dear_mun | re: au musebox shenanigans

[A sigh, golden eyes closing as if the conversation was giving her a headache.] He's getting worse instead of better...

[Didn't think that was possible.

And a beat-]

What about you..? I mean, in your world, are you and Mustang...? [because she sure as hell blushed like she wanted to be.]

What a dumbass.

[ A snort, and then her other self's question registers. Is she...? Suddenly, color returns vividly to her cheeks and her eyes widen. ]

The colonel... and me?

What? No—! I mean...

We... did... kinda sleep together...

But that was only because that bastard wouldn't give me the paperwork to get out of the military! They would've taken Al and used him for experiments! I couldn't let that happen, so I...

[ God, she's blushing so hard now, fingers thrust deep into the pockets of her coat as she begins to pace. ]

I always knew that bastard had his eyes on me. I could tell, making those comments about stupid shit like a lady like me doesn't need to be in the military and I should really think about settling down and—

[ A beat and she stops pacing, all but scowling at the ground. ]

Equivalent Exchange. Had to be, for Al...

After all, I'd do anything for Al...

Al's— Al's the one I'm with. But to be together, we gotta pay the price. So I paid it.

Al... doesn't know.

He did... what?

[No, that doesn't make any sense. His job could be on the line for doing something like that- they'd risked so much to make this work and in some other world things were like that?

No. No, nonononono.

This didn't make any sense....

She hasn't even registered yet that last part, because she's too busy trying to wrap her mind around Roy ever taking anything like that from her.

When she looks up again, her gaze is almost murderous. Her voice is lethal quiet.] Al would kill him.

[ Her own voice is still quiet. Part of her, a part she refuses to acknowledge and refuses to believe exists, had enjoyed sleeping with Mustang. Had always had something of a crush on him and even Al had remarked on it a few times. But she won't even think it, not when Al comes first.

And what she doesn't know is that sleeping with Mustang hadn't even been necessary. Al had already made the bargain to give up part of the Philosopher's Stone bound to his soul to the military. To Mustang. The part he'd received from their father, the last remnants of the Stone made in Xerxes. So sleeping with him was more of a concession on her part, and perhaps a bit on Mustang's. Something they both wanted, but knew couldn't happen, so just once... Just once, they'd allowed it. Only to never speak of it again.

She'll never tell Al. She could never bring herself to hurt him that way, when she'd been so determined to give him everything of her, body and soul. She knows the side of Al that also lingers beneath the surface, dangerous and deadly, willing to sacrifice anything to protect her. She can't let that side of Al surface either.

Her voice is just as quiet as her mirror. ]

That's why Al can't ever know. 'Cause with the Philosopher's Stone still bound to him, he could— It would be bad. Al, at least... he was first, but— He can't know.

You let Mustang fuck you for Al's sake, and you're just keeping it from him?

[Well, of course she is. If any version of Ed was stupid enough to go and do something behind Al's back that he'd hate - they sure as fuck aren't stupid enough to then inform him.

Still. She looks angry. Angry about a world that is not her's, that she has no control over, and that is bat shit insane. Yep, she takes it back. She'll keep the ears.

At least she's not this Ed.]

If he ever finds out, he might kill you both.

[ Jerking her head up, a snarl forms on her lips before she can stop it. What the fuck does she know? Their situations are vastly different and even if they're fundamentally the same person, they're still not the same. At least, that's what she thinks. ]

Al would never do that. He's too protective for that and Al would rather die than hurt me.

[ Hands balling into fists at her side, gold eyes flash. ]

Don't even fucking think I'm not pissed at myself enough as it is. It's fucked up and I know that. That's why it's a burden only I will carry. Just like when I had to dig up Mom's— But this time Al won't ever find out... I did it, alright? I can't change that. But at least me and Al can be together however we want and not worry about what the military or anyone else says.

[She notes the snarl with nothing more than a raised eyebrow. Okay, she didn't mean it literally.

Quietly.]

So then the two of you never agreed if it became something you ... couldn't do- you'd find another way.

[She had, and she wouldn't compromise those morals... because, to her- if she had been in love with her brother. She could never live with herself doing what this Ed had done.

Maybe they were as different as she thought after all.]

If your brother's still bound to the Stone, he still needs you. Why are you giving up the resources of the military now?

[Topic change? Maybe.]

Because we have everything we need. Al is whole. Taller than me, but whole and the military just wants to keep us because he's the only ever successful case of human transmutation while also being a completed Philosopher's Stone. And to them, the Stone is...

[ Brows furrowing, she shakes her head. Part of the reason they wanted to cut ties was to ensure they could never again be used as tools. Manipulated by their government. But there's also another part... to be able to be together as lovers without the fear of persecution. There were enough rumors and whispers about how close the Elric siblings were. Too close. And getting caught would be the perfect excuse for the military to take her brother away forever.

She's done morally questionable things before, sleeping with Mustang wasn't the worst. She didn't like the blow to her pride, the compromising of her morals, but for Al, it had been worth it. ]

Al said he'd work it out and I trust him, but... He would have done something for me. Given up something he shouldn't. I couldn't let that happen either. Between me and the old— Dad, we were able to get back Al's body. I can't let anyone take him away ever again. So we're leaving. Getting as far away as we can.

[ And in the process, spitting up all the evil she had taken in while working for the military. All for a childish dream. Odd, since it had been Mustang to whom she said there were more important things than their own dreams... ]

[He had followed the tug, feeling a bombardment of emotions from his sacrifice through the bond they shared. Embarrassment, anger, curiosity...Roy was determined to see the cause of all of this as was his duty to protect her.

Long arms slipped around his Ed's waist, pulling her gently back against his body as his dark gaze flicked up to meet this other Ed. It was still strange to see other forms of his lover] Making new friends already? [This was directed to his sacrifice even if his gaze still lingered upon the other Ed, trying to decide if there was a possible threat or not. If he had a tail, it would have been flicking]

[She'd felt Roy approach while the other Ed talked - distracting her a bit from the words, and if Ed had been paying attention she might have noticed the shift take place.

Still golden eyes widened as she was tugged back to Roy. She didn't answer his question, even if her posture visibly relaxed with his presence, tail swaying slowly. She rests a hand on Roy's arm, addressing the other Ed when she speaks.]

Getting as far away as you can might be the best course of action for you both.

[ Jerked from her thoughts by a familiar voice, she looks up to see the newcomer. None other than someone they had just been discussing. It's hard to force down the blush that threatens to resurface and she scowls as a result. ~~tsuntsuntsun~~

Of course, seeing them as close as they are doesn't help. She isn't sure how to respond to that. Then again, she thinks, how would her other self respond if Al were to show up and pull a similar stunt? It's awkward and embarrassing to say the least.

After managing a slightly challenging look towards Mustang, she scoffs, gaze shifting to the ground again, finding it a good subject to glare at for the moment. ]

That is why we're leaving. West maybe, or maybe east. The old man came from back east... Either way, as long as it's out of the reach of the military.

We had to do it once before, after Liore. We can do it again, without others' help.

[ At this, she gives another look at Mustang, as if daring him to provide some kind of sarcastic remark. ]

[He seemed to relax himself as the two continued, not at all put off that he was more or less completely ignored. His arms stayed around his sacrifice, thumb stroking over her abdomen as he continued to watch the other Ed, more curiosity now that he didn't find a threat with her. He had noted the look directed to him but shrugged it off, far too used to it from his own Ed] Running from the military? Is that something you think you can keep up for long?..although with your short stature, maybe hiding would be easy for you.

[Ed would think nothing of the other Ed and her own Al standing in a similar position, before this conversation had come so far - because she was close enough with her own Al that standing like this wasn't so far out of the ordinary to catch her attention.

She does notice the way the other looks at Roy, though. As if he's the one from her own world, the one that all her feelings were aimed at. Her jaw clenched at that, she remembered hiding out after Liore - she remembered going after Sloth with their mother's remains. To some extent she knew exactly what her other self was referring to.

At Roy's words her grip on his arm tightens, as if in warning.]

It's not running away if papers were filed to relieve her.

[ The look that immediately crosses her face as Mustang makes a crack at her height is very familiar. And were it not for years of tempering, combined with the weight on her chest that is the knowledge of what she's done to accomplish her and Al's escape, she would react with just as much anger and violence as she did when she was younger. But she isn't twelve anymore. She isn't sixteen either, and two years spent living with Al in his real body has given her a bit more patience.

Mustang won't get away without a comeback, though. ]

Ed's right. I got the paperwork. Besides, certain people in the military should know better than to mess with their greatest asset.

[He felt the tightening upon his arm, his own grip upon his sacrifice loosening some. He quirked a brow slightly at his Ed's words before nodding] My mistake. [He had walked in mid conversation and did not know all of the details, for once this not bothering him. His attention instead falling to the woman in his arms, as always drawn to her and wanting to touch her]

[It was like looking into a skewed mirror, dealing with this other self. She was still so feisty, so angry and sure their circumstances were different... which she knew had a lot to do with it. If it hadn't been for the bond, her situation with Roy would have been very different-

but she'd never considered what that change might have altered between her and Al.]

The military should have no reason to come after you now, regardless of Al's situation.

[Really, she's just trying to be supportive - but it's hard wrapping her head around that whole ordeal. Such an alien concept from a world so much like her own.

Of course the same could probably be said of their history, which is noted with a hint of irony as her tail flicks against Roy's leg idly.]

re: au musebox shenanigans

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