Thanks Reglee for betaing this chapter and for your constructive criticism, for without, the first scene would not have turn out this way.
XdxDMemeLordxDx, zeichnerinaga, TheTopazWolf, 777angeloflove, bulelo, hectorpriamides, NikkiS71, LindaPhoenix. Thanks for your words of encouragement and your continued interest in this story. The critiques on grammar are very much appreciated.
Author's Note: I'm back from my vacation whoop. And I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to get this chapter done. Writer's block is a horrid thing to have. I have already derailed from my planned outline... So... bear with me while I mess with five pages worth of outline, beat it up so that it behaves.
Leave me a review and tell me what you think about this chapter :)
The State and Heart
Chapter 4: Of Trains, Cars, and Letters
by TeaGal
He hated paperwork.
Paperwork was designed to cause tendonitis and carpal tunnel, forcing soldiers out of the field (from being unable to fire a rifle), and then to be stuck in a desk job, where tendonitis and carpal tunnel were prevalent. It was a vicious cycle.
And that was why he was out in the streets at 1200 hours to conduct some routine inspections.
After meandering around the city for a bit, Roy stopped by the newspaper stand, acknowledging the old man who manned it with a nod. He picked up the day's papers.
"Running away from Ms. Hawkeye again?" the old man asked.
"I wouldn't call it running, Mr. Collins. Just—"
"Catching up on the news," Mr. Collins completed his sentence. "Speaking of which, how's the railway project going?"
Mustang flipped to the next page. "On schedule. You wouldn't believe how many documents I had to sign just to get that going."
"Too many, I'd imagine," Mr. Collins said, the side of his eyes crinkled with mirth.
"Exactly," Roy chuckled. He put the paper down and dug through his pocket for some coins. "What time did the Captain get here yesterday?"
"12:32pm." He had his palm up.
Roy dropped a couple of coins into his palm; an amount that was more than enough for the paper.
"Send her towards—"
"The opposite direction." Mr. Collins nodded. "Now get out of here."
Roy gave him a mock salute and walked towards the flower shop, which was a couple blocks away. He checked his watch as he walked down the cobblestone alley.
1226 hours. He was making good time. The Captain would not be heading this direction for a while. He would be damned if he let her drag him back to the office early today.
A good portion of his morning was used to file a report on Edelweiss and the train incident. And he was not a happy camper.
He entered the flower shop and was hit with the welcoming aroma of spring flowers.
Since the Führer's proposition and his decision to pick Edelweiss, he had not been out on a date. He had to change his image, which meant he hadn't visited the flower shop in awhile. Which also meant that the Captain would be unlikely to look for him here.
Roy was greeted by a lady he had not seen before. He learned that she was covering for her friend (his otherwise, regular florist), and took the opportunity to ask her about every single flower in the shop, to pass as much time as he could.
The lady had a love for carnations. And in that time, he had learned more about carnations than he ever wanted to know. But he decided to buy some purple carnations (which meant capriciousness by the way) after the poor girl had spent so much time being patient with his inquiries.
He wrote a note: Edelweiss, Thought of you when I saw these lovely, tiny flowers. Roy. And had them scheduled to be delivered to her the next day, knowing full well that tiny was a trigger word for Ed.
If he had to wade through the paperwork she'd created, she could deal with his small, petty act. Sometimes it was fun to get in a tiny bit of revenge.
Roy checked the time again when he left the flower shop. 1312 hours, in ten minutes he would set a new record for dodging the Captain.
He strode towards the town square, heading towards where his regular shoeshine boy set up shop.
Getting his boots shined in public wasn't something he had thought he would ever do as he did the task himself every morning—a habit ingrained during his military academy years.
But the boy in scruffy clothing reminded him a little of himself as a child. Smart, industrious, and poor. So he gave the boy a bit of business to help his family tide over difficult times, and bits of advice if the boy wanted it.
"You made it today, sir, General, sir. " Misha said.
Roy chuckled light-heartedly. "At ease, soldier. Do you have anything to report?" He placed a foot on top of the platform.
Misha began brushing Roy's boots. "Yes sir. The baker and the butcher got into a fight yesterday."
"What for?"
"The butcher was looking at the baker's wife in a funny way, the baker said anyways."
"I see."
"I don't understand why men would fight over the ladies. The butcher just looked. And girls are gross."
He laughed. "You'll understand in a few years."
Misha wrinkled his nose and then gestured for Roy to switch foot on the platform as he was done.
"Ma and Pa said that there's unrest at the western border and it's affecting business for my aunt and uncle's family."
That, Roy had known. While peaceful now, Amestris had always had tense relations with their neighbors. A cease-fire had been initiated after Führer Grumman had ascended to the position. However, there were still a lot of ongoing negotiations to enact peace treaties with the neighboring nations. Neither side was willing to back down, not wanting to come out with the lesser of the deal.
Centuries of animosity wasn't about to go away in a night, which was why he was under a lot of scrutiny as he was the one attributed to establishing allied relations with Xing. Many were watching his success, but many were also waiting for him to fail.
"Tell me more about this."
"They said that taxes were raised to help fix the problem."
Roy frowned at this. That he was not aware of. While the West Area was not his jurisdiction, tax hikes were something that would make quite a talk in the break room.
A car pulled up next to them and he knew his time was up. He checked the time yet again.
He paid the shoeshine boy, with a little extra of course.
"I'll see you again tomorrow, sir, General, sir."
Roy smiled and nodded to Misha. And then approached the car.
"1346 hours. You're slacking, Captain Hawkeye."
She cocked her gun. "Just get in the car, General."
Oh the mutiny. He got in the passenger seat and allowed her to drive him back to the office and back to those damn documents. Speaking of which.
"Captain, I would need to see what intel Breda's contact can dig up at the western border."
"Yes, sir."
"And see if Falman had picked up anything in the north."
Through the reflection on the rear-view mirror, she raised her eyebrow. "Affirmative. But is something the matter?"
"I'm just curious about something. It's probably nothing."
Black Hayate wagged his tail enthusiastically when he and the Captain returned to the office, and followed her like a shadow. He didn't bark; not at them; the Captain had trained him well. But he swore that she'd also trained him to snub on everything he offered, as yet again, Black Hayate ignored his food offering.
The sound of a cocked gun was his cue to get back to work. You would think she'd outranked him the way she ordered him around.
By the 1600 hours deadline, Roy had had the day's paperwork done, to the Captain's satisfaction. And after his officers debriefed him of the day's work, he'd dismissed them at 1700 hours.
What a long day. But it wasn't over yet. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He had one last thing to do. He had to pick up a certain stray from the library—the one that jumped onto the train just yesterday. Yeah it was petty to think of her as one, but he really didn't appreciate the extra paperwork.
The East Military Branch Library was not as grand as the one in Central, but it was still a fairly large one, housing thousands upon thousands of books, periodicals, and research. It certainly had a large selection of alchemy texts.
Roy flashed a smile to the staff at the reception desk, and made his way towards the alchemy section.
He sauntered through the sitting area, and then through the rows and rows of bookshelves. And when he found her, he chuckled. Even with plenty of available sitting, she chose to sit on the floor, surrounding herself with stacks and stacks of books.
Typical.
She had her hair in a ponytail, but it did nothing for the sprig of cowlick hair that stuck out, nor did she bother to tame the bangs that she had just simply swept to the side for her face. Her golden eyes flitted across the text with alacrity, and as she flipped a page, her finger traced the bottom of her lips as she mumbled to herself, fully immersed in the book.
He plopped down next to her and picked up one of the books that was scattered around her.
The texts were on bio-alchemy and they were not the basics of this branch of alchemy either, delving into the more theoretical and clinical side of it. Edelweiss seemed to be absorbing the material with ease.
No matter, he came to the library for one reason, and it was not to join her in her research. He snapped the book shut and stood. His eyebrows raised as Edelweiss had yet to notice his presence.
"Edelweiss," Roy called out to her.
The rustling of a turning page was his only reply. No words were going to snap her out of her trance. He lifted the book up and tapped her head. She jolted and snapped towards him.
"Oh, it's you," she said in a sharp tone. Her gaze wandered towards the windows, and her eyes widened, taking in the burnt-orange hue. "Crap, what time is it?"
He pulled the sleeve of his blue military jacket and checked the time. "1745 hours, fifteen minutes from closing. Found anything in that heap?"
"Bits here and there," she grumbled, stuffing her notes into the inner pocket of her brown coat and straighten her black boyish clothes. She scooped up a pile of books, but instead of putting them on the cart to be sorted, she headed towards the windows.
"What are you doing?" He moved closer to her when she opened a window.
"There's a limit to how many books I could get checked out and I figured that if I dump them out the window, I could pick them up when we get out."
She heaved the books up, and he grabbed her arm stopping her.
"You're not throwing these books out the window," he said exasperatedly. He did not want to deal with any repercussions of that action. It was a military library in his jurisdiction; there would be paperwork involved if she got caught. "I'll check them out for you."
He would need to talk to the librarian about giving her a bigger loan limit.
"What's the fun in that? Too old for a bit of adventure?" she smirked.
"If you call mistreating books an adventure, you're more of a brat than I'd initially thought."
The glint in her eyes disappeared. "Can't blame me for lack of resourcefulness. You're such a bastard about it though." She gestured towards another stack of books. "Grab those would you?"
"Are you even going to be able to go through all of these tonight?" he asked, but picked up the books regardless. "The library isn't going anywhere."
"I've already read through them. There are just some sections that I'd like to analyze more. Besides, they're just light-reading."
They walked towards the checkout desk. "Most would disagree with you," Roy said.
"I'm not most people though," Edelweiss grinned.
"Don't get too cocky. You're nowhere near your end goal."
"Is that a challenge?" she said, quirking an eyebrow. "I'll bet that I would get my Gate back before you get that transfer to Central."
"Oh good. Then I could send you out on missions." Not that he would send a first lady out on military missions.
She scowled. "Don't push your luck, Mustang—"
"Roy," he offered.
"—you're already asking for a lot and I'm not about to be a military dog again, much less working under—"
Her stomach growled, interrupting her words. He raised an eyebrow, "When was the last time you ate?"
Edelweiss' brows furrowed as she placed the stack of books onto the checkout desk.
"If you have to think that much, it's been too long," he said. She needed to take care of herself more. He followed suit with the stack of books he was carrying. "We're going to dinner before I take you home."
"My research—"
"Can wait." He wasn't taking no for an answer. "What kind of a partner would I be if I let you starve?" From his peripheral view, the librarian was smiling at his and Edelweiss' exchange.
Good.
Edelweiss rolled her eyes and offered. "One who lets me prioritize on my work?"
"You're a hopeless idiot."
"And you're a fucking asshole."
Trust Fullmetal to be crude enough to send the librarian gaping at them.
Edelweiss now knew why Riza always did the driving whenever she was with Mustang.
And without fail too.
The car swerved violently as they turned a corner. Her knuckles were white from gripping the edges of her seat. Just what was his deal?
She did not remember how many times she had yelled at him, but she did notice that every time that she did so; not only would he have a witty remark in response, but his gaze would be directed at her instead of the road. So she clamped her mouth shut and silently prayed to every deity she knew—which was a lot, considering her travels—and she wasn't even religious.
The car screeched to a stop and her fear had turned to rage. "Fuck. Keep your eyes on the road will you? You bastard. You know what, forget I even ask. Why are we even having dinner together? Can't we just sign that blasted piece of paper and just keep out of each other's sight when we don't need to make any public appearances?"
His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned, and he reached out for her hand, to which she quickly retracted.
"That is why we're going to spend a lot more time with each other before we sign the marriage papers. There is no way we can convince anyone we're married at this point. And we do have to appear publicly quite a bit. The quicker you adjust, the quicker we can get it over it and as you say, keep out of each other's sight and only appear together when need be." Mustang exited the car, came around and opened her door, once again extending a hand towards her.
She glared at him, ignored his hand, and then eased past him to see where he had brought her; all the while muttering about his crazy ass driving. It was a charming little diner, albeit a little run-down with peeling paint on the walls and faded lettering on the sign.
A bell rang when they entered and she followed Mustang to a table in a quiet corner of the bustling diner. They did not have to wait long before a server came to their table. Her eyes lit with recognition when she saw Mustang.
"Roy, it's been awhile since we've seen you around here," she greeted him warmly and Mustang smiled, shedding his previously agitated demeanor. "And I see you've brought someone to try out our menu."
Ed gave her a polite smile and a nod.
"Anne, lovely as ever." He lifted her hand and gave it a peck.
Edelweiss rolled her eyes. So he kisses every lady's hand. Why am I not surprised.
"This is my girlfriend, Edelweiss. This is her first day back in East City and where else to bring her but here, where you make the most amazing eastern cuisine."
"You're such a flatterer," Anne laughed and then turned to Edelweiss. "Be careful with this one. Though, you're the first woman he'd ever brought here," she said in a light teasing voice and gave a her quick wink. "So what can I get for the both of you."
Mustang recommended a few things on the menu, and she decided to pick something that Anne recommended, just to be rebellious. Anne took their order and left to attend to the other patrons, leaving Mustang and her alone.
"Hmm…" she began, and he raised an eyebrow. "I've never pegged you as someone who would come to a hole-in-a-wall restaurant."
"It's not fancy," he agreed, "but they make exceptional local food."
She only nodded.
There was a pause. A long pause. The silence and the tension was even deafening the busy babbling noises from the other customers. Even Anne raised an eyebrow when she came with their drinks.
Was this what it would be like with Mustang? The arguing and then the silent and awkward moments. Just like after she had jumped onto the train. After arguing, she had sat in his private compartment with him and Riza, shooting glares at one another.
"There's going to be a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new railway in Ishval," Roy broke the silence.
"And?" she huffed, she already knew what he wanted.
"I want you to be there."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there," she swatted at the air and muttered under her breath. Like I have any other choice.
"Great, I'll send you the schedule. You should also write to Alphonse, about us."
She scoffed. "No." She did not know how to begin to tell her brother about this.
"You should," he said simply, "he would otherwise learn it from the publicity we would receive in the event, considering that there will be Xingese emissaries present. And I'm sure you'd want him to learn of it from you."
The man just really knew how to get under her skin. It was her choice to accept this arrangement but he had no reason to drag Alphonse into it. Again, she felt as though Mustang was taking away her right to tell the news the way she wanted to. She needed more time to wrap her mind around it. And apparently, time was not something she had.
After a moment of silence, Mustang continued. "Besides, it would be good for you to have someone else to confide in, besides the Captain."
What? Was he saying that she could tell Al everything? She felt her anger subsided. Relieved even… but she couldn't. "I can't do that. He'll be so upset. Worried even."
"He might, initially, but Alphonse has always had your back," Mustang said and then he deadpanned, "and I can handle the backlash and the shovel-talk."
She laughed. "I don't know. He may be all smiles, but he can get scary when he's angry. And you've never seen him angry."
"I think I've already seen the worst of an Elric's wrath. It will not be an issue."
"It's your funeral." She shrugged and took a sip of water. "I'll write a letter tonight, but I probably won't be telling him everything. This is the first time I'm actually glad that we can't make transcontinental phone calls." And that a letter takes about two to three weeks to get to Al. That should give me enough time to adjust.
"Consider it. It's difficult enough without someone to talk to," Roy said, "it's important enough, you could have a telegram sent out."
"No way, you know how expensive that is? They charge by every word!" Ed said.
"I guess our next project would be to improve call quality with Xing then."
"Just so I could talk to Al? You're crazy."
"So we would have better communications with our allies," Mustang said, his eyebrow raised.
She stretched. "You know, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to develop."
"I'm listening."
At that moment Anne came by with their orders, and left them again to their conversation.
"Well… all you can hear are distorted noises from a call to Xing. We would need a better amplifier to rectify that issue, more communication cables of course, and—" she took a bite of her food, "—you're right, the food here is delicious."
Mustang smirked. "Glad you like it. Now talk or eat, don't do both, it's disgusting."
She suppressed the need to stick out her tongue at him and just settled for a glare.
They continued their conversation over the meal. And even though it wasn't on a field of their expertise, she appreciated that he could keep up with her when she delved into some of the technicalities, and even added his own ideas to the table.
Perhaps being stuck in this arrangement with the bastard wouldn't be too bad. It was rare for her to be able to talk like this with someone, and it was a definite plus to know that she would not be married to an imbecile.
Brother,
Guess what? I'm in love
Edelweiss crumpled the paper and toss it into the bin. She picked up the pen again and wrote:
Al,
I'm dating the bastard
She put her pen down, ripped that piece of paper and tried again, and again, and again. This was more challenging than developing her own arrays, the wastepaper basket was already filling up.
Ed sighed, but again, she lifted her pen to write the most difficult letter she'd ever written.
Hey Al,
Tired of Xing yet? If it weren't for the disastrous combination of my automail and the scorching heat of the desert that would surely singe me where the metal meets my flesh, I would be there. Crossing the desert sucks.
The good news is that I would finally be able to, upon the railway's completion. I could finally go to Xing with you and see what the hype is all about, and of course to visit Mei, and maybe even that annoying Emperor.
Funny story. I'm not in Resembool waiting for you. Yes everything and everyone is fine. Winry and Granny send their love. I met Roy at the Sheep Festival of all places. Long story short, I'm seeing him. And no, I'm not enlisting again. Yes, I'm seeing him.
I'm living with Riza Hawkeye, so send all correspondence to this address:
6 Hazel Grove, Apt. #23
East City, East Area 37600,
Amestris.
If you arrive home earlier than planned just contact East HQ and ask for the man. He'll know where I am. And I'll take the first train back to Resembool.
Love,
Ed.
PS: I'd almost forgot. I suffered another episode on 27 March 1921. Yes, I know the intervals are getting smaller, but don't worry. It's nothing I can't handle. Attached are more of my research. Maybe you can make sense of it and test them out where I couldn't.
There. Nothing romantic, no details on their relationship, and a bunch of other things to hopefully distract Al from questioning her relationship with Mustang at the meantime.
She sealed the envelope with the letter and a copy of her research, and put it aside. She would have to mail it first thing this morning if she wanted the letter to reach her brother before he hopped onto the first train back to Amestris.
She really appreciated that Mustang would allow her to tell Alphonse all about the arrangement, but she was not ready to let Al know. Even as gentle of a person her brother was, he would raise hell over this.
For the longest time, all they had was each other, and as a result, they were both protective of one another. Okay, maybe even overprotective. She didn't want to involve her brother into this mess. This was her decision and her burden to carry, alone. She just had to be convincing enough to be able to deceive him.
Edelweiss decided to give a real effort into working on her behavior around Mustang so that Al would never have to worry about her.