I don't FMA
Day 29: Clothes
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He knew she was waiting for him to complain about being sore from riding on the wooden bench since the morning before, but he refused to let her see even a single moment of his discomfort.
Instead, he stared out the window at the scenery flashing by, his body bouncing with the movement of the train. The jolting movements really didn't bother him so much now that he'd gone numb from the base of his spine to his thighs.
The sky was starting to go orange with the setting of the sun when the train started to slow.
He stood and stretched, his body swaying with the train's tempo.
Oliver arched her eyebrow at him.
"Bathroom," he explained, and then walked away.
Olivier smirked at his retreating back as the small wooden platform grew in the distance, its windows shining gold with the setting sun. She motioned for a worker who'd been helping an elderly couple get their bags off the over-head rack.
-:-:-:-
Buccaneer's eyes went wide with bewilderment when he found his commanding officers sitting on top of their stacked luggage outside the door of the bathroom.
"We're getting off here," she said matter-of-factly, standing as the door swung shut behind him.
"Central's another stop away," he pointed out, his tone cautious and surprised.
"We'll get a ride there in the morning."
"Your family'll probably be there waiting already."
"Another disastrous situation avoided."
Buccaneer fought the smile that tugged at his lips as he remembered her tale of their greeting from her first visit into town.
"Anyway, I told them I wouldn't be home for another two days," she admitted.
He chuckled, she narrowed her eyes at him, and he stopped.
"I know this great restaurant that people come from towns all around to eat at. I have a yearning for one of their steaks, but they have a dress code. Did you bring anything other than uniforms?" she asked as she grabbed her own suitcase and waited for him to get his.
"You said uniforms were all I'd need."
"I guess my brother will have to take you to find something appropriate to wear," she suggested through a smirk that made him want to cringe.
"Your brother?"
"Oh, did I forget to mention he's been helping rebuild the tunnel ahead?" she asked, her eyes large and innocent, quite a contrast from the smirk she'd been wearing moments before.
"I was able to call while you were in the restroom, and he'll meet us at the platform," she explained.
Buccaneer's face lost all color at her words. Her brother, the brother she always complained about, the one who stripped, the hugger, the cry-baby, the one person in her family he was not looking forward to meeting. He would actually have to spend time with him.
"You're evil," he hissed.
"I didn't become 'The Wall of Briggs' by being nice, did I?" she retorted, throwing him her best smile over her shoulder.
His shoulders slumped as the train rocked to a stop. They got off at the nearest exit, and he immediately spotted her brother towering over the small crowd of people greeting those they'd gotten off the train with.
He rolled his eyes at the sparkle that bounced off the nearly-bald man's head in the sinking sunlight.
"Livi, over here," Alex bellowed, waving furiously at the blonde in uniform he saw her in the crowd.
She frowned at him and he beamed.
As she moved closer, he saw the man behind her and his eyes narrowed. He knew she had to have a bodyguard, but was this brawny man any good, muscle didn't always mean power or strength.
Putting thoughts of this bodyguard out of his head he lunged forward through the crowd and spread his arms to engulf his sister in a hug, but the lights blinking on around the platform made her blade glint, and he let his arms fall to his sides.
"I told you it's General when I'm in uniform," she warned.
"This is First Lieutenant Buccaneer, he'll be the bodyguard Central required me to bring," she introduced, sidestepping so her brother could get a proper look at her subordinate.
She waited for him to try and crush the mustached man in a hug, but he never did. Instead, Alex stood there eyes sweeping over the man from mohawk to dark boots and back up again.
Upon seeing the alchemist sizing him up, Buccaneer extended his arm, waiting for the ridiculous man to shake his hand.
Alex took the extended hand, and was surprised to note the hand under the glove wasn't flesh and bone, but cool hard metal. "Automail," he murmured which resulted in a tighter grip, one that Alex returned, from the man.
"Well, I'll be waiting at the car," Olivier snapped.
"You're supposed to have a guard," Alex and Buccaneer argued in unison.
Olivier frowned as the two gaped at each other.
Alex nodded in approval and released the man.
Buccaneer made to grab the luggage, but Alex already had both his and Olivier's in his hands.
"Did you make all the arrangements?" Olivier demanded as Alex fell in step with her.
"Yes, a close comrade of mine, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, one of the men investigating the collapse, offered his services while we're away," Alex answered. "Oh, and I won't be making it to dinner with you, since we're returning to Central tomorrow. I have a few more places along the tunnel to check on before returning. I'll be checking tonight so that the inspectors will give me permission to leave on time," he explained.
"Hughes," Olivier repeated the name, it sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it.
"You've met him before. Dark hair, bright green eyes, glasses, a frie—"
"Friend of Mustang," she completed his sentence.
Alex missed the venom in her voice. "You remember!"
Olivier's long hair lifted to reveal her icy eye as she let out an aggravated sigh.
"Long time, no see, General," Hughes called as the trio came into view.
Olivier scowled at the grinning man leaning against the military-issue car.
He chuckled. "As friendly as ever, I see," he murmured. "And who's this?" he asked when he spotted the man as large as Alex.
"Lieutenant Buccaneer, my guard," she said in a cold tone that promised no friendly conversation would take place.
"Well, Lieutenant, you've got your hands full haven't you?" Hughes asked, opening the door for Olivier to get in the car.
Olivier ignored his gesture and pulled open the door to the front passenger seat.
"No," Buccaneer answered, easily sensing the dark thoughts his commanding officer was thinking about the smiling man.
"I'll drive," Alex announced, fearing he'd chosen the wrong man for the job.
Hughes shrugged and climbed into the car through the door he'd opened after Buccaneer got in.
As the engine started, Hughes turned to Buccaneer. "Buccaneer, right? You're the one they sent the automail engineer for."
Buccaneer was startled by the man's knowledge, and his face must have shown it. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, I work in the intelligence and investigations department," he explained, as he made the introduction that had been skipped earlier.
"So, does it still hurt?" he asked.
Buccaneer shot a glance at the back of Olivier's head. "I'm used to it," he replied.
"I heard the recovery takes a while. Have you heard of the Fullmetal Alchemist?"
He shook his head, his braid swaying with the movement.
"Really, that slow on news up there?" Hughes mused. "He's got an automail arm and leg."
Buccaneer grimaced thinking of having double the pain.
"Yeah, arms probably not as hard to get used to as a leg, you don't have to have your weight on it all the time, but I heard the recovery usually takes a while," Hughes rambled.
"Yeah, well, we're pushed to our limits every day up there. We don't have the luxury of long recoveries," Buccaneer countered.
Hughes looked over to Olivier and laughed. "Oh, I believe you. I'm sure it hurts like hell, though."
Buccaneer nodded.
"You know, he even wears his hair braided, too," Hughes commented. "Must be awkward to braid with a metal hand. I'd think it would get caught in your fingers, or something."
Buccaneer silently wondered if this man knew how to stop talking. "Not if you wear gloves," he said.
"But then you don't have any grip and the hair would slip out of your fingers," Hughes went on.
Buccaneer groaned and found Olivier's eyes in the side mirror, silently pleading for her to shut the man up.
Hughes' eyes lit up and he nudged the big man. "I bet she knows how to braid hair," he said in a whisper.
Buccaneer's face heated and he turned to look out the window. "I wouldn't know," he muttered.
"I did when I was younger, but I wouldn't remember now," Olivier growled, turning around in her seat to glare daggers at Hughes. "Now, would you just shut up, or do I have I order you to?"
Hughes shrugged. "Want to see pictures of my wife?" he offered, reaching into his jacket.
"No!" Olivier roared and turned back around.
"Oh, look, the hotel!" Alex boomed.
Buccaneer heaved a sigh of relief.
As Alex pulled to the curb outside the hotel and put the car into park Olivier got out. "I can check us in on my own. I'm hungry, so don't take too long," she ordered.
Hughes scrambled out of the car with the spare keys and opened the trunk. As he was reaching for the suitcases, she grabbed them and slammed the trunk. He narrowly avoided getting his fingers stuck as it closed.
"Later, Livi," Alex bellowed as he pulled away.
"This'll be fun," Hughes murmured under his breath as he followed Olivier into the hotel doors that the usher opened for them.
He stood back while she checked in and silently followed her to the elevator. He marveled at the fact that someone was actually paid to push the buttons in the elevator.
"It's probably not all he does," Olivier remarked.
Hughes looked at the redheaded young man, eagerly awaiting his answer. "I was just hired yesterday, haven't been trained anywhere else," he said, and Hughes grinned
Olivier shot him a glare as the elevator doors opened.
"I'll see you in a couple hours," Hughes told the redhead as the doors slid closed.
He had to run to catch up with Olivier, and even then, had to stick his foot in the door before it closed.
She growled as he softly closed the door behind himself.
"This'll go well as long as you keep quiet," she threatened.
"What are you going to do, slice me up and get yourself arrested?" he mocked as he took a seat in one of the armchairs surrounding a small table.
"I'll report you for insubordination."
"I'll fight it and make things a pain in the ass for you, remember I'm in intelligence and investigations, I know how to do that," he countered.
Hughes smiled in triumph as she twirled around and made her way to the bathroom. "I'll be getting ready for dinner, do as you please."
He studied the room in silence. When his eyes fell on the two full sized beds situated a few feet from each other, a grin lit his face.
-:-:-:-
"How long have you been at Briggs?" Alex asked as they wandered into a clothing shop he knew well.
"Just over six years, fresh from the academy."
"Right after Livi got there, but only six years, what did you do before?"
"I helped with the family business, but I didn't want to work the mines all my life, hated spending most my days underground," he explained, wondering if he was seeing the same Alex that Olivier had complained about.
"How can I help you, Mr. Armstrong?" a small woman dressed in a dark green skirt suit asked as she approached them.
"My friend, Bucky, needs some formal wear for the night," Alex explained.
Buccaneer took back his last thought. "Buccaneer," he corrected, holding back a shudder at the nickname Alex had given him.
"Right, Sir. Right this way. We always keep things on hand for when Mr. Armstrong stops by," she said as she led them to the back.
"Oh, that purple one," Alex suggested.
"Do you have anything in black or blue?" Buccaneer asked, frowning at the bright purple shirt Alex had grabbed.
The woman pulled a marine blue, long-sleeved button-up from the rack. He nodded.
"You should let us tailor a pair of the pants to better fit you," she suggested when he came out of the dressing room.
"How long will that take?" Alex asked, looking to the clock on the wall.
"Mr. Stanley is here, so it shouldn't take longer than a half-hour," she speculated as she walked around Buccaneer to see how much work the pants needed.
"Did someone call me?" and man with a head full of gray hair and lightly-wrinkled face asked as he approached them.
"We'll be needing a quick tailoring," the woman answered.
"Mr. Armstrong, and who is this fellow with you?" Mr. Stanley greeted.
"Lieutenant Buccaneer from Briggs, Mr. Stanley" Alex introduced the two.
"Briggs? Is your lovely sister here, too?" the old man asked.
"Livi's waiting on Bucky so they can go to dinner," he explained.
"Buccaneer," he corrected, again.
"Oh, a date. The pants don't need much of an alteration, and the jacket fits well. Eh, it could do with some taking in at the back. You're build is quite similar to Alex's, Bucky."
"Buccaneer."
"That's what I said. I'll need to stick a few pins in, so hold still," the man warned. He pulled open a drawer from the counter holding ties and produced a something that looked like a small duck with pins sticking out of it.
In moments, Buccaneer sat in the dressing room with only his boxers and the blue shirt on while he waited for the pants and jacket to be altered.
"So, it's a date?" Alex asked.
"I never said that. Didn't she invite you, too?" Buccaneer reminded him through the curtain.
Alex had been so surprised when Olivier had asked him to join them for dinner over the phone that he'd forgotten that he wasn't going because he had work to do, not because she hadn't invited him.
"Well, now it is," he said after a moment of silence. "What are your intentions with my sister?" he demanded.
"I'm her subordinate, her guard, nothing more," Buccaneer grumbled.
Alex mumbled an unconvinced apology. His sister usually would have laughed at someone being harassed by Hughes, as long as it wasn't her the man's questions were directed at she never paid him heed.
-:-:-:-
Hughes looked up as the bathroom door opened, emitting a cloud of steam as Olivier marched into the room in a big shirt and loose fitting pants, her hair wrapped in a towel.
"I thought there was a dress code for the restaurant," he said.
"There is," she barked.
He watched her as she looked from him to where her suitcase rested on one of the beds.
Olivier whirled around on him when she saw the two beds had been pushed together.
"What in the name o—"
"What? You told me to do as I please, and I thought I might as well make myself useful," he said and winked at her.
"You! You better put them back the way they were," she roared.
"It'll be more work for you two later, but fine," he complied.
"He's just a subordinate," she defended as she closed herself back in the bathroom.
"I've heard that one before," Hughes muttered to himself as he walked over to the beds.
-:-:-:-
"Finally," Hughes muttered as a knock sounded the on the door.
"We're here," Alex called through the door.
"I can see that," Hughes said as he pulled away from the peep hole and unlocked the door.
"Well, don't you look sharp," Hughes complimented as Buccaneer entered the room followed by Alex.
"They even put a matching bow on his braid," Alex pointed out.
"It finishes off the look well," Hughes observed.
"They didn't have to, it was already blue," Buccaneer complained.
"But not the same blue," Alex protested.
"Good, you're here," Olivier said as she opened the bathroom door.
"Livi, you look beautiful," Alex complimented.
"Thanks," she said off-handedly.
"Aww, you two match," Hughes pointed out as he saw the marine blue scoop neck she wore with cream colored dress pants and a fitted jacket of the same color.
Olivier rolled her eyes. "Coincidence."
Hughes drove this time, his eyes looking to the pair in the rear-view mirror as much as they looked at the road. The short drive was silent except for Alex apologizing for having to miss out on the great meal.
"Do you want us to send a car back?" Alex asked as his sister and Buccaneer got out of the car in front of Chez Tomas.
"It isn't far, we can walk back," Olivier declined.
"You better take care of her, Bucky, anyone can be on the streets," Alex told him.
"Remember, I'm not helpless," Olivier growled, patting the sword at her side.
"See you in the morning," Alex called as Hughes pulled the car away from the curb.
"Bucky?" Olivier asked a brow raised at Buccaneer.
"Livi?" he retorted.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Just because he gets away with it, it doesn't mean you can," she threatened.
He laughed, and she gave him a worried look. "C'mon, I'm hungry," she ordered, leaving him standing on the sidewalk.
He followed her into the restaurant where the hostess immediately led them to a small candle-lit table.
"Was your brother supposed to be punishment?" he asked as the waiter produced a bottle of wine.
"What's this?" Olivier asked, ignoring his question.
"This is the finest wine in the house, it's complimentary for the Armstrong family," he explained.
Olivier nodded, watching as the deep red, almost purple, Cabernet filled her wineglass.
"Was it?" Buccaneer asked again when the waiter left.
"Did it seem like it?" she asked as she lifted the wineglass to her face and took in the smell of what seemed like dark licorice and plum.
"He's not that bad," Buccaneer answered.
"Traitor," she declared.
He shrugged. "He's right though, you do look beautiful tonight."
"I thought you learned long ago that flattery will get you nowhere."
"Eh, I figured I could try."
"Maybe I should have my sister put you at the same table as Hughes for the reception," she suggested.
"I'd rather lose the other arm," he admitted.
"I can arrange that," she teased.
-:-:-:-
"We're going the wrong way," Alex pointed out.
"I left some of my pictures of Gracia in their hotel room. I want to get them back in one piece," Hughes explained.
Alex nodded, knowing his sister, he didn't object.
"I'll only be a moment, why don't you wait here," Hughes suggested as he stopped the car.
Alex didn't mind, it had been a long day, and he still had to make some last minute repairs when they returned.
"How's the button pushing going?" Hughes asked the redhead.
"Eh, it's a job," he replied halfheartedly.
"Hold the elevator, I'll only be a moment."
The redhead nodded, and eyed Hughes curiously when he returned with a satisfied grin on his face.
"If that blond asks, I was never here," he said, holding out a handful of cash to the young man.
He nodded and accepted the money.
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A.N. - This turned out a lot longer than I thought it would...and Hughes made an unexpected appearance! Don't you love him? Thanks for reading! Edited a few chapters for some inconsistencies. A quick note: Mustang and co were in Central on business. This is set while he is still stationed in Eastern, sometime between when Ed was made a State Alchemist and before Elysia was born.
Thanks for reviewing: Falling Knight, Sonar, Legendary Chimera, Dailenna, Smiling Cat, Firing Rockets on Dragons, Griselds Banks, Tammertime, Bar-Ohki, WhiteKnight, WhiteLadyoftheRing, Ruingaraf, Chaotic Lullaby, YourFavouitePlushie, Bizzy, Yun Min, MoonStarDutchess, Olmos, Crystal Mage, InuJoey, The Flaming Bitch Alchemist, and Kookith!
