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It was a beautiful day in Xing, a certain Brigadier General decided as he wandered through the halls of the palace. He had been sent on an escort mission to protect the Amestrisian ambassador (that was the official reason anyway, he was fairly sure Grumman only sent him because he had heard that both Elrics were currently in Xing and knew that Mustang hadn't heard from either of the young men in ages) and was currently wandering around aimlessly in hopes of easing his boredom. They had a meeting in a couple of hours, so he had time to kill before he had to be anywhere. He had his best people currently guarding the Ambassador, which left him to his own devices. He was just about to turn a corner when a body flew around it and slammed into him. Mustang grunted at the solid impact and years of military training was the only thing that stopped them both from toppling over. He was just about to berate the person in question when they pulled away and he recognised the golden hair and eyes.
"Alphonse?" He said, eyebrow rising in question. The man blinked momentarily, surprise flickering across his face before urgency overpowered it.
"Colonel!" Alphonse practically screeched as he grabbed the man by the lapels and yanked him so their faces were mere inches apart. The man opened his mouth to remind the boy of his status (strange, Alphonse didn't usually forget) and ask what was wrong, but the young man beat him to the punch.
"If someone asks you to play tag, whatever you do, do not accept!" He said so seriously, Mustang had to pause for a moment to rerun the sentence through his head. Because Alphonse was talking about the game, right?
"Brother taught the Xingans a warped version of tag, and sure it was all fun and games at first, but now it's horrible! If you get tagged, you're then classified as "it" but the original "it" person is also still "it", so they become a team! And if you want to win you have to get to the fountain in the front courtyard from halfway across the city! With everyone chasing you! Do you know how hard it is to spot Xingans when they're trying to hide?!" He shrieked, panic lacing his tone.
"It's okay at first, because they always go for each other to boost their team strength, but after that…" The man shudders, and Mustang isn't sure whether he should laugh or actually be concerned. They soon hear the sound of hurried, uneven footsteps and Ed comes skidding around the corner not a moment later, almost falling over due to his momentum. He rights himself, and flies forward, only to come to a stop right next to his brother.
"General!" Ed greets, far too happily, a shark-like grin adorning his face. His eyes were bright, sparkling like jewels and filled with mischief, excitement and challenge.
"I assume Al's filled you in on the situation. Care to play~" He all but purred, sticking a hand out for the General to take. Al begins shaking his head rapidly, horror clearly painted on his face. Mustang grimaces slightly, tugging off his gloves and putting them safely in his pocket. He gives the man in front of him an apprehensive smirk.
"I think I might regret this…" He says idly, taking Ed's outstretched hand. Ed's grin turns feral.
"Great, now run!" He exclaims, wrenching the man forward with Al quick on their heels. Out of the corner of his eyes, Mustang sees someone running along the rooftops outside the palace (he thinks it might be Ling) and grimaces. Yeah, he's definitely going to regret this…
Almost three hours later, the General is leaning up against the fountain panting hard and feeling boneless. He doesn't know where his jacket went, but he's sure it's in the palace somewhere. Ed is lying next to him, on top of the fountain edge, panting just as hard.
"Next time Al gives me advice… I'll be sure to follow it…" Mustang breathes, turning slightly to the man next to him. Ed cackles, while Al pouts from his place next to Mei (the younger Elric had been caught not long after Mustang had joined in, and hadn't that been fun for the older man, Al was more vindictive than he let on…). The Xingans were panting just as much as the others, but they were grinning as well.
"Ed… You're a monster at this game!" Ling exclaimed happily as he watched the eldest Elric. Mustang raised a brow at the man, but Ed only laughed more.
"I don't even bother running anymore when Brother's "it"." Al mumbled miserably.
"It was okay when we were kids, he didn't have the Xingese training, but now…" The boy shuddered, making Ed and Ling grin even wider. Ed sat up suddenly, grinning dangerously as he leant into Mustang's space.
"Let's play Hide and Seek!" He suggested eagerly.
"No!" Al shrieked at the top of his lungs, Ling perked up at the statement, Lan Fan smirked slightly and Mei started jumping up and down excitedly.
"Come on, Al! I'll even ban the use of Qi!" Ed promised.
"That's what you said last time, and Lan Fan ended up breaking my nose because I startled her so badly!" Al protested loudly, crossing his arms and grimacing slightly at the memory. They continued to bicker and Mustang simply shook his head, leaning further onto the fountain to stare at the bright blue sky. He pondered for a moment, wondering if he was supposed to be anywhere. Inside, Hawkeye debated where to shoot her boss that would maximise pain, but minimise actual damage. He was seated a lot, maybe the ass. Yeah, she'd shoot him in the ass…
AN: Seriously though can you imagine trained people from Xing playing simple games like Hide and Seek or Tag? They would slaughter everyone. Ed with Xingese training would also slaughter everyone. Hope you enjoyed!