02 { feb 13: late afternoon } { video[s] }

[comradery]

[The network was spammed with a flood of messages in the span of a few minutes. Instead of posting each separately, it compiles them into a single post since there are so many. Each block is a separate message.

He posts all of them publicly since there is nothing remotely private about them. They're all addressed to Roy though. Who cares about saving Roy's face? It's not like Roy's in charge of a bunch of people, right?]



Roooooooooooooooooy, I'm BORED. Hey, you should come over.



Roy. Roy. Hey, Roy. I'll bet you'll never guess what Elicia did a few nights ago. It was the most adorable thing ever! I had just got home, and I was really tired bu— [The video cuts off suddenly.]



ROY, MY APARTMENT'S ON FIRE. [He looks frantic, but there is no evidence of a fire in the background behind him.]



Hey, stop working and get your ass over here, Mustang. I'm dying of boredom, over here!



There's nothing to do, Roy. You should come over and share some of that paperwork with me! And by share, I mean, give it to me and don't do any of it at all.



Hey, didja' know that Falman has impeccable memory? I tried moving the chess pieces once when he wasn't looking, and he figured it out as soon as he looked at the board again. Yeesh! How about we play a round, Roy?



Roy, have you ever seen a toilet paper roll be flushed down the toilet? Not the whole thing, but if you pull the paper over from the holder, put it in the water, and then flush it? It's pretty funny. It's probably a waste of paper though.



...okay, so I ran out of toilet paper. That wasn't a really good idea. Roy, could you get some toilet paper for me? I'm out. Please? Pleeeease? [In the background, anyone can see that he still has toilet paper though...]



Seriously, Roy, you should stop working and come over here. Don't leave me hanging!



Alright. You know what? Since you probably think my place is complete boring, and there's no reason to come by, how about I show you something you can't resist?
[The video moves and focuses in on Amaterasu, who's sleeping on Hughes' bed. After a few seconds, it shifts back to Hughes, who is smirking.]
What was that? I couldn't hear what you said over your sheer jealousy.

Comments

{ video: private }

[comradery]

[He is not surprised at all that Roy eventually replies, especially with voice instead of video.]

Oh? You sure? You definitely sound it.
She's not a dog, sure, but she's definitely loyal, hehe. Incidentally, she's one of my new good friends. But I guess I might have gotten the wrong impression of you; maybe you actually hate cute, adorable canines... I wonder what she would think if she knew you really felt like that.

[His stomach growls, and he looks away sheepishly.]

Whoops. Sorry, I haven't eaten yet today.

[STUBBORNLY voice; private]

[thewarisover]

She and I have met before.

[Quiet, neutral. Exact opposite of what he's feeling.]

You should eat.

{ just as stubbornly video: private }

[comradery]

Yes, but does she know how you really feel about her? Deep down inside? How you loath dogs and the like? I'll bet she'd be very upset. Hell, I would be. It's not a good feeling, to be hated. ...or avoided, you know.

[He slips the last part in because he knows it'll have an effect. With regard to eating, Hughes merely shrugs.]

It's hard to cook in a wheelchair, but I suppose you might not really know, haha. The counter's too high for me when I'm sitting anyway. Can't do much when I can't see what I'm doing. It's a bit of a nuisance, so I'm slacking a bit.

{ even more stubbornly voice! and private! }

[thewarisover]

You're in the clinic. Have someone send some food to you.

{ significantly more stubbornly video: and completely not stubbornly private }

[comradery]

No, I'm not. I'm in my apartment, silly. I've been cooped up here for the last day or so. They let me go because my condition was stable. That and if they hadn't, I probably would have annoyed them until they let me, hehe.

I'm by myself and there's no one to help me... [Exaggerated sigh.] You'd think people would care more about a poor guy that can barely walk, but I guess them's the breaks.

{ will never stop being voice, or private; }

[thewarisover]

[There's a long, long pause.]

...I can come over, if you still need company.

[It's soft, a bit too soft to catch.]

{ video always for Roy: private only because Roy would prefer that }

[comradery]

[He smiles warmly, having no problems making out the words.]

...Really? I'd appreciate that, Roy. I really would. I'm in Casualty Communal, 2-I.

[thewarisover]

Okay.

[Thank god you can't see him not look at the screen right now.]

Be there in an hour, I guess.

[comradery]

I'll be here. Not many places to go, haha!

[thewarisover]

[A noise of acknowledgement of that, and then:]

Want anything to eat in particular?

[comradery]

Whatever you want is fine. I'm not too picky at this point.

[He pauses before continuing.]

Oh! Yeah! Some alcohol would be nice too, hehe. Again, whatever you want works. You know what I like anyway.

[thewarisover]

You sure you should be drinking right now?

[Aren't you, you know. Still recovering? P|]

[comradery]

[He had a feeling he would be reprimanded for the suggestion. Roy probably did not know his actual physical status though. Sure, he was recovering, but it was mostly just his wounds that were any concern. His inability to walk was only due to the fact that his muscles had suffered from a severe lack of oxygen and, in turn, become very sore and cramped. Certainly he had enough blood now, but his muscles needed more time to recover from the trauma.]

Hehe. Don't be so stingy. I'm mostly just sore. My liver didn't fall out of my body or anything. A little should be fine, anyway. If it worries you, then you don't have to bring it.

[thewarisover]

[A quiet sigh.]

One six pack. That's it.

[comradery]

Hahaha, all right. That's fine.

[He smiles cheerily.]

Thanks, Roy. You're the best.

and switching to action, yep~

[thewarisover]

Yeah, yeah...

[Trailing off. This feels so natural, it's a little painful.]

See you.

[With that, he's hanging up.

One cigarette, then he's raiding the fridge at the Watch for the food, dialing up a Chinese place for food. Once all of that's done, he's taking his bike to the Communal.

And once he's there, he may or may not have spent maybe a minute or so just staring at the door to Hughes' room before finally knocking.]

all the actions

[comradery]

[Hughes almost leaps up from the bed when he hears the knock, but remembers that he promised Amaterasu he would be more careful. He sighs and gets in the wheelchair that is fun to play with, but not that fun to actually have to use.

He gets to the door a little later and opens it. Seeing his best friend makes him forget about his lameness despite the effort he already put into being careful though. He gets up from the wheelchair and grapples Roy into a big hug.]

Roy! You're here, hahaha! It's so good to see you!

[thewarisover]

[...And for a good bit, he can't move or get a word out. It was one thing seeing Hughes on the network; it's quite another seeing him in person, and getting hugged.]

It's good to see you too.

[Is his voice a little thick? Naw. Just muffled against your shoulder. And it's not that he hesitated to hug you back, he's just carrying a lot. Really.]

You shouldn't strain yourself, though.

[comradery]

It's fine, it's fine! This is nothing! Don't worry about it!

[He laughs and steps back after a bit, sliding back into the wheelchair and opening the door further. He grins and nods toward the inside of the apartment.]

Come on in.

[thewarisover]

[There's a bit of a relief and maybe a tiny pang of loss when Hughes withdraws. Still, Roy's stepping inside, going immediately for the kitchen table.

Not talking yet. He can't actually think of what to say.]

[comradery]

[He closes the door and follows after.

Of course, when Roy cannot say anything, it is Hughes' job to step in.]

Xingese, huh? They have it here too? I haven't had it in a while... Heh. Smells delicious.

[The last time he had it had been with Roy, when the alchemist had last visited Central. Well, last Hughes recalled, anyway.]

[thewarisover]

It's called Chinese down here. This place has good dumplings.

[Busying himself with unpacking everything, because that's totally easier than looking at Hughes again.]

[comradery]

Chinese? Huh...
Yeah? I expect you'd only bring me the best anyway. Being that it's you and all.

[He realizes Roy is avoiding him to a certain extent, but he does not mind. Managing to even convince the man to come over was success enough in his book. Besides, Roy would have too look at him sooner or later anyway, intentionally or not.

His stomach growls again, and he chuckles.]

Calm down! You'll get food soon enough! Hahaha!

[thewarisover]

[And it's the fact that Hughes doesn't really push that helps Roy muster up the courage to say something again.

Random conversation for the win.]

Ameterasu left, I take it.

[comradery]

Yep. Sorry if you were expecting to see that adorable fluffy cuteness. I kept her here for a few hours—well, I fell asleep, and she took a nap with me—so I figured I should let her go. She has stuff to do anyway, and I'm just a jobless bum right now, haha.

It's just us.

[He hoped that despite the awkward air that was obviously still unsettled between them that it could at least provide some comfort for Roy to know that they were not going to be bothered.]