Life After Truth Chapter 7
Title: Life After Truth Chapter 7
Pairing: Roy/Ed
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: None
Summary: Call for allies.
Notes:
Previous Chapters found on The Master List
Alphonse Elric sometimes wondered if he should test the theory of blood is thicker than water in some scientific fashion if only to prove there was a chemical that made one helpless to the outlandish requests of ones siblings. He nodded politely to the secretary outside the General's office, took a deep breath as she announced his presence and held the door, and then he walked through.
The General looked pretty much the way he always did; slightly harried, uniformed and sitting behind his desk. He did smile when Al came in, made the appropriate gesture at a chair in front of his desk and quickly signed off on whatever he'd been working on before Al came to visit. He placed his arms on his desk, threaded his fingers together and gave Al his now undivided attention, as he'd always done in the past.
He seemed exceedingly normal, and yet, according to Ed, he was anything but. And Al really didn't know how to start this off, how to allude to what he didn't know to allude to and how not to implicate his brother in the process; so the answer became easy, he wouldn't. He wouldn't make it so it seemed Ed put him up to this, he would make it so it seemed he'd come to these observations on his own. Even if he wasn't sure what sort of observations it was he was suppose to be making; and he couldn't let the General pick up on that because Alphonse was suppose to the master of observation.
"What brings you here today, Alphonse?," the general asked as the opener and Al, who'd never known the man to be anything but honest with him decided to give him the frank and honest benefit of the doubt.
"I'd like to say I'm was stopping by because I was in the area," Al said, "but that wouldn't be the truth. general, you and I have a lot of history. We are friends, we are brothers-in-law truth be told and I've always felt that no matter what the situation I could rely on you to at least hear me out and give me your opinion in good faith."
"What's Ed done this time?" the general asked.
"For once, it's not about Ed," Al said, permitting himself a small smile, "shocking, I know. For once it's more about myself and the way I observe day to day matters. As you know it was my favorite past time for many years and I've gotten rather professional. I can no longer just give someone a passing glance, I have to make an instant and total observation. It's annoying sometimes, it's invaluable sometimes. And sometimes, it can be... confusing. I've never thought of myself as being an expert on a persons motivations, even though I might be able to divine them given enough time to study the situation; but that's rarely the case. Also, I find that like most professionals, I tend not to apply my talents around me directly, for instance in the example of immediate family."
The general had gone from having his fingers laced before him on the desk, to raising his arms to have his chin resting on them as Al talked. He lifted an eyebrow.
"So, who in the immediate family is in the doghouse? Let me hazard a guess, it's not yourself, it's not your wife and you have exonerated Ed, so that leaves...me. Have I been a bad General?" the general teased.
"I would never imply you've been bad General," Al teased back, "but more you've been a bit mysterious lately. I'm not good at these confrontations as you can tell, but you have been a bit more, how to say it? Not forthcoming? I know that there are certain things not privy to the non-military among us, but you usually have some anecdote for lessening the blow of having to tell one of us it's none of our business. I'm not implying I feel slighted, but more like I feel helpless in being able to share your burden?"
"And what burden would that be?" the general asked.
Now Alphonse was caught flat footed, because truly, what could the general possibly of done to effect him directly enough to bring this up in the first place. He groped blindly for a moment before latching on to a bit of dinner conversation he'd had with Riza a week or two previously. But he couldn't come right out and say that he and Riza were discussing such matters openly as they might be proprietary and Riza was not there to confirm or deny this, so instead, he chose Riza herself.
"Well, Riza has felt you are under some stress," Al broached carefully. "Without elaborating she mentioned you were having a problem with some fellow officers from another unit? She really didn't give any names or details, only mentioned you though possibly there was some further training needed in the matters of homeland security?"
And Roy changed, right there before Al's eyes. His shoulders lifted, his lips flattened and his eyes, his eyes moved into a new light as if the lighting in the very room suddenly shifted to suit this new mood, this new Roy, and he let one side of his mouth curl up in what would usually be a comforting half smirk, but only this wasn't the comforting one, more like the sardonic twin who was trying to cover for it's more acceptable relation.
"Did she?" Roy said in a way that made Al himself sit up straighter and feel an uncharacteristic twinge of protectiveness.
"She spoke in regards to your well being, if that is what you are asking," Alphonse said, a little more tersely than he intended.
"All of you, such worry warts," the general said, but not in the way the general would normally say it. It was if it was spoken with a resentment. A resentment that people would deign to assume he needed anyones concern. It spoke of an arrogance far beyond any the general had ever displayed in the past and it made Al shift a little in his seat.
"We can't help it," Al supplied, because he felt that was what he would have normally said himself in the case they were acting normally. And wasn't it funny that they would act normally even in the abomination of normal this conversation has become. He'd never once wished for an instance where he couldn't read as well as he could until now; because...who was this?
"I assure you I'm fine," the general said loftily, "and I appreciate the concern, but I am also confident you can appreciate that there are some conditions that come with the position that are going to make me seem a little stand offish at times, you should be use to that."
"Of course," Al said, watching the man's face. "I realize that, I just didn't want you to think we'd all become so numb to it as not to ask if we felt the need. I at least want you to know I still care and I'm here for you, just like always."
Not that this general would be taking advantage of Al's sympathetic ear.
"I haven't forgotten," the general said, as if seeking to mollify and dismiss, so Al took advantage of that and stood.
"I don't want to keep you, General," he said. "Maybe if you're free for lunch sometime in the future?" Al made a little bob of his head and the general nodded.
"I'll let you know, thank you for stopping by Alphonse, a pleasure as always," the general said lightly but his eyes looked at Al in heavy, calculating way. Sometimes Al wondered if that was what he looked like when he was sizing people up, trying to read their minds by reading their reactions.
Al gave another brief bow of his head and turned and left. He left with a deliberation he hoped showed he was letting the matter drop, but knowing the general, or this version of the general, would surely know otherwise. He needed to regroup, he needed to think, but there was one thing that was clear. There was something going on with the general.
Ed had been right.
**
When he met with Ed later that afternoon there wasn't much to say. The sort of looked at each other and Al said quietly: "I'll try to find out as much as I can." Ed nodded, handed Al an envelope addressed to a foreign country and said: "We're going to need some outside perspective, and he was always good at the... feelings of mumbo-jumbo, get that to him as fast as you can."
And Al took the letter and had it sent.
**
The worst part, of course, was having to act normal. Ed was never a very good actor, so for the most part he submerged himself in his work as he would be returning the beginning of the next week. Roy, the real Roy, the one with Roy's eyes would come and stare at him from the doorway of the study sometimes, looking confused and a little lonely, so it wasn't easy. But that Roy was only around for the day (or most of the day, sometimes that was suspect, to) and dinner, after a while, when the sun was firmly settled he would leave and leave Ed there alone with himself who wasn't.
It was nothing short of terrifying, really.
He sat tensed and nervous, his briefcase against his chest like a shield on the drive to his job on his first day back. Roy kept looking at him, questioning him with his eyes and it seemed to be the right Roy, but Ed was always afraid he'd say something wrong to the right Roy and vice versa; so he stayed silent, staring at the dashboard.
"You can't be this nervous," Roy said, making his tone as light as he could, trying in vain to hide the concern there. "It's only like your back from spring break; they will all remember you."
Ed risked a side long glance at him and Roy broke into a hopeful smile and Ed's heart clenched in his chest. He looked quickly away.
"Ed, have I done something to upset you?" Roy asked quietly. "Remember our promise about dark places?"
"It's not you," Ed said quickly, because really, it wasn't Roy.
It was that other Roy.
"I can't help but think that it is," Roy continued, "you've been so...distant this last week. I want to tell myself it's because you're getting ready to head back into your classroom, but I can't shake the feeling it's more than that."
"Well it's just your imagination," Ed tried, leaning into the door. "I just have a lot on my mind. I'm wondering how warped they've become in my absence. I worked hard to get them where they are now and I don't like this gap I was forced to make in turning them into the next generation of super alchemists, that's all. It's nothing to do with you."
It's everything to do with you.
Roy went quiet after that, and it wasn't much longer they were pulling up to the curb outside the academy.
"If you're sure," Roy said.
"I'm sure," Ed returned, kissed in his general direction without connecting and sprang out of the car and ran up the steps and into the building.
**
Everyone was staring at him. They stared at him when he came in the door, the stared at him as he walked to his desk, they stared at him while he took off his jacket and hung it on the coat tree. There was an awful lot of staring. He pulled his chair out, but took a moment to look at the notes laid neatly out on his desk in Miss Bloom's handwriting. He glanced up at the assembled class wondering if he'd ever have their attention so raptly again and then wondering if he should take advantage of this golden opportunity. He put his hands on his hips and cleared his throat.
"Well," he drawled, "did you miss me?"
There was an instant room wide shuffling and coughing fit and then Seth bolted up from his chair and leaned forward as far as he could over his desk.
"Yes," he told his hero, "we were kind of scared you might not come back!"
And Ed smiled because he couldn't help it and the rest of the class seemed to snap out of their trance and the room became a hub bub.
"If I never have to read another text book lesson it will be to soon," Daniel informed him indignantly. "If you're gonna take vacations in the middle of the semester at least leave someone in charge who can do alchemy!"
"I'm terribly sorry to have inconvenienced you," Ed said dryly, "I will try to remember that the next time I want to lay around on my couch and recover from the lot of you for a couple of weeks."
The rest of the day was catch-up, mostly for the professor. He informed them he wanted to make sure they hadn't been given erroneous information while he was away and they informed him that if there was erroneous information it was all in book form and it wasn't their fault. The professor said they'd gotten an attitude while he was gone and they told him that the attitude was due to the fact he'd trained them all to be highly suspicious and they had a bit of a glare off after that, followed by a pop quiz on all their supposed book smarts.
**
He lingered in the hallway outside the general's office after his classes were through for the day. A few soldiers passed him, giving him curious looks and well he couldn't just stand out here because he knew the general was expecting him. Besides, the right Roy was usually the only Roy at the office. The other Roy seemed to be kind of like the right Roy because he never wanted to show up for work. So he took a deep breath and he went in; he passed the outer office personnel with a nod and opened the door to the general's office proper, slipping in and shutting it behind him.
The general looked up at him and smiled immediately.
"How was it?" the General asked, he seemed eager for the report and Ed couldn't help but smile back.
"It was fine," Ed said with a wave of his hand, moving over to one of the sofa's in the middle of the general's office, "they weren't to warped, nothing a little intense recapping can't handle."
"That is excellent news," the general said, lifting a stack of papers to jog them together before returning them to their folder. "We can't have you getting rusty, now can we?"
"Is that suppose to be a joke?" Ed returned. "Haven't we talked about redundant humor, your dependence on it and how we were going to break that habit?"
"Such a harsh master," the general murmured, moving on to the next folder. "Do you know what I'd like to know? How this promotion did me any good? Do you see this mess?" he made a sweeping gesture at his desk of the folders piled there. "I don't remember other Generals having to deal with this."
"Oh boo hoo," Ed said and did a mock swipe at mock tears, "so mistreated. It's called work, the rest of us have to do it so you do, too." And he grinned at his lover because this was his lover and he was there to grin at; it made him feel he wanted to stay here in this office day and night and not have to go back to whatever that was that lived in the house with him.
As if on cue, because despite all scientific evidence to the contrary, Roy activated his mind reading capabilities and sourced out Ed's internal quandary; as he had earlier in the morning. And he seemed to think this was a good setting to bring it up again.
"Now that you've re-established the fact you are needed and missed by your class; can we please talk about what's been bothering you these last couple of weeks?" the general prodded. "Don't tell me it was your return to the Academy, we both know that might have been part of it, but that was not the real reason. I know you to well, Edward; I'm rather insulted you seem to think I can't tell when something is truly upsetting you."
Ed shifted on the couch, rubbing his thighs and looking away from the general. The truth was, the plain truth was he needed to talk to Roy about this. He needed Roy's insight and Roy's guidance and he'd come to realize that Roy was a huge pillar of his support structure and the need to talk about this to Roy was insanity. Because if he talked to Roy about this, then other Roy could hear it, too, and then what?
The general rubbed his palms together and then rubbed his fingers down either side of his nose.
"Ok, if it's not something I've done, then it's something you've done and don't want to tell me about?" he ventured.
"NO," Ed said loudly. "Quit being so damn pushy, why are you so damn pushy all the time?"
"Maybe because I have to keep running into the brick wall of Ed," the general growled. "We have come to far to handle situations like this; so, tell me what is going on? I'm tired of dancing the issue and rather everything be out in the open."
"Let me concede a point," Ed said slowly. "What is going on is going on with you. But it's not really with you and I don't know how to explain that to you," he raised his eyes to the general's, gave a short nod. "But it's not something you, yourself, have done. It's more what's being done in your image."
"My image?" the general said, looking confused.
"I told you, it's not something I can readily explain," Ed said. "But, you have to trust me on this. I will make it right, I promise, just give me some time with it, ok?"
They both started and turned at the sudden tap on the window behind Roy's desk. After all, Roy's office wasn't exactly on the ground floor and so window tapping usually meant bird suicide. Roy usually tried to be stoic about it, but Ed knew the general fed the birds and took each bird splat personally.
This tap however was not bird related and Ed was off the couch before he knew it, shoving by Roy who was trying to get out of his chair and throwing open the window to stare out at the person holding onto the window ledge.
"I tried your house first," the grinning lunatic said, "then the academy and when you weren't at either location I only knew of one other place you might be. I am here, at your summons. I have traversed many desert miles at a pace that speaks of my eternal and undying wish to do your bidding. Even though you made it clear that what was never to be will never be do you not see my devotion even in rejection?"
Ed put his hand over the prince's face and shoved him back, making him lose his grip on the window ledge.
"EDWARD," the general shrieked in alarm behind him, grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him aside to lean out the window and look down.
Ling Yao, Xingian Prince, stood on the manicured lawn below, he raised a hand to give the general an uncertain wave.
"What?" Ed snorted, "We're only three stories up."
**
They all sat around a small table in a small cafe with small dishes and small cups and small plesantries. Both the general and the prince kept looking at him in significant ways, but he couldn't really respond to any significance while both of them were there; so he just sat and wished his slice of cheesecake was about three times the size it was at the moment.
"I'm glad that Edward's enthusiasm at your arrival didn't do you any actual harm," the general said, lifting his small cup, but hesitating with it before it reached his lips. Ed thought this was perhaps there was a certain level of risk with such a small cup, like a swallowing and choking hazard.
The prince bobbed his head, messing with some small bun thing with a itty bitty fork that looked like it was made for a little girl's tea set. It only had three prongs, too, and Ed thought that was hoity and pointless. Forks should look like forks.
"I'm actually very pleased that Edward is so concerned with my training that he continues to test me, even after we've been separated for a long while," the prince said. "I hope my ability to escape serious injury and death after being shoved off a three story ledge gives him the confidence that my skills are top notch."
"Did I hear you say that Edward invited you?" the general said, finally deciding to chance sipping from the tiny tea cup. "He didn't mention it to me."
Ed kicked Ling under the table. He kicked him hard and hoped there was loads of significance in the kick; but at the last minute he used his flesh foot instead of his automail one, to cut the prince some slack. Ling had a knack for being on the up side of things even if he wanted everyone to think there wasn't anything going on behind those slanty eyes and fox like grin.
"That would be my very wishful thinking," the prince said flawlessly, cleverly masking his wince of pain by wrinkling his nose at the bun on his plate. "I know better than to think that Edward might actually wish for me to visit and commander all his time. Which is why I'm here to do exactly that! I have some papers you see, very officious, xingian stuff," he waved his hand. "Someone needs to read them, and since I am visiting royalty I'll be needing some sort of escort?" And he looked between the general and Edward hopefully.
Now it was Ed's turn to make this charade look good.
"NO, I'm busy! I've been away from my class for over two weeks and there is no telling what went on in my absence! I'm sure they have all sort of misguided ideas and I am going to dedicate myself to righting ever wrong spoken to them over that time," Edward huffed.
"Hmm, he has a point," the general said.
No, no, no, that's not good. Roy was suppose to give in to Ling's wishes and make sly innuendos about how he could make Edward do what Ling wanted him to do despite Edward's own wishes. How fucking ironic was it that now the bastard didn't want to cooperate?
Well there was that little matter where Roy caught them kissing that one time... but that had been resolved, they'd move far beyond that. Edward had made sure that Roy knew, without doubt, that their relationship could stand the test of temptation and time. So, that shouldn't be an issue. With a sick twist of his stomach, he had another thought.
Maybe the other Roy was suspicious for some reason.
"How about I only monopolize him for lunch while I'm here?" the prince asked. "That way I'm not really interfering with his school time or his evenings." Ling must be thinking of the caught lip to lip episode, too, Ed thought.
"Well that's up to you, Edward," Roy said, having successfully drank the tea in the tiny cup without actually swallowing the cup. "If the prince does need a escort I can assign someone from my office," and the general looked at the prince and the prince did a sheepish grin and hunch of his shoulders, "but if you want to have some time with him while you're here, that sounds reasonable."
"How the fuck did you learn reason?" Ed asked Ling, leaning toward him. "I seem to remember reason wasn't in your repertoire the last time you were here."
"Blame Ranfan," the prince snorted into his own tiny tea cup, sloshing half the tea out, "the woman is unreasonably hard to deal with in the matters of my own reason and discretion. Since returning to our country she went and got all ambitious with this grooming for the throne thing," the prince downed the tea that was left, "you'd think she really thought I'm make an good Emperor or something."
The general chuckled and Ed shook his head.
The prince slapped the tea cup down in it's tiny saucer and jumped to his feet.
"That being said I will go to my rooms and order room service so I can have a proper meal," he said cheerfully. "Professor, I'll meet you on the steps tomorrow, you can take me to that place we use to go to with that red meat sauce you adore," the prince said.
"Yeah, ok," Ed said, perking up a bit, "that's fine."
"General," the prince said to Roy and bowed a bit to him. Then he gave Ed a wave instead of a bow and turned to stride quickly from the table. Ed thought it was kind of abrupt, Ling was a lingerer. He lingered over any food hoping to either get more food or someone elses food when they weren't looking. Maybe it was because Ed had already eaten his cheesecake and the general never ordered anything to go with his tea. He glanced up at Roy, about to make a comment when he caught the look in his eye.
It wasn't the general watching the prince retreat and before Ed could say another word, the Roy in the general stood and turned slowly to Ed and studied him for a long moment.
"You make very interesting friends," the general said, then the side of his mouth curled up a bit, sort of like a smile. "Shall we go?"
Ed could only nod, stand and follow the man home.