locked to superman_dead

[papa_to_asobou]

A few days after the party at the Sin, Hughes was lounging about his family's old apartment, currently cluttered with boxes ready to be moved off to the new one. He was glad for the break and that his wife and daughter weren't home at the moment, it allowed him a little time to himself. He was currently seated in one of the few remaining chairs

Comments

[superman_dead]

Hm. Hope Hughes wasn't enjoying the solitude too much, because it's about to be interrupted. Edward's incredibly glad that Hughes and his family don't live on the third floor or something as he steps up to their door. Right now, he really isn't up to fighting with stairs with that busted knee amongst everything else.

He knocks quietly and waits for an answer, well aware that they might not even be home.

[papa_to_asobou]

Luckily for Hughes, he'd barely gotten into the book when Ed arrived. Sighing slightly he puts the book on one of the nearby boxes, gets off the couch,heads for the door and opens it, finding Ed on the other side. He's slightly shocked truth be told, Ed rarely paid him a visit back home. "Hey there Ed, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He motions for Ed to come inside, "Come on in, hope you don't mind the mess, we're still getting ready for the move." He closes the door when Ed decides to come in.

[superman_dead]

Edward smiles faintly, stepping in and glancing around; oh right, they're moving over the Elric Apartments. "I... I'm not interrupting anything, am I? Or is it something I can help with, maybe?" He grips his cane tightly- that wouldn't stop him from helping with packing, if you wanted, Hughes, so take advantage of the extra help if you need it.

[papa_to_asobou]

"No, no, no of course not. We're just not all done is all, but it's nothing we can't handle before the movers show up. Nah, take a seat, make yourself at home. Can I get you anything to drink? Tea, coffee, I think we have some juice lying around here somewhere..." he says, scratching his head.

[superman_dead]

He smiles as he finds a seat to settle in, resting his hands on the handle of the cane. "No, I'm fine, thanks." His expression is a bit... well, the phrase 'not entirely there' might work to describe the look on his face right now. He's obviously got something on his mind. "If you're too busy, it's fine, just tell me you don't have time for this, but... mind if I ... I guess ask for some advice? Not really sure what advice to ask for, really, but..."

He fidgets, twisting the cane and studying the action with far more interest than it could possibly actually warrent. "Actually, I guess it'd be easier to say there's just a couple things that are bothering me that I can't really talk to Al or Winry or Alfons about. And especially not Riza right now. Kinda would like to hear someone that's lived a little longer telling me if I'm being stupid or not."

Wow, Hughes. You're about to get ... well, maybe not full honesty from Ed, but hey, this much honesty has to be a heartstopper.

[papa_to_asobou]

Hughes makes his way through the kitchen, scrambling for a teapot, he's going to have tea at least. "I always make time to help out a friend of mine Ed, so no trouble at all." He finally finds a teapot and sets some water on to boil before heading back to the couch and taking a seat, "So, what's on your mind Ed?"

[superman_dead]

Edward waits patiently as Hughes sets the water to boil, mentally debating with himself about the wisdom of this, but he's really rather stuck once Hughes comes back and settles in.

Well, he came this far, he might as well keep talking. He doesn't look at Hughes, keeping his gaze focused on his hands, when he speaks. "Is it..." He frowns. No, not quite how he wants to word this. Hm. His voice lowers. "How horribly would you think of me for being..." Jealous? A bit. Scared was more like it. Best to classify it generically as 'upset' until he got an idea of what sort of verbal beating he might or might not be in for here. "-upset that... that-" Deep breath. You can do this. "That a Mustang we didn't know was able to do more in twenty minutes for Riza than I have in the last month?"

Well, not the best way to put it- sound bitter much? But, well. There. He said it, judge as you will, Hughes.

[papa_to_asobou]

Hughes raises an eyebrow at this, "Why would you think this would lessen my opinion of you at all? It just shows me how much you actually care for Riza that you're upset about not being able to help her. Look Ed, these things take time and Mustang, no matter which one, has known Riza far longer than you have so he's slightly more effective at getting to the root of the problem. You on the other hand, are really just getting to know her and find out her quirks and what makes her tick, so you might have a little trouble with stuff like this for awhile. Don't let it get to you though, I'm sure you'll be just as effective in a little while." His kettle's on the boil now so Hughes gets up and starts making his cup of tea in the kitchen.

[superman_dead]

Edward bites his lip as Hughes gets up, distracting himself as much as possible with playing with the cane's handle while he waits for Hughes to get back.

Once Hughes returns, he offers a shaky smile. "This... wasn't anything to do with how well I knew her, 'm afraid." He swallows, looking back to his hands. "This was just something she... she didn't need me for, she needed him."

[papa_to_asobou]

Hughes takes a quick sip of tea before answering, "I can see why you're upset then, feeling unneeded in a relationship is hard to deal with. It's not something I'd worry too much about though," he says as he drinks some more of his tea, "despite its appearance, Riza needs you, Ed. You have something that Roy, if I assume correctly, doesn't have; a loving and caring relationship with this Riza. He might be able to help out with something every now and then, but you'll always be there to catch her when she falls."

[superman_dead]

Yeah. That's kinda what Winry and Riza had both said. It helps to hear it from someone not quite so close to the problem at hand, but... he's still got that awful bit of self-doubt chewing at him. He doesn't look entirely convinced of Hughes's words, but he forces that smile of his that lies anyway. "Yeah. Of course I will." A pause, then he looks back down at his hands. "Unless she realizes she doesn't need me at all. I couldn't even do that much for her, Hughes, what the hell's to say I'll be of any use to her later?"

[papa_to_asobou]

Normally it takes quite a lot to get Hughes irked. Unfortunately this is one of those things that Hughes doesn't like to play nice with. Thank God Elysia isn't here for this, it's not going to be pretty. "DAMMIT EDWARD!" he yells, placing his mug on the same box as his book and getting off the couch, "WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS QUESTIONING YOURSELF?! You have absolutely no goddam reason to get down on yourself! You have a brother who loves you, people like Winry to support you, and someone who loves you for you! Some people would kill to be in a position like yours and yet you think it's far too good for you

[superman_dead]

Edward nearly jumps completely out of his seat at Hughes's outburst, dropping the cane, which clatters to the floor. In fact, it'd probably be better to say he tries to disappear down in his seat completely. He's not heard Hughes explode like that, not ever, and it's actually downright frightening to be on the receiving end of.

He swallows tightly, staring at Hughes, wide-eyed, as the other man calms down, then looks away, hands shaking as he bends to retrieve his cane.

Despite how much Hughes's outburst scared him, it blindsided him enough for the words that followed to get through. He closes his eyes against tears- grateful or scared, it's hard to say, but the best bet is that they're both. "I-" He stutters and trips over his words a moment before swallowing again and starting over. "I'm s-sssorry. I-... y-you're right." His hands clench into fists around the wood of his cane. "I'm j-just... I'm scared. Sh-she's too important for me to mess up with. Way too important."