and every story I have told

Title: Untitled
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist, Rurouni Kenshin
AU: Muse'verse
Word Count: 1897

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Title: The Gain
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist, Rurouni Kenshin
AU: Muse'verse
Word Count: 300

Kenshin sighed, his hands on his hips. “You are going to fall on your face,” he called. “And I am going to laugh."

Edward was balanced on the tree limb, very clearly ignoring Kenshin. He had monkeyed himself up a fair distance, which was no mean feat with all that metal hanging off of him. And now he was astride a limb that looked like maybe, MAYBE it would support his weight as he scooted along it, trying to reach two crumpled sheets of paper that had flown out of his grasp earlier.

It was a windy day - and it was sheer luck that the papers got caught in a tree right at the edge of the woods. Edward had been shouting invectives that up until about twenty minutes ago Kenshin was absolutely sure did not exist in any lexicon on this planet while he chased down the escaping pages.

And now he was twenty feet in the air, stretching along a branch that had started to bend under the stress of Edward’s weight, trying to grab at the pages before the wind took them again. "Why don’t you just use alchemy for this?” Kenshin suggested, as Edward grabbed at the papers and failed, fingertips barely brushing the edges.

“Why don’t you just use alchemy for this?” Edward parroted in a high-pitched imitation of Kenshin’s own voice. “Use it exactly HOW, Himura?"

"I don’t know, you’re the alchemist.” This was entertaining to watch, at least. “If you break your automail falling out of the tree I’ll let you be the one to call your mechanic this time. She’s scary."

"Fuck!” Edward screeched, his fingers just brushing the edges again. He slid down the branch just a little farther, finally reaching the papers. “Finally!"

There was a very ominous crack.

Title: Missing You
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
AU: Reverse'verse
Word Count: 300

Edward brushed his hair back with one hand and frowned at the face he saw in the mirror. It was too early for him to be fully awake, and the bruise on his jaw from the brawl at the station had only just started to fade. He tilted his head back, looking along the length of his jaw for other obvious wounds, and his eyes were drawn instead to the smaller, fresh bruises along the lower portion of his throat - considerately marked directly under the portion of his neck that would be covered by the high collar of the military uniform. Edward ran his fingers over them, and then turned on the tap.

It was strange, the silence that had descended on his apartment. He should be used to it by now - he had lived alone for years, and now Rian was in and out, here and gone, hopscotching across the country on a whim as Edward sent him on clean-up duty jobs to keep him busy. If he lingered, Edward thought to much …. and even when he wasn’t here, the younger alchemist was a dominant presence in his life. It was a strange feeling that had blanketed him ever since Rian started stashing clothing in his closet and left a toothbrush in his bathroom - a feeling that Edward had not managed to put together yet. He should be used to things occurring beyond his sphere of control by now - but that really didn’t make it any easier.

Edward’s fingers lingered on the marks on his throat. Rian had learned dominance quickly, he had learned precisely what to do to make Edward’s toes curl and his fingers claw at the bedsheets. And yet here he was, waking up alone, Rian’s side of the bed untouched.

Title: Not Good Enough
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
AU: Reverse'verse
Word Count: 300

“Are you KIDDING me,” Alphonse Elric said, and slammed a book down on Edward’s desk. Edward woke suddenly, jerking upright and looking around wildly before focusing on the irate form of his younger brother. Alphonse had crossed his arms, irritation evident as he watched Edward flounder towards comprehension. “Brother, are you trying to give me grey hair? Thomas does that on his own, he doesn’t need your help!"

Edward scrubbed his left hand over his face. "Al,” he said. “What - what the fuck are you doing here, do not tell me you took the train just to yell at me in person-"

"I have briefings all week in Central.” Thankfully, Alphonse’s voice had returned to a more neutral tone, because Edward still didn’t have any idea why he was being yelled at. “I told you about this last month, anyway-” the darkness scrolled over his face again. “Do you recall Lieutenant Colonel Hayes?"

Edward thought about this. He winced internally, and then offered up a weak ”…no?“

He may have gotten a whole lot better about not telegraphing his emotions, but Alphonse could read him like a book. He arched an eyebrow at Edward, and Edward winced again. "What happened?"

"We knew Hayes was a spy from Aeruga,” Alphonse said, mock-patiently. “He was planted somewhere safe where we could watch him. You, however, managed to get him reassigned, which rather makes this orchestration difficult."

"Well, how was I supposed to know he was important?” Edward asked angrily. “You won’t read me in on most of your schemes. You’ll tell Rian what you are up to, but not me."

"I thought it was a better idea to have you in the know, but the last time we did that you ended up showboating to stop an assassination attempt.” Alphonse scowled.

Title: Bad Haircut
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
AU: Reverse'verse
Word Count: 300

“It’s not that bad,” Edward said, combing his fingers through his bangs distractedly. “It’s not really THAT bad, is it?"

There was silence from the peanut gallery, that was never a good sign. Edward tugged at his bangs again, and looked over to Rian, who had somehow managed to perfect a disturbingly familiar poker face in the last twenty minutes. "Rian, help me out here!"

Alphonse ran his hand down his face, lingering over his mouth. "Brother,” he said with a sigh. “Did you do that to yourself? Why would you do that-?"

Edward’s look turned plaintive. "It is. It is that bad. Oh, hell, I have to go into work like this-"

Winry gave up all semblance of composure and folded over herself, howling with laughter. This startled Alphonse slightly, who glanced at her, bewildered, looked to Edward - who had gone to the mirror hanging in the hallway and was trying to twist around enough to see the back of his head - and then passed his glance over to Rian. "What?” he asked, befuddled. “I mean, it’s funny, it looks like Sarah took her scissors to him while he slept on the couch or something…."

Rian raised one eyebrow, the grin barely contained on his face. Alphonse sat back and groaned, and then looked over at Winry, who was still cackling. "Please tell me you didn’t encourage this."

"I told her,” Winry wiped tears from her eyes. “I told her to go play with him, I didn’t realize he had fallen asleep, or that she had found the scissors."

Edward yowled from the hallway like someone had stepped on his tail. "Why is the back of my hair PINK!?"

There was a pause, and then this time Alphonse and Rian both joined Winry in her contagious laughter.

Title: Blurry Edges
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
AU: Reverse'verse
Word Count: 300

Sometimes Edward slept at his desk, the exhaustion of a long day dragging down on him, to the point where he propped himself up with his automail hand to keep from smudging ink across his face when he nodded off. Those were the worst days, the days where they went from dawn past dusk and into the night, reports stacked high in the inbox, or the soldiers being mustered for conflicts at the border.

He had never been much of a soldier, always the loose cannon, never fit for following orders. It was a miracle of miracles that he hadn’t been bounced out of the military over insubordination or worse - but there was a particular kind of luck that came with being Edward Elric.

(A particularly sick and twisted kind of luck - but it was still luck nonetheless.)

And sometimes, when he dozed at his desk, he would dream of Roy. Roy smiling softly, hazy in the sunlight; he would lean over Edward and brush his hair back, kiss his forehead, and then fade into his most pleasant of memories. Edward always woke with the most peculiar feeling after those dreams, the sense of loss palpable in his gut … how much had he actually accomplished, in the wake of Roy’s death? Years of work, in the field and at this desk, running in circles - had he really accomplished anything?

But then there were the times that he woke at the contact, and swore for a moment that the dream was real - until Rian’s dark eyes registered that Edward didn’t see him and he stepped away, expression guarded. No matter how many times it happened, no matter how quickly Edward registered the correction, the wound was always there.

Soon, Rian stopped waking him from those dreams.

Title: Enigmatic
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
AU: None
Word Count: 300

Alphonse Elric sat across from his older brother on the train and pointedly ignored the fact that Edward kept shifting in his seat. The hard train benches were not usually that much of a bother to Edward - or at least, not usually until much, much farther along on their journey.

Edward was at least trying not to make a big deal of his discomfort. Thankfully. Alphonse particularly liked to pretend that he did not know the source of the issue - there were some things he just simply did not want to think about. Edward had spent the night with Roy doing “research” (is THAT what they were calling it these days? Alphonse wasn’t blind, and Edward still changed in front of him … and a certain someone left hickeys where clothing would usually cover) and had come back cheery and chipper and not at all affected until he very gingerly sat down opposite Alphonse.

Upon rare occasion, the armor was useful.

Included upon those occasions were the massive, full-body blush of realization he would have had otherwise.

At first, he was hurt that Edward didn’t seem inclined to reveal his relationship with the colonel to his little brother. After all, they shared pretty much everything else. However, he soon realized that Edward figured Alphonse already knew. His brother was pretty forthwith with most things - except the things that he hadn’t quite worked through yet - so he was probably still dealing with the emotional baggage of being involved with Colonel Mustang. That, or he had decided already this was just a physical thing and felt no need to mention it otherwise.

Alphonse saw the way he looked at the Colonel when he thought no one was watching; there was no way it was anything else but THAT.

Title: Hiding Something
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
AU: None
Word Count: 300

Sometimes it unsettled Edward how quickly this had become the norm; waking up in a bed with another person beside him, a warm breathing body that he could touch and feel. Alphonse - it’s not that he didn’t know where Edward disappeared to some nights, he just pretended he didn’t, because there was no way that Edward was successfully keeping this from his little brother. Al knew everything, he always did.

He rolled up on his side, the sheet sliding down over his waist as he looked over at Mustang. Roy was either still asleep or faking it (the second one, assuredly, Roy didn’t like to show weakness, even to his lover in bed), but his breathing was still soft, and his mouth was slightly open. Edward stared at him, feeling that strange, warm fuzzy feeling in his belly that had become an almost permanent fixture when he looked at the man, and smiled.

This was so WEIRD, how could he not…? Edward leaned over Roy, his hair loose and tangled down his back, and ran his hand down Roy’s jaw. He closed his mouth at Edward’s touch, but his eyes still did not open. “Faker,” Edward murmured, and leaned down to kiss Roy’s forehead.

Hell, he wasn’t allowed to have something like this. He still had a duty and an obligation to Alphonse - that was supposed to come first, not his hormones. The guilt weighed off him like a physical thing, but he couldn’t help that - any more than he could help being captivated by Roy’s dark eyes and skilled (if snarky) mouth.

A smile tugged at the corner of that same mouth, and Edward pushed at his shoulder. “Faker, open your eyes,” he said.

Roy’s voice was sleepy. “I don’t want to wake from this dream.”

Title: Always Against
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
AU: None
Word Count: 300

Whenever he needed to clear his head, there was always Alphonse.

Edward bounded across the grass, his bare foot sliding slightly as he angled himself to absorb the attack and return it, his automail pinging off of Alphonse’s tough armor exterior. There were few things in this world that he didn’t have to pull his punches against, and currently his little brother was at the top of that list.

Alphonse caught his foot and flipped him, but Edward caught himself before he could land on his back, spinning on his hands and turning the momentum to his advantage.

It was cathartic, sparring like this. He could focus all of his energy, all of his pent-up frustration and anger into the satisfying chorus of metal against metal. He didn’t have to think about how Mustang was driving him crazy, didn’t have to think about how the man made him feel things he didn’t understand or know how to deal with, he didn’t have to think about his guilt and the weight of the world - he had to live in the moment, in this very moment and pay attention to what REALLY mattered ….

…which currently was not allowing Al to knock his fucking block off.

Alphonse caught him in midair, the impact of his arm (spikes faced the other way, thank goodness) driving all the breath from Edward’s lungs as he was forced back the way he came. He staggered back, feet sliding on the dew-slick grass and a leg sweep took him down.

His brother immobilized him with one heavy boot, the treads digging into his flesh where his shirt rode up. “Pinned you,” Alphonse said cheerfully, not the slightest trace of exertion in his voice.

Edward wheezed and banged on Al’s foot with his hand. “Lemme up, Al!”

Title: Under the House
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
AU: None
Word Count: 300

It was never a good thing that Roy came home to Edward sitting on his front stoop. He wasn’t paying attention to the road, watching instead the progress of a tiny line of ants carrying away the crumbs from half a sandwich still in his hand. Roy sighed, stopping before Edward, and scratched at the back of his head wearily. “Fullmetal, what are you doing here?"

Edward looked up at him, and pointedly took a bite of his sandwich. "Waitin’ on you."

Roy looked up and down the street. Late spring meant that the neighbors were out in force, working on lawns, watching children play in the yards and up the street. It was not the optimal place for a confrontation of any sort, and "discretion” was a word that Edward liked to avoid. “You’ll notice,” Edward continued airily, “that I did not let myself in."

"I see that,” Roy said through gritted teeth. “It had perhaps escaped your notice that would have been the wisest option?"

"Yeah, because me letting myself in my commanding officer’s home is a good idea,” Edward flicked more crumbs at the ants. “Also, Al is stuck under the back porch and I think it’s funny."

There was only one logical answer to that, and Roy blinked at Edward. "Alphonse is - what?"

"Stuck. Remember how you told me a stray had kittens and was hiding in your - fuck was it called, some kinda bush in the back yard-"

"And your brother scared them under the porch?"

"Nah, the mom had already moved'em. He was just trying to get a look.” Edward polished off the sandwich, and licked his fingers. “I didn’t want to go about transmuting your home without you knowin’ about it first."

"I applaud your restraint,” Roy sighed, as Edward beamed.