Fanfic Bake-off Challenge 20 Absence/ Bonus Masquerade
Title: Lonely at the Ball
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 281
Rating: G
Summary: Ed searches the masked figures for someone special.
Warnings: None really.
Ed glanced around the room, unsure of who was whom. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. He could tell a few of the guests. The man happily flirting with every woman in the room while another woman followed behind looking quite irritated with the man was undoubtedly Roy Mustang. The woman so near him was obviously Riza.
Roy had chosen a sleek blue mask with a few long gold feathers on either side. Ed almost questioned aloud why he hadn’t outright dressed as a peacock to get the women’s attention. It was a shame, too, because Riza seemed to have gone to a lot of effort to look nice tonight. Her maroon dress with its black and white accents was mirrored with her black and white mask. Ed didn’t dance, but if he had, he would have made sure to ask her to dance, maybe get the bastard jealous and noticing his lieutenant for once.
Breda was clearly visible. His stocky build made him stand out, if his slightly drunken behavior didn’t already give him away. The man was busy sticking straws up the holes in the extended nose of his half-face mask and dancing while another man, dressed in black and wearing a minimalist black mask - Havoc, Ed would wager - was trying to avoid him by talking to Al.
Looking at his little brother, Ed thought that if he hadn’t known his costume, he wouldn’t have recognized Al. The slick black suit, complete with dyed black hair, black gloves and bright red mask, made him look like a totally different person.
Unfortunately, the person Ed was looking for was nowhere to be found. And he’d promised he’d be here.
Title: Missing figure
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 178
Rating: G
Summary: Roy doesn't like that Ed's alone.
Warnings: None really.
Roy had seen Ed walk in. The teen had covered his automail completely with a suit and white gloves, but his height and that long hair - in a ponytail instead of the usual braid - instantly gave him away. The copper-colored mask that matched the copper and black tie he wore covered much of Ed’s face and gave no indication of his facial expressions, but his body language spoke volumes.
He was looking for his date and not finding him.
Roy gave a cursory glance at the crowd in the ballroom. He knew the man had been excited to finally get the chance to go out with the eldest Elric brother in public. The two had started their relationship a secret from the rest of the office, so naturally, everyone knew. Since both men had been obligated to attend the masquerade ball and both dreaded these kinds of events, it had been an ideal opportunity for them to at least have pleasant company in their misery.
The fact that he couldn’t find Ed’s other half worried him.
Title: Almost Getting There
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 300
Rating: PG
Summary: Kain has somewhere important to be.
Warnings: None really.
Kain had chosen a gold mask for the night, but hoping Ed would recognize him well enough. Admittedly, it wouldn’t be too difficult to spot Ed once he got there. Though he knew the fact bothered Ed, the man’s height would make it clear who he was at the ball. At the thought of the man, he smiled as he walked the distance from his apartment to the military event. His car was in the shop, otherwise, he would have been driving Ed there right now.
“Excuse me, Sir,” a man said, standing up from a nearby stoop. “Do you have the time?”
No sooner had Kain lifted his arm and pulled back his sleeve than he felt something sharp at his back, threatening to make its way through the fabric of his blue suit. “Nice watch,” another man said from behind him. “I’ll have that, and your wallet.”
The knife was positioned right at his kidneys. It wouldn’t take a lot of pressure to do damage. Though he’d been taught a number of combat moves in the military, he couldn’t think of any to help him with his life already so much in another man’s hands. “No problem,” Kain said, wishing he could have been the fighter that Ed was.
He began to pull his wallet out, but the men caught sight of his military-issued pistol that he was required to have on him at all times.
“He’s got a gun!” There was excruciating pain after that; he felt the cold steel of the sharp knife keenly before the man in front of him punched him in the stomach. The attackers were relentless.
Kain’s last thoughts before he faded into blackness were that he was going to miss the ball, and of Ed.
Title: Frantic Searches
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 242
Rating: PG
Summary: Mustang's team isn't complete.
Warnings: None really.
Roy began asking his team to keep an eye out for Fuery. It wasn’t like anyone on his team to back out of a promise, and it was not like Fuery at all to do something like this to Ed. Fuery knew that his young lover hated the idea of being alone in official military settings. The blond had only sounded mildly excited about the fact that he was going to the masked ball because Fuery would be there.
“No sign of him?” Roy asked Breda, surprised at how easily he’d slipped back into his “military” tone after an hour’s mingling and flirting.
“No, Sir,” Breda said as Havoc approached. It was fairly remarkable to Roy that Breda had managed to sober up so quickly at the news that Fuery wasn’t there.
“Havoc?” The blond shook his head.
“Chief, I hate to even suggest this, but is it possible that Fuery chickened out?” Havoc asked, but sounded like he hated even saying the words, let alone the idea of it.
“Bullshit,” Breda said. “He wouldn’t do this to Ed, and he’s no more a chicken than the rest of us are. Something’s wrong, and I’m going to head back to his place to find him.” Breda ripped off his mask and handed it to Havoc before storming out of the ballroom. Havoc quickly ran after the stocky man.
“That wasn’t what I meant! Wait!”
Title: Hallucinations
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 222
Rating: G
Summary: Kain is sure he's seeing things.
Warnings: None really.
Kain had been hallucinating; he was aware of that. He knew that Ed wasn’t there, but he still saw him, looking at him worriedly, dressed in his copper and black attire. He knew he was late and missing the masked ball, and he wondered if Ed would ever forgive him for it. He hated to let his lover down.
He managed to lift his hand once and moved it in front of his face. He was bleeding, and he was hallucinating. This time, he was seeing Breda. Why Breda, he didn’t know, but he swore he saw his team member hovering over at him. He was yelling something, and then Havoc showed up, a mask perched atop his head. Havoc’s mask was black and stood out against the blond hair under the unearthly light of the street lamp. He was saying something too, but it sounded so far away.
“Glad to see you,” Kain muttered, “but I’d rather see Ed before I die.”
Breda said something, and Kain thought it was that he wasn’t going to die, but that was silly. He’d been robbed, stabbed, left for dead, and finally had everything he wanted in life. Wasn’t this usually the tragic part in movies when someone died? He hoped that his lover could move on after him. Ed deserved that.
Title: Getting the message
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 281
Rating: G
Summary: Roy gives Ed the news.
Warnings: None really.
Ed grinned as he felt two hands at his shoulders. The hands were the right size, the body behind him felt like the right height, but the moment he turned around to see a black suit and blue mask, the smile faded and he faced his superior officer. “Mustang?”
“Breda and Havoc found Fuery,” the man said, and Ed held his breath. One half of his mind was supplying horrific scenarios of how they found the man. The tone that the Major General was using was too sombre for it to be something happy. It meant that Kain was hurt or ... worse. The other half of Ed’s mind was trying to convince himself that Kain was perfectly fine, that his lover wasn’t at the masquerade because he’d decided to call it quits. Maybe the man had taken issue to dating a superior officer who was five years his junior. Maybe Kain had decided as he neared thirty that he wanted something different than Ed - which was ridiculous, because Ed knew he wanted that, too.
“He is in intensive care. He was robbed and attacked.” As Ed tried to take in what Roy had just told him, that his eyes were inexplicably drawn to the man’s slicked-back hair. It was rare he wore it that way, which wasn’t a surprise, since it put the streak of gray that had begun to color it on full display.
Ed finally met the man’s eyes and wondered with eyes like those how the man hadn’t gotten more than the inch-wide streak of gray.
“I’m taking you to him, personally. Your brother and Riza are already waiting in the car.”
Title: Desperation
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 253
Rating: PG
Summary: Al sees signs of the past in his brother's face.
Warnings: None really.
Al hadn’t seen that look on Ed’s face in a very long time, and he’d hoped that he wouldn’t see it ever again. That sickening worry that turned most people into nervous wrecks sent his brother’s mind into overdrive that was apparent even to those watching him. Al had waited during those first few moments of the ball for Kain to come in and greet Ed like the partners they were in private, but for the first time in public.
After ten minutes, he worried Kain was running very late. After twenty, he wondered if he was going to have to beat up the kind-hearted man on principal. When half an hour passed without even a word, Al had the sickening dread in his stomach that the man’s absence wasn’t due to anything in his power.
Ed’s hands were fidgeting. He was tracing half-formed transmutation circles on his knees. Al doubted his brother would ever realize there were just some situations his alchemy couldn’t fix. Oh, he’d say it sometimes, but Ed never really believed it; Al’s brother had a guilt streak that ran so wide and so deep no one could begin to separate it from Ed without destroying who he was.
Unable to take the fidgeting hands any longer, Al placed his own over Ed’s. “He’ll be fine.”
“You can’t know that.”
Al gently pulled the mask from his brother’s face. In hastily leaving the masquerade, Ed had forgotten to remove it. “Maybe not. But I believe it.”
Title: Missing Pieces
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 248
Rating: PG
Summary: The team just isn't complete
Warnings: None really.
Heymans hated hospitals, and he hated them even more when it was someone else who was hurt. Ed was arguing with the doctors, trying to convince them that he could donate a kidney to replace the one that had been damaged in Fuery’s body. It didn’t matter to Ed that he wasn’t a match, not even close. He was convinced he could use alchemy to make his kidney match.
Al was trying rather helplessly to convince his brother that the doctors wouldn’t risk Fuery’s life with an alchemically altered kidney, and that the military would probably view that as human transmutation.
When a dark figure cloaked in black, complete with black hood and startlingly white face, Breda practically jumped out of his skin. “Why didn’t you call me?” the figure asked as Breda simultaneously realized it was Vato Falman and Falman seriously needed to get some sun.
“We didn’t know you were at the ball,” Breda said. “Do you think, maybe, the hood was overkill? They only asked for masks.”
Falman shrugged and glanced around the waiting room. “How is he?”
“They are performing surgery now. One of his kidneys was perforated and he bled. A lot.” Breda was wearing hospital scrubs right now because of how much he’d gotten on himself. “But they missed the artery. The doctors sounded cautious, but I think there’s hope.” Falman nodded, and Breda surveyed the waiting room. The team was all there waiting, minus one.
Title: Half a Heart
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 281
Rating: G
Summary: Ed tries to stay close to his lover
Warnings: None really.
Kain was pale, ghostlike. The sight of him like that made Ed’s insides lurch. The doctors felt the surgery had been a success, and while they’d been forced to remove one of Kain’s kidneys, the other was enough to sustain him. They promised he could have a long and healthy life with just the one kidney.
No one was around and Mustang had strong-armed the hospital into letting Ed into the room with his lover. Ed pulled off his suit coat and tugged on his tie until it looked its way around his collar with a hiss of silk sliding against cotton. He saw some of Kain’s belongings, a few cenz, his glasses - broken - and the gold Papier-mâché mask he’d chosen for the ball - also broken.
They would come in later and kick Ed out of the bed, but at that moment, he needed to be right there with his lover.
He didn’t dare get close enough to press even the smallest part of his body against Kain’s. He couldn’t and wouldn’t risk hurting him. He made himself small, even smaller than Roy’s worst short jokes made him out to be. Ed remained at one side of the bed and let his automail hand curl around Kain’s flesh one.
The tubes and wires wouldn’t let Ed rest on the side that he could use his own hand to hold Kain’s, and once again, he felt remorse that he could only offer his lover unfeeling metal.
“I love you,” he whispered, offering the only feeling that he could to the unconscious man while Ed waited for the piece of his heart that had suddenly gone missing to return.
Title: Interloper
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 281
Rating: G
Summary: Ed searches the masked figures for someone special.
Warnings: None really.
Roy had been acting as guard, and he’d earned himself a crick in the neck for his efforts. He’d never done well sleeping sitting up in hospital chairs, and at forty, he wasn’t getting better at it. Ed had only been allowed in the room when Roy had intimidated every member of the evening staff into letting the young man be with his lover. When the shift had changed, the first thing they had done was try to pry Ed out of the room.
Now, Roy was seated in the corner, daring the day shift to try to do the same. Ed deserved the chance to be with Fuery as much as any fiance, spouse or family member. Fuery didn’t have any of his own that lived close enough.
The masquerade seemed ages ago, though it had only been last night that he had been schmoozing and trying to show off the elaborate mask he’d chosen out for the evening. Word that one of his men had been injured had brought a halt to the evening, and Roy had dared any superior or inferior officer to argue with his team’s departure.
He watched Ed watch Kain, looking desperately for any sign of movement, getting hopeful whenever he thought he spotted one, and disappointed when they weren’t followed by the other man’s eyes finally opening.
It was 6:30 a.m. when finally stopped feeling like a guard and more like an interloper. That was when eyes finally opened. That was when he watched two of his closest friends look at one another like lovers who hadn’t seen one another in so very long, regardless of the fact that it had been only hours.
Title: Going First
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 300
Rating: G
Summary: Kain faces a talk with Al.
Warnings: None really.
Three days since the attack, since the masked ball, since Kain had been sure his life was going to end. It was strange to think that part of him was missing. He no longer had one of his kidneys. It was damaged, removed. He would have a whole new set of scars. All for the sake of a bit of money and a watch Kain’s father had given him.
And the silver necklace Ed had given him. His neck was bruised where the robbers had ripped it from his unconscious body.
“Kain,” a soft voice said from the doorway. He looked up to see Al standing at the entrance to his room. He wore a sad, but friendly smile. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Me too,” Kain answered, waiting for Al to say whatever it was that was on his mind.
“Promise me something,” Al said. “Promise me you’ll try your hardest to outlive my brother.” Kain was certain his confusion showed on his face. “I know it isn’t a pleasant thought, but try. If you go before him, I don’t know what my brother would do. Last night, he was already contemplating human transmutation so you had a matching kidney. His kidney.”
Ed had barely talked about that night, and Kain had been happy to avoid the subject, so he hadn’t known. “I will do my best.”
Al nodded. “I don’t know if you and Ed have said it or not, but I know my brother, how he feels about you and what that could drive him to do.”
That made Kain wonder at a dream he’d had while recovering from his surgery. He had thought he’d heard Edward Elric telling him he loved him. It had been a good dream.
Title: May I Have This Dance?
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 297
Rating: G
Summary: Ed searches the masked figures for someone special.
Warnings: None really.
Ed had taken a leave from work. He hadn’t done that in a year, and the military could survive for a little while without him. Someone else, someone more important needed him. He’d happily played nursemaid to his lover, even as the press had a field day with his relationship. He wondered just how slow a news day had to be for the discovery that he had a male lover to make the front page.
Kain was supposed to be recovering and regaining his strength, which made it a surprise when Ed heard the music ringing out from the record player in Kain’s bedroom. Ed walked from the guest bedroom where he’d been sleeping since Kain’s release from the hospital and followed the sound of the noise.
To his surprise, he found Kain standing, clad in his pajamas and a plain black tie, wearing a gold mask. “I hope you don’t mind dancing with a stranger,” he said, “but we didn’t get to do this during the masquerade.”
“Since you were attacked, robbed and beaten, no, we didn’t get to.”
“You should have seen the other mask. It worked better with my glasses.” Kain wasn’t really dancing, but rather standing and swaying lightly. Ed wondered if that was for the sake of the music or the pain.
He walked over to his lover and removed the mask from his face. “Then, let’s do without it.” He carefully wrapped his arms around his still wounded partner and swayed with him.
“You know, I think you told me you loved me, back in the hospital.” Ed felt his face heat up, but his embarrassment was short-lived. “I love you, too.” The blond wasted no time to seal that sentiment with a kiss.
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 281
Rating: G
Summary: Ed searches the masked figures for someone special.
Warnings: None really.
Ed glanced around the room, unsure of who was whom. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. He could tell a few of the guests. The man happily flirting with every woman in the room while another woman followed behind looking quite irritated with the man was undoubtedly Roy Mustang. The woman so near him was obviously Riza.
Roy had chosen a sleek blue mask with a few long gold feathers on either side. Ed almost questioned aloud why he hadn’t outright dressed as a peacock to get the women’s attention. It was a shame, too, because Riza seemed to have gone to a lot of effort to look nice tonight. Her maroon dress with its black and white accents was mirrored with her black and white mask. Ed didn’t dance, but if he had, he would have made sure to ask her to dance, maybe get the bastard jealous and noticing his lieutenant for once.
Breda was clearly visible. His stocky build made him stand out, if his slightly drunken behavior didn’t already give him away. The man was busy sticking straws up the holes in the extended nose of his half-face mask and dancing while another man, dressed in black and wearing a minimalist black mask - Havoc, Ed would wager - was trying to avoid him by talking to Al.
Looking at his little brother, Ed thought that if he hadn’t known his costume, he wouldn’t have recognized Al. The slick black suit, complete with dyed black hair, black gloves and bright red mask, made him look like a totally different person.
Unfortunately, the person Ed was looking for was nowhere to be found. And he’d promised he’d be here.
Title: Missing figure
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 178
Rating: G
Summary: Roy doesn't like that Ed's alone.
Warnings: None really.
Roy had seen Ed walk in. The teen had covered his automail completely with a suit and white gloves, but his height and that long hair - in a ponytail instead of the usual braid - instantly gave him away. The copper-colored mask that matched the copper and black tie he wore covered much of Ed’s face and gave no indication of his facial expressions, but his body language spoke volumes.
He was looking for his date and not finding him.
Roy gave a cursory glance at the crowd in the ballroom. He knew the man had been excited to finally get the chance to go out with the eldest Elric brother in public. The two had started their relationship a secret from the rest of the office, so naturally, everyone knew. Since both men had been obligated to attend the masquerade ball and both dreaded these kinds of events, it had been an ideal opportunity for them to at least have pleasant company in their misery.
The fact that he couldn’t find Ed’s other half worried him.
Title: Almost Getting There
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 300
Rating: PG
Summary: Kain has somewhere important to be.
Warnings: None really.
Kain had chosen a gold mask for the night, but hoping Ed would recognize him well enough. Admittedly, it wouldn’t be too difficult to spot Ed once he got there. Though he knew the fact bothered Ed, the man’s height would make it clear who he was at the ball. At the thought of the man, he smiled as he walked the distance from his apartment to the military event. His car was in the shop, otherwise, he would have been driving Ed there right now.
“Excuse me, Sir,” a man said, standing up from a nearby stoop. “Do you have the time?”
No sooner had Kain lifted his arm and pulled back his sleeve than he felt something sharp at his back, threatening to make its way through the fabric of his blue suit. “Nice watch,” another man said from behind him. “I’ll have that, and your wallet.”
The knife was positioned right at his kidneys. It wouldn’t take a lot of pressure to do damage. Though he’d been taught a number of combat moves in the military, he couldn’t think of any to help him with his life already so much in another man’s hands. “No problem,” Kain said, wishing he could have been the fighter that Ed was.
He began to pull his wallet out, but the men caught sight of his military-issued pistol that he was required to have on him at all times.
“He’s got a gun!” There was excruciating pain after that; he felt the cold steel of the sharp knife keenly before the man in front of him punched him in the stomach. The attackers were relentless.
Kain’s last thoughts before he faded into blackness were that he was going to miss the ball, and of Ed.
Title: Frantic Searches
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 242
Rating: PG
Summary: Mustang's team isn't complete.
Warnings: None really.
Roy began asking his team to keep an eye out for Fuery. It wasn’t like anyone on his team to back out of a promise, and it was not like Fuery at all to do something like this to Ed. Fuery knew that his young lover hated the idea of being alone in official military settings. The blond had only sounded mildly excited about the fact that he was going to the masked ball because Fuery would be there.
“No sign of him?” Roy asked Breda, surprised at how easily he’d slipped back into his “military” tone after an hour’s mingling and flirting.
“No, Sir,” Breda said as Havoc approached. It was fairly remarkable to Roy that Breda had managed to sober up so quickly at the news that Fuery wasn’t there.
“Havoc?” The blond shook his head.
“Chief, I hate to even suggest this, but is it possible that Fuery chickened out?” Havoc asked, but sounded like he hated even saying the words, let alone the idea of it.
“Bullshit,” Breda said. “He wouldn’t do this to Ed, and he’s no more a chicken than the rest of us are. Something’s wrong, and I’m going to head back to his place to find him.” Breda ripped off his mask and handed it to Havoc before storming out of the ballroom. Havoc quickly ran after the stocky man.
“That wasn’t what I meant! Wait!”
Title: Hallucinations
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 222
Rating: G
Summary: Kain is sure he's seeing things.
Warnings: None really.
Kain had been hallucinating; he was aware of that. He knew that Ed wasn’t there, but he still saw him, looking at him worriedly, dressed in his copper and black attire. He knew he was late and missing the masked ball, and he wondered if Ed would ever forgive him for it. He hated to let his lover down.
He managed to lift his hand once and moved it in front of his face. He was bleeding, and he was hallucinating. This time, he was seeing Breda. Why Breda, he didn’t know, but he swore he saw his team member hovering over at him. He was yelling something, and then Havoc showed up, a mask perched atop his head. Havoc’s mask was black and stood out against the blond hair under the unearthly light of the street lamp. He was saying something too, but it sounded so far away.
“Glad to see you,” Kain muttered, “but I’d rather see Ed before I die.”
Breda said something, and Kain thought it was that he wasn’t going to die, but that was silly. He’d been robbed, stabbed, left for dead, and finally had everything he wanted in life. Wasn’t this usually the tragic part in movies when someone died? He hoped that his lover could move on after him. Ed deserved that.
Title: Getting the message
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 281
Rating: G
Summary: Roy gives Ed the news.
Warnings: None really.
Ed grinned as he felt two hands at his shoulders. The hands were the right size, the body behind him felt like the right height, but the moment he turned around to see a black suit and blue mask, the smile faded and he faced his superior officer. “Mustang?”
“Breda and Havoc found Fuery,” the man said, and Ed held his breath. One half of his mind was supplying horrific scenarios of how they found the man. The tone that the Major General was using was too sombre for it to be something happy. It meant that Kain was hurt or ... worse. The other half of Ed’s mind was trying to convince himself that Kain was perfectly fine, that his lover wasn’t at the masquerade because he’d decided to call it quits. Maybe the man had taken issue to dating a superior officer who was five years his junior. Maybe Kain had decided as he neared thirty that he wanted something different than Ed - which was ridiculous, because Ed knew he wanted that, too.
“He is in intensive care. He was robbed and attacked.” As Ed tried to take in what Roy had just told him, that his eyes were inexplicably drawn to the man’s slicked-back hair. It was rare he wore it that way, which wasn’t a surprise, since it put the streak of gray that had begun to color it on full display.
Ed finally met the man’s eyes and wondered with eyes like those how the man hadn’t gotten more than the inch-wide streak of gray.
“I’m taking you to him, personally. Your brother and Riza are already waiting in the car.”
Title: Desperation
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 253
Rating: PG
Summary: Al sees signs of the past in his brother's face.
Warnings: None really.
Al hadn’t seen that look on Ed’s face in a very long time, and he’d hoped that he wouldn’t see it ever again. That sickening worry that turned most people into nervous wrecks sent his brother’s mind into overdrive that was apparent even to those watching him. Al had waited during those first few moments of the ball for Kain to come in and greet Ed like the partners they were in private, but for the first time in public.
After ten minutes, he worried Kain was running very late. After twenty, he wondered if he was going to have to beat up the kind-hearted man on principal. When half an hour passed without even a word, Al had the sickening dread in his stomach that the man’s absence wasn’t due to anything in his power.
Ed’s hands were fidgeting. He was tracing half-formed transmutation circles on his knees. Al doubted his brother would ever realize there were just some situations his alchemy couldn’t fix. Oh, he’d say it sometimes, but Ed never really believed it; Al’s brother had a guilt streak that ran so wide and so deep no one could begin to separate it from Ed without destroying who he was.
Unable to take the fidgeting hands any longer, Al placed his own over Ed’s. “He’ll be fine.”
“You can’t know that.”
Al gently pulled the mask from his brother’s face. In hastily leaving the masquerade, Ed had forgotten to remove it. “Maybe not. But I believe it.”
Title: Missing Pieces
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 248
Rating: PG
Summary: The team just isn't complete
Warnings: None really.
Heymans hated hospitals, and he hated them even more when it was someone else who was hurt. Ed was arguing with the doctors, trying to convince them that he could donate a kidney to replace the one that had been damaged in Fuery’s body. It didn’t matter to Ed that he wasn’t a match, not even close. He was convinced he could use alchemy to make his kidney match.
Al was trying rather helplessly to convince his brother that the doctors wouldn’t risk Fuery’s life with an alchemically altered kidney, and that the military would probably view that as human transmutation.
When a dark figure cloaked in black, complete with black hood and startlingly white face, Breda practically jumped out of his skin. “Why didn’t you call me?” the figure asked as Breda simultaneously realized it was Vato Falman and Falman seriously needed to get some sun.
“We didn’t know you were at the ball,” Breda said. “Do you think, maybe, the hood was overkill? They only asked for masks.”
Falman shrugged and glanced around the waiting room. “How is he?”
“They are performing surgery now. One of his kidneys was perforated and he bled. A lot.” Breda was wearing hospital scrubs right now because of how much he’d gotten on himself. “But they missed the artery. The doctors sounded cautious, but I think there’s hope.” Falman nodded, and Breda surveyed the waiting room. The team was all there waiting, minus one.
Title: Half a Heart
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 281
Rating: G
Summary: Ed tries to stay close to his lover
Warnings: None really.
Kain was pale, ghostlike. The sight of him like that made Ed’s insides lurch. The doctors felt the surgery had been a success, and while they’d been forced to remove one of Kain’s kidneys, the other was enough to sustain him. They promised he could have a long and healthy life with just the one kidney.
No one was around and Mustang had strong-armed the hospital into letting Ed into the room with his lover. Ed pulled off his suit coat and tugged on his tie until it looked its way around his collar with a hiss of silk sliding against cotton. He saw some of Kain’s belongings, a few cenz, his glasses - broken - and the gold Papier-mâché mask he’d chosen for the ball - also broken.
They would come in later and kick Ed out of the bed, but at that moment, he needed to be right there with his lover.
He didn’t dare get close enough to press even the smallest part of his body against Kain’s. He couldn’t and wouldn’t risk hurting him. He made himself small, even smaller than Roy’s worst short jokes made him out to be. Ed remained at one side of the bed and let his automail hand curl around Kain’s flesh one.
The tubes and wires wouldn’t let Ed rest on the side that he could use his own hand to hold Kain’s, and once again, he felt remorse that he could only offer his lover unfeeling metal.
“I love you,” he whispered, offering the only feeling that he could to the unconscious man while Ed waited for the piece of his heart that had suddenly gone missing to return.
Title: Interloper
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 281
Rating: G
Summary: Ed searches the masked figures for someone special.
Warnings: None really.
Roy had been acting as guard, and he’d earned himself a crick in the neck for his efforts. He’d never done well sleeping sitting up in hospital chairs, and at forty, he wasn’t getting better at it. Ed had only been allowed in the room when Roy had intimidated every member of the evening staff into letting the young man be with his lover. When the shift had changed, the first thing they had done was try to pry Ed out of the room.
Now, Roy was seated in the corner, daring the day shift to try to do the same. Ed deserved the chance to be with Fuery as much as any fiance, spouse or family member. Fuery didn’t have any of his own that lived close enough.
The masquerade seemed ages ago, though it had only been last night that he had been schmoozing and trying to show off the elaborate mask he’d chosen out for the evening. Word that one of his men had been injured had brought a halt to the evening, and Roy had dared any superior or inferior officer to argue with his team’s departure.
He watched Ed watch Kain, looking desperately for any sign of movement, getting hopeful whenever he thought he spotted one, and disappointed when they weren’t followed by the other man’s eyes finally opening.
It was 6:30 a.m. when finally stopped feeling like a guard and more like an interloper. That was when eyes finally opened. That was when he watched two of his closest friends look at one another like lovers who hadn’t seen one another in so very long, regardless of the fact that it had been only hours.
Title: Going First
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 300
Rating: G
Summary: Kain faces a talk with Al.
Warnings: None really.
Three days since the attack, since the masked ball, since Kain had been sure his life was going to end. It was strange to think that part of him was missing. He no longer had one of his kidneys. It was damaged, removed. He would have a whole new set of scars. All for the sake of a bit of money and a watch Kain’s father had given him.
And the silver necklace Ed had given him. His neck was bruised where the robbers had ripped it from his unconscious body.
“Kain,” a soft voice said from the doorway. He looked up to see Al standing at the entrance to his room. He wore a sad, but friendly smile. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Me too,” Kain answered, waiting for Al to say whatever it was that was on his mind.
“Promise me something,” Al said. “Promise me you’ll try your hardest to outlive my brother.” Kain was certain his confusion showed on his face. “I know it isn’t a pleasant thought, but try. If you go before him, I don’t know what my brother would do. Last night, he was already contemplating human transmutation so you had a matching kidney. His kidney.”
Ed had barely talked about that night, and Kain had been happy to avoid the subject, so he hadn’t known. “I will do my best.”
Al nodded. “I don’t know if you and Ed have said it or not, but I know my brother, how he feels about you and what that could drive him to do.”
That made Kain wonder at a dream he’d had while recovering from his surgery. He had thought he’d heard Edward Elric telling him he loved him. It had been a good dream.
Title: May I Have This Dance?
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Author: nomdeplume13
Words: 297
Rating: G
Summary: Ed searches the masked figures for someone special.
Warnings: None really.
Ed had taken a leave from work. He hadn’t done that in a year, and the military could survive for a little while without him. Someone else, someone more important needed him. He’d happily played nursemaid to his lover, even as the press had a field day with his relationship. He wondered just how slow a news day had to be for the discovery that he had a male lover to make the front page.
Kain was supposed to be recovering and regaining his strength, which made it a surprise when Ed heard the music ringing out from the record player in Kain’s bedroom. Ed walked from the guest bedroom where he’d been sleeping since Kain’s release from the hospital and followed the sound of the noise.
To his surprise, he found Kain standing, clad in his pajamas and a plain black tie, wearing a gold mask. “I hope you don’t mind dancing with a stranger,” he said, “but we didn’t get to do this during the masquerade.”
“Since you were attacked, robbed and beaten, no, we didn’t get to.”
“You should have seen the other mask. It worked better with my glasses.” Kain wasn’t really dancing, but rather standing and swaying lightly. Ed wondered if that was for the sake of the music or the pain.
He walked over to his lover and removed the mask from his face. “Then, let’s do without it.” He carefully wrapped his arms around his still wounded partner and swayed with him.
“You know, I think you told me you loved me, back in the hospital.” Ed felt his face heat up, but his embarrassment was short-lived. “I love you, too.” The blond wasted no time to seal that sentiment with a kiss.