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It's been a shit day. To put it mildly.
He’s spent the past three hours enduring a train ride that should have taken just a little under an hour at most, accompanied by the Fullmetal Alchemist.
Of course, it’s just their luck that a section of the track had been undergoing repairs, setting them back by almost three times the length of the journey. He’s made a mental note to speak to the head of the Department of Public Transportation about their efficiency, but it won’t get them back the time they’ve already lost.
The sky is already darkening and the air is dusty by the time they disembark. It makes Ed sneeze, grumbling miserably under his breath.
Roy smiles.
Who says this day has to be all bad?
By the time they’ve made it to their hotel, he’s ready to declare the day unsalvageable. His feet are sore. He can feel the beginnings of a tension headache creeping up on him.
And, on top of it all, Edward is still grousing.
“I still don’t see why they had to send you. Al and I could have handled it just fine on our own.”
This entire inspection was a mistake. He’ll never admit it outright, but Ed has a point. He and Alphonse could have handled this just fine on their own, but instead, his own presence had been deemed necessary.
A serial arsonist torching places of historical significance and government importance. Who better to involve themselves in the investigation than the Flame Alchemist himself?
That they hadn’t been caught yet was indicative of a certain level of cunning not generally found in your typical run of the mill criminal.
It’s not exactly cause for concern. Yet. But it is an inconvenience and one he’d like taken care of as soon as possible.
Roy massages the space between his brows. “When you’re given orders, you don’t question them, Fullmetal.”
Ed shoots him a disdainful look, lips curled in a sneer. “Of course you would think something like that.”
It’s not even insulting anymore. “Don’t you have anything more creative than that?”
“I’ll show you creative when I…” He stops dead when he opens the door; whatever is on the other side has short-circuited his brain. “Are you serious?” he says when he’s recovered himself sufficiently enough to speak.
Roy steps smoothly around him and- ah, he sees what the problem is.
“You couldn’t have at least booked us a room with two beds?”
He’s just as disconcerted as Ed; he’s just better at hiding it. “I was under the impression that this was a room with two beds. You think I want to sleep next to you?”
“So fix it.” Ed crosses his arms and fixes him with a glare. “You’re the one who got us into this mess.”
“Watch yourself,” he says mildly. “You don’t give me orders, Fullmetal.” Without thinking, he nearly reaches out to swat the back of the boy’s head. He catches himself with a mixture of horror and fascination.
Where did that impulse come from?
He’s not the boy’s father. Half the time, it doesn’t seem like they’re on friendly terms. Ed acts like he can’t stand being in the same room as him and Roy can’t fault him for that. So why-
Forget it.
He’s not exploring that road.
Roy clears his throat, more embarrassed by the impulse than he cares to admit.
In the end, he is the one who approaches the front desk. After all, he’s got to set a good example.
Not that Edward had been terribly happy to hear that said out loud, but his outrage had made the inconvenience worth it.
In any case, he has no desire to listen to any more of his complaining. And he was no more eager to share a bed with his young subordinate than Ed was.
The sooner this was handled, the better it would be for everyone.
“I’m sorry to trouble you,” he says to the young woman at the front desk. She looks to be in her early twenties, mousy brown hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. “But I believe there’s been some sort of mix-up?”
She glances up in surprise, adjusting her glasses. “A mix-up?” She flips open their guestbook and begins rifling through the pages. “Can I have your name, please?”
“Mustang. Colonel Roy Mustang.” There’s no need for him to flash his silver pocket watch. He’s not under an alias because there’s no need for that either.
“Oh.” A pretty blush colors her face and she tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Well, let’s see… Yes, I do have your reservation listed here. What was the problem again?”
“Ah, well.” He clears his throat. “You wouldn’t happen to have a room available with,” Here, he smiles, hoping he comes across as charming and not awkward. “two beds? Or even just a second room?”
Her own smile becomes apologetic. “I’m afraid we’re already all booked for the night.”
He blinks, feeling his stomach sink. “You can’t be serious.”
She raises her eyebrows at that, but says nothing.
Roy sighs. The silence is answer enough. “Right.”
“What do you mean?” Ed stares at him aghast when he returns to the room. “There isn’t another room?”
“That’s what I said,” Roy repeats irritably. “You’re just going to have to deal with it.”
“Yeah, right.” Ed folds his arms. “Sleep on the floor, asshole.”
Roy maintains a placid exterior. “As your superior, I’m well within my rights to commandeer the sleeping arrangements.”
“Yes, well, as the adult…”
“I’m commandeering the bed.”
Ed sputters for more than a moment. “You can’t do that!”
“I just did.” It’s amusing, seeing the kid go nearly apoplectic over something so inconsequential, but he also knows when enough is enough. It’s time to stop now. “We’ll each take a side.” He’s tired.
Ed might tell him he’s feeling his age, but Roy is barely pushing thirty. Even so, he occasionally catches himself searching in the mirror for gray hairs. He swears this kid is going to push him to an early grave.
He sighs, shaking his head. Whatever.
“Whatever,” Ed mutters. For good measure, he adds, “Asshole.”
Roy doesn’t bother with a response, instead rising to his feet and making his way to the bathroom, where he splashes water onto his face.
Things could always be worse, he tells himself. He can handle a few nights in the company of Edward Elric.
The room is at least clean; he doubts they’ll be picking up any bugs. He hopes not. There had been that one time-
Well, it’s best not to dwell on the past.
The thin curtains don’t offer much in the way of privacy and the moon blankets the room in just enough light to see by when Roy wakes.
For a moment, he lies there, wondering why on earth he’s awake, when an elbow catches him in the kidney.
He hisses, rolling over, half intending to shove Edward off the bed. He stops himself.
Ed twitches, face scrunched in anguish. He whimpers.
Roy knows what a nightmare looks like. He’s suffered his fair share of them. Not at this age, he reminds himself. Ed is too young for the kind of things he’s experienced.
“Hey.” He touches Ed’s shoulder, gently shaking him. “Fullmetal.”
The reaction is instantaneous.
Ed cries out in fear, swinging his automail fist.
Roy ducks his head, shoving his wrist to the side, pinning it to the mattress. If that had made contact, it very well could have broken his cheekbone.
Ed’s eyes fly open and he shoots upright. “AL!”
Roy grabs him by the shoulders. In the sternest voice he can manage at this time of night, he says, “Fullmetal.”
The kid doesn’t hear him, not at first, thrashing against his hold and crying out. “No! Don’t take him! Alphonse!”
Shit.
Roy grits his teeth and grips him harder by the shoulders. He’s no stranger to night terrors. He’s had them ever since Ishval.
But here’s the difference between the two of them. He actually did something to deserve them. He’s a monster. He deserves to be haunted by his past. His sins will follow him all the way into the next life.
Taboo or not, Ed’s only crime is wanting to see his mother again. Where’s the justice in that? But the laws of alchemy made no exceptions for anyone.
A sin is a sin.
“That thing isn’t here, Edward. You’re safe. Alphonse is safe. He’s safe.”
It takes a moment for the words to sink in. Ed blinks at him owlishly, no longer in the throes of his nightmare, but not quite in the waking world yet.
Roy waits an extra moment before saying, “You with me now?”
“I’m fine.” Ed brushes him off, swatting his hands away, but his voice is raw and his eyes haunted.
Does this happen to him every night? Or is there something about circumstances tonight that triggered this?
Roy sighs. “You don’t have to save face, kid. I get them too.”
That seems to give him pause. “You do?”
Roy feels tired in a way that has nothing to do with the late hour. “Every day.”
“Does it ever…” He pauses, takes a breath, before continuing. “Does it ever get any easier?”
“You learn to live with it.” He wishes there were a better answer he could give the kid, but the truth is that it’s never actually gotten easier for him.
He doubts it ever will.
He prays there’s a better end in sight for Edward.
“Oh,” is all Ed says. His face is turned away, hair falling like a curtain, making it impossible to see his expression.
Roy tightens his grip on the kid’s shoulder. “It’s not something to be embarrassed about,” he says. He’s not good at these kinds of things. It should be Alphonse here. Or even Riza.
Ed stiffens. “I’m not embarrassed,” he insists with the kind of vigor that suggests he is, in fact, embarrassed.
“Then I guess we have nothing to worry about,” Roy says smoothly. This is an out- and an easy one at that- and Roy is tempted to take it.
So what if Ed has nightmares?
It isn’t Roy’s job to put Edward back together. The military has counselors for that sort of thing- not that he ever goes to see them.
Except Ed says nothing. There’s no snarky rejoinder. Instead, he stares off into empty space, the knee of his flesh leg drawn up to his chin.
He’s your responsibility now. For better or for worse.
If only he could have seen what he was getting himself into. Maybe it wouldn’t have changed a thing. Maybe it would have.
He doesn’t think so.
Roy doesn’t know what comes over him in the next few moments. He takes a deep breath before he puts his arm around Ed’s shoulders, giving him the closest they’ve ever come to a hug.
Ed stiffens- and Roy is fully prepared to be rebuffed, but it never happens. Instead, Ed leans against his shoulder.
It’s late, they’re both exhausted, and he’s clearly still rattled from whatever he experienced in that nightmare.
That’s all this is. It’ll never happen again.