FIC: Apoptosis 3/?
Title: Apoptosis
Characters/Pairings: Ed, Al, Roy, Cast. Possible Roy/Ed
Author: tyndall_blue
Rating: T
Summary: Edward Elric is a prodigy in the realm of biomedical science, pursuing Gene Therapy with a passion bordering on obsession. He's come to seek the support and funding of LysoTech's Genomic Therapy program, under the direction of Dr. Roy Mustang.
Warnings: Potty mouth, UST, and unbeta'ed.
The aftermath of a night of fun.
Previous Chapters here.
A/N: Yay, me! I finished another section! Warning, it's unbeta'ed. Apologies for the shortness.
Mustang was certainly no stranger to hangovers, but he'd made numerous concerted efforts to become less familiar with them. There could only be one explanation for the spectacular headache that seemed to be splitting his brain in two, Maes must've gotten him spectacularly drunk. Flashes of the night were beginning to come back to him, the clearest being those before the arrival of his new hire. He shifted around uncomfortably around and frowned at the aching pain in this lower back. He never recalled his couch being this firm and uncomfortable, or his sheets this rough. Gingerly he opened his eyes, but was relieved to find that the room was rather dim. However, this was not his home, and how did he wind up on the floor? A gentle snuffle in his ear bolted him upright to find a dainty white cat seated next to him. With a dainty mew it began to purr, flicking its wispy tail.
When the room stopped spinning, he looked around the unfamiliar home. Even with his limited view from the ground between the couch and coffee table, he could see it was small in a way that could pass for cozy, with unpacked boxes still haunting the corners. The furniture looked well past second hand, full of dings and stains, and the several solid bookcases groaned under the weight of their occupants. A thoughtful blanket and pillow on the couch implied that he had at least started the evening seated out on the couch, and a glass of water and two aspirin even sat for him on the coffee table between books and numerous hair ties tangled with long, blonde hairs. The cat offered him a gentle begging nudge which he absently reciprocated while he thought. Finally, he decided that his nausea and headache outweighed his embarrassment and clambered back onto the sofa, hugging the pillow to his churning stomach. The cat, deciding he needed company jumped up next to him, kneading the pillow and purring like a jet. Sleep was merciful, swiftly stilling the spinning room.
The next time he woke, the room was much brighter as well as still, but the cat was still curled to his chest, snoring softly. An aroma of coffee and toasted bread wafted friendly and inviting through the house. Roy stretched slowly, groaning as his back crackled with the movement.
"Ah, good morning, Dr. Mustang," a disturbingly cheerful voice chirped from nearby. Blinking sleep from his eyes, the rest of the room quickly came into focus; across the room in a worn and sunken armchair, sat a young man that bore a disturbing level of resemblance to his newest employee. His hair was close cut and brassy; and his eyes were a much more subdued shade of brass.
"You must be," Roy started, wading around in his murky memory. "Alphonse?" The lean man smiled endearingly.
"Would you like some coffee? There's breakfast too if you're up to it," he queried, rising from his seat with the help of a cane. Roy was beginning to wonder how someone so sweet could be related to someone so disagreeable. While Al made productive noise in the kitchen, Roy also pulled himself up, displacing his unhappy sleeping partner. After he'd taken the offering of aspirin and water, he amused himself by looking over the assortment of books spread across the coffee table.
He noted with some satisfaction that Edward had been preparing for the project he was assigned, with numerous scribbled on articles stuffed into books and folders. Several, though, were much more puzzling and obscure. Roy had picked up one such text, Summa Perfectionis, and must've been frowning at it heavily when Alphonse came back into the room, balancing a plate and two mugs of coffee. The blonde ducked his head slightly to look at the cover, and laughed softly.
"Ah, alchemy was Brother's first love," he murmured with amusement. Roy cracked the tome open, finally finished puzzling over the intricate leather cover, and was surprised to find the margins just as annotated as the texts related to work. Some of the wide margins held tiny, intricate circles full of symbols. "Now, it's more of a hobby," he added, sitting back down in the chair heavily. Roy joined him, taking the steaming mug gratefully, and they sat in a disturbingly companionable silence. Somewhere, between the coffee and Al's soothing company, he felt well enough to nibble on the offered breakfast, and to also feel extremely awkward about sobering up on the couch of his employee.
"I'm afraid to ask, but how did we get home?" Roy finally muttered over his rejuvenating drink.
"Well, apparently, you two were never able to figure out the bus route, so I came and picked you up at a stop," he snickered. "I have no idea how long you two were riding around before that. When I showed up, Brother was in a shouting match with a cabdriver, because he refused to take you home for free."
Roy's palm covered his face in humiliation and he muttered an apology. The young man shrugged.
"There's no need to apologize. I'm just glad that he went out and had fun like a normal person." The coffee mug clicked loudly on a small, exposed portion of the table. Roy pondered this statement briefly, his fingers coming to stroke his chin briefly. He was startled from his very intense pondering by a loud squawk that echoed from the unexplored recesses of the apartment following shortly by a loud thump.
"It sounds like Brother is awake," Alphonse said cheerfully, disregarding the enraged shouting of his name. "Excuse me." Mustang attempted to politely sip his coffee and not eavesdrop but the shouting continued, interspersed with the younger brother's muffled attempts at placation.
"You utter bastard! Where the fuck did you put my arm and leg?" Roy paused. That wasn't something you heard every day. Suddenly his coffee seemed a lot less interesting. Innocently he turned his attention to the bookshelf. He liked books. It couldn't be helped that it was conveniently closer to the hallway the shouting was coming from.
"Brother! You were too drunk and you kept trying to fight everything. I didn't want you to ruin them," Alphonse rationalized. He was answered with something that sounded like a snarl. "Calm down, I didn't hide them from you, they're right here." Oh, were those family photos hanging up in the hallway? It would be a shame to let such blackmail go to waste. From there he could hear the sounds of rummaging and Edward's distinctly quieter grumbling, and see the cracked doorway from the corner of his eye. The brief silence only heightened his curiosity, to where he was blatantly staring at the doorway.
"Hey, Alphonse," Edward asked, answered by a questioning noise. "Did you make breakfast already? What time is it?" Oddly paced footsteps approached the door and it creaked open as Alphonse hissed at him.
"Don't you remember any of last night? Dr. Mustang is here!"
"Huh?" The blonde's head was turned away from him, unaware of the older man's presence, hand still holding the doorknob. Alphonse sat on the bed looking alarmed, while their guest did his best to not openly stare.
Sometime in the night, Alphonse must have managed to strip his brother down to his boxers as he put him to bed, allowing him and unobstructed view of the metal adhered to his right shoulder and left thigh, with what appeared to be skin stretched over it, attached to small pegs. Roy had only seen things like this in horror movies. Like this, it was much easier to see the contrast between the limbs, with the young doctor's own skin a deeper tan than the synthetic counterpart. Edward followed his brothers gaze to Roy who was still stunned, and mimicked Alphonse's horrified expression. Roy registered this, and the gravity of his discovery, and degree of personal invasion, dawned on him.
"The fuck are you doing, staring at me like that?!" He cried, going red in the face. Roy saw the shift in some of the mechanical components before he saw the arm reaching for him, curling with alarming strength in the front of his shirt. He was unable to process the rest of the shouted obscenities as he was marched backwards from the home. The brother was also shouting, but it was drowned out by the tirade. He found himself suddenly shoved into the hallway.
"And stay the fuck out!" It was punctuated by the resounding slam of a door in his face. He stood there dumbly before briefly patting his pockets to check for his keys and wallet, collecting his dignity, and walking slowly from the building.