Work Text:
“Come on Mustang,” Ed whined. “I’m not asking for you to give me your research on flame alchemy. I just need a few pointers to get a better understanding of how to make my plan work.”
“Which you haven’t explained yet,” the Bastard added, fingers still steepled in front of his stupid face. How could one man look so smug just with the tilt of their mouth? “So, let’s back up for a moment and start from the beginning instead of tacking on your queries to the end of your report.”
Maybe adding it on at the end of his mission report wasn’t the best idea, but it was hard enough to ask Mustang for a favor. No, that wasn’t true. Ed had no problem asking Mustang for help when it came to information on the stone. The problem was personal favors.
It was undoubtedly pride that halted any attempts to ask for help when it mattered—an imaginary line he refused to cross if he could help it. He wasn’t going to back down from this one, though.
He’d tear his pride to shreds if it meant making Al happy.
That didn’t change the difficulty Ed had with getting the words out to ask properly. He shuffled his feet awkwardly and resisted the urge to twiddle with his bangs. “I’m asking you for a favor.” So far, so good.
“I got that much, Fullmetal.”
Ed’s eye twitched perceptively, barely biting off the retort that clung to his tongue. “Al’s been… sad lately.”
‘Sad’ didn’t hold the weight of the melancholy that hung like a shroud across Al’s large shoulders. ‘Sad’ didn’t reflect the longing in Al’s voice as he talked about the food Mrs. Gracia made the other night. ‘Sad’ didn’t betray the melancholia that seemed to bleed from Al’s eyes as he took in the world around him.
It wasn’t the first time either of them had gone through a bout of longing. Usually, Ed and Al could work through it with a bit of research or seeing a friendly face. Sometimes even a good spar was enough to shake off the despondency and get them back to their goal.
But with this particular instance of gloom with Al, none of the usual things seemed to work. It’d drive off the cloud for a while and Al’s shoulders would relax, his voice bubbly and excitable like normal. However, it didn’t stay away for more than a day and Ed would hear his brother’s voice turn soft and blue and they’d be back at square one.
Which is why Ed had to do more. He couldn’t give Al everything he wanted; Ed couldn’t give Al his body back. Not yet. But, dammit if Ed couldn’t give Al something he could experience just fine without his body. “I want to cheer Al up.”
Mustang lowered his palms back to his desk, his eyes searching Ed’s face for something. “I can understand that much, but why come to me?”
Ed shoved his hands in his pockets. “When we were kids, every summer there’d be this little festival in Resembool where you’d play games and eat good food.” He let himself fall into those memories of running through the wheat fields with Al and Winry, bellies full of candied fruit and salty pretzels made fresh by the small bakery in town. “The best part though was the fireworks.”
The mesmerizing display of exploding color had left afterimages of their brilliance in each blink of Ed’s eyes. He’d steal glances at Al and take in the delight that twinkled in his eyes with each boom of an explosion. Not once did that joy dim, no matter how many fireworks were fired or however many times they’d seen the display.
“I’m not—I can’t—” Ed groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and stave off the headache that had started to make itself known. “I need some pointers on how exactly I can make some since I don’t have access to any of the ingredients I’d need. So, I’m asking you to… please help me with this.”
At the admission—or perhaps because he’d actually said the word ‘please’ to Mustang of all people—had Mustang’s stare softening to something fond. It made Ed’s heart flutter briefly and he felt his ears growing hot as he turned his attention to the window. Idiot Colonel.
“You want to give Al a firework show,” Mustang surmised and Ed caught him leaning back against the backrest of his chair, his head tilted to stare at the ceiling.
“Yeah.”
Mustang stood up from his chair and let out a small huff as he stretched. “Come with me,” he said, gesturing for Ed to follow him.
Ed furrowed his brow but followed after him nonetheless. Mustang wasn’t saying no so that had to mean something.
Back into the room where the rest of team Mustang was working, Ed’s eyes found Al first. He seemed to be in a rather animated conversation with Fuery, which was good.
“Fullmetal and I have to meet someone,” Mustang called out to the room, not even stopping to address his team. “We should be back in an hour or so.”
Al met Ed’s gaze and Ed gave his brother a reassuring smile. “I’ll be back soon, Al,” Ed said, “Stay out of trouble!”
“I’m not you, Brother,” Al teased, though it was more subdued than his usual ribbing. Ed sputtered like he was supposed to before the door closed.
Turning his attention back to Mustang, he broke the silence. “So, where are we going?” Ed asked.
Mustang’s lips formed that familiar smirk though there was still that affectionate softness to his eyes that he had seen back in Mustang’s office. “I’m going to help you with your surprise,” Mustang said.
“Just like that?”
Mustang snorted and shook his head. “Weren’t you the one who asked me?”
He had Ed there. “Well, yeah but I didn’t think you’d just agree like that.”
“What did you think I’d do?”
Ed shrugged. “I don’t know, make me beg maybe? Help with your paperwork?” Probably say something stupid just to watch as Ed ground his teeth while spitting the words out. He’s sure Mustang would love that.
That actually got a laugh out of the other man. “I’m pretty sure Hawkeye would shoot me if she found out I’d made you help with my paperwork.”
“I don’t know, she’d probably shoot you for less.”
“Perhaps.” Mustang was silent for a moment before continuing. “And I wouldn’t make you beg, not for something like this.”
The admission had Ed smiling to himself. Guess Mustang can’t be a bastard all the time.
“But, if you’d prefer to beg like a puppy for a treat I’m happy to accept.”
Ed’s fists clenched and the vein in his forehead throbbed along with the twitch of his eye. “Bastard—”
“There’s a shop not too far from headquarters that specifically caters to events,” Roy said over his rant. “It’s mostly supplies for dinner parties and weddings, but I know for a fact that the son of the woman who runs the place has convinced her to carry fireworks all year round.”
“Wait, you can just buy fireworks whenever?” Ed asked, his previous anger forgotten.
“Hm?” Mustang raised a brow at him inquisitively. “I’m assuming you couldn’t do that back in Resembool.”
“No, old man Linus had to either travel to go get them or import them when he couldn’t make the trip. We could only get them once a year so it was a huge deal back home.”
Mustang nodded. “Not surprising, traveling with any form of explosive means you have to get special clearance for any transportation and it can easily get pricey. I’m going out on a limb here,” he muffled a little chuckle into his fist with a cough, the bastard. “and guess that the red ones were your favorite?”
“Because it’s the best color,” Ed said.
“Well, you need strontium nitrate or carbonate to get that red color which is decently expensive for a mineral.”
Huh. “I guess you do know about fireworks.”
Mustang smiled and bumped Ed’s shoulder with his arm. “I like anything that goes ‘boom,’ Fullmetal.”
Ed shook his head with a smile. “I guess I can agree with you there.”
In the following days leading up to Al’s surprise, Ed felt the anticipation biting at his heels. Every time he was reminded of Al’s gloom Ed had to wrestle with himself to prevent him from spilling the whole thing right then and there. Luckily, he wouldn’t have to keep it a secret for much longer.
Ed and Mustang had set everything up in a clearing a way out of Central earlier that day. Ed still couldn’t believe Mustang had sacrificed his lunch break—and an hour afterward—to help with getting the fireworks ready for tonight.
He’d expressed his surprise while he and Mustang ate sandwiches on the way back to the clearing with the final collection of fireworks Ed had purchased.
“It jus’ ‘oesn’t seem li’e something you’d do,” Ed said through a mouthful of sandwich.
Mustang wrinkled his nose at his lack of manners but shrugged as he swallowed his last bite. “There’s a lot of things I’d do for the people I care about,” he said softly.
Heat immediately flushed in his cheeks and Ed took a large bite from his sandwich to stop himself from saying something stupid. He never knew what to do with mushy stuff.
The three bags of fireworks hung from his arm and Ed had an idea.
“Y’know, I’m gonna have to buy a lighter to actually get these to go off,” Ed said.
“You don’t have one?” Mustang asked, looking down at him with raised brows.
“Al says I cause enough damage without adding pyromania to the equation.” Al always seemed wary of letting Ed near anything that could start a fire. “So, yeah… gonna need a lighter.” Why was this so hard to say? It shouldn’t be hard. He had already asked for help so why was this the harder part? Maybe because he didn’t plan on doing this?
“Fullmetal?”
Dammit, he’d been quiet for too long. “ You’re kind of a lighter.”
That got a snort from the older man. “Yeah, I guess you could say I am.” He was silent for a moment. “Are you asking me something, Fullmetal?”
Scratching at his nose, Ed refused to meet Mustang’s searching gaze. “You wanna be my lighter for tonight?”
A silence stretched between them and Ed was ready to backtrack on his question before Mustang broke it.
“You want me there?” It was barely a whisper but Ed heard it nonetheless. It was uncomfortably vulnerable and made Ed want to goad Mustang into one of their infamous banter sessions.
But now wasn’t the time for that. “Only if you want to.”
Mustang hummed and finally turned his gaze back to the road in front of them. “I’d like that.”
Ed made a show of letting out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Great, now I don’t have to go buy a lighter.” He chanced a look at Mustang who had a smile on his face. Except it wasn’t one of the annoying ones that made Ed’s blood boil. It was quiet and almost shy and Ed had no idea what to do with that.
“I flame to please,” Mustang said.
Ed’s eye twitched irritably. “One of these days, you’re going to run out of your stupid puns and I’m going to laugh in your face.”
“I’m sure you’ll be de-lighted.”
A shout of annoyance echoed down the street. The bastard was so irritating.
Trapeezing through the woods with Al was typical—Al easily making his through the foliage and Ed using his automail to cut through the thicker portions. The trips through the woods made him think of their training with Teacher and the simpler times on that little island. But this is no time for dwelling on the past. He had a surprise to pull off.
However, it being a surprise meant that his brother was completely lost about what they were doing in said woods.
“Brother, where are we going?” Al finally asked as he held up a particularly large branch so Ed could walk under it. “We’ve been walking for the past twenty minutes and you still haven’t told me why we’re out here.” You could practically hear the pout in Al’s tone of voice
“I told you,” Ed said, “you’ll find out when we get there.”
Al wasn’t one to just accept being out of the loop. “Why can’t you just tell me now?”
Flicking a bug off his shoulder, Ed shook his head. “It’ll ruin it.”
With an exasperated sigh, Al threw his up. “Ruin what ?”
Unable to stop the shit-eating grin, he let Al see the entirety of his expression. “Come on, Al. We’re almost there.” Just another twenty feet or so and they’d reach the clearing. Mustang should already be there, so he was just waiting on Ed to get Al there. “It’s just up ahead.”
Al mumbled something under his breath, but Ed didn’t pay it any mind. Not when he forced himself through the last barrier between the forest and the clearing. The area was much the same as he’d left it that afternoon except Mustang had moved a decent-sized rock for him to sit on about 20 feet from where they’d set up the fireworks on the raised section of earth Ed had transmuted.
Ed turned to Al, who upon seeing Mustang, cocked his head to the side. “Colonel?” Al asked.
Mustang, seated beside a little lantern, raised a hand in greeting. “Glad you made it here alright, Alphonse,” he said. He leaned forward to meet Ed’s eyes with a smug grin. “I was starting to think Fullmetal had gotten you both lost on the way here, but I’m starting to think he just had trouble seeing over all the bushes.”
Ed ground his teeth together, his eyes narrowing in a shrewd look. “Who are you calling a dwarf so small he can’t even see things a woodland creature can?!” Ed yelled.
The dumb bastard had the audacity to laugh and Ed felt his own scowl twist into a small smile despite his best efforts to stay enraged. “I certainly didn’t. That was all you, Ed.”
He would’ve continued bantering with Mustang, but Al was shifting from foot to foot beside him like he did when he felt out-of-the-loop. “Um, what’s going on?” Al asked, turning to look at Ed.
Better to just approach the subject than avoid it, even if Ed and Al weren’t the best at talking about their emotions. “You’ve been down recently,” Ed said. “And none of the usual things have worked to cheer you up.”
It didn’t surprise him when Al shook his head, but it still made that big brother instinct in him flare-up. “No, I haven’t.”
Ed gave a noncommittal hum, crossing his arms. “Al, it’s not a bad thing to be sad.” Because he needed to stress that. This wasn’t Ed telling Al he couldn’t be sad. Everyone had times when life was more cloudy than sunny and Ed never wanted Al to feel like his feelings weren’t valid. But he also wanted to help Al get past this mountain of gloom. “But you’ve been weighed down by it lately, longer than usual and nothing I did seemed to help.”
Al turned his gaze down towards Ed’s feet. “Brother, I—”
Ed waved a hand in front of him. “Al, I swear if you apologize—”
“I wasn’t going to!” Al argued. His shoulders sagged when he saw Ed’s skeptical look. “Okay, maybe I was.” Al’s large hands fiddled with his loincloth. “But I don’t know why it won’t stay away.”
Truthfully, Ed never thought Al knew why he was down. Al didn’t have the same perspective Ed did, and Al cared too much about how others felt to spend any time contemplating his own moods. Happiness was easy to accept and welcome as was anger because it burned bright but typically died out fast. Sadness crept up on you and fogged up the edges of everything as it settled around you. But unlike joy and anger, sadness had a way of sneaking around your attempts to thwart it and hiding in corners that you didn’t know were there.
“Sometimes, it’s just harder to get rid of,” Mustang said, now standing only a few feet away from the brothers. “That’s why you have people who love you to help you through those times.”
Trying to shake off his heavy thoughts, Ed continued. “So, I had an idea that I hope will cheer you up.” He tugged Al towards the middle of the clearing. “We have to stand here, okay? Just keep looking up.”
“Okay?” Al agreed confusedly. The stars near the city were never as brilliant as the ones back home, but they were beautiful all the same. It was probably why Al was amicable to just do as Ed said because he didn’t have a reason to not listen to Ed.
With Al’s attention heavenward, Ed turned to Mustang and gave him a thumbs up which was immediately returned by the man. Colonel Mustang tugged on his gloves and with practiced ease, gave one loud snap.
The level of control Mustang had over his flames was incredible—the tiny spark that zipped to a single fuse without igniting or incinerating any of the other fireworks only spoke of his skill as an alchemist.
Ed listened to the fuse burn its way down but kept his eyes on Al. “Keep watching,” Ed instructed when he saw Al’s attention start to waver at the sudden noise.
“I am watching—”
Whatever else Al was going to say was cut off by the loud whistling as the firework shot off into the sky. Suddenly, with a thunderous sound, it exploded.
Al’s cry of delight was barely audible over the boom of the fireworks overhead, but Ed couldn’t stop watching the way the array of colors lit up his brother’s armor. Al’s armor didn’t allow him to smile, but Al’s eyes seemed wide with wonder, his arms tucked towards his chest in anticipation of the next firework.
Ed turned his attention to Mustang who appeared to be chuckling to himself, his eyes bright and warm visible from where Ed was standing next to Al. Sensing Ed’s stare, Mustang smiled at him and snapped his fingers lazily to light the next firework.
“Ed, did you see that?” Al asked, excitedly wrapping one of his arms around Ed and shaking him back and forth as he pointed to the sky where the latest sparks were arching outwards before dimming to nothing. “That one had so many colors! The fireworks back home never had multiple colors all in one.”
Laughing, Ed turned his attention finally to the sky and watched as a firework exploded into a new burst of colors. “They’re awesome, right?” Ed said, leaning closer to Al to get his brother to stop shaking him no matter how endearing it was. “Just you wait, there’s plenty more where that came from.”
“How many did you get?” Al asked without turning away from the show.
“We got enough to be here a while, so you might want to get comfy,” Mustang called out. “I’ve been told I’m good at firework displays, you could even say I have a flare for them.”
Groaning, Ed tugged Al to sit down and propped himself up with his arms with his head tilted to the sky. “That was terrible,” Ed commented.
Mustang shrugged. “Fine, ignore me. I’m just here to be your cha-pyro-ne.”
Ed threw a middle finger towards Mustang’s general direction. “That one was worse!”
Before he could continue his banter with Mustang, Al bumped against Ed, getting his attention.
“Brother,” Al said, his voice soft and watery. “Thank you.” He paused and Ed was sure that if his brother had a body he’d sniffle. “Thank you for doing this for me.”
Ed grinned and bumped Al back. “Anytime,” he said.
The fireworks lit up the sky and for a moment, the world seemed a little more bright.