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Edward was always the more aggressive brother. Atleast, that’s what Alphonse was thinking, standing awkwardly in the door to Colonel Mustang’s office, waiting for his brother to hand in his report. Although, it could be more qualified as complaining in Mustang’s general direction, and exploding when Mustang made pointed comments about his height.
“WHO’RE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT A BEETLE COULD USE AS A TOOTHPICK!” Edward loudly screamed.
Alphonse internally face palmed, his brother’s impulsiveness and dramatic flair always got the best of him.
“Brother, please,” Alphonse whined.
Edward looked back at him, still fuming from the previous comment.
“Alright whatever, I’ll hand in my stupid report,” Edward relented, a frown still omnipresent on his face.
“Quite mature of you, Fullmetal. I didn’t expect it, it’s quite a tall order of you,” the Colonel said, a sly smirk beginning to form.
There were times that Al appreciated Mustang’s endless debates with his brother. Especially after the toll searching for the Philosopher’s Stone took on Edward, sometimes a quick battle of wits was all it took for him to get back up on his feet, ready to face whatever journey ahead. But now, with Alphonse just wanting to return to his library book, their incessant arguing was proving to be a thorn in his side. That’s if he would even notice something as insignificant as a thorn planted in his cold, unfeeling body.
As the armored boy held back his brother from mauling his superior officer, he couldn’t help but feel a spark of annoyance at his shorter brother’s fiery temper. But he could never stay mad at him. Alphonse knew that fiery passion was the same thing pushing him, keeping his determination to find the stone as bright as the day they first read about it.
Edward struggled for a few seconds in his brother's grasp, but ultimately knowing he wasn’t strong enough to escape, eventually went limp. It slightly reminded Alphonse of some of the stray kittens he would pick up on the street, although he would never dare say that to his brother.
He put his older brother down, who angrily strode up to Mustang’s desk, and slammed his paper with enough force that Alphonse swears it’d leave an automail shaped imprint in the wood. The Colonel slightly raised an eyebrow at Ed’s antics.
After a few seconds of quickly scanning the report, the black haired man nodded. An unspoken agreement to postpone their argument until later.
“Alright Al, let’s get out of here! I could use a nice meal right now.”
Edward strode away from Mustang’s desk with purpose, a feeling his brother imbued into all of his actions.
“Wait, Alphonse. I need to talk to you for a minute,” the Colonel interrupted before Alphonse could limbo under the door to the office. Edward turned around and raised his eyebrow at the Colonel. “Without you, Fullmetal.”
Ed looked at Al, and an unspoken argument exchanging between them in just a glance. Ed’s pointed look of “What does that bastard want with you?”. Alphonse just shrugged, and walked back into the office.
His brother left, but not before muttering “Asshole.” under his breath and slamming the door shut.
“He doesn’t mean that,” Alphonse apologized to the Colonel.
Although Mustang liked to antagonize Edward, he always was polite to Al, and helped the Elric brothers with many leads towards the stone.
A few seconds of awkward silence passed between the two. Alphonse wasn’t really sure what the Colonel could be calling him here for. He looked over at Mustang, and was surprised to see he looked quite… nervous? Perhaps unsettled, or uncomfortable. It was never an expression he had seen the usually so confident, young, charming, womanizer Colonel wear.
Mustang cleared his throat, before spitting out the words that would’ve left Alphonse’s jaw agape, if he had one.
“Would you say you and Fullmetal see me as a father figure, Alphonse?” Roy asked.
“Wh- huh?” Alphonse sputtered. Even as an expressionless suit of armor, it was impossible to not see that the young boy was clearly caught off guard.
Although Alphonse would never admit it to anyone, the Colonel’s presence and support of the Elric brother’s journey had always brought a warm feeling to his chest (Or his soul? He wasn't really sure anymore). Paired with the father-shaped hole in Al’s heart, it was only a matter of time until someone took up the responsibility of filling that emptiness.
“Well,” the Colonel cleared his throat, “It’s Fullmetal. Back in February, when you brothers popped back here for a mission, Fullmetal called me ‘Dad’. He’s barely been able to look at me since.” Mustang finished, awkwardly. He was clearly out of his league, not having any kids own, nor any experience with them.
“That explains it”, Alphonse thought to himself.
His brother’s relationship with even the concept of a father has always been rocky. Edward, although he’d rather die than admit it, definitely saw Mustang as a parental figure. Edward operated under the pretense of Mustang annoying him, Al saw right through it.
Out of the two brothers, Edward definitely had the most trouble with their dad’s abandonment. Al, albeit a little naively, always believed that their dad would come back and make everything better. But Edward wasn’t as stupid. He knew, deep in his young, far too broken heart, that Hohenheim wasn’t coming back.
“Is that why he’s been particularly mad at you recently?” Alphonse asked curiously.
His brother always dreaded seeing the so-called ‘Colonel Bastard’, as he put it. He had noticed that Edward had been particularly on edge entering Eastern Command today, but he just put it off to his brother’s usual Mustang related annoyances.
“We both know your brother. He’s not… the best with words, per say…” Mustang trailed off. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The Colonel loudly sighed “I’m just not quite sure how to address this. Your brother is acting out more than usual, and I can’t have my subordinates lacking in their performance.”
“Brother is just dealing with… complicated feelings,” Alphonse responded, purposefully vague. Edward would kill him if he told his secrets to Mustang.
After a few beats of silence, the black haired man finally spoke again
“You never answered my question earlier, though.” Mustang interrogated, reeling back in the conversation. “Do you and Fullmetal see me as a father figure?”.
If the armored boy could blush, his face would be as red as his brother’s signature jacket by now. There was no avoiding this conversation now.
If he could just get this explanation over with as fast as possible, then maybe the humiliation he was currently feeling in every part of his soul would fade quicker.
“When me and brother were really young, our father left us.” Alphonse started. “He just… left one day. No note, no letters, no visits. He didn’t even come to our mom’s funeral”.
Mustang leaned in towards Alphonse. His explanation had the Colonel’s full attention.
“It’s no surprise that Edward…” he hesitated for a moment. “...That me and Edward began to see you as a father figure.”
The Colonel sat there for a moment, processing the information. His expression was unreadable, and that made Alphonse nervous. What if the Colonel was uncomfortable? What if he transferred Edward under a different supervisor? God knows how much stuff the Colonel lets Edward get away with. He’d be court-martialed in a second under any other military official. Were they going to have to leave the military? Would Edward be executed for his blatant disrespect of military higher-ups?
Interrupting Al’s downward spiral, Colonel Mustang began to speak.
“I think whoever your father was, he was an idiot.”
“...Thank you, Colonel?” Alphonse responded hesitantly.
“Whoever he was, he gave up the privilege of calling two of Amestris’ most determined, intelligent and brave children his own.” the Colonel finished.
It was times like this, where Alphonse could see the benefit in his metal body. It would be a little embarrassing to start sobbing in front of his brother’s superior officer.
The Colonel got up from his desk and walked up to Al, placing his gloved hand on the armored boy’s shoulder. Alphonse thought this looked a little ridiculous, since Mustang was about a foot and a half shorter than him. Nonetheless, he looked into Mustang’s eyes as he spoke.
“I would be honored to call you my son, Alphonse.” the Colonel said, utmost sincerity in his voice.
Al continued to temporarily be grateful for his lack of tear ducts.
“Thank you colon-” Alphonse paused. “I mean, thank you, Dad.”
Mustang gave Alphonse a warm smile at this, and nodded in approval.
“That sounds right.”
“Wait, what about brother?” Alphonse asked, remembering what they were here for.
“Eh. Fullmetal can wait a few minutes.” the Colonel shrugged off. “I’m spending time with my son.”
It turns out that Ed could not, in fact, wait a few minutes, as after a couple seconds of Al giggling at Mustang’s joke, he slammed the door open with unnecessary force.
“What’s been taking you guys so long? I’m starving here!” Edward complained
“Sorry brother, coming.” Al conceded, and left to follow his brother.
Alphonse gave the Colonel a little shy wave as he left. Though Al only vaguely remembers the feeling of a face-aching smile, he knew that if he had his body, his cheeks would be sore from a massive ear to ear grin. He was practically beaming as he left that office.
“So, what’d that asshole want?” Edward asked.
“Nothing. You should talk to him though. He’s our dad, you know that?” Al teased.
“Yeah yeah, whatever. Wait… HE TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT?”