Pastime Disasters

Notes before reading.

Edward Elric is eighteen in this fiction, as he appeared in the film although the story has no connection with it.

Thoughts are italics in ‘’ e.g. ‘What the hell..?.’

Thank you to Amethyst-eyed Koneko and Baroqueangel. Amethyst-eyed Koneko you are a hero :). I didn't realise how the text cameout so that really helped. Thanks to you both.

Chapter Two.

Bleep...Bleep....Bleep...SLAM!!

This was the unhappy sound of Roy Mustang waking up.

Groaning as he removed his hand from the abused alarm clock (6:30 am), Roy began the unwilling process of extracting himself from the snug world of his blankets to the biting cold of the morning.

His head hurt. This was probably payback from last night’s whiskey, but at this point Roy didn’t care. He just knew his head hurt and wished it didn’t.

He did not want to run today.

Fumbling for the light-switch he made his way towards the bathroom, following the undeniable principle that everything feels better after you’ve brushed your teeth.

In his new position in the bathroom Roy blearily looked into his fatigued reflection.

Work had been hell lately.

Scar had really upped his profile recently, so the military were scrabbling to cope with the new influx of work. As a colonel, a reasonable amount of this had come to Roy, and that was doing nothing for his stress levels. The drinking of last night had just been a slightly guilty way of coping with that stress.

Now with a clean face and minty tasting mouth Roy returned to his room and groggily began to pull on his kit, it wasn’t enough to block out the invasive cold.

He did not want to run today.

Edward’s comments during his run had slowly become more and more stinging. Roy often found himself having to excuse himself from the Elric to simply stop himself loosing his temper. Why did Fullmetal want to wait for him every morning if it was simply insult him into the ground? Where was the point?

He shook his foggy head in frustration.

Sitting at the edge of his bed Roy struggled to tie up his shoe laces, his fingers’ movements were stiff, they didn’t seem to work properly in the morning chill.

He did not want to...

But that didn’t matter, did it?

It didn’t matter if he wanted to run or not, he just had to do it. If you let one excuse through, one teensy tiny excuse, then what was to stop you coming up with that same excuse the next time, or the time after that? Sooner or later you wouldn’t need an excuse, because you would have stopped what you were doing to merit like that. And Roy Mustang wasn’t a man to give up on things.

His quest to become fuhrer was proof of that.

You could say ‘grin and bear it’ was the Mustang family motto, and Roy stuck with it to the t...

Sometimes stubbornness and willpower can be the same thing.

Shoes now firmly on Roy stood up and braced himself for the coming day.

Time to head out.

He hoped to hell that Edward wasn’t waiting for him.

On a day like this, in a mood like this, Mustang didn’t think he could deal with the abuse.

Everybody has a breaking point.

.:.

Roy’s footfalls echoed around central’s grounds.

Not today, please not today...

From where he currently was the spot Edward usually waited for him was still obscured, but it was soon going to come into view. Roy could only pray that it would be empty when he ran past, no cutting blonde waiting for him today.

Quickening his pace Roy hoped that if he ran past early he would manage to avoid Ed’s unwanted attention, something he was desperate to achieve.

After a few more yards it would be in view...

Not today, please oh please not today...

“Good-morning Colonel!”

Mustang’s hopes were shattered with that one cheery call echoing across the grounds.

He couldn’t help himself.

“Oh fuc-“

“What was that colonel?” Ed breezily enquired, cutting off Roy’s near expletive.

“Oh, nothing Edward, just pleased to see you.” Mustang thought his smile was so false that it must be creaking under the strain.

“Huh?” A blonde eyebrow arched in suspicion. He shrugged it off. “Whatever, I’m just surprised you’re pleased to see anyone, how moody you’ve been lately. You get dumped again?”

Roy’s smile, if you could call it that, was now ferociously toothy. It was hard to remain civil.

“Ha ha ha.” His laugh sounded like something out of a mausoleum. Mustang contemplated whether if he made polite conversation he’d be able to get away faster. “I’ve just been a little overworked lately, Scar’s comeback and all...”

“Oh, really..?” Ed’s tone firmly contained the words ‘as if I could care less’. “If you’re so busy why are you still running in the morning? Shouldn’t you be at your desk with paperwork like a good little colonel? It just seems a bit pointless.” A wicked smile crossed Edward’s face as he felt insulting genius strike. “ But then...That’s pointless too suppose, I mean, you trying to become fuhrer, and now there’s no chance of that, is there?”

Mustang’s already straining smile froze. Hands curled into fists. Not today...

Amazingly, Roy managed to keep his voice level. “Pointless...? You’re telling me about pointless hopes?”

Edward looked up, confused. So far Mustang had never talked back to him during their little morning meetings. Was this a good sign? Maybe now they could engage in a bit of banter and who knew where that could lead, maybe even... Ed had to stop himself smiling. Admittedly there was something disquieting about the tone of Roy’s voice, but he cast it aside, this was hope! And Edward was going to clutch onto it.

He decided to keep the conversation going.

“Telling you about pointless hopes? Yep, yes I am.” Inside Ed was triumphant, sadly it wasn’t going to last long.

Roy lost it.

“HOW DARE YOU TELL ME MY HOPES ARE FUCKING POINTLESS!!!” Mustang’s voice was so loud it reverberated around the surrounding area, no doubt shocking some early morning workers. “HOW LONG SINCE YOU’VE LOOKED IN THE MIRROR, METAL BOY?!?”

The outburst so sudden Edward hadn’t had the chance to register what was being said. Completely thrown back by the extent of Roy’s anger he simply stood there and watched Roy scream at him, words digging like fists into his gut.

Completely unaware of the affect of his words Mustang continued to howl at the blonde.

It felt good, really, really good to finally let out all that pent up frustration that had been biting at him for the last few weeks. Edward had tipped him over the edge and unleashed a whole lot of anger that he wasn’t entirely accountable for. Roy just wasn’t in the correct state of mind to realise this.

“YOU TURNED YOUR BROTHER INTO A BLOODY TIN CAN!! I THINK ME TRYING TO BECOME FUHRER HAS A BETTER CHANCE IN HELL THAN YOU SORTING THAT ONE OUT!!!”

Having now fully comprehended what Roy, his Roy, whom he had admired from a distance for so so long, was saying, water began to gather in Edward’s eyes.

The guilt began to rise in Ed’s throat. He’d got it all wrong, hadn’t he? All horribly, horribly wrong. In a moment of silence when Mustang paused for breath he stuttered “Roy, I-I...” Soft tears began to streak down Edward’s face. “I’m sorry...”

The apology was so quiet it was swallowed up by the chill morning breeze.
Having understood that Edward said something and not having heard it, blind in his anger to his companion’s tears, Mustang responded as his emotions dictated.

With cruelty.

“Just SHUT UP Fullmetal! I don’t care what you’ve got to say!” Fullmetal’s expression was similar to that of a cornered small animal, scared with nowhere to run. “You know nothing, NOTHING, about me Edward, so just leave me the hell alone!”

Mustang began to run on, leaving the devastated blonde to stare after him, overwhelmed by all that had just happened and the knowledge of his failure.

After that, Edward didn’t wait for Roy in the mornings any more.

To be continued...
.:.

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