Flowers for You
Author: Chaos Valkyrie
First Conceptualized: July 5, 2009
Posted Chapter 01: July 23, 2009
Disclaimer: No own-y.
Author's Note: Inspired by two things – a newfound interest in the meanings of flowers, all the times I've seen Ed in the hospital with near-fatal injuries. No offense, people, but somehow Ed gets more hospital time than any other FMA character in fan fiction. Maybe even any other character in all my fan-fic-doms. Anywho, I decided it should be Roy's turn. For now. Enjoy.
Part One: Roy
Colonel Roy Mustang, feared and revered as the Flame Alchemist, twitched in a most amusing manner as the drone of several familiar voices hastened his return to the world of the conscious.
"It looks like a florist's shop in here!"
"Several shops, actually."
His brow creased at the rustling noises and the 'thunk' of something heavy hitting cheap particle board furniture.
"Are there actually this many women in Central?"
"…in Amestris, for that matter?"
He dazedly struggled to understand what was going on. But his eyelids were far too heavy to care. Why were they…?
The creaking of a door. A matronly voice and a metallic sounding 'clank' of something nearby. More rustling.
And what the hell was that smell?
"Shit!" The loud exclamation would have made him jump had he not been too busy floatin' along in his pleasant haze. "I was supposed to go out with her tonight!"
A laugh. "Mustang stole another one, Jean?"
"He didn't even have to do anything this time, and he still stole her from me!" a voice wailed. A familiar aura of gloom penetrated the fog surrounding him, hastening his return.
"Damn it! Stop smirking in your drugged-up state!"
"Sir? Are you awake? Your lunch is getting cold, sir," a voice said, nudging his elbow. Roy Mustang merely groaned, whimpering a little as he tried to force himself awake.
"Do you think the Colonel would mind if I ate his Jell-o?"
The oh-so-familiar snap of a pistol's bolt finally jerked him from his daze.
"I wasn't sleeping! Really!" he slurred, hand automatically grabbing for a pen. He blinked groggily as his hand met cool sheets and the room exploded into laughter.
"We should inform the doctor that his reflexes are fine," Hawkeye smirked, her gun still trained on Breda, who was conspicuously eyeing Roy's lunch tray even as he backed away from the bed.
Oh, that's right. He wasn't in the office – he was in the hospital.
The day prior, a raging fever had forced him – or rather, Hawkeye and her pistol had forced him – to the doctor's office, who promptly notified him that his appendix was inflamed and needed to be removed. As it had been, just this morning.
Roy blinked a few times as he looked about the room. And blinked some more as the glare of literally hundreds of flowers nearly seared his retinas.
Well, that explained the smell.
"Did I… miss something?" he asked, voice hoarse from his drug-induced sleep.
"Only the Great Amestrian flower shortage," Fuery quipped as Falman handed Mustang a glass of water. He sipped it cautiously as he squinted about the room. Roses, roses, more roses… the smell was overpowering.
"How are you feeling, sir?" Hawkeye asked as she returned her gun to its holster.
"Like I need more painkillers," Roy answered succinctly, reaching out and saving his Jell-o from a disappointed looking Breda. "Mm, cherry," he muttered as he fumbled with the spoon. His men grinned.
"I will notify the hospital staff, sir," Falman saluted, exiting the room. Roy shrugged, gulping his gelatin as he warily eyed the remaining 'food' on his tray. Meanwhile, Breda joined Havoc in reading the tags on the various bouquets.
"Hey, look! A melon from the Fuhrer," Havoc smirked, glancing over his shoulder at his superior officer.
"Oh. Joy." Roy groaned, earning another chuckle from his men. "It's all yours, Breda."
"The fruit basket is from us, sir," Fuery spoke up, drawing his attention to what must have been the source of the loud thunk from before. A sly glance between his male subordinates warned him not to investigate it until later.
"We figured you would have plenty of flowers already," Havoc added.
"Thank you, all of you," he replied warmly, returning to his meager lunch.
"Why all roses, though?" Breda asked as Falman reentered the room. Hawkeye saved Roy the trouble of answering.
"Roses are traditionally a symbol of love, Breda. These women –"
"– fan girls –" Havoc interjected.
"– are proclaiming their devotion to our Colonel," she finished, reaching for a card herself.
"The red rose symbolizes true love; the pink, passion; lavender, love at first sight; the orange, desire –"
Fuery cut Falman off. "What about black?" he asked curiously, pulling the card from a nearly hidden bouquet.
"Either they want me dead, or they're goth. Hawkeye?" Roy asked as Hawkeye took the card herself.
"I'll look into it, sir," she stated, pocketing the card.
A knock sounded at the door. "Visiting hours are almost over," a motherly voice stated, an older nurse poking her head into the room.
"We'll be back tomorrow, Chief," Breda said as he and the others shuffled towards the door. Roy nodded in agreement.
"I have two orders before any of you leave," he commanded before they could make their getaway. His subordinates sighed, knowing what was coming.
Half an hour later, Roy lay back in bed with a smile. Hawkeye had taken his first command and literally ran with it – out the door and to the nurse's station as the others grumbled amongst themselves.
His first command – see to it that any other flowers or gifts were forwarded to the office so he wouldn't have to deal with the obnoxious odor in the small, closed room.
The second was for them to take all the flowers with them as they left.
So now Roy was left with only the faint lingering odor, an odd bouquet of tulips, the fruit basket, and much to his chagrin, the melon from Fuhrer Bradley.
"Breda must've left that out of spite," he murmured before turning gleefully to the gift from his men.
Over the years, as each of them had been laid low by various illnesses and injuries, Roy had made it a point to provide each of them with their 'necessities'. Cigarettes, books, games, junk food, magazines… whatever was considered contraband by hospital or Hawkeye was secreted in a less obtrusive gift and hand delivered to the injured party.
And now, it was finally time for payback.
The basket already contained a large assortment of fruit topside, a travel chess board peeking out from between two apples. He quickly shifted the fruit and games to his bed-tray, then lifted the false-bottom from the basket and grinned.
He unwrapped and popped a truffle in his mouth as he sorted through the stash, pleased with his subordinates' resourcefulness. They had really outdone themselves this time, both in the offering and how they had hidden it from Hawkeye.
Actually, correct that, she probably knew damn well what was in there. It was rare that anything got by her. Which was reinforced as he shifted the basket back to the side table, and noticed the stack of paperwork sitting on the chair next to it. With a pen perched conspicuously on top. His eye twitched.
A flash of red caught his eye, and he turned to his right. Of all the flowers, this was the only bouquet they had left. And if the drugs had not deceived him, Hawkeye had even winked at him as she placed it on the table next to him.
Tulips. Already they stood out for the sheer sake of being unique from all the roses that had littered the room. And red tulips at that, a cheerful shade, perhaps only a hair lighter than Fullmetal's coat. The thought of the smaller alchemist brought a faint frown to his face.
He was in Central, wasn't he? Roy thought back… he was supposed to meet with him yesterday, before he was shuffled over here by Riza. So why had he not been here with the others? Roy always visited him when he was in the hospital…
All right, so he tended to visit, make disparaging comments and was usually kicked out by the doctors before he could further damage the room and/or patient. Nitpicky details.
Anyway, why had he not reciprocated? Did he not care that his superior officer was in the hospital?
Granted, Edward most likely didn't realize that Roy thought of him as more than just a subordinate… And honestly, he probably thought Roy was still the womanizer all of Central reported him to be…
Hell, he seriously doubted that Ed realized he wasn't so interested in women anymore, and hadn't been since the day he discovered that his teasing of the smaller alchemist had morphed into something deeper, brighter…
Roy valiantly tried to convince himself that he didn't care in the slightest that the person he loved didn't give a flying fuck that he was hospital.
…
It didn't work. He blamed the damn painkillers.
He sighed, focusing on the flowers again. Red tulips? If memory served him correctly, someone was declaring their love for the Flame Alchemist. And it was someone that even Riza Hawkeye approved of, judging by the knowing smile she had worn as she had placed them beside his bed. So who on earth could win even her favor…
Roy pulled the bouquet closer, unconsciously sniffing the flowers as he fumbled with the small envelope. Only to choke, moments later, as he recognized the haphazard scrawl on the plain white card within…
Hurry the hell up and get out of the damned hospital, bastard!
'Get well soon,' in a classic Edwardian rendition. The much neater handwriting of Alphonse lay underneath.
Please forgive Brother for being… Brother. Get well soon, sir.
Alphonse.
Roy laughed, a true smile lighting his face. He wondered if he should convince Alphonse to give his brother lessons in penmanship. He'd probably find himself at the end of an automail blade for even thinking it.
Which, of course, made him want to suggest it all the more. Once he was out of here, of course. He didn't think the doctors would appreciate the potential damage such a suggestion would bring about…
His heart swelled with something suspiciously like hope. Did Edward even realize what red tulips stood for? Or was it mere coincidence? He'd have to play this one very carefully to find out…
The smile grew more devious; a smile that would've put Ed immediately on the defensive, as it signified Mustang at his absolute worst.
Roy knew exactly how to rig this game in his favor. It was only a matter of time…
End Notes: Yes, Ed will be in the hospital next. Because Roy needs his chance to be evil in return. So look for that next week, hopefully. This is my first FMA fic, after all. As well as my first Shonen-ai. So please, be gentle.