[FIC] Snapshots of Chance (Part III)
WRITTEN FOR izkariote FOR HER BIRTHDAY WHICH IS IN A FEW HOURS AND IT DIDN'T SINK INTO MY HEAD UNTIL LIKE FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO. Yeah I'm slow sob. So uh. Uh. Have this strange... nonsensical... oneshot-ish... thing that I wrote while listening to the Robot Unicorn Attack song. No, I don't know why it became like that either. Don't ask.
snapshots of chance
iv. night of a hundred fireflies
It was nightfall and the time to retire had already come, but yet Toshirou was nowhere to be found within the Mustang estate. Had it been under other circumstances, Roy might have been worried-but as it was, all he did was to take half an hour to settle his own things before he lit up a cigarette, grabbed one of the lanterns and promptly stepped out to the courtyard of the house. From there, it only took a mere two minutes and forty seven seconds before he found where his twin brother was: somewhere around the corner of the building (hidden by several random scattered objects that Roy was half sure the other had set up deliberately in a bid to not let anyone not him see this), already having long dozed off with an equally asleep Lucied on his lap, the wolf’s tail wagging every now and then in-between quiet breaths that were in sync with its owner.
The alchemist really couldn’t find himself all that surprised at the sight-while this wasn’t a daily thing, it had certainly happened with enough frequency that he immediately knew what was going on if he mysteriously vanished after dinnertime. Others might found it confusing, but for Roy he could just sense it through their connection (for a lack of a more suitable term); it was just as simple as that. Why his brother did this, he had no idea-and he wasn’t going to press if the samurai wasn’t going to speak. He knew eventually that Toshirou would speak, when he wanted to. For now, though…
Roy gave a soft sigh as he nudged the other by the side with a boot with enough force to ensure that he would wake up. “Toshirou.”
“Mmmn… hm?” Hijikata murmured sleepily as he was roused back to the land of the living, cloudy eyes clearing up as his brain slowly settled to start working again. The younger twin took a minute before he yawned and stretched (Roy could hear those joints on his back popping in the process), rubbing and blinking away the last bit of sleep from his vision before finally turned towards his brother and properly noticed him. “Oh… it’s you,” he spoke, the dreary tone in his voice only all too easily audible.
“You don’t seem to be happy that I found you. Again,” the elder of the two remarked with an amused-looking smile on his face.
All that the longer-haired other did in response was to snort and idly pat the head of the canine still sleeping on his lap. “You always find me,” he went in an almost-drawl.
The smile on Roy’s face never faltered. “That’s because nobody would ever think you would be outside here when it’s so cold.” It was true-it was late October already, and autumn was due to end soon; winter would be here before any of them knew it. With the winds this chilly and the nights almost dreadfully cold, not a lot of people would have a mind to be outside when they were much more comfy in their homes and warm fireplaces. Well, nobody who wasn’t Toshirou, at the very least.
Hijikata snorted somewhat disdainfully there and then, idly pulling up the collar of his dress shirt that had been ruffled by his dozing earlier. “It’s not that bad, once you get used to it.”
“Not everybody lived in Solare like you did, brother dear,” Roy returned with his smile still in place as he lowered a hand towards his younger sibling. “Mother won’t be happy if she knows you’re going to spend the night outside again like this.”
“I’ll just tell her it’s a form of training,” the swordsman said with a slight roll of his eyes, but took the hand anyway as he gently nudged Lucied off his lap. The wolf didn’t even respond in the slightest (besides possibly flicking its ears once or twice) as it slid to the ground, still deep in its sleep. Roy supposed the canine didn’t wake up because it instinctively knew that it wasn’t an intruder or anything-it was usually very alert and sharp. Another reason why he liked dogs-they were so very smart and bright, especially this one.
Pulling his brother up, Roy switched the hand that was holding onto the lantern as he waited for Toshirou to straighten himself properly. “Somehow I don’t think she’ll buy that.”
“Hmph,” Hijikata went with another snort as he brushed away the dead leaves stuck to his pants, straightening his shirt as well while he was at it. “It’s not like she’ll find out anyway. You were the one who found me.”
“I could always tell her,” the elder twin pointed out.
“But you won’t,” the younger twin returned with a small smirk. “Because you love me.”
Roy rolled his eyes at that, an exasperated look crossing his features (even though the smile betrayed what he really felt about it). “That has nothing to do with the situation at hand now, you realize.” And didn’t he say that line before, somewhere?
“Hey hey,” the samurai started, trademark frown appearing on his face, “If you’re going to tell her, then you’re going to regret it.”
The alchemist arched an eyebrow at those words. “Oh, really?”
Hijikata sent a flat look towards his sibling at that. “Have I ever lied to you before?” came the pointed question.
The older of the two paused at that, but a smirk crossed his face quickly enough as he reached out with his free hand and tweaked his twin on the nose. “Yes, actually. Once a day, at the very least.”
“…” the swordsman turned his head to the side and crossed his arms, clearly pouting now. “That’s cheating.”
Roy could only chuckle yet again as he moved his hand to ruffle up his brother’s hair. “If you go back in, I’ll make it up to you.”
A scowl came onto the younger twin’s face with those words. “I’m not a dog, you know.”
“Oh, really? Why, I never knew~”
“Mustang!”
Roy laughed and leaned forward to kiss the other on his forehead (much to Hijikata’s own surprise, embarrassment as well as obvious flailing), drawing back with a smile in place. “C’mon, let’s go back in. You’ll catch your death in this kind of weather.”
Hijikata sighed somewhat melodramatically. “I never said I wasn’t going to, you know.”
The lantern flickered, and the alchemist felt his smile growing wider as he leaned close to his brother once more to meet their lips together in a proper kiss this time. It grew heated, and a quiet groan escaped from the samurai before they broke off in order to breathe again.
Keeping their foreheads pressed together, Roy breathed out quietly to his twin. “Are you going back in now?”
“…asshole,” muttered the samurai in response before he leaned in to start their kiss all over again, and his actions were all the answers that Roy would ever need.
snapshots of chance
iv. night of a hundred fireflies
It was nightfall and the time to retire had already come, but yet Toshirou was nowhere to be found within the Mustang estate. Had it been under other circumstances, Roy might have been worried-but as it was, all he did was to take half an hour to settle his own things before he lit up a cigarette, grabbed one of the lanterns and promptly stepped out to the courtyard of the house. From there, it only took a mere two minutes and forty seven seconds before he found where his twin brother was: somewhere around the corner of the building (hidden by several random scattered objects that Roy was half sure the other had set up deliberately in a bid to not let anyone not him see this), already having long dozed off with an equally asleep Lucied on his lap, the wolf’s tail wagging every now and then in-between quiet breaths that were in sync with its owner.
The alchemist really couldn’t find himself all that surprised at the sight-while this wasn’t a daily thing, it had certainly happened with enough frequency that he immediately knew what was going on if he mysteriously vanished after dinnertime. Others might found it confusing, but for Roy he could just sense it through their connection (for a lack of a more suitable term); it was just as simple as that. Why his brother did this, he had no idea-and he wasn’t going to press if the samurai wasn’t going to speak. He knew eventually that Toshirou would speak, when he wanted to. For now, though…
Roy gave a soft sigh as he nudged the other by the side with a boot with enough force to ensure that he would wake up. “Toshirou.”
“Mmmn… hm?” Hijikata murmured sleepily as he was roused back to the land of the living, cloudy eyes clearing up as his brain slowly settled to start working again. The younger twin took a minute before he yawned and stretched (Roy could hear those joints on his back popping in the process), rubbing and blinking away the last bit of sleep from his vision before finally turned towards his brother and properly noticed him. “Oh… it’s you,” he spoke, the dreary tone in his voice only all too easily audible.
“You don’t seem to be happy that I found you. Again,” the elder of the two remarked with an amused-looking smile on his face.
All that the longer-haired other did in response was to snort and idly pat the head of the canine still sleeping on his lap. “You always find me,” he went in an almost-drawl.
The smile on Roy’s face never faltered. “That’s because nobody would ever think you would be outside here when it’s so cold.” It was true-it was late October already, and autumn was due to end soon; winter would be here before any of them knew it. With the winds this chilly and the nights almost dreadfully cold, not a lot of people would have a mind to be outside when they were much more comfy in their homes and warm fireplaces. Well, nobody who wasn’t Toshirou, at the very least.
Hijikata snorted somewhat disdainfully there and then, idly pulling up the collar of his dress shirt that had been ruffled by his dozing earlier. “It’s not that bad, once you get used to it.”
“Not everybody lived in Solare like you did, brother dear,” Roy returned with his smile still in place as he lowered a hand towards his younger sibling. “Mother won’t be happy if she knows you’re going to spend the night outside again like this.”
“I’ll just tell her it’s a form of training,” the swordsman said with a slight roll of his eyes, but took the hand anyway as he gently nudged Lucied off his lap. The wolf didn’t even respond in the slightest (besides possibly flicking its ears once or twice) as it slid to the ground, still deep in its sleep. Roy supposed the canine didn’t wake up because it instinctively knew that it wasn’t an intruder or anything-it was usually very alert and sharp. Another reason why he liked dogs-they were so very smart and bright, especially this one.
Pulling his brother up, Roy switched the hand that was holding onto the lantern as he waited for Toshirou to straighten himself properly. “Somehow I don’t think she’ll buy that.”
“Hmph,” Hijikata went with another snort as he brushed away the dead leaves stuck to his pants, straightening his shirt as well while he was at it. “It’s not like she’ll find out anyway. You were the one who found me.”
“I could always tell her,” the elder twin pointed out.
“But you won’t,” the younger twin returned with a small smirk. “Because you love me.”
Roy rolled his eyes at that, an exasperated look crossing his features (even though the smile betrayed what he really felt about it). “That has nothing to do with the situation at hand now, you realize.” And didn’t he say that line before, somewhere?
“Hey hey,” the samurai started, trademark frown appearing on his face, “If you’re going to tell her, then you’re going to regret it.”
The alchemist arched an eyebrow at those words. “Oh, really?”
Hijikata sent a flat look towards his sibling at that. “Have I ever lied to you before?” came the pointed question.
The older of the two paused at that, but a smirk crossed his face quickly enough as he reached out with his free hand and tweaked his twin on the nose. “Yes, actually. Once a day, at the very least.”
“…” the swordsman turned his head to the side and crossed his arms, clearly pouting now. “That’s cheating.”
Roy could only chuckle yet again as he moved his hand to ruffle up his brother’s hair. “If you go back in, I’ll make it up to you.”
A scowl came onto the younger twin’s face with those words. “I’m not a dog, you know.”
“Oh, really? Why, I never knew~”
“Mustang!”
Roy laughed and leaned forward to kiss the other on his forehead (much to Hijikata’s own surprise, embarrassment as well as obvious flailing), drawing back with a smile in place. “C’mon, let’s go back in. You’ll catch your death in this kind of weather.”
Hijikata sighed somewhat melodramatically. “I never said I wasn’t going to, you know.”
The lantern flickered, and the alchemist felt his smile growing wider as he leaned close to his brother once more to meet their lips together in a proper kiss this time. It grew heated, and a quiet groan escaped from the samurai before they broke off in order to breathe again.
Keeping their foreheads pressed together, Roy breathed out quietly to his twin. “Are you going back in now?”
“…asshole,” muttered the samurai in response before he leaned in to start their kiss all over again, and his actions were all the answers that Roy would ever need.