Yay!! You’re back! I’m so glad! ☺️☺️
I really love Farris’ new design. They look amazing! But their interaction has me wondering. When did Mustang fall in love with Farris? And when did he realize he was in love with them?
*cracks knuckles*
He starts developing a weird sort of fondness for them, for all their (playful? Half-serious?) strife after he’s transferred to Central - after all, they are bending the rules in their capacity as the head of Investigations to let him look into the circumstances of Hughes’ death. Farris goes with the crew down into the depths of Lab 3 (mostly at Alphonse’s urging), and actually ends up getting pretty seriously injured - though not before absolutely rocking Lust like a hurricane before Roy shows up.
In the aftermath, Farris gets crammed into the same hospital room as Roy and Havoc for safety reasons - though on the other side, and they insist on a curtain for privacy. In the meantime, Roy’s just kind of... flummoxed by the whole thing, when it comes to them. Especially when, due to the circumstances of the hospital arrangement, Farris can’t wear their contacts - and the group finds out they’re Ishvalan.
It’s right about there that his fondness turns into... something he’s not entirely sure he can name. With the context of knowing that even being a state alchemist is incredibly risky for them, the idea that they went above and beyond their station to personally help him is stunning.
When Bradley separates the Mustang crew and leaves him to have to fend for himself, Farris is also on incredibly thin ice (or, they would be, were they not needed as a sacrifice for Father’s plans - Bradley’s somewhat mollified that Farris being in charge of Investigations means he can keep a close eye on them). Still, they continue helping Roy - and he cannot fathom why, because Farris isn’t just trying to protect themself. They have to keep Felix in mind, and Dinah as well - and when confronting them, he comes to the realisation the only reason Farris goes so far out of their way to do everything they can to aid him is that they trust him implicitly. Even though they have every reason to hate his guts.
His plan to take over the military for the sake of reformation isn’t just an abstract goal anymore - to do it for the faceless amounts of people who lost so much, and those he knew who suffered from the conflict - he now has a living, breathing example of someone who lost damn near everything they had and still wants him to succeed, totally believes that he can. He’s hopelessly head over heels.
