A/N:
Alright, everyone, it's AlMay (AlMei) Week! It's Ulterior Motives Day, so let's get started with this fanfiction. I'm writing it early because I'll be gone with no internet during AlMay (AlMei) week, so I'm writing this actually 5/29/13.
Alright, now I'm starting.
Title: Ulterior Motives
Rating: T
Summary: Reunion time! The gang's getting back together like they do every year in Central, but last time May and Al spoke, it wasn't on good terms. So when they're going out to dinner tonight, they both have some Ulterior Motives....
May wrapped her hair back for a moment, then stared. She groaned, pulling it down again, pinning it up in it's usual bun. She growled at the plainness of her appearance. She glanced at the clock. Crap, it was too late to curl it.
"What do you think, Xiao?" May leaned over the little panda, scratching her nose with her forefinger. Xiao Mei was dressed, of course, a bow wrapped around her neck. May said it looked stupid, like she was trying to be some house pet, which she obviously wasn't. But people in Central never seemed to notice that. Xiao Mei stared at May a long moment, before she took the pins from the older woman's hand, stealing them away.
"Xiao Mei!" the Xingese woman growled. "I need those. I'm meeting Al tonight--"
But the panda just handed the sixteen year old the gift from Winry a few years ago--the Amestrian tool. The hair clip.
May looked skeptically at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were lined with paint, but she hadn't bothered to paint her lips or face. Al once said that he didn't like girls with a lot of makeup, but Al also used to say how much he liked her eyes.
My stars, he would call them.
That was two years ago, when Al had showed up in Xing. It was the first time she'd seen him since he got his body back. He'd said one thing to her when he'd arrived, and wasted no time on it.
Teach me, he'd asked. And she had. And teaching went too far, and kisses were shared in the mountains of Xing, hands covered in chalk brushing hands, buried in hair. May loved every second of it. Until, that is, Al told her to stop. What had he said? He didn't want to 'hurt her' or 'go to far'. That's what he had said. She got the hint.
So she left him before he could leave her.
And that had been that. Al had left, apologizing to May every step it he took, begging to know what was wrong. But she'd never say. As if he didn't know.
May glanced over herself in the mirror. She'd ditched traditional Xingese clothes tonight, but made sure the Xingese pattern was still there. Thin silk shirts with low necklines, a pattern of rosebuds. The shirt showed her midriff if she moved the right way, and there was always dancing at these get togethers, Ling had told her. There had been dancing last year. Dancing, dancing with Al. She had on a skirt of the same pattern, but it fell to the floor. She had bangles on her wrist, which weren't Xingese at all but Amestrians were stupid and didn't know any better. Anything that got Alphonse to look her way, a noise, a flash, anything, was worth it.
It was like she was peacocking, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't wait to Al's puppy dog face as he begged for her back tonight. It would be amazing, watching those silver eyes beg.
(MAY'S POV)
Xiao and I caught the carriage to the restaurant. It was in the fanciest restaurant we had ever been in, sitting in the biggest hotel we'd ever seen. It wasn't long before I found her party, table of eight. I scanned our huge table. Ling sat next to Lan Fan. Ling was smiling ear to ear, holding fast to her automail hand, and Lan Fan staring humbly into her lap, per usual. Edward was much older and much taller, almost making me regret the rash decision to stop my crush on him, but seeing him laughing with Winry now, his cheeks already flushed red from the alcohol in his hand, made me smile at their happiness. It was then I saw Al. He wasn't looking at me, not yet anyway, but that's when I saw it. Her.
She was one of those moderns you heard about, the ones with the bad reputation. Her hair was short, like a boys, eyebrows done and lips painted. So much for Al not liking makeup. She was dressed rather decently though, besides the low neckline, her skirt was relatively long. I recognized the jacket Al had so often wrapped around us slung around her shoulders. Her eyes were a dull color, grey-green, like moss and dirt smudged together. Her tanned skin made me twitch a little, not a flaw on it. My freckles which Al had so often complemented, there were none of her. It was like Al had found the complete opposite of me. And he loved it.
He was leaning on her shoulder, lips pressed to her ear. She giggled as his lips brushed, his teeth nibbling boldly before retreating innocently. Her cheeks went red.
"Al," Ed sighed gaily, "Pry yourself off your girlfriend and say hello. I'm not sure what the bloody hell you're doing over their but we're in public and no one is drunk enough not to notice yet."
Al pulled back quickly, glancing to see who had arrived. I stood their quietly for a moment, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. His eyes met mine, and I forgot every hatred I ever felt for him before now. Al stared at me. I wished I'd put on more makeup. I wished I'd pinned up my hair. I suddenly wanted to cry and run at him and makeup for everything and ever kiss, but I couldn't.
"Al?" The girl with the muddy hair was looking between Al and I. "Alphonse, sweetie? Aren't you going to introduce me to your...oriental friend?"
And the hate was back. "Oriental?" I asked, screeching.
"Here we go..." Edward sighed, pouring himself more red wine, then slapping the table. "Waiter! More wine, please! It's going to be a looong night...."
She looked from Al to me. "Oh, oh, I'm sorry, is that no politically correct? I never know what to say, oh--I'm so sorry!" She put her head in her hands, sobbing.
"Are you kidding me right now?" I asked, leaning forward.
"May, stop. She apologized, okay?" Al looked at me, almost pathetically. I couldn't recognize the look.
"Ellen? Are you okay?" Al was rubbing the girl's back, and I just stared.
"I just...could you ever forgive me?!" the girl asked, looking up at me.
"Look, whatever, it's not a big deal. You clearly aren't educated enough to even have meant that as an insult..." I mumbled.
"Oh," she beamed at me, clasping her hands together as if relived. "Thank you so much for understanding!"
She took a sip of her white wine, and I looked over at Winry. "She's joking, right?"
Winry smiled sheepishly. "May, this is Ellen. She grew up in Resembool with us. We've been friends for quite a long time."
"I'd assume with Resembool's four inhabitants that the in breeders would get along."
Ed pinched his nose, and Winry just sighed pathetically. Al returned my glare as Ellen smiled wide at me, as if hoping to be friends. There was no way in hell that was going to happen.
"May?" she asked me. "May...Chang, is it? Won't you come sit by me? It'd be just great, wouldn't it, Alphonse?" she smiled sweetly, making me gag internally.
I looked down at Xiao Mei. "Whaddya think, Xiao?" I asked her. She shrugged. Ellen peered to see.
"Oh, what is that? Is it a cat? It's soo cute!! Where ever did you find her, oh, I want one!!"
"Give her to me!" I shouted, prying my panda from her grasp. "She's not some pet you imbecile she's my sister!"
"Oh," Ellen laughed. "Oh, darling, I don't know what they teach you in Xing, but dearie, that's just...wrong." She whispered.
Lan Fan groaned beside me, Ling giggling slightly at the racial slur. Not that he cared. Ellen pulled the empty chair next to her out for me, and I sat beside her, Xiao finding purchase between Ling and I.
Dinner went forward, and later Mr. Mustang and Miss Hawkeye arrived together. She was dressed in black, her hair down. Roy had his hair slicked back in a suit in tie, wasting no time to tease a drunken Edward about sitting a little too close to Winry.
The night went by, and the wine bottles drained faster and faster, and it was soon dark, the lights low. I became frightfully aware of how I was the only one without a date. Edward was the first out on the ballroom floor, he and Winry simply swaying. I doubted he'd remember it in the morning, but it was pretty now, and the sober girl he was holding would probably keep it close to her forever. Ling and Lan Fan left to The Emperor-Only-Knows-Where with Ling in charge. Al was whispering to Ellen again, but the spark from before in his eyes was gone. I kept glancing from him to a sleeping Xiao Mei on my lap. Riza was dancing out on the floor, but not with Roy. He came over to take Ling's vacant chair next to mine.
"Would you like to dance, May?"
I looked over at Alphonse, whose eyes met mine for the briefest second. Gauging me, checking for my reaction.
"I'd love to Roy, but just...not right now, alright?"
He nodded slightly, glancing between Al and I. He could tell I was having trouble, and was only trying to help by asking me to dance, but using Roy Mustang would be weird, besides the fact he's three times my age.
"May?" Ellen asked. I noticed Al's hand on her bare knee, and my throat closed. "Could you be a dear and pass me the wine?"
I smiled. "Of course, dear," I said, making my voice drip with sweetness and mimicking her country twang.
I took the open bottle of wine and brought it over. "Oh," I sighed with my lie. "It's soo heavy and--whoopsie!" I cried, letting the heavy bottle of wine fall over the both of us, over my purple Xingese garb and her short white dress. She screamed, and the whole party came to a hault.
"You--you--!" she screamed, before running out of the room, screaming.
I stood for a minute, Al's eyes trained in disbelief on me. "May..."
"I told you you'd miss me."
Thirty minutes, a vacant kitchen, and a bath towel later, I was standing out on a locked balcony just outside the kitchen. The waiter had offered me a towel to cover myself while the housekeeping washed my clothes. I had no idea how long that would take. I hadn't seen Ellen since the incident, so I figured she'd ran off for home. Alphonse probably in tow.
Maybe it was worth it, if he chased after her and not me. Just another way of cutting all the ties I made, just in case. Just in case it wouldn't have worked anyway.
I leaned on the balcony rail, staring up at the stars. I could faintly hear the music from the ballroom still playing. I wondered if Roy got to dance with Riza, like I knew he wanted too. Maybe Edward was still stumbling around with Winry, and Ling and Lan Fan...I really actually don't want to know about the last one.
I tucked my hair back again, wishing I'd brought some kind of hair pin with me. Xiao was still at the table when I left, but I figured she'd be fine.
"Why'd you do it?"
I turned around, gripping the towel tightly too me, almost ashamed. I saw the streak of sandy hair and silver eyes, and relaxed.
"Why do you care? Or is Ellen begging for me to apologize, or her to apologize?"
"May--" he sighed, standing behind me.
"No. Gee, Al, where did you find that one? Back of the tool shed and never sharpened?"
He came up to the railing next to me, head in his hands. "It's not her fault, May. She had about five years of education in Resembool. It's her heart that really matters."
"She's not your kind of girl, Al. We both know that, so stop lying to yourself," I growled, ignoring him.
"Oh, yeah?" he asked. "And evil Miss Chang emerged when? May, I've never seen you act like that. What happened?"
"What happened?" I asked incredulously. "You happened, Alphonse! You're an idiot who just....just played with me! I'm tired of it!"
"So that's why you came tonight, huh?" he said, walking around me, his chin resting no my shoulder. "You were sick and tried of me, huh?"
I closed my eyes. "I never said sick," I whispered. He chuckled, his breath hot on my ear. He backed away, hands in his pockets.
"I've been rude tonight, May," he said, smirking.
"Damn straight."
He smiled still. "I've neglected my friends. Would you like to dance?"
I flushed. "Al, you know I can't go in. I'm in a towel--"
"I meant right here," he said, coming up and taking my hands, securing the towel for me. "Right here, with me."
He pulled me close, and soon I forgot how to waltz Amestrian style, and simply let my hands fold on his chest, head limp. He wrapped his arms around me.
"Can we have a confession time?" he said softly. "I feel like...like we've both been lying. To each other, and ourselves."
"You start then, Mr. Elric."
I felt his smile in my hair. "I think I brought Ellen here hoping to make you jealous. And maybe, I thought it might help me forget you."
"I dressed up and came tonight, just so I could see you begging to be with me again," I laughed. "Tonight didn't exactly go as planned...." my hands tightened on his tie, "but it turned out pretty okay."
"I understood why you spilled the wine on Ellen," I said, "but you knew it was going to hit you, too. Why?"
I smirked. "Maybe I thought I might get a chance to be dancing with the most beautiful man in Amestris whilst wearing a towel."
He smiled. "Always thinking, May...my girl..."
I sighed again, pulling him tighter and refusing to cry.
"Maybe," I whispered, "I broke it off because I was scared you would leave me, and I told myself I had to quit you before I started caring..." I looked up at his silver eyes, "Guess it's too late for that, huh?"
He pulled back a black strand of hair, tucking behind my ear. "It's been too late for me for a while now...."
I smiled, leaning up to press a kiss to his jaw. His eyes closed softly, a smile spreading across his lips. "My girl...May?"
"Hmm?"
"One last confession," he said, "I must say, I like the towel."
"Any ulterior motive for giving me a compliment?" I asked.
"Maybe I want to take this nice little Xingese girl I met tonight home with me."
I smirked. "I don't think Ling would like it if you took Lan Fan away."
"Yeah," Al said. "When I was going to leave after Ellen, I found them in the coat closet, and couldn't get my coat. So, your half-brother is the reason I stayed tonight."
I laughed a little. "Any other vacant coat closets near by?"
He smiled. "No harm in looking."
He took my hand and we walked back into the hotel, hoping not to be seen, and just hoping the next coat closet we opened would be perfectly vacant.
