The Seed of the Fire- Chapter 16: "Ends and Beginnings" (Mustang x Hughes)
Title: Ends and Beginnings (The Seed of the Fire- Chapter 16)
Author: SeaweedOtter
Pairing: Roy Mustang x Maes Hughes
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: AU, Set before the anime started, while Maes and Roy were roommates at the military academy.
Author Note: The story will mostly follow the manga, but it may have a bit of both.
Summary: Having a long time to do nothing but think isn't always a good thing.
I should have done this 2 chapters ago. I have the awesome johns_elizabeth as my advisor. She's sorta a beta, but she works on the front end- before it's typed- instead of checking my horrid spelling. :) Sorry I forgot to thank you before! Please don't kill me!
Read all of the chapters so far HERE!
"So, what time are we supposed to be at the train station?" Maes sighed as he
started to pack the few belongings that he had brought- mostly just clothing, into a
small cardboard box.
"1100 hours."
There was a groan from underneath the covers. "And what time is it now?"
"0730."
Reluctantly, Roy threw the covers off his head and rolled out of bed. With Maes
moving around in the room, it was obvious that he wasn't going to get any more
sleep. He stood up, yawned and stretched his arms, then moved silently past his
lover and into the bathroom. He almost missed the soft sigh that the older man
released when he walked past without a kiss, or even just a light touch to show that
he was near. Without a word, the alchemist went into the bathroom for a shower and
the rest of the morning routine, locking the door behind him. Maes half heartedly
threw the rest of junk in and walked dejectedly into the kitchen.
While making breakfast, Maes used the last of the eggs and bread for toast. The
general had been nice enough to stock the house with some basics for the few days
that they were going to inhabit the place, and Maes made a mental note to thank him
the next time he saw General Grumman. Inadvertently, he timed it well- he was just
finishing up with the breakfast when Roy padded into the kitchen. He was already
wearing his dress blues, minus his jacket. Instead, he had the starched blue
collared shirt that went underneath it on, and he carefully hung the jacket across
one of the high backed chairs at the breakfast table.
"Thanks, Maes. This looks good." was all Roy said before he tucked in, ravenously
eating his breakfast like it was going to be his last. The taller man just nodded
and sat down in front of his own plate, poking at the eggs with a fork. He was
hungry, but the events of the last couple of days, and the nervousness about where
they were about to go made his stomach churn, and made him seriously wonder if he
would be able to keep any food down. He gave a few bites of egg a try, nibbling
gingerly, and they seemed to go down fine- so he slowly, carefully ate the rest of
his meal.
Without a word, Roy rose from the table first and took both of their plates. He
washed them and put them up, then went back to the table where Maes was still
sitting- staring out into space, almost unblinking. He took a chair and scoot it
next to Maes.
"Maes, look. I know you are scared. I am too. I don't know what is going to happen.
And I don't want to... I don't want something to happen. I want to forgive you.
Damnit, I still love you. But where do I stand? Where... does she stand?"
He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes for a moment. "I love you. I already
told you that. I think about Gracia, and she is such a kind and wonderful person.
She would be a great mother. I know it. I would be lying if I said that I didn't
care for her. But.." he stopped for a moment to think about what to say. "But the
thing is, the way I feel for her, and the way I feel for you, it's different. I am
not even sure I understand it." All Hughes could do was shrug and give Roy a
helpless look. Roy stood back up wordlessly and walked back towards the main room,
where he had piled the stuff that he had been procrastinating about packing.
Maes sighed loudly and banged his forehead on the table. Again.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
About 1000 hours, the taxi that Roy had called came by, honking it's horn to let
them know that their ride was here. They knew it was a short ride to the station,
but they wanted plenty of time to get there. It doesn't look good for a couple of
new recruits to be late on their first day.
Roy stepped out of the door for a moment and met the driver coming up the walkway,
telling him to wait just a few minutes, they are getting the last of their boxes
together. He looked less than amused, but his meter was running, so he would get
paid either way. He shrugged and walked back towards the still running car.
Maes quickly closed the distance between them once Roy shut the door behind him.
"Please," he asked, with pleading desperation in his voice. "Please, may I have one
last kiss before we go? I know I don't deserve it, but who knows what is going to
happen once we get to Ishbal? I don't want to lose you and forget what I had.
Please." His throat tightened, and the world slowed. For just a moment, Roy looked
at him. REALLY looked at him, searching through himself.
"Okay." was all Roy answered. He took one step closer to Maes, close enough to smell
his soap and aftershave, and for just a brief moment, Roy was pretty sure that for
just those simple things that he had missed so much, he would forgive his lover for
everything. Roy leaned in, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, trying to
save those smells for when they would be apart again.
He couldn't help but catch his breath once his lips met Maes'. Roy had almost
forgotten how warm and wet and inviting they were, just slightly larger and fuller
than the lips on most men, but still thin enough to be masculine and fit his face
well. He could hear the soft groan that was emanating from the man across from him.
His brain was yelling at him to touch his lover, caress him, feel him because he
might not get to again. Roy raised his hand, shakily, the pad of one finger tracing
a gentle line down the side of Maes' square chin and down to his neck, eliciting a
shiver out of the taller man.
Another honk from the horn outside brought them crashing back to reality. Roy broke
the kiss and pulled his hand away. Before Maes could say anything, he turned around
and leaned down to grab his small pile of boxes. "We need to go, Maes."
Maes caught the sadness in his voice, and he wondered if Roy had really enjoyed it
as much as he had. The hesitation in his voice seemed to indicate that, but by the
time those thoughts ran through his head, Roy was most of the way out of the door
with his belongings. "Wait for me, Roy!" He tried to calm his racing heart down
while he picked up his slightly larger pile of boxes and headed towards the still
open door.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was deathly silent in the taxi, from the house to the train station. Maes was
more than glad that it was short. By the time they got there, he had run over the
last few moments inside that house dozens of times in his head, all the looks that
Roy gave him, what he said, how he looked, how he smelled, he burnt it into his
brain so he could never forget what he may have already lost.
They quickly unpacked their boxes and Roy paid the man most of what he had left of
his last meager paycheck, and Maes stayed by the boxes while Roy went to check in.
He was rolling a cart when he came back, so they loaded their belongings and set off
to find the military train. It ended up being pretty easy. Even though they were
pretty early, there was still a large amount of young soldiers ambling around. After
asking a couple people, they finally found someone who could point out where they
needed to go.
"Major Roy Mustang and First Lieutenant Maes Hughes reporting for duty, sir." They
both stood stock straight, giving a crisp salute to a hulking giant of a man with no
hair on the top of his head and a huge dark brown mustache that seemed to defy
gravity. He returned their salute and gave them a rather bored, impatient look, like
he had better things to do than to talk to them.
"Colonel Basque Gran. I will be your commanding officer at least until we get to
Ishbal. Then you will be assigned your units. I trust you have your affairs in
order." Maes and Roy looked at each other with confused faces. Colonel Gran just
smiled and turned, walking away. "Well, it's too late now, either way." He said,
fading into a sea of blue jackets.
"Affairs in order?" Maes asked.
Roy just shrugged again. "Best not to know."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Roy Mustang! It is good to see you again!" Before he could get away, he was pulled
into a massive bear hug by an even more hulking giant of a man than Basque Gran was.
"Armstrong. Likewise." Roy managed to squeeze out a soft reply with the last of his
breath. Thankfully for him, Armstrong let him go, then gave him a salute, which they
both returned. He turned to Maes. "Hughes, meet Major Alex Louis Armstrong, the
Strong Arm Alchemist. I met him while I was in the alchemy training camp." Before he
even finished his sentence, Armstrong had his shirt off, flexing his muscles and
getting the attention of most of the solider within sight of him. Roy tried his
best to suppress his smile and rolled his eyes.
"Armstrong, this is First Lieutenant Maes Hughes, my friend and roommate from the
academy." Maes waved and offered his hand. Roy smiled, but Maes didn't get a chance
to ask him why before Armstrong took his hand in a very firm, almost bone crushing
handshake, The younger alchemist had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at his
friend.
"It is... good to meet you, Major Armstrong, sir." He did his best to hide the
intense pain in his hand, to no avail. "I don't know how you put up with this guy."
He smiled and pointed a finger back to Roy.
"Hey!" he yelled, indignant. Armstrong just smiled and clapped Hughes on the back.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The whistle sounded and the train lurched to a start, sending a few soldiers that
were late and hadn't been able to find a seat tumbling to the ground, or into a
fellow soldier’s lap. One set of double benches facing each other held Roy and Maes
and one side, and Armstrong and another alchemist named Marcoh across from them.
"I am in a car full of alchemist freaks." Maes pouted under his breath while the
other three were discussing various alchemic techniques and the differences in the
type of alchemy they do. He thought he had said it low enough, but the elbow to the
ribs that Roy gave him told him otherwise. He grunted, stood up, and excused
himself, walking towards the back of the car. Roy stood up a moment later, concerned
about the look that had been on his friend's face.
"Pardon me." Roy said, scooting past the rest of the people on the bench and slowly
working his way through the glut of soldiers that were ambling around the main car.
It took him a while to catch up with Maes, just catching him as he stepped out and
across to the next car, the last one on the train.
"Maes! hey, Maes!" He had to shout over the din of the train. He carefully jumped
the small gap between the cars and closed the door behind him with a slam. He saw
his friend go thru the last sliding door out to the small back porch that ended the
train. He slid that door closed behind him as well and stood beside the taller man
in the very small area that was the caboose's porch.
His look changed from concern to confusion when he saw Maes take a pack of
cigarettes out of his pants pocket and shook it, using his mouth to pull one of the
sticks out and upwards.
"Since when did you smoke?"
"Can I get a light?"
Roy sighed and slipped on the glove that was always in his pocket and snapped,
easily bringing a small flame to life. Maes leaned in, enjoying for a moment the
soft light that flickered off of his lover's face when the light of the flame hit
his angular face. He sucked in hard and held it for a moment before letting it out
the side of his mouth, then he stood up straight again.
"During training. There was this one private who was a smoker. We became friends,
and he got me started during our frequent poker nights. It helped me... "he paused
for a moment, "when I was really stressed." Roy nodded, not needing any more
explanation about the source of the stress. "It was Sergeant Havoc, Sergeant
Breda, and this new kid that was really green, a young prodigy at electronics.. I
think his name was Fuery. I was telling them about the war, but most of them were
just starting thier training, so unless we are there a long time, they probably
won't join us. I hope they don't. The were all so fresh and new to all of this, if
it is as bad as I hear, they don't need to see that. Not yet at least."
The alchemist just nodded and turned up the collar of his greatcoat. Even though it
was a warm day, the breeze coming off the back of the train gave him a chill.. or
maybe it was just thinking about where they were going. Maes caught the slight
movement and fished the pack back out of his pocket. "Care to join?" he asked. Roy
thought about it for a moment, then shrugged and took one of the sticks, put it in
his mouth, and snapped his fingers between the gloves he had never bothered to take
off.
He took a deep breath and tried to imitate what Maes had done a moment ago, but he
only managed to make his lungs feel like they were on fire. His breath caught and he
choked out the smoke from his lungs. Only a quick movement from his hand to catch
the cigarette before it fell out of his mouth and down to the tracks below.
"Damn, Roy. This is my last pack, and I doubt that I will get more where we are
going." Maes sounded fairly annoyed.
"Sorry." Roy moped.
Maes sighed and shrugged, a bit guilty for making Roy feel bad. He could tell, better
than most anyone- with the subtle changes in Roy's voice- how he was feeling. Even
when they were just roommates, he saw that 'Mustang shield' drop when they were
alone.
"It's okay, Roy. Smoking isn't for everyone. It seems a bit ironic that the Flame
Alchemist doesn't like smoking, but such is life." He shrugged and smile, and took
a long drag, getting it down almost to the end of the butt, then tossed it off the
back of the train, watching it's fate parallel the cigarette that went before it.
They were silent for a moment. It was almost calming, the steady clickety clack of
the train as it sped them towards their uncertain future. If they hadn't been so
scared of what lay ahead of them, it might have actually been pleasant, being able
to spend a little quiet time together, even if they couldn't show their feelings
towards one another.
Without a word, Roy stepped closer to Maes, who had his hands on the metal railing on
the edge of the train. He gently put his hand on top of Maes', holding it there for
just a few moments and giving him a gentle pat. When he pulled it away, he had a soft
smile on his face.
"I'm gonna head back in, Maes. I will see you there."
"Okay Roy, be there in a moment."
Maes heard the door slide shut behind him, and he let out a deep, long breath. He was
unsure as to what the future held, but at least for this brief moment in time,
everything seemed to be alright. He couldn't hide the smile on his face as he walked
back towards the occupied cars.
Author: SeaweedOtter
Pairing: Roy Mustang x Maes Hughes
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: AU, Set before the anime started, while Maes and Roy were roommates at the military academy.
Author Note: The story will mostly follow the manga, but it may have a bit of both.
Summary: Having a long time to do nothing but think isn't always a good thing.
I should have done this 2 chapters ago. I have the awesome johns_elizabeth as my advisor. She's sorta a beta, but she works on the front end- before it's typed- instead of checking my horrid spelling. :) Sorry I forgot to thank you before! Please don't kill me!
Read all of the chapters so far HERE!
"So, what time are we supposed to be at the train station?" Maes sighed as he
started to pack the few belongings that he had brought- mostly just clothing, into a
small cardboard box.
"1100 hours."
There was a groan from underneath the covers. "And what time is it now?"
"0730."
Reluctantly, Roy threw the covers off his head and rolled out of bed. With Maes
moving around in the room, it was obvious that he wasn't going to get any more
sleep. He stood up, yawned and stretched his arms, then moved silently past his
lover and into the bathroom. He almost missed the soft sigh that the older man
released when he walked past without a kiss, or even just a light touch to show that
he was near. Without a word, the alchemist went into the bathroom for a shower and
the rest of the morning routine, locking the door behind him. Maes half heartedly
threw the rest of junk in and walked dejectedly into the kitchen.
While making breakfast, Maes used the last of the eggs and bread for toast. The
general had been nice enough to stock the house with some basics for the few days
that they were going to inhabit the place, and Maes made a mental note to thank him
the next time he saw General Grumman. Inadvertently, he timed it well- he was just
finishing up with the breakfast when Roy padded into the kitchen. He was already
wearing his dress blues, minus his jacket. Instead, he had the starched blue
collared shirt that went underneath it on, and he carefully hung the jacket across
one of the high backed chairs at the breakfast table.
"Thanks, Maes. This looks good." was all Roy said before he tucked in, ravenously
eating his breakfast like it was going to be his last. The taller man just nodded
and sat down in front of his own plate, poking at the eggs with a fork. He was
hungry, but the events of the last couple of days, and the nervousness about where
they were about to go made his stomach churn, and made him seriously wonder if he
would be able to keep any food down. He gave a few bites of egg a try, nibbling
gingerly, and they seemed to go down fine- so he slowly, carefully ate the rest of
his meal.
Without a word, Roy rose from the table first and took both of their plates. He
washed them and put them up, then went back to the table where Maes was still
sitting- staring out into space, almost unblinking. He took a chair and scoot it
next to Maes.
"Maes, look. I know you are scared. I am too. I don't know what is going to happen.
And I don't want to... I don't want something to happen. I want to forgive you.
Damnit, I still love you. But where do I stand? Where... does she stand?"
He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes for a moment. "I love you. I already
told you that. I think about Gracia, and she is such a kind and wonderful person.
She would be a great mother. I know it. I would be lying if I said that I didn't
care for her. But.." he stopped for a moment to think about what to say. "But the
thing is, the way I feel for her, and the way I feel for you, it's different. I am
not even sure I understand it." All Hughes could do was shrug and give Roy a
helpless look. Roy stood back up wordlessly and walked back towards the main room,
where he had piled the stuff that he had been procrastinating about packing.
Maes sighed loudly and banged his forehead on the table. Again.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
About 1000 hours, the taxi that Roy had called came by, honking it's horn to let
them know that their ride was here. They knew it was a short ride to the station,
but they wanted plenty of time to get there. It doesn't look good for a couple of
new recruits to be late on their first day.
Roy stepped out of the door for a moment and met the driver coming up the walkway,
telling him to wait just a few minutes, they are getting the last of their boxes
together. He looked less than amused, but his meter was running, so he would get
paid either way. He shrugged and walked back towards the still running car.
Maes quickly closed the distance between them once Roy shut the door behind him.
"Please," he asked, with pleading desperation in his voice. "Please, may I have one
last kiss before we go? I know I don't deserve it, but who knows what is going to
happen once we get to Ishbal? I don't want to lose you and forget what I had.
Please." His throat tightened, and the world slowed. For just a moment, Roy looked
at him. REALLY looked at him, searching through himself.
"Okay." was all Roy answered. He took one step closer to Maes, close enough to smell
his soap and aftershave, and for just a brief moment, Roy was pretty sure that for
just those simple things that he had missed so much, he would forgive his lover for
everything. Roy leaned in, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, trying to
save those smells for when they would be apart again.
He couldn't help but catch his breath once his lips met Maes'. Roy had almost
forgotten how warm and wet and inviting they were, just slightly larger and fuller
than the lips on most men, but still thin enough to be masculine and fit his face
well. He could hear the soft groan that was emanating from the man across from him.
His brain was yelling at him to touch his lover, caress him, feel him because he
might not get to again. Roy raised his hand, shakily, the pad of one finger tracing
a gentle line down the side of Maes' square chin and down to his neck, eliciting a
shiver out of the taller man.
Another honk from the horn outside brought them crashing back to reality. Roy broke
the kiss and pulled his hand away. Before Maes could say anything, he turned around
and leaned down to grab his small pile of boxes. "We need to go, Maes."
Maes caught the sadness in his voice, and he wondered if Roy had really enjoyed it
as much as he had. The hesitation in his voice seemed to indicate that, but by the
time those thoughts ran through his head, Roy was most of the way out of the door
with his belongings. "Wait for me, Roy!" He tried to calm his racing heart down
while he picked up his slightly larger pile of boxes and headed towards the still
open door.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was deathly silent in the taxi, from the house to the train station. Maes was
more than glad that it was short. By the time they got there, he had run over the
last few moments inside that house dozens of times in his head, all the looks that
Roy gave him, what he said, how he looked, how he smelled, he burnt it into his
brain so he could never forget what he may have already lost.
They quickly unpacked their boxes and Roy paid the man most of what he had left of
his last meager paycheck, and Maes stayed by the boxes while Roy went to check in.
He was rolling a cart when he came back, so they loaded their belongings and set off
to find the military train. It ended up being pretty easy. Even though they were
pretty early, there was still a large amount of young soldiers ambling around. After
asking a couple people, they finally found someone who could point out where they
needed to go.
"Major Roy Mustang and First Lieutenant Maes Hughes reporting for duty, sir." They
both stood stock straight, giving a crisp salute to a hulking giant of a man with no
hair on the top of his head and a huge dark brown mustache that seemed to defy
gravity. He returned their salute and gave them a rather bored, impatient look, like
he had better things to do than to talk to them.
"Colonel Basque Gran. I will be your commanding officer at least until we get to
Ishbal. Then you will be assigned your units. I trust you have your affairs in
order." Maes and Roy looked at each other with confused faces. Colonel Gran just
smiled and turned, walking away. "Well, it's too late now, either way." He said,
fading into a sea of blue jackets.
"Affairs in order?" Maes asked.
Roy just shrugged again. "Best not to know."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Roy Mustang! It is good to see you again!" Before he could get away, he was pulled
into a massive bear hug by an even more hulking giant of a man than Basque Gran was.
"Armstrong. Likewise." Roy managed to squeeze out a soft reply with the last of his
breath. Thankfully for him, Armstrong let him go, then gave him a salute, which they
both returned. He turned to Maes. "Hughes, meet Major Alex Louis Armstrong, the
Strong Arm Alchemist. I met him while I was in the alchemy training camp." Before he
even finished his sentence, Armstrong had his shirt off, flexing his muscles and
getting the attention of most of the solider within sight of him. Roy tried his
best to suppress his smile and rolled his eyes.
"Armstrong, this is First Lieutenant Maes Hughes, my friend and roommate from the
academy." Maes waved and offered his hand. Roy smiled, but Maes didn't get a chance
to ask him why before Armstrong took his hand in a very firm, almost bone crushing
handshake, The younger alchemist had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at his
friend.
"It is... good to meet you, Major Armstrong, sir." He did his best to hide the
intense pain in his hand, to no avail. "I don't know how you put up with this guy."
He smiled and pointed a finger back to Roy.
"Hey!" he yelled, indignant. Armstrong just smiled and clapped Hughes on the back.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The whistle sounded and the train lurched to a start, sending a few soldiers that
were late and hadn't been able to find a seat tumbling to the ground, or into a
fellow soldier’s lap. One set of double benches facing each other held Roy and Maes
and one side, and Armstrong and another alchemist named Marcoh across from them.
"I am in a car full of alchemist freaks." Maes pouted under his breath while the
other three were discussing various alchemic techniques and the differences in the
type of alchemy they do. He thought he had said it low enough, but the elbow to the
ribs that Roy gave him told him otherwise. He grunted, stood up, and excused
himself, walking towards the back of the car. Roy stood up a moment later, concerned
about the look that had been on his friend's face.
"Pardon me." Roy said, scooting past the rest of the people on the bench and slowly
working his way through the glut of soldiers that were ambling around the main car.
It took him a while to catch up with Maes, just catching him as he stepped out and
across to the next car, the last one on the train.
"Maes! hey, Maes!" He had to shout over the din of the train. He carefully jumped
the small gap between the cars and closed the door behind him with a slam. He saw
his friend go thru the last sliding door out to the small back porch that ended the
train. He slid that door closed behind him as well and stood beside the taller man
in the very small area that was the caboose's porch.
His look changed from concern to confusion when he saw Maes take a pack of
cigarettes out of his pants pocket and shook it, using his mouth to pull one of the
sticks out and upwards.
"Since when did you smoke?"
"Can I get a light?"
Roy sighed and slipped on the glove that was always in his pocket and snapped,
easily bringing a small flame to life. Maes leaned in, enjoying for a moment the
soft light that flickered off of his lover's face when the light of the flame hit
his angular face. He sucked in hard and held it for a moment before letting it out
the side of his mouth, then he stood up straight again.
"During training. There was this one private who was a smoker. We became friends,
and he got me started during our frequent poker nights. It helped me... "he paused
for a moment, "when I was really stressed." Roy nodded, not needing any more
explanation about the source of the stress. "It was Sergeant Havoc, Sergeant
Breda, and this new kid that was really green, a young prodigy at electronics.. I
think his name was Fuery. I was telling them about the war, but most of them were
just starting thier training, so unless we are there a long time, they probably
won't join us. I hope they don't. The were all so fresh and new to all of this, if
it is as bad as I hear, they don't need to see that. Not yet at least."
The alchemist just nodded and turned up the collar of his greatcoat. Even though it
was a warm day, the breeze coming off the back of the train gave him a chill.. or
maybe it was just thinking about where they were going. Maes caught the slight
movement and fished the pack back out of his pocket. "Care to join?" he asked. Roy
thought about it for a moment, then shrugged and took one of the sticks, put it in
his mouth, and snapped his fingers between the gloves he had never bothered to take
off.
He took a deep breath and tried to imitate what Maes had done a moment ago, but he
only managed to make his lungs feel like they were on fire. His breath caught and he
choked out the smoke from his lungs. Only a quick movement from his hand to catch
the cigarette before it fell out of his mouth and down to the tracks below.
"Damn, Roy. This is my last pack, and I doubt that I will get more where we are
going." Maes sounded fairly annoyed.
"Sorry." Roy moped.
Maes sighed and shrugged, a bit guilty for making Roy feel bad. He could tell, better
than most anyone- with the subtle changes in Roy's voice- how he was feeling. Even
when they were just roommates, he saw that 'Mustang shield' drop when they were
alone.
"It's okay, Roy. Smoking isn't for everyone. It seems a bit ironic that the Flame
Alchemist doesn't like smoking, but such is life." He shrugged and smile, and took
a long drag, getting it down almost to the end of the butt, then tossed it off the
back of the train, watching it's fate parallel the cigarette that went before it.
They were silent for a moment. It was almost calming, the steady clickety clack of
the train as it sped them towards their uncertain future. If they hadn't been so
scared of what lay ahead of them, it might have actually been pleasant, being able
to spend a little quiet time together, even if they couldn't show their feelings
towards one another.
Without a word, Roy stepped closer to Maes, who had his hands on the metal railing on
the edge of the train. He gently put his hand on top of Maes', holding it there for
just a few moments and giving him a gentle pat. When he pulled it away, he had a soft
smile on his face.
"I'm gonna head back in, Maes. I will see you there."
"Okay Roy, be there in a moment."
Maes heard the door slide shut behind him, and he let out a deep, long breath. He was
unsure as to what the future held, but at least for this brief moment in time,
everything seemed to be alright. He couldn't hide the smile on his face as he walked
back towards the occupied cars.