The beach - Saturday Morning

[light_a_spark]

Roy hadn't slept since he'd talked to Molly - he wasn't counting the unplanned nap he'd taken on Thursday before getting hug-attacked - and now that apparently he had the freedom to, he was too awake.

He found a quiet spot along the beach and sat down in the sand. Even the morning sun already felt warm on his dark blue uniform and he dug the heels of his boots into the sand. He remembered this kind of heat, but it wouldn't turn as blistering as it had in the Ishbalan desert. The beach was very different from any desert and the scent of the ocean was one he rather liked. It was nothing like Amestris and right now, it was good to be reminded of that.

If radio was right, then the students had dealt with the threat themselves. Roy grimaced. Somehow he kept failing to keep people safe and children, too young to have to deal with these kind of horrors, kept having to pay the price for it. It didn't help that as far as he knew, he might not have been able to stop this guy either. Not with just a gun and not even flame alchemy would have worked.

If alchemy worked here. Ed's theory about the flow of energy had made him wonder, but it felt strange that Alphonse wouldn't have told him. He slowly started drawing a simple array into the sand. It was meant to simply reshape the sand beneath into whatever sort of sculpture he could think of. Roy stared down at it. It was one of the simplest principles of alchemy: take the material and give it a new form. Deconstruct and rebuild, yet somehow he had managed to take these two base principles and make his whole life about the deconstruction.

His stomach roiled at the thought and he remembered too many faces, too much pain. His hand was shaky as he rested it in the sand, inches away from the transmutation circle before he erased it from the sand with one angry sweep.

((So I got wordy. Post is open, but he is in a mood.))

Comments

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

Roy pushed back up, grimacing as some of the sand slid inside his collar. "I apologise for any offense I might have cause, my Serene Highness Alianne. I promise I'll do better from now on."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

She nodded regally, looking disturbingly at home in her pretense. "I accept your apology, General Mustang and choose not to remove your head at this juncture provided you endeavour to fulfill that promise."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"I thank you. I quite like my head where it is," he laughed softly. "It's still Corporal, your Sereness."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Hmph, if I shall have my rank recognised, I insist that yours is as well," she said with another nod.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"My rank is corporal," he pointed out. "It says right so on my uniform."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"I don't know your strange and elaborate system of rank," she pointed out.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't lie to a heiress," he assured her.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Well, then," Aly said haughtily. "I shall have to remedy that. I hereby promote you to General in my armed forces."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

Roy raised an eyebrow at her. "And how many armed forces do you have?"

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"And army and a navy," she replied with a nod.

The army being a few children and the navy being a sailboat. But you know.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"So I'd be in charge of the army?" he asked.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Will you keep my trust?" she asked.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"Of course," he said with a small smile. "I imagine that you expect me to swear an oath."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

She eyed him then held out her hand regally. "Your word is enough."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"You're too generous, My Serene Highness Miss Alianne," he said as he took her hand in his and gave her a shallow bow.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Then I expect no more protests, General, at your title."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"Will you provide me with a matching uniform at least?" he requested, slowly letting go of her hand.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Of course," she said. "Part of my duty to you."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"And what else do your duties hold?" Roy asked curiously.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

Aly grinned. "A promise not to use my men ill or take advantage of my station, of course."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"That's a good promise," he said, a tad serious as he glanced back at the water. "Even if I'm worrying about your sanity."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

She laughed. "My sanity, huh?"

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

He smiled at her. "Maybe more than that, but I won't tell your people," he assured her.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

Aly winked, having ceased the act. "Knew I could count on you."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"I should hope so," he said with a smile. "And I suppose I should try that whole getting rest thing."