Walking Late

The soft patter of water on the windows mixed with the annoying buzz of his alarm made Roy tumble off his bed, landing in a slightly confused heap on the floor. Untangling an arm took a few seconds, but the alarm clock was swiftly beaten into submission. In the rain filled silence, he could hear the water pipes gurgle and someone walking around in the spare room.

With a groan, Roy managed to pull himself upright and re-settled his bedding. It sounded like the boys were getting ready for the day out, even though Roy was nearly ready to call everything off just so he could laze about in bed for the whole day. Going to a carnival in the rain wasn't going to be any fun for anyone, but with a quick glance at the clock Roy realised it was too late to call Hughes and bail. It would also be unfair on Alphonse, who'd sounded so excited to go...

"Um...Colonel, sir?" Came the timid echo from his doorway. Roy spun around and gave a sleepy smile.

"What's wrong?" he asked, trying to flatten the errant hair on his head. Alphonse shuffled from foot to foot like an excited five year old.

"Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to make sure you were up."

"Don't worry, Alphonse. Just let me wash my face and get dressed, then we can go."

He listened to the sound of water pipes gurgling to a stop, and wondered if he'd have to bully Edward into coming with them (and if he'd need to call a plumber to look at the pipes). He certainly hadn't seemed too happy to go earlier, especially since half his face was probably sore. Maybe Alphonse had read his brother wrong? "You should go make sure Ed's ready."

"I will, Sir. Thank you!" Alphonse gave a shy bow, and quickly clattered away.

Roy slid a hand through his hair, trying to calm down the spiked up points into some semblance of suave and grabbed some clothes. It wouldn't do to go to the festival in clothes he'd slept in.

As he slipped on a fashionable thick jumper over a white button up shirt (It was raining, and he didn't want to get his good clothes wet), the sounds of the bathroom door creaking open alerted him that Edward was now free and prowling round the house.

Walking to the bathroom, he spotted Ed stumbling back to their bedroom, obviously still tired, putting his hair up into a ponytail. Roy pointedly ignored the new redness starting at Ed's metal shoulder, and the now solid black bruise around his eye, and Ed ignored him. Roy made a mental note to slip Alphonse a tab of aspirin for Ed before they left the house.

Roy realised that seeing Ed in pain, shoulder red and face so battered, the eyelid almost squeezed shut from swelling and his nose starting to yellow, made some unused instinct bubble up inside him. He squashed it down with as much ruthlessness as he could. Doing something parental, potentially in front of Hughes, would lead to a lifetime of teasing.

He quickly slid into the bathroom and slicked his hair down, finally making it behave. He emerged, ready to find the backpack he'd...misappropriated from training so he could take some water bottles and his wallet.

As Roy passed the boy's bedroom, he rapped his knuckles on the door, and called out a warning of "Five minutes, Edward. You'd better be ready by then 'cause we're running short on time."

"I'm not fricken short!" Ed screamed back from behind the door, and Roy was relieved that the boy was fine enough to retaliate to his jibes.

Ten minutes later, Roy finally found his old backpack after tearing through cobweb ridden closets, and Alphonse was trying to stop Edward from stomping back upstairs and going back to bed.

They were currently blocking the front door, Alphonse between Ed and the stairs. Roy was dimly surprised to see Ed in something other than his black leather and red coat. The boy apparently had some normal clothes stashed away in that case of his.

"Please, Brother. He's found it; you can't go back to bed now." The younger brother whined.

"I could've, if he said ten minutes in the first place." Ed snorted, and then added in a voice the boy thought wouldn't reach Roy's ears, "eurgh, adults."

Roy was surprised at the thinly veiled venom in the boy's tone. Surely Ed didn't think that badly of adults? On second thoughts...

"Don't worry, Ed." He called out, "let me just fill up some bottles and then we can start walking." He walked into the kitchen and missed the annoyed look on Ed's face, the grimace as he squeaked out, "walking?"

Checking he had everything; water, keys, wallet, and slipping a tab of pills to Alphonse with a pointed look at Ed, Roy shooed the boys out of the house and locked the door. Alphonse was nearly skipping in delight, and again, Roy had to shake off the surreal feeling that always crept up his spine when Alphonse acted his age.

"It's just a stupid festival." Ed grumbled, puling the sides the red hoodie together and zipping it up. The rain was currently a light drizzle, and droplets of white water were collecting on Ed's hair. "Come on, brother, cheer up, please?" Alphonse stopped his skipping, and Roy was silently thankful.

"It's raining. Everything's out in the open. We're gonna get soaked, you know. This was a stupid idea." Ed started walking, his footsteps directed by the colourful fliers stuck everywhere. Alphonse trudged slightly behind him, helm downcast and Roy was surprised at the blunt disregard Ed was showing his little brother.

He followed them, staying a few steps behind to give them some space. This was probably one of those 'sibling fights' that, as an only child, Roy had no clue about.

Alphonse reached out a hand and grabbed the flapping hood of Ed's jacket, giving it a gentle tug. Roy saw Alphonse lean in, but was too far away to hear if he said anything. He must have though, because Ed made a grab for the hand on his hood, and gave it a gentle squeeze, making sure Alphonse saw it. The tense set of Alphonse's great shoulders relaxed, and Roy saw the boy hand his brother the tablets.

Suddenly, everything was alright again. Alphonse was back to nearly skipping, chattering away about all the things they'd do once they got to the carnival. Roy had to force himself to keep walking, and not stop and gape at such an abrupt change in mood. Even the annoying drizzle had settled down slightly.

The Elric brothers were surely going to break his mind.

"I can see flags!" Al yelled, pointing and shaking Ed's shoulder. Ed took the rough handling with good grace (though wincing slightly), and Roy spotted the small beginnings of a smile beginning on his bruised face.

"It's huge," Ed conceded, staring at the growing flash of colour in the middle of the grey Central street. He flashed the smile up at Al, and then turned back to Roy. "Hurry up! You said Hughes was waiting for us, and we're late thanks to you."

Normally, Roy would've thought of a biting comment to throw back at the insubordinate youngster, but he realised that the earlier bitterness he'd heard was gone and Ed's complaints now held a teasing note. It was a wonder how that one tiny exchange between the brother's had changed Ed's mood from murderously gloomy to grudgingly happy.

"We'd have got here sooner if you could walk faster..." Roy finally said, smirking inside. He could see Ed's face grow red and prepared himself for a rant, but was saved by a bright flash, a surprised gasp, and the squealing of a small child.

Hooray! Something got written! I are amazing!

I wonder who those thinly-veiled people at the end are? Also, a fun little fact about this chapter;

I hadn't written this story for so long, I'd forgotten all about Ed's black eye! I felt really stupid when I realised.

Thank you for putting up with me (again...). If anything is grossly out of place here, tell me?

Inuchron

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