Left of Center [Roy/Ed, Al - Older Teen]
Title: Left of Center
Artist/Author: lynx212
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Prompt: Al-POV on Ed/Roy. Preferably post-Brotherhood/manga, but not picky. I'm good with whatever tone works for you, be it angsty or general romance-ish or anything else.
Word Count (if necessary): 2,179
Summary (if necessary): Al realizes something has changed in Ed's life... it's finding out what that something is that causes a problem.
Disclaimer: I don't own the series, characters, etc. I'm merely playing in Arakawa's sandbox
Notes: I hope whoever requested this enjoys it! ^_^
Al was aimlessly walking around Central trying to get his thoughts in order. He doubted a walk around the country let alone the city would clear his head of the conversation he’d had with his brother but he was giving it a try anyway. As he crossed the street headed toward one of the few diners in Central that stayed open all night his mind flashed back to the conversation that was sure to haunt him for a nice long while.
“You got a second Al?” Ed asked as he entered the kitchen where Al was finishing up the dishes.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that,” Al said with a smile, “Mister I’m hardly ever home anymore.”
“That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh so I finally get to know who this mystery woman is?”
“What?”
“Oh come on Brother you couldn’t possibly think I hadn’t put it together by now. You’ve been staying gone overnight and coming back with love bites and a big smile for weeks now.”
“Oh I see,” Ed said with a snort before pouring himself some coffee and sitting down at the table.
“I’m not sure I like that tone,” was Al’s response as he stopped washing dishes, turned around and gave his sibling his undivided attention.
“I’m not sure you’re going to like anything I’m about to say but I’m going to say it anyway.”
That statement made Al’s stomach drop. Ed seldom got so serious with him and when he did what followed was seldom good news.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, no nothing’s wrong. At least not in my opinion,” Ed replied as an odd smile crept across his face.
“Ok that’s a relief. But if nothing’s wrong, why do you sound so serious?”
“I just don’t know how you’re going to react that’s all.”
“React to what? You having a girlfriend? Why would I care if you…”
“Boyfriend Al, I have a boyfriend.”
Well that was a plot twist Al hadn’t seen coming. His brother was dating a man. Al didn’t know how to make this piece of information fit in with everything he knew about his brother… well at least everything Al thought he knew about him.
Grabbing the wine out of the ice box Al finished off his water and replaced it with the crimson liquid. This was not a conversation to be had over water. In fact he was now wishing he had some scotch because his headstrong, loudmouthed, brash sibling coming out of the closet was something that water couldn’t touch. The wine was probably going to fall short too but it was all Al had so it would have to do.
“I… I hadn’t realized that you…,” that’s as far as Al got before his brain fizzled out.
“What, that I preferred men?”
“Yeah, I had no clue.”
“I kind of gathered that when you said mystery woman. That and you grabbing the wine kinda confirmed it.”
“Would you like some?”
“Sure, why not,” Ed said as Al grabbed another glass out of the cabinet. “I’m walking to Roy’s place anyway so it won’t…”
The glass in Al’s hand fell in slow motion before shattering like marbles across the kitchen floor. All he could do was stare at Ed. His nineteen year old brother just told him he’s been swapping tongue, and who knows what else, with Central’s very own playboy and man-whore. Al couldn’t move. He just couldn’t.
“Well that didn’t exactly go over as smoothly as I’d hoped.”
Al didn’t reply he simply grabbed the broom and started sweeping up the mess he’d made. When Ed started picking up the larger chunks that had made it over by him Al asked, “Do you trust him?”
“I wouldn’t have been with him all this time if I didn’t.”
“Speaking of all this time,” Al said as he dumped the broken glass in the trash, “How long has this been going on?”
“That’s a hard question to answer.”
“That long huh?”
“Yes and no.”
“Right before I brought you back I… shit! Long story short I let him know how I felt.”
“Long angsty letter?”
“Please this is me we’re talking about Al,” Ed replied sounding insulted. “Just because I like men doesn’t turn me into a girl or make me not me ok?”
When Al stayed focused on the task at hand and didn’t answer Ed tapped his brother on the shoulder, forcing the younger man to look at him, “Ok?”
“Ok Brother fine I just…,” words were failing Al left and right. “How… how did you let him know?”
“I grabbed the smirking bastard by the front of his shirt and kissed him.”
“Wow that was ballsy.”
“Yeah it was but I really didn’t see myself living much longer so what difference did it make.”
“So how did he respond to that?”
“He was stunned for a moment before he kissed me back.”
“Well that had to be a relief.”
“Yes and no. Knowing that I was possibly going to my death and leaving you, Winry and Pinako was fucking hard enough, adding another person to the list… well as nice as it was in a sense, I could have done without it.”
Thick tense silence hung between them as they finished cleaning up the glass. Once reseated at the table Al looked at his brother, “Isn’t he a little old for you?”
“Like anyone my age could ever hope to understand me. What would we talk about? How great our senior dance was or perhaps how difficult college chemistry is?”
Al had to admit Ed had a point there. It was something he too had a problem with when dating. Most people his age are still talking about their time in high school and such things. Things Al never experienced. With slumped shoulders and a sigh he said, “Well if you’re happy I guess that makes it fine by me.”
Ed snorted and said, “I love you dearly Al but this conversation wasn’t about me asking your permission. I was merely telling you because I wanted you to know.”
“I see.”
“Do you?”
When Al fell silent, Ed didn’t push the matter. Rising to his feet his told his brother he’d see him in a few days and left.
Al had sat there at the kitchen table for hours trying to force it all to make sense before he took off walking. Lots of walking, several cups of cheap coffee later Al was still confused and struggling with the turn of events.
Ed was Ed, which meant he was a nonconformist to his core. If there was a rule, Ed would not only break it but he’d do it in a way they left all involved speechless. So maybe finding this out about his sexuality shouldn’t be a shock. Al shook his head. No, in his world Ed was going to eventually settle down with a nice confident young woman with the patience of a saint, which is what a woman would have to have in order to put up with Ed. She would have to know when to pick and choose her battles with his brother, she would have to be his voice of reason when he was angry and she would have to be able to keep up with his mind.
That was a tall order no matter how you cut it.
His brother was a handful at the best of times and even more so at his worst. He just didn’t have it in him to do anything the easy way and he was so damn bullheaded it’d take more than an official act of the State to whip him in line sometimes. On more than one occasion Al was ready to choke Ed himself and he loved his brother dearly. However, keeping him in line took a calm, calculating, polished kind of suave that many didn’t possess.
… but then again those were attributes Roy Mustang had in spades.
Maybe if Al was honest with himself he could see where a lot of Ed and Roy’s interactions were very much like juvenile flirting. Perhaps, if Al could get over Ed not doing what he expected him to do, he could see Ed had managed to find exactly what it is that he needed even if it was so far left of center that it damn near fell off the map. Sure Roy didn’t have the cute dimples and ample cleavage Al had pictured when he thought of the woman Ed would settle down with but he couldn’t deny that Roy seemed to fit the bill rather well.
As he wandered into the neighborhood Roy lived in, a thought struck him.
Maybe Ed was just what Roy needed as well. The man had lived a half life for so long that the whirlwind that was known as Edward Elric might just be the cure he needed. If Al stopped to think about the haunted look on Roy’s face when he was helping him search for Ed he could probably see more than just a concerned commander. He’d see someone missing more than just a fellow officer; if he looked he’d see someone missing their other half.
As Al wandered into Roy’s yard he realized he’d focused on the wrong things. He’d never felt so small and superficial in his life. Him of all people, mister I use to be a walking suit of armor, not looking past what’s easy to see made Al feel awful. He’d never thought of himself as shallow but it appears to some degree he was. He was disappointed in himself. Who cares how it all worked, as long as they made it work for them what did it matter?
When he stepped up on the large porch happy sounds wafting out of an open kitchen window caught his attention. Walking around to the side Al peered through the opening and smiled at what he saw.
Roy had a bowl of something in his arms and as he tried to mix it up Ed was being a nuisance by trying his best to get his fingers in the bowl. Even though Roy was chastising him the smile on his face said he’d have Ed behaving no other way. Ed grabbed for the bowl once again and when Roy evaded him he started pouting. One look at that pitiful face had Roy taking the spoon out of the bowl and handing it to Ed. In turn Ed calls Roy a sucker but Roy takes the wind out of Ed’s sails by replying with, “And I’m damn good at it if I must say so myself.”
Ed and Al flush in unison at the implications of those words and with Ed distracted Roy recaptures the wooden spoon. Ed goes to protest but Roy kisses the grievance away.
The intimacy of the act had Al feeling like a voyeur so he stepped away from the window and moved toward the front door. Once he was certain his flush was gone and his grin was under control he rang the doorbell. It wasn’t long before he heard footsteps on the other side of the door and when Ed opened it he looked shocked to see Al standing there.
They stood there locked in silence for a few awkward moments before Al said, “I see it now.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I do.”
Ed narrowed his eyes at Al, giving him a skeptical look.
“It’s… it’s not about the container, it’s about the contents,” Al blurted out causing Ed’s eyes to widen in shock. “Me of all people should have known and respected that and for what it’s worth I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”
“You’re asking for something you already had, Al. I could never stay mad at you.”
“Same here.”
“That’s what family’s about right?”
“Exactly, and if you…”
Al was cut off by Roy’s appearance behind Ed, “Is everything ok out here?” Roy asked tentatively. Al was sure Ed had told him at least a little about his less than graceful response earlier that day.
“Right as rain,” Ed replied as he looked up and smiled at Roy in a way that Al had never seen Ed smile before.
“Good,” was Roy’s only response before asking Al if he’d like to join them for dinner.
He tried to decline but they insisted and once the fact they were having breakfast for dinner was thrown in the mix, Al relented.
As he followed the couple… boy that was going to take some getting used to for Al.
As he followed them through the house he thought, so what if he wouldn’t end up with nieces and nephews. The world had enough people and one Ed and one Roy was probably all it could hold anyway… that was a lot of ego to contend with.
As long as Roy never hurt Ed all would be well. He knew several places a person could hide a body and Roy Mustang could fit in them all just fine.
Artist/Author: lynx212
Rating: T
Warnings: None
Prompt: Al-POV on Ed/Roy. Preferably post-Brotherhood/manga, but not picky. I'm good with whatever tone works for you, be it angsty or general romance-ish or anything else.
Word Count (if necessary): 2,179
Summary (if necessary): Al realizes something has changed in Ed's life... it's finding out what that something is that causes a problem.
Disclaimer: I don't own the series, characters, etc. I'm merely playing in Arakawa's sandbox
Notes: I hope whoever requested this enjoys it! ^_^
Al was aimlessly walking around Central trying to get his thoughts in order. He doubted a walk around the country let alone the city would clear his head of the conversation he’d had with his brother but he was giving it a try anyway. As he crossed the street headed toward one of the few diners in Central that stayed open all night his mind flashed back to the conversation that was sure to haunt him for a nice long while.
“You got a second Al?” Ed asked as he entered the kitchen where Al was finishing up the dishes.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that,” Al said with a smile, “Mister I’m hardly ever home anymore.”
“That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh so I finally get to know who this mystery woman is?”
“What?”
“Oh come on Brother you couldn’t possibly think I hadn’t put it together by now. You’ve been staying gone overnight and coming back with love bites and a big smile for weeks now.”
“Oh I see,” Ed said with a snort before pouring himself some coffee and sitting down at the table.
“I’m not sure I like that tone,” was Al’s response as he stopped washing dishes, turned around and gave his sibling his undivided attention.
“I’m not sure you’re going to like anything I’m about to say but I’m going to say it anyway.”
That statement made Al’s stomach drop. Ed seldom got so serious with him and when he did what followed was seldom good news.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, no nothing’s wrong. At least not in my opinion,” Ed replied as an odd smile crept across his face.
“Ok that’s a relief. But if nothing’s wrong, why do you sound so serious?”
“I just don’t know how you’re going to react that’s all.”
“React to what? You having a girlfriend? Why would I care if you…”
“Boyfriend Al, I have a boyfriend.”
Well that was a plot twist Al hadn’t seen coming. His brother was dating a man. Al didn’t know how to make this piece of information fit in with everything he knew about his brother… well at least everything Al thought he knew about him.
Grabbing the wine out of the ice box Al finished off his water and replaced it with the crimson liquid. This was not a conversation to be had over water. In fact he was now wishing he had some scotch because his headstrong, loudmouthed, brash sibling coming out of the closet was something that water couldn’t touch. The wine was probably going to fall short too but it was all Al had so it would have to do.
“I… I hadn’t realized that you…,” that’s as far as Al got before his brain fizzled out.
“What, that I preferred men?”
“Yeah, I had no clue.”
“I kind of gathered that when you said mystery woman. That and you grabbing the wine kinda confirmed it.”
“Would you like some?”
“Sure, why not,” Ed said as Al grabbed another glass out of the cabinet. “I’m walking to Roy’s place anyway so it won’t…”
The glass in Al’s hand fell in slow motion before shattering like marbles across the kitchen floor. All he could do was stare at Ed. His nineteen year old brother just told him he’s been swapping tongue, and who knows what else, with Central’s very own playboy and man-whore. Al couldn’t move. He just couldn’t.
“Well that didn’t exactly go over as smoothly as I’d hoped.”
Al didn’t reply he simply grabbed the broom and started sweeping up the mess he’d made. When Ed started picking up the larger chunks that had made it over by him Al asked, “Do you trust him?”
“I wouldn’t have been with him all this time if I didn’t.”
“Speaking of all this time,” Al said as he dumped the broken glass in the trash, “How long has this been going on?”
“That’s a hard question to answer.”
“That long huh?”
“Yes and no.”
“Right before I brought you back I… shit! Long story short I let him know how I felt.”
“Long angsty letter?”
“Please this is me we’re talking about Al,” Ed replied sounding insulted. “Just because I like men doesn’t turn me into a girl or make me not me ok?”
When Al stayed focused on the task at hand and didn’t answer Ed tapped his brother on the shoulder, forcing the younger man to look at him, “Ok?”
“Ok Brother fine I just…,” words were failing Al left and right. “How… how did you let him know?”
“I grabbed the smirking bastard by the front of his shirt and kissed him.”
“Wow that was ballsy.”
“Yeah it was but I really didn’t see myself living much longer so what difference did it make.”
“So how did he respond to that?”
“He was stunned for a moment before he kissed me back.”
“Well that had to be a relief.”
“Yes and no. Knowing that I was possibly going to my death and leaving you, Winry and Pinako was fucking hard enough, adding another person to the list… well as nice as it was in a sense, I could have done without it.”
Thick tense silence hung between them as they finished cleaning up the glass. Once reseated at the table Al looked at his brother, “Isn’t he a little old for you?”
“Like anyone my age could ever hope to understand me. What would we talk about? How great our senior dance was or perhaps how difficult college chemistry is?”
Al had to admit Ed had a point there. It was something he too had a problem with when dating. Most people his age are still talking about their time in high school and such things. Things Al never experienced. With slumped shoulders and a sigh he said, “Well if you’re happy I guess that makes it fine by me.”
Ed snorted and said, “I love you dearly Al but this conversation wasn’t about me asking your permission. I was merely telling you because I wanted you to know.”
“I see.”
“Do you?”
When Al fell silent, Ed didn’t push the matter. Rising to his feet his told his brother he’d see him in a few days and left.
Al had sat there at the kitchen table for hours trying to force it all to make sense before he took off walking. Lots of walking, several cups of cheap coffee later Al was still confused and struggling with the turn of events.
Ed was Ed, which meant he was a nonconformist to his core. If there was a rule, Ed would not only break it but he’d do it in a way they left all involved speechless. So maybe finding this out about his sexuality shouldn’t be a shock. Al shook his head. No, in his world Ed was going to eventually settle down with a nice confident young woman with the patience of a saint, which is what a woman would have to have in order to put up with Ed. She would have to know when to pick and choose her battles with his brother, she would have to be his voice of reason when he was angry and she would have to be able to keep up with his mind.
That was a tall order no matter how you cut it.
His brother was a handful at the best of times and even more so at his worst. He just didn’t have it in him to do anything the easy way and he was so damn bullheaded it’d take more than an official act of the State to whip him in line sometimes. On more than one occasion Al was ready to choke Ed himself and he loved his brother dearly. However, keeping him in line took a calm, calculating, polished kind of suave that many didn’t possess.
… but then again those were attributes Roy Mustang had in spades.
Maybe if Al was honest with himself he could see where a lot of Ed and Roy’s interactions were very much like juvenile flirting. Perhaps, if Al could get over Ed not doing what he expected him to do, he could see Ed had managed to find exactly what it is that he needed even if it was so far left of center that it damn near fell off the map. Sure Roy didn’t have the cute dimples and ample cleavage Al had pictured when he thought of the woman Ed would settle down with but he couldn’t deny that Roy seemed to fit the bill rather well.
As he wandered into the neighborhood Roy lived in, a thought struck him.
Maybe Ed was just what Roy needed as well. The man had lived a half life for so long that the whirlwind that was known as Edward Elric might just be the cure he needed. If Al stopped to think about the haunted look on Roy’s face when he was helping him search for Ed he could probably see more than just a concerned commander. He’d see someone missing more than just a fellow officer; if he looked he’d see someone missing their other half.
As Al wandered into Roy’s yard he realized he’d focused on the wrong things. He’d never felt so small and superficial in his life. Him of all people, mister I use to be a walking suit of armor, not looking past what’s easy to see made Al feel awful. He’d never thought of himself as shallow but it appears to some degree he was. He was disappointed in himself. Who cares how it all worked, as long as they made it work for them what did it matter?
When he stepped up on the large porch happy sounds wafting out of an open kitchen window caught his attention. Walking around to the side Al peered through the opening and smiled at what he saw.
Roy had a bowl of something in his arms and as he tried to mix it up Ed was being a nuisance by trying his best to get his fingers in the bowl. Even though Roy was chastising him the smile on his face said he’d have Ed behaving no other way. Ed grabbed for the bowl once again and when Roy evaded him he started pouting. One look at that pitiful face had Roy taking the spoon out of the bowl and handing it to Ed. In turn Ed calls Roy a sucker but Roy takes the wind out of Ed’s sails by replying with, “And I’m damn good at it if I must say so myself.”
Ed and Al flush in unison at the implications of those words and with Ed distracted Roy recaptures the wooden spoon. Ed goes to protest but Roy kisses the grievance away.
The intimacy of the act had Al feeling like a voyeur so he stepped away from the window and moved toward the front door. Once he was certain his flush was gone and his grin was under control he rang the doorbell. It wasn’t long before he heard footsteps on the other side of the door and when Ed opened it he looked shocked to see Al standing there.
They stood there locked in silence for a few awkward moments before Al said, “I see it now.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I do.”
Ed narrowed his eyes at Al, giving him a skeptical look.
“It’s… it’s not about the container, it’s about the contents,” Al blurted out causing Ed’s eyes to widen in shock. “Me of all people should have known and respected that and for what it’s worth I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?”
“You’re asking for something you already had, Al. I could never stay mad at you.”
“Same here.”
“That’s what family’s about right?”
“Exactly, and if you…”
Al was cut off by Roy’s appearance behind Ed, “Is everything ok out here?” Roy asked tentatively. Al was sure Ed had told him at least a little about his less than graceful response earlier that day.
“Right as rain,” Ed replied as he looked up and smiled at Roy in a way that Al had never seen Ed smile before.
“Good,” was Roy’s only response before asking Al if he’d like to join them for dinner.
He tried to decline but they insisted and once the fact they were having breakfast for dinner was thrown in the mix, Al relented.
As he followed the couple… boy that was going to take some getting used to for Al.
As he followed them through the house he thought, so what if he wouldn’t end up with nieces and nephews. The world had enough people and one Ed and one Roy was probably all it could hold anyway… that was a lot of ego to contend with.
As long as Roy never hurt Ed all would be well. He knew several places a person could hide a body and Roy Mustang could fit in them all just fine.