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31_days2011-08-18 10:38 am
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2011-08-18 10:38 am
[August 18] [Fullmetal Alchemist] The Colonel's Apartment
Title: The Colonel's Apartment (These Inconvenient Fireworks, part 2)
Day/Theme: Aug. 18, 2011 "I stir fire into the bones of the dead."
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Character/Pairing: Ed/Kimblee
Rating: PG
Author's comment: AU. Continued from the 16th (read further notes there, if you're interested). To be continued on the 19th!
"Please, make yourself at home. I'll go get started."
Ed gave some vague grunted assent, straying over to the piano. He didn't realize that the colonel could play. There was no sheet music out. One framed photo decorated the top of the piano. Colonel Kimblee (younger), grinning, with his arm around the shoulders of an unsmiling fellow youth in military uniform. It was kind of funny that his friend didn't put on a cheerier expression for the picture.
Ed wandered around. It was hard to decide where to look first, even with the relative sparsity of the decorations. If it had seemed just a tad friendlier, Ed could have imagined his mother living there. Perhaps it was slightly impersonal because the colonel wasn't home much. Ed knew he spent long hours at the office and longer hours at the library. Living along like this though he could imagine one might not want to rush home to nobody. "You should get a pet, Colonel," he called into the kitchen, although he wasn't sure Kimblee would hear him. "A dog, maybe."
"I prefer cats."
Ed smiled. That did sound more like Colonel Kimblee. The young alchemist moved up to the window and peeked through the lightweight, white curtains. The view was nothing exceptional. Ed found himself staring into the sides and windows of the buildings of Central, but even in those places where he could peek through the glass somewhere, there was nothing more exciting to attract his eye than boxes in a warehouse.
He paused in front of the bedroom door, closed most of the way, but just not quite... From the kitchen came distant sounds of sizzling and clinking. Could he take a peek without getting caught? Ed had done enough sneaky things in his life to bet he could get away with it, even on the colonel's home turf, with his watchful eyes so nearby.
The door didn't creak as he pushed on it- good. After one last stolen glance, Ed darted into the unlit room. He took a deep breath; waited for his eyes to adjust. Large shapes became visible at first- a dresser, a bed, more shelves full of books. There was a full-length mirror on the closet door- Ed would've liked to tease the colonel about that (could a legitimate opportunity arise? He liked to think it could).
A lamp, his medal from Ishval, another vase of flowers. Actually, Ed was a little disappointed. If Colonel Kimblee's bedroom held any secrets, they were tucked away, not left tantalizingly out in the open. Except... Another photograph caught his attention. The colonel, even younger than he had appeared in the picture on the piano, dressed in a pristine, white suit. A boy who couldn't have been much older than Ed, similarly (though more colorfully) dressed, leaned close to him. That there was affection between them was apparent. An old friend? Ed grasped at possibilities. A...lover? A tidbit of past conversation cleared jealousy from his mind- his brother. "I used to have a younger brother too," the colonel had said. Brotherly love was something he understood.
Why tuck his picture away then? There were a few possibilities, but Ed tentatively settled on the one that pleased him most. It would be like if Al died. The loss would devastate him. Years later, he wouldn't want to expose his deepest heart to just anyone, even among those he would allow into his home. Ed hoped he'd have the chance to talk to the colonel about that too. Maybe that was another reason the colonel recoiled from romantic interaction. Ed was kind of a surrogate little brother. ...How, after all, had the colonel's brother died?
"Edward, it's ready-"
Shit. Ed scrambled to get out and reposition the door as Colonel Kimblee had left it. He folded his arms and tried to act nonchalant.
When his eyes met the colonel's though, Ed was sure he knew. Ed considered himself a good liar, and past experience had proved that judgment mostly apt, but he hadn't been able to get one past the colonel yet. How did he, time and time again, see through his hand-picked charge? Could other people successfully lie to Kimblee?
"Who's your reluctant buddy?" Ed flicked his head toward the picture on the piano. He knew the diversion would only work if the colonel allowed it to, but that was good enough for him.
Day/Theme: Aug. 18, 2011 "I stir fire into the bones of the dead."
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Character/Pairing: Ed/Kimblee
Rating: PG
Author's comment: AU. Continued from the 16th (read further notes there, if you're interested). To be continued on the 19th!
"Please, make yourself at home. I'll go get started."
Ed gave some vague grunted assent, straying over to the piano. He didn't realize that the colonel could play. There was no sheet music out. One framed photo decorated the top of the piano. Colonel Kimblee (younger), grinning, with his arm around the shoulders of an unsmiling fellow youth in military uniform. It was kind of funny that his friend didn't put on a cheerier expression for the picture.
Ed wandered around. It was hard to decide where to look first, even with the relative sparsity of the decorations. If it had seemed just a tad friendlier, Ed could have imagined his mother living there. Perhaps it was slightly impersonal because the colonel wasn't home much. Ed knew he spent long hours at the office and longer hours at the library. Living along like this though he could imagine one might not want to rush home to nobody. "You should get a pet, Colonel," he called into the kitchen, although he wasn't sure Kimblee would hear him. "A dog, maybe."
"I prefer cats."
Ed smiled. That did sound more like Colonel Kimblee. The young alchemist moved up to the window and peeked through the lightweight, white curtains. The view was nothing exceptional. Ed found himself staring into the sides and windows of the buildings of Central, but even in those places where he could peek through the glass somewhere, there was nothing more exciting to attract his eye than boxes in a warehouse.
He paused in front of the bedroom door, closed most of the way, but just not quite... From the kitchen came distant sounds of sizzling and clinking. Could he take a peek without getting caught? Ed had done enough sneaky things in his life to bet he could get away with it, even on the colonel's home turf, with his watchful eyes so nearby.
The door didn't creak as he pushed on it- good. After one last stolen glance, Ed darted into the unlit room. He took a deep breath; waited for his eyes to adjust. Large shapes became visible at first- a dresser, a bed, more shelves full of books. There was a full-length mirror on the closet door- Ed would've liked to tease the colonel about that (could a legitimate opportunity arise? He liked to think it could).
A lamp, his medal from Ishval, another vase of flowers. Actually, Ed was a little disappointed. If Colonel Kimblee's bedroom held any secrets, they were tucked away, not left tantalizingly out in the open. Except... Another photograph caught his attention. The colonel, even younger than he had appeared in the picture on the piano, dressed in a pristine, white suit. A boy who couldn't have been much older than Ed, similarly (though more colorfully) dressed, leaned close to him. That there was affection between them was apparent. An old friend? Ed grasped at possibilities. A...lover? A tidbit of past conversation cleared jealousy from his mind- his brother. "I used to have a younger brother too," the colonel had said. Brotherly love was something he understood.
Why tuck his picture away then? There were a few possibilities, but Ed tentatively settled on the one that pleased him most. It would be like if Al died. The loss would devastate him. Years later, he wouldn't want to expose his deepest heart to just anyone, even among those he would allow into his home. Ed hoped he'd have the chance to talk to the colonel about that too. Maybe that was another reason the colonel recoiled from romantic interaction. Ed was kind of a surrogate little brother. ...How, after all, had the colonel's brother died?
"Edward, it's ready-"
Shit. Ed scrambled to get out and reposition the door as Colonel Kimblee had left it. He folded his arms and tried to act nonchalant.
When his eyes met the colonel's though, Ed was sure he knew. Ed considered himself a good liar, and past experience had proved that judgment mostly apt, but he hadn't been able to get one past the colonel yet. How did he, time and time again, see through his hand-picked charge? Could other people successfully lie to Kimblee?
"Who's your reluctant buddy?" Ed flicked his head toward the picture on the piano. He knew the diversion would only work if the colonel allowed it to, but that was good enough for him.