Sorry for the really long wait! I was just frustrated with stuff and decided to write chapters 8 and 9 too. So, I'll be posting three chapters all at once for your enjoyment! Yay!
..Part VII..
From water to wine
The large hall sparkled and was decorated rather nicely. A banner hung from the ceiling mentioning various things about how grand the military was. There was a long table off to the side where dishes of food and bowls of punch and wine were located. Many chairs and tables were all gathered in the center of the room facing towards to the stage. On the stage were the chairs and table for the Parliament to sit at. Everyone looked so dressed up, it was interesting see Hawkeye in a gown rather than a military uniform. Same with Lieutenant Ross.
"I still don't see why we're doing this…" Ed grumbled as we walked around in search of our name cards on one of the tables. "I mean, people get promoted all the time and they don't have big ceremonies."
I smiled to myself, "Well, it's also to celebrate the rising of Parliament. There won't be anymore Fuhrers and the military's going to be changing. I guess they just wanted a special event for that and decided to add in the promotions."
"Suck-ups." he groused.
"Brother!" I reprimanded, frowning at his sulky attitude.
Reverting back to our search, I couldn't help but notice several young women giggle and blush and look over at us. I blushed faintly, mostly at being noticed, until I saw that their gazes weren't on me. After all, who, in their right mind, would look at someone my age like that? No, they were fawning over my brother. I felt my face flame in jealousy, those girls didn't have any right to coo and giggle over my older brother. He probably wasn't interested in them anyway. Ignoring them, I linked my arm with Ed's and tugged him off in another direction. There were audible sounds of surprise and disappointment coming from them, but I didn't care.
"Al? What's with the rush?" Ed asked me, sounding a little confused as to why we were walking like this.
I shrugged, "I thought I saw our names over here. Sorry." I flashed him a sheepish smile, but I watched as he glanced over at the girls.
His brow creased, "C'mon, Al." he lead me in another direction so that we could look for our names without dealing with those stares.
"Okay, Brother." I nodded, following him into the crowd of people.
"Well, it must be hard for you to find your seat, seeing as you're so short…"
Ed bristled, spinning around and immediately opening his mouth to scream, "WHO'RE YOU CA- mmph!" I clapped my hand over his mouth, sighing heavily.
"Brother, you could try to behave… we're at a formal event, you know." I looked away from my brother and nodded to Roy, "Sorry, sir."
I could hear Ed mumbling against, "Traitor…" was one of the things I managed to catch.
The colonel, I mean, brigadier general smirked, "Not a problem. It's one of the best way to be entertained, after all."
I could feel Ed's face getting hot with anger. He was also breathing heavily and warming my hand it. I was afraid he'd bite my hand, but I didn't dare pull it away. Who knew what obscenities would fly from his unsparing mouth if I did? Besides, I had to keep a tight grip on him anyway so that he wouldn't jump and attack Roy.
"YOU MMPH MMM ER MA NERPH MRRMM MMM!" I had no idea.
"Well, Fullmetal, as much as I enjoy tormenting you, there was a purpose in me finding you two. We found your name cards." He finally got to the point of his whole appearance.
I smiled nervously, "Really? Where is it?"
Roy opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped short and stared somewhere off behind us. I blinked, trying to figure out what his was looking at while keeping my brother from pouncing. Then I heard it.
"ALPHONSE ELRIC!" both Ed and I tensed at the all too familiar voice we heard echoing in the hall, "AT LAST WE MEET IN THE FLESH!"
Suddenly, I felt my body being yanked up into the air and twisted into a very crushing embrace. If you could call it that. It felt like all the oxygen in me was being squeezed out. I kicked around to try and free myself, but nothing worked. Major Armstrong was just too strong.
"I see you have gotten your body back! How marvelous!" he continued booming, "The devotion and dedication between you two brothers is so inspiring! Never before have I seen such efforts so well rewarded! You must tell me of all the trials you've gone through!"
"M-major…!" I squeaked out, air was really a necessity. "C-can you… p-put… me down…? Please…!"
He carried on as if he hadn't heard me, though he probably hadn't anyway, "All the perils! The dangerous climax! Then the heartwarming conclusion-!"
"Major!"
"-the undeniable reunion! It touches the soul, truly it does!" Armstrong was teary and not relinquishing his strong grip that "has been passed down through the Armstrong family for generations in a most beautiful and graceful way" or something like that.
"Yo, major! Al can't breath, could you put him down?" Ed intervened, sounding annoyed and irritable still. Though I don't blame him.
I took in a deep breath as my feet met the floor, Armstrong had put me down, "Right. Sorry about that."
I nodded, rubbing my sore arms, "It's okay…"
Ed had crossed his arms across his chest, wrinkling the suit coat he was wearing, and was tapping his foot impatiently, "Mustang, hurry up and tell us where our damn seat are!"
"Brother!" I hissed at Ed, who had attracted the attention of several people in the vicinity.
"Calm down, Fullmetal. They're right over there." he made an exaggerated gesture towards the table that Hawkeye was sitting at. Her name card was next to Roy's card, which was next to Ed's, which was next to mine.
"NO WAY!" my brother clenched his hand into a fist, "There's no way I'm sitting at the same table as you, not to mention NEXT to you!"
Roy Mustang just smirked, "It's where your card is, Ed. I didn't have any control over where it was placed."
"Like hell you didn't." Ed growled.
He shrugged, "Well, if there's an empty seat at another table… you're free to take one of those."
"Gladly!"
"What a wonderful proposition, sir!" Armstrong cut in, "As it so happens, there are several emptied seats at the table I am occupying! You boys are welcome to join us!"
I blinked, then looked at Ed to see what he would say. My brother looked positively horrified. I had to bite lip to keep from bursting out in laughter. But I had to admit, sitting with Armstrong wasn't exactly my dream sitting place either. I would rather have a table for just me and Ed, no one else. Maybe we could hold hands and… stop it now. I wanted to dunk my head in the bowl of punch because my face was really hot again.
"Wh-what do you think, Brother?" I asked, trying to avoid looking at him while talking to him.
Ed groaned, "Why… why is fate against me!"
Yet again we received strange looks from the people around us.
"I hate you, Al." Ed was sulking, arms crossed and lips pouting. He looked so adorable.
Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! I wanted to bang my head into the table, Stop thinking about him like that! These are bad thoughts! I covered my entire face with one of the napkins I had. I'm supposed to be frustrated with him! Not thinking that he looks so cute with his lips pouted and looking so… no. No. No. He does not look cute. He looks like Ed. Ed. Is. Not. Cute. He's… oh, he's… I wasn't sure how much more I could take of this. Stupid hormones! It didn't help that I was a fifteen year old boy in an eleven year old body.
"Alphonse, are you alright?" Hawkeye was looking at me from across the table, hands folded neatly on her lap.
I removed the napkin I had pressed to my face, "Uh… y-yeah… I'm fine. I-I thought I was going to sneeze… that's all."
She arched an eyebrow, but didn't question any further. She suspects something… great. At least Brother didn't notice. I glanced over at Ed who was still grumbling about the injustices of being taunted by Roy.
"-and then I told the ant that he reminded me of one of my subordinates. Can you guess who, Fullmetal?" the colonel, brigadier general, had yet to stop his cracks on my brother's height.
Ed clenched his fist, "DAMMIT! Just shut up already!"
"Yes, sir. I believe that's enough." Hawkeye went for her handbag and Mustang froze. I'm guessing she hid one of her guns in there just in case.
Besides the four of us, Havoc, Breda, Fuery, and Falman were at the table as well. It was a circular table, and I was sitting between Ed and Fuery. All the tables were set up this way, all scattered throughout the decorated room. Well, except Parliament's. They had a long, rectangular table where they all sat on the same side facing out towards all of us. They were talking about something to one another, probably deciding if they should begin the ceremony or not.
A loud grumble came from beside me. I frowned and had my gaze trail over to Ed. He was still pouting and poking at his stomach. I tapped his shoulder to get his attention, but all I received was a look of annoyance.
"Brother, don't slouch like that. You look messy." I told him sternly.
Ed rolled his eyes, "You already got me in this damn suit, I'm gonna sit however I want to sit." his stomach growled again, "Aaal… I'm hungry…"
"You can get some food when it's time to eat." I replied, then thought about what he said again, "How can you be hungry? You ate an entire bowl of spaghetti before we came here!"
He thought about this for a minute, remaining silent for some time. Finally, his stomach grumbling broke the silence. "I'm huuuungry…"
I sighed heavily, giving up on figuring out my brother's odd, vortex of a stomach. Havoc chuckled as my efforts failed yet again. "Hey, chief, relax. The food will be here soon. Why not admire the ladies until then?"
I stiffened on impulse, receiving another probing look from Hawkeye. Ed glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes, then smirked, "Yeah, I think I will. Won't you, Al?"
I flushed again, blinking at the strange look he was now giving me. The first thought in my mind was Does he know! Oh my god… he knows and he's making fun of me… he hates me. I'm disgusting. Oh god, he knows! My hand instinctively clenched on the napkin I was holding still. Calm down… he doesn't know. Ed's oblivious. He can't possibly know… especially since I barely know…
AAAAAACKK!
I must've gotten a strange look on my face, because Fuery was looking with concern, "Are you okay?"
"Uhh… y-yeah…" I steadied myself by placing one hand to my temple and the other stayed clenched around my napkin. "I just… spaced out for a second. I'm fine."
"Alright. You look really pale though." he commented, I was thankful no one else was paying attention. Everyone except for Hawkeye, they were all gawking at women trying to find Havoc a girlfriend. Even Ed was… I guess he really was bored and hungry.
I frowned, reminding myself that he had every right to do this. After all, what I wanted was wrong. It wasn't natural… I was supposed to want a girl… or a guy not my brother, I guess. Yet here I was admiring how the lighting complimented my brother's complexion. Normal little brothers didn't do that. Staring at the table top instead, I drummed my fingers lightly to distract myself. Please let the stupid thing start soon! Please!
As if answering my silent pleas, one man from Parliament stood up and addressed us all. Our table got quiet, as did the ones around us. Everyone was listening attentively to the introduction speech, well… everyone except for me and Ed. He was too busy occupying himself by seeing how many times he could poke me before getting a reaction. I was too busy trying to keep my thoughts collected and my face from changing different shades of red. Even if he was just poking me… I liked the contact. Maybe a little too much.
"Brother, stop it." I hissed to him, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Ed pouted, "But I'm bored."
"Then listen to the speech!" I whispered back.
"But it's not even an important speech!"
I narrowed my eyes, swatting away his hand. I had a front to keep up. I needed him to believe that it was just like when we were kids and I'd get annoyed with him if he poked me. It also gave me an excuse to hold onto his wrist, which was almost like holding hands.
"How do you know it's not important if you don't listen?" I retorted.
"I-" Ed opened his mouth with a comeback, but was silenced by Hawkeye's glare. After that we sat in silence. Until Ed reached over to poke me with his other hand and I slapped it.
"…and now for the new colonels. Colonel Devin Carter." a pause for people to applause was given as some man walked up to the stage. "Colonel Hank Connor."
I smiled to myself, Finally! I get to see Brother go up there. We had already sat through the Parliament's whole introduction and their plans for a new and improved government system. More democratic, not focusing on one ruler so that a repeat of the Fuhrer Bradley incident did not occur again. Not so bad… but having to go through each major promotion and lieutenant colonels was a little annoying. My stomach was now harmonizing with Ed's, although I was more embarrassed about it than he was.
"Colonel Edward Elric."
"Finally." he muttered, rising from his chair to the sound of applause echoing in the room. I don't think he really cared though.
I beamed at him as he walked up to the stage. While we weren't too thrilled about him having to stay in the military, I couldn't help but be proud as I watched my big brother go up to a member of Parliament and accept the document stating that he was now a colonel and accepting a badge. I doubt he'd wear the badge, or even keep it, but that didn't matter. Just seeing him up there and being praised by everyone in the room. It might've just been me, but the applause for Ed seemed just a bit louder than anyone else's. While it went on, he stood up straight with a serious expression on his face. He looked so grown-up, as if he'd never be caught dead whining about his stomach or poking me. His features were defined in the lighting, his hair catching it and looking brighter. He looked so handsome, my heart skipped a beat when he took the document in a casual manner and lightly shook the man's hand. His nonchalance was clearly evident now, his serious expression had been mistaken for one of boredom. When he turned around to get off the platform, he faced towards our table. As he looked up, our eyes met for a second. I grinned at him through my blush, clapping as much as I could for him. I'm not sure what it was… but something about seeing me made him smile. A happy smile.
I don't know. That might just be the sap in me talking.
"Food! I can't tell you enough how happy I am to see you!" I was afraid Ed would start hugging his food. "Except for you, fruit punch! You taste like watery sugar! It's gross! But I love the food!"
Sitting down beside him with a full plate of food, I rolled my eyes, "Brother, please don't embarrass yourself." But he was right about the fruit punch.
"As if I care what those pompous assholes think! I finally get to eat!" If given the chance, he probably would've started laughing maniacally.
I sighed, "You're crazy…" turning my attention away from Ed, I looked over at Roy, "Congratulations, Brigadier General Mustang."
He nodded with a small smirk, "Thank you, Alphonse. Tell your pig headed brother that I offer him the same."
"What! So now you're calling me pig-headed!" Ed was momentarily distracted from his dinner.
"Hmm… you're right. That doesn't suit you. It's not just your head that resembles a pig." Roy chuckled, sipping his wine. "Relieved you don't look like your brother, right Alphonse?"
I sighed, knowing the explosion that was bound to come from Ed. "Uhh…"
"I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A PIG! AND I'M NOT SHORT!"
"No one said you were, chief." Havoc commented off-handedly.
"SHUT UP!" Ed turned to grab his glass so he could drink something, but somewhere during the conversation, Roy accidentally grabbed Ed's glass and left his own nearly full glass.
By the time I noticed whose glass he'd grabbed, it was too late. "Brother! Wait, that's-"
Ed downed an entire glass of red wine. He thought it had been the fruit punch.
The ride home wasn't pleasant for me. Sure, Roy and Ed were having a grand old time and Hawkeye wasn't having any problems. Havoc was also pretty happy, so he couldn't drive. I was stuck in between the drunk idiots having the grand old time. Hawkeye gave me an apologetic look in the rearview mirror, but I ignored her. Sulking was much better. Ed hiccupped beside me.
It wasn't just the fact that he was drunk that bothered me, that had been an accident. It was the fact that while he was drunk, he was awfully friendly with some people… I'm not saying that I was jealous or anything! I was just… extremely jealous… yeah. Another hiccup. I just didn't like the idea of my brother flirting with complete strangers! Or even the people I knew! I mean, he and Mustang had seemed to be having an interesting chat before Hawkeye turned scarlet and declared it was time to go home. I don't think I ever thanked her so much at once. Another hiccup.
"I swear… if you hiccup one more time, Ed…" I was twitching, the insufferable hiccupping was never-ending! As were the giggles…
"Al, you know what? Y-you know what? You know what, you know what?" he lurched forward, "You know what? Listen. Listen to me. Listen, listen. Listen to me. You know… Are you listening? Are-are you listening to me?"
Hiccup.
"That's it!" I fumed, leaning over my brother and opening the door to the car. Hawkeye stared at me and had the car come to an abrupt halt. I undid Ed's seatbelt and gave him a light shove out the door. "You're walking home now!"
"Alphonse…" Hawkeye sighed, turning around in her seat to face me, "Do you really think it's safe to let Edward wander around drunk?"
I scoffed, "He'll be fine. He's probably faking most of it."
"No, I meant for the civilians he might run into…"
"Oh…"
Hiccup. This time it was from Mustang.
"You know what? We're close to home, we'll walk the rest of the way. Thank you Lieutenant Hawkeye. Bye." I slid out of the car and hopped onto the pavement beside my face-planted brother. "Drive safely."
"Good night, Alphonse." Hawkeye smiled.
Havoc saluted, wiggling the cigarette in his mouth, "See you 'round, kid."
With that, I shut the car door and watched as the black military car sped away into the night. It was late, so I was a little more than anxious to get home. Especially since I was a supposed eleven year old toting my drunk older brother home. I sighed, kneeling down to hook Ed's flesh arm around my shoulders so I could help him walk steadily. He hiccupped again, but I chose to ignore it.
"Brother, your breath smells." I wrinkled my nose, trying not to gag or cough as we walked. "We're brushing your teeth when you get home."
Ed giggled, "You can't brush teeth! They have no hair!"
I blinked twice before casting him a strange look. It must be worse than I thought. I shivered, not liking how Ed was acting in this state of mind. The sooner he gets sober, the better. I wonder what would be worse to deal with… a drunk Brother or a hung over Brother? I shivered again, now I was really dreading the next twenty-four hours.
I felt Ed stumble beside me, so I paused to help him along. But he stopped me. I was going to ask him why, but then him leaned on me while trying to put his jacket on me.
"B-brother? What are you doing?" I tried to force most of his weight off me.
He smiled stupidly, "Al looksh cold… doesh Al need a ja-hic-ket?"
I found his expression amusing, even if I was trying my hardest to be annoyed with him, but he looked so cute like that, "No, Brother. I'm fine. You need your jacket."
"Nooooooo…" he whined, leaning on me again so I almost fell off the curb.
"Brother! You're heavy!" I protested, prying him off me once more.
This time, he latched onto my arm. His own body was sagging a little, but I did my best to help him along. He did manage to get his coat on me after some effort. This was probably as we entered out neighborhood. He hiccupped several more times. I was back to feeling annoyed again. Seriously, you can only take so much of someone hiccupping before it drives you insane! Or maybe the stench of Ed's breath was making me light-headed… it was pretty bad.
"We're almost home." I said tiredly, but relieved. It was more to myself than Ed.
"Yaaaay…!" he hiccupped again, trying to clap his hands.
I stumbled with him, "Ah, Brother! Shh! People are trying to sleep!"
"Shleeeepy time?" he looked at me with hazy eyes, "'S Al's shleepy time now. Go to bed."
I groaned, "I can't go to bed now, I have to get you home and taken care of."
"I can take care of mehshelf…" he protested weakly.
"Of course you can, Brother."
The neighborhood was pitch black, everyone was definitely asleep now. I wonder what time it is… My insides knotted up from nerves, but I had to focus on getting Ed home safely. Funny how I was still the more responsible one despite the age difference between our bodies. After a few more stumbles, we came to our street and could see our little house just within reach. Almost there! Just a little farther and then I can sleep! I yawned sleepily, Well, first I have to take care of Brother…
"Shee?" he slurred, looking exhausted now, "Al ish shleepy time…"
"Alright, Brother. Sleepy time is soon." I nodded, shifting our weight so I could get our house key out of his pants' pocket. He moaned softly when I did that, he was probably really tired now. All the sugar in the food he ate along with the alcohol probably made him crash.
I slipped the key into the lock, turning it from right to left so it could open. I pushed against the large, white-painted door so it would swing open. Quietly, I edged into the house while dragging Ed behind me. He was mumbling incoherent nonsense, so I let him continue while we headed for the bathroom. Stepping into the white-tiled room, I maneuvered Ed into the narrow space between the sink in the toilet. Taking the tube of toothpaste in my free hand, I attempted to squeeze some of the mint flavored gunk onto Ed's toothbrush. This ended up being more difficult than it needed to be. Since I was supporting Ed's weight with my right arm and my left hand was holding the tube of toothpaste, there was no way for me to steady the toothbrush. Every time I leaned in to put the toothpaste on it, the toothbrush would fall over. It was really frustrating.
"Brother, hold your toothbrush." I commanded, handing him the thin brush-like stick for teeth.
Clouded, golden eyes blinked in confusion, but he held the toothbrush anyway. It wasn't very steady, but it would have to work. I squeezed out a generous amount of toothpaste onto the brush, his breath definitely needed it. Setting the toothpaste down, I carefully took the toothbrush from Ed's hand. He could even stand up by himself, so I doubted that he could successfully brush his own teeth.
"Open your mouth, Brother." I coaxed gently, but immediately regretted it. Never never never let Ed drink again! I almost gagged on the smell. Why me!
Taking in a deep breath, I held it as I leaned in close and started to scrub at his teeth and tongue. Clean breath! Please get clean breath! Ed began squirming, clearly not liking this, and tried to say something. This resulted in him spitting toothpaste on my face.
"Gross! Brother! Why'd you do that!" I grimaced, grabbing a washcloth to wipe off the toothpaste. "You got it in my hair!"
Ed just stared at me with a mouth still full of the mint-flavored, frothy paste.
I sighed heavily, flopping onto my bed. I was still fully clothed, in a tux no less, with wet hair from sticking my head in the sink. Taking care of an intoxicated Ed wasn't fun. He's finally in bed now… it was so hard getting him dressed again… at least he was still wearing underwear this time… I was so exhausted, I didn't even feel the bed dip as more weight settled on it.
There was warm breath on my ear, "Al."
"Mmm…?" I opened my eyes and rolled onto my back, "B-brother…?"
Ed was positioned so the he was hovering over me, one arm was supporting him on one side of me and the other arm did the same on my other side. His knees were on either side as well, so he was straddling me. Our faces were really close, I could feel mine heating up while I stared at him. He licked his lips as he gazed at me and for a moment, it looked like he was really there and not just drunk.
"Al…" he breathed out; fresh, cool mint with only a hint of alcohol filled my senses.
I flushed darkly, "Y-yes? What do you need, Brother?"
"You…" I yelped as he lowered his body so it rested on top of mine, laying his head on my shoulder, "…so warm and pretty… my Al is pretty…"
My heart was hammering loudly in my chest, I felt something similar to joy at the way Ed spoke to me. He nuzzled his head into my neck, his breath tickling the hairs at the nape. His left hand trailed upwards to stroke my hair, his thumb caressing my cheek. I placed my right hand on his left, marveling at the roughness, yet tender touch, of his skin.
"My Al…" he murmured again, "My pretty baby brother…"
Suddenly, this perfect moment shattered.
Brother doesn't know what he's doing. He's drunk. He's only thinking of me as a little brother. He's drunk. He'll never say things like this again. Stop enjoying it! Why are you enjoying this! Stop! Stop! But I like hearing him say these things. But he doesn't mean them. He doesn't know what he's saying. He's drunk. He doesn't want this. I don't… I don't… I don't…
I do…
"Al?"
Tears streamed down my cheeks and a strangled sob worked it's way out of my throat. I shook my head, trying to stifle the sounds I was making. Ed pulled away, his hands groping at my face. He was trying to see what was wrong. Even if he was intoxicated, he was still acting concerned. I only started crying harder. I was such a bad little brother. Letting him do that… if he found out, he'd hate me. Or he'd hate himself for acting like that. I sobbing uncontrollably when Ed lowered his body back onto mine.
"Shh… s'kay Al. S'kay…" he mumbled drunken nothings to me, trying to comfort me but only making it worse. "Al… don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry."
He began placing sloppy kisses on my face, trying to make it better. All the while, coaxing me to stop crying in between kisses. I whimpered through my tears, hiccupping and coughing as I tried to calm myself down for him. Yet the thought was still there… I like it, he doesn't. You like it, he doesn't.
"I'm sorry!" I cried out, burying my face in his hair and tried to let everything calm down.
Stop it… Please…
