Secret Santa for BlackScatter, finally (FMA part 1/3)

[Emily]

I AM REALLY SORRY. I had a lot of trouble writing this and I got stuck in so many ruts, even with this long ass period of time. I'm really sorry it took so long because you honestly deserved something amazing and I really tried to give you just that but it's just not up to par with what I had in mind for you. This is extremely belated, but nonetheless, I hope you will enjoy this long-awaited secret santa gift and may you never have me as your giver again.

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"Unfortunate though it is, I can't be bothered to worry about your childish needs right now, Fullmetal." General Roy Mustang cleared his throat with a brief cough, curling a white-gloved hand at his mouth. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about getting your paperwork in on time."

Edward clicked his tongue impatiently. Twenty years old now, he was still every bit as stubborn as he had been when he was fifteen. The price he paid to return to normal was great, but he had been unable to forget the rush of the military life in his everyday "normal" life. He had gone back home for a year, but kept in the know on military happenings. His knowledge of alchemy still exceeded that of many of his superiors, so upon his seemingly unexpected return, his old job had been waiting for him. Roy had suspected a few things when Ed popped in and out, claiming he was "just dropping by," but the boy was readable. Even now, it was obvious to him that there was something more behind his words than simply demanding an explanation for his new mission.

"Are you seriously sending me to Xing? For a simple drug bust?" Ed advanced on the general, casting a lanky shadow over the mahogany desk. "You'd think the military had plenty of men to spare to send me off on something like this." Since his return, he had soared three ranks to Brigadier General with a huge case that took him by surprise. What had begun as an intel mission was discovered to be a plot for a chain assassination of multiple officers. They had been saved by Edward's instinct, wit, and a stroke of pure luck. Although the boy held little interest for his new title, it was by no means an indication that he did not understand the power he held. Mustang didn't miss a beat.

"The higher-ups asked whom I thought would get the job done best so I recommended you," Roy responded calmly. He continued to organize and reorganize the stack of papers on his desk. Swallowed an urge to cough again, but the irritation decided to shift to his nose instead.. A heaving sigh escaped from his subordinate's lips as he sank into the old couch in obvious annoyance, shoving blond hair out of his face.

"I thought I'd be spending Christmas with my family this year, Mustang," Ed stated evenly.

Ah, so that was what he meant.

"There's nothing I can do about it now, Fullmetal. You still have about a week to get this case under wraps. And if it's as simple as it sounds, then you should be done soon." He brought a hand up to pinch away the growing itch. "There's really nothing more to be said about this. You may as well leave-hh—" Flinching silently with the utmost precision into his wrist, Mustang gave no hint afterward that whatever had happened had indeed just happened. He had completely missed Edward's momentary concern, however, and assumed that the boy had left the room in petulance.

Once the door had shut, he exhaled tiredly and began to dig into his grueling stack of paperwork. Literally dig, so he could find the important ones and leave the office as soon as possible after approving them. An hour later Riza Hawkeye, now Colonel Hawkeye, walked in the room after several unanswered requests to enter and frowned disapprovingly at the crumpled form of her commanding officer.

"Sir." She raised her voice a little louder and lowered herself until she was next to his ear and urged, "Sir."

Startled out of his chair, Roy blinked awake as he clung to the desk in panic. "Riza!" He winced at the way his voice cracked at the first syllable. "I didn't realize you were already here. What time is it?" He removed the glove from his right hand and rubbed his eyes, quickly moving to the side of his head instead. He couldn't even remember falling asleep, but the smears of ink across his glove evidently meant he had at some point started nodding off.

"It's five-thirty. You haven't finished your paperwork," Riza said pointedly. "I have a message for you from the higher-ups." She handed him a sealed envelope. "It concerns the drug smuggling case."

Bingo. He'd been right to send Fullmetal. As he scanned the memo, the smirk flew right off his face. Had he read that right?

"This makes no sense," Roy mumbled. The skin on the right side of his head was red from his trying to rub away his headache.

What infuriating wretch had gotten that far into the undergrounds? He had been following leads on this case for several weeks now, but had not by any means expected such a large smuggling ring. The progress report stated that the ringleader was most likely situated in Xing where most of the exports had come from, but there was yet not a sign that pointed to exactly which part of the large country he was stationed. The case sounded increasingly convoluted the further down he read. Roy felt a vein throb at his forehead and willed it to calm the fuck down. If he hadn't, he might have popped a blood vessel at the final statement. God damn.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At precisely five the next morning, the Fullmetal Alchemist plopped himself down at a seat to wait for his 5:10 train. The few people milling about steered clear of him the moment they caught sight of his face. Combined with the power of pure irritation and sleeplessness, he strongly resembled the recently caught serial killer. His aura grew fifty shades darker when he looked up at 5:03 straight into the eyes of his most hateful superior.

"Looks like you're not the only one spending the holidays on a case," Roy greeted in a voice that sounded like he'd swallowed a pound of bricks.

"Mustang," Ed responded curtly. "I wasn't aware I needed babysitting. Drug bust not as simple as you'd hoped?"

"Smuggling ring." Mustang turned to cough peevishly into his fist before continuing with an uncomfortable sniff. Edward narrowed his eyes in question, but held back as Mustang went on with the details of the case. As they boarded the train, Ed watched his superior officer pause abruptly for several seconds, screwing his face in fierce concentration before relaxing again. His nose appeared to have developed a perpetual reddish tint, almost certainly due to his constant annoyed pinching. If Ed weren't so angry about the current assignment, he might have thought Mustang looked more miserable than he felt towards their little two-man trip into the desert.

They sat opposite each other in complete silence for nearly the entire duration of the train ride to the outskirts of Amestris, where they would then board the coach that was waiting for them.

A supposedly private coach provided by the ambassador of Xing.

"Why are there ten other people getting on this with me?" Roy muttered darkly, filing in after the tails of Ed's billowing red coat. What had he done to deserve such conditions? As he boarded the coach, a stray sandy breeze carried a pocket of the desert past his abraded nostrils. He inhaled.

"heeeh- ugh..." He mentally added "snorting sand" on his list of things never to do again. As his breath hitched uncertainly, he put it in its place with a curled finger under his wildly flaring nostrils. Ten minutes into the uncomfortably packed ride, he felt the sand rile, and he slowly launched into a painstaking method of breathing.

Across from him, Ed was studying the perpetually parted lips, the awkward leaps of air as Mustang inhaled, the flush coloring over faint stubble. Something had seemed off about him all day, and now that he thought back, something felt a little strange yesterday too. He reclined cautiously into his seat between a scantily clad young man and an Ishvalan tourist, and continued observing his superior.

Odd.

Mustang drew a gloved hand toward his face and let it hang a few seconds before crumpling completely, shaking with the effort to stay quiet and unnoticed. He was silent, save several angry gasps of air, but he had by no means gone unnoticed. The old woman beside him blessed him loudly, to his horror, and insisted on giving him her scarf.

"I-I'm perfectly fine, ma'am. Thank you," Roy spluttered. A snort of laughter pulled an icy glare directed toward Edward, who had made to cover an upturned mouth.

"All you young men overwork yourselves! You best be staying somewhere warm and dry." The old lady chuckled to herself and subsequently mused, "Though I suppose you got just that right here in the desert, eh?" That earned a hoot from the rowdier of the group.

Three hours to cross the desert. Mustang steeled himself, breathing deeply to assure himself, yes he could do this.

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I'm really, really sorry this was all I could do in two months. You really deserve something way better. I'll be doing my best to push all your buttons in the next two parts so I hope you'll be able to enjoy at least a part of it! Thank you for being so patient and not ranting about this in the snake pit. I'll have the next part up in the next 24-28 hours.

[SterlingSilver]

NITHERS!..... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~!

OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!! OH MY GOSH.

Okay, first of all, I totally understand writer's block and the agony of trying to finish something that just isn't forthcoming, so I have to give you a GIANT THANK YOU for sticking with this and not bailing! Seriously, thank you! I know how grueling those last few pages must have been xD. And it means the world to me that you stuck with it just for me and got me something QwQ.. That's just really awesome and nice <3. All my sincerest thank you's~

And two, this is amazing!! SO AMAZING. I have looked forever, and there are really so few "Ed gets concerned and helps Roy because you know whatever" fics out there. Plenty of Roy caring for Ed, and lots of Riza caring for Roy, but so little Ed caretaker fics and oh my gosh you have filled a niche I have been itching for since like 5 years ago and it's so beautiful. So so beautiful. I was honestly so joyfully surprised to see "FMA" in the title >w<~! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~~

I love the setting and the world you are building right now. I can totally sink into it and it feels so natural~ everything is completely in character, and it's not the really over-exaggerated versions, but the very believable, very real versions >w<. And Edward being 20 now, I can totally see him being a little more mature in some ways but still getting his digs when he can because, hey, he's Ed~

Like, this is just:

"Sir." She raised her voice a little louder and lowered herself until she was next to his ear and urged, "Sir."

Startled out of his chair, Roy blinked awake as he clung to the desk in panic. "Riza!" He winced at the way his voice cracked at the first syllable. "I didn't realize you were already here. What time is it?" He removed the glove from his right hand and rubbed his eyes, quickly moving to the side of his head instead. He couldn't even remember falling asleep, but the smears of ink across his glove evidently meant he had at some point started nodding off.

HNNNNNG~ Roy getting all sleepy and Riza just being like, "SIR THERE IS PAPERWORK" xDD. And this is setting such a paced, delicious decline into illness >w<. Starts with a cough and some fatigue, and maybe one sneeze, and starts getting worse. So, so perfect~

AND THIS:

"There's nothing I can do about it now, Fullmetal. You still have about a week to get this case under wraps. And if it's as simple as it sounds, then you should be done soon." He brought a hand up to pinch away the growing itch. "There's really nothing more to be said about this. You may as well leave-hh—" Flinching silently with the utmost precision into his wrist, Mustang gave no hint afterward that whatever had happened had indeed just happened. He had completely missed Edward's momentary concern, however, and assumed that the boy had left the room in petulance.

SO CUTE, SO CUTE~ ED IS CARING ABOUT HIM ALREADY, JUST A LITTLE <3. And Roy being a silent stifle-er feels so right to me. Like, perfectly cannon as long as I'm concerned. I'm eager to see what his un-stifled sneezes will sound like >w<

"Smuggling ring." Mustang turned to cough peevishly into his fist before continuing with an uncomfortable sniff. Edward narrowed his eyes in question, but held back as Mustang went on with the details of the case.

And I just love this. I just totally love this. Ed getting all squinty and suspicious, but Roy carrying on like it didn't happen and so Ed just sort of has to go along with it too. Lovely. Perfect characterization, and so heart-breakingly adorable, gahhhh <3

AND THIS IS MY FAVORITE:

Mustang drew a gloved hand toward his face and let it hang a few seconds before crumpling completely, shaking with the effort to stay quiet and unnoticed. He was silent, save several angry gasps of air, but he had by no means gone unnoticed. The old woman beside him blessed him loudly, to his horror, and insisted on giving him her scarf

I LITERALLY SNORTED WHILE READING THAT xDDD. Roy thinking he's being sneaky and totally got away with it, and then the lady LOUDLY blesses him, to his HORROR xDDDD That's just the best image ever. Roy getting so embarrassed at being blessed when he thought no one noticed. People who are embarrassed by their sneezes and get called out are just the cutest thing ever >w<

AND THERE IS MORE?! THERE IS GOING TO BE MORE?! BAH! I feel spoiled x333. So long story short-- this story is FANTASTIC, you are THE BEST, and I am nothing but excited and delighted about the prospects of this fic. Thank you sio much for writing this for me, Nithers >w<. I absolutely adore it! <3

[alias]

ROY MUSTANG! SO MUCH YES! Ahhhhhhh I have no words! Just happiness! This isn't even my present and I feel like I should say thank you because HOT DAMN. This is an amazing set-up. I love how you have the classic butting of heads with Ed and Mustang, but still preserve the underlying "affection" for one another, for lack of a better word. I can't wait to see how this unfolds.

[a red nine]

Wow, this was... unexpectedly nice. Unexpectedly because I usually avoid certain fanfic topics out of fear that the characters will be butchered by the writer. But I really like your Roy here: I wouldn't have thought of him being the sort to stifle but you really made it work. I especially liked this part here:

Mustang drew a gloved hand toward his face and let it hang a few seconds before crumpling completely, shaking with the effort to stay quiet and unnoticed. He was silent, save several angry gasps of air, but he had by no means gone unnoticed. The old woman beside him blessed him loudly, to his horror, and insisted on giving him her scarf.

"I-I'm perfectly fine, ma'am. Thank you," Roy spluttered.

Oh, one of my favorite types of situations. Just the way to start the day.

When I finished, I think I actually said "No!" aloud because I wanted to see more of where it was going. So definitely looking forward to parts 2 and 3!