A lot of Work for a Little Chat
Roy inched cautiously forward and leaned ever-so-slowly toward the corner of the bookcase, inclining his head until a single narrowed eye peered past the edge. He'd chosen his spot perfectly: the table of students was clearly visible in an open space between two tall banks of books, beside the window overlooking the wide library steps on the street three floors below. He could feel Havoc's weight against his arm as the other man followed his lead, peeking cautiously over his superior's shoulder to view the table. Fortunately, the way the light angled in through the window, even if any of the students glanced their way, the two of them in their dark blue uniforms would be hard to see in the murky shadow in which their bookcase stood.
Alphonse sat on the near side of the table, his back to the two military men, with four other students from Dr. Yuen's class ranging beside and across from him. The two young women and three young men had strewn their books all over the table's surface, and now conferred quietly with each other, writing busily in their notebooks as they worked on a set of problems their teacher had assigned them.
Roy immediately recognized Fletcher Tringham sitting directly across the table from Al, frowning in concentration as he held the pages of a book down with one hand and gripped a pencil in the other, gnawing absently at its tip. The youngster had become Al's good friend in recent months, and now appeared at the house as often as Riza and Jean did. He and his older brother, Russell, had spent a lot of years wandering, the way Edward and Alphonse had once done. But thanks to some of Roy's manipulations behind the scenes, the two seemed to be settling down at last, sharing rooms in a boarding house near Gracia's place. Russell had in fact taken the job in Gracia's flower shop that Al hadn't been able to handle, and Fletcher had recently joined his friend as a student of Dr. Yuen.
As far as the boy knew, the medical school had offered him a scholarship to study in Dr. Yuen's class, and Roy was content to let him believe that. He smiled briefly as he watched Fletcher scribbling in his notebook, then pulled his head back as the youngster looked up.
"Ouch!" Havoc squawked.
Roy grimaced at the bang to his head, and glanced over his shoulder to find his lieutenant rubbing a cheekbone. "Be quiet!" Roy hissed. "Do you want them to hear us?"
"Well, you could've warned me you were going to step back," Havoc complained.
"Fletcher looked up, and I thought he might see me. There wasn't time. Just keep it down, all right?"
"All right, all right. What are we looking for, anyway?"
"I don't really know." Roy risked another quick glance, enough to see Fletcher whispering across the table to Al, whereupon the two boys dissolved into soft laughter. One of the girls, sitting at the end of the table between the two, smiled at the joke, then leaned back over her books, long black hair trailing over one shoulder and wisping across her notes. Roy pulled back again, more cautiously, but Havoc was standing clear this time.
"I wonder…," Havoc mused.
"What?"
"Did you see how that girl was looking at Al? The one between him and Fletcher?"
"No, I was watching Fletcher. What was she doing?"
Havoc's teeth showed in the shadows. "She was looking at him…you know. Like that. She was liking what she saw, let's say."
"Really?" Roy peeked again, in time to see the girl cast a bright glance in his ward's direction, flipping her hair back over her shoulder. He recognized the classic gesture, and pulled back around the bookcase, leaning against it. "Well I'll be…," he murmured.
"You saw?"
"Yes. I think you're right. She's attracted to him."
"Could you tell if Alphonse noticed?"
Roy shook his head. "Not really, but I doubt it. I wonder if she's the one…"
"The one he…reacted to?"
"Yes. Of course, there's no way we can know now, because he's not going to be reacting like that any longer."
Havoc shook his head. "It just makes no sense to me. I can't believe it – that he wouldn't feel something when he looks at a dark, ripe, scrumptious little beauty like that – what?" he broke off, sensing Roy's eyes boring into him in the shadows.
"First," Roy answered tersely, "we've established that he can't respond like that now, no matter how far beyond your own imagination that is. Second – you do realize that the girl is about half your age, right?"
It was, naturally, too dark behind the bookcase to see the red creeping up Havoc's cheeks. But Roy had seen it happen so often that he could easily fill in the blanks. Havoc ducked his head, averting his face and muttering, "Right, right, don't get touchy, of course I know that. I was just making an observation, that's all."
"Uh huh." Roy ventured another quick peek around the edge of the bookcase, then returned to position, having made a decision. "Listen, Jean, I just got an idea. Keep next weekend open, okay? I think I'm going to throw a little party. For Alphonse and a few kids in his class."
* * * * *
In the end, the guest list was rather longer than he'd originally planned. Roy's "little party" turned into an afternoon full-backyard affair, with all eleven of Al's classmates invited, as well as Russell Tringham, since Roy wouldn't have dreamed of having Fletcher over and leaving his older brother out. He'd planned on having Riza there, as always, and then thought it best to invite Gracia too. Which also meant Elysia, with permission to bring two of her own friends from school.
And then somehow his entire office staff became included. And Fuery and Falman planned to bring dates. Before everything was done, the evening dinner party he'd envisioned, with maybe eight or ten people, had mushroomed into a big cookout in the backyard, with at least twenty-six.
All of this, just so he would have an excuse to invite Dr. Yuen to the house, without Al being suspicious about why Roy wanted to chat with his teacher.
And Al truly suspected nothing; he still hadn't quite gotten used to how devious Roy could be when he really wanted to. Ed would have seen right through him immediately.
But Al merely laughed as the numbers piled up, and offered the obvious solution: "I'll create a temporary fire pit in the yard, and we can get people to bring enough meat and side dishes for a cookout. All you have to bring," he'd added with an impish grin, "is the fire. And when we're finished, I'll close over the fire pit, and Russell and Fletcher can replant the grass."
Which was pretty close to how it all transpired. Al had created the fire pit around noon, when everyone started arriving with the food. The sun was high in the cloudless sky, a very light breeze helping to keep the yard from getting too hot. Alphonse lined the pit with brick, and then Russell and Fletcher transmuted some materials to use for fuel. It wasn't hard for them to take their usual plant-oriented alchemy a little farther than usual, creating charcoal that would burn slowly and maintain a steady heat. After Roy had lit it, Al created metal bars that stretched over the pit, to act as a grill.
By the time all this was underway, most of the other young people had arrived, and they gathered around the pit, watching the four alchemists work, and generally oohing and ahhing. Roy noticed that Lisa, the black-haired girl, was especially enthralled, watching with rapt attention as Al did his work. And Al, of course, simply thought she was interested in the alchemy.
Jean touched Roy's shoulder and jerked his head toward the house, drawing his friend toward the large wooden deck and away from the side of the yard where the three younger alchemists stood explaining to their attentive audience exactly what they had done. "I saw you watching that girl – Lisa," Jean remarked.
Roy stood, hands in pockets, still surveying the chattering group a few feet away in the midday sun. "Yes," he nodded. "She's pretty interested in whatever Al's doing, isn't she?"
"Yes, but you didn't notice what else was going on."
Roy looked at him. "What?"
"Fletcher Tringham couldn't take his eyes off her."
Roy closed his own eyes. "Oh, great," he muttered. "Just what we need – a romantic rivalry to complicate things."
"But maybe, if Al doesn't show any real interest, Lisa will turn to Fletcher and there won't even be a problem. He could be a godsend."
"Or maybe she'll keep pursuing Al, and get more and more frustrated, and Fletcher will see that Al's not even acknowledging what's going on, and he'll resent Alphonse for hurting the girl's feelings."
He could feel Havoc's astonished eyes on him. "Boy, Mustang, you really like to borrow trouble before it's happened, don't you?"
"Well, you were the one who told me about Fletcher."
"What about Fletcher?" came a sharp voice from the deck stairs behind them.
The two of them turned to discover Russell Tringham descending the painted wooden stairs, carrying a foil-covered platter and a couple of long forks. The pinched frown that had become his standard expression through the years of wandering with his brother had relaxed, in recent months, almost to a smile. But the frown had returned now, brows drawn together under his shock of blond hair. "What were you saying about my brother?" he demanded, halting between the two men.
He was only about an inch shorter than Roy, so they stood very nearly eye-to-eye. Roy decided that partial honesty was the best policy, to try to prevent Russell's touchiness blowing up on him later. "We were just noticing," he drawled casually, "that Fletcher seems to be pretty friendly with that black-haired girl. Lisa."
To his relief, Russell's face relaxed, his blue eyes sparking with amusement. "'Friendly'," he repeated with a snort. "Sometimes the kid can't think of anything else. I keep having to remind him to concentrate on homework. And that lasts about ten minutes, before he's off daydreaming again." He shook his head with a fond smile over at his brother, who stood, as always, at Alphonse's shoulder. "I keep forgetting that he's starting to grow up. He's been my little brother for so long that it's kind of weird to think of him becoming a man."
"I know what you mean," Roy muttered.
Jean remarked, "At least you probably have your own experiences to draw on, to help you deal with how your brother is changing."
"Not really," Russell shook his head. "I was so busy trying to keep us both alive, I never had time for girls. So I don't have a clue what he's thinking, half the time."
He was so much like Ed, Roy thought wryly. And here were Alphonse and Fletcher, supposedly being "guided" by a completely inexperienced young man and a more experienced man who nevertheless had already bungled things pretty badly. With this beginning, the kids were probably doomed.
"All right, you three," came Gracia's voice as she emerged from the back door and walked across the deck, bearing another foil-covered platter. "Time to stop being lazy and get the meat cooking. You've got seven growing boys across the yard there, who may cannibalize you if you make them wait too long for lunch."
Roy laughed as she thrust the platter into his hands. "Right, Russell, we've been given our marching orders, it looks like. You hungry? If we do the cooking, we get first dibs on the steaks."
"Oh good, let's get busy," Russell laughed.
Havoc and Breda had commandeered a small military van and brought some extra chairs as well as folding tables, both to hold the food and for people to sit at. But as the steaks and chops and burgers and foil-wrapped potatoes and other vegetables gradually collected and began to cook over the firepit, and the bowls of salad and potato salad and various side dishes and condiments multiplied on the row of tables in the shade under the trees along one fence, the young people produced three large blankets and spread them out on the lawn near the herb beds on the other side of the yard.
Al moved to the firepit and watched as Roy dug a fork into a couple of steaks and expertly flipped them, to the accompaniment of a satisfying sizzle and a brief surge of flame in the pit. "I see you're just going to ignore the tables and chairs after we got them for you," Roy commented as he felt the youngster lean heavily on his shoulder.
Across the pit from him, Riza had taken over from Russell when the other young people drew him away. She knelt by the grill, giving a row of baking potatoes a quick turn with a long pair of tongs. On the other side of the yard, the young students chattered and laughed like a flock of jays, while Roy's other subordinates and their dates talked in only slightly less raucous fashion near the tables, nursing mugs of beer. Elysia and the two other young girls appeared to be playing a shrieking game of tag among the bushes along the back fence, behind the garden.
"We're spry enough to sit on the ground," Alphonse quipped. "We'll leave the chairs to the old people. You – I mean they – are a lot stiffer."
Riza looked up and laughed. "Well, Roy, are you going to sit still for that?"
But as Roy opened his mouth to make a humorous retort, Lisa stepped up to join her fellow student, slipping an arm through his as he straightened to greet her. "So this is where you've gotten to," she smiled, her dark brown eyes warm on Al's face.
She'd pulled her hair up for the party, into a high, bouncing pony tail that made her look, as Havoc might have said, "cute as a button." It was a warm day, so she'd dressed in a sleeveless top that was tight enough to leave not very much to the imagination. And her comfortable shorts were perhaps a little more short than Roy would have preferred. She had very shapely legs.
He began reciting alchemic equations to himself, gluing his eyes to the girl's face and refusing to allow them to inch further south. Half my age, half my age, he chanted with grim determination, between equations.
Al regarded the girl with a friendly smile, completely oblivious to her physical charms. "I was just telling Roy," he said, "that we're sitting on the blankets so the stiff old people can have the chairs."
"Now, that's not very nice, is it? I may have to punish you," chided the girl, lower lip pouting just slightly.
Damn, she was good, Roy thought.
Riza shot the two young people a smug smile across the pit. "Don't worry about that," she remarked. "Next time Alphonse and I spar in the gym, he'll have a clearer idea of who is the more fit."
Al laughed in rueful acknowledgement, as Lisa said, "Spar in the gym – then you must be Riza Hawkeye?" As the woman nodded, she went on, "Al talks about you a lot. He really enjoys working out in the gym with you. So you're General Mustang's girlfriend – I always pictured you with darker hair, I don't know why."
Roy's head jerked up. "My girlf – where did you – Al – "
Al put an arm around Lisa's shoulders and turned her back toward the blankets. "We shouldn't bother them while they're working," he said quickly. "Let's go back to the others. We can talk later." But as he guided the girl away from the fire pit, he glanced with a grin back over his shoulder, before sticking out his tongue.
"Still getting even with us, I see," Roy muttered, hunching over the steaks.
"He can be quite a brat when he puts his mind to it," Riza commented, unable to keep a tinge of admiration out of her voice. "I never quite expected that with him." She used the back of her hand to push a stray lock of hair behind one ear.
"He's an Elric, so it's bound to slip out now and then. But look," Roy glanced up to see another man approaching the fire pit, "here's Dr. Yuen. Just the man I've been waiting for." And he stood up to greet the newcomer.
Dr. Yuen had abandoned his usual modified version of Xing dress, the red, high-collared long-sleeved jacket he wore when conducting his seminar. Today he had changed into black trousers and a simple high-collared white shirt, his long black braid hanging down his back almost to the waist. He bowed in greeting, and Roy returned the bow, looking into a pair of eyes much like his own.
"I'm so glad you could come, doctor," Roy said.
"It is my pleasure," returned the doctor. "The nice lady in the kitchen told me I should bring these to you." He held out a couple of packets of fish.
"I thought you might prefer fish, so I had some ready in the icebox just in case. But I'll be happy to cook these for you."
Gracia had followed the doctor from the house, carrying a wicker basket. "If you'd like to come with me, Dr. Yuen," she said, "the drinks table is over here. And I've brought some buns to tide over our ravenous students. Are you and Riza almost done, Roy?"
"Almost," he nodded briskly, kneeling back at the pit and unwrapping the fish. "Give us just a couple of minutes more. Have them start loading their plates with everything else, and by the time they get to us, we'll be ready."
As Gracia led the doctor over to introduce him to Havoc, Breda, and the others, Riza smiled across the fire pit at Roy, a trace of malicious enjoyment in her eyes. "So," she said brightly, "Lisa is very pretty. Isn't she, sir?"
Roy rolled his eyes, gritting his teeth. "Not you too. What are you and Jean, a tag team or something?" He bent over the fish beginning to sizzle on the grill, then cast his subordinate a sidelong glance. "You know," he said softly, "I may just have to punish you."
Riza snorted. "You behave like an adolescent half the time already, Roy, but 'adolescent girl' is new, even for you." She laughed across the pit at him, but as he continued looking intently at her, saying nothing, her mirth faded and she lowered her eyes, her cheeks maybe taking on the slightest tinge of pink.
And she, thought Roy to himself, is just my age…
The first young people had already filled their plates with side dishes, and were beginning to advance toward the pit. Time to get back to the business at hand.
He'd tried to learn all the kids' names, but it was hard to keep track of them. He remembered that these first two – the white-blond young man and his brown-haired friend – were Erik and Lee. The blond one seemed to be the joker between the two, almost making his friend drop his plate. Roy took a firm grip on Lee's shaky plate to keep it steady as he plopped a steak onto it, then lifted another onto Erik's plate.
He'd been working with one hand gloved, just to make sure he could handle things if something untoward happened with the fire pit and grease from the meat. But now he snapped surreptitiously and made a little flame erupt from Erik's steak as he leaned over it.
The kid jerked back in surprise and his whole plate would have gone flying if Roy hadn't grabbed it. "Let me help with that," he said mildly.
Erik steadied himself and flashed a grin at the man. Obviously he had a good idea where the unexpected flare had come from. "Good one," he laughed.
Next came a couple of the girls, accompanied, to Roy's surprise, by Russell Tringham, who seemed to be enjoying the particular company of one of them: a petite, olive-skinned girl with captivating dark eyes that looked as though they were lined with kohl. Roy couldn't for the life of him remember her name. But he raised an amused eyebrow at Russell as he dished out a large steak, and the young man laughed sheepishly, his cheeks colouring. After today, he might just understand young Fletcher a bit better, it seemed.
When Al came along he was trailed, as always, by Lisa and by Fletcher himself. As the three of them stood waiting for their steaks to be ready, Roy looked up at Alphonse and they shared a smile. The kid looked so happy, as he leaned close to the grill and breathed deeply, eyes closed, to savour the aroma of the cooked meat. Roy couldn't help a little burst of pride at the sight of him, surrounded by friends, studying something he loved, planning to make a big difference in the world. He'd come such a long way since those first weeks after he'd gotten his body back, when he'd been so frail and shaky. That other little matter – well, it wasn't forgotten, of course, but Roy was determined to enjoy the afternoon and try not to think of it until later, when hopefully he could manage to have a private word with Yuen in the house.
It did give him pause, though, to realize that young Fletcher had grown so much in the last five months that he and Al were now the same height. They actually looked very much alike, when you saw them side-by-side, though Fletcher's hair was a bit darker. And his voice kept cracking, and Roy swore he could see some peach fuzz on the kid's chin.
With a little pang of distress, the man jabbed a fork into a steak and lifted it onto one of the out-held plates, blocking the thought out of his mind.
Eventually everyone had their plates full, and returned to their blankets or chairs. But even with that clear divide between older and younger people, there was a lot of interaction. Falman's date (a tall, statuesque beauty with the improbable name of Lulu), seemed to be very knowledgeable about fashion, and before long most of the female students were tossing questions to her and discussing clothes.
The male students, meanwhile, talked for a while with some of the other adults, about what it was like to be part of the military. Roy could see Gracia and others being left out, so he gradually steered the conversation more toward the students' medical studies. Al could see what he was doing, and helped out, again sharing a smile with his housemate. They made a good team, when the need arose.
"Be sure to have seconds if you want them." Roy waved vaguely toward the tables of food. "There's still plenty of almost everything."
"How about the steaks?" Erik grinned from the middle blanket, where he already leaned back, propped up by his hands behind him, having finished his plate.
"If you're still starving, we do have a few more in the icebox. But they're a last resort, if you're still hungry after finishing everything else."
"And don't forget," Gracia put in, "there's strawberries and ice cream afterward."
"Ice cream!" Elysia yelled from her own spot on the blanket beside Al. She sat cross-legged, facing her two friends, who squealed along with her in delight.
Al told his young admirer and her companions, "If you all finish what's on your plates, we'll go in and get the ice cream when you're done, okay?"
"Can't we go now?" asked one of the little girls.
But Elysia said firmly, "No, we have to finish eating first. Al said so. So let's eat!"
Lee grinned over at Al, "You're a big hero now, Elric. You know how to wrap the girls around your little finger, don't you?"
"Just be a pal, Lee, that's all you need to do," Alphonse smiled.
"You're not my pal," Elysia told him earnestly, brown pigtails swinging as she turned to look up at the young man. "You're my big brother."
At the familiar phrase, Roy saw the flash of distress in Al's eyes, suppressed so quickly it might almost not have happened at all. But he'd been watching, and knew the kid's expressions so well that it was unmistakable. Al covered himself right away, smiling at the girl and giving one of those pigtails a little yank, saying, "Okay, but this is what big brothers do." And Roy turned away.
To find Dr. Yuen watching his student with attentive eyes, from his seat at the next table, with Gracia and Fuery and his date. So the doctor could tell when Alphonse was troubled and trying to cover it up. Roy wondered what else he might have detected recently, where Al was concerned. They really needed to have that little talk.
The chatter and laughter back and forth between the blankets and the chairs continued and grew louder as people gradually finished their meals and got to the "picking" stage of things. A few got up and added more food to their plates, but the eating was slow while the conversation sped up. The sun was still high, sharpening every blade of grass and lending a glow to the bright faces of the young people. Roy leaned back in his chair, legs outstretched and ankles crossed, and just watched for a while. His own men might be older than the students, but they were uncommonly young at heart, and the two groups mingled very well.
Presently, Alphonse got to his feet and reached a hand down to help Elysia get up. "All right," he announced, "time to get that ice cream. Come on, all three of you, and we'll bring out the bowls and spoons too."
"Yay! Ice cream!" Elysia cried, dancing across the grass beside her hero, holding his hand, as her two young friends followed.
Lisa remained behind, watching them go, and something about her expression, some element of speculation in her eyes, made Roy wonder if she was starting to catch on to the fact that Al would not be returning her affections in quite the way she hoped. The man felt sorry for her, wishing he could somehow help her understand that the problem didn't rest with her. But of course, he couldn't possibly say anything.
Falman and Lulu, meanwhile, began to collect the plates and cutlery, and as they took those into the house, they crossed paths with Alphonse and the girls coming back out. Elysia proudly carried the bucket of ice cream, clutching the handle with both hands just under her chin, while one of her friends carried another smaller bucket of cut strawberries, and the other brought all the spoons in a glass jar. Al carried a stack of glass bowls, balanced against his chest with both hands.
Roy dished out the ice cream, standing behind one of the tables as people moved past in a steady line, with Al beside him, spooning strawberries on top.
Havoc had been early in the line, and as he sat at a nearby table, working away at his bowl, he called to Al, "I was talking to your friends about how we spar at the gym, and they were hoping we could demonstrate something for them. What do you say, Alphonse?"
Al dropped a spoonful of berries into Russell's bowl before looking at Havoc. "Sure," he agreed, "that would be fun. We need to work off this food anyway."
The young men were so eager to see the demonstration that they had rolled up one of the blankets and cleared a space on the lawn even before Al and Roy were halfway through their own bowls of ice cream and berries. Al flung an amused glance at the older man, setting his unfinished bowl on the table and stepping into the open space, where Havoc was already unbuttoning his shirt.
Roy sat on his lawn chair between Gracia and Hawkeye, thoughtfully taking another spoon of ice cream as he watched Lisa watching Alphonse while the young man, too, took his shirt off and flung it to one side. With parted lips and indrawn breath the girl took in the broad shoulders, straight back, and firm, well-developed muscles, her dark eyes wide, one hand pressed to the base of her throat as though to emphasize the heavy pulse beating there. She followed Al's movements as he twisted a little and shook his arms to loosen them, the late afternoon sun drawing an almost silver glow from his hair as it drew gold from Havoc's.
The two men crouched and began to circle each other. Havoc was leaner than Al, but equally well-muscled. As he circled around, the scars on his body showed in the sunlight, a shining pink seam down his right side revealing where he'd been caught with a knife in an attack in an alley years ago, and a puckered circle low on the left side of his chest revealing where he'd caught a bullet in Ishbal. The matching circle on his back marked the exit wound.
Soon Havoc lunged forward, and automatically Al stepped aside and flipped up an arm to block the other's progress. Havoc kicked the arm aside with a grunt and spun around, his own arm swinging toward Al's head – only to be blocked by the young man's other arm.
Then Alphonse, in turn, made his own moves, kicking up at Havoc's side, to be blocked by the older man's arm, Havoc spinning again to get out of striking range. The two circled and circled, each seeking an opening, and each taking the occasional chance to lunge, blocked every time. Their breathing became heavier and Havoc's spiky hair, if possible, became even spikier as it stood up from his dampening scalp.
As the two men circled and lunged, the impressed murmurs of the onlookers swelled regularly into excitement, cheering for unusual moves or close calls. The breeze lessened and they began to feel the effects of the sun, beads of sweat breaking out on their foreheads, their limbs gleaming.
Al kicked toward Havoc's head, and the man was forced to jerk back at such an angle it was a surprise he didn't fall. He staggered backward as the medical students cheered loudly for Alphonse to press his advantage. The military onlookers immediately had their own chance to cheer, though, as Havoc planted one foot and, using Al's forward motion against him, grabbed the boy's forearm and attempted to throw him down. But Al tumbled forward in a somersault, yanking himself out of the man's grasp and springing back to his feet, out of range.
Their moves became faster and faster as the two of them fell into the familiar rhythm from their weekly matches at the gym, fists and arms flying, their legs arcing upward in wide, graceful kicks, their feet moving nimbly as they danced away from each other's attacks.
At one point, as Al sidestepped one of Havoc's attacks, the older man's leg swept around as he twirled, threatening to cut the young man off at the knees, from behind. But at the last second, Alphonse backflipped neatly over the leg, landing lightly on his feet, knees bent. He grinned at Havoc as they faced each other again, and Havoc laughed back.
The onlookers burst into applause, and Roy couldn't help his inner burst of pride. The boy was so good. And his people had been so diligent, working with him to help build up his strength. Roy was proud of all of them.
And he noted with amusement that just as many of the young ladies (including Lisa) were watching Havoc as were watching Al. That would certainly please his lieutenant. Hawkeye, however, appeared to be watching Roy instead, and smiled with equal pride as he noticed.
After a few more energetic passes, he saw Havoc's eyebrows raised in a question, and Al's brief nod of response. The two lunged simultaneously, each doing a forward flip as he passed the other, and they bounced onto their feet facing the semi-circle of watchers, bowing dramatically as everyone burst once again into wild applause.
Elysia hurled herself across the grass with a squeal, Al's shirt flapping in her hands. He took it from her with a laugh, as Havoc grinned and said, "Hey kiddo, where's mine?"
"She's impossible," Gracia murmured.
"She's just enjoying having a hero," Roy smiled.
"I suppose. But Roy," Gracia frowned, still watching the two of them. "I wonder…do you think Al's looking a bit tired?" In the chair beyond her, Doctor Yuen's head turned.
Roy set his bowl on the table behind him and leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he observed the young man. Al had draped the shirt over his shoulders, using one sleeve to wipe his face. He chatted with the students who had now surrounded him, and seemed quite relaxed after his exertions a few moments before. His colour was a bit high, but surely that was to be expected after even as brief an exercise as this had been? He worked much harder and longer in one of his usual sessions in the gym, after all. And anyway – it was quite warm out here.
"I think he's all right," Roy murmured.
Al broke away from the milling group, returning toward the table to retrieve his dessert, flashing Roy a wide smile as he passed the lawn chairs. Picking up the bowl, he bent to fish for a strawberry in the pool of half-melted ice cream.
"Hey!" came a voice from across the yard. "Come here for a minute, little brother!"
Al's head jerked up as he gasped, turning quickly toward the voice. Immediately he realized his mistake, as he watched Fletcher weave his way among the people, walking across the grass toward Russell. Dropping his bowl and spoon to the grass from suddenly nerveless fingers, Alphonse backed up one step and banged into the table behind him, before turning to stumble away from the scene. He staggered, almost unnoticed, toward the deck, where he fumbled his way up the steps.
Roy was already on his feet, casting a glance at Hawkeye as she rose beside him. She nodded briskly. No one else would go into the house for the next few minutes.
By now, the back door had closed. Roy took the steps two at a time, flinging the door open and plunging into the kitchen. Al stood by the counter near the sink, but turned quickly as Roy came in, the red flush on his cheeks glaring against the sudden pallor of his skin. The shirt slipped unnoticed from his shoulders as, with a little groan, he collapsed to his hands and knees on the floor. Immediately little marmalade Edo-kitty trotted into the room and began to rub up against one of Al's forearms, purring.
Roy knelt beside his housemate, setting a gentle hand on his head. "It's all right, Alphonse," he murmured. "Give yourself a minute."
The boy didn't even look up. He only whispered, head hanging, "It's never going to get better. Is it? Not ever."
Roy's pulled Alphonse into his arms, disturbing the cat, who flung him an aggrieved glance and left the room. "It is," the man murmured. "I promise it is. It's been a long day, and things are harder to deal with when you're tired."
"I suppose so," Al nodded against his shoulder, though he didn't sound convinced.
Roy just knelt like that for a few minutes, holding the young man and not speaking. Al felt warm, but he'd just been out in the sun, and had just been sparring. Of course he was going to be warm. Roy waited until he could feel the boy's trembling dissipate and his breathing become more even, then finally suggested, "You need to go upstairs and sleep."
That brought Al's head up, and he sat back on his haunches, rubbing his face with the heels of both hands. "I can't leave the party. It would be rude."
"Not at all. They know your history, and that you get tired sometimes. Everyone would understand. And," Roy cocked his head as a round of loud laughter burst into the kitchen through the window, "does it sound like they're going to be really upset with you if you need to rest? I think they'll manage."
Al glanced at the bright rectangle of the window in its frame of yellow curtains, and sighed. "I suppose I could nap for a few minutes. Sorry I made a scene."
"Alphonse. You didn't make a scene. If anyone noticed you, they probably thought you were coming back in to get something."
One side of the boy's mouth turned up. "You noticed," he reminded his housemate.
"That's different. I always notice," Roy smiled. "Now. Let's get you upstairs."
It was a measure of how exhausted Al suddenly was that he made no more protest, but allowed the older man to help him to his feet and walk him upstairs. Roy wryly remembered when he'd first gotten his body back, how it had been possible to carry him up. That could never happen now, so much muscle had the young man gained in the intervening months. But Roy could at least offer him an arm around his shoulders as he trudged up the steps.
This was only a little tiredness. It didn't have any connection to the other thing. Surely…?
Al flung himself on his bed, and by the time Roy had drawn a light blanket over him, he was already asleep. The calico cat, Maesy, hopped lightly onto the bed and stepped delicately onto the boy's chest, kneading briefly before turning around twice and settling there to nap with him. Edo followed almost immediately, taking his accustomed place, propping himself to sleep against Al's side. The young man's hand moved automatically, coming to rest on the little cat's back.
Just tired, Roy thought. That was all.
But his doubts returned in full force as he descended the stairs and returned to the kitchen to find Dr. Yuen standing there waiting for him. The man regarded him in silence for a long moment, Roy hesitating in the doorway and hoping with a suddenly pounding heart both that he wouldn't speak, and that he would.
"He is sleeping?" asked the doctor finally.
"Yes."
"He is not well," said the man. It wasn't clear if he meant it as a statement or a question, but Roy realized that it didn't matter either way.
He sagged against the door frame, his shoulders slumping. "I think," he said, "that it's time you and I took a walk around the block and had a little talk."