Song: If You Feel Better
Artist: Emilie Autumn
Rating: Hard R
Warning: VERY SENSITIVE MATERIAL!! Also, curing is involved. Spoilers from the anime and the manga.
Author's Note: Pedophilia is not something I take lightly, so this is kind of a heavy piece. Please, if you or anyone you know is a victim of any kind of pedophilia then tell someone who can help you. Also, I should have been studying for my Psych finals, so appreciate. Fluffy!Roy, Angry!Ed, and Sage!Hawkeye. If you have a song you want me to do, then let me know! Have something else you want me to set to music, let me know, and I'll see if I know it!
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If you feel better telling me I'm cruel. Saying I'm unfeeling, I don't mind.
It was supposed happened like it did every single day. Edward would kick open the door with an abruptness like it had done him some grievous personal offence. Then, in one fluid motion, he'd take one step, swivel on that foot, and kick the door shut. He'd then throw the papers down onto Roy's desk and glower at them, and then him. He'd wave his hand, muttering some sort of vague summary of his handy work, which would no doubt result in twenty times the paperwork for Roy.
Today, however, Ed slammed the door open with his whole body. It shook the frames on their walls and Roy down to his bones. Very rarely was he ever caught off guard, but the wild, frightened, absolutely passionate look in Ed's eyes scared him. It was enough, even, to command his full attention.
"You lied."
"Pardon," Roy asked, sincerely wondering what on earth he could have been lying about.
"You lied. You ass hole you lied to me," Ed hissed as he threw the file at him, sending a flurry of papers everywhere.
"How did I lie, I fail to understand," Roy rubbed his temples and sighed, letting the concern fade from his voice. Ed was just going to ramble and rage now. It was what he did.
"You don't even care that you lied to me, do you? You say I'm not fodder, but that's a lie too isn't it! You've got so many lies woven around you, that you don't even know how to see anymore, isn't that right?" Ed's voice was beginning to grow from his high-pitched whine to a low, slightly intimidating growl. Roy only stared back at him, keeping his usual façade of professional concern on his face.
"Fullmetal, you will not speak to me like that."
"It must not even compute for you how many people you hurt," he went on, "you never cared."
This was just like Ed. He didn't speak, he didn't think. He yelled, and he raged, and he surged against everything. He took every negative feeling that might be construed as a weakness and molded and shaped it into anger. And it made him feel better. So Roy didn't mind.
If it's necessary, if it helps you out, crying that I'm heartless, it's alright.
"What I wanna know is how."
"How what, Fullmetal," Roy asked with a sigh, leaning in as Ed did over his desk.
"How do you manipulate like you do, and then go home and sleep at night."
"Quite peacefully, actually," he remarked with a smile, and sat back as Ed grew angrier.
"There must be a black hole in your chest."
"You of all people know that's very improbable."
"Just inhaling everything that might show a little decency and spitting it out god knows where."
"Do you feel better?" Ed was silent for a while before he straightened again and glared. Roy looked back calmly into noxious yellow eyes. Ed was now running on empty, being angry for the sake of being angry. The good thing about his rage was that it was short lived. Like a wild fire, it burned bright and hard, but only for a moment.
It made him feel better. Roy didn't mind.
"You lied."
"So I've noticed. But I still have no idea about what."
There was silence, and Ed turned his gaze to the floor, a bit to his left. His voice ducked down to a level so low, Roy had to strain his ears to hear.
"There were children involved, you bastard. They can't have been much older than eight, and they were being seduced into that laboratory."
And I'm sorry to cause you so much pain, and I'm sorry to bring you down again.
Roy stopped breathing. Alchemy was powerful; probably the second most powerful act in the universe. Of course, the only more powerful act was sex. To see someone in such an incoherent and vulnerable state took an inhuman amount of trust, and most of the time it was just a struggle for dominance; a show of just how powerful you were. It was unwise to mix the two, and amn near forbidden to throw children into the mix with them.
"I had no idea," Roy said in the same, level tone, struggling to keep the disgust out of his voice. He knew that Ed would construe it as disgust for his reaction.
"Bull shit, I know you knew, you know everything, you always do. Ever since I was a kid, I've been doing your dirty work."
"Believe me Ed, if I'd known what was going on, I would have just sent down a firing squad."
"Don't lie to me Mustang. Not right now."
"I'm not lying, and I wasn't when I sent you down. Stop being such a child and just listen to me."
"I'm not a child, Mustang, but they were!"
"I realize that Ed, and you brought him down. That's all that matters."
"I couldn't even save one life, not one!"
"What about the rest of the children in the town?"
"I watched one! I watched him take one. It was just a little boy, Mustang. He didn't even finish when he was alive! He killed the kid before he was done!"
Roy's stomach twisted and writhed in something between horror and disgust. How can any one human being be so supremely evil that they'd resort to doing that to a child? He'd seen so many horrors in his life time, as Ed had, and yet, it seemed that neither of them could even fathom.
"Fullmetal, I am sorry, whether you chose to believ me or not."
'Cause I've reached the end and I won't fight anymore.
Again, Edward spat profanities and tried to rein his feelings back into anger. Roy had learned long before that it was all Ed knew how to cope with. Perhaps sorrow, devastation, and helplessness were far too raw for Ed, and chaffed him. Perhaps their unadulterated intensity scared him. Maybe the sheer force of their passion left him shocked, and unable to keep up.
Whatever the reason, Roy simply accepted it as universal law. Ed was an angry child. He got angry easily, and his rage was short lived. He sat back and took his tantrums in stride. This was another one of his spells. Yes, the wounds ran deep this time, but his temper would die down very soon. He was done trying to rage against Ed.
I don't know what you really want from me.
"What do you have to say for yourself? Or are you just going to sit there and watch me." Roy stayed silent, trying to find the words.
"I have no need to say anything. I sent you on a mission to find out why local shops were missing produce and supplies. The rabbit hole, as it were, was much, much, much, deeper than anyone could have ever expected. You witnessed something truly awful, something no one should ever have to witness. I am sorry. And I did not lie to you."
"How can I believe you? Ever since I was a kid you…"
"I remember you telling me something like that just a few moments ago yes. I won't deny any knowledge of certain scenarios. My rank offers me unique insight into the inner workings of certain situations – "
"Shut the hell up, just shut the hell up!"
"You just asked me what I had to say for myself, and when I try and do so, you tell me to be quiet, Fullmetal, make up your mind."
But I don't fit in your reality.
There was silence for a long stretch of time as Ed seemed to weight the words in his mind. He was rash, but he wasn't stupid. Finally, she spat, "don't try and manipulate me, you slimy bastard, not now."
"I'm not manipulating, Edward, really, I'm not. I'm trying to find out why you're directing your aggressions at me."
"It's because you're a lying, conniving, slimy son of a bitch."
"You keep coming back to that like it's your only real point."
"Surly your unique insight into certain situations lent you some sort of glimpse into what was going on."
How can any man be so blind?
"You're deluding yourself. It was not at all that way I assure you." Why was it so hard for Ed to see that Roy was being sincere? Surely he was not such a supremely horrible human being that he could not be seen as honest.
But if you feel better, I don't mind.
Ed was fizzling out. Slowly but surely, he was beginning to realize that he was running on empty. After that he'd free fall into his teenage sulking. He'd lie in his own guilt for a few hours, and then he'd be back to his normal self. He'd brood and bitch, and call Roy a bastard, but he'd feel better. And Roy didn't mind.
If you feel safer keeping to yourself, Placing trust in no one, I won't cry.
Edward Elric was the king of all sulkers. Heaven knew he could sulk for days – weeks – at a time before he was roused from his self-induced stupor. It was part of the famous Elric Guilt Complex; something his brother suffered from – though a much lesser degree. And it hurt everyone around him, whether he knew it did or not.
What hurt wasn't when he'd suddenly snap and rage and rant. It wasn't that his temper was so combustible that if someone breathed on him wrong he'd lose it. What really hurt was that he didn't walk around with a raincloud over his head. When he was upset… really upset… he'd shove it down into himself, and share it with no one. Not even his brother.
As the young man stomped out of his office, running on anger feined for the sake of his pride, Roy wondered why it was he did that. Most people liked to wallow in self pity for at least a few hours after something has gone wrong. But the point of that was to let it show, and to gain pity from others. While one may not admit it, they do wish for pity; proof that people care. Ed seemed to genuinly not want pity.
Roy glanced with a wince at the report that no doubt held none of the passion – or perhaps ten fold as much – that Ed exhibitted here today. He really didn't mean to send Ed on that mission. If he'd known what that entailed he would have sent down someone with a licence to kill. Breda or Hawkeye. But not Ed, never Ed.
Ed had enough to deal with. He was still suffering the loss of his mother, even though he was a child when that happened. He was still suffering the loss of his little brother, even though he was flesh and bone once more. He was still suffering the loss of Nina, even though that was years and years ago. He was still suffering the loss of Maes, even though he had about as much to do with that as he did the creation of the sun.
There was only so much a human spirit could take before it broke. Roy felt weak compared to what Ed could handle. After Ishbal, Roy was just a shadow for a good several years. Even then it showed, he never hid it. Ed suffered a thousand times that, and only once, when the wind blew just right, when the light shown just so, when Ed felt a certain something at the exact moment, did you ever think that something might be hurting him.
But why didn't he even trust his brother with that pain? Or maybe someone older?
Like me…
Roy shoved the though aside and signed his name at the bottom of the report. He'd heard enough form Fullmetal, the thought of learning anything more made him physically ill. He placed it in the tray for Hawkeye to take to someone above him and twiddled his pencil. By 4:30 the clock seemed to break down and just stop.
He glanced at at the report again before he picked up the phone.
If it calms your conscience, making me the guilty one,
By five the sun had poked it's head out for the last little bit of mid summer daylight. Roy shielded his eyes and turned towards home. A flash a gold made him stop. Hawkeye stared him down.
"Something has been keeping you form your work today, and it's not just your nomal inability to focus." Nice to see you too, lieutenant. Tell me, what are your plans for this evening? Me, I have none. Did this woman not understand the concept of small talk?
"Edward… wasn't himself today."
"It's possible the whole wing noticed, sir." Roy smiled despite himself. Yes, the young man could let the pitch of his voice go unnoticed.
"On his mission… it was just supposed to be a simple investigatory mission… he encountered… not only an alchemist… but a pedophile as well." He noticed Hawkeye stiffened just a touch and fall out of step. She recovered flawlessly, however.
"I take it you made a phone call?"
"If I can't go down and burn the bastard myself, then I'm letting General Gale know."
"General Gale, sir?"
"He has two girls of his own, and is better connected. I know this will hit home for him, and if Ed hasn't already killed that son of a bitch, Gale will find a way to do it himself without reprecussions." Hawkeye only nodded.
"Sir?"
"Yes Hawkeye?"
"If I may be so bold… what Edward said about it being your fault… you know that's not true, right?"
Roy nodded and scrubbed a hand through his hair.
"Of course I do. But Edward can't – I mean he cannot– suffer anymore than he already has. People need space goats to help them sleep. I am Ed's in this instance. It's symbiotic, you see. Someday Edward will be my scape goat. And he will hate me for it and use me once more."
"It seems a bit unhealthy, sir."
"Why mess with a relationship that works, correct? This quid pro quo, I expect, keeps Ed from jumping over my desk and transmuting said desk around me."
"I suppose, just as long as you're happy."
"Lieutenant?"
"Yes sir?"
"If I may be so bold… why are you following me home?"
"It always hurts when a love interest treats one like that. I'm came to make sure you don't do anything stupid."
"L – "
"Edward's growing up has not gone unnoticed. We all feel we've had a hand in his new-found adulthood," her smugness did not escape Roy, "and we're all proud, insanely so, of what he's accomplished. Not because he's part of the command… but because he's a working part of all of our lives.
"You, however, have noticed his fruition with more than familial interest. Whether you know it or not, what has transpired between you the past few months has been a very tentative sort of trust."
Roy considered that. Perhaps… to an extent… his usual calm exterior was just a way of keeping the status quo now. He was not genuinely trying to make Ed actually do anything. Ed's insults also seemed to be fired on auto pilot.
"But how – "
"Why do you think he was more than a little upset this time when he thought you lied to him? Edward feels things with an intensity that scares him. That trust that you didn't notice, he did. He felt betrayed."
"But I didn't know, Riza."
"I know Roy, and so does Ed. But it's like you said, it makes him feel better, and that's alright."
Take my reputation, ain't worth much, and it's alright.
But it wasn't alright. Roy stared at the empty fireplace and knew that it wasn't alright. It was alright for Ed to use Roy to feel better. It was alright to use Roy period. Roy could take it. And it wasn't like he didn't use other people. He was very aware of how he treated others. He was not surprised when people fought back and turned tables.
What wasn't alright was for Ed to feel so… lost. Roy wanted to draw a map for Ed, lead him back to where he needed to be. He wanted to put a flashlight in his hands and point the way for him. He wanted to steer him through this with hands on his shoulders. He wanted to draw a giant X on his chest and scream shoot me, just please feel better.
Roy rubbed under the eye patch for a moment – an unconscious gesture – and sighed into his palm. He wanted Ed here, with him, right now. He wanted Ed to cry, just a little, to try and take some of the pressure off of his shoulders. He wanted to wrap a blanket around Ed's shoulders and let him bury himself into its folds. He wanted to lose himself in those folds to.
Roy wanted to fold Ed into his arms and never let him go. He wanted to lay his face against Ed's hair while Ed sobbed into his chest. He wanted to draw small circles on his back to stop the hiccupping. He wanted to promise Ed that nothing like that would ever hurt him. HE wanted to just lie there, next to the couch, and fall asleep while Ed reined himself into something like control.
Roy wanted to be there for him. He wanted to be there for Edward so much that it hurt. It pulled at the morrows of his bones. Somewhere Ed was suffering, and he didn't let it show to anyone, and it damn near crushed Roy. That scared him more than anything.
Maybe he did have some semblance of an inkling of what had happened before Riza had mentioned it. But like so many things in the lives of people, it takes someone pointing it out for something so painfully obvious that the whole damn world can see it to become visible to someone. Somehow, her saying out loud that Roy did, in fact, care about Ed more than was professionally acceptable, made it alright.
Damn it all. Ed could take whatever he wanted. His name, his reputation, himself, and drag it through the mud. Edward could use him for so much more than a scapegoat, and he wouldn't mind. If only because he'd feel better, and that was all right.
And I'm sorry to cause you so much pain, and I'm sorry to bring you down again.
Roy could sleep through anything. Even when he walked like death he slept soundly. He never dreamed, or at least he never remembered them. This was no different. His alarm went off at a time no sane human being should have been up and he calmly raised a hand and flipped it off.
He shouldn't have been so relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with Ed that day. But he was. Perhaps it was because Roy had escaped that brooding, silent young man, still very much a child, punishing himself, yet again, for something that truly was not his fault. Perhaps it was because, now brought to the fore front of his mind, Roy could not get rid of the undeniable need to wrap him up into himself and use his body as a shield against anything that would ever dare even look at Ed in the wrong way.
Roy always knew everything about what was going on during the missions that he sent his people on. He made it a point to do his research before he sent them. He made sure they were in no danger, none that he knew they couldn't handle. He was surebeyond any shadow of a doubt that if he had known about what was going on down there that he would never have ever sent Edward.
He laughed ruefully at the thought. Ed would rage again at that. Edward was not a child; that much was evident. And yet he felt the need to scream it whenever it may have come into dispute. He was not something to be protected. He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, and anyone else that came along, thank you very much.
The water from the tap did its magic, chasing away some of the fatigue that still lingered after his alarm clock had nudged him out of his sleep. He would stagger down into his kitchen with some semblance of grace and fully become human when and only when he'd had his first cup of coffee. By the third he'd be ready to face the world beyond his living room.
Finally, the bleary film of sleep left his eyes and he sighed into his mug. Oh, come on, that's lovely, he thought. The first rays of light were just making themselves known, and painted the kitchen a blue-grey. Roy sighed in general contentment. The wee hours of the morning always brought with them a delightfully sleepy silence.
And Roy had no doubt that beyond his little sanctuary Edward still lived in his own world of self educed misery. He poured himself a second cup and rubbed his eyes. He was sorry for what Ed had gone through, and he shouldn't have felt so responsible, but he did. The last bit of coffee he poured into a thermos and drained his own mug.
Cause I really am and I won't fight anymore.
It had been what felt like a life time since he'd been to the barracks, but he found his way around regardless. With a strange sense of nostalgia he passed by his own old dormitory. He slowed down just a step and smiled despite himself. It had been hell living there, but it was his own hell, and perhaps everyone feels a certain sense of comfort in that.
There was bumping around in the room, muttered apologies, and whispered curses. Finally the door opened and Ed blearily glared up at him.
"What do you want now?"
"Oh, hello, Colonel, what bring you here?"
Roy handed Edward the still hot coffee who just looked at the thermos like it was a bomb. He took the cap off and sniffed the liquid inside. Carefully he lifted it to his lips, keeping eye contact with Roy as he drank.
"Can I come in, please," Roy asked with a smirk. Al gently prodded his brother aside with a grin.
"Brother, don't be rude. Please come in Colonel. I'm going to shower; I'll be out in a minute."
Roy nodded and looked around at the bare walls for a moment before his eyes came to rest on Ed, who was greedily drinking the coffee he'd previously suspected as a murder attempt.
"God, that's so much better than the crap they serve down in the canteen," he sighed, holding the thermos close to his face in an attempt to keep warm. Roy knew the blankets were little better than half-ply tissue paper. He wanted to take off his jacket and throw it around Ed's shoulders, holding him and the thermos close to himself.
"I thought you could use a sort of pick-me-up this morning." Ed opened his eyes to glare, now far more awake, at Roy. Funny thing was that as soon as the words left Roy's lips he wanted to shove them and his foot right down his throat.
"I don't need your charity," he spat, shoving the thermos back at Roy.
"It's not charity," Roy sighed, setting the thermos down on the little dresser that was, do doubt, empty, since Ed lived out of his suitcase.
"Then what is it?"
"It's… an apology. I shouldn't have sent you down there. There were others who were just as, if not more capable. I don't know what made me send you." Ed was silent and Roy went on.
"I have been using you, as you have said, from the very beginning, just as I used you on your last mission. You have no reason to believe me now, thought I truly hope that you do, when I say that I am sorry. A very fragile trust has arisen between us, as of late, and I truly wish to see that trust grow into a friendship. Please, forgive me for my behavior."
"So you admit to what you did," Ed murmured, running a finger along his lips.
"Yes."
I don't know what you really want from me.
Ed glared at him harder than before and threw the thermos at him, which only bounced off of his chest, bruising only his pride.
"You just keep lying to me." Roy sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"When I tell the truth you get mad at me, when I say what you want to hear, you get mad at me. What is it I can do?"
"Since when do you care about what I think about you," Ed spat, yanking on his leather trousers. Roy had no answer for that. He stooped down and picked up his thermos, setting it back on the dresser it had been resting on before Ed tried to bludgeon him with it.
"You can't even answer me," Ed hissed, pulling the collar on his vest tight in his agitation.
"No, I can't," Roy conceded, handing the red jacket over from the foot of the bed. Ed snatched it and regarded Roy carefully. He tugged the hem of the sleeves over the cuffs of his gloves with unnecessary interest, picking away loose threads and inspecting the hem for rips.
"You always have something to say," he finally said finally. Roy only smiled and shrugged.
"There's a first time for everything."
"Why don't you?"
"I don't know what to say to make – " he stopped short, pushing his hands into his pockets. He turned, grabbed his thermos, and walked out.
But I don't fit in your reality.
What had Roy really expected to accomplish in going over to Ed's dorm anyway? It wasn't like he was likely to find him broken and in tears, desperate for someone to guide him out. It was foolish to expect anything less than what he had gotten.
I don't know what to say to make it better for you. He almost said it. The thought hadn't even cleared Roy's mind before he tumbled half-way off his lips. He didn't doubt for a second that the sincerity in his words would cause another rise out of Ed. He didn't function well with pity, or what he may construe as pity.
Ed was correct about 99% of what he had said. Roy had spent the better part of his time with Ed manipulating and using him. He had no reason to believe him now. Even back in Ed's room, he was lying through his teeth to maybe try and regain some of that trust he didn't even know he had until it was too.
Was it really considered lying when someone was saying something someone else wanted to hear? The military did it all the time, and while Roy didn't approve of it, he never really thought of it as straight out lying. It was more of a candy coating, a sort of babying maneuver, to try and keep the public under control.
Ah, but there it was. Ed didn't need candy coated anything. He'd swallow the horse pill straight, staring you in the eye. Ed detested being treated as anything less than what he was; a young man. You stood a better chance of controlling the tides, the winds, and the sun than you did of controlling Edward.
How can any man be so blind?
He sat back in a sort of shock at his own realization. Edward was not a political move he had to try and out think. He was not the enemy he had to try and take down. He was not an obstacle he had to try and conquer. He was a young man. A young mad he'd watched grow up. A young man who would no doubt come into his manhood in the stunning blaze he usually came into things in.
And he deserved to be treated as such, especially since he'd finally – finally – opened himself up. The way Ed came into his office yesterday with the blazing fury of a lover crossed; the way he knew, somehow, that Roy was behind his door, and had a glare prepared, if only for pretenses; the way he drank the coffee he'd been offered, and finished it with the slightest of satisfied smiles; the way he threw the thermos at Roy as hard as he could when he lied, yet again… Roy had never before missed something so huge and glaringly obvious. Maybe, just maybe, Roy's affections weren't one sided.
This truly was too much for him to handle. It was one huge realization after another, and Roy was just, positively fed up with it all. So fed up, as a matter of fact, that he picked up his pen and a report to clear his head.
But if you feel better, I don't mind.
"Sir, not that I particularly mind this sudden increase in your work today, might I ask what caused it?"
Roy looked up from his paper and shrugged.
"I suppose… I just needed something to occupy my time." Hawkeye only nodded and removed a stack of papers from his desk.
"As long as you feel better, sir," she sighed, closing the door behind her.
Won't make me sorry 'cause I'm cruel.
"What do you want now," Ed demanded, leaning on the door to his room. Over his shoulder Al grinned. Roy gave him a small wave and smiled at Ed.
"Please, walk with me," he chirped, turning to walk away from the door. He knew this was a deliberate attack on Ed's pride, and he knew Ed would follow him, if only to reaffirm that he was not a dog to be ordered. And he did.
"What is it you want," he asked again. Roy only smiled down at him and shrugged. Ed stopped in his tracks, causing Roy to turn around at the stairwell.
"Come along Fullmetal," he chirped again, holding the door open for him. Ed yanked the door out of his grip and trudged down the stairs. Roy smiled as the blond head bobbed down the stairs before him.
Once out in the humid heat of the night Roy finally spoke.
"I… realize that I haven't been behaving my best, as of late." Ed only snorted, though the confirmation from Roy's mouth took a big part of the acidity. Roy looked down at Ed and sighed.
"I shouldn't have lied to you this morning. All these years of knowing you, and I should know that you are more than capable of picking yourself up. You don't need to be coddled. I'm sorry." Ed gave his equivalence of an acceptance, which was just a snort. Roy continued.
"You believe me when I tell you that I truly… truly did not know what was going on when I sent you down there, right?" Ed snorted again.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I was just in such a rotten state that I needed to pin this on someone I could take it out on?" Roy considered this, and it made sense, in a twisted Ed sort of way. He nodded and smiled.
"So you're not a manipulative bastard."
"Thank you, coming from you, that means so much."
Won't hurt the feelings I don't have.
"I knew you could take it. It's not like you've never been called that before."
"That and worse," Roy conceded. Ed only chuckled from his side.
"Where are we going, anyway?"
"I don't really know. Is there somewhere you want to go?"
"I could go for some ice cream," Ed grinned, "your treat?"
"My treat?"
"It's the least you can do, after the way you treated me."
Won't break the heart that isn't there you'll find.
"The way I treated you," Roy mused with a smile, turning up the street to head towards the ice cream parlor.
"What are you, a fucking parrot? Yes, the way you treated me," Ed laughed.
"You expect me to by you something when you treat me like that?"
"Oh, you don't care," Ed snorted, the bell above him ringing their entrance into the harshly lit parlor.
But if you feel better,
Roy didn't order anything, he wasn't hungry. He just sat back in his chair with a small smile, watching Ed casually lick his spoon free of every last streak of ice cream before he went back in for another bite.
"What do you want, creeper?"
"You seem quick to insult someone who just gave into what you wanted." Ed only shrugged and continued licking his spoon. It was an innocent enough gesture, and for the moment, Roy was content to just watch with a smile and adore it as just that.
Telling me I'm cruel,
They walked back to Ed's dorm in comfortable silence. The summer night lay on the couple like a wool blanket. Roy had his jacket slung over his shoulder and the top two buttons of his shirt undone. It was a short walk, though the humidity ensured they had a rather healthy sheen of sweat when they got back.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then, Fullmetal," Roy said with a smile. Ed looked up at him with his lips flattened into a line.
"You're a bastard." Roy sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. It took him a moment to hear the words and their real meaning. He smirked down at Ed, who glared back up.
"What is it? I walked you back to your apartment, as is customary. The first kiss is acceptable normally on the third date, and I never take a partner to bed before six months of dedicated relations." Ed's blush was ferocious and he puffed out his chest.
"I'm not a girl god damn it," he spat. Roy smiled and reached out for Ed's hand.
"I know you're not."
"This wasn't a date."
"I know it wasn't."
"Button your shirt back up."
"I don't think so."
"Bastard."
Saying I'm unfeeling,
Third date or not, Ed was not one to be out done. He reached for that infernal open collar and went to do up the buttons. Roy only wrestled them back open. Ed stood back with his arms crossed and huffed.
"And you wonder why I call you a bastard."
"Edward."
Ed turned around in the door of the barracks and smiled gently.
I don't mind.
"I'm alright."
Roy smiled back and nodded.
I don't mind.
"So I'll see you tomorrow?"
"I have another mission for you, if you're up for it."
"Do I really have a choice?"
"No, no not really."
"Then I guess you already know to answer, don't you."
"I suppose so. Goodnight Edward."
"If you don't mind… Ed, here, now, and anywhere like this… I mean, when we're outside of the office…its Ed."
I don't mind.