Gold and Charcoal, five years later
Title: Gold and Charcoal, five years later
Rating: the new bit is G, NC-17 for bits of G&C itself
Genre: AU, action, romance, smut, stuff
Pairing: EdxAl and HughesxRoy moving toward RoyxEdxAl and HughesxGracia.
Length: This bit 2400 words, almost 200,000 words total.
Summary: In a universe where the elite think their superior genes should allow none but them to use alchemy, street-born Roy Mustang gets involved in the Elrics' rich but miserable life, unaware that the homunculi have dark plans for the boys.
The whole of the fic is scattered everywhere, so if you're new to this story, just hit ff.net, it'll be easier. Click right here.
Roy sat at his desk, grim-faced and fingers weaved together to keep himself from setting something on fire. “Report!”
Edward, standing straight on the other side of the desk, had the same grim expression. He wore the army’s blue uniform now, a precaution Roy had forced upon the Elric brothers after realizing their bright coats made them easy targets for assassination and made it harder to escape in a dangerous situation. Now, at least, they could blend in among the other soldiers. Mostly. Edward’s braid still stood out, but suggesting to cut it earned the kind of ire the blond used to reserve for people mocking his height. Used to, because he’d grown enough in the last few years to put an end to such comments.
“We’ve searched the whole place,” Edward said. “He’s not at any of his usual haunts or at a friend’s house. Havoc is still combing the gardens, but I don’t think we’ll find him there.”
“Expand the search. Search the entire city. If he can’t be found in the next few hours, I will declare a state of emergency.”
Edward nodded in agreement, surely thinking the same as he did: if they could not find him, then it might be that he had been kidnapped. There were those who would benefit from throwing Central into chaos. They had to find him, fast.
“Fire the bodyguard,” Roy added angrily. “We don’t pay him to lose his charge! Havoc will replace him.”
Alphonse came in to announce, “Still nothing. I don’t think he’s in the inner city. I checked the outside market but I didn’t see him.” He shrugged. “Maybe he’s in a bar, trying to get a drink while we’re not there to stop him.”
With the brothers side to side, it was obvious that despite his recent growth spurt, Edward hadn’t been able to overtake Alphonse, who stood two inches taller. Roy counted himself lucky that Alphonse hadn’t grown taller than he was, stopping just short. Without the automail, he might have grown as tall as Havoc.
“Take this seriously, Al!” Edward growled. “What if he’s been kidnapped?”
“Selim is a fifteen-year-old male, you know,” Alphonse said. “He probably just ran away to hide from the both of you. I already said you watch him too closely, didn’t I?”
They were still bickering when Armstrong strode in, holding a slim, dark-haired teenager off the ground with one hand. The youth had his arms crossed and a stubborn expression on his face and there was no mistaking his parentage.
“Worry no more, Roy,” Armstrong boomed. “We have found your son.”
Roy stood up, keeping his face smooth with an effort. “Where was he?”
“He was courting a young lady in the city,” Armstrong said, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
“Was,” Selim said with gritted teeth. “I don’t think I’ll be seeing her again after she saw me dragged out of the restaurant like a criminal!”
“Why didn’t you tell us where you were going?” Edward demanded. “You can’t just run out on your bodyguard like that!”
“That’s why! You can’t bring a bodyguard on a date!” Selim waved his arms in a way so reminiscent of Edward’s flailing that Roy almost forgot he was an angry, worried father. “Put me down already!”
Armstrong did, and promptly removed himself from the office so they could deal with their son privately.
“I’m not ten anymore!” Selim said angrily. “I can get around on my own. I have my gloves!” He was indeed wearing his array gloves, which Roy had given him-along with heavy training to ensure he knew how to use them.
Alphonse said nothing, knowing better than to openly side with the kid, but his expression clearly said ‘I told you’. Edward had no pity at all on his face and seemed to have trouble restraining himself: it was their agreement that when Selim got in trouble, the biological father had the first go.
Roy took a deep, calming breath. “Young man, you have no idea how much trouble you’re in.”
Selim spent the evening in his bedroom. He accepted food but otherwise refused to speak to his father and uncles. Why should they be mad at him? They were the ones who might have cost him the love of his life!
Okay, probably not. Sara was cute but he wasn’t sure she was that bright. But he might at least have gotten something akin to sex! He could have been loosing his virginity right now!
His mother would have allowed him to do as he pleased but since she was long dead, he couldn't appeal to her. He was stuck here with his biological father and two ‘uncles’, none of whom he knew perfectly well yet. He’d grown up in the slums! Lived there for the first ten years of his life, before he knew who his father was-and how important he had become. He knew his way around town!
He was moping on his bed and tugging at his jeans to widen the hole in the right knee when a plaintive mew reached his ears. He scrambled up the ladder he used to reach the narrow window at the top of the wall and touched the array scratched into the thick glass. The glass parted and a black cat slid inside; there was a piece of paper curled around its collar.
“You got something for me, Charcoal?”
Excited, he took the piece of paper and settled down on his bed to read the message. Nobody but his closest friends knew they could use Charcoal to send him messages. Even if Alphonse intercepted one-Charcoal was his kitty after all-he wouldn’t be able to read them: they used an elaborate code to protect their conversations. They weren’t generally worth hiding, but there was a thrill in doing something behind his paranoid father’s back. This time, it was a simply invitation to do homework together from his good friend and classmate Marin.
He peeked out of his room, calling, “Alphonse?”
Edward and Alphonse were sprawled on the couch, attempting to read from the same book and arguing about something or other. Selim understood basic principles of alchemy, but what they talked about was too complex for his brain to handle. Girls were more fun than alchemy.
“Yes, Selim?”
Using his best ‘I’m totally not looking forward to this’ tone, he said, “I forgot we have an assignment for school. Can I go see Marin? She’s my partner.”
“Sure. Tell Havoc to go with you.”
He sighed, grabbed his backpack and walked out the front door, where he found Havoc chatting with the soldier on duty. Picking up his new bodyguard, he made his way to his friend’s place, across the inner city’s market. Marin’s family were what people used to call commoners, all of them brown-haired. These days it didn’t seem to matter much, which was good since his black hair would have put him beneath her attention before.
“Stay outside,” he told Havoc bossily. “They don’t like military.”
“Sure thing, Boss,” Havoc said, pulling out a new cigarette from his magical never-empty pack and leaning against the railing in front of Marin’s apartment door.
The moment she saw him, Marin pulled him into her room for privacy. She had a round, pretty face, soft brown hair and a clear laugh that made Selim want to kiss her-but she’d probably hit him for it so he didn’t. She seemed smarter than he was and he was fine with that since it meant he got better grades when he collaborated with her. His uncles were irrational about school, acting devastated if he showed up with less than an A. With Marin helping, he managed to avoid getting another lecture on the importance of school.
“So, how much trouble were you in this time?” she said, her smile cute and infuriating at once.
“Not that much,” he lied. She didn’t have to know about the Talk he’d gotten.
“Uh huh. I saw the soldiers searching for you earlier. I thought you might need an excuse to bolt. Since you took it, it probably wasn’t nice at home.”
“Excuse?” He grinned hopefully. “You already finished the assignment?”
“What do you think I was doing while you were taking Sara to the restaurant? Yes, I finished it. You owe me big time.”
“Anything,” he said earnestly. He knew he had better be nice to a girl willing to do his half of the schoolwork. That was a lesson from his father, who perfectly knew the grades he brought home were far more Marin’s doing than his own.
She twirled a strand of brown hair around her finger, suddenly shy. “Do you think you can get me out the gates? Mom never lets me go alone. It’s not fair you took Sara out and not me.”
“You’re going to get me into more trouble,” he complained. Still, he went and opened the window, checking that Havoc was nowhere to be seen. They were three levels up but that meant nothing to an alchemist: he drew an array with a black marker and transmuted handholds into the outside wall. “Okay, hurry!”
They scrambled down unseen, or so they thought until they reached the ground. There was a woman waiting for them, a blond woman with baggy pants, a tank top and a tattoo stretching from her shoulder to her cheek.
“Hello, Selim Mustang. My boss would like to meet you.”
Alphonse and Edward had hoped to get a little cuddle time with Roy while Selim was out. When there was a teenager in the house, it could be hard to have alone time-which generally meant wild sex time. Sadly, their hopes were brutally squashed.
“I’m sorry,” Havoc panted, resting his hands on his knees. “They went out the window when I wasn’t looking and next thing I know, Marin’s screaming and he’s being hauled away by a woman with spaghetti arms!”
Alphonse knew of only one woman who could be described as having spaghetti arms. “Why would Martel-?”
“Greed,” Roy said, snatching his coat.
“Backup?” Edward inquired, transmuting his automail in an elaborate, beautifully murderous blade that spoke volumes about its owner’s mindset.
“You two will do. Havoc, you stay here. If needed, alert Armstrong.”
The three of them stormed out to pay Greed’s Den a visit. Roy was quiet and grim the whole way, Edward was flexing his muscles in preparation for violence and Alphonse kept wondering what in the world Greed wanted. He couldn’t believe Greed would hurt Selim, not because Greed was above such things, but because he was too smart to enrage the ‘Black Fuhrer’ and his famous bodyguards.
Greed’s Den was the most popular and fancy bar in the city. Situated in the slums, it attracted crowds of adventurous blondies ready to spend fortunes to hang out with a genuine homunculus and his beautiful whores of either sex. With Roy’s backing and the help of his loyal chimera, Greed had brought a measure of safety and prosperity to the slums.
When they reached the bar’s door, their identity was not questioned: what other black-haired man had two automail-wearing blondies as his private bodyguards? They were ushered not inside the bar, but down a flight of stairs and into Greed’s private quarters. Here, there were no whores, only the men and women Greed trusted. And, sitting beside Greed on an oversized leather couch, a fidgeting Selim with wide, wide eyes. He seemed unharmed, but he knew enough about homunculi to be petrified. It was also likely Greed had put on a show to scare him, simply because he could.
All eyes were on them now, many of them inhuman eyes. Martel stood nearby, leaning against the wall. She winked at Alphonse and he blinked at her: it didn’t seem to be a good time to be friendly with each other.
“I believe you have something of mine,” Roy said, striding forward. “Explain.” His voice was hard and his fingers poised for mass incineration.
“Roy, Roy,” Greed said on a tone better suited to chiding a child than talking to the head of state. “After all I did for you, you could show some gratitude. I’ve been waiting to talk to you for a month. I thought a more direct approach might hurry things up.”
“I’m here. Talk.”
Greed casually stretched an arm around Selim’s shoulders. The boy tensed and kept his hopeful eyes on his father. “We’re agreed my presence in the slums is doing a lot of good to your city, aren’t we? So why exactly am I hearing about a proposal to shut down my… what do they call it… den of immorality? You can’t put my boys and girls out of work. They won’t be happy. I won’t be happy.” Greed displayed his unfriendly shark grin. “It may be in your best interest to keep me happy.”
“I don’t intend to let it pass. I didn’t think they’d get as far as they did with it. They’re afraid of you.”
“Smart of them,” Greed said pleasantly.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Roy said, snapping his fingers. A small flame danced above his gloved fingers, pretty and threatening. “Please remember I tend to set things on fire when I’m upset. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I have work to do.” He beckoned to his son. “Selim.”
The teenager sprung to his feet and scurried to his father’s side. Edward took the lead back upstairs, intent on getting everybody out safely, with Roy and Selim following side by side. Alphonse waited where he was until he heard the upstairs door close.
“Did he pay you to pull this off?” he wondered.
Greed smirked. “He didn’t tell you anything?”
“Let me guess. You wanted him to come over about this law problem and he told you he’d help if you could put a little fear into his troublesome child. You sent someone we’d recognized and voila, Roy knew where to go to ‘save’ poor Selim from the scary homunculus.” Taking Greed’s grin as a confirmation, Alphonse shook his head ruefully. “That man, as my brother would say, is a manipulative bastard.”
He waved at Martel and hurried to catch up with his family. He had a feeling they wouldn’t have any more problems with Selim and his bodyguard for quite a while.
Roy should have known better than to screw around so much. I'm sure he has a few more kids running around. :p
This is where I say plz check out my erotic M/M novel, it's only $5 and if you buy it, those crazy people may ask me to write another!
Read the excerpt and buy the book here. Please? ;_;
Rating: the new bit is G, NC-17 for bits of G&C itself
Genre: AU, action, romance, smut, stuff
Pairing: EdxAl and HughesxRoy moving toward RoyxEdxAl and HughesxGracia.
Length: This bit 2400 words, almost 200,000 words total.
Summary: In a universe where the elite think their superior genes should allow none but them to use alchemy, street-born Roy Mustang gets involved in the Elrics' rich but miserable life, unaware that the homunculi have dark plans for the boys.
The whole of the fic is scattered everywhere, so if you're new to this story, just hit ff.net, it'll be easier. Click right here.
Roy sat at his desk, grim-faced and fingers weaved together to keep himself from setting something on fire. “Report!”
Edward, standing straight on the other side of the desk, had the same grim expression. He wore the army’s blue uniform now, a precaution Roy had forced upon the Elric brothers after realizing their bright coats made them easy targets for assassination and made it harder to escape in a dangerous situation. Now, at least, they could blend in among the other soldiers. Mostly. Edward’s braid still stood out, but suggesting to cut it earned the kind of ire the blond used to reserve for people mocking his height. Used to, because he’d grown enough in the last few years to put an end to such comments.
“We’ve searched the whole place,” Edward said. “He’s not at any of his usual haunts or at a friend’s house. Havoc is still combing the gardens, but I don’t think we’ll find him there.”
“Expand the search. Search the entire city. If he can’t be found in the next few hours, I will declare a state of emergency.”
Edward nodded in agreement, surely thinking the same as he did: if they could not find him, then it might be that he had been kidnapped. There were those who would benefit from throwing Central into chaos. They had to find him, fast.
“Fire the bodyguard,” Roy added angrily. “We don’t pay him to lose his charge! Havoc will replace him.”
Alphonse came in to announce, “Still nothing. I don’t think he’s in the inner city. I checked the outside market but I didn’t see him.” He shrugged. “Maybe he’s in a bar, trying to get a drink while we’re not there to stop him.”
With the brothers side to side, it was obvious that despite his recent growth spurt, Edward hadn’t been able to overtake Alphonse, who stood two inches taller. Roy counted himself lucky that Alphonse hadn’t grown taller than he was, stopping just short. Without the automail, he might have grown as tall as Havoc.
“Take this seriously, Al!” Edward growled. “What if he’s been kidnapped?”
“Selim is a fifteen-year-old male, you know,” Alphonse said. “He probably just ran away to hide from the both of you. I already said you watch him too closely, didn’t I?”
They were still bickering when Armstrong strode in, holding a slim, dark-haired teenager off the ground with one hand. The youth had his arms crossed and a stubborn expression on his face and there was no mistaking his parentage.
“Worry no more, Roy,” Armstrong boomed. “We have found your son.”
Roy stood up, keeping his face smooth with an effort. “Where was he?”
“He was courting a young lady in the city,” Armstrong said, his eyes twinkling in amusement.
“Was,” Selim said with gritted teeth. “I don’t think I’ll be seeing her again after she saw me dragged out of the restaurant like a criminal!”
“Why didn’t you tell us where you were going?” Edward demanded. “You can’t just run out on your bodyguard like that!”
“That’s why! You can’t bring a bodyguard on a date!” Selim waved his arms in a way so reminiscent of Edward’s flailing that Roy almost forgot he was an angry, worried father. “Put me down already!”
Armstrong did, and promptly removed himself from the office so they could deal with their son privately.
“I’m not ten anymore!” Selim said angrily. “I can get around on my own. I have my gloves!” He was indeed wearing his array gloves, which Roy had given him-along with heavy training to ensure he knew how to use them.
Alphonse said nothing, knowing better than to openly side with the kid, but his expression clearly said ‘I told you’. Edward had no pity at all on his face and seemed to have trouble restraining himself: it was their agreement that when Selim got in trouble, the biological father had the first go.
Roy took a deep, calming breath. “Young man, you have no idea how much trouble you’re in.”
Selim spent the evening in his bedroom. He accepted food but otherwise refused to speak to his father and uncles. Why should they be mad at him? They were the ones who might have cost him the love of his life!
Okay, probably not. Sara was cute but he wasn’t sure she was that bright. But he might at least have gotten something akin to sex! He could have been loosing his virginity right now!
His mother would have allowed him to do as he pleased but since she was long dead, he couldn't appeal to her. He was stuck here with his biological father and two ‘uncles’, none of whom he knew perfectly well yet. He’d grown up in the slums! Lived there for the first ten years of his life, before he knew who his father was-and how important he had become. He knew his way around town!
He was moping on his bed and tugging at his jeans to widen the hole in the right knee when a plaintive mew reached his ears. He scrambled up the ladder he used to reach the narrow window at the top of the wall and touched the array scratched into the thick glass. The glass parted and a black cat slid inside; there was a piece of paper curled around its collar.
“You got something for me, Charcoal?”
Excited, he took the piece of paper and settled down on his bed to read the message. Nobody but his closest friends knew they could use Charcoal to send him messages. Even if Alphonse intercepted one-Charcoal was his kitty after all-he wouldn’t be able to read them: they used an elaborate code to protect their conversations. They weren’t generally worth hiding, but there was a thrill in doing something behind his paranoid father’s back. This time, it was a simply invitation to do homework together from his good friend and classmate Marin.
He peeked out of his room, calling, “Alphonse?”
Edward and Alphonse were sprawled on the couch, attempting to read from the same book and arguing about something or other. Selim understood basic principles of alchemy, but what they talked about was too complex for his brain to handle. Girls were more fun than alchemy.
“Yes, Selim?”
Using his best ‘I’m totally not looking forward to this’ tone, he said, “I forgot we have an assignment for school. Can I go see Marin? She’s my partner.”
“Sure. Tell Havoc to go with you.”
He sighed, grabbed his backpack and walked out the front door, where he found Havoc chatting with the soldier on duty. Picking up his new bodyguard, he made his way to his friend’s place, across the inner city’s market. Marin’s family were what people used to call commoners, all of them brown-haired. These days it didn’t seem to matter much, which was good since his black hair would have put him beneath her attention before.
“Stay outside,” he told Havoc bossily. “They don’t like military.”
“Sure thing, Boss,” Havoc said, pulling out a new cigarette from his magical never-empty pack and leaning against the railing in front of Marin’s apartment door.
The moment she saw him, Marin pulled him into her room for privacy. She had a round, pretty face, soft brown hair and a clear laugh that made Selim want to kiss her-but she’d probably hit him for it so he didn’t. She seemed smarter than he was and he was fine with that since it meant he got better grades when he collaborated with her. His uncles were irrational about school, acting devastated if he showed up with less than an A. With Marin helping, he managed to avoid getting another lecture on the importance of school.
“So, how much trouble were you in this time?” she said, her smile cute and infuriating at once.
“Not that much,” he lied. She didn’t have to know about the Talk he’d gotten.
“Uh huh. I saw the soldiers searching for you earlier. I thought you might need an excuse to bolt. Since you took it, it probably wasn’t nice at home.”
“Excuse?” He grinned hopefully. “You already finished the assignment?”
“What do you think I was doing while you were taking Sara to the restaurant? Yes, I finished it. You owe me big time.”
“Anything,” he said earnestly. He knew he had better be nice to a girl willing to do his half of the schoolwork. That was a lesson from his father, who perfectly knew the grades he brought home were far more Marin’s doing than his own.
She twirled a strand of brown hair around her finger, suddenly shy. “Do you think you can get me out the gates? Mom never lets me go alone. It’s not fair you took Sara out and not me.”
“You’re going to get me into more trouble,” he complained. Still, he went and opened the window, checking that Havoc was nowhere to be seen. They were three levels up but that meant nothing to an alchemist: he drew an array with a black marker and transmuted handholds into the outside wall. “Okay, hurry!”
They scrambled down unseen, or so they thought until they reached the ground. There was a woman waiting for them, a blond woman with baggy pants, a tank top and a tattoo stretching from her shoulder to her cheek.
“Hello, Selim Mustang. My boss would like to meet you.”
Alphonse and Edward had hoped to get a little cuddle time with Roy while Selim was out. When there was a teenager in the house, it could be hard to have alone time-which generally meant wild sex time. Sadly, their hopes were brutally squashed.
“I’m sorry,” Havoc panted, resting his hands on his knees. “They went out the window when I wasn’t looking and next thing I know, Marin’s screaming and he’s being hauled away by a woman with spaghetti arms!”
Alphonse knew of only one woman who could be described as having spaghetti arms. “Why would Martel-?”
“Greed,” Roy said, snatching his coat.
“Backup?” Edward inquired, transmuting his automail in an elaborate, beautifully murderous blade that spoke volumes about its owner’s mindset.
“You two will do. Havoc, you stay here. If needed, alert Armstrong.”
The three of them stormed out to pay Greed’s Den a visit. Roy was quiet and grim the whole way, Edward was flexing his muscles in preparation for violence and Alphonse kept wondering what in the world Greed wanted. He couldn’t believe Greed would hurt Selim, not because Greed was above such things, but because he was too smart to enrage the ‘Black Fuhrer’ and his famous bodyguards.
Greed’s Den was the most popular and fancy bar in the city. Situated in the slums, it attracted crowds of adventurous blondies ready to spend fortunes to hang out with a genuine homunculus and his beautiful whores of either sex. With Roy’s backing and the help of his loyal chimera, Greed had brought a measure of safety and prosperity to the slums.
When they reached the bar’s door, their identity was not questioned: what other black-haired man had two automail-wearing blondies as his private bodyguards? They were ushered not inside the bar, but down a flight of stairs and into Greed’s private quarters. Here, there were no whores, only the men and women Greed trusted. And, sitting beside Greed on an oversized leather couch, a fidgeting Selim with wide, wide eyes. He seemed unharmed, but he knew enough about homunculi to be petrified. It was also likely Greed had put on a show to scare him, simply because he could.
All eyes were on them now, many of them inhuman eyes. Martel stood nearby, leaning against the wall. She winked at Alphonse and he blinked at her: it didn’t seem to be a good time to be friendly with each other.
“I believe you have something of mine,” Roy said, striding forward. “Explain.” His voice was hard and his fingers poised for mass incineration.
“Roy, Roy,” Greed said on a tone better suited to chiding a child than talking to the head of state. “After all I did for you, you could show some gratitude. I’ve been waiting to talk to you for a month. I thought a more direct approach might hurry things up.”
“I’m here. Talk.”
Greed casually stretched an arm around Selim’s shoulders. The boy tensed and kept his hopeful eyes on his father. “We’re agreed my presence in the slums is doing a lot of good to your city, aren’t we? So why exactly am I hearing about a proposal to shut down my… what do they call it… den of immorality? You can’t put my boys and girls out of work. They won’t be happy. I won’t be happy.” Greed displayed his unfriendly shark grin. “It may be in your best interest to keep me happy.”
“I don’t intend to let it pass. I didn’t think they’d get as far as they did with it. They’re afraid of you.”
“Smart of them,” Greed said pleasantly.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Roy said, snapping his fingers. A small flame danced above his gloved fingers, pretty and threatening. “Please remember I tend to set things on fire when I’m upset. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I have work to do.” He beckoned to his son. “Selim.”
The teenager sprung to his feet and scurried to his father’s side. Edward took the lead back upstairs, intent on getting everybody out safely, with Roy and Selim following side by side. Alphonse waited where he was until he heard the upstairs door close.
“Did he pay you to pull this off?” he wondered.
Greed smirked. “He didn’t tell you anything?”
“Let me guess. You wanted him to come over about this law problem and he told you he’d help if you could put a little fear into his troublesome child. You sent someone we’d recognized and voila, Roy knew where to go to ‘save’ poor Selim from the scary homunculus.” Taking Greed’s grin as a confirmation, Alphonse shook his head ruefully. “That man, as my brother would say, is a manipulative bastard.”
He waved at Martel and hurried to catch up with his family. He had a feeling they wouldn’t have any more problems with Selim and his bodyguard for quite a while.
Roy should have known better than to screw around so much. I'm sure he has a few more kids running around. :p
This is where I say plz check out my erotic M/M novel, it's only $5 and if you buy it, those crazy people may ask me to write another!
Read the excerpt and buy the book here. Please? ;_;