A Pen or a Sword?
By: Bar-Ohki
Disclaimer: Insert some good reason not to sue me here.
Recap: After the homunculi make an appearance, our faithful soldiers discover Jaxith's crush on Edward.
Other Stuff: I'm still feeling a bit icky. In good news I did well on my midterms. I've also been really excited about all the positive feedback I've been getting. Now we get to see what becomes of the scenario I left them in. Rules for the (self?) inserts have been re-posted at the end of this chapter. This is your last opportunity to hand them in.
Previously:
"Sorry?" Michel sounded meek.
"Why are you holding my sketchbook?" Jaxith asked, silencing the room with his presence.
Chapter 33: Painting a New Self-Portrait and Liking It
"Jaxith, I would like to speak to you alone." Roy announced after a long, tense silence. Quickly the other soldiers scuffled out into the main office, the sketchbook being left in Roy's hands. Jaxith rolled his eyes and walked into the back office, looking annoyed and bored. Both Edward and Michel frowned at this new behavior.
"Where is Alphonse?" Hawkeye asked, finding it strange that the younger Elric was missing.
"He went out for some alone time while Winry dragged me her errands." Edward answered dryly.
"Edward, you don't actually like boys, do you?" Winry asked him, her gaze cast downward. Edward didn't answer right away but he felt the gaze of everyone else in the room on him.
"It doesn't matter. I don't have the time for romance." Edward answered.
"You don't know then." Michel observed.
"I have other things in my life that are a lot more important!" Edward snapped.
"Like what?" Michel asked, glaring. "Because right now you're showing stunning emotional growth."
"Are you calling me 'small'?" Edward looked like he was about to slam his fist into Michel's face.
-In Roy's Office-
"Jaxith. I had a look at what's in here." Roy began throwing it open to the page with a naked picture of Edward.
"You have no right to be leafing through my things like they were newspapers." Jaxith growled.
"Why did you draw this?" Roy asked, sticking an accusing finger on the drawing.
"Because I liked the challenge of drawing a person without clothes on." Jaxith answered truthfully. "And Edward's scars are difficult."
"Why did you draw him pleasing himself?" Roy asked again, sounding completely serious.
"It was the only time I've seen him remotely close to naked?" To Jaxith the answer was obvious.
"Does he know you drew this?" Roy asked.
"Unless you showed it to him." Jaxith gave Roy a 'and you better not have' look.
"Jaxith, do you realize that this is a very… personal picture you've drawn?" Roy met Jaxith's eyes. When no answer was given, Roy chose to continue. "You should ask permission from the subject before you draw something like this again."
"Is that all?" Jaxith wanted to leave.
"You've drawn a lot of pictures of Edward in here." Roy commented casually. "It comes off as obsessive."
"He's a very difficult subject to draw." Jaxith answered defensively.
"And Alphonse's armor is not?" Roy argued. Jaxith didn't respond. "Looking at these makes me think you're interested in a romantic relationship with Edward."
"I'm not!" Jaxith yelled, his face flushing red. "That's an unnatural, disgusting thing to propose!"
"Master Sergeant Kain Fuery dates men." Roy remarked casually, catching Jaxith off-guard. "No one thinks him less of a person, nor do they worry about it."
"But ma said-" Jaxith protested.
"This isn't about what your mother thinks. This is about what you think, and much more importantly, feel." Roy leaned forward. "It is perfectly fine and acceptable for you to like boys."
"Do you like other men?" Jaxith asked, curious.
"I tried dating other men when I was younger," Roy admitted, blushing slightly, "but that's not how I swing."
"So the fact that I like Edward…it…it isn't bad?" Jaxith asked.
"The concept itself is not bad, but I doubt Edward would be a good choice of a first date." Roy rubbed his temples. "Edward has a lot of baggage and troubles of his own. He doesn't need romance added to the mix to complicate his life."
"But-" Jaxith protested again.
"It's entirely possible that Edward is only interested in girls." Roy reminded Jaxith. "It's a risk you take when dating people of the same gender, someone you are interested in could very well not be interested in you as anything less than just a friend."
"…I see." Jaxith was quiet again, depressed.
"I'm not going to discourage you from dating and learning about romance, I just don't think Edward's a good person to start off with. But if you really want to pursue him, I'm not going to stand in your way." Roy decided that making his opinions very clear was the best thing to do at this point. "Though, I would like to know who you are dating as a curiosity thing."
"Are you going to tell ma?" Jaxith bit his lip, anxious.
"Not unless you want me to." Roy smiled. "Once you've decided exactly what gender you prefer, though, she should be informed."
"How do I know when?" Jaxith wondered.
"One day you wake up and realize what kind of people you are attracted to. At least, that was the way it was for me." Roy nodded. "It's okay to like both boys and girls, too."
"Okay." Jaxith nodded. "Is any of the advice you've given me good on boys?"
"No clue." Both laughed afterwards, the tension braking.
"Oh and Jaxith," Roy caught the boy with his words just before he left, "I don't mind that you're acting more like yourself, but just warn me before you have a sudden change in behavior."
"Whatever." Jaxith rolled his eyes and left.
Roy sat in his chair and smiled wryly. Now he's acting like an unruly teenager. Still, don't we all at some point?
-With Everyone Else-
Jaxith walked into the room to see Edward holding Michel up against a wall by the collar of his shirt. Everyone in the room was nervous and tense.
"You wanna say that again?" Edward asked, clearly pissed and upset.
"You're an-" Michel began.
"Stop it, both of you!" Jaxith snapped, clearly pissed off himself. "You're both being immature, so just grow up and start tolerating the other." Edward dropped Michel and stalked off.
"I'll be back later." Edward remarked gruffly while leaving.
"I'm sorry." Winry bowed to Michel, then left and ran off after Edward.
"What did you say to him?" Jaxith demanded.
"He's immature?" Michel raised an eyebrow, slightly perturbed by Jaxith's behavior.
"And why did you keep on provoking him?" Jaxith hissed.
"Who shoved a stick up your ass?" Michel asked Jaxith, not amused. "And more importantly, why are you acting like this?"
"This is how I act." Jaxith glared at his friend.
"So everything you've done and said up 'til now has been a lie?" Michel asked.
"And?" Jaxith didn't seem to understand why that was important.
"This is just a big a lie, isn't it." Michel answered. "Your emotions are just as artificial as they were previously. I'll hang out with you when you're someone actually worth being around."
No one said anything when Michel turned on his heel and left. Jaxith sat down in one of the unoccupied chairs and looked out the window. Everyone went back to work. A little while later Roy came out of his office, coughed, and left, Jaxith getting up and following.
"I heard everything." Roy told his great-nephew when they got in the car. Jaxith made no move to respond.
"Do you want help?" Roy asked.
"What's the use?" Jaxith asked darkly. "I'm a major fuck-up."
"Only if you let yourself be one." Roy looked at Jaxith out of the corner of his eye. The boy was crying. After a short while Roy stopped the car.
"Get out." He told Jaxith.
"What!?" Jaxith jumped and stared.
"You need to get out here." Roy told him calmly. "I'm not always direct in the ways I go about doing things, but this is what you need to do next."
"So you're just trying to use fancy words to say you are abandoning me." Jaxith hissed.
"No," Roy shook his head, "I'm just teaching you a very important lesson. Be home by ten." Roy shoved Jaxith out of the car, startling the boy. He then shut the door and drove off. Jaxith glared at the car as it went away from his place on the pavement. He was not happy. Not in the least.
"What an ass!" Someone remarked from behind Jaxith. "Toss you out on the street like that! …Hey, you okay kid?"
"No." Jaxith answered, he was far from okay. The other person helped him to his feet. Once on his feet, Jaxith turned and had a good look at the person who helped him. He was brown haired, blue eyed, and very average looking.
"Do you want something to drink?" The man asked.
"…Sure." Jaxith didn't know this person, and at this point, he really didn't care. The man held out his arm to Jaxith, like a man would for a woman. Jaxith cocked his head to the side, confused.
"Just take it, they'll let you in without question if you do." The man explained quickly. Jaxith grabbed his arm and let the man lead him into a bar.
"Who's this little thing?" A gruff, big man asked at the door.
"My new companion, someone threw him out on the street!" The man with Jaxith spoke kind of in a feminine way.
"What a waste!" The gruff man shook his head. "Go on in."
The bar was full of men. They were all sitting in groups, talking and laughing in the way drunken people did. Several of the men were exchanging lust-filled looks with one another. Others were making out on the sides. Some were even pleasing each other under the tables, with their hands in the other's pants. Jaxith blinked once, not at all bothered with what he was looking at. He took about two steps before he realized that part of him was uncomfortable, making his pants tight and unpleasant to walk in.
"Enjoying yourself a little much?" The man chuckled, noticing Jaxith's predicament. Jaxith blushed, his great-uncle's explanation as to what was happening coming back to him. According to Roy, all this men loving men was 'turning him on'. The two reached the bar and the keep came over, an amused smirk on his face. Jaxith was staring at everything around him in childish wonder.
"What brings you in here?" The keep asked. Jaxith didn't hear him.
"He got thrown out on the street." The man explained. "Get him something to drink, I'm paying."
"I'm not serving alcohol to a minor." The keep gave the man a narrowed look.
"…What does beer taste like?" Jaxith asked the keep, having come to his senses- sort of.
"Umm…." The keep couldn't answer the question.
"Could I try some?" Jaxith requested.
"I don't want to get anyone in trouble." The keep was stern.
"I just want a sip." Jaxith pleaded.
"Why don't you give me a reason?" The keep challenged him.
"…I fucked up two of my best friendships, my uncle got mad and threw me out on the street and my parents back home probably think I'm unnatural and demented for liking other boys." Jaxith sighed.
"You know what. With all of that, you need whiskey kid, not a beer." The keep told him, and then proceeded to serve Jaxith a shot of whiskey. Jaxith looked at it, blinked once, then drank the entire thing in one gulp.
"Pa makes better moonshine." Jaxith grumbled, his Western accent returning.
"Ah, well, I don't have homemade. I got cider though." The keep smiled and passed Jaxith a cider.
A few hours passed, and by them Jaxith got himself completely intoxicated and wound up telling the man and keep everything that had been bothering him. Pains of being the subject of constant bullying when he was young, the constant disapproval and disappointment from his parents, the uncertainly in finding and maintaining his place at school, his issues with Edward and Michel. Jaxith's woes filled the bar, making everyone stop and listen.
"Tha's why I 'ate maself." Jaxith sobbed.
"No, you're just confused." The keep told the boy. "Everyone loves you and will forgive you in time."
"Yous sure?" Jaxith's words were a little slurred.
"Yes." The keep smiled. "Now, what's your uncle's number? I think it's time you went home."
"Ah can't remember." Jaxith admitted.
Luckily, Kain Fuery and his boyfriend walked into the bar around right around then.
"What the heck is the Colonel here for?" Fuery muttered, walking quickly over, only to find that the person in question was not Colonel Mustang but Jaxith.
"Ah…he doesn't look very military to me, Kain." Fuery's boyfriend commented.
"He's not, he's my commanding officer's nephew. The two look a lot alike." Fuery explained.
"You know him?" The keep asked. "Because he's wasted and needs a ride home."
"…You gave him alcohol?" Fuery lost his composure and his glasses got out of alignment.
"Hey, he was Western-" The keep began.
"That's no reason!" Fuery glared. "Hey, Jaxith?"
"Am Ah bad?" Jaxith asked slowly, looking upset.
"No, you're drunk. We're going home, okay?" Fuery looked the boy in the eye.
"Ahm liked 'ere." Jaxith mumbled, Fuery thought that might have been an attempt at protesting.
"Who's paying?" Fuery asked the people around him.
"I am." The man that brought Jaxith into the bar volunteered.
"Are you the one that snuck him in?" Fuery's boyfriend asked, not pleased with the situation.
"He looked like he needed it." The man answered. Fuery shook his head.
"You hold him, I'll call his uncle." Fuery ordered his boyfriend.
About 15 minutes later Roy Mustang walked into the bar and helped Fuery haul his drunk great-nephew into the car.
-The Next Morning-
Jaxith had the world's biggest headache. Every sound thumped through his brain, moving hurt and made him nauseous.
"Jaxith?" Roy asked in a quiet, hushed voice. Jaxith mumbled something on the lines of 'go the fuck away', but one can never be too sure.
"Here's some water and a bucket." Roy set the items down beside him. "I have some medicine that'll help when you're alive enough to crawl out of bed."
It was an hour before Roy saw his great-nephew enter the kitchen, looking like a wreck. Jaxith robotically took the medicine and food offered, glaring and cursing the light.
"How do you feel now?" Roy asked.
"Like a big piece of shit that just got walked on." Jaxith hissed.
"Emotionally?" Roy asked again.
"…Right." Jaxith answered after some thought.
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Jaxith got himself plastered! Yay! If you must know, Roy called Jaxith in sick and took the day off to nurse him.
Here's the rules for the inserts, and remember that this is the last chapter for them:
0- If you feel up to it, you could submit a female and male character for insert.
1- Could you please provide a physical description of the person? (Please keep the hair natural colors)
2- Could you please provide a mood that they are at the beginning of the interaction? (Examples: homesick, depressed, horny, etc.)
3- Could you please provide a disposition for your person? (Examples: happy, sad, out to kill the male race, etc.)
4- Could you please provide a quote you want the person to say? (Example: "I think that guy's hair looks like a palm tree!")
5- Remember that if you tell me anything that's 1910s era, I will either edit to fit the 1910s, or not include you at all.
6- Keep in mind your insert may be something mentioned in passing while there is a lull in the dancing. (Example: "I just finished dancing with this weird girl that kept on talking about bottle caps and skiing." or "Jaxith, did that red-haired girl bother you any? She seemed to have her hands on your butt the entire dance!")
7- I will insert at least one of your characters!
8- Your character may be given a costume and thrown into the Hallow's Eve Dance.
What I am using these inserts for is to gain more material for the dances. I have established these conditions so that I can be as creative as possible. I will PM you if your set up is unusable, so you can expect your insert to appear, no matter what in the next chapter. If for some reason you are missed, I will make sure you appear at the Hallow's Eve Dance.
Thank y'all,
Bar-Ohki