Carnival
By: Chaos and Raven

It was a sad day indeed when not even being a (mostly) reformed serial killer could make a person immune to Alphonse Elric’s puppy eyes. Scar shifted the giant teddy bear under his arm, wincing when he realized -- not for the first time -- that Full Metal was going to laugh his fucking ass off.

It was Edward’s fault, to begin with. The second Alphonse had said ‘carnival’ Edward began sputtering about his very important work with Major-General Mustang. Scar sulked into the bear. Of course, Alphonse had come to him after that; wide, honey color eyes pleading more eloquently than any words might have.

Scar was a sucker. That’s all there was to it. A big fat sucker that Alphonse Elric took shameless advantage of. The teddy bear under his arm was proof of that.

“Oh! Scar-san, look! Let’s go ride the Ferris wheel.”

He was yanked -- literally -- out of his sulk by Alphonse’s hand on his free arm, dragging him through the crowd. Scar sighed. Again.

First, it had been the little games, designed to make people waste their money. But Alphonse wanted the teddy bear, so Alphonse was going to get the teddy bear. After that, they had made a quick tour of the arcade before heading out among the masses. Scar hated people. But he didn’t hate Alphonse, and so he was putting up with it for the greater good. Of what, he wasn’t sure.

Alphonse sighed happily next to him as they settled into the seat. The giant monstrosity Scar won for him was being held by the ride operator. Scar hadn’t liked the look the man gave them, but didn’t think Alphonse would appreciate people being squished in his defense.

“Thank you for coming to the carnival with me, Scar-san,” Alphonse said as the reached the top. “I know you didn’t really want to.”

Scar let that sit in the air until the chair began its decent. “It wasn’t... horrible,” he said through his teeth. In truth, it might have even been a little fun but Scar would have bit off his tongue before admitting that.

Alphonse gave him a look that said everything it needed to about Scar’s tendency to understate things. Aggravating boy.

“Hey Scar-san?”

Scar grunted acknowledgement. “Yes, Alphonse?” It had only taken a year of needling by the younger Elric before he could stop from calling Alphonse by his full name.

“Can we go get snacks now? I’m getting hungry.”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” he said shortly.

Alphonse merely grinned at him, as though he’d said something particularly charming. Feh. Whatever.

They landed and Scar reclaimed the stuffed monstrosity and Alphonse reclaimed his hand, dragging him along to peruse the food carts. Since the transformation of his body Alphonse had, Scar noticed, taken gleeful pleasure in eating all sorts of things. Frankly, he didn’t quite see the appeal of the pure sugar and grease that was offered. Disgusting.

But if it made Alphonse happy... he’d at least go with him.

“Oh look!” Scar was getting used to the excited way Alphonse said that every time something caught his eye. Twenty times at least while on the Ferris wheel. Sheesh. “Caramel apples. Will you get me one?”

He sighed. Loudly. And with a purpose. Not that it was any sort of measure against the Elric eyes, but he’d hate himself if he didn’t at least make some sort of gesture. One candy apple and the look of absolute glee on Alphonse’s face as he took the first bite. He supposed it was worth it, for that.

They found a bench and Alphonse set about devouring his treat. It was. Interesting. To witness. Certainly not sexual, but rather akin to an infant being force fed mashed vegetables. Messy.

Scar pet the fuzzy bear absently, catching Alphonse’s eye and getting a wide, pleased grin in response. That grin was dangerous Scar decided the first time he’d seen it. No one should be that pleased about anything.

“Are you sure you don’t want to try it?” Alphonse asked, licking his fingers clean.

He shuddered, his face flushing in shock. “No.”

Of course, he received an eye roll for his trouble and a huffy little sigh. Manipulative little brat. Scar ignored him.

“Scar-san...”

If he could just avoid looking into Alphonse’s eyes, he’d be fine. The touch to his jaw was a shock. Scar turned abruptly, finding himself nose to nose with the little menace.

Alphonse shrugged. “I was done anyway. Did I clean it all off?”

Scar looked down, examining. “Yes,” he said finally.

“I think I missed a spot,” Alphonse insisted. “I’m pretty sure.”

“No,” Scar argued, “it’s fine.”

“It’s right...”

And then there were lips on his, soft and gentle. The faint sweetness of Alphonse’s mouth against his own, tainted by caramel candy. Alphonse pulled back, a smug smile tugging the corners of his mouth.

“There. Now it’s all gone,” he said. “Oh look!”

Scar sighed. Yeah, he was a big sucker all right. But really, it wasn’t so bad.