![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Written in conjunction with the pretty lovelove picture by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
calintz, because I am a GOOD FAUST-KUN, YES I AM. ;;;;;; The first blatantly Roy/Ed thing I've ever written, along with a dose of Winry/Al. :D :D :D
Fwibble. Yay drabbleness. :D;;;;;
******************
--On This Night
******************
Fullmetal moves the same way asleep as he does awake: sharp, quick motions that are interspersed with stretches of near-deathly stillness, which are the closest he comes to pliable. When he has a nightmare, one of the truly bad ones, not even Alphonse can get close enough to wake him without risking a clip from the automail arm. Roy is used to that, and does not push his luck; even if they are an open secret, a bruised jaw would be more than he cares to explain.
It is the moments right after waking that things are strange, when Fullmetal's yellow eyes open dark and misty. For a brief space, he's only Edward, because Fullmetal is never so soft, and if Roy touches his shoulder, he will lean quietly back and relax. Roy has it timed down to the second. Sometimes he pulls away first, content to let the mood linger--other times he'll remain, and let the arguement that follows wake him up.
If he let himself question it, he might admit that it confuses him, in some obscure way, to see Edward completely soft-eyed and quiet. A man like Edward Elric, wounded so early and constantly in life, should always have an edge to him--the fact that it vanishes, even for a heartbeat, is strange to Roy. He prefers Fullmetal, awake and aware and sharp-tongued, over Edward, who moves slowly and never says anything. The Fullmetal Alchemist is not a separate entity from Edward Elric, like concealing gloves that may be put on and taken off at will--but Fullmetal is Edward completely in a way that is not true in reverse.
Tonight, there is a strange sort of stillness in the bedroom, which is still more Roy's than anything shared. He walks from the bathroom on light feet, but is considerate enough to rest his weight against a squeaky spot on the floor. Fullmetal is seated on the edge of the bed, leaning back and resting his weight on his automail arm. His suit lies discarded in a messy heap on the ground, and his long hair is haphazardly combed free of its dress ponytail.
"It's a father's place to get maudlin on a night like this, Fullmetal," Roy says, as he lays his towel across the head of a chair. "You should be happy tonight."
The blond head tilts back, and for a moment, Roy feels as though he's talking to Edward, not Fullmetal. For a moment, the distinction gives him pause--but no, there's a glint in those yellow eyes and the younger man shrugs and straightens again. "What're you talking about, Colonel? Of course I'm happy. Al's finally gotten everything he deserves."
A smile is in his voice, but it's tinged with a strange melancholia that's out of character for Fullmetal, even at the lowest point through the years. Roy frowns as he sits down on the opposite side of the bed. "Fullmetal?"
"I'm thinking, that's all." Fullmetal turns away slightly, and the line of his back is neither inviting nor repelling. On the sheets, his automail hand opens and closes, flexing like slow thought. "You know, when we were kids, Mom always thought I'd be the one who'd marry Winry. She used to tease me about it--but I always knew that Al would get there first."
"Even that long ago?" Roy slides closer, and to his surprise, Fullmetal actually sways back a fraction, the line of his bare back warming the distance to Roy's arm. "That's early to be so certain of something."
Fullmetal shrugs. "I know Al," he says. "Even in that suit of armor, he never lost sight of other things. That's how he's always been, and Winry was never stupid enough to forget that." He shifts his weight and leans forward, holding out both hands, turning them to face palms-up, then closes his fingers slowly. "Some things can't be understood by thinking them out, so I lost my chances as they came."
"All of them?" Roy asks quietly. The whole conversation feels awkward and strange to him, a dream that's too solid to *not* be real. He's halfway tempted to check the time, and see if perhaps it's actually early morning, with the smell of Edward's hair letting him imagine fanciful things. On a whim, he reaches out to warm flesh, and there's the shock of it against his fingers, the smooth curve of Fullmetal's left shoulder. "Are you so sure of that, Fullmetal?"
"Careful, Colonel." He sees Fullmetal's mouth twitch, and there's that elusive smile, the one that even his brother's new bride rarely sees. Fullmetal does not lean back, but a subtle tension leaves his shoulder; he no longer looks ready to spring off and disappear down the hall and out of the house. "I might start thinking you *mean* something."
Roy himself smiles, a quick motion. "I always *mean* something, Fullmetal," he says. "My meaning, however, may not always be what you think."
Fullmetal snorts, but there's less challenge than a certain dry amusement. The way he smiles is still oddly reminiscent of Edward alone, as though too wrapped in sleep to recognize the rest of the world. For a moment, Roy wants to say something more, to put his heel on this off-balance moment and end it there; instead, he remains perfectly still and waits.
At last Fullmetal reaches up, pulls Roy's hand from his shoulder, and in the process their fingers tangle. Despite the differences in their size, Fullmetal's hands are broad and strong, almost the same size as Roy's own. They do not clutch nor cling, and a single halfhearted tug could easily free Roy from their net.
Perhaps, he thinks, that's why he stays instead.
"Besides," Fullmetal says abruptly, and now his eyes are flashing awake and aware, "I was never interested in marrying a girl who knows how my arm and leg work better than *I* do. Do you know what she'd do to me, if we ever had a fight?" He effects a mock shudder, exaggerated in a sleepy sort of way. "Al can handle her; he's better at dealing with girls."
It earns him a chuckle from Roy, who rotates their linked hands idly from side to side. "Your fanclub will be crushed."
"They'll live," Fullmetal says, with derrisive finality. Like an afterthought, he tugs at Roy's hand, pulling the other man forward, even as he leans back. "I'll let you handle the more persistent ones."
He leans his chin into soft gold hair; even clean and still slightly damp, it carries the smell of old blood and steel. "They don't stand a chance," he says, without any real heat or implication, but Fullmetal turns his head and raises an eyebrow regardless.
"It's you saying things like that which worries me," he says, and then drops gracelessly back, so that he settles against Roy's chest, then closes his eyes. "Good night," he adds, without moving, and goes still. Roy waits and counts the seconds until Fullmetal's breathing smooths out into the easy beats of sleep. Fullmetal's head is heavy against his shoulder, and in his relaxed face is the shadowy precursor that will be Edward, in the morning.
Roy smiles, and shifts their weight.
"Good night," he says.
--end--
calintz, because I am a GOOD FAUST-KUN, YES I AM. ;;;;;; The first blatantly Roy/Ed thing I've ever written, along with a dose of Winry/Al. :D :D :DFwibble. Yay drabbleness. :D;;;;;
******************
--On This Night
******************
Fullmetal moves the same way asleep as he does awake: sharp, quick motions that are interspersed with stretches of near-deathly stillness, which are the closest he comes to pliable. When he has a nightmare, one of the truly bad ones, not even Alphonse can get close enough to wake him without risking a clip from the automail arm. Roy is used to that, and does not push his luck; even if they are an open secret, a bruised jaw would be more than he cares to explain.
It is the moments right after waking that things are strange, when Fullmetal's yellow eyes open dark and misty. For a brief space, he's only Edward, because Fullmetal is never so soft, and if Roy touches his shoulder, he will lean quietly back and relax. Roy has it timed down to the second. Sometimes he pulls away first, content to let the mood linger--other times he'll remain, and let the arguement that follows wake him up.
If he let himself question it, he might admit that it confuses him, in some obscure way, to see Edward completely soft-eyed and quiet. A man like Edward Elric, wounded so early and constantly in life, should always have an edge to him--the fact that it vanishes, even for a heartbeat, is strange to Roy. He prefers Fullmetal, awake and aware and sharp-tongued, over Edward, who moves slowly and never says anything. The Fullmetal Alchemist is not a separate entity from Edward Elric, like concealing gloves that may be put on and taken off at will--but Fullmetal is Edward completely in a way that is not true in reverse.
Tonight, there is a strange sort of stillness in the bedroom, which is still more Roy's than anything shared. He walks from the bathroom on light feet, but is considerate enough to rest his weight against a squeaky spot on the floor. Fullmetal is seated on the edge of the bed, leaning back and resting his weight on his automail arm. His suit lies discarded in a messy heap on the ground, and his long hair is haphazardly combed free of its dress ponytail.
"It's a father's place to get maudlin on a night like this, Fullmetal," Roy says, as he lays his towel across the head of a chair. "You should be happy tonight."
The blond head tilts back, and for a moment, Roy feels as though he's talking to Edward, not Fullmetal. For a moment, the distinction gives him pause--but no, there's a glint in those yellow eyes and the younger man shrugs and straightens again. "What're you talking about, Colonel? Of course I'm happy. Al's finally gotten everything he deserves."
A smile is in his voice, but it's tinged with a strange melancholia that's out of character for Fullmetal, even at the lowest point through the years. Roy frowns as he sits down on the opposite side of the bed. "Fullmetal?"
"I'm thinking, that's all." Fullmetal turns away slightly, and the line of his back is neither inviting nor repelling. On the sheets, his automail hand opens and closes, flexing like slow thought. "You know, when we were kids, Mom always thought I'd be the one who'd marry Winry. She used to tease me about it--but I always knew that Al would get there first."
"Even that long ago?" Roy slides closer, and to his surprise, Fullmetal actually sways back a fraction, the line of his bare back warming the distance to Roy's arm. "That's early to be so certain of something."
Fullmetal shrugs. "I know Al," he says. "Even in that suit of armor, he never lost sight of other things. That's how he's always been, and Winry was never stupid enough to forget that." He shifts his weight and leans forward, holding out both hands, turning them to face palms-up, then closes his fingers slowly. "Some things can't be understood by thinking them out, so I lost my chances as they came."
"All of them?" Roy asks quietly. The whole conversation feels awkward and strange to him, a dream that's too solid to *not* be real. He's halfway tempted to check the time, and see if perhaps it's actually early morning, with the smell of Edward's hair letting him imagine fanciful things. On a whim, he reaches out to warm flesh, and there's the shock of it against his fingers, the smooth curve of Fullmetal's left shoulder. "Are you so sure of that, Fullmetal?"
"Careful, Colonel." He sees Fullmetal's mouth twitch, and there's that elusive smile, the one that even his brother's new bride rarely sees. Fullmetal does not lean back, but a subtle tension leaves his shoulder; he no longer looks ready to spring off and disappear down the hall and out of the house. "I might start thinking you *mean* something."
Roy himself smiles, a quick motion. "I always *mean* something, Fullmetal," he says. "My meaning, however, may not always be what you think."
Fullmetal snorts, but there's less challenge than a certain dry amusement. The way he smiles is still oddly reminiscent of Edward alone, as though too wrapped in sleep to recognize the rest of the world. For a moment, Roy wants to say something more, to put his heel on this off-balance moment and end it there; instead, he remains perfectly still and waits.
At last Fullmetal reaches up, pulls Roy's hand from his shoulder, and in the process their fingers tangle. Despite the differences in their size, Fullmetal's hands are broad and strong, almost the same size as Roy's own. They do not clutch nor cling, and a single halfhearted tug could easily free Roy from their net.
Perhaps, he thinks, that's why he stays instead.
"Besides," Fullmetal says abruptly, and now his eyes are flashing awake and aware, "I was never interested in marrying a girl who knows how my arm and leg work better than *I* do. Do you know what she'd do to me, if we ever had a fight?" He effects a mock shudder, exaggerated in a sleepy sort of way. "Al can handle her; he's better at dealing with girls."
It earns him a chuckle from Roy, who rotates their linked hands idly from side to side. "Your fanclub will be crushed."
"They'll live," Fullmetal says, with derrisive finality. Like an afterthought, he tugs at Roy's hand, pulling the other man forward, even as he leans back. "I'll let you handle the more persistent ones."
He leans his chin into soft gold hair; even clean and still slightly damp, it carries the smell of old blood and steel. "They don't stand a chance," he says, without any real heat or implication, but Fullmetal turns his head and raises an eyebrow regardless.
"It's you saying things like that which worries me," he says, and then drops gracelessly back, so that he settles against Roy's chest, then closes his eyes. "Good night," he adds, without moving, and goes still. Roy waits and counts the seconds until Fullmetal's breathing smooths out into the easy beats of sleep. Fullmetal's head is heavy against his shoulder, and in his relaxed face is the shadowy precursor that will be Edward, in the morning.
Roy smiles, and shifts their weight.
"Good night," he says.
--end--
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
-Mari
From:
Re:
The way I saw it, when I was writing it, this is still fairly early in the actual "lovers" part of their dynamic; sort of an "hey, Al's normal!" to a "let's go DRINKING OR SOMETHING! to celebrate!" and ending with a "... as I've been jumped and thoroughly debauched, you're keeping me >:E" kind of thing, at least from Ed's perspective. Roy himself is sorta "ooookay ... ?" about the simplicity of it all, but as he LIKES things as they are, he'll not push it.
--and there encapsulated is maybe half the background. XD Maybe I'll write that someday, when tests do not loom so blackly over my head. >_>
From:
no subject
I love it, of course, even if I have nothing more coherent to offer... (It's too early) and it reminds me, we still need to bust out episodes 5-8.
From:
Re:
Yes, you SHOULD break out the rest of the episodes! ♥♥ At the very least get to ep13, though hell, the rest of fandom went bonkers over the Royangst in ep15, too. ♥
From:
no subject
From:
Re:
[GETS STABBED]
--or not! :D
From:
no subject
TAKE IT, DAMMIT. XD
From:
Re:
If it comes as a gift from you, HOW CAN I REFUSE? ♥ XD
From:
no subject
and that is just why Ed/Winry is...problematic. At least if he keeps the automail...
From:
Re:
And, see, I have images of Winry unhooking Ed's arm and beating him with it, should he ever sufficiently piss her off enough. Not, I think, the sort of advantage Ed would want to give his supposedly sweet and blushing bride. XD
From:
no subject
>.> That first comment makes me feel inadequate with my little customary 'liek omfg i luv yer fic!!1' -cough- But, there it is anyway. XD
Very good. n_nV
From:
Re:
From:
no subject
Okay, will stop fangirling now. ^^;
From:
Re:
And, uh, I'll stop waxing my soapbox here, to ruin my metaphors. :D;;;;; Thanks for commenting, I appreciate it! :D :D :D
From:
no subject
*contemplates liminality happily*
From:
Re:
... poo, I talk too much. >_> But thanks so much for your comments; I'm glad to know you liked it! :D
From:
Re:
And perhaps the titles are how Roy protects himself. He's never struck me as the kind of person who finds it easy to set out to relate to someone else anywise intimately (Hughes somewhat excepted for whatever reasons). Of course, that would mean that all the personal-connection bits that manage to creep in anyway will adhere to the title and turn it into a name.
Ah, two such messed up boys. No wonder they're so fun to write.
From:
Re:
Given Roy's huge ambition, I definitely think that while he's very charming and good at dealing with people, it's all sort of shallow, socialite-type relation. Even people whom he trusts with his life and his secrets, he doesn't trust with HIMSELF, which is what really makes his relationship with Hughes that much more important to Roy-as-a-character. >_> Ed has the potential for that, but only if Roy lets himself believe it enough for connections to be made.
... or so I think, and WOW I BLATHER. :X erm.
From:
Re:
I do think that Roy may see some of himself in Ed, and I wonder how that affects his willingness to connect and trust.
From:
Re:
Of course, with that in mind, I think Roy would be leery of a very deep personal relationship with Ed whose boundaries were not originally set by Ed himself. >_> While he plays at manipulation, I don't think he'd be satisfied with anything less than Ed's all--which he wouldn't feel he'd gotten, if he sets the lines even there, if that makes sense.
From:
Re:
...oh. Yes, that would... work...
*dashes off*
...
*dashes back and hugs*
You've just caused one of the two stories waiting in the wings to gel. Must go write. Right now. Oh, this will work...
Thank you!
*dashes off*
From:
<33333
I love you both. You bring joy and light to my existence, and if either of you ever stop writing, I will be forced to hunt you down and hurt you.
XD
From:
Re: <33333
From:
Re: <33333
From:
Re: <33333
But man, I'm always willing and eager to debate characters with other ficwriters, and with a series like FMA, I can go het OR slash, so it's all good. XD Woo♥
From:
Re: <33333
From:
no subject
Okay, I am JEALOUS. It is utterly unfair for you to be a complete and total master of the drabble!
I love the way you've written this (AS YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED), and while I don't know the characters, I love the interplay you have between them. THe unreliable narrator who can only think of him as 'Fullmetal' works in himself when all he's thinking about is Fullmetal. Working in the background characters in a way that makes sense *even if I don't know them* (And of *course* a mechanic would be the one to marry Al...) ....bwa.
You are too good. I seethe. :E
From:
Re:
Waaaah, you're always so kind to me~~~ ♥♥ I really hope you'll get to see this someday, 'cos I know it's something you'd really like. :D :D
Thank you for commenting, Haruluff, especially since you've not seen the series yet~ :D :D :D
From:
*purr* I like...
But... but... he is the father! Well, not really, but one thing that always struck me with the sibling relationship with Al, is that while Al has the wisdom that some just have, Ed is still the big brother, and the only true male role model Al follows... I'm the big sister, and you really do feel like the parent sometimes, especially when the parent(s) aren't there, for whatever reason. So, yeah, Ed feeling like a maudlin father actually makes sense to me.
I like how Roy is so unsure of Ed. So many writing EdxRoy/RoyxEd seem to think Roy will immediately have the upper hand, and maybe he still does in a sense. But Ed knows himself, trusts himself probably far more than Roy trusts himself. That, and Roy not being able to deal with an Ed who isn't defensive, who doesn't have the walls up, an Ed who will let Roy see the vulnerability that makes Ed strong.
From:
Re: *purr* I like...
And I'm glad you liked the dynamic! Maybe it's because we actually SEE Ed dealing with personal issues more, but he's definitely a guy who, once he commits to something, he STAYS with it; a person like Roy, with the hints of being a ladies-man, would likely actually be at the disadvantage with him. So it boils down to the idea that professionally, Roy's got all the cards and more, but in personal issues, Ed's actually got the one-up on him. ♥
From:
no subject
From:
Re:
Of course it's balanced power-play. If Roy pisses Ed off in HIS sandbox, then he's gonna get a whole bucketful of sand dumped on him the momenthe steps into Ed's. And vice-versa. [♥, angelical]
From: (Anonymous)
no subject
I was wondering how long it would take you to right this, kiddo. Nicely done. The strange thing is that I can almost see this happening.
~Sean
From:
no subject
This is a lovely little story, even if I don't really get what's happening since I have no knowledge of this anime at all. I still found it sweet and thoughtful with far more going on underneath the words than immediately apparent.
*friends*
From:
no subject
Thank you so much for commenting! :D :D ♥