Work Text:
“Are you sure this is what you want?” Alphonse folded his arms, looking dubiously up at the brick and marble façade of the building, like a castle, looming before them.
Edward clenched his teeth, his hands, hidden in the pockets of his coat, fisting. “Yeah,” he said, “yeah, I’m sure.”
“Okay.” Patting him on the back, Alphonse added, “Do your best.”
“Always.”
X X X
Edward Elric was a surprising student, with a somewhat peculiar accent. He argued with his professors, with other students, eventually with the dean of the college. And, in less than five years, he’d managed to amass enough credits to graduate – with a doctorate in chemistry.
X X X
“Now what are you going to do?” Alphonse wanted to know, after the celebration for Edward’s graduation was over – and Edward was sober again, after nursing a hangover from all the beer he’d had.
“With all I’ve learned, I thought maybe I’d teach.”
Eyes widening in horror, Alphonse asked, “Teach? Like Teacher-teach?”
Edward shook his head, waving off Alphonse’s worry. “Like teach in a university capacity.”
“With your patience?” Alphonse couldn’t help but blurt out.
“I can be patient!” Edward snapped in return.
Alphonse raised his eyebrows pointedly.
“I can!”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that, Brother.”
X X X
The college campus was like the grounds of a castle, and Edward would know – he’d explored enough of them with Alphonse, seeking a way to return to Amestris. There were castles, too, in the United States of America, where they’d eventually settled, belonging to folks with names like Rockefeller and Flagler and Carnegie. Those castles were nothing like the one laid out in front of Edward at the moment – this castle, an Ivy League college, its ivory towers and hallowed halls all dedicated to one thing – the acquisition of knowledge.
Alphonse watched his big brother settle into a routine, thinking he’d never seen Edward happier, except when they’d first been reunited. Yes, students who didn’t apply themselves made Edward furious, and cheating students were subjected to Edward’s own brand of punishment (And Brother said he wouldn’t teach like Teacher! Alphonse had thought the first time Edward cackled about what he’d done to his wayward student).
And then, one day, Edward came home from classes, almost as dazed as if he’d stopped off for a few drinks at the local pub beforehand.
“What is it?” Alphonse wanted to know.
“A girl,” Edward said, throwing himself into a chair at the kitchen table. “A girl in my chemistry class.”
Alphonse rolled his eyes. “What’s the problem with that? You’re the one who argued to allow women on campus and in classrooms.”
Edward thumped his balled fist on the table. “She…her name is Wendy Rochenfeld.” He turned a haunted gaze to Alphonse. “She looks like Winry!”
“Oh.” A stupid smile spread across his face. “When can I meet her?”
X X X
It wasn’t that easy, Alphonse found out. The rules stated no fraternization with students, and he could see where that made sense. And while Edward and rules only had a general passing acquaintance with one another, Edward did like his job, and didn’t want to lose it. Besides, Miss Rochenfeld seemed taken with a Chinese prince, a Yao Ling, who followed her around like a puppy, or so Edward would say, gritting his teeth and making his automail whine when he clenched his fists over it.
Alphonse hid a smile, and suggested Brother host a party for some of his students, and invite them both to it. When Edward totted out the fraternization rules, Alphonse retorted with a, “Consider it a reward. How about a picnic? Everyone could bring something. And I could meet Wendy. Off-campus. During the day. With lots of other students as chaperones.”
“I don’t need a fucking chaperone, Al!”
“Sure you don’t, Brother,” Alphonse muttered as Edward stomped off.
X X X
Alphonse almost wished Miss Wendy Rochenfeld didn’t look quite so much like Winry. When Brother introduced them, it was hard to not hug her. And her smile, and her voice and her hair and – Alphonse sighed, and had to move away from her deliberately.
“Told you,” Edward said, but Alphonse noticed he didn’t sound happy about it.
X X X
Edward threw a pencil across the living room.
“What is it?”
“I need to clear my head.” Getting up, Edward stalked out of the room, and Alphonse heard him open the closet door in the hall. His brother left the apartment, slamming the door behind him. Waiting for a few seconds, Alphonse got up, heading for the pack of papers his brother’d left behind.
He expected tests, not what he found – transmutation circles, Edward’s old code written around them. Intricate circles, described and inscribed, pages and pages of notes. Closing his eyes, Alphonse rubbed his temples, thinking hard for a few minutes, then sat down to start reviewing what Edward had done so far.
X X X
“You’re the one who said we couldn’t go home,” Alphonse said, confronting his brother.
Edward grunted, slumping into his chair, his head bowed, lower lip sticking out.
“What’s this?” He flapped the pages with the transmutation circles on them in front of Edward.
“Stupidity,” Edward said, snatching the pages. He hesitated for a second, then ripped them to shreds. “Stupidity, Al! There’s no way to get back home. We’re here for good, stuck in this world.”
“Is this about Wendy?”
“No.” At Alphonse’s pointed look, Edward made a noise deep in his throat. “Maybe. I don’t fucking know.” Throwing his hands in the air, he leaped out of the chair, pacing across the room. “I just – just.” His voice dropped to a bare whisper. “Sometimes, I miss home, too, Al.”
X X X
Ivory towers can’t protect hearts, no matter how high the castle walls built around them, Alphonse wrote in his journal. But we’re together, and that has to be enough for now.
