When Traveling
Thanks for the feedback: Lurkinshdws, cartoonwatcher31, winryrockbell2, FMA-lover16, Yimi Makuya, Lawrence Hazeltoe, Phantom 1, Tenka-chan, Kanatasha, Shadow Dreamer 27, Horcrexhexer,
Tenka-chan: Even though Roy tends to be physically demonstrative the story is not heading toward yaio. It's just that Roy spent several years dealing with Ed mentally being a small child so he got used to dealing with him on that level, as a small child who needed to be hugged or held for comfort.
Kanatasha: I only torture characters I love. Ed's taken a turn for the better at the moment I have no plans to subject him to further suffering. It's always good to have people takes turns going through the wringer or else they end up like Matt Murdock (suffering mental breakdowns on a regular schedule).
Phoenix Hoshika: About the homunculi dying too easily, Sloth and Envy's deaths were planned out before I saw the end of the arc about Greed. I was operating under the general theory that it would be sufficient to destroy them at a chemical level. Roy cremated Sloth, Ed pulled Scar's trick but rather than trying to inflict a fatal wound (what I think Scar generally does when he kills people) he wanted to completely destroy Envy.
Disclaimer: Characters and setting are the property of Hiromu Arakawa. I'm just borrowing them for a bit of non-profit angst.
"Up and at 'em Edo," Roy announced with a cheerfulness that sprung from sheer evil as he pulled the wonderful, warm, light blocking blankets off of Ed's recumbent body.
"Dad!" Ed whined reflexively as he tried to recapture both the bedding and his disturbed sleep. He blushed fiercely when he realized what he'd called Roy then decided that he could have meant it sarcastically because Roy was acting suspiciously parental again. It was okay to sarcastically call Mustang 'Dad' Ed reminded himself. It was just when that name; one he'd never considered using for anyone; slipped out by accident that it was a problem. Because Roy was not his father and since he was not crazy he didn't have weird memories where Roy was.
Roy didn't acknowledge Ed's slip of the tongue – well not really. Ed didn't believe that slightly wistful smile could have possibly had any relation to what he'd said. Roy didn't relinquish the blankets either, so Ed grudgingly got up and started to pack his bedroll so Roy could strike their tent.
Ed had never considered Roy Mustang to be the type to know anything about camping but on second thought he realized it was probably the sort of thing the military required a person to learn regardless of their preferences and Colonel Mustang wasn't just an Alchemist with a curtsey rank, he was career military. Or he had been. Ed shook his head Mustang not being a part of the military was almost stranger than the parental-vibe he'd developed.
Roy and Ed had been traveling together for a while; Ed was pretty sure it had been longer than a week but not more than a few months. The days tended to blend into one another and time only existed in a perpetual state of now. He was traveling with Roy now and thinking about the future or the past was a BAD IDEA. Now was morning and they were camping out again because the military monitored the railways and towns were few and far between in this area. So breakfast was going to be up to them and worrying about anything beyond breakfast was Roy's problem.
Ed located the matches and considered the oddity of the Flame Alchemist starting a fire like everyone else but Roy claimed that 'Using Alchemy for that sort of thing was flash and flash was for impressing rubes and superior officers. Besides ignition cloth wore out and he couldn't exactly requisition replacements now could he?' It wasn't entirely different from Ed's teacher's views on the subject. Ed couldn't decide if the thought of Roy Mustang and Izumi Curtis having something in common was scary or just unbelievable.
By the time Ed had a pot of oatmeal hung over the fire to heat Roy had stowed their gear back in the car. "Oatmeal again huh, Edo?" Roy remarked as he sauntered over. He tried to ruffle Ed's hair but the younger alchemist ducked and swatted his hand away irritably. "We'll have a place to stay tonight," Roy continued. "The least of what Granite owes me is hospitality."
Ed wondered why Roy never called him Fullmetal anymore. He wondered what had happened to his watch but he didn't ask because the answers were likely to be found outside of the safe envelop of Now.
"After this we'll head back East again," Roy said. "Make a stir, give everyone a reason to stay where I need them, then we'll turn south, scare up a few more of my old friends."
Ed hesitated, uncertain if he really wanted to ask, but he owed it to Al; he'd made a promise. "Any of them know something about the Philosopher's Stone?"
Roy stood up and stared at the horizon. Ed started to ask again. "No," Roy said. "They won't know anything about that."
"Then I… I should… I have to…" Ed shuttered. Roy had come and found him when he'd been trapped in a nightmare. Roy's presence made him feel safe and protected in a way he'd forgotten he could feel. Roy was the first person since his mother's death that Ed had allowed to take responsibility for fixing things. Auntie Pinako had tried but Ed had always clung to his own plan, his own hope for making things the way they had been. He knew he shouldn't depend on Roy, but knowing didn't change how he felt and he didn't want to leave. He couldn't neglect his quest but he was afraid to be alone. There was still something out there waiting for him to be unprotected.
"Edo, it's too dangerous right now." Roy objected. "If they get you back they'll hurt you. I can't protect you if you leave."
"You never protected me," Ed said knowing he was lying but saying it anyway because he was supposed to distrust and dislike Roy Mustang.
Roy had betrayed him. He'd come into Ed's life the night Ed ran out of hope, when he'd mutilated himself and all but destroyed his brother while failing to bring his mother back. That night he'd had nothing to fall back on and Roy had offered him a path forward, a way to undo the damage he'd done. That little spark carried Ed through the automail surgery and had gotten him to Central. Then Roy had given Ed a glimpse of the games he played. Ed had arrived in Central trusting Roy to give him the means to put things right again only to learn that Roy only held the possibility of those things. Nina's death and Roy coldly forcing him to face his own helplessness in the face of it had cemented Ed's understanding of what Roy had really offered him that night in Resembool.
That night Ed had heard the promise of certainties: He would be a State Alchemist. The National Library would hold the key to the Philosopher's Stone. Al's body would be restored. Staring at the bloody splatter on the wall which had been Nina and Alexander Ed came to understand the deal Roy had offered him: In exchange for the use of Ed's talents to advance Roy's goals Roy would create chances for Ed to forward his own goals: The opportunity for an eleven-year-old to take the licensing exam for State Alchemists. Access to the Nation Library and any answers it might hold. Clues and leads about the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. And a chance to restore Al if it were at all possible. Sometimes Ed could even admit to himself that the reason he had gotten angry at the Colonel so frequently was because he'd never gotten over the disappointment of realizing that despite what Roy had implied; had let him believe; in Resembool, Roy had never had the answers Ed needed so desperately. At least, he didn't remember getting over it, but he couldn't seem to find what had become of that anger and in spite of himself he couldn't seem to stop from trusting Roy yet again. That Ed truly couldn't understand, because there was hardly anyone whom he trusted and he certainly didn't trust someone who had already let him down.
Roy looked strickened. "I'm sorry. I tried. I tried to give you a safety net and still give you enough freedom to do the things I couldn't. But it wasn't enough when you needed it, I know that!" he exclaimed. "I'm trying to make it up to you but I can't if you leave and get yourself killed!"
"I didn't mean it," Ed said as his new and inexplicable trust in Roy got the better of the old anger he had been trying to stir up because he wasn't the only one who'd changed. Roy was more open or at least easier to read and easier to hurt and Ed didn't like hurting him.
"Ed you don't know what you're talking about so don't excuse my failures," Roy said almost harshly. Then, suddenly switching back to the parental tone he'd somehow picked up, Roy said. "Have you done the maintenance for your automail yet?" Roy's parental tone had a something in common with his command voice, but instead of making Ed want to do the exact opposite he found himself obeying, often without question.
Ed dug the small cleaning brushes and an oilcan out of his gear and started working on his automail feeling grateful for the distraction and the change of subject. He left his shoulder for last since it was an awkward joint to care for himself.
"Here," Roy said and took the brush out of Ed's hand. He turned Ed around and, with practiced ease, started cleaning the accumulated grime out of the joint. If Roy had asked Ed certainly would have said no, if it hadn't felt so relaxing to let someone else take care of him he would wondered how Roy could be familiar with what needed to be done.
Roy worked in silence for a time while Ed's anger and confusion fade away before he brought up the initial argument. "How would Al feel if you got yourself killed?" Roy asked seriously. "Right now it's too dangerous to go after the Stone. I'm not asking you to give up on finding it just wait until the Homunculi have been dealt with."
Ed slumped in defeat. "Alright, you win." He knew he shouldn't give in, not on this, but he didn't want to leave and Roy was right; Al wouldn't like him taking excessive risks.eHe
