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]

"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."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"You really should," she agreed. "I'll walk back to town with you if you'd like the company."

It had nothing at all to do with making sure he actually went into his apartment instead of making a detour at the station really.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"I'd be a fool if I did," he pushed to his feet, brushing the sand from his pants before he turned towards her and held out a hand.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

Aly accepted the hand up with a smile and turned back towards town. "Such a flatterer," she teased.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"It might be in the job description as well," he smirked, falling into step beside her.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"All these things I never knew," she replied, grinning at him. "It's amazing."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"I trust you to be my secret keeper," he replied. He might have just been tired.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Cross my heart and hope to die if I tell," she replied, crossing her heart solemnly.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

Any comment he might have made got lost as he couldn't hold back the yawn. He blinked as he finished. "Maybe I was more tired than I thought."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

She just looked the slightest bit amused. "That's what happens when you don't sleep for five days."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"Four," he argued, only counting the nights.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Oh? You went right to bed Tuesday night after talking to Molly and I?" Aly asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"Of course not," he said right away as they made their way on the street, leaving the beach behind them.