-1Give Guidance or Counsel
Cats
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Chapter 13 - The Scenic Route
Sunday the 14th of February
It took them two days to arrive at Risembool. The closer they got, the more carefully (slow) Roy would drive. They'd ended up staying in a cheap motel with beds like rocks and cold tiled floors. The windows didn't close and the blinds didn't open and it was overall a pretty miserable place. Ed wasn't complaining though, since 1. He wasn't paying, Roy was. And 2. Roy hadn't brought up his childhood or tried to act like his counsellor the entire time.
The next day they arrived at Risembool and Ed found himself leading Roy by the hand to Pinako's old place. They'd have to spend the whole day driving tomorrow if they ever planned to get back to school on time, so they really only had Sunday to enjoy themselves in Risembool. Ed had decided they should dump their stuff at Pinako's, then he was going to show Roy all the places he'd loved as a child. Roy wanted to see Risembool though Ed's eyes? Then he would.
"It's a mess." Ed said, opening the old door. "Pinako uses it as a storage place now." He added, dumping his bad on the sofa next to what looked like a half finished leg. It was old work, nowhere near as sophisticated as what Pinako and Winry would come up with now. He bent his metal elbow as if to show off how smooth the action was. Roy waded into the room, careful of all the nuts and bolts and metal limbs lying around. He placed his bad delicately on the ground in front of the mantelpiece and, from the scattered papers laying there, picked up a photo.
"Cute kid." me mumbled, putting it back as Ed came up behind him. The photo was of the Elric family - the whole family, so Ed must have been pretty young. Alphonse was sill a babe in arms, and Ed… Roy had probably never seen such a large happy smile from the boy. Ironic that the first time he did was in a photograph with a man the boy swore he hated. He shifted his eyes to see Ed scowling at the same photograph.
"Wisht somebody'd shred it." he spat, turning away from it. "I'd do it myself, but Pinako can be pretty lethal with a wrench. She likes it 'cause it's pretty much the only one with the bastard in it. They were old drinking buddies or somethan."
There was a moment of silence in which Roy inwardly laughed at how easily Ed had regained his eastern accent. He stood straight, wondering if the blonde had noticed.
"How come this is the only one?" he asked. Ed's shoulder's slumped slightly, then he got his posture back and turned to Roy with a slightly manic grin.
"I burnt 'em!"
Roy put a hand in his pocket and fiddled with the ever present lighter there. And people called him a pyromaniac? If they called him that again, he'd introduce them to Edward.
"If she liked it so much, why'd she leave it here?"
Ed shrugged away the question, and Roy had to wonder if Pinako was only as excuse, and Ed was happy to have one last photo of all his family - including his father.
- X -
"And this is tha river where Al would always go if we had a fallen out." the blonde boy explained, accent growing, pointing over the edge of the fence. Roy's eyes followed the outstretched finger, as if he couldn't already see the mass of water. Since leaving Pinako's, they'd been to the bakery store in the village; Ed's old school (which was miles from anywhere - no wonder Ed didn't mind the considerably smaller trek to Central High, which was a fair amount for any normal kid going to the same school); The centre where he and AL had helped their mother care for the soldiers in the ishballan war (Roy had remembered hearing about the conflict on TV, and watching the Amestrian army go to 'help out'); They play park where Ed had allegedly spent hours collecting just the right flowers for Al to give to Winry, only to find the boy loose his nerve and give them to his mother instead. And now they had arrived at another childhood memory.
"Edward." Roy said, just before Ed could vault the fence and get closer to the river. The boy stopped and gave his partner a quizzical look. "How long has it been, since you last came here?"
Ed shrugged.
"Ya know, we first met teach here too, when tha river flooded. She refused to take us on as pupils than, but when we followed her to Central she gave in." he grinned. Roy sighed, and tried to keep his look serious. Ed faltered slightly. Roy took a deep breath, steeling himself, before:
"I want to visit your mother's grave."
Ed stepped back slightly in shock, banging into the fence, and he leant against it, trying to get his composure back. He turned his head to look down the river. He hadn't visited his mother's grave since Al had lost his memories.
"Why would ya wanna go an' do somethan like that?" He asked guardedly. Roy, however, didn't loose his resolve. He stepped forward and placed a feather light kiss to the blonde's forehead. He wrapped his arms around the boys waist, despite the curious looks he received from passers by, and felt Ed relax against him.
"Because." He began. "It's only right."
Ed rose an eyebrow.
"I'm your boyfriend right? Not only that, but I'm your first boyfriend. Don't you think I should be introduced to your mother?" Ed blushed lightly, and Roy, in an attempt to lighten the mood some more, since Ed was still rather tense, laughed. "What? Not embarrassed by me are you? Don't want mum to know about me?"
Ed's blush intensified, and he pushed away from the older man - though he didn't get very far because he was blocked by the fence.
"It's not that… well, okay, maybe it is that."
Roy, despite all efforts, snorted in amusement, making Ed shift in embarrassment.
"I'm insulted!" Roy joked, trying (and failing) to quell his laughter.
"Well it's weird! It'd be so awkward to tell you're mum - 'hey mum, even though I've never been interested in anyone in all these years, I've suddenly decided I'm gay and now I'm shagging a teacher!'." After two seconds silence, Ed gasped and Roy burst into laughter, stepping back and holding his sides with the force of his laughs. "I meant seeing… not…" The blonde trailed off, and Roy tried to quiet his laughter, although he was shaking trying to repress it.
And there they stood - one blushing teen and one shaking man, next to a river in early afternoon.
"Please Edward." Roy pleaded, after he had calmed down somewhat. "I want to go pay my respects to the woman who brought such an interesting, clever, beautiful… amusing child into the world."
Ed sighed, waving away the compliments, but never completely able to say 'no' to Roy.
"Alright, let's go get some flowers."
- X -
Tat's how they came about to be alone in the graveyard in front of Trisha Elric's grave. Laid there was a small bouquet of pink carnations from Ed, and a large bouquet of assorted flowers courtesy of Roy - 'because flattery gets you everywhere mr. Elric'.
Ed was kneeling, and Roy was stood next to him, one hand in his pocket, fiddling with his lighter. Although he was the one who had wanted to come, he had no idea what to say. It would be embarrassing to get sentimental in front of Edward, but he didn't want to laugh and joke, because that would be disrespectful. He didn't really know anything about Trisha Elric, and he was feeling rather out of place. He sighed, eventually opting to just say what first came to mind.
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Elric." Edward snorted, so Roy pushed on, smiling slightly. "At least I didn't say 'Mrs. Edward's Mum.'."
Edward smiled, reaching up and dragging Roy down to sit with him.
"Mum." the boy said, "I want ta introduce ya ta Roy Mustang. He's my counsellor - that's a long story, but perhaps an even longer story would be how we came ta be setting here, a little more than teacher and student."
Roy shuffled, getting comfy on the ground.
"Please don't hate 'im…" Ed trailed off. "I know what we're doing right now isn't really socially accepted, but I wanted this… I mean, I never did give up easily if it's somethan I wanted." Ed broke off, laughing quietly, and Roy clasped hands with the boy, still looking at the grave. He took a deep breath, then:
"I know it's been a long time since your son has come to visit, but I can tell you both he and Alphonse are doing just fine in central -"
"We're in a real good school, en Winry keeps us on tha right track." Ed interrupted. Roy smiled.
"I know this news we're giving you must be shocking, but…" he gave Ed's hand a squeeze. "I plan to keep him safe, and I'm never letting him go."
Ed rested his head on the man's shoulder.
"Next time I come, I'll bring Al." Even though Al didn't remember Trisha, Ed was sure that somewhere deep down, the boy missed her as much as he did. "We both miss ya. Recently, there's bin some times when I've really needed ya, but I've pulled through, and I really hope ya can be proud of me - Not matter what path I chose to go down, and who I choose to go down it with." He squeezed Roy's hand back. "I've chosen this path, with him, and while it ain't the scenic route, it's still lookan pretty damn good."
Mangling the English language to create accents… I hate doing it, but… Still. XD I love Roy in this chapter. XD
Enjoy, and please review!