If Maes knew anything at all, it was that the people he worked with were good people. He ignored the whispers of murderer that trailed behind Roy when he flashed his watch in public. He ignored the hushed declamations of child labor, freak, nasty brat that clung to Edward's back like the Flamel he wore on his jacket. Good and bad had twisted up in his mind. They had died, curled up next to each other, and lost all meaning. Ever since the war it had been so hard to connect words to the people he smiled at every morning.
They smiled back. They were good folks.
The Elric brothers were hard working and brilliant and there was no one in Heaven or Hell who could stop them. Roy knew this well. He would yell back at Edward, throw as much force as he could into all the "do this"s and "don't do that"s and "I'm pretty sure that's against code, please don't do that, but you're going to do it anyway so be warned that it is against the law to die on my watch"s as he could but he'd crack at the tiniest things. Roy had gotten so much better at hiding his smile and Maes had gotten better at catching it. He'd shift his jaw slightly, jutting it out and contorting his face into an unpleasant smirk. Then his face would mellow out into what had become know as his characteristic blank stare. It struck fear into the very souls of all the new recruits. It made Maes shudder, then pushed him to smile wider and make more bad jokes.
Maes considered his sense of humor his best attribute and the strongest weapon he had ever handled. He had determined long ago that he did not want to live in a world where he could not smile. He could not rely on others to keep him moving and that had been the biggest blow to the boyish idealism of his early years in the military. There had been a month back in Ishval where Roy had not made a single joke. Maes pushed his thoughts away from this. Things were better now.
Edward's shouting bounced off the walls. Maes smiled, letting it pull him back into the comforting illusion of a consistent world. He drifted outside the doorway to Roy's office, prepared to invite the boys to dinner and a free night's rest in an honest to goodness loving home. They hadn't visited Resembool in ages and were overdue for some home cooking. He toyed with the idea of getting some nice meat and maybe a little broccoli on the walk home.
Edward burst from the doors with a huff, staring down at his watch. He shut it with a sharp snap and stuffed it away into his pocket. Alphonse followed on his heels, hunching over to make himself smaller. He reached a hand out to touch Edward's shoulder, but his brother had already vacated the space before his gauntlet could connect with the back of his coat.
"What's going on with you two? Staying in Central for the night? You should come to my place- it's no trouble, you're welcome. And it cuts out all the hassle with hotel rooms and Gracia's doing a stew tonight, I think so-" he pushed every morsel of hospitality into his intro and spoke as quickly as possible, so that there was no chance of denial.
"We've already got a place," Edward interrupted, crossing his arms and cocking his chin up to look at him.
"Well, if you're still around tomorrow-"
"We're out by mid-morning. New lead, you see," Edward continued to run over his hopes, a steel wheel crushing a stray rabbit against the cobblestone.
"Thanks so much, though, Mr. Hughes," Alphonse placated, his arms squeaking wildly as he waved them about. "We'll try to visit next time, promise."
"Good," he gave a curt nod. A grin spread across his lips as he snatched up his wallet from his coat. "Because as you can see, Eleisia is only getting cuter and cuter!"
Alphonse leaned over to get a closer look. Edward refused to hide his scowling. He treated them to the full spread, along with new anecdotes on his daughter's attempts at playing the piano. So young and already so good!
"I should bring my camera and get some pictures of you guys some time," he said thoughtlessly.
"I don't know…" Edward answered, probably at the lowest volume he had achieved that day.
"Well, you don't have to, but it's nice. Everyone should have family photos," Maes chirped, trying to salvage the mood. The mood was dead and somehow he was the one who had killed it.
"What do you think, Al?" Edward turned to his brother.
"We could give a copy to teacher," Alphonse teased, a nonexistent smile was formed with only his voice. When everything was over, Maes promised himself that he'd at least try to get this kid into theatre. He was cut out for it.
"We could," Edward snorted. He grinned mischieviously at his brother and turned back to Hughes, "We're in."
"Alright then, it's a date," Maes clapped. He stuffed his wallet back into his pocket and made sure to smile at each Elric boy in turn. "Next time I see you guys, for sure. Now, promise."
"Promise," the boys chorused, sounding oddly like schoolchildren.
"Now, I have to get back to doing 'real work' so," Maes cast a mock suspicious look over each shoulder before turning back to the brothers and concluding dramatically, "Until we meet again."
The brothers turned down one hallway and Maes the other. He whistled as he made his way back to his office. He knew that there was no way to make others happy forever, but he didn't think that really mattered. He'd gotten those kids to sound like kids and that was good enough work for one day.
Writer's woes: another year posting fma fic on 10/3! I'm not sure how I feel about this one but I think I like it much more than the one I wrote last year... I don't know guyyyyys.
[metallic eagle screech]