A Fatherly Talk

Dislclaimer: Do I look like Arakawa-san? No? There you have it. I own nothing.

Summary: Ed and Al's father-figures bond and discover something that should have been left in the dark.

Rating: K+ for alcohol and very very vague implications

Hohenheim had, admittedly, not been a very good father. Being absent for most of his childrens' lives certainly contributed to that judgment, but even before he had disappeared, any connections he could have been making with his children were often overshadowed by his angst, leaving his kids without the fatherly bond he could and should have been establishing. Of course, he realized that now, when his boys were grown up, or at least more grown than when he left them, and he had begun to make amends. He was slowly, slowly easing himself back into his son's lives. An invite out for coffee on Monday, a 'chance' meet-up at the library on Thursday, having dinner with them on Friday; he was slowly making progress with his sons, especially Edward, who seemed to have inherited both his stubbornness and his penchant for angst.

Part of reinstating himself was getting to know the friends Ed and Al had met on their travels. Hohenheim went out of his way to meet the people his sons had helped. Every story of their escapades, from their overthrow of a corrupt preacher in Liore, to their meeting with the Xingese prince, to the adventure at Fort Briggs made his heart swell with pride for his sons. But in between the meetings, he discovered something shocking about himself.

He had been replaced.

It was shocking, the first time he met Ed's senior officer and saw an odd tenderness in his eyes when he looked at the boys, about two weeks after Al was restored. When Ed introduced him as 'The Bastard,' Hohenheim nearly choked on his tea. But the colonel merely laughed and introduced himself properly. The man was fascinating enough, but it was mesmerizing to watch the way he interacted with the boys. Edward was belligerent and insolent-just like he was to his own father- and Al treated him with quiet respect-just like he treated Hohemheim.

It came as almost a rude shock to find that, even in his absence, the boys had found someone to act as their guardian. It was odd knowing that this other man had been the one to watch his children in their most transformative years. Nevertheless, he was quite fond of the younger man, and grateful for his presence in his sons' lives, and they got along like a house on fire.

(He was to find the fire puns amused the colonel greatly, and took the opportunity to crack one whenever possible.)

And so it happened that he ran into Colonel Mustang on the way to the boy's shared house in Central, purchased by Edward as soon as Al was released from the hospital after his restoration. As it turned out, they had both been on the way to check on the boys, and they approached the house together. They knocked on the door in companionable silence and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

After about a minute of knocking to no avail, they began to be worried.

"Is Edward avoiding me again?" Mustang sighed.

Hohenheim quirked a smile, "While I wouldn't put I past him, Al wouldn't let him." That almost went without saying: now that Al was back in his own body, Edward was much better behaved, as if some great burden had been lifted from his mind and heart. Even if he were of

"Perhaps they just aren't home…" but the colonel trailed off when he saw the lights on in the kitchen window. No, someone was definitely home. But why were thy being ignored? Were the boys in trouble? They were both skilled enough that the idea of someone overpowering them was almost laughably unlikely.

But what were parents and not-quite-parents for if not to worry?

They exchanged a glance.

"I'll check the left. You go right."

Hohenheim nodded and stepped off the little path leading to the front door, walking around the right side of the house. The first windows he came to looked into the kitchen, and he briefly saw the colonel peering in from the other side, and unreadable look on his face.

The boys were not in the kitchen and the worried feeling in his gut increased tenfold. The rational part of his mind said that it was fine, they might be asleep or just ignoring them, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong.

Looking through the next window-the window to the living room- he nearly fell over in shock.

Something was definitely wrong, just not quite in the way he thought.

His boys were sitting on the couch, perfectly unharmed, and they were kissing. It was not a brotherly kiss. Deep, biting, passionate kisses that were absolutely anything but brotherly, and as he watched, he saw Edward pull back slowly, leaving Al gasping for air, and murmured something indistinct before crushing their mouths together once more.

It was odd. He was vaguely aware that he should be disgusted, but somehow, as he lurched away from the window and back towards the front door, he couldn't be less disgusted. At a deeper level, he isn't even surprised.

But any lack of surprise on his part does not keep him from meeting Mustang's eyes - when had the man reappeared? - with apprehension.

Mustang's eyes were grim, but equally unsurprised. Mouths set into hard lines, they came to a silent agreement.

After everything they went through, those boys deserved to be happy.

"Let us never speak of this again."

Hohenheim could only nod. They walked away, slowly, silently, until-

"Brandy?"

"I'm on duty."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Hell yes I want that brandy."

Author's Note: I really didn't mean for it to come across like I was shipping Hohenheim and Roy… but it sorta turned out that way. Wow. Five bucks says that's the weirdest implied pairing you've ever seen. Hope you enjoyed anyway!