Kirsten and Vanessa's Theme Challenge
Candle: RoyxMaes
Warning: This is sort of AUish, given that Hughes always does deskjobs. This fic implies he was with Roy during the war.
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The tent was dark. In the dead of the night, the scent of smoke and death lingered in the air…
The smell of blood and battlefield threatened to erase every trace of humanity left in that hell, that piece of land completely forsaken by God.
Hughes stumbled towards the makeshift home, opening the fabric door as quietly as possible. Blood was leaking from a fresh gunshot wound in his shoulder.
He clutched it absentmindedly, as the pain hit him for the very first time.
In a war you don't have the time to feel.
"It's so cold…" Maes thought, before slipping into unconsciousness.
"HUGHES! HUGHES! " Lieutenant Mustang screamed at no one in particular, as he snapped his fingers.
An explosion covered him in thick, sickening smoke. The single shout of an Isbalan man dying lingered in his ears.
"Where are you, dammit…" he muttered to himself, hopelessness reflected in his empty eyes.
"Either he is back at the camp…or he is dead."
The sole thought of Hughes lying pale and lifeless made Roy wince in emotional pain.
"No, he'd never…" Roy uttered, his voice broken.
Something in him awakened as he turned around, leaving the troops, the gunshots, the war behind. Nothing mattered anymore.
In his world, a single word lingered. "Maes…"
Using his military influences and alchemy, Lieutenant Mustang arrived to his headquarters tent in just a few minutes.
Please be here, Maes. Please be alive.
Roy opened the door and found his friend lying on his back, a small but steady growing pool of blood surrounding his head and shoulder, like a terrifying halo.
Tears threatened to overwhelm Mustang's eyes as he kneeled beside him, slowly sinking to the floor.
He took the other man in his arms, holding him as close as he could.
I have to keep him warm…He just can't go without me telling…
"I love you. " Roy whispered into the other man's ear.
A tan hand stretched, opening itself lazily.
"R…Roy? " A trembling mumble escaped Hughes' lips.
The Lieutenant smiled sadly at him and leant over.
"I can't see a thing. " Hughes said, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"What? "
"It's so dark and cold in here…"
"Don't worry. I'll handle it."
The pale man smirked, confidence in his voice now.
The blue flash of alchemy shone in the tent, transmuting a small pile of sand and wasted cloth into a candle. Mustang snapped his fingers rather softly and it lit itself instantly.
"I was so afraid, Maes. I thought you were dead…"
"Heh. " Hughes chuckled humorlessly. "You know, Roy, you're not getting rid of me that easily."
"I know. It's just…"
Black got lost in green, as the light of the candle barely ignited the feelings that had always been there, but never confessed.
"I love you, Second Lieutenant Maes Hughes. "
The green eyed man smiled, amusedly.
" I know…I heard!"
"You bastard. " Roy said, half smiling, half pouting.