his alarm for 6:00 had yet to ring. Even in his sleep Ed had been restless, as the blankets were twisted at the bottom of the bed, and his pillow lay a few feet from his dresser across the room. In an attempt to calm his nerves, Ed took a long shower and, unable to find a second towel, called Winry with his hair dripping all over the office rug.

As he waited for his sister-in-law to answer, Ed looked out upon the back yard in the office window, dewy and colorful in the early spring sunrise. Maybe he’d pick a few of the flowers to spruce up the house a little bit- was that too cheesy?

Winry’s tired voice greeted him at last, “Hello?”

“Heya Win.” Ed replied, followed by what he guessed to be a sigh.

“Edward, the sun is barely up! What could you possibly need from me? If it’s an emergency I’m sure there are people who live closer to you to call.”

He chuckled a little guiltily, “Sorry Win, ‘M just trying to kill some time until 10:00. I’m too jittery to get anything productive done.”

Winry gasped, “Oh, is today the day?”

Ed nodded, knowing she couldn’t see, “It’s the day.”

--~--

The past two years had been a long string of going to work at the lab or in the office with Team Mustang, reading the paper, and anxiously awaiting the rare phone call from Al or Roy. To both of their credit, they called whenever possible, but Al was very busy with his teaching job and helping Winry with their young daughter, and Roy…

Roy was never around phones much, Ed guessed.

The blonde currently slouched in his office chair, doodling on a spare sheet of paper in lieu of alphabetizing the sources for his latest compilation of research. Riza looked at him reproachfully from her own desk across the room until he sighed and got back to work, balling up the spare paper and throwing it into the bin. Even then, it took him a minute to focus enough to actually comprehend the words he was trying to sort.

‘Abrams, Addison, Anderson, Amaryllis… wait no, m before n… shit this is dull, I need to get out of here.’ He pushed himself up and muttered about an early lunch break before he strode out of the large room. He looked disdainfully at the coffee machine, before deciding a quick stop by a café would do him better than the bitter crap in the office.

He hadn’t been sleeping well, even worse than he usually tended to, and it was only partially because of the workload regarding his research.

Outside, the air smelt of rain, and Ed regretted not taking an umbrella or something with him when he left (Riza would give him an earful if he came back dripping all over the freshly polished floors). The old coffee shop stood in a quaint corner, rather out of place in the midst of military office buildings, yet wholly welcomed by the lot. Ed knew the barista, Louise, well, and when he walked in she smiled, “Morning, Major! Usual?”

“Please.” Ed sighed, giving her a wad of cash, insisting she keep the change because he was too lazy to try and count it out, and sitting at a small two-person table towards the back of the building. He hadn’t brought any work with him, so while he waited, the alchemist kind of dazed out, just letting the ambiance of the little shop clam his nerves a bit.

A familiar female voice interrupted his tranquil state, “Edward?” He looked up in surprise, coming face-to-face with Rose’s friendly smile. He moved to stand and greet the young woman, but she motioned for him to remain seated, and took the chair across from him.

“Rose, what brings you to Central?” Ed asked curiously.

“Winry asked me to come drop off some parts with clients she has over here. And to check up on you, of course.” The Leorian responded, “Speaking of which, Edward, you look absolutely tragic!”

Ed was about to retort, but Louise came to the table with his usual coffee and sandwich. He thanked her, and took a large bite of his food before continuing where he was interrupted, “I do not look tragic, Rose, you’re being dramatic.”

“Did you sleep at all last night?”

“Uhh…”

Ed knew Rose wasn’t nagging just to be annoying, as the evident worry in her eyes was practically palpable. He only assumed everyone else back in Resembool would have the same expression if they saw him like this. This thought sent an arrow of guilt into his stomach, but he suppressed it quickly, changing the topic of their conversation, “Well, they say the war’s dying down a bit in the east. Some Ishvallan insurgent groups and all of the Southeastern front are still neck-in-neck, but that’s a good sign, right?”

Rose gave him a very unimpressed look, knowing full well what he was doing. She took to bait, however, to appease him, “Yeah, I heard the Fürher’s been trying to start peace negotiations, futile as it may seem. Have they begun sending soldiers home yet?”

Ed nodded with a small frown, “Hawkeye said they’re releasing some who have families and stuff to tend to at home: pregnant wives, senile grandparents, and the like. Just means the non-priority soldiers’ll have to stay out longer.”

Rose frowned as well, “Not necessarily. If there’s less conflict, then they don’t need as much workforce out there, you know?”

“I guess.” He sighed.

Rose rolled her eyes, “I know what this is about, Edward. He’ll be back soon.”

“What, did he tell you? ‘Cuz the certainly didn’t tell me.”

Rose looked cross, “He’s fighting! Not getting any response is better than a letter saying he’s dead! Do you really think digging a pity hole is going to help the situation?”

Ed looked at her angrily, then his expression dropped as he saw then emotion on her own face. He remembered the Rose of eight years previous, broken in the midst of a war, yet not fallen prey to self-pity. Sure, she had been manipulated by Dante, but everything she did was for a good greater than herself. Settling in Resembool, even, was for her son to be happy, and she took her present with such grace it was ridiculous.

Ed looked to his plate and quietly admitted, “It’s just… stressful, not knowing. God, I wish I knew how he’s doing, Rose.”

She smiled, “I know, it’s the worst. But you know what?”

“What?” Ed asked around another bite of this lunch.

“When you do find out, it’ll be worth the wait.” She stood up, “I’ve got to deliver these parts, but I’ll swing by your place tonight. We can make some dinner or something, okay?”

Ed smiled at her, “That sounds great. I’ll see ya then.”

“See ya!” She turned out the door. Ed sat at the table, alone again. Now, however, the thought of returning to his list of names wasn’t so daunting, especially with the promise of Rose’s divine cooking in his future. He took his time finishing the sandwich, and took his to-go cup of coffee back to the office with him.

Riza was the first to acknowledge Ed as he walked in, placing his cup on his desk and making as if to sit down. She held a little orange envelope out to Ed from her desk, and Ed quickly took the telegram. Seeign Riza’s small smile, he had an inkling who it could be from.

“Excuse me.” He muttered, taking the envelope into the long-closed room to his right, Roy’s private office. He pushed down the sadness at the empty desk and lack of paper heaps set out to be avoided, sitting hard on one of the large office chairs, hands shaking a bit as he opened up the folded paper. A smaller slip of paper came out, and Ed read the words greedily.

‘Coming home Oct 16, 10:00. Central West Station.

I have a surprise. Love you more than I can say.

-Roy’

--~--

After Winry hung up, stating that Trisha had awoken and needed ‘Mama time’, Ed was at a loss for what to do. He trudged back to the bedroom and changed into his day clothes (no point in pretending he may go back to nap). He threw his old clothes into the laundry basket and decided, on a whim, to change out the bedsheets and throw the old ones in with his dirty clothes. That started, Ed began obsessively cleaning the house- once the laundry was piled up, a table looked dusty, then the oven needed a wipe down, and he had to cook his own breakfast so there would be dishes, and so on, until before he knew it, the clock struck 7:00 and the phone rang.

Ed threw down the dish rag, seemingly broken from his mindless work trance, and retreated back to the office to answer it. This time, Gracia’s voice greeted him.

“Edward? How’re you doing?”

Ed sighed, but it came out as more of an exasperated laugh, “Just barely keeping it together, I guess! Trying to find something to do until I can go down to the station.”

Gracia laughed as well, sounding just as tired as he felt, “I understand the feeling. Elicia and I’ve been up for hours!”

“Have you talked to Maes?” He hoped he didn’t sound too desperate, but that hope was fairly fleeting.

“Not for about two weeks, but I haven’t heard from anyone else about him so that’s a plus, yeah?”

Ed didn’t want to tell Gracia that to him it absolutely wasn’t a plus, so he just hummed in agreement, “Roy hasn’t called or anything since the telegram. I guess we’ll see what that means today.”

“have you thought about what that surprise could be?”

“Yeah, probably too much.” Ed laughed a bit, “It’s making me even more anxious, somehow.”

Gracia laughed lightly, “Hey, so I called to ask if you wanted me to bring some lunch to the station for you. I’m already bringing some for Elicia so it’s not a big deal.”

“No thanks, I can’t eat right now.” Ed politely refused. Gracia seemed to understand, for she didn’t push the matter.

They talked lightly until Gracia hung up (something about an oven or something like that). The blonde stood in the study, anxious and with nothing to do for the next three hours.

--~--

Ed watched the tracks obsessively. He knew he’d definitely know when the train came to view, but he’d grown so anxious and excited he couldn’t do much more than sit and stare. Gracia sat beside him, reading the paper with Elicia working through a novel beside her. She seemed very composed and must make Ed look like an absolute wreck in comparison. Her day dress looked very clean and neat, whereas Ed had barely the patience to bother fully buttoning his own shirt.

Elicia noticed the train first, dropping her book and standing quickly, “Mom, Ed, I heard a whistle!” The eleven-year-old bounced excitedly as the train slowly screeched into the station. Ed felt his nerves burn deep in his abdomen, and he almost felt sick as he stood with the woman and girl, watching the train cars take far too long to slow down. Inside the train, every window was filled with blue-capped soldiers, their faces practically pressed to the glass, much like small children, in search of their loved ones. Several groups in front of Ed jumped and waved, their husbands or wives or whatever identified out of the many faces in the vehicle.

Finally, the train stopped, and the soldiers were let off one-by-one, each saluting their superiors at the doors before they were set free to find their families. Ed anxiously stood about the growing crowd of soldiers.

Hughes was the first out of the two, happily saluting his superior and running straight to Gracia, having seen her already from inside the train. HE managed to lift and spin both Gracia and Elicia at one time, an all-around bubble of joy. Seeing Ed, he shot the blonde a broad, knowing smile. After three more men, Ed finally, finally, spotted Roy. He boarded off the train, saluted, and scanned the crowd hopefully.

His eyes found Ed the moment the blonde’s feet began to move and was thusly prepared for Ed’s weight as he ran full-force into Roy’s arms. They didn’t talk for a short time, too busy trying to get each other as close as possible, as if to make up for the lost time. Then, Ed leaned back to look over the other, checking for injury.

Roy laughed, and it sounded pretty close to perfect, “I’m not hurt, Ed.”

Ed laughed too, finding his emotions burst out with his smile, “I had to make sure, you haven’t really contacted me aside from a single telegram in-“

He fell quiet, as suddenly Roy’s mouth was in the way and he was too busy kissing him back to continue his protest. “I’m sorry,” he murmured as they parted.

Ed sighed for dramatic effect, “I think I can excuse it this one time. Besides, I believe there was a surprise I was promised?”

Roy’s smile brightened, if that was possible, and he quickly looked to the superior officer at the door and back to Ed, “Of course! They should be off of the train soon; had to have a double check.”

“They?” Ed repeated, confused. Roy just smiled and took Ed’s hand, leading them to the door of the train. Looking back, Ed could spot Maes with a devilishly gleeful look, Elicia jumping around excitedly, and Gracia looking at he and Roy with a hand over her mouth. “Roy, what’s going on?” Ed asked.

They reached the doors as the superior officer helped out the last of the ensemble, two very shaken looking Ishvallan children, a boy and a girl. If Ed had to chance a guess, he’d peg them at around two or three years old. They looked around, helplessly confused, and Ed realized with a sinking feeling in his gut that their parents weren’t with them. They didn’t have anyone to meet at this station. Except…

They noticed Roy, and walked quickly in a beeline to him. As they reached the couple, the children seemed to realize that Roy had a companion and slowed shyly. The older man chuckled and squatted down to be eye-level with the two, “Molly, Gregory, this is Ed. He’s my husband.” He looked up at Ed, motioning for Ed to join him on the ground. He did, and the children seemed to look at him curiously. Roy continued, “Ed, this is Molly, and this is Gregory. Their parents asked me to… to take good care of them.” The blonde’s heart stung at the visible pain in Roy’s eye from a memory he was sure to learn of later.

He also saw a bit of uncertainty in his husband’s face. He realized that he’s been awfully non-responsive to the two so far, and Roy was essentially bringing kids into the complicated equation of their relationship. Smiling, Ed squeezed Roy’s hand affirmatively.

“Molly and Greg? Well, this is a surprise!” Roy’s grin lost it’s callous edge, seeing Ed’s positivity, and he pulled the both of them up to their original standing position.

Ed turned to the little kids, “We’ll make sure to take great care of you. I’m not very good at doing things halfway.”

Molly nodded and replied, “kay,”.

“You alk-mee too?” Gregory asked, hiding a bit behind his sister.

“A-alchemy? Yeah, I’m an alchemist.”

Roy muttered, “Greg’s blown away by alchemy. Thinks it’s the coolest thing he’s ever seen.”

Ed grinned broadly, “Well, that’s good! Cuz you’re gonna be around a lot of alchemy, right?”

The little boy’s eye sparkled, “Ya!”

Roy proffered the hand not already taken by Ed, which Molly took gladly. Greg was hand-in-hand with Molly as Roy led the little pack towards the Hughes’s, Gracia looking like she might cry, and Elicia already running to give her Uncle Roy a big welcome hug.

Ed looked back at the two kids- technically his two kids. ‘Oh, fuck I’ve got kids!’ he thought, finding himself increasingly excited about the prospect. Plus, if these kids already thought alchemy was awesome, what could possibly go wrong?

#royed #safe RoyEd #RoyEdweek2019 #royedweek #wartime romance AU #kid fic

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miru-p · 5 years

Photo

Jones-Fiori family tree! Third version, and I hope the last one lol. Open in new tab for better view or check it in my deviantART with longer description!

Now, under the cut, about the members, from left to right, and up to down:

Angela Fiori (C.V: Yoshiko Sakakibara / V.A: Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) Melissa's grandmother was a very kind woman that Melissa loved with all her heart. When she died at the beggining of 1914, Melissa was totally devastated, and when she returned back to Central and found out that Hughes also had died, only worsened her mental state. Melissa's first daughter is named after her. Alex was who decided it because he knows how much she loved her. Evelyn Jones (C.V: Ayumi Tsunematsu / V.A: Kari Wahlgren) Evelyn, just like her son, is a very warm and friendly person who always cares about others. She was like a mother figure for Melissa, and was an important support for her, especially during her first pregnancy while her mother Beatrice was distancing herself from her. Evelyn gives her, the day of her wedding, a little heart-shaped pendant, that Melissa wears it in a cord in her wrist since that day. Jonathan Jones (C.V: Kazuhiko Inoue / V.A: Illich Guardiola) Jonathan is a verious serious man yet a very warm person. For him, the most important thing in life is his family. He welcomed Melissa to his family when she married Alex, and loved her as his own daughter.

Gabriele Fiori (C.V: Yoshimasa Hosoya / V.A: Richard Epcar) Melissa's father is one of the most important people in her life. He is a very quiet person who rarely shows his emotions but he loves her daughter so much. Melissa is also quiet so she understands him. Besides, Gabrielle also supported her when she though about joining the military. When his mother Angela died, he fell into depression and Melissa tried to make him feel better. Beatrice Fiori (C.V: Sayaka Ohara / V.A: Ellyn Stern) Melissa's mother is a very stric and stoic woman just as Melissa herself. But unlike her, Beatrice is a very traditional woman; something that ruined her relationship with her daughter. First, she didn't support her at all when Melissa decided joining the military because she thought that a woman shouldn't be in a job like that, so she distanced herself from her daughter. Not only that, but also she didn't like so much the idea of Melissa marrying Alex; something that Melissa wouldn't forgive. Lionetta Breuer (C.V: Hitomi Nabatame / V.A: Erica Lindbeck ) Lionetta is Beatrice's sister. She lived in Central and needed help in her store, so she asked her sister if she could. So, in 1889, Beatrice and Gabriele moved to Central and started living there with her, too. Arabelle Jones (C.V: Miki Itō / V.A: Mela Lee) Alex' older sister met Meli when they were children and became friends. Arabelle is a very supportive person, so when Melissa started dating Alex, she welcomed Melissa to her family without even thinking. She was very happy since she always appreacited her a lot, besides she knew about Alex' crush for her since forever. She has a relationship with Lucy Carter (miss-mary-grace 's OC) whose character can totally handle since she has some similarities with Melissa. Alexander Jones (C.V: Yūichi Nakamura / V.A: David Matranga) Alex is a very kind and warm person. Basically the definition of cinnamon roll. Alex met Melissa when they were children in Central and inmediately became friends. Alex was in love with Melissa since they were kids, something that everyone noticed, except Melissa. He was key when Melissa's grandmother and her friend Hughes died, supporting her in everything he could. After the Promised Day, he confessed to her. Months after that, they got married and had their first daughter. Melissa Fiori (C.V: Yōko Hikasa / V.A: Elizabeth Maxwell) Melissa's desire of protect people made her join the military. At first, she worked like secretary principally and did a lot of paperwork for the Major Maes Hughes with whom he became friends due to his easy going personality. She was working under him for a year and was promoted to corporal because of her skills. Since then she worked in the investigation department and is promoted to sergeant major with 24 years. After the Promised Day, Melissa decided to leave the military. She knows for Hughes' death how dangerous their work is and she can't accept that one day the pain that Gracia and Elicia are going through could happen to Alex. Since then, she became an employee in Evelyn's florist shop. Fiorella Fiori (C.V: Rie Takahashi / V.A: Colleen O'Shaughnessey) When Fiorella was born, Melissa looked after her a lot because she thought that as an older sister she had to be like a second mother for her. When they grew up, they still have a very good relationship even thought they were distanced due to Melissa's tense situation with her mother. Fiorella usually tries to reunite her mother and her sister so they can talk and forgive each other. Angela Jones (C.V: Mariya Ise / V.A: Kelly Sheridan) The first daughter of Melissa and Alex is a hurricane. She's very spontaneous yet responsible. Both Melissa and her have strong tempers so sometimes they argue and Alex has to mediate between them. Thank to her love for music she could meet Vanessa Elric's (novanoah 's OC) beautiful voice and develop a crush on her. When they are older, they started dating. Samantha Jones (C.V: Chiwa Saitō / V.A: Kate Bristol) The second daughter of Melissa and Alex is a very shy child. She has a hard time interacting with others, and is very family oriented since with her relatives she feels more safe. Her most precious possesion is a little rabbit keychain Jansen bought her for for apologizing when he broke her favorite plushie.

Jansen Jones (CV: Nobunaga Shimazaki / V.A: Josh Grelle) The only son of Melissa and Alex is totally opposite character-wise of his twin sister. Jansen is a prankster and is proud himself of how he is. Jansen dream is becoming a famous soccer player, but at the moment he has to deal with her archenemy: mathematics, with Leonard Fuery's (his boyfriend math tutor) help.

#i can't believe is the 3rd time i do this XD but i have to cos jansen #and some little changes i posted in random tumblr post but not officially #the description are also longer on deviantart too #my art #my ocs #fma ocs #too many to tag so i'll only tag the main ones sorry #melissa fiori #alexander jones #angela jones #samantha jones #jansen jones

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flameleads · 3 years

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Anonymous asked: Thoughts on Gracia and Elicia?

Ask Personal Questions | Currently accepting.

"I love them both.” He didn’t hesitate giving his answer. How could he when it was a mere statement of fact. “When I met Gracia properly for the first time, I liked her almost instantly. It probably helped that she won me over with her cooking, but she’s a genuinely kind and thoughtful woman. Not to mention she’s sharp and pretty damn intuitive. She brought out the best in Maes... and so did Elicia.”

His smile, albeit weak, appeared as he glanced at the ground. The Hughes family---they were good people. Every single one of them.

“I started loving Elicia the minute I met her. That hasn’t changed. Maes’s phone calls were really the only way I got to know how she was doing since I couldn’t get to Central often. I still don’t get to see her as much as I like, but I try to make the most out of it when I do.” A heavy sigh left his lips as he bowed his head. No, there was no rain in the forecast today. No tears. He couldn’t cry.

Not even if he wanted to.

“She’s going to grow up in a world where her father isn’t there. I’m not him, but I... I won’t let her forget him. Who he was, what he did for this country, how much he loved her and Gracia.” His throat tightened. Instead of speaking again, he shook his head. Someone said that people weren’t dead until they were forgotten. If that was truly the case, then Maes Hughes... he’d live on in him, Gracia, Elicia, and every single life he touched. Roy would make sure of it.

#people on the streets (ee da de da de) | anonymous asks #ic; light a fire | roy #ic; I have the honor to be your obedient servant | answered asks [ prompted ]#death tw #grief tw #[ hi yes it's apparently ''kai crying about fictional characters'' hour ]#personal questions | prompt

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onemoremiraclefandoms-blog · 6 years

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Happy Birthday Mr Führer

Summary: Its been 8 years since the Promised Day, and Edward hasn't spoken to any of his old friends since then, so needless to say that he is reluctant to attend a party for Roy's birthday. Even more so since he had been denying his feelings for the older man since they made themselves known 8 years ago.

AN: RoyEd Week 2018

Day 2 – Celebration/Stillness

So since I'm not in a great place still, you'll need to forgive me cause my RoyEd week will probably be a little longer than a week. But I'm aiming to get something typed up each day, so I'm hoping it will just be a RoyEd fortnight. Anyways, this is what I have for Day 2, and I actually kind of like it.

Let me know what you guys think. And as per usual with everything I write nothing is beta'd so keep that in mind :)

Happy Birthday Mr Führer

Edward didn't want to have to go to the stupid party. He especially didn't want to wear some stupid shirt and tie either. Ever since the Promised Day and getting Al's body back, Edward had left the military and moved back to Resembool. He'd settled into his new life without his alchemy more comfortably that he thought would have been possible. It was still hard some days, he would just forget and clap and nothing would happen and it always felt like a part of him had been ripped out again, but then Al had come back from Xing with May and Edward remembered why it was all worth it. Yes he might not have his alchemy, and that was like losing a piece of himself, but he'd have given everything he had in order to be able to see his baby brother smile.

It had been years since Edward had seem any of their old friends from Central, but Al had kept him update. His brother was still in contact with Gracia and had visited with May and Winry at times, but Edward always found some reason to not go. It was strange to think that he had spent so many years without a home, living on the move and now that he had achieved his goal he didn't go anywhere. He stayed at home with Den and Granny and worked with his hands around the house and sometimes further out in their little settlement, but never left Resembool. So when Gracia had called Al and demanded that they all come to Central the following week for a surprise party for Mustang's birthday, Edward didn't have any choice but to go. Al had made sure of that. But standing in the hotel room, staring in the mirror at his deep red shirt and black trousers look he was very tempted to lock himself in here and feign illness. It had been eight years since Edward had seen or spoken to Roy after the Promised Day.

Eight years and the thought of seeing him again had Edward's guts in a nervous knot. Winry would have laughed at him until his ears bled if she was in here. They had tried a relationship together, but it didn't last long and Edward finally confessed to her that while he did love her, she was more like family to him. She eventually got it out of him that he was completely infatuated with Mustang. She did not take that well, at least not at first. The following fight had resulted in Edward moving out of their home, the whole time Granny was trying to convince him to stay but he could hear Winry's sobbing upstairs and he couldn't bear to stay there knowing that her misery was because of him. It had only taken a week for Winry to come to terms with things and hunt him down to drag his ass home again. She had tried to talk him into going to Roy and confessing everything, but there was no way that was going to happen.

A knock on the door pulled Edward from his thoughts just as Al stuck that perfect blonde head in. Edward met his eye in the mirror and offered him a smile as the younger Elric slipped into the room. He was dressed similar to Ed himself, but Al's shirt was a pale blue, and he didn't have the same nervous and sick look on his face that Edward had seen on his own.

“Brother, we're going to be late.” Al said softly, offering Ed a smile that told him that Winry had obviously blabbed at some point.

“I'm not going. I'm sick.” Edward said, lifting two flesh hands to start unbuttoning his shirt. Al sighed and moved to him, taking both his hands and dragged him away from the mirror. “Al, I'm serious. I can't do this. I know Winry told you how I feel about him, you can't expect me to...”

“Shut up Ed. Yeah, she told me, but that was years ago.” Al said, dropping one of Ed's hands but keeping hold of the other as he dragged him towards the door. “If you still feel like that towards him then you have to see him. You have to tell him.” There was a brief – and horrified, on Ed's part – pause but before Edward could begin to voice his disagreement, Al had continued on over him as they left the hotel room behind them. “You're twenty four, Ed. You obviously love him, its not some silly childhood crush. You need to tell him.”

“No. I don't need to tell him anything Al. Hawkeye would shoot me the moment she thought I was even thinking about making a move on her man.”

“Brother, Roy is single. Has been for years. He and Hawkeye were never together. You'd know that if you ever spoke to any of them. Now come on, Winry and May are waiting for us.”

Apparently a lot can change in eight years, and at the same time everything could still be the same. Gracia was still a loving, caring mother to everyone, Elicia was still an innocent and excitable girl who was over the moon to finally see Edward again. The guilt hit him hard enough to wind him when he was first hugged by them both. He needed to work on seeing them more. Roy's team were all there too, and they were all the same as Edward had remembered them being, and he fitted right back into the dynamic of the group. It was as though he hadn't been absent from everyone's lives for almost a decade. He was just starting to relax and settle into the whole situation when there was a knock at the door and everyone silently ran off to hide. Al dragged him to stand with his back to the door, so when Gracia and Elicia led Roy and Hawkeye into what looked like an empty room, Edward got a perfect view of the older man's ass in his suit trousers.

Everyone jumped out, shouting surprise and moving to hug and congratulate Roy. Everyone except Ed, who seemed to take the whole thing in slow motion. Roy had turned when he had heard Al, and while he was smiling and thanking everyone, his eyes never left Edward's. He felt dizzy and sick, his chest felt like it was being crushed and he knew that he'd stopped breathing. Only when Roy's attention was pulled from him did Edward feel like he could breathe again. Yeah, this was definitely more than a childhood crush, and this was the reason he had shut this part of his life out. Edward took advantage of the distraction and slipped out of the room into the kitchen and then out the back door. The evening air was cold enough to be a pleasant shock to his screwed up system, but not cold enough to cause him any discomfort. Edward dropped to sit on the steps and held his head in his hands as he forced himself to control his breathing.

He didn't know how long he'd been there for before the door behind him opened, but Edward wasn't feeling much better from narrowly avoiding a panic attack. He didn't look up, assuming that whoever was coming for him was Al, or Winry. So when the person didn't sit next to him straight away he tensed, but refused to look up.

“Its been a while Fullmetal.”

Roy. Of course. Had Edward actually thought that he would be able to show up out of the blue to turn up at a party for Roy's birthday and then not have to speak to him? Wasn't he meant to be a genius? When the hell did he get so stupid?

“I've not been Fullmetal for years, Colonel.” Edward muttered, giving into his fate and praying that the world would end before he had to say too much. The gentle laugh that Roy gave broke Edward's heart, he wanted so badly to hear that noise for the rest of his life. “Sorry, General, or whatever rank you've charmed your way into now.”

“You think I'm charming, do you?”

Edward felt his cheeks burning at the smugness in Roy's voice and he couldn't stop himself from turning away, embarrassed, even if he tired. “No. I think you're a bastard.” Another laugh and Edward hated himself for how he wanted to pull Roy closer because of that one noise. The older man moved quietly, and Edward was hyper aware of Roy sitting down on the stairs next to him.

“Its Führer now actually.” Roy said after a moment, and the shock was enough to make Edward snap his head to the side to look at the older man, his ponytail swinging to land over his shoulder as he stared at Roy. “They announced it today.”

“Then why the hell do you look so fucking sad, Mustang? This is everything you've wanted.” Ed snapped, staring at Roy. Roy fucking Mustang. He was still gorgeous. How on earth was that fair, that even after all this time Edward still got fist-sized butterflies just looking at the stupid bastard. “You should be in there getting drunk with your team.”

“Its bittersweet.” Roy said, leaning back and looking up at the stars above them. Edward followed his gaze, but the sky always looked like shit in Central. Nothing like it was in Resembool, or all those times that he and Al had had to camp out on missions. “Of course I'm happy, I've gotten everything I have worked for, but its not came easily. Hughes should have been here to see it. My parents never got to see me achieve this.”

“Enough.”

Roy looked over at Edward, startled by the slight harshness in his voice, but Ed wasn't just going to sit there and let Roy mope about this. “Yeah, life is shit, but you can't think about that crap Mustang. Its a huge thing to achieve your dreams, you can't fall into misery when you do get it.”

“Is that what you did?” Roy asked after a too long moment. Edward just blinked at him, taken aback by the question. “When you got Al back, when you lost your alchemy and left the military. Is that what you did back in Resembool? We've all heard or see Al over the years, but never you Edward. He tells us what he can, but you never struck me as the type to settle into country life. You're always welcome to visit us all here. Its actually good to see you.”

“Don't sound too surprised, bastard.” Edward muttered, looking away again. The night was still around them, silent. There was no wind and the only sounds that Edward could hear was the happy sounds from the house behind him. “I guess I did though, but that's not the only reason I never visited with Al. He tried to get me to come back with him and May, but I just never did.”

“What's so different this time?”

“Honestly, I don't know. Gracia wasn't going to let me say no, and I'm sure if I did Winry would have just knocked me the fuck out and that they would have kidnapped me as they were leaving anyway. But I guess I just missed this. Missed everyone, I guess.” They sat in silence for a moment, and it was comfortable. A silence that Edward didn't feel the need to break. One that he never thought was possible between him and Mustang.

“Then why are you sitting out here on your own?”

Fuck. Well there went the comfortable feeling. Edward froze. How was he meant to answer that? He wanted to lie, to make up some excuse, but Al was right. It had been years, his feelings had tormented him for almost a decade and they needed to be voiced. Taking a deep breath, Edward turned his gaze towards the sky.

“I suppose I just freaked out when I saw you. I underestimated what that would feel like. I say you and everything just stopped, and all of a sudden I couldn't breathe and I just needed to get away. Its stupid.”

“Edward,” Roy's voice was so soft, so caring that Edward had to meet his eyes. Regardless of how much he didn't want to, he had to. “I'm not sure I understand. I know that we never really saw eye to eye, but I didn't get the impression that you disliked me that much.”

“Disliked you?” Edward asked, blinking stupidly at him for a moment before shaking his head and standing up. Fuck, did the bastard really think that? “No. Its not that. Fucking hell Roy, do you seriously think I'd show up here if I felt like that about you?” Edward had been pacing, so when he turned around and almost walked right into the man in question he stumbled slightly, only just catching himself at the last moment.

“Then what, Edward? How do you feel about me?”

This was it. Edward knew he had to tell him now, but everything was closing in on him and the air was getting thin, too thin. Edward couldn't look away from those eyes, and he knew that he had to just come out and say it. Mustang would laugh at him, reject him and then they could move past this.

“I love you, bastard. I've loved you since I left.” Edward wasn't sure that he spoke, his voice was so quiet. It hadn't shaken though, and Ed thanked that small miracle. He didn't have time to dwell on it though, because before he was even aware of what was happening, Roy was tilting his head up so that he could lean down and claim his lips. Roy was kissing him! The world stopped around Edward, and the only thing that mattered was Roy. The taste of him, the warmth of his body, the almost timid kiss.

Without warning the world crashed around him, and Edward threw everything he had into the kiss. Pushing his body against Roy's, the older man's arm snaked around his back and tugged him close, the other hand holding the back of Edward's head as the blonde gave Roy everything. One of them whined softly with want, but Edward had no idea who it was because it didn't matter. Nothing mattered now, nothing expect this moment. Roy's kisses left him feeling dizzy all over again, and when they finally parted for a moment Edward was too stunned to say anything.

Luckily he didn't need to, because his brat of a brother was standing in the doorway with a smug grin, Winry laughing at his side. “Well its about time you two.” Al called out to them from the warmth of the house, and Edward flushed hard as he glared bloody murder at his brother, which only caused him to laugh.

“You're so dead, Al.” Edward all but growled and pulled away from Roy so that he could chase Al back into the house. He was going to end that brat. Al yelped at fled, and as Edward vanished after him he couldn't help but smile at the sound of Roy's laugh as it followed him inside.

#royed week #royed #Royed week 2018 #Roy Mustang #edward elric #Fullmetal Alchemist #FMA

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petri808 · 6 years

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Green Eyed

Other characters are only mentioned or not even given a name. Couple of swear words, slight make out section but still PG-13.

The train pulls in to Central’s main station and Winry is excited to see some old friends. Ever since the war had ended, many of them, like Riza and Roy had been so busy working to rebuild their country that there wasn’t time for much pleasantries. Al would also be arriving back from Xing in a couple of days and they planned to rendezvous with him here before the trio will return home to Resembool.

Mrs. Hughes was their first stop that morning, Winry happy to spend time with Gracia and Elicia, checking up on them and playing with the little girl who was not so little anymore. She was growing into a happy child despite the loss of her beloved father and even Edward was glad to see them both moving on with their lives.

He hung out with Gracia on the living room couch as Winry played a game with the girl on the floor next to them, but sometimes his mind wandered. Edward couldn’t help but notice how much the child lit Winry up and imagined it was like watching her play with a child of her own… someday. All in all, a great start to their mini-trip.

By lunch, the pair had said their goodbyes and found a small café nearby that Ed remembered from his time in the city. Not much had changed in terms of the décor or menu but the staff were all different and it was a nice looking young waitress that came to their table with water.

Winry and Edward looked up from their menu’s as the woman approached. “Welcome to Spoonful Café,” she sets their waters down, “do you need a few more minutes to look at the menu?”

“I know what I want,” Ed replies and looks to Winry, “are you ready?”

“Yeah,” Winry responds but her eyes are narrowed at the waitress who hasn’t stopped staring at Edward.

They give their orders but before leaving the waitress turns back, “I hope this isn’t too forward, but are you Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist?”

“Yes, but I don’t go by that name anymore.”

The woman giggles, “You’re a lot cuter now,” winking as she sashay’s away.

Winry’s jaw drops, the nerve of that woman to say something like that right in front of her!

But Edward just laughs, “Did you hear that, she thinks I’m…” turning towards Winry, who’s glaring daggers at the woman. “What?”

“I don’t find it amusing,” she crosses her arms, “what if we were a couple and she went and made a statement like that…”

“But we’re not a couple,” confusion in his tone, Edward had found the statement amusing but really didn’t think much of it.

She flushes, “T-That’s not the point, it’s just rude to say something like that with another female present.”

Shrugging, “Okay.”

Winry can only sigh, and hope that lunch will pass by quickly, so they can get out of there. She shouldn’t be surprised that Ed would be so oblivious to the opposite sex, but that didn’t mean it didn’t bother her. Deep down, Winry knew she had developed feelings of more than just friendship but Ed’s always just treated her like just a sister and frankly it was getting old.

Every chance the waitress had to come back to their table, she took advantage of it, bringing their food, of course his came first, keeping their glasses filled to the brim, and each time being more and more brazen. First just looks, flirty eye contact with Ed, giggling at anything he said despite the mediocre attempts at humor; Win wasn’t buying it. Progressing now to touches, light grazes against his arm to fill his cup, to straight out pinching his biceps, teasing how muscular they were. Anyone looking on could clearly see the irritation plastered to Winry’s face except apparently Ed and the waitress.

“On the house cutey,” she puts a plate of apple pie in front of Edward, making sure to squeeze his shoulder upon her leave.

“This looks yummy!” he’s about to dig in when…

“That’s it!” Winry throws up her hands, “Y-you… I can’t believe you Edward Elric, you, asshole!” and storms out of the restaurant.

“Winry?” he drops his fork, “Winry!” throws enough bills to cover the check and rushes out after her despite the waitress calling out his name. But he ignores the woman, Winry was the only thing on his mind. He was confused, why was she so upset with him?

“I can’t believe… he’s such as ass!” moisture clouds her vision and she wipes it away with her sleeve. She can hear him calling her name behind her but ignores it and speeds up her pace, ducking through other pedestrians.

“Winry please stop!”

“Go away Edward!” She runs into an alley to try and avoid him, but it’s a dead end. ‘Damn it!’

By the time she turns around to run back out he corners her and grabs her arm, “Winry what the hell is the matter with you?!”

Shaking her arm free, “You let that stupid woman flirt with you right in front of me!”

He grabs her again, holding on tighter, “So what’s the big deal, it’s not like I was flirting back…”

“Let me go you prick! You are so smart and yet so stupid at the same time!”

“No, not until you…” it finally registers in Edwards brain why Winry would be so angry with him, could it be that she was jealous? He let’s go of her wrist only to grab her face with both hands and smashes his lips against hers, rough and inexperienced. She squeals, eyes widening for a second before closing, weaving her hands around his neck and giving into the kiss. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs, brushing over her swollen lips, “I-I didn’t realize…”

Smacking the back of his head, “Because you’re an idiot.”

“I guess I deserved that,” rubbing his head, “but I’ll make it up to you.”

“Oh yeah, like how?”

“Hmm,” kissing her again, “how about introducing you as my girlfriend everywhere we go?”

She giggles, “that’s getting warmer…”

“Holding your hand too?”

“Anything else?”

“Um,” scratching his head, “what else is there?”

“So, that’s all?”

“Geez woman, what else do you want from me, a ring on your finger?”

Grin, “Now you’re on fire.”

His jaw drops, “Y-You… we just kissed for the first time and you want a ring already?”

“Kissed twice,” she holds up two fingers, “and I have had to put up with you for 19 years, I think I’ve earned it by now.”

“Oh-ho is that a fact,” he takes a step forward, she a step back, “I don’t disagree,” another step, “that you may have earned it,” another step and Winry finds herself with her back against a wall. Edward cages her in with his arms and leans down face to face with her, “are you sure you’d wanna be stuck with me for the rest of our lives?”

Winry keeps her composure despite the position he had her in, she looks up through her lashes and smirks, a bit of rosy blush on her cheeks and chest, “does this answer your question?” Stepping forward, she weaves her hands around his neck this time leading a more daring kiss, but he responds in kind, with his hands leaving the wall to flatten against her back and mold her body against his.

“Yes, but W-Winry… we sh-should stop…”

“Why,” trailing her lips along his jaw and down his neck, she smirks as it sends his eyes rolling backwards.

“W-were in an alley, a-and if you don’t…”

“I can feel how turned on you are Ed,” rolling her hips gently against his, teasingly, “so was the answer sufficient?”

Groaning, “Friggin Winry,” holding her hips still again, “I’ll give you my response when we’re alone in our hotel room.”

“Fair enough,” she steps back, straightening out her dress, “we should get going, Riza and Roy are waiting for us.”

Once Edward, calms his libido, they walk down the sidewalk hand in hand towards the Central government building where Roy’s new office is located. Winry leans against his shoulder giggling as they talk along the way, it was such an easy transition from best friends to a couple.

But as they pass by that café, the waitress rushes out, halting in her tracks when she’s the couple holding hands and a look of embarrassment crosses her face. “Relax,” he whispers to Winry. “Hey, I’m sorry for running out so suddenly, but you see my girlfriend wasn’t happy with your service, so it was time to leave.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?”

Ed opens his mouth to respond, but Winry cuts him off, “he shouldn’t have to,” narrowing her eyes at the woman, “maybe you should have better customer service skills and not flirt with your customers! It’s sheer respect to not be a floozie in front of other females, regardless if we were just friends or in a relationship. Or at least have the decency, if you’re really that interested, to ask before you assume anything…”

“Winry, I think she gets the point…”

“L-look I’m sorry,” the woman stammers, “I…”

Leveling a sneer, “If you’re that hard up, go find some lonely guy at a bar, I hear the one around the corner is hiring entertainers.” “Come on Ed, now, I think she gets the point.” Winry pulls Ed away, still grinning at telling the woman off, it was so out of character for her to do something like that and yet it felt really, good.

“Hey,” he tugs her hand, “are you sure you’re my Winry and not Envy somehow back from the dead cause you are acting so different.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s me,” she smiles, “I just decided I wasn’t gonna put up with that woman, or any other woman acting like that with you. Does it bother you?”

“Nah,” lifting the back of her hand to his lips, “I kinda like this feisty side...”

**just a note, by request for a friend, an unedited nsfw version of this story will be posted at a later date ;)

@random-rave

#503week #day 3 #I chose jealousy as a prompt #ed/winry

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