Gold and Charcoal

Gold and Charcoal
Chapter 5
Rivalry

Another quiet day, with Edward off to do some mysterious work and Al furiously filling pages and pages of his neat writing, occasionally pausing to read a few passages of a book or other. Mimicking the blondie, the mongrel was once again sitting back to the side of the large chair as he studied alchemy. It stunned him how much of this he understood with a few clarifications from Alphonse. Even the latter would admit Mustang had a quick mind well suited for alchemical studies.

If he’d been a blondie - no. It was useless to think like that. But he did like alchemy anyway.

Arrays came with various structures, written in a simple yet complex language. Some sported only a few lines or curves; others had triangles, inner circles and even signs. These signs were often metal related. Gold, silver, platinum…Roy had read about their properties, confirming what Clara had told him about silver and its curative powers. Well, since it was useful, he didn’t mind the collar all that much anymore. He could almost forget about it now, ignoring its cool weight at his throat.

“Alphonse? What is it, Edward’s work?”

Roy was growing fond of these slow conversations, where he would ask a question and only receive an answer a few pages later. He had not told Alphonse about it, but it was through the little things like this that he saw the shift in the boy’s mind. Al never flinched or frowned at his questions, free of the usual instinctive annoyance at the pet. He was patient and thoughtful, answering like to an equal. The explanation, thought Mustang, was simple. That negative automatic response, that brainwashing, was paired with the sight of dark hair. But here Al kept his eyes to his work, only reacting to Roy’s voice. And already, Roy’s voice had been accepted in the blond’s mind. If he could forget the hair, their relation might eventually reach something that one could potentially be called ‘friendship’. Maybe.

“He’s good with the hardest arrays so he teaches the future chimera makers, tries to fix their mistakes and yells at them a lot.”

Mustang suspected it boggled Al’s mind just as much as his own to consider a mongrel and a blondie ‘friends’. But when two people could talk freely to each other and enjoy it, if they could trust each other, were they not friends? Going by those standards, Roy could only name one real friend he already had. He could name two other men he would trust with his life, but these two were not people he would tell his secrets to.

“Really. What a surprise.”

It was hard on Mustang too, to let down the usual wall of sarcasm and pride long enough to let Alphonse glimpse at his core. For now, that was how it worked, giving each other glimpses and occasionally finding connections. Soon enough all the little threats would become a link, a strange friendship of sorts.

“And what’s yours Alphonse?”

Now that he thought of it…Roy realized this would be the first time he befriended anybody because he wanted to. The others had been people he needed to survive, people who needed him back. Their relation had started in the simple goal of surviving a few more days, a few more weeks. But Roy didn’t need Al. He wasn’t planning to earn the boy’s help. In fact, he was sure such help would not be granted anyway. There were things in which Al would never cross Edward. That was fine by Roy. He was not about to ask anybody to betray their sibling, just like he would never allow anybody to ask him to betray Maes.

“Pretty much the same. Only I do the research, I document older works and add our knowledge to it.”

The silence stretched, filled only by the scratch of a pen on paper, the occasional crisp sound of a page turning, rare muffled bird chirps from the garden and their slow, regular breathing. The isolation was remarkable; at no moment did they hear anything of the activity outside their door, even if hundreds of people walked by every day. Eventually a new sound rose, an interesting hum Alphonse seemed to emit when he was in deep thoughts and the silence became bothersome to him.

Roy wasn’t sure at what moment a hand touched his hair and began to scratch in a motion that spoke of habit. He had been too fascinated by his own book, enough so that he only slowly trailed off, registering a new sensation. He didn’t speak, didn’t move, just took the time to make sure he was not hallucinating. Short nails dragged across his scalp slowly, back and forth until his hair was a mess. Or at least more messed up than usual. Roy wasn’t about to complain. He titled his head slightly, leaned back further against the side of the chair and continued his reading with Al’s humming as background.

/From such considerations we see how the following adjectives apply to silver: Reflective, imaginative, receptive, impressionable, sensitive, pure.(1)/

Roy held back a chuckle. Who did this remind him off? Heh.

Alphonse eventually yawned and stretched, the scratching hand pausing a moment before resuming.

“Want something to drink?” offered Roy, flipping a new page.

“Oh, I suppose. What do we have?” Looking down, Al gave a small jump, absolutely startled at what he was doing. He stared a second then snatched his hand away from the dark hair with a stunned apology. “Oh-sorry.”

“Didn’t mind.” The man set the book down on the floor and turned a little, lifting an arm on the chair’s armrest, wincing slightly. He was bare-chested but for the fresh bandages around his torso. He’d left his button-less top lying half under the bed, not planning to wear it again unless it got washed. He would have to bring it up to Al a bit later. He wasn’t difficult really, but changing clothes every so often was nice. “You seem used to doing that, did you scratch the previous pets?”

“No! I… just… Niisan. Before. Used to love it. He doesn’t let me touch him much anymore.” Al shifted the subject away from the personal dimension, clearly uncomfortable. “I’m surprised you didn’t complain if you thought it was something I did to pets. You seem to hate being treated like an inferior.”

“I hate what I hate,” shrugged Roy. “I liked that, so why would I complain at the thought behind it?” On those words, he slid to the kitchen in a few fluid motions, leaving Alphonse to ponder on this new bit of information.

Roy returned with an offering of orange juice and milk, offering Al to choose. The man settled down with the glass Alphonse had not taken – the orange juice – and sat back exactly like he had been five minutes earlier. The blond took the hint and barely hesitated before burying back his pale fingers in the dark strains. The mongrel chalked it up as another milestone. He suspected it was no mean feat to get far enough behind Al’s defenses that he would start doing something he had not done for anybody but his brother before. And scratchies were nice.

The world had never seen a blondie-mongrel friendship. The world was about to be surprised.

-

It was easy to know the exact moment the elder Elric came home. It was when the door was violently shut and transmutation-locked, just before irritated or angry words were spilled, loudly. Really, when Ed was home, it was impossible not to notice.

This time the Elric boy paced around the table nested between the facing couches, hands knotted together as he tried to refrain from transmuting every object he came across. His braid swung widely, the thick gold cable enough to knock out somebody who’d walk too close. “Fucking idiot! There’s always one to set me off! Why doesn’t human transmutation works he says, we can make chimeras with kids, can’t we, he says. You’re smart , he says, why can’t you make it work? Bloody ignorant fool! What are books for, huh? Moron! Stupid kid got a little talent, thinks he can get an alchemy license just like that, without studying. Next time he makes a mistake – anything - I’m having him removed. He can spend his life as a stupid low soldier!”

A cool, calmer voice answered to the angry tirade. “It’s the soul, isn’t it? You can modify a human like it was an animal only if the soul is still there. Trying to manipulate the soul however, to take it or bring it back…it’s impossible.”

Edward began to nod, automatically. “Maybe not ‘impossible’, but much too hard and complex for a simple human to figure out without h-“ Then it appeared to sink that the voice who had just spoken was not his brother’s. His golden eyes widened as he realized just who had said those things. Ed was really good at ignoring the fact he could think. It was interesting to watch the boy gawk when Roy demonstrated this intelligence. “The hell, Al, why did you teach him that?”

“I didn’t. He’s learning on his own,” cautiously replied Al. “He’s pretty good with the theory.”

Edward’s eyes narrowed this time, just noticing where Alphonse’s hand was, and what it was doing. He hissed wordlessly and stalked to the bathroom, locking himself in. The water was running for over half an hour straight, leaving much time for Alphonse to sigh and worry.

“I’m going to warm up the remains of yesterday’s lasagna.”

“Is it still good?”

Roy gave Al an odd look. “I don’t know what happens when you two cook, but normally, a good meal like that can wait in the fridge several days before it goes bad.”

“Just make sure we never do get to cook,” dryly replied the grey-eyed blondie. “The fumes alone are poisonous.”

“Can’t you just transmute it?”

“Alchemy can’t do everything.” At Roy’s instant glance and inquisitive raised eyebrow, he admitted; “We tried. Don’t ask.”

“Hire a cook then. You seem to have the money.”

“Oh, we don’t like having other people around. Niisan doesn’t trust them.”

Yeah well he’d noticed the lack of social life around here. “Don’t you have any…friends?”

“Well we both like Winry but she’s our mechanic and she has a life of her own. Havok is nice, but we don’t see him much…same with Hawkeye…”

“Armstrong, Gracia?” suggested the mongrel. He remembered Al speaking the lady’s name before. Chances were it was the same woman.

“Well, Armstrong is a little…” Alphonse waved a hand in the air and Roy nodded. He understood. “Oh, true, Gracia helps us a little sometimes. But we better not bother her too much. She has a lot on her mind.”

“Because she’s not blonde enough?”

The boy nodded. He didn’t look surprised anymore when Roy reached such conclusions on his own. “She’s not suited for anything we need. They’re just keeping her as a bearer…which means she has better find a husband and have a child within the next few years or she’ll be in big trouble…”

“They’ll throw her out?”

Al didn’t look at his eyes when he answered. “Have you ever seen a blondie living outside the inner city?”

It was an indirect answer, but a clear one none-the-less. “I see.”

Supper was tense, the boys barely addressing each other. Al tried, but all he received were cold replies. Roy remained cautiously out of Edward’s view. He didn’t fancy being hit for nothing.

For the first time, Roy witnessed the boys going to sleep separately, each of them resolutely turned on his side. But it didn’t last. Before long Alphonse had managed to find his way back into Ed’s favors and went to sleep using his niisan’s chest as pillow. Mustang almost snickered at them.

-

The first thing Mustang thought about in the morning was that he didn’t feel like reading today. Alchemy was fantastic and all, but he needed to move sometimes. He had his healing down-time, now he wanted to do something.

Logically, the solution was to nag at Alphonse. So he did.

“I need exercise. And you do too. Staying cooped in isn’t good.”

“There’s nothing to do.”

“There’s a gym. I saw it. And I met you outside the walls, didn’t I?”

“I’m not crazy enough to bring you out there.”

“Gym then.”

“I have work to do.”

“You can do it later. Who’s keeping tabs?”

“I said no.”

“Would you keep a real dog inside all the time? I thought your idea was to treat me better than an animal, not worse. Edward does it enough for two.”

“Trying to guilt me into it? I’m not going to bend.”

As a last resort, Roy latched after Al’s real leg. He purred; “Well I need some sort of energy outlet…” Since the boy was in shorts today, it was easy to nuzzle his thigh and give a playful flick of his tongue.

It was interesting to watch Al alternately pale and redden. “Stop that!”

“Gym? Please?”

Roy smirked when the boy smacked his head down on his desk with a groan of defeat. Yes, yes, he was a sneaky, manipulative bastard. But he got what he wanted, didn’t he? And besides, Alphonse did need to get out too. He was fifteen and acted like an old hermit. There was something perverted and disturbing in that. Fifteen was the time to have fun and be crazy, not work and hide. Roy was thirty and he still had time to enjoy himself. He’d always been vaguely jealous of the blondies. Not anymore.

The gym was mainly divided in two parts, one where you could play with about any machine you could possibly need, the other where there was nothing but some thin mattresses, obviously meant for bare hand sparring. They hit the machines and jumped into a friendly contest. It turned out Alphonse easily outmatched Roy at everything. It could be partially explained by the automail - it didn’t feel fatigue after all - and the fact Mustang couldn’t push himself too hard yet, but even considering those things, Alphonse was insanely resilient for his age.

“Sensei made sure we were at our best,” grimaced the boy for explanation, but he wouldn’t elaborate on it. Instead, he invited Roy to the other side, insisting he was going to go easy on him. An hour earlier, the man would have smirked. Right then, he nodded and narrowed his eyes, immediately on his guards.

Five minutes later, Mustang told himself he was doing good, still holding his own against the fierce fighter Alphonse had turned out to be. Ten seconds after that reflection, he was staring up at the ceiling with no idea how he’d gotten there. Although, the pain in his jaw was a good hint.

“You love my jaw, don’t you?”

“I didn’t hit hard, there’s nothing broken, is there?” Al loomed over him and extended a hand. “But sorry.”

“You teacher’s good,” huffed Roy once he had reintegrated the vertical position.

“Yes, she was.” An enigmatic smile was all Roy received for his inquisitive gaze. Oh well, couldn’t expect to learn everything so fast. The boy stretched cat-like, curving his back into a C. His expression was much more tranquil than it had been two hours ago. “You were right,” he admitted. “I feel much better. Thank you, Roy.”

“No problem, Alphonse.” One might have thought getting beaten by two kids would bother him, but his smile was easy. You were only a loser if you actually lost something. In this occurrence, Mustang had earned some things; the chance to spend some energy, some new knowledge, and a good time.

The dark-haired man was back to the door, so he did not immediately see the person Al was staring at while breathing a fake curse. “Fudge.”

Roy followed Al’s gaze and found somebody standing by the door, clapping his hands lightly at them. Mustang wasn’t so sure if it was male or female, but it had what he could only describe as palm-tree hair of a dark green color and was dressed in a sort of skirt, a half tank top and uncompleted gloves and socks of sorts.

“Let me guess…another one?”

“Envy.” Alphonse relaxed when the creature left without bothering them, just gliding away.

“Are they everywhere?”

“Yes…it’s one of the reasons I don’t like wandering outside here so much.”

“Who else is there? Lust, Envy…”

“Sloth, Gluttony and Wrath.” Al ruffled his blond hair, and started to walk for the door, casting a brief glance over his shoulder to check Roy was following. “Heard something about a Pride. I don’t know.”

“And Greed maybe? The seven sins, eh? Interesting…”

“Only from far away. Don’t mess with them. Ever.” Tension, warning.

“I wasn’t planning to,” mildly answered Roy.

“Good for you.”

“You seem to have a grudge with them.”

“I’m frightened,” shrugged Al, admitting it easily. “Every sane person is scared of them.”

“Why?”

“You met Lust. You should know.”

And Roy thought he did, a little. He still had the marks. But he didn’t understand. “Why are they here?”

“Control,” shrugged Al. “We’re all prisoners, and those are just more guards. That’s all there is to it.”

Somehow, Mustang was sure it wasn’t true. There had to be something else. Some reason for which the boys recoiled before those creatures like from the Devil himself. Or not. Edward probably wouldn’t be afraid of the Devil. But he was afraid of these creatures. It said a lot.

-

Alphonse hitched the bathroom first while Roy settled for a glass of water, drank little by little to avoid cramps, and crashed all over the floor, near the bathroom’s door. Hey, the floor was his domain here, he had the right to sprawl all over it if he wanted. Or if he couldn’t stand up any longer.

“Mongrel on the floor,” announced the man when the door opened, just to make sure Al didn’t trip on him like his brother some days ago.

“You’re crazy.” And on that, the boy wandered away for a drink, dismissing the incident. Funny, thought Mustang, they were both acting as if this stuff was entirely natural.

Roy headed for the bathtub as soon as he convinced himself to climb to his feet, longing for warm cleansing water. He would have liked to wait until Ed had to ask him to bathe, but his own smell was getting to him. He could certainly find something else to annoy Shokun with. He sank in water almost boiling enough to cook him alive and sighed in contentment at the burning sensation all over his skin. His body slowly adjusted, and he felt more comfortable. A little too much even, as he found himself nodding off. Bad place to fall asleep.

Dragging himself out, Roy ruffled his damp hair and gave a disgruntled look at his pants. He hadn’t been offered anything else and he really didn’t want to keep wearing them. He may be a mongrel, but he had hygiene too!

Well, might as well drive Shokun a little crazier. Roy dried himself all over and secured a clean towel around his hips, deciding it would be what he’d wear until Edward cracked. It was a better way to get what he wanted, without having to ask.

Al looked, blinked, blushed and then asked what was up with the minimal clothing. The mongrel explained, without losing his smirk. Al wanted to complain, but the man had better arguments. “If you give me something, he’ll grumble at you. If I do it on my own, he’ll yell at me. Better let him have to do it himself.”

When Ed did stride in, he took several long minutes to look at his pet, surely wondering whether to ask or not. Curiosity won, but his tone was cautious. “Now what?”

“My clothes are so filthy with sweat you would have ordered me out of them anyway. Just trying to spare your nose.”

“Yeah well you aren’t sparing my eyes!”

“Oh? Funny, you’re the first to dislike the view. Tastes vary I supposed.” He smirked, turned. Walked away, swaying his hips. He could have sworn he heard the brothers blush together. Couldn’t blame them now, could he? Roy Mustang knew he was a sexy, sexy bitch. And tiny towels looked so damn good on him. Of course they looked even better off, but he wasn’t that mischievous. But almost.

-

Edward tried to ignore Roy the whole evening, but it wasn’t so easy. Even with a slightly swollen jaw and bandaged torso, the annoying pet managed to be eye candy. Really nice eye candy. After supper, Edward considered dashing for the bathroom and a shower. Possibly a cold one. But, not right away.

The two others settled down with a pack of cards on the couches, laying the cards on the table between them as Mustang declared he would teach Al a few street games. Poker, black jack, and other such stupid things. Edward suspiciously watched them play several games – if he heard just one word about strip poker…- while pretending to be working at the table. Well, he truly was working, just not very fast.

Before long, Roy was starting to lose to Alphonse, the young boy catching on remarkably fast. They reached a middle ground after two hours, both excellent at keeping their faces neutral. Edward was proud of his brother for learning so fast, but he had to admit to himself that he would never win a single game of that poker game if it required the players to look so blank. He’d never been very good at hiding what he felt, unless it was fear. He could hide that one. But anger, frustration or smugness? It was a good idea to just keep away and avoid certain defeat. He wasn’t much of a good loser either.

The pair of card players would occasionally laugh out loud, and it made Ed snarl to himself, staring down angrily at his scribble-covered pages. That damn mongrel! What was he trying to do? Seduce Al? Did he think Alphonse would help him escape? As if. There wasn’t a chance in hell that would happen, Edward was sure of it. No, what worried him was the seduction part. Fine, he had to admit Mustang was fairly sexy for a mongrel. He was strong, he was tanned and he had interesting scars carved in his lean but masculine body. Edward found himself…lacking in comparison. He was much smaller, had pale skin and he was missing limbs. On top of that, he had an irascible temper that clashed with Roy’s smoothness. This Roy Mustang was an experienced man who knew how to seduce girls. It probably wouldn’t be that hard for him to manipulate Al too.

Ed’s right hand curled into a tight fist, so tight the metal protested. Alphonse was his brother. His. He wouldn’t let anybody harm Alphonse and he wouldn’t let anybody take him away from him either. Never. That thought made Edward’s eyes widen in terrified realization; he was considering the idea that it was even possible for somebody to take Al away from him.

Edward felt cold suddenly, his heart colder in his chest than the automail port in his shoulder. It was a feeling he had only experience once before, the first time he had thought he was going to lose Al. Ever since, he had kept jealous watch over his brother, making a shield of himself and showing aggressive behavior towards anything and everything that could potentially be a danger to their little world.

‘Get a grip. Alphonse is just having fun with a pet. So what. You know your own brother better than that. He’s clever, moreso than you are. He’s not going to fall for anybody and he’s certainly not going to be fooled. Honestly, stop freaking.’

Ed’s heartbeat calmed down. He was being absolutely ridiculous. Disgusted at his own stupidity, Ed shed coat and shirts on his chair and headed for the bathroom. Let the kids play if they wanted. Not like he cared.

“Your turn, Alphonse.”

Even from behind the door of the bathroom, Edward heard. He froze and leaned back on the closed door, brows knitting together dangerously low. Alphonse? Roy dared to call his brother Alphonse? Okay. The problem wasn’t with Al, it was entirely with that stupid pet. Edward thought he just couldn’t let that bitch go around defying him like that. He was still the boss around here, damnit! His gold eyes narrowed in a mix of unreasonable jealousy and fury as he stared at himself in the bathroom’s mirror.

-

Roy had noticed Edward’s jealousy trip, but he had not thought it was this bad; bad enough that Ed would risk upsetting Al directly. Granted, Edward probably didn’t think about the consequences. He had simply decided Roy was a threat that required immediate action. It began with the golden-eyed boy chasing Mustang out of the way (stop playing games and go wash the dishes!) and practically baring his teeth when the man returned after finishing the work, suggesting he had better back up.

Roy stood up for himself, affecting to be busy picking up the many books forgotten on the furniture and returning them to their shelves. The man knew very well where this line of action was bound to lead them but, like always, he had a marked preference for the direct approach. He was much better at handling problematic situations than at avoiding them.

Edward settled for draping himself all over Al’s lap – the poor grey-eyed boy was trying to ignore both of them to read in peace – and giving an occasional vicious hiss when Roy had the bad idea of existing less than five feet from them.

This show of possessiveness and defiance went on for a while, up until Al sighed and closed his book, giving up for the night. He obviously couldn’t concentrate and thought he had better try to confront the problem. “Niisan, what’s with you? You’re worse than a five years old.”

“I’m not childish!” Ed made a face that – despite his words – was very childish indeed. “You don’t pay attention to me!”

“It would be hard not to pay attention to you. You’re complaining because I’m not spending every minute of my life waiting on you?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“That’s a who. Yes, I know.” Severe annoyance started to seep into Alphonse’s tone. “ You’re just being unreasonable. You’re always like that.”

Edward flared. “I’m not!”

Al lost his cool and started to shout back, ranting just as childishly as his brother at this point. “You are!”

“He’s the one doing trouble!”

“He isn’t doing anything on purpose! What do you want him to do? Sit in a corner and play dead all day?”

“That would be a big improvement! Did you see him? He’s leering at everything that walks by!”

“That’s a gross exaggeration!”

“It isn’t! He was all mushy to Clara and then he was looking at Gracia! And then he has the stupid manly attitude! And now there’s him and his damn towel! Geez, I should have him neutered or something, maybe that’d calm him down!”

Hey, nobody could blame a man for looking! And he wasn’t leering. Manly attitude? Roy wasn’t sure what to make out of that one. He was male - and a remarkable specimen at that - but he preferred to consider himself ‘sexy’ rather than ‘manly’. He wasn’t a rude person, he was smooth. And...neutered? That didn’t sound good at all.

The bickering had brutally died, for no apparent reason. But Al was white and staring at a fast paling Ed. “You didn’t say that.”

“I didn’t mean…”

Roy didn’t know what it was about, but he did think Al had been patient enough concerning Edward’s behavior. It was one thing to have his brother jealous of Mustang and grumbling against the mongrel and it was another to have to stand him actively trying to hog his attention and deny him breathing space.

Well – in Roy’s opinion - Edward got what he deserved, a red-faced and angry Al. “You did, didn’t you? You meant that!”

“He’s just a mongrel! He doesn’t count!” viciously retorted Ed. He seemed a little too virulent to believe in his own words. If Mustang was ‘just a mongrel’, why did Edward feel threatened by him? By all means, he shouldn’t have seen Al’s attitude as anything else than a boy’s affection for a house dog if he truly believed Roy was ‘just a mongrel’.

“He’s not an animal!”

Al was so angry at this point he could only tell his brother to go to hell. He spun on his heels and stalked out for an unknown destination. The door shut with the sound of a gunshot.

Edward crashed on the couch, his automail biting through the leather and tearing the armrest. It took him some time to stop attacking the furniture viciously, some more to get himself to clap his hands and repair it. Roy distantly noted he hadn’t used an array. He hadn’t noticed anything on Ed’s human hand either, no tattoos, no drawings. He would have to look into this later. For the time being, he had somebody to worry about.

Mustang finally stepped forward and spoke calmly. “Want me to go talk to him, Shokun?”

Edward glared at him with all his might and Roy wondered if he was going to lash out at him and just kill him on the spot. He had no doubts Ed would find it easy.

“Why would he listen to you?”

“He needs to talk to somebody. You could call somebody else if you want.” His unreadable gaze met the angry yellow one. “Are you afraid I’ll turn him against you, Shokun?” Edward growled and denied it mockingly, but Roy knew better. He headed to the door, throwing a last few words over his shoulders. “He’s your brother, not mine.”

Edward returned to his war against the couch.

Now, where would Alphonse go? Well, there was only one place Roy knew of that was always deserted. He walked down past three doors and turned left to reach a door that led to the garden the Elric’s quarters had a view on.

There was indeed a young figure collapsed on a stone bench beside a small artificial pond. Roy froze halfway there, recognizing the way Alphonse’s shoulder shook for a warning tears could be just around the corner. Of course it might just have been anger that made him shook, but in Roy’s – very small – experience on the matter, strong anger could easily lead to tears. At least with females - and Fury. Alphonse was also the gentle type, so tears could be expected over such sentimental matters. Or that’s what Roy assessed.

Involuntarily, Roy stepped back around the corner, out of view. He didn’t know what to do about this. At all. He never cried. He’d never had to comfort anybody, mainly because he didn’t hang with many people to begin with. He remembered the times when Fury had cried about his mother or something of the likes, and he’d only wanted to get out of there, each time. It had been Hughes who’d taken care of the weeping boy, hugged him and patted his back until the sobs died down. Roy didn’t want to risk finding himself beside a crying Al. Or even just an upset Al who might go off into tears. Even if…wouldn’t it be easy to copy Hughes and Edward and be gentle? Perhaps wrap an arm around Alphonse until he calmed down? Sounded easy enough, no?

Roy closed his eyes and sank against the wall. Strange, how he was so very good with people when it was a game - when he had the right to use a mask - and so useless when it came down to feelings. It was just beyond him to act on compassion, to let the cool mask down. He hadn’t noticed before just how much of a cold bastard he was. Oh, Hughes had informed him of that fact a few times, but Roy hadn’t really considered it. He had just been doing what was necessary to survive, and hanging around overly sensitive people was not on that survival list.

Instead of trying to offer any kind of comfort, Roy waited until Alphonse calmed down on his own, shoulders progressively dropping. The blond was still back to Roy, arms thrown around his raised legs. He seemed to be sulking now – perhaps musing - but no longer upset. The mongrel relaxed then and found the will to walk forward.

“Alphonse? Are you alright?” If that wasn’t hypocrisy, he didn’t know what was.

“I’m fine.” Lips pursed together and red eyes did not usually mean one was fine. Roy settled down, finding it much easier to consider dealing with a sulky person than a crying one. It wasn’t his favorite situation, but he could handle as much.

“Sure don’t look like it. You shouldn’t beat yourself over something like that. It’s nothing.”

“How can you say that?! You’re always so damn cool! Doesn’t it bother you at all?!” The boy stood, angrily clenching his hands into fists.

Roy frowned. “Calm down, Alphonse. I’m not saying I think his attitude is okay. But between the two of us?” He made a vague hand motion. “It’s just a game. Don’t fret. I can deal with whatever he pulls on me. Just take care of yourself.”

“You’re crazy. Both of you.” Al sat back down. “ You call that a game? Idiots.”

“I suppose I’m pretty weird,” nodded Mustang. “But I like myself as I am, and I don’t see why I’d change. You could take a clue and follow suit y’know.”

Al rubbed at his eyes and said, grudgingly, “I’m trying.”

“Keep working on it then.”

“God, you drive me crazy.”

“God drives me crazy too.” Al gave him a dirty glare and Roy smirked in answer. “At least I’m not boring, am I?”

“Boring? I wish!” He suddenly snorted. “You’re still only wearing a towel?”

“Well Shokun hasn’t broken yet. It’ll come soon enough I believe.”

“Didn’t people stare?”

“Why of course they did. This is Roy Mustang after all, local sex symbol.”

“You’re so full of yourself!”

“What, I shouldn’t be?” They jested a little longer, until the blond regained his usual composure and smile. “Better?”

“Yeah.”

“Just don’t worry over me. You have to admit I’m not making any effort to allow your brother to keep his cool. I’m baiting, and if he bites, it’s my responsibility, got that?”

“Whatever.” And Roy felt a tinge of guilt, to find it so easy to ruffle Al’s hair and laugh with him, when he couldn’t even consider giving comfort earlier. Tears just made him recoil. Wasn’t it hypocrisy, to lure the boy into thinking they could be friends when he had no intentions to act like one? He had a fairly good certitude that a real ‘friend’ wouldn’t have hidden while Alphonse cried his eyes out. Damn, he hated lies.

“You probably should do something to point out you won’t take his jealous attitude toward you,” mused the man on the way back. “He can bother me all he wants, but he shouldn’t spread his rudeness.”

“Mn...”

Roy erased himself at the door to allow Al in first, mumbling something that had the blond fighting not to smile. For the third time that day, he called Mustang crazy and received a proud smile in return.

“Niisan,” barked Al. “We’re going to the gym. Now.”

Edward gave a bland look from the couch where he’d been sulking. “What? Why?”

“Because I said so. Of course I can go with Mustang instead if you don’t feel like joining me.”

The red-coated boy scrambled to his feet and to the door. “I’m there. Shesh, what’s the deal?”

And Roy waved and smirked at Ed as the boy was literally dragged away from a hand firmly dug into his black shirt. The mongrel wished he could witness the fight, but he already had a good mental image of what it would be like. And it made him smirk larger.

Although the door was once more left unlocked, Roy preferred to be good and remain home. Just to throw off Ed if anything. Oh, and maybe he felt like seeing the beaten face Shokun would no doubt bear when he crawled back after the fight.

Mustang absentmindedly rolled his towel tighter on his hips and settled at the dinner table to doodle arrays and think. He drifted off and soon he was writing questions instead, questions he wanted answers to.

Who were the Elric brothers? What was up with the automail? As far as he knew, it had something to do with Human Transmutation and a bad rebound.

What was it that drove Ed insane? He couldn’t stand slaves and seemed glad to have any reasons to pick on Roy. Was it linked to their mother? Because she had been a slave too and he despised her?

What was that damn sign on the wall? Roy had found an image that was somewhat similar, a snake crucified on a cross. The wings could be for the swan, the crown because the swan was the king. A made-up alchemical sign then? Made-up by who? What did it mean? The boys were bent on keeping it around, but somebody was picking on them for it. Who? Why? Could it be linked to their teacher? That mystical lady who apparently had passed away, but only after instructing the boys in martial arts so well?

Also, who were these scary ladies he had seen? The one who had marred his chest, the one who had frightened the boys half to death by only being there, the one at the gym(well, he thought it was female..). They worked for the Fuhrer, Al said. The Fuhrer? Did that guy actually exist? In the low city the rumor was that there wasn’t a Fuhrer, only a bunch of greedy blondies directing everything. Not that it made any difference.

Beside all those questions, there were the people themselves he wanted to know about. Gracia, Al, Armstrong…were they the only ones of their kind? Three people who didn’t quite fit in here?

There was so much, so much he craved to learn about! Alchemy, he wanted to know more about alchemy as well. Right, not to forget Ed’s earlier trick of not using an array. He wanted to figure that one out too. Just…everything here fascinated him. It was a puzzle he was bent on finding the answer to, sooner or later.

Staring down at his scribble-covered sheet, Roy picked it up and destroyed it with the fire of a match. He didn’t want to risk the boys falling on anything that would let them know the kind of things he pondered about. His thoughts were his own.

He was startled when there were knocks on the door. He stood, walked slowly toward it while wondering who it could be. Gracia? That Winry girl? Couldn’t be Armstrong, a knock from him would just break down the door.

“Yes?”

It was a woman in uniform, one he had never seen before. She stood crisply, her blond hair neatly gathered in a bun. “Are the Elrics there?”

“They’re at the gym. Do you want to seek them out or come in and wait?”

“Let me in.”

He stepped back, allowed her in. And, surprise, Armsrong was three steps away, waiting. Roy didn’t wince as the man came in after the lady. He wondered what the problem was this time. He offered drinks, fetched water and orange juice. With a glass of his own, he sat straddling a chair, gazing at them wonderingly. The way they stared back wasn’t reassuring. Hawkeye raised an eyebrow to his towel, but he only mutely smirked at her, like he always did. Armstrong didn’t even seem to notice. Maybe to him it was normal to want to expose one’s muscles.

“You are Roy Mustang?”

“Is my charming reputation reaching even here?”

“Just answer my questions.”

“I would be,” he agreed. “And you are?”

“Colonel Hawkeye,” said Armstrong. “Just answer her.” What was the problem?

“Where were you this morning?”

Oh, this did not sound good. Roy answered guardedly. “Depends on the time. First I was here, waiting on Alphonse. We took a break to go to the gym and had a sparring match.”

“Yes, Envy confirmed seeing them,” nodded Armstrong.

“And after?”

“Back here. We washed and didn’t do much else. We were too tired.”

“He went first?”

“Yes.”

“How long was he in there?”

Oh, trick question. They would certainly ask Al after this, and he felt it would be trouble if their answers weren’t similar. “Fifteen minutes I believe. I spent them on the floor by the door if you want to know. “ He wasn’t sure who was in trouble, him or Al, but he wanted to cover both of them.

“You didn’t leave? Was the door locked?”

“I think so.”

“The door is unlocked, currently.” Oops? Shouldn’t have answered maybe?

“It usually is. And they are more careful to lock it when they are here then when they are not. They had a bit of a fight just now, Alphonse dragged his brother to the gym to settle down their dispute.” He gave a knowing grin, and continued; “It’s only the second time they\'ve forgotten. The first time I met the General here.”

“I don’t think he did it,” said Armstrong, and Roy wasn’t sure if it was a good thing to hear or not.

“May I ask what you are talking about?” The mongrel inquired, voice lazy but mind sharp.

“The man you assaulted previously was found murdered today.”

Oh. Not good. So not good.

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1-Taken from levity.com(slash)alchemy(slash)kollerstrommoon(dot)html