Hi guys! Real quick, I probably won't be publishing chapters everyday. School has started back up after Thanksgiving break so...yeah. I probably won't have time to update everyday, with school and everything. I'll try my best though! Anyways, this is a suggestion by Guest (Nov. 21). Enjoy!
Summary: The Elric brothers take a break from studying while Team Mustang take a break from paperwork.
Idea Came From: Guest (Nov. 21) who suggested it
Timeline: Mustang is still in East Command
Rated: K+
Notes: review replies at the end
Story 18: Water Fight
The sky is a beautiful bright blue with pure white, fluffy clouds lazily floating by as the warn Summer breeze slowly pulls them along. The air in the city smells strongly of freshly baked pies, bread, cakes, all of the goodies. This makes Edward's stomach growl as he sits at the hotel desk by the open window, pen held in hand.
"Brother?" Al asks, sitting up from the couch. His hair is slightly messy, but other than that, he looks presentable. Edward, on the other hand, doesn't.
Edward is currently wearing his signature black tank top and light blue boxers, his hair tied back in a messy pony tail, which is currently trying to fall out of the hair tie.
"Hm?" Ed hums as he glances at his brother before going back to writing his notes. Coded, obviously.
"I was thinking, maybe we should take a break?" Al suggests awkwardly as he stands and walks over to the window. "It's such a nice day, it would be a shame to be cooped up for all of it."
Ed sighs and turns in his chair to look at Alphonse. "Al, you know that I hate doing nothing."
"You're such a workaholic," Al chuckles as he smiles at his brother. "Please? Just a little walk in the park. Then we can come back and start working, maybe stop at a cafe on the way back."
"Fine, whatever. Have it your way." Ed grumbles under his breath as he stands from the chair. "But only if I get food out of the deal."
Roy Mustang sits, slumped in his chair with a stack of papers sitting in front of him on his desk. He can see Riza staring at him, displeased with the fact that he isn't doing the work.
"Sir, please get back to work," Riza says calmly as if lightly scolding a child or a dog. "You've been slacking off all day."
"Can't I take a break?" Roy asks with a groan of annoyance. "It's a nice day! Can't I have the rest of it off?"
"I'll have to agree with the boss on this one," Havoc says, tapping his finger against his cigarette. The burnt end falls into the ashtray set on his desk. "My hand is killing me! Besides, I was planning on taking my girlfriend-"
What girlfriend? Didn't Mustang woo the most recent one?" Breda asks, looking up at Havoc. Fuery tries not to chuckle.
"That's so mean! Why do you guys always pick on me?" Havoc whines. Breda rolls his eyes while Roy chuckles.
"Hawkeye, at least let us have a break?" Roy asks, looking back to his Lieutenant who only sighs, shaking her head.
"Alright. But just for a little bit."
Edward and Alphonse walk comfortably side by side, occasionally commenting on something like a bird or a cloud. They expected everything to be nice and quiet like this. What they didn't expect to see is Team Mustang sitting on a black and white checkered blanket, each of them eating food off of paper plates with plastic forks.
"Um, what are you guys doing here?" They ask as they approach the group. They all look up, surprise shining in their own eyes at seeing the brothers.
"We could ask the same thing," Mustang comments as he raises an eyebrow at them. "Why are you boys at the park? Didn't you want to study or something?"
"Well, Al wanted to get out for a while," Ed replies, shooting a look at Alphonse who only chuckles sheepishly. "What about you?"
"We're taking a break from work," Breda answers as he takes a bite into a sandwich. Ed feels his stomach twist with hunger and he inwardly groans.
"Can we have some? We haven't exactly eaten anything today." Al asks, seeming to read the question from Edward's mind. He gives a knowing look at his brother before looking back at the group.
"Sure, sure, there's plenty," Mustang says as the group moves over to give the boys room to sit on the blanket. Edward quickly grabs a paper plate and stacks his plate full of food while Alphonse rolls his eyes, getting a smaller portion than his brother. Though, it's still a lot of food. Not so much as to be surprising, but definitely enough to fill someone up.
"Jesus, Ed, we forgot how much you eat." Havoc chuckles as he lights a cigarette. Edward only glares at him, cheeks stuffed with food as he chews. "Don't worry, we've all had our fair share of food anyways."
"I wasn't worried."
"Brother, don't talk with your mouth full." Al sighs, shaking his head before he takes his own bite of food.
They sit like that, eating and talking and telling jokes for about an hour, give or take. Of course, Hawkeye isn't happy, but she allows them to have their fun. Edward is sure that deep down she is amused.
"I'm bored," Havoc complains after a while as he leans back. "I don't have anything to do, seeing as Mustang stole my girl. Again."
"You're so childish sometimes, Havoc. Even Edward is better than you." Breda comments.
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A TINY LITTLE PIPSQUEAK!?"
"Brother, no one said that."
"Well," Mustang says as he digs into a navy blue bag sitting beside him. He pulls out a magnitude of water guns, some extreme while some are just regular ol' water guns. "I brought these."
"Where-where did you get water guns?" Edward asks, eyes wide with surprise. Alphonse chuckles at his reaction while the others all stare with curiosity.
"I have my ways," Roy replies smoothly as he spreads them out. "Now, take your pick. There's enough for all of us to each have one."
Without warning, everyone shoots forwards; even Riza joins in this time. They scramble to get the water guns they want. Soon nothing is left behind and everyone is holding their own respective water gun.
Riza, of course, has the better one out of them all. It resembles that of an M4. The colors are green and orange with a hint of yellow and gray. A flexible plastic tube connects to the back, the tube connecting to a double water tank backpack, though there isn't any water in the tanks.
Roy is holding not the best, but it isn't the worst either. It resembles an IDF16 with the main colors being blue and white, orange being the accents. Havoc has one that looks like a riffle, completely colored yellow with a dash of green here and there. Breda has one that resembles a pistol, except there are two water tanks on the top of the water gun, stacked on top of one another. The gun is colored orange while the tanks are yellow. Both Falman and Fuery have the puny little water guns that barely hold any water at all, and barely work at all. Falman has a green one while Fuery has a yellow one.
Edward has a bulky white water gun with a black strap thrown over his head and arm to help hold it up. There is a large water tank at the back of the water gun, strapped on by a plastic case. The muzzle of the water gun can twist for a small shot of water, a large shot of water, or multiple shots of water at once. It is an intense red color, the water tank colored white.
Alphonse is holding a sleeker, longer water gun. There is a smaller water tank built into the gun towards the back of the gun. There is a button on the side of the grip which would release the water into the gun from the tank. The gun is white and blue.
"This is nice and all, but where are we going to be getting water?" Breda asks as he investigates his gun.
"Seriously?" Falman groans as he rotates the water gun in his hand, a dissatisfied frown on his face. Fuery looks just as miserable but doesn't say anything about it.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of it." Ed says as he knees down to the ground, gun hanging from the black strap. He claps his hand and touches the ground, alchemic light crackling through the air as stones rise up from the ground in the form of a well. Alphonse claps his own hands and presses them against the ground. Water quickly rises up in the well from deep in the ground.
"Huh, didn't know they could do that." Havoc shrugs as they all walk over to the fresh water to fill their guns.
"It's a neat trick to know, especially out in the desert," Ed comments casually as if it's a normal occurrence to end up out in the desert with no water. Though, coming from the Elric brothers, that probably isn't too far of a stretch.
Once everyone has their water guns filled and ready to go, they all spread out and make a circle, facing one another. Mustang stands in the middle, giving out directions.
"We will be in groups of two. You can pick your partner. Once you have your partner picked out, spread out. Anything is fair game as cover, except for alchemy, which is strictly prohibited. Any sign or use of alchemy will result in the player being kicked from the game."
"You're just mad that you can't use flame alchemy in a water fight," Edward calls out, earning a glare from Roy.
"That comment was directed towards you, Fullmetal. Now, everyone find your partner and spread out!"
"Everyone ready?" Roy shouts a few minutes after everyone had partnered up. Edward is partners with Alphonse, of course. Breda with Fuery, Falman with Havoc, and Riza with Roy.
"Yeah!"
"Then...go!"
Everyone instantly reacts to the call. They jump into action, shooting water at one another in an attempt to come out as the victor. They dive and duck under cover as water is shot in their general direction.
To the outside eye, the battle would look ridiculous. Skilled fighters all shooting at one another with water guns. But to Team Mustang? It is practically an all-out battle, no one willing to lose to the other in their attempts at winning. And, of course, they all have their specific targets in mind.
Fuery and Falman are the first to go, seeing as they have the weaker guns and aren't as skilled in the field as the others. Then next is Breda who is taken out by Havoc. Then Havoc, who is taken out by Riza as he got too caught up in the moment and dropped his guard.
All that leaves is Roy, Hawkeye, and the Elric brothers. They each hide behind a tree, neither willing to make a move just yet.
"I'm running low on water," Al states as he pants, checking his water supply.
"Me too," Ed replies as he peaks out from behind the tree. He glances at the well before quickly pulling his head back behind the tree as Riza shoots a stream of water at him.
"How do we get out of this one?" Al chuckles as he looks at the others watching intently from the sidelines. Breda is snacking on a bag of popcorn from who knows where, Havoc is leaning forwards, anxious to see where the battle will go. Fuery and Falman are moping in the background.
"I say we run for the well and hide behind it. We get more water and then charge their tree," Edward says, determination burning in his eyes.
"You sure? Hawkeye's pretty good...not to mention the colonel is backing her up." Al says, sounding unsure as he subconsciously bites his lip.
"We're fast enough to avoid the water."
"I don't know..."
"It'll be fine!" Ed chuckles, patting Alphonse on the shoulder. "I'll avenge you if you get hit."
"Fine. But don't think I'll avenge you."
"Hey!"
"I'm kidding!" Al chuckles at the playful betrayal on Ed's face. "Now, let's go."
"Right."
The two brothers quickly run out from behind the tree, shouting to throw off Roy and Riza. It momentarily does, but the two quickly snap out of their surprise and instantly start shooting at the boys. The brothers, of course, quickly dodge the water left and right, jumping and ducking, and even dropping down and rolling.
That is until a stream of water hits Alphonse in the shoulder.
"Al!" Ed shouts as he quickly presses his back against the stone well. "We were almost there! What happened?"
"I didn't see Hawkeye," Al replies with a shrug and then smiles. "I'm counting on you, brother. Take them down for me!"
"You got it, Al."
Ed quickly rises up and sweeps the water tank in the water, pulling his hand back when a shot of water is directed at him. He quickly screws on the cap of the bottle and loads his gun once more, slightly shaking the gun so the water can run through the gun again. He then sighs and peaks out over the top of the well, studying Roy and Riza.
'They'll run out of water soon.' Ed thinks with a smirk. He quickly stands and makes a run for it, though he doesn't head back towards the tree. In fact, he quickly makes a wide circle behind the well, making sure to keep within safe distance of cover at all times. Riza and Roy shoot and miss each time, causing Edward to laugh like he's gone insane.
"What the hell is he doing?" Breda grunts as he chews on another handful of popcorn from a new bag he had just opened.
"He's getting them to waste their water," Al answers and then looks down at the sitting man. "Um...where did you get that? It's your second bag and I didn't see any popcorn in the picknick basket."
"...I have my ways."
Soon enough Roy and Riza both run out of water, Roy sooner than Riza. It is safe to say that Edward quickly takes both of them down easily after that.
"You know, if it had been a real gun, you would have been shot down instantly," Riza says casually as they all gather back at the blanket. "Water is inconsistent and the breeze threw me off."
"Yeah, but they aren't real guns. So I won." Ed chuckles as they all put the water guns away, emptying them of water first, of course.
"Don't jinx yourself, Edward. There may come a day when Hawkeye actually has to shoot you," Havoc chuckles and Edward glares at him.
"I doubt it, but thanks anyway."
And that's it! I hope you guys liked it! By the way, I looked everything up about what gun the water guns look like, so...yeah. I know nothing about guns, by the way. That's pretty much all I have to say, so onto the review replies!
Jane- thank you! I'll make sure to start writing that suggestion as soon as possible!
Lady Jessica Mustang- I'm glad you liked it! As for the suggestion, I like it! I'll work on it as soon as I can!
That's all! Thank you, everyone who has reviewed, it means so much to me! Keep the support coming, I love it! Don't forget to leave suggestions. Thanks for reading, and have a nice day/night!