[non-canon] Unforseen Consequences
*ahem* Okay, I’m not even going to try and make this canon, because I believe this qualifies as a crack-drabble. XD Speculative fic about Masuta sparked by the Gate drabbles and No Closure.
Also, great heaps of thanks to Po’e, without whom this fic wouldn’t be where it is today.
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Unforseeen Consequences
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Masuta stood before the door, feeling… edgy. Tension vibrated along the corridor, taut and dangerous. Masuta had heard wild stories flaring on the streets of Central, whispers of a nearby town vanished in the night, of hundreds dead, but he’d uneasily dismissed them as hyperbole. Finding an even more tightly wound atmosphere in the military headquarters was unnerving, to say the least.
The door opened abruptly, making Masuta start. Hawkeye looked tired and deadly serious as she stood aside to let him enter the room, which he did reluctantly. Without a word, Hawkeye brushed past him, collection of files under her arm, and shut the door behind her, leaving Masuta trapped inside.
”Hello Mr. Masuta,” the young bespectacled soldier - Fury? - said, sounding more subdued than shy. “What can I help you with?” Normally Havoc or Farman would greet Masuta, but since Fury was the only one of the group of soldiers currently in the room, the responsibility fell to him.
”I- I was to meet Mr. Elric here today…”
Without further prompting, Fury walked over to Mustang’s office, exchanging a few words with someone inside, presumably Brigadier General Mustang.
”You can wait in here, Fullmetal should be here in a few minutes.” Fury explained, holding the door for Masuta.
Growing more alarmed by the minute, Masuta gave Fury a nod of thanks, walking past him into an air of grimness not usually associated with Mustang’s office.
Roy Mustang was almost hunched over his desk, pen flying over sheets of paper. He gave Masuta a grunt of acknowledgement and gestured over to a chair beside the desk, which Masuta took to be an invitation to sit.
Lowering himself into the chair, Masuta frowned. It was quite obvious that something had happened, definitely something bad, probably something pretty big. He desperately wanted to ask what, but was leery of interrupting Mustang. Shifting uncomfortably in the chair, he resigned himself to the gnawing curiosity for now.
With nothing better to do, Masuta watched Roy. The stack of papers still to be worked on didn’t decrease noticeably in the next few minutes, and Masuta found his attention wandering. There was a box on the edge of the table; not very large, composed of ordinary cardboard, and with one flap open. It was almost impossible to say for sure given the lighting, but it almost looked as if there was a red glow coming from the box. Curious, Masuta leaned quietly over, glancing inside at what looked like glass beakers. Something inside them was definitely glowing red.
Masuta returned to sitting quietly, but his curiosity ate at him, until it was a question of asking Mustang outright or examining the strange red glow. Silently he slipped a hand into the box, withdrawing a single beaker. Just looking wouldn’t hurt, right?
It was a stone, or that’s what it looked like. It could have been any common crystal, except that it glowed with vibrant red warmth, caressing his fingertips.
When had he taken it out of the beaker? Oh well.
The scratching of Mustang’s pen no longer seemed urgent, but instead a steady background buzz, lulling him into a soft haze. Red light curled through his fingers, soft and liquid. The crystal felt warm and smooth, almost like silk or fur, and Masuta let his eyelids droop to half-mast as the warm stone wandered through and over his fingers.
Bringing the stone to his mouth, he pressed it softly to his barely parted lips, breathing a quiet sigh of delight as it made his lips tingle with its smooth caress. Letting his tongue come forward, Masuta tasted the crystal. It was something like honey, thick and sweet; intoxicating in the best way.
Closing ruddy lips about the stone, Masuta drew it slowly into his mouth. Melting even before it was fully inside, the viscous liquid rolled through him like silken soft fur, like sunlight, like power. Head thrown back ecstasy, Masuta moaned softly.
”Masuta!”
The loud, panicked cry brought him halfway out of his daze, and Masuta swallowed in surprise, letting the dissolved red warmth curl down his throat. Roy Mustang was half-way out of his chair, expression shocked and….. afraid? But why would Mustang be afraid? Masuta blinked up at Roy in confusion as his alternate brought a slightly shaky gloved hand up, fingers pressed together to snap fire at an instant’s notice.
Fire.
The memory of flames worked better than the chill of icewater ever could have, slapping Masuta back to his senses with a jolt as he scrambled up out of the chair. “N-no, don’t!”
Roy kept a constant bead on his alternate even as some of the hair-trigger readiness bled out of his stance. “Masuta?”
”Hai- ah, yes?” Masuta managed, hands held defensively in front of him.
His left hand’s fingertips were covered with a bright red substance.. blood? When-? How-? What had he been doing, anyway? And why was the back of his hand black? Well, black with a red dot….
A warm hand on Masuta’s forearm made him look up at his alternate. He must have looked incredibly lost and confused because Roy had a look of quiet sympathy in his eye.
“That bastard!!” Edward cried as he slammed the door open, making Masuta and Roy tense back up; Masuta in fear and Roy in annoyance.
”Fullmetal,” Brigadier General Mustang said in a completely controlled voice.
”Huh?”
”Close the door. Please.”
Ed complied with a scowl, then turned to face Roy. Or at least Roy’s back. And the person hidden between Roy and the wall. “Masuta? Oh hell, I was supposed to meet you here-”
”I think,” Roy cut in quietly but clearly, “that you have a lot to explain. Mostly to Masuta,” and turned around, letting Ed have a good look at Masuta’s purple eyes and black-covered hands.
Masuta watched his friend’s horrified expression with a sinking heart.
“… Izumi’s gonna kill me…”
FIN