Unexpected Birthday Gift
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. Still. That is all.
Why, for once, couldn't the Lieutenant be on his side?
"Aw c'mon, Colonel! Enjoy yourself a little!"
"Yeah, hit the damn piñata! You're 32 already, you don't have many chances left!"
"Oh shut up!"
Why couldn't she just shoot the two men who were taunting him? They practically had him tied down and were at the same time trying to force him to play dumb party games. Thankfully, at least, the boys wouldn't be there until tomorrow, off on another mission. Their train was supposed to pull in at around six, and Mustang didn't even think that they'd show hair nor hide nor metal in the office until late morning tomorrow.
At least, he hoped.
If there was anyone that he hoped would not see him, it was the Elric brothers. Or, Ed at least. Al wouldn't be so bad.
He groaned and hid his face in his hands when Havoc pulled out a picture of a donkey, obviously wanting to play more child games.
Hours later found Roy practically asleep on his desk, trying to finish his paperwork so he could go home. His dark, tired eyes were closed. Moonlight streamed in, hitting the back of his head softly. The lights were the only things keeping him awake. He glanced up tiredly when someone knocked on the door. "Come in," he called. His head then hit the desk.
"Colonel?"
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
"The receptionist asked me to deliver this for you. She said that someone asked that they remain anonymous for the time being."
Roy looked back up, seeing his most trusted officer holding a plain white bag. "What is it?"
"I don't know. I didn't check."
"…Fine. I'll take it."
Hawkeye walked over obediently and set it on his desk. Noticing his tired stature, she sighed and decided, "After you look at this, you may as well go home. You won't get anything else done."
Roy offered her a grateful look and lifted the bag. Pushing his chair back, he held it in his lap, preparing for the destruction that would probably follow its opening.
He'd gotten gifts from everyone in the office. The most sensible was from Hawkeye, which was just a simple picture frame with a photograph of the team. Other than that, he'd received a pair of fluffy pink underwear from Havoc (to be burned when he got home), a journal from Breda, a small box of matches from Fuery, and a book on Amestrian wars from Falman. It wasn't that they didn't try, he knew, but he was very hard to gift for. So he'd been told several times.
Anyway, he reached into the bag, feeling for something. His hand brushed against something hard, so he pulled it out. It was a plain white box… what the—
He prepared himself for what may be inside, starting to tip the top off, until Riza grunted. Glancing up, he saw her motion to the bag. Only then did he notice that an envelope-sized thing had its corner sticking out of the bag. He took it out, setting the box down. He held his hands up innocently. "What? I didn't see it."
"Uh-huh…" Hawkeye shook her head in disbelief.
"Do you want me to be the bad egg?"
Riza rolled her eyes. "Just open it." She said.
Roy chuckled, leaning back in his chair. He dipped his finger beneath the fold of the envelope, softly prying it off. It took a few seconds, but the flap eventually unstuck itself from the envelope back, rip-free. Then, he pulled the contents out.
It was a card. Pure white, again, though this had the transmutation circle for fire on the front— the same as the ones on his gloves. No writing was on the front, though he could just barely see the outlines of writing that would surely be on the inside. So, he tugged the card open, and was pretty surprised to find a paragraph on the inside. Two, actually. The first was on the inside front cover, the other on the inside back cover. He looked at the first, and his heart inadvertently swelled. It read,
Colonel,
I thought I'd better get this for you, because soon there will be a big fight in the rain, I'm sure of it, and you'll be useless again, and you'll die. And as much of a bastard as you are, no one else can know my secret, and everyone else here is a bastard anyway. So you can't die. Not yet, at least. And I guess that we could say that this can be for all of the help that you've given us. But, you're still a bastard; so don't get all smug about it! So yeah, I guess. Thanks. And, happy birthday, old man.
Edward Elric
Hawkeye noticed his look and immediately got worried. "Sir?" she asked.
Roy held up a hand, soon after putting his face in it. He allowed himself a wide smile and a shuddering breath.
"Sir!"
"It's alright, Hawkeye. Um… why don't you go on home? I'll close up shop here." Roy told her.
Riza looked shocked. "Are… you sure?"
"Oh yes. I think that I can handle myself against a card and a present, Lieutenant. See you tomorrow." He said.
"…Alright sir. See you tomorrow." Hawkeye moved hesitantly, but eventually left, giving him one more worried glance.
Only when she was gone did Roy remove his hand, revealing a tear slowly falling down. But it was no tear of sadness or something along those lines. No, he was damn happy. Who'd have thought that Ed would care that he was only another year older, or whether he died or not? Finally, after reading Edward's paragraph again, he turned to look at the second one.
Mr. Mustang,
Sorry about brother. You know how he gets. Happy thirty-second! Sorry this was late, but brother didn't want anyone else to know that we'd gotten you anything. Yes, this is a birthday present, but we mostly wanted to thank you for all of your help. Without you, I think that we'd still be on square one. And, brother won't say this (and for putting this in, he's making me make you promise not to tell anyone) but to both of us, you're the closest thing that we've had to a father. Not even our father did as much for us two as you did, and we've technically known him for at least 10 years longer! So, thanks for that, too. What brother said was right; neither of us wants you to die. And, I'm saying sorry for the inscription that brother put on the bottom. Take good care of yourself, Colonel. I don't think that brother nor myself could take losing another dad.
Alphonse Elric
So… both of them felt that way? The young Colonel didn't like how surprised he was that the two kids felt like that. But then, what could they have… gotten him?
He glanced down at the box and took it up in his strong yet soft grip. He tipped the lid off, letting it clatter against the bag and into his lap.
The gift was another box, from what he could tell. It was a rectangle, silver in color. The top of it was black, thick plastic. Gingerly lifting it out, he studied it. Finally, he flicked the lid off.
What he saw lifted his heart.
It was a lighter. The rectangle was a lighter. The black lid flipped back onto its hinges to reveal the spark-creator and where the flame would be made. Deep, coal eyes filled with vast curiosity, he closed the lid and examined the body of it.
The front—or what he assumed was the front—had another flame transmutation circle. Above it, like on an emblem, was his name, Roy Mustang, and below it, Flame Alchemist. On the back, Property of the Flame Alchemist. All others will be scorched was inscribed in near perfect Arial (1) handwriting. He lifted his eyebrows. How much could all of this have cost for the two boys?
Wait, Al had mentioned something on the bottom… hadn't he? Checking with the card just to be sure, he flipped the lighter over so he could see on the bottom. There, alchemic—most likely—writing was written, saying, And if the Flame Alchemist doesn't kill you, I, Edward Elric, will stab you with my auto-mail blade.
He snorted cheerfully, turning the lighter over a few more times. Yes, this would probably be helpful to him. The boys were right. But still…
He fisted a hand through his hair softly, laughing to himself. Now he was wrong. It was the boys who had given him the most sensible gift. And he would definitely have to thank them when they came in tomorrow.
Another thought jolted him back into reality. They'd told him that they weren't going to stop into the office—Ed had missed far too many check-ups with Winry, so they'd be heading up to Resembool right away in the morning.
So… how…
Edward heaved a sigh from his seat on the bench. It was six in the morning, and the train wouldn't be leaving for another twenty minutes! They'd have left later, but of course Al had wanted to make sure that they wouldn't miss it.
The station was already crowded with people, waiting for trains, or boarding them, or leaving them. Either way, there were way too many people. In fact, the only reason that Ed had any space in the station was because Al was hovering close by him, frightening anybody off.
He leaned back in exasperation, with mouth wide, bored. "This sucks!"
Al giggled softly at him. "What does, brother?" he asked.
"This! Why did we have to come so damn early?" Ed demanded.
"So we would have the time to get our tickets, stupid!" Alphonse responded lightly.
"Well it was your idea! So you suck!" Ed said, though his tone was playfully and joking.
Al rolled his soulfire eyes and held a hand to his chest plate melodramatically. "I'm hurt, big brother. Maybe next time we'll just miss the train."
"Fine! As long as I get to sleep!"
Al sighed, turning to the side. "Aren't you supposed to be setting a good example for me, brother? And I highly doubt that Winry will be very happy with us if we're late." He scolded.
"When is Winry ever 'very happy with us'?" Ed countered. Finally, he noticed, the train pulled in. "C'mon, we'd better get in line." He decided softly.
"Yes brother." Al offered his brother a hand, and Ed took it, letting the younger boy pull him up. They both turned into the line of people rushing to get on the train headed north. Al looked around when he heard someone call loudly, "Elrics!" He knew that whoever had called wasn't just looking for him, or just for Ed. They would have called them specifically by name if they were. But who would possibly be looking for both of them…?
"Boys!"
Edward looked up from the ground, confused when he saw one gloved hand wave, perhaps trying to grab their attention, and then a head of black hair came out of the crowd, pushing past people and promising that he wasn't planning to actually get on the train. Finally, Roy Mustang came to a stop in front of them, his arms crossed, grinning widely. He was dressed in civilian clothes.
Both boys were surprised to find him there. It was only six, after all. Wasn't it a little early for him to be alive to the world?
"Good morning, boys."
And the attitude was way too cheerful for this to be normal. As for the get-up… it was then that Alphonse realized that the older man didn't have his spark gloves on… they were just plain white gloves! "Sir, shouldn't you have your gloves…?" he asked nervously.
Roy chuckled, shaking his head softly. "Nah. Don't need 'em." He smiled up at the armor-boy, digging into his pockets to remove what he obviously decided would be enough.
As soon as he did, Edward blushed and ducked his head. "You… you got it already?" he asked.
Roy nodded. "Yeah. It was pretty late last night when I did. I planned on thanking you when you came into the office today, but you weren't going to. Right?"
"Right." Edward agreed. He snarled up at the man, "put that thing away! We don't need everyone seeing it!"
Roy barked out a laugh. "Oh please, what does it matter if someone sees it?" he looked down at the object of Ed's detest. "Now, what in the world possessed you to pay however much it must have been to get this for me?" he asked. Though he was obviously grateful, the curiosity was nagging at his entire being.
Even Al ducked his head, pretending to hide a blush that couldn't possibly have been there. "Um… we just want you to stay safe. Like I said, if something happened to you…" he started. He shuddered suddenly.
Roy smiled softly at him, essentially feeling the worry radiating off of the younger boy's armor. "Don't worry, I'll stay safe." He cooed tenderly.
Edward turned away, noticing the people in the line were going around them. Not that he cared much, as long as they got a good seat… "C'mon Al, we'd better go." He said. He turned his back on his commanding officer and stepped further into the line.
"Edward."
Growling, Ed started to turn around… and soon enough found himself being held tightly against the broad chest of the colonel. "Uh, Colonel… we're in a station…" he was blushing even deeper now, but didn't try to pull away this time. He felt comfy, actually, sitting in his superior's soft yet strong grip.
"Yeah? Well, the station can handle a bit of this, now can't it?" came Mustang's cool, almost taunting reply.
"But this is embarrassing!" Edward snapped.
"Why do you think that I'm in civilian clothes?" Roy held the small boy at arms length, noticed something, scowled, licked his gloved thumb, and scrubbed at something on Ed's forehead. "Hey-!" "Edward, like this, no one will know that the great Flame Alchemist came here, especially not for this. And I doubt that they'll recognize such a little major." The man taunted.
Edward's eyes widened in surprise, and then, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE COULD PASS STRAIGHT THROUGH A SPIDER'S WEB WITH NO PROBLEM?" flushed, he turned, yanking himself out of Mustang's steady arms. "C'mon Al! Or we'll miss the train!"
"But there's still 10 minutes left, brother!" Al cried, laughing. He turned down to Mustang. "I'd better catch up to him." He said. He paused, surprised, when he heard the soft ting of something striking his armor. "Wha-"
"Thanks, Al. For this, and for caring. See you around." Roy had shoved his hands back into his pockets and was smiling back up at the boy. He removed his right hand from his pocket, and punched the suit of armor on the shoulder, managing to elicit a soft laugh from him.
"Yes, sir. See you."
"Hey Al… take care of yourself… and your brother. Much like you, I don't think that I could take losing the two of you."
And on the platform in Resembool, Edward left the train with a cheerful scowl, and Al was practically whistling the whole time.
1) Yes, Arial as in the font. Just so that y'all know about what it looks like :)
And yes, for all of those curious, the... present that Havoc got Mustang suffered a very painful, merciless death :) Err, it would have if it were alive.
So... how was it?
Just letting y'all now, I've got several one-shots in my head. At least three or four right now. My multi-chapter stories may not be updated in a while, but it happens :) And, I'm going to redo the first several chapters of Those Days After because that story, besides the last few chapters, sucks. :D
~YAJJ