A!S fic, reconciliation
May. 10th, 2005 02:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mikkenekoFor Hime's perusal. Sequel to "Resentment."
Title: Reconciliation
He was not sulking, Al told himself firmly, no matter what Sensei said.
Just because he'd rather stay inside, and get some of his assigned chores out of the way, didn't mean it was sulking. So what if it was a nice day outside? Nice days came and went, there was no reason to go outside for this one.
And just because Masuta and Brother were lounging together, talking, on the lawn where he could see them through the window, had nothing to do with his decision to stay inside. There were dishes to do, that was all.
They certainly looked like they were having a good time, Al thought, and scrubbed hard at a pot.
Actually -- Al stopped the scrubber for a minute, dunking the pot in water to soak, and leaned over to see out the window a little better. Actually, if he didn't know better, he'd say they were arguing about something. Masuta was saying something, Al couldn't catch it, but the foreign man's expression was hard to read; Brother's, however, was easy to read (always had been) and it was clear he was upset by whatever his friend was saying. He was shaking his head, scowling, and after a moment he thumped on the edge of the lawn chair to emphasize his point.
Edward was arguing back; Al could just barely hear his raised voice through the window, even though he couldn't make out any of the words. It was Masuta's turn to shake his head, as he replied; and the dishes were forgotten entirely as Al leaned over, hands on the counter, to watch.
His brother had gone from angry to upset; abruptly he stood, and began stalking back and forth on the lawn. Whatever Masuta was saying to him, he didn't like it, and Al had a moment of selfish wishing he could run out and intercede in the conversation, to defend Ed against whatever accusations Masuta was throwing at him.
But he didn't move, and after a few more minutes of quiet conversations from Masuta -- and yelling from Ed -- Ed turned abruptly on his heel and stormed off. Masuta sighed, his expression faintly sad, and turned back to his own book. Al glared at the side of the man's head, through the window. Wasn't he going to go after Ed, to apologize?
Not like Al could talk. Mood darkened, he went back to scrubbing the pots with a vengeance.
-------------------------
The next time Al went to his little stream, Ed was there waiting for him.
Al stopped in his tracks, as Ed rose up from his cross-legged position, dusting off his pants. "Hey, Al," he said easily, and smiled, but there was a note of tension in his expression.
"Brother?" Al looked around for a book, some explanation for Ed's activities, but saw nothing. "What are you doing out here?"
"Oh, nothing," Ed said glibly. Al just looked at him. "Waiting for you," he admitted sheepishly. "I knew you'd come out here, if you were feeling upset."
Al frowned. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Ed, but this felt like... like an ambush. "Why?" he asked, more abruptly than he meant to.
"Uh..." Ed looked away, and kicked at the ground. "Nothing. Something Masuta said, is all. Hey," he started, looking up before Al could get angry at that last statement. "Wanna spar?"
Al's frown deepened to a scowl, before smoothing out. He didn't think he wanted to hear anything that Ed and Masuta had cooked up between them, particularly in relation to him. Since when was Ed Masuta's messenger boy, anyway? "Fine," he said, unhooking his bag of Sieg-made snacks and hanging it up on a low branch to keep safe. "I thought you'd already figured out that I'm still better at this than you?" he added, in a deliberate challenge.
Ed's eyes flashed at the implied insult, but he grinned anyway. "Well, we'll see about that," he said in a boisterous tone, cracking his shoulder up. "I've been getting back into shape, you know. You'll find you won't get so easy a win, this time."
Was his brother delusional? Al wondered; Ed hadn't been spending any more time with Sensei than usual, and definitely no more time than Al had. Or -- more likely -- this was just Ed's usual brand of arrogance, and Al decided all at once that it was time for another scheduled round of beating it out of him.
"We'll see," he agreed, and rushed to attack.
The fight was fast, and intense. Ed hadn't been lying, he was a little better than he had been; the fight didn't end within the first ten seconds, anyway. But he was still definitely not up to Al's speed, and was barely managing to block his blows, much less take the offensive. Al pressed his advantage, backing Ed up towards the stream; a dunk, he thought, might cool Ed's head a little.
Ed managed to evade him, suddenly, and reverse their positions until it was Al's back to the stream. A sting of anger flashed in Al's mind; he didn't recognize that move. Either it was one he'd learned from Masuta, or -- worse -- one he'd developed in the time that Al had forgotten. It had been six years, after all. Even in this small area of their lives Ed had moved on. Without him.
Al went for a kick; at the very last minute he remembered about Ed's metal left leg and switched to the right one instead, buckling Ed's knee under him. Ed squawked, losing his balance and falling out of his form, and Al didn't hesitate; a blow to the stomach, that folded Ed neatly down, a hit to the face, which Ed barely managed to deflect part of the force of; and then he had hold of Ed's arm and turned, throwing him over his shoulder and slamming him into the soft ground.
He was on top of his brother a second later, pinning him down, and if he was pressing against Ed's throat with a little more force than necessary, well, that was nobody's fault, same as the prickling in his eyes and the breaths rattling in his throat that were a little too fast even for a sparring match. He could chalk it up to adrenaline, after all.
But this was Ed, it was his brother before all, and Ed knew him. Even before he'd recovered from getting the wind knocked out of him, Ed suddenly looked up at him and smiled, and his eyes were bright and clear like the Ed that he remembered. With his free hand Ed reached up carefully, and instead of trying to force Al off of him, he touched his shoulder. "Al," he said, and cleared his throat. "You know I love you, right? That won't change."
He lo --
He was left stunned enough at the words that Ed was able to push the arm off his throat, and pushing himself up on one elbow, kiss him on the cheek. Apparently just this display of affection was enough to make Ed blush, and he grinned embarrassedly as he bumped their foreheads together. "No matter what."
It got through to him then, and he felt a smile he couldn't control break out on his own face. He couldn't help it, he was just so relieved and happy; and even though he might have known, in the abstract, how much Ed had done for him, everything had been different since Ed had come back and Al had never been sure, Ed had never told him, only now he had.
Ed's own smile widened, in response to Al's own, and that was all the warning he got. Ed suddenly twisted under him, his hands grabbing Al's shoulder, and with a yelp Al found himself thrown until he landed with a solid impact on his back in the mud. "Ow!"
And then he was down and Ed was up, grinning like a loon, dancing away like a spirited horse. "I win this one, Al!" he called, even as he headed quickly back towards the house."
"Brother!" Al yelled, carefully leveraging himself out of the mud. "That's not fair -- you cheated!"
"Anything goes, Al!" Ed's voice floated back through the trees, and Al growled; he'd have to chase after his brother if he wanted to get his revenge.
Then he smiled. He could do that. There was no reason for him to stay by the stream, after all.
Title: Reconciliation
He was not sulking, Al told himself firmly, no matter what Sensei said.
Just because he'd rather stay inside, and get some of his assigned chores out of the way, didn't mean it was sulking. So what if it was a nice day outside? Nice days came and went, there was no reason to go outside for this one.
And just because Masuta and Brother were lounging together, talking, on the lawn where he could see them through the window, had nothing to do with his decision to stay inside. There were dishes to do, that was all.
They certainly looked like they were having a good time, Al thought, and scrubbed hard at a pot.
Actually -- Al stopped the scrubber for a minute, dunking the pot in water to soak, and leaned over to see out the window a little better. Actually, if he didn't know better, he'd say they were arguing about something. Masuta was saying something, Al couldn't catch it, but the foreign man's expression was hard to read; Brother's, however, was easy to read (always had been) and it was clear he was upset by whatever his friend was saying. He was shaking his head, scowling, and after a moment he thumped on the edge of the lawn chair to emphasize his point.
Edward was arguing back; Al could just barely hear his raised voice through the window, even though he couldn't make out any of the words. It was Masuta's turn to shake his head, as he replied; and the dishes were forgotten entirely as Al leaned over, hands on the counter, to watch.
His brother had gone from angry to upset; abruptly he stood, and began stalking back and forth on the lawn. Whatever Masuta was saying to him, he didn't like it, and Al had a moment of selfish wishing he could run out and intercede in the conversation, to defend Ed against whatever accusations Masuta was throwing at him.
But he didn't move, and after a few more minutes of quiet conversations from Masuta -- and yelling from Ed -- Ed turned abruptly on his heel and stormed off. Masuta sighed, his expression faintly sad, and turned back to his own book. Al glared at the side of the man's head, through the window. Wasn't he going to go after Ed, to apologize?
Not like Al could talk. Mood darkened, he went back to scrubbing the pots with a vengeance.
-------------------------
The next time Al went to his little stream, Ed was there waiting for him.
Al stopped in his tracks, as Ed rose up from his cross-legged position, dusting off his pants. "Hey, Al," he said easily, and smiled, but there was a note of tension in his expression.
"Brother?" Al looked around for a book, some explanation for Ed's activities, but saw nothing. "What are you doing out here?"
"Oh, nothing," Ed said glibly. Al just looked at him. "Waiting for you," he admitted sheepishly. "I knew you'd come out here, if you were feeling upset."
Al frowned. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Ed, but this felt like... like an ambush. "Why?" he asked, more abruptly than he meant to.
"Uh..." Ed looked away, and kicked at the ground. "Nothing. Something Masuta said, is all. Hey," he started, looking up before Al could get angry at that last statement. "Wanna spar?"
Al's frown deepened to a scowl, before smoothing out. He didn't think he wanted to hear anything that Ed and Masuta had cooked up between them, particularly in relation to him. Since when was Ed Masuta's messenger boy, anyway? "Fine," he said, unhooking his bag of Sieg-made snacks and hanging it up on a low branch to keep safe. "I thought you'd already figured out that I'm still better at this than you?" he added, in a deliberate challenge.
Ed's eyes flashed at the implied insult, but he grinned anyway. "Well, we'll see about that," he said in a boisterous tone, cracking his shoulder up. "I've been getting back into shape, you know. You'll find you won't get so easy a win, this time."
Was his brother delusional? Al wondered; Ed hadn't been spending any more time with Sensei than usual, and definitely no more time than Al had. Or -- more likely -- this was just Ed's usual brand of arrogance, and Al decided all at once that it was time for another scheduled round of beating it out of him.
"We'll see," he agreed, and rushed to attack.
The fight was fast, and intense. Ed hadn't been lying, he was a little better than he had been; the fight didn't end within the first ten seconds, anyway. But he was still definitely not up to Al's speed, and was barely managing to block his blows, much less take the offensive. Al pressed his advantage, backing Ed up towards the stream; a dunk, he thought, might cool Ed's head a little.
Ed managed to evade him, suddenly, and reverse their positions until it was Al's back to the stream. A sting of anger flashed in Al's mind; he didn't recognize that move. Either it was one he'd learned from Masuta, or -- worse -- one he'd developed in the time that Al had forgotten. It had been six years, after all. Even in this small area of their lives Ed had moved on. Without him.
Al went for a kick; at the very last minute he remembered about Ed's metal left leg and switched to the right one instead, buckling Ed's knee under him. Ed squawked, losing his balance and falling out of his form, and Al didn't hesitate; a blow to the stomach, that folded Ed neatly down, a hit to the face, which Ed barely managed to deflect part of the force of; and then he had hold of Ed's arm and turned, throwing him over his shoulder and slamming him into the soft ground.
He was on top of his brother a second later, pinning him down, and if he was pressing against Ed's throat with a little more force than necessary, well, that was nobody's fault, same as the prickling in his eyes and the breaths rattling in his throat that were a little too fast even for a sparring match. He could chalk it up to adrenaline, after all.
But this was Ed, it was his brother before all, and Ed knew him. Even before he'd recovered from getting the wind knocked out of him, Ed suddenly looked up at him and smiled, and his eyes were bright and clear like the Ed that he remembered. With his free hand Ed reached up carefully, and instead of trying to force Al off of him, he touched his shoulder. "Al," he said, and cleared his throat. "You know I love you, right? That won't change."
He lo --
He was left stunned enough at the words that Ed was able to push the arm off his throat, and pushing himself up on one elbow, kiss him on the cheek. Apparently just this display of affection was enough to make Ed blush, and he grinned embarrassedly as he bumped their foreheads together. "No matter what."
It got through to him then, and he felt a smile he couldn't control break out on his own face. He couldn't help it, he was just so relieved and happy; and even though he might have known, in the abstract, how much Ed had done for him, everything had been different since Ed had come back and Al had never been sure, Ed had never told him, only now he had.
Ed's own smile widened, in response to Al's own, and that was all the warning he got. Ed suddenly twisted under him, his hands grabbing Al's shoulder, and with a yelp Al found himself thrown until he landed with a solid impact on his back in the mud. "Ow!"
And then he was down and Ed was up, grinning like a loon, dancing away like a spirited horse. "I win this one, Al!" he called, even as he headed quickly back towards the house."
"Brother!" Al yelled, carefully leveraging himself out of the mud. "That's not fair -- you cheated!"
"Anything goes, Al!" Ed's voice floated back through the trees, and Al growled; he'd have to chase after his brother if he wanted to get his revenge.
Then he smiled. He could do that. There was no reason for him to stay by the stream, after all.
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no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 02:54 pm (UTC)I'm such a sick freak. I went from "aww" at the kiss to "purr". Sick, sick freak.
This is too cute. *pokes* More?
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Date: 2005-05-10 02:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 03:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 03:38 pm (UTC)May Elricest vibes live forever!
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Date: 2005-05-10 04:12 pm (UTC)(*snickers, is shot*)
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Date: 2005-05-10 04:13 pm (UTC)No, I am not Gluttony. I swear.no subject
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