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

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"If you feel the need," Aly said, smirking back at him.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"I might," he said mysteriously, still smirking as he looked ahead.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"I am at your service," she replied. "Just like I was Monday night when a mysterious person called me from your house."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

Roy had not yet met caller ID, but then he was pretty sure he hadn't called her on Monday. "What do you mean?" he asked suavely.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Or which day was it that you called without leaving a message?" She grinned. "Needed to tell me you weren't sleeping?"

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

He frowned. "How do you know for certain it was me?" he asked, evading the last question.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"The telephone shows the numbers of people who've called," Aly said with a wink.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

Roy frowned, feeling betrayed by the one technology he had been sort of at peace with. "I might have."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"If you had left a message, I would have called you back," she told him.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"I'm aware," he assured her with a sideways glance before pulling open the door to Mauvaise Chance and stepping back to let her go in first. "I called on Wednesday if I'm not mistaken."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

She gave him a smile and a quick 'thanks' as she went in. "Ah, was that it? About Molly then?"

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"No," he let the door fall shut behind him and started up the stairs. "I was wondering if I needed to arrest one of your students for trying to blow you up."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Oh!" She chuckled. "I appreciate the thought, but I took care of it. He was a bit misguided."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

Roy raised an eyebrow. "A bit?"

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"In his defence, he was counting on the fact that I wasn't supposed to be able to get hurt in the Danger Shop." She coughed. "And a few teachers may have asked their classes to perform pranks so it's their responsibility. She grinned.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"I'd still prefer it if no one threw bombs at you," Roy said with a frown. "Or anyone else for that matter."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

She stifled her grin. "I made sure he won't do that ever again." Aly shot a sidelong glance at Roy. "But I appreciate your concern."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

Roy bowed his head and let out a breath as they stopped in front of his door. "As I appreciate you walking me home."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"It's the least I can do since you sacrificed your sleep all week," she teased.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

Glancing up at her, he gave her a small smile. He had the tiniest suspicion that he did know why exactly she did it. He was alright pretending that he didn't however and held out a hand, his palm upward. "I thank you," he said softly.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

She smiled back at him, placing her hand in his. "You're very welcome. Anytime," she replied.

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

His fingers closed briefly around hers. "I'd say sweet dreams, but you're probably not planning on sleeping just yet. Have a nice day, Aly."

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Sleep well, Roy," she said softly, slowly reclaiming her hand. "Don't wake up too soon."

[light-a-spark.livejournal.com]

"I'll try," he said even as he hadn't been so good at it. He turned around and pushed open the door, slipping into his apartment.

[tricksy-spy.livejournal.com]

"Don't just try!" she called after him, grinning as she turned to open the door to her own apartment.