I started to write this a couple of months ago. I was not sure if I was going to post it or not- but I'm still going to. I will update it shortly, as I have more chapters ready, only needing to be read through and grammar checked.
It's another angsty fic, but that's apparently just how I roll these days!
Fallman, Havoc, Fuery, and Breda had arrived from a mission in New Optain only a few hours ago. They had decided to invite the rest of the group for dinner and drinks to share their verbal reports. From Mustang's experience, that meant getting wasted, revealing confidential information publicly and chase women. Or men. He was not entirely sure about Fuery after last year's Christmas party. Anyway, that was probably the reason why they had chosen the somewhat shifty Inn, just hardly within the city limits. Havoc and Breda had been persistent that it was because of the amazing food.
He looked in the mirror, always feeling a bit awkward in his civilian clothing. Whenever he was not in his uniform, he never really knew how to dress for the occasion. 'It's a tavern for christ sake', he thought, and threw his tie away, settling for a white button-up shirt, covered by a navy cardigan and black pants. It looked fairly similar to his uniform. He shrugged.
'Whatever'.
He honked the horn from his car a couple of times to make his presence known when arriving outside the Elric brother's apartment. Shortly after, the long-haired alchemist came running down the staircase that led to the sidewalk from their second floor flat. Roy noted that he was not wearing his regular red coat. In fact, his wardrobe had been much more assorted lately. However, he was still refusing to wear the official state alchemist uniform. It did not really matter though, as their tailor did not usually work with kid's sizing anyway. Today he was wearing a moss green, hooded coat, not too different from the red jacket. Underneath he had a white shirt and black pants. He opened the door to the front seat and got in.
"Sorry shrimp, I didn't bring the booster seat. Anyone under 5 feet has to sit in the back," Roy smirked.
"Who are you calling so short that he uses a sock as a sleeping bag!?" the runt exploded with heated cheeks.
Roy smiled at how easy it was to rile up his young subordinate, and reached his hand out and messed up the blonde's hair. Ed sunk down in the seat with his arms crossed at his chest and looked out of the window while sulking. They also picked up Fuery and Breda on their way, Breda whining more than Ed for not getting the front seat. This seemed the cheer Edward up considerably.
It was a twenty-minute drive to the Inn. Riza and Fallman had already arrived, and within ten minutes Havoc was also seated at their table. Roy was surprised when they actually did have amazing food, as Breda and Havoc so stubbornly had argued. There was even live music. It was not long after they had devoured their meals, before his men's tipsy chatter grew louder, just as Roy had foreseen. Suddenly, he was very happy that none of them were wearing uniforms.
"Lightweights." Ed rolled his eyes when Breda and Furey laughed loudly at some inside joke from several years ago. Ed was obviously not drinking. He was neither of age nor looked old enough to get away with it. Riza gave him a crooked smile, and Havoc stirred a glass of whiskey in his hand.
"How old are you now, chief?" He asked with a sheepish smile. Ed looked at him suspiciously, before answering.
"I'm almost seventeen."
"Ah, well..." he pushed the glass over the table, so it was placed in front of Ed. "Have a sip," he offered.
Ed lifted the glass, eying the golden liquid with attentive eyes. He looked up and met the gaze of the entire table, watching him expectantly. Only Riza seemed unamused, which made Ed uncertain if he should do it.
"Bottoms up!" Breda declared, slamming his beer jug on the table.
"Okay," Ed mumbled hesitantly but did exactly that.
His first thought was that it did not taste good. Like some kind of solution from a can with warning stickers on the side telling you explicitly not to drink it. Then the burning sensation hit him, and he coughed violently. Havoc laughed as Riza reached out to tap his back. She actually had a small smirk on her face too now, while Ed gagged and felt like he was about to cough up a lung. The liquid made his eyes water, and he felt the burning making its way from the back of his throat, all the way up to his nose.
"How was it, chief?" Havoc chuckled, as Ed's coughing fit was coming to an end.
"I don't like it!" Ed pouted, sliding the glass harshly back to Jean with a twitch on his nose.
"Stupid Second Lieutenant's gross fire water..." Ed snarled under his breath as he trampled his way to the toilet, holding his sleeve up to his runny nose.
Once at the toilet, he blew his nose several times to get rid of all the stray liquid. He threw the paper towels into the trash bin, and was about to head out, but got distracted by his reflection in a full-length mirror hanging beside the door.
He had grown taller, hadn't he? He definitely was over the measly 5 feet the Colonel teased him with. Probably closer to 5'3, or maybe even 5'4. He straightened his back and remembered that he had refused to let them measure him at his last doctor's visit. How tall was he supposed to be at his age? He was closing in on his seventeenth year, and his team still didn't seem to take him seriously. Maybe it's just him. He was just a runt, after all. Letting out a sigh, he tightened his ponytail and left the bathroom.
Outside the door, a man was waiting in line. Ed excused himself as he passed him in the narrow corridor.
"Hey, kid.»
Ed turned around to look at the man who was standing there. He was tall and broad, a little chubby. His brown hair was thick, and beard untrimmed. Ed wondered if he was going to be able to grow a beard soon. The man wore a grey t-shirt with a brown vest and denim jeans with a bandana sticking out of its right pocket.
"I see you have automail," the man stated with a wide smile.
Ed looked to his right arm as if he was checking. He was very aware of his right arm being made of metal. Every slightly rainy, cool or warm day painfully reminded him- whenever he was not being called out by his code name, the Fullmetal Alchemist.
"I'm a mechanic," the man explained. "Would you mind if I take a look?" The man held out his hand, still smiling. Ed did not really want to, as he knew that a tune up was long due, and these gearheads were usually very vocal about that.
"Uh, I guess not,» he finally decided. The man momentarily grabbed his right arm in an overwhelmingly strong grasp. It was not uncommon that the mechanics that worked with the nerve operated metal prosthetics were exceptionally strong, and he could definitely confirm that himself after years of having wrenches hurled at his head by his own mechanic. It was hard labor, but Ed still felt like this was unnecessarily intrusive.
"Hm, ah, I see," the man hummed, while he was twisting and turning his arm, poking on different screws and plates. "This is a very unusual design. It's very interesting. Who's your mechanic? I have to get his name."
On behalf of Winry, Ed felt a little insulted when the man assumed his automail mechanic to be a male. "Actually, her name is Winry Rockbell. She's a childhood friend of mine."
The man looked at Ed's small frame, not being able to hide his surprise. "Childhood friend? You can't be much older than twelve," he uttered.
Ed bit his tongue to calm his need to rid himself of a series of carefully chosen unpleasantries, which mainly involved observations of how the man's appearance replicated various body parts.
"She actually made my first set of automail when we were eleven, almost six years ago," he answered, grinding his teeth.
"Wow, that's early. For both of you. Astonishing," the man replied, scratching his chin under the beard.
At that point, Breda made his entry in the small hallway with a spaced look on his face, heading unsteadily for the toilet. "Heya, Ed ma'man. How's it going, chief?" he rumbled, as he ushered his burly body past them.
"Fine, just chatting with an automail mechanic."
"Yeah, yeah..." Breda mumbled dismissively, followed up by some unintelligible chatter, mostly to himself. Shortly after, they could hear the strong current hitting the water in the toilet through the frail door, "Thaaaada'boy Breda!" a relieved groan was uttered before the toilet was flushed.
"Friend of yours?" the stranger asked, and pointed his thumb at the door.
"Nope," Ed murmured, protruding his lips while shaking his head, a bit disturbed by the developments that seemed to take place in the other room.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I did not introduce myself. I am Cedric Longhaven," the man made a hand gesture, leaning in for a handshake.
"Edward Elric." Ed pressed the man's hand firmly.
"Edward Elric? That sounds familiar."
"I dunno," Ed shrugged, as the door of the bathroom shut open again. Breda wiped his hands off on his pants, even though Ed did not really hear any running water.
Well, except... Gross!
"Common F'llme'll! I'llet ya have a shu-hupp of ma'beer," Breda hickupped, poking Ed with his elbow and blinking furiously.
"I'll be right there," Ed smiled, and Breda stumbled his merry way, keeping up the conversation with someone who, at least they, did not see.
The man who had introduced himself as Cedric Longhaven snickered, and grabbed Ed's arm again to get a closer look.
"There's a weird clicking sound whenever you bend your thumb,» he commented.
"Uh, yeah. I know. It works just fine though." This was exactly the thing Ed had been hoping to avoid.
"There might be a loose part somewhere, scraping on the metal. It's not a problem right now, but if you ignore it for too long, it can cause a lot of unnecessary damage." Cedric looked down at Ed with an assuring smile, "I have my toolbox in my room upstairs. I'll take a look if you want."
"No, that's okay." Ed tried to pull his arm back, but the man did not let go.
"Totally free of charge," he insisted, while his smile seemed to slowly fade.
"N-no, really. I'm sure it's fine..." He felt his heart starting to speed up, as he babbled nervously, tugging at his arm in the man's tightening grip, "I'm gonna visit my mechanic really soon, and she's really touchy 'bout someone else fiddling with her work, ya'know..."
Something hit him in the head.
The last thing Ed remembered was biting his tongue as he hit the floor.