Bad Blood

TITLE: Bad Blood
DATE: September 7, 2007
RATING: Mature; NC-17 (possibly)
WARNINGS: Sexual content, yaoi, AU, completely deviates from the anime, modern, OOC!Ed
PAIRINGS: RoyEd, HughesAl, slight HyuRoi, hints of Elricest, others to be announced
SUMMARY: [AU] Al’s had nightmares since he could remember, and now, the very reasons for them begin to haunt his waking moments, as the fight for a human begins. [x-over w/ Blood+]
COMMENTS: Chapter two! I wrote it out by hand and counted as I went along. It was originally 3,219 words, but it appears to be about 3,500. xD I wanted to keep it around 3,000, but it didn’t happen this time. It still looks so short. Ah well. Nothing but a lot of teasing from Roy and a bit more explained, you know the drill.

Nobunaga: Do you? It was a spur of the moment thing, when Saya was fighting with herself and she was innocent and things and it reminded me of how Al would act like that. Sad… yeah, the dream wasn’t meant to be understood until later. There are a lot of changes between Blood+ and this one, at least with the anime, but you’ll see familiar tie-ins. I hope I don’t disappoint you and your wait for this chapter.

~*~

The world seemed cold, blank, empty, a rush of wind flowing over exposed flesh, a cool chuckle sounding above him… The voice, in spite of the chills he got from the latest sound emitted from him, it gave him renewed comfort, a sudden wave of heat replacing the cold as experienced fingers danced tantalizingly over his heating skin, feathery touches forcing the young boy to groan and gasp in anticipation. He wasn’t very pleased about being teased, but every time he made a move to complain, he was quickly silenced by a sugary kiss, the man giving a smirk above him to further tease. The blonde groaned again, reaching up to cling desperately to his companion, stinging his fingers through silky raven locks, leaning up to the best of his ability, tongue out to lap up the tangy blood rolling from his lover’s temple. “Why… why does it taste so good? Why do I want more…?” Those questions and more had been running through his head, trying to voice his concerns, but not wanting to draw the man’s attention from his physical and emotional ache.

“Mm…” A purr erupted from the elder man’s through, nuzzling into the other’s tongue, forcing the youth to continue to lap up the sticky substance beginning to slow in its descent. “We are different, Edward. You’ve noticed it already, we’ve gone over it. Blood keeps you going, but it must be human blood. You’re not satisfied by mine, are you?”

Ed gave a small blush, glancing away and allowed his head to fall back to the pillow, the scent of fresh roses far closer than the metallic one of the blood. “It’s not that! It does, I just… I’m confused; all these thoughts and feelings are strange… what – ?” His heart beat wildly in his chest at both the resonating voice that made him wiggle in temptation and the hand that skimmed over his stomach, below the waistbands of his freed pants and his boxers, the man seeming to be pleased with the jolt and moan from his little friend.

“Think too much, Ed, and you’ll hurt my feelings.” Soft, pale lips captured the clingy blonde’s tongue brushing gently against the precious ones within his grasp. It took a squirm from the elder Elric before Roy sat back, the usual smirk in place. “Things will come in time. You must remember on your own. Should I reveal it to you; the true purpose will never go far. You have to realize… the pathetic humans’ existence. Besides, you can’t be lazy; it’s no fair to us if you slack off after all of our hard work. We’ve waited for you for quite some time… Master should reward is handsomely for our deeds.”

“Master?”

Mustang ran his fingers over the dried trail of blood, down the side of his face, the saliva left behind from Ed’s little ‘feeding’ leaving the flesh there cool to both the air and to the touch. “I suppose you’d hear it from the other’s eventually. Best that I tell you before the others try and suck up to you. For now, though, it’s all you’ll need to know. Tonight you’ll meet the others, but, again, that is something you’ll learn later. The only thing you must know right now… is that you cannot trust him anymore.”

“Him?” There were a lot of ‘hims’ out there that he figured could never be trusted. In fact, there were few that he actually /did/ trust… his brother and Roy. His father had made sure he had very little to trust and his ‘mother’ had always seemed to want to keep something from him and Al, ever since Roy had appeared. The night he dared to mention Roy Mustang’s name had been the start of the downfall between he and his mother. He’d met Roy six months ago, the typical bad boy on a motorcycle, the forbidden fruit of boy toys. Ed never intended to grow so attached, but the man’s intelligence was beyond those he remembered from his previous experiences with dates (though they were few), he was incredibly handsome, and the pompous jerk’s quips made him want to keep seeing him just to put him in his place. Those and more were the reasons he frequented the other’s places of interest, eager to hear the latest truth. Mother hadn’t approved, but Ed didn’t much care for what she thought when she ‘forbade’ him to see Roy. He wasn’t a kid anymore, so he could see anyone, of any age that he cared to. She couldn’t say that Roy couldn’t care for him, the man seemed to have a limitless expenditure at his disposal, and if she really loved him, she wouldn’t have cared if he fell in love with a man, woman, or dog. She was just jealous that her husband ran off for his research and forgot about the family he created out of a night of passion.

“Yes… him. He is a threat to us. He’ll tell her and she’ll come take you away. Alphonse – ”

“My brother is a trustworthy person! He’d never so anything to bother with us or our plans!”

The dark-haired man shrugged, sighing wistfully to himself. “Whatever you say.”

Edward’s eyes fell on the sheets of the bed, a pure white in color with gentle blue blankets, soft and welcoming. Roy had never seemed to steer him wrong, but his brother was his life and vice versa. Al wouldn’t do anything to stand in there way, right? Of course, there wasn’t much that his younger brother /could/ do, but he still didn’t want to think that something could be risked because of his closest family. He was actually going to drag his brother with him on their future goals, to cling to the last bit of love he had in his life. “Al has always been my best friend. If he knew how important it was, he’d be right there with me. Why… do you think he’d fight us?”

“No reason, just a thought. From what I hear, your mother isn’t too enthused about the idea of me. I only wanted to make sure that you knew the dangers of trusting someone who is so close to the one who wants you to forget is all.” Roy leaned forward, planting another kiss upon Ed’s brow before rolling out of bed, fingers moving quickly along the edges of his shirt, buttoning each one without missing a beat. He was so flawless in the younger male’s eyes… “I am here to protect you; if I don’t do that, I wouldn’t be very goof at my job, now would I? Let’s go out to lunch. After tonight, this will be the last time you visit this town.”

“Ah, but Roy!”

His brows rose slowly, tucking in his shirt, belt buckle clinging with each thrust of his hand. “But what, Ed? You’ve never hesitated about /food/ before.”

“But!” Ed nearly whined, sitting up quickly and placing his hands over his groin. “You always do this! You never go through with it! It pisses me off, bastard!”

The smugness replaced the curiosity, hand returning to the spot it had been before, brushing aside the hands used to protect the area (or to hide, Roy hadn’t figured it out yet but decided it didn’t matter). “There’s a reason for that, /princess/, so don’t worry about why we haven’t gone all the way yet. The time will come for that…” Well practiced fingers trailed over the formerly shrinking bulge in Ed’s leather bindings, tilting his head at the expression on his partner’s face, as if he was enjoying the most sinfully delicious pie in existence or something. “But if it matters so much to you, I’ll finish you here. You’re actually quite adorable with that blush.”

“Stop teasing me, you bastard! Just – ugh – do it already!”

“So impatient. Things like this should be drawn out, cherished. Don’t you like it?” Slowly, his fingers taunted with gentle pokes and strokes, hissing and grunts coming from the youth, only furthering the elder man’s ego, enjoying each and every sound that escaped his companion’s mouth. “What will you do when you have trouble lasting? I hear that I’m quite good. I’d be troubled if I couldn’t satisfy you completely.”

Ed leaned back, using his hands to brace himself, head rolling between his shoulders, eyes scrunched tight to hold himself still while his mouth tried frantically to voice his wants and needs, his blush lighting his face up, even in the darkened room they had been spending there time in.

Very little light made it through the window, purple drapes allowing a minute amount to slip around the heavy cloth with the small gap that it had been given and the lights remained off because sunlight was generally produced to be enough for them to work with. “This is why they call you that name, isn’t it?” He muttered between soft pants, trying to focus on the face before him without revealing anymore irritation than necessary.

“That was the name /you/ gave to me, but again, that is something you need to discover on your own. No more questions like that, or I’ll be forced to leave you in a state of desperation. I don’t want anything to slip…” A strong hand pressed the youth to the bed, eyes of the owner, half-lidded, glazed with a repressed desire. “Now stop wiggling, lie down, and let me take care of this. I hear that our gift to you can make wonderful tea and her pies are to die for. We shouldn’t waste further time while it all gets cold, should we?”

“Well, if you didn’t tease so damn much, we could be – ” His sentence was halted by both the bruising kiss and the hand groping fiercely at him, Ed whimpering into the hot mouth over his, breathing heavily through his nose to compensate for his occupied mouth.

“Stop complaining. As much of a turn-on it is, I don’t think it’s in our best interest, do you? I’m in just as much ‘pain’ as you are, but my goal is to pleasure you. Besides, I already told you things like that must wait. I think you’re the one teasing.” His eyes pulled away, glancing towards the door as his hands worked without direction of sight, removing the last of the barriers between him and his charge. “I’m busy, Wrath! I gave you explicit orders to stay put until Mother was found.”

The elder brother Elric’s fingers dug into the sheets, gripping them hard as a sort of way to hold himself up. It felt as if he let go of them, he’d slip away from that most welcome hand that had begun long slow strokes over his ache, hiding more sounds due to pride and the intrusion outside of the locked door. He had no idea where he found the strength to force his voice to work or even the intensity that it raged forth, but anger bubbled up at the mere thought this man outside of their private room was trying to take Roy from him. “Leave us, miserable pile of waste! I don’t want anymore interruptions, is that understood?! The next person to bother us unless I say otherwise is fucking dead!”

There were steps outside of the door and an uneasy silence among the three of them. Even Roy’s hand had stopped its ministrations, and the dark eyes that Ed had always found full of attractive confidence were now flickering with fear, as if he had done something to displease him. Now words were spoken after the muttered apology outside of their door, Roy looking small and almost shy, not daring to look at Ed. “Perhaps we should do this another time?”

“What’s wrong?” He’d never recalled such an action before, not even when the Mustang had to outwit a couple of meat-heads at least twice his size. Though Ed hated to admit it, he was half Roy’s size and there was such fear in both him and the one outside of the door. I didn’t mean it like that… I still want you!”

“Maybe later, Ed. Right now you need rest. You need to be in top form tonight for what we have in store for you.” His fingers ran gentle lines down the blonde’s cheek, tempted to tend to both of their fading needs but knowing that Ed’s need for rest after that little outburst was far too important… too risky t allow to go by. Preservation was needed… “Sleep now and I will come back for you.”

He was tired, truth be told, but the allure of Roy’s hands tending to him and his urge to know why they acted in such a way… it made him fear himself and the pull was almost too great to comply with Roy’s request. “You will? Promise? He felt childish after the words slipped from his mouth, averting his gaze at that point to avoid further embarrassment.

The fingers turned into a cupped palm, Roy’s surprise at the other’s request for his promise had faded, a fond look briefly flitting across his face. “Of course I will. I’ll do whatever you ask of me, as long as it makes you happy. Now get some rest.”

Edward didn’t want to obey so easily, but he found his eyes drooping and closed before he could say anything in reply, dozing off before the hand ever left his face, a blanket faintly drifting up his exposed lower body to provide comfort and warmth. Roy had left the room when he was certain the young master was tucked safely away in dreamland.

~*~

She sighed to herself; exhale loud enough for the woman across the room to hear. Must this be it? Why can’t we keep them any longer? I don’t want it to come to this… Alphonse doesn’t even know, and who knows what that man has said to spoil Edward’s mind. I didn’t know it’d go so far.” Trisha placed a flower tea cup in front of her guest, retrieving the plate of cakes to serve it with. “They don’t know… it will crush Al to know…”

The woman’s cinnamon eyes lifted from the rosemary tea before her, gaze firm, unyielding. “We had to risk the chance of putting them together, to break them. It appears they’ve been discovered, and for now, the only thing we can do is take up arms and finish this before he awakens.”

“Riza, do you know what you’re asking?”

“When I dropped them off four years ago, I warned you not to grow attached. They are not your sons… they are tools. Her hand lifted the cup to her mouth, the blonde woman remaining strong and fierce in her stance. Riza was, apparently, a woman to be feared, a semi-automatic on each hip, always prepared for some horrible occasion in the world wherever she went. “It’s time we took them back into our custody for the time being. If Mustang’s found Edward, there’s only one thing on his mind, and it isn’t to be a friendly neighbor. We hadn’t anticipated that the Seven would find them so soon.”

Mrs. Elric nodded solemnly, fingers idly stroking the cup in front of her, looking almost anxious. “They are as much my sons as they are living beings. ‘One must die so the race may live’, that was what he told me, but I don’t want to believe it. This entire thing… it’s just a way to repress the differences in the world. It isn’t fair to them at all!” she loved those boys… she wanted them to be happy, but if that could not happen, she would be the one to rip their hearts apart. It was the least she could do for them. “I will speak to them tonight. Al would be happy to see his father again.” Her smile was bright, but as the clouds made their lazy journey across the sky, blanking out the sun for a short period of time, her heart started to ache, her smile saddened and her eyes darkened. Al was fragile as it was, the only thing she could hope was that it didn’t permanently pull him from his innocent views and thrust him deeper into the despair that he seemed to be knee-deep in, with his brother’s recent actions.

“Bring them to us tomorrow morning to the Institute. We can decide what we will do from there.” Riza had nothing but the tea and her cool words pass her lips, eyes focused on the other woman, unwavering in her position. “We appreciate your hard work, Trisha. We’ll take good care of them for you.”

“Thank you, Riza. Goodbye.” Again the smile lifted her lips as the blood woman raised her hand in a salute and left the house to the awaiting car. The mother Elric, however, was combating herself over what she wanted and what had to be done. Four years together with them hadn’t been for nothing… they couldn’t expect her to give up like that. They were her boys… “Oh, they’ll be home soon and Ed’s always hungry… maybe some cookies. Yes, the boys would like some cookies…”

~*~

Golden eyes searched the room full of people, staring over the heads of many, ears trying to hone in on one voice. It seemed impossible, but he wasn’t ready to give up. “He’s usually her to eat lunch with me…” Al’s face lost all curiosity and happiness, eyes falling to the floor, disappointment swelling within. He’d be waiting, usually, for Al to come in, even if he skipped school, just to eat. It wasn’t like him, unless he was sick, to miss lunch with him. The younger brother sighed, glancing back at Martel who had just topped off her tray and was coming to join him. Russell, Winry, Dorochet, and Bido were already set at their back-up plan table, the small gathering stopping their conversation to greet the two joining them before returning to the conversation that seemed to be a little bit more important than the strange act of Alphonse Elric sitting with them to eat and not his brother who brought decent food, instead of random things tossed in a blender and made to look like mashed potatoes.

“No! That is /so/ not what girls want!” Winry protested quite enthusiastically.

“Face it, Whiny. We all know that they would never hesitate to pounce on him if he didn’t have someone else on his ass! Face it; it’s the bad boy look that turns women on!”

“Dorochet, you’re not saying he turns you on, are you?” Martel interjected, merely jumping in to tease him for even muttering that about a man. None of them seemed to have a problem with same-sex relationships but their favorite topic of discussion in the hall, and it appeared to be at the lunch table too, was his brother’s ‘despicable’ taste in men… Of course, none of them really had a problem with Roy at all, either; it was just to make him feel better… Aside to from manipulating his brother and turning him into a cruel man, he was quite attractive, friendly, and his style was something he loved to see on his brother. Al didn’t pull of leather all that well. He preferred denim. “Why don’t we have a little party?”

“Tonight?”

“That’s too soon!”

“My dad should be fine with it…”

Al shook his head, an apologetic grin in place. “Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow or Sunday? Mama won’t mind, I know she won’t.” It was just getting Ed to cooperate… which was a lot easier said than done.