Fun in the Sun
A/N: I couldn't help myself. My new adoptive parents have been bringing me with them and my new sisters to all the kite competitions and festivals they go to every year, and it's been really fun. Somewhere along the line I got the idea for this kite!fic, so here it is. And I apologize to all of you who actually fly kites if I get any information wrong; I know only the basics.
Disclaimer: I'd sell my soul to own FMA, but I already did a few months ago in order to buy a couple of DVDs.
Details: Well, it's an AU, set in our time. It's my first AU, so go easy on me, tear it apart, whatever you want. (Preferably the latter.)
I would like to thank Mint Pizza Queen for being my beta, and White Butterfly for giving me all sorts of info on kites, and I feel really guilty for not finding a place in this fic to put it.
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Three teenagers, a pair of brothers and their life-long friend, walked along the length of sand, each carrying various items of beach-going paraphernalia.
"Somebody remind me why we're doing this," Ed whined.
"Because," Winry sighed, "you've been working too hard lately, and, frankly, I'm surprised that you haven't starved to death yet. Al's told me how hard it is to get you to eat while you're working on equations for your AP-whatever class."
"It's AP Chemistry," Ed grumbled. "And for your information, I happen to take my schoolwork very seriously."
"It's true," Al said, turning to Winry. "I caught him trying to sneak his AP Chem textbook into his suitcase."
"Anyway, you know I don't really like the beach. The sand gets everywhere."
The blonde mastermind behind the trip smacked Ed with the tote bag she was carrying.
"Well, too bad for you. Al and I out-voted you. And besides, bean sprout, what kind of a vacation is going to the largest science museum for two hundred miles around?"
Ed mumbled something about not being smaller than a letter on a page in a book before hefting the parasol he held onto his shoulder. Grinning, Al bounced the beach ball off the back of Ed's head and caught it again before his older brother could slap it out into the surf.
Winry stopped a few moments later, declaring that this spot of sun-soaked sand that was absolutely identical to every other patch of sand was the perfect location. The older Elric jabbed the end of the parasol into the ground, sliding it open to shade Al, who was arranging beach mats around said umbrella.
Wanting a few minutes to himself, Ed kicked off his tennis shoes and started ambling along the water barefoot, letting the water nip playfully at his feet. He let his eyes go unfocused, taking in everything and nothing at the same time. Suddenly, a flash of color caught his eye. Glancing to his left, he spotted a raven-haired man wearing dark green shorts and a hooded beige t-shirt flying a kite, a look of concentration visible on his features.
At least, he thought it was a kite. It was not of the diamond-shaped variety that was common of young children. The kite he saw was shaped like an isosceles triangle, but the legs were curved slightly outward and the underside was arched sharply inward on both sides, with each arch meeting at a point in the middle that hung just above the end of the legs. Each section of fabric on either side of the midpoint cinched at the bottom to create triangle-like wings; the bottoms of each side section gathered into tips that sat farther back from the other three. The man had a handle in each hand, each of which was connected by string to each leg. He tugged on the left handle; the kite banked to the left. Kite-man pulled on the right handle; it flew to the right.
The next thing Ed saw was salt water, and lots of it. He sat up in the shallow waves, coughing and sputtering furiously. "Damn it, Al! What was that for?"
Alphonse was doubled over in laughter from where he stood, his hands on his knees. "Oh, come on, Brother," he laughed, "It's not a trip to the beach unless you go swimming with the fishes!"
Edward only glared. "Just help me up." He accepted Al's hand up, making a mental note to keep an eye out for him that weekend.
"But seriously, Brother," Alphonse said, "I saw you staring at that man over there. He's rather handsome, isn't he?" he asked, sending his older brother a sly look.
The blonde flushed slightly, his cheeks taking on a pinkish tinge. "I was watching him fly his kite," he insisted.
"Sure you were. I know all about your little secret," the younger of them said, poking the other in the arm. "You've never had a girlfriend, after all."
Ed swatted his brother's hand away. "I don't know what kind of crap Winry's been telling you," He pulled the red hair tie off the end of his braid and squeezed the excess water out of his hair before fanning it out across his back so it would dry faster. "But it's not true."
"Is that why you're blushing?"
"Shut up!" Edward yelled, turning an even deeper shade of red.
"Ah-ha, so it's true." Al grinned cheekily. "Go talk to him. You never know what might happen, Brother…"
"It's not true," Ed pouted, wringing out his t-shirt and avoiding Al's eyes. Nevertheless, he squared his shoulders and marched over to the kite-man. Forget Al and his silly ideas.
He padded over to the man, stopping just to the right of him. Now that he was a bit closer, he could see that the kite had patches of red, orange, and yellow, giving the illusion of flames in flight.
"Shouldn't you keep an eye on your friend?"
Edward blinked. "Huh?"
"Your friend over there." The man tilted his head in Al's direction. "I saw him push you into the water. Pretty funny, actually."
Great, Ed thought. He's laughing at me before I even say hello. He glanced over at his younger brother, who was busy flirting with a pretty brunette girl, her blonde friend looking on jealously. She wasn't the only one either: if Al's goal was to make Winry jealous, he was doing a fine job.
"Oh, him? That's my little brother, Al," Ed explained. "He thought it'd be funny to try and drown me on our first day here."
"Hey, you have to give him credit for trying. My name's Roy, by the way. Roy Mustang."
"I'm Edward Elric. I gotta say, that's a cool kite."
"Thanks. I've always been somewhat of a pyro, so when I saw this one I had to have it. If you don't mind me asking, what brings you out here?" Roy turned his head to the younger man, not wanting to seem completely rude. He noted the way Ed's wet shirt and shorts clung to his lithe body in a way that was very pleasing to the eye. He's… pretty, he thought. Though his friends knew him to be a lady-killer, Roy would go for anyone as long as the bait was tempting enough… and Ed was definitely tempting. Intoxicatingly so.
"Oh, y'know." Ed gave a small shrug. "Just taking a break from school."
"School, eh?" Roy tugged on the kite lines, gracefully landing it on the tips of the legs, and the kite rocked back to rest on the two points that were further back. "How old did you say you were?"
"Eighteen," Ed said, which was only a half-lie. He'd only be seventeen for another three months.
"Is that so?" Mustang asked, turning to fully face the blonde. "I'd think you were younger than that, considering your height and all." He smirked.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT THEIR HEIGHT HAS TO BE DETERMINED USING QUANTUM MECHANICS?"
Roy raised a slender eyebrow. "I said nothing of the sort."
Ed scowled. "You were thinking it."
"You shouldn't be so sensitive about your height," the black-haired man said, ruffling Ed's hair. "Hey, you want a quick lesson?" he asked, jerking his thumb towards the kite.
The blonde pondered for a moment. It didn't seem quite that hard. "All right, sure."
Roy passed the handles to him before walking behind him and laying his hands over Ed's smaller ones, pulling him into a sort of half-hug. Ed decided to test his luck by pressing his back against Roy's chest, grinning slightly when no protests were heard. "So, what do you do for a living, anyway?"
"Don't tell anyone, but I'm actually a colonel in the military. My friend Maes is the only one who knows that I like to fly kites in my spare time."
"No kidding," Ed looked over his shoulder at the man behind him. "I thought all military officers were fat and lazy?"
Roy smirked again, obviously pleased with himself. "Only if you want me to be," he said with a wink. "Now, what you want to do is take a step back while pulling hard on the handles. That'll get it up in the air." Ed did as he said, making sure to keep his arms bent as he had seen Roy do. "Good. Keep your arms like that; it'll give you more control. Pull on the left handle, that'll turn it left… great. Now turn it right… you're not half bad at this."
"They tell me I'm a genius," Ed said, only half-joking. All his teachers loved his powerful mind and his ability to learn anything twice as fast as his classmates.
"You mean, you're a nerd."
The blonde scowled.
The scowl didn't last long, however, when he felt a pair of lips against his ear and heard Mustang drawl, "I just so happen to find intelligence attractive," sending a pleasant thrill down his spine.
Time to make a move, the younger of them thought. "So, to take it up higher, what do I need to do, Roy?"
"Pull on both handles and walk backwards at the same time," Roy instructed.
"Like this?" Edward did as the man told him, but when he stepped back, he hooked his foot behind Roy's. Mustang fell backwards, unwittingly pulling Edward down on top of him.
"I'm so sorry!" Ed shrieked, letting go of the kite handles and shifting so that his knees were on either side of Roy's waist. "I didn't mean to do that," he lied.
"It's all right." Roy winced. "I think I landed on a rock or something, though. Hang on, let me get up." But Ed had no time to move before Roy flipped them both over, effectively straddling the teen's hips, a hand on each shoulder. "There, that's better, don't you think?" he asked, a slight predatory glint in his eye.
Ed fisted his hands in Roy's shirtfront. He wouldn't have been able to move away even if he wanted to. "That depends on what you're planning on doing."
"Oh, a little from column A, and a little from column B," Mustang purred, kite lesson completely forgotten. He sank lower onto the teen…
Ever…
So…
Slowly…
And then…
"ROY! I told Gracia that we'd meet her at the restaurant in half an hour and it'll take us twenty minutes to get there! Stop molesting that poor girl and pack up your stuff!"
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A GIRL?" Edward roared.
Roy let out a choice string of curses. "Damn it, Maes… He's a great guy and I couldn't ask for a better friend, but damn it… if I could snap my fingers and set him on fire I'd do it in a heartbeat." He reluctantly pushed himself off Edward, cursing Maes the whole time. Grabbing Ed's hand and dragging him to his feet, he asked, "So, how long are you staying here?"
"Only for the weekend, unfortunately," Ed told him, brushing the sand off his pants, suddenly too embarrassed to meet Roy's eyes.
"That so? I just might have to come back and give you another kite lesson. If you're up to it, that is."
Upon hearing this, Ed looked up in time to see Roy wink at him. "Of course I'm up for it. Think you can handle me, old man?"
Mustang smirked. "We'll just have to find out, won't we?"
"Roy! Hurry up; we're going to be late!"
"All right, I'm coming!" He turned to Edward. "So, can I expect to see you tomorrow?" Ed nodded; Roy went off to retrieve his kite and trotted over to where Maes was waiting impatiently for him.
Al, who had been keeping an eye on the two, sauntered up to Ed and asked, "Still hate the beach?"
Ed, preoccupied with staring after Roy, only said, "It's the best place in the world."