IC Contact / Forge Messaging

[ignitethesky]

You've reached Roy Mustang. I'm currently unavailable, but if you leave your name and a brief message, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Comments

[ voice ] a few hours after Roy's arrival

[lonestray.livejournal.com]

[That evening, he calls back Mustang's Forge. There's...nothing he can think of to preface it, so he just launches into what needed to be said.]

Time in this world does not match up with that in our own--I'm certain you've become aware of that by now. But aside from that...the Door has a habit of bringing people here from different times in their world. No one knows how, and certainly not why.

The last time I saw you, we were not allies, as I've since learned we'd become. I...was told about the incident underneath Central. [A slight pause.] With the homunculus. I have no memory of it myself.

Regardless, you needn't concern yourself with the possibility of being attacked, at least not on my account. I've no interest in pursuing the life I led in Amestris. I gave my word as such to your lieutenant months ago, and now I give it to you.

In return, I ask that you not reveal who I was to those living in this city, most of whom are not from our world. Equivalent Exchange, State Alchemist.

[ voice ]

[ignitethesky]

[He wasn't expecting to hear that, but he's glad to know he doesn't have to worry about another confrontation in the rain.]

You may have no memory of it, but I do, and as such, I am in your debt. Keeping your secret is the least I can do to repay you.

[ voice ]

[lonestray.livejournal.com]

[Mustang's answer was unexpected as well, but it's a bit of a relief that it was as easy as that. That indebtedness...as with Hawkeye before, it doesn't quite sit well with him.]

You don't owe me anything.

[And here, a pause.] But I appreciate it nonetheless.

[voice/text] should have done this earlier, sorry!

[firebornfidelis]

Here is the document I promised you.

[A text link appears!]

Hopefully I can answer any other questions you may have, sir.

Backdated to the morning after Roy found Riza

[princely-calyx.livejournal.com]

Why didn't you tell me you found her?! I thought we had a deal!

[Mumbles something about "totally useless men" and shuts off the Forge.]

[ignitethesky]

[Ouch! Not to the fact that she's obviously upset, but to the "useless" comment.]

[He knows she probably won't hear this, but...]

I didn't find her, she was the one who found me. Had I been in any state to inform others, I assure you, I would have and you'd have been the first to know as promised.

voice

[princely-calyx.livejournal.com]

Tch. [She only turned it off for emphasis. The Forge equilivant of slamming the door. She turned it right back on in case she might miss something important.]

What exactly were you doing, then? If you couldn't have called, then you could have told her to call me!

[And yes, you're still useless. Actions speak louder than words to her, Roy.]

[TEXT - secure like fort knox] a few hours after their argument on Scar's post

[firebornfidelis]

In the interest of full disclosure and because I don't like the idea of you being angry with me for nothing:

I care about Scar. It started because of what he did for you - for us - in the underground. He saved us both. That is what I believe. And when you died here, it was Scar, Utena, and Jim Standfast who brought me back. Jim and Utena came out into the ruins and brought me home, but Scar tried to save me. What he said to me then helped me to be strong enough to keep on living without you. And a few months later, I was severely injured by a creature in the ruins. I was close to death but I did not die and at first that made me angry. I was angry that I had survived an attack so much like the one that had killed you. But Dawn visited me. That was when she gave me the butterfly in the jar and reminded me that I still had things to do, still had people to care for. And Scar came to see me with that necklace. I'm sure you've seen me wear it. And his visit and his thoughtfulness was a reminder that there were still people who cared about me. That I wasn't alone.

And now Utena is gone and Dawn has disappeared. You and Scar are two of the most important people to me left in this city. If you need me to reaffirm everything I have lived my life for thus far, my ultimate loyalty lies with you. If I had to make a choice between the two of you, it would always be you. That is not for your ego or to make any apologies for anything I have said. It's the truth.

Beyond that, I don't know what I can tell you that I haven't already said. What I feel for you is difficult to understand. It is hard for me to separate it out of everything else we've been to each other in our lives. I love you. More than that I can't say. And though I can't speak for how you feel, I don't want to keep getting into pointless arguments with you that really boil down to the fact that we have not made a choice to remain what we are or to try to become something more.

And if there is something specific that you don't understand about the way I have been acting, please say so and I will do my best to explain. I don't want to fight with you anymore.

[TEXT - secure like fort knox]

[ignitethesky]

Because I suppose you have a right to know:

You asked me before why it had to be her if I didn't feel anything toward her... and honestly, I think that's exactly why. If I don't feel anything, it doesn't mean anything. It's just going through the motions. She could die tomorrow, and the only thing that would bother me is that her puppy is without his mother.

I keep saying I don't want to hurt you or make you suffer on my account, but lately, it's all I really seem capable of. There aren't enough words for me to adequately express what you mean to me, and I can't stand fighting with you because I can't help but think that the next words I say are going to be the ones that tear us apart. I don't want to lose you. You're my entire world. Well, not all of it, because a corner is taken up by a little ball of fluff and teeth, but you're the rest of it. You're family. If not losing you means things stay the way they are, then so be it.




...and you still haven't explained to me why it is I end up getting abused while he gets sunshine and rainbows.

[voice now - still knox-like]

[firebornfidelis]

[It starts with a soft breath. She is calm enough now to go back to using voice.]

You have been the center of my world for... more than a decade. There is nothing and no one more important to me than you. You are my family, my whole family excepting Grandfather. I would willingly die for you. Please believe me when I say that there is nothing that you can say that would ever make me abandon you. You don't have to be afraid of that. It's a promise, and I'll do anything not to break a promise. So when I say that this is really about what you want, I mean it.

And when I say that I don't want to fight with you anymore, I mean that, too. I hate yelling at you, and I hate being angry with you. I know it's inevitable in life, there are always disagreements, but when I fight with you it feels like my whole world is hanging in the balance.

[She pauses to catch her breath and... change gears.]

You want to know why, under basically the same circumstances, I was quiet with him and I became violent with you. I don't understand your fixation on this point, but I'll try to explain anyway. With him, in that moment when I woke up beside him and couldn't remember how I'd gotten there, I knew I wouldn't have done anything with him that I would regret not recalling, even while I was inebriated.

[Hopefully he doesn't fail to catch the significant emphasis on one particular word in her last sentence.]

With you, when I woke up like that and I couldn't remember right away... I was upset. I shouldn't have hit you, it wasn't your fault, but in that moment I wasn't quite rational yet and... I didn't want to have forgotten.

[Oh, please let that be clear enough because she doesn't want to have to really spell it out for him.]

[v-v-voice | super private!] backdated to the evening after the event ended :D

[firebornfidelis]

Colonel.

[A pause. She's been working herself up to leaving this message all afternoon and she suddenly thinks maybe she's not ready even now. But it's too late to turn back because she's already begun.]

I'm sorry. For everything I put you through for the last few days. I don't know what happened to me. It may have been an effect of the Mist or something of that sort. But there is no excuse for what I've done to you.

[A breath. And sadly, that was the easy part. There is a moment of quiet before she manages to continue.]

I don't feel anything for Sebastian. I don't think I ever really did, but I thought I did. I was convinced of it at the time, but I know now that it wasn't real.

[And if she was speaking with anyone but Roy Mustang her voice there might have shown how much it angered her to have her feelings - her life - manipulated, how upset she was with herself that she hadn't been able to tell it was happening. But she has no grounds for any of that with him, who was hurt by her fault. So instead there is only contrition and a level tone.]

I did kiss him. It's only fair that you should know that before you make any judgments. But nothing else happened between us. And you should also know... that it would have been you. I would have chosen you over him, even if those feelings hadn't gone away. It will always be you. I think maybe... it always has been.

But I'll understand if you want nothing more to do with me in that regard. I do hope you will continue to allow me to be your bodyguard, whatever you may decide. It may be asking a lot, and maybe its selfish, but if nothing else please let me be sure that you are safe.

[v-v-voice | super private!]

[ignitethesky]

Lieutenant...

[He's not really sure what to say, though he's certainly not angry or upset with her. After what she just said, he doesn't know if he could be angry or upset.]

It's just a kiss. It doesn't mean anything... and I don't want you to beat yourself up over it. You've been through enough. [Although it doesn't stop him from feeling incredibly relieved to know he wasn't competing with anybody that he knew of.]

Also, I don't recall having relieved you of your position, so you're stuck with me for a little while longer.

[v-v-voice | super private!]

[firebornfidelis]

[She's silent for a moment, and then she lets out the breath she'd been holding. He is somehow always able to do this, to take away her fears with just a few words and the sound of his voice. She doesn't know how he does it but she hopes he never ever stops.]

Thank you. I'm glad you aren't upset. Not that you wouldn't have a right to be. I wouldn't hold it against you if you were.

[No, she'd just hold it against herself.]

[She smiles, at ease again, and her voice takes on even more warmth and the tiniest bit of mock-exasperation.]

Good thing, too, sir. I'm afraid to think of the trouble you'd have gotten yourself into without me.

[voice] dated to the evening before awfulness

[firebornfidelis]

Colonel?

[... this is weird. Checking in like this so that he won't expect her in his home, in his kitchen, in his bed. So that he won't wonder.]

I don't think I'll be coming back to the apartment tonight. There's still a lot to be done out here, so I thought I'd stay at HQ and work through the night. Would you mind looking after Hayate?

[voice] ;~;

[ignitethesky]

I don't mind.

[It's weird to hear her say those words -to know that the apartment she's referring to is his. He trusts her, though, and he knows that so long as she's at HQ, he has nothing to worry about. There are others there, after all, so it isn't as though she's alone.

And if there's paperwork involved, he really doesn't want to be there.]

Lieutenant...

[A pause. He wants to tell her to be careful in light of the recent slaughter at that Dismas brothel and to watch herself because of the damage the building sustained, but he knows her. She'll be fine.

And so he opts for the obvious.]

...we'll see you tomorrow, then. Just make sure you get some rest, even if it's only for a few moments. Consider it an order.

[voice] it seems so much more terrible, knowing when they don't

[firebornfidelis]

[She sighs, but its good-natured.]

I'll try, sir. I wouldn't want to disobey an order.

[A pause as she reins in that little smirk.]

I think there is still some quiche from yesterday in the icebox. You can heat it up in the oven for dinner, but be careful not to burn it.

[And she stops herself before she mothers him too much. She's gotten rather... used to cooking for the two of them and she kind of misses the ritual of it right now.]

All right. I'll be back early tomorrow, probably by four o' clock or so.

/backdated to yesterday afternoon

[sonvisage.livejournal.com]

[This is some dead air, Roy. Have it, because what the fuck are words, even. It crosses her mind that you might think she did this thing. It's not her style. Too ...messy. Too much of a spectacle. It practically had pay attention to me written all over it. In blood.]

[voice]

[ignitethesky]

[He doesn't mean to be snippy, really he doesn't, but he's blaming himself for what happened so his nerves are a little frayed.

...and it's a closed broadcast, so his voice has a bit more of an edge to it than it might have had otherwise.]

What?

[voice]

[sonvisage.livejournal.com]

Hayate.

[Do you have him? Yes, you are supposed to read her mind.]

[voice]

[sonvisage.livejournal.com]

You don't know anything.

[If this were video he would be able to see the shock his last remark had just given her. But it's not. So what he hears is a space of silence, and a very even timbre instead of her recovery from what amounts to an audible (not entirely undeserved) slap.]

It's delightful. Those emotions seem to be doing no one any favors.

[He's grieving? She doesn't care. Not after these past weeks, and her nerves are on edge. The timing of this only makes it worse.]

Give me half an hour. I'll knock once. I'm not staying.

Unless you want me to.

[She doesn't want to. Won't. But she can't resist a little dig, especially after his question.]

[voice]

[ignitethesky]

Fine.

[Half an hour should give him plenty of time to crawl in the shower and force himself to look even the tiniest bit more presentable... and it'd help hide the fact that he's been crying it's been raining almost nonstop since he got home.

[sonvisage.livejournal.com]

[If she notices anything odd about his appearance, she doesn't speak of it. Simply knocks and waits. If and when he opens the door, she'll step inside, sparing a quick glance about the room as she bends down to deposit one (slightly larger and very round) puppy on the floor. A quick scratch under his chin, a little smile in Alison's direction, should she be visible - and a slightly more somber smile at Hayate before she turns to leave.]

You can reach me by Forge if there's a problem. [If you somehow can't manage three puppies on your own.] Otherwise I'll return in the morning.

[voice] just after her fight with Malfatto

[firebornfidelis]

[She breathes a little heavily, but only a little. She is controlled, relieved, strong.]

It's over.

[voice]

[ignitethesky]

[Unlike her, his voice is laced with worry and the slightest hint of relief.]

Are you alright?

[voice]

[firebornfidelis]

Fine.

[Uninjured wouldn't be strictly accurate, but she feels better now than she did an hour ago. A weight lifted.]

I'm fine. I won. I lived.