"You see, the thing is Hughes, I'm not sure what to do anymore"

He couldn't remember when he had begun to indulge Hughes in his deepest thoughts. At first he had only visited Hughes once a week, every Sunday, to give him a new photo of Elisia and to say hello. It must have been mid winter when it had started, when he began to talk to the man. He had been walking along the side path of a road, groceries in hand, and he had seen Edward standing in the middle of the park, watching Alphonse play with some children.

The alchemist was wearing a thick coat that looked as though it was made by Gracia, and a red knitted scarf was wrapped loosely about his neck. His gloved hands were shoved deep into his pockets, and his golden hair shone with icicle droplets. He seemed preoccupied and deep in thought, and started in surprise when Alphonse called for him to join them. After watching Edward for a while, he went to visit Hughes again. It was then that he had begun to talk.

Roy smiled softly as he leant back slightly and glanced at the sky. He had been talking to Hughes for around an hour now, and from the sky small slivers of water had begun to float, falling gently onto the ground and soaking him through. He wasn't sure why he talked to Hughes anymore; there was never any answer, well, no verbal answer anyway.

The falling rain shimmered across Hughes gravestone, and slipped off to soak through the Polaroid picture of Elisia with her new kitten that Alphonse had brought for her. A small smirk twitched Roy's lips and he shook his head as if to rid a bad thought.

"So this is your answer Hughes?" He asked wryly, and snorted, pushing himself to his feet again.

"I'll see you later"

Turning, he shrugged his jacket into a more comfortable position and began the long walk home. Havoc had offered to drive him there, but Roy refused, preferring his solitude. As he strode across the path, his booted feet splashed against the steadily growing pools of rain. People hurried past him with newspapers and bags held over their head, other people were well-prepared and held large black umbrellas to shelter them. Having neither, Roy allowed his dark hair and face to stream with rainwater.

"Mustang!"

Roy paused and turned with elegant surprise at the loud shout of his name. Edward stood a few meters behind him, a red umbrella held over his head and a plastic bag in his arms, filled with what looked like first aid instruments. Roy was silent for a moment. Through the sea of shuffling people with their heads bent and uniform black umbrella's, Edward was showing his uniqueness yet again, the bright colors contrasting sharply against his dismal surroundings. After a few split moments, Roy decided to answer.

"Fullmetal" he greeted, and his customary smirk settled across his face. Despite the umbrella, streams of water ran off Edward's bangs and his bottom lip was quivering in a sort of hypnotizing way.

"What the fuck are you doing out here without an umbrella, are you mental?" The blonde said loudly, and a few passer-bys frowned at his disapprovingly. Roy raised an eyebrow smoothly.

"I'm afraid I was caught by surprise, unfortunately. But what are you doing out here?" An amused glint lit up his obsidian eyes "Aren't you afraid you might drown in a puddle?"

It took Edward a few seconds to register the jibe against his height, and once he did, he gracefully screamed his head off at Roy for a good ten minutes. The passer-bys who had at first looked at him with admonishment, now looked at him with shock and fear, and quickly walked faster.

"Enough with the yelling, Fullmetal" Roy said, and promptly sneezed. This caught Edward by surprise and he fell silent, splashing across the water-ridden path towards the dark haired man.

"Have you got a cold?" Edward asked incredulously, and Roy scowled.

"I sneezed Edward, it doesn't necessarily mean that I have a-" he sneezed loudly, and finished quite lamely – "…cold"

Edward smirked evilly "Well looky here, the Flame Alchemist isn't such a big bad wolf after all!" he glanced around "Where's Havoc, he's usually driving you everywhere"

Roy shrugged slightly "Usually, but not this time"

"Oh? But don't you live like…ten blocks away or something?" Edward asked curiously, and raised a golden eyebrow as Roy sneezed an affirmative. After a few minutes while Edward appeared to be pondering something, he sighed over dramatically.

"Well, I suppose I could take you back to the dorm with us, you can dry off there and call for a lift"

This unusual show of 'friendliness' caught Roy by surprise for a moment, but then a small smirk made its way to his face again.

"I'd appreciate that Fullmetal"

The short walk to the Military male dorm was uneventful and as Roy expected – uncomfortable. He hazarded a guess that Edward hadn't had anybody at his brother's and his dorm before, and the blonde wasn't used to playing the host. Reaching the tall yet bland building, Edward stepped through the doorway and led the Colonel up the wide staircase. They seemed to walk through an endless maze of hallways until they stopped at a doorway marked 362 B – Elric.

Edward shuffled around for a few moments, struggling with the task of holding his bag and searching through his pocket for his apartment key, until Roy helpfully took the bags out of his arms for him. While the boy searched through his pockets for his key, Roy snidely inspected the contents of the bag. Bandages, cotton balls, tape, a small chemist bag that Roy had a feeling contained pills of some sort, and a scalpel.

"Planning on doing some surgery are you?" He asked, when Edward successfully pulled the small key attached to the tag with his details on it and jiggled it into the lock on the door. Edward frowned, and his golden eyes flickered to the bag in Roy's hands and then back up to the mans face.

"No" He said, and pushed open the door, switching on the light and leading Roy inside, before shutting the door shut.

"They're just incase of an injury"

"Of course" Roy didn't mention the pills, he wasn't that rude. He'd rather the less uncomfortable approach, researching it when Edward was next away on a mission. Glancing around, Roy took in the details of the small apartment. Two beds were shoved either side of the wall, covered in white sheets and a mahogany headboard. There was a counter to the right, where a kettle and a sink were, as well as a small cupboard that looked as though it contained kitchen tools and food. A peach colored armchair was to the left, situated next to an empty bookcase. On the far wall, floor to roof windows stretched, and rivers of water ran down the thick glass. Next to the counter in the middle of the wall was a white door, which Roy guessed led to a bathroom or something along those lines. There was also a laundry chute beside one of the beds, and a plastic basket sat under it, sheets crumpled inside.

It was plain, but it was also surprisingly comfortable. Edward entered and shrugged off his soaked coat, throwing it over the back of the armchair to dry, and Roy followed suit, his black leather trench coat clashing with Edward's violent red one. Edward's usual red coat with black insignia on the back was neatly folded at the end of his bed, and the coat he had been wearing was leather as well and looked almost brand new. Roy wondered who had bought it for him, as the boy never seemed to have any passion for the act himself.

"Where's Alphonse?" Roy asked, noticing the absence of the hulking armor.

"He's in Resembool with Winry, there's a phone behind the door" Edward said, and Roy could see there was a slight flush to his cheeks, proving his theory that he'd never had guests before and was probably wondering what Roy thought of the slightly cramped apartment. Nodding, Roy turned and picked up the receiver, dialing the number of Havoc's house into the phone. After a few minutes of silence, a steady beeping reached his ears.

"Shit…" He cursed under his breath, and Edward turned to him from where he was shutting the slightly open window.

"What is it?"

Roy set the receiver down and turned to him "The phone lines are down"

"Fuck!" Edward said loudly, and stomped over to the phone as well, ripping the receiver of its pedestal and frantically redialing the number. By the horrified expression on his face, Roy knew that Edward had only received the beeping as well. He slammed the receiver down, and Roy released a sigh.

"I'm going to take a leaf out of Hawkeye's book and say, please don't take it out on the phone" He smirked as the boy glowered at him, but the snide smile melted away almost instantly. Water made Edward's skin shimmer, and droplets clung to his surprisingly long golden lashes, making sparkling reflections in his eyes that were like melted gold.

"Shut up" Edward growled, and kicked his feet roughly at the wall, his thick heeled boots flinging off his feet and hitting the wall with two loud bangs. Roy shook his head slightly, trying to rid himself of the water. Noticing this, Edward headed over to the white door and opened it, proving Roy's theory that inside was a small tiled bathroom.

After a few minutes of hearing Ed shuffle about, the blonde returned with two fluffy white towels. He flung one at Roy, and the dark haired man caught it easily.

"Thank you" he said, and Edward gave him an aggravated grunt in answer.

"Well, I suppose I could borrow an umbrella and walk home from here" Roy mused out loud, but Edward shook his head roughly. This time the dark eyed man let his smirk spread across his face easily.

"Oh, you'd prefer I'd stay here? Why Fullmetal, I didn't know you cared"

"I-WHAT? You…you! SHUT UP!" Edward spluttered, bright red flushes crawling up his cheeks. After he simmered down, he released a despairing sigh "But I think you might have to stay here tonight anyway, its ridiculous to walk home in that storm, you'll be swept away" He paused and glowered at Roy "Not that the idea isn't tempting, mind you"

Roy let the comment pass.

"I'm afraid to admit that you do have a point, Fullmetal," He said, glancing around the room "I don't suppose you'd mind if I borrowed Al's bed for the night"

"Nah" Edward's blush was still on his face, and he seemed jittery at the prospect of the Colonel spending the night at his dorm, but he was doing a courageous job at covering up his discomfort. To extract himself from the silence that followed, Edward fished his worn out pajamas from under his pillow and disappeared into the bathroom. Slipping off his black boots, Roy set them by the doorway to dry off, and headed across the thinly carpeted floor towards the two beds.

Something caught his attention on Edward's bedside table, and he approached it. It was a small-framed photo. The photo was singed by Roy could make out a younger Elric and another boy who could only be Alphonse as a child. There was an absence of automail and armor, and Edward held a fish in his hand with a huge grin on his face.

Hearing the bathroom door open, Roy set down the photo and resumed his position at Alphonse's bed, pulling back the covers of the bed. He glanced at Edward out of the corner of his eye, and found that he froze for a moment.

Edward was pointedly ignoring the Colonel, and stood at the counter preparing two hot drinks. His hair was loose and slick with rain, running down his shoulders and back limply. His pajamas consisted of worn out brown slacks and a black sleeveless shirt. The pants were too long and pooled around his ankles, and the rain that ran in sheets down the window cast rippling reflections along his automail arm.

Roy found his eyes dragged up to Edward's, which were focused on the hot kettle in his hands as he poured water into the mugs. The golden orbs were dimmed somehow, as if he was in a state of weariness – and Roy had the feeling that if he made a comment about his height he would get a down-toned reaction than to what he was used to.

Edward was scowling when he handed the mug of hot tea to Roy, and he said in answer of Roy's amused and confused expression-

"I only made you the tea because I think you'd explode the kettle trying to light it or something"

"Wise choice" Roy said lightly "But the first time I tried it was the mugs that took the damage, so I think you had little to fear"

"Like hell, I like my mugs" Edward protested, and then smirked slightly "Though that meant you could have bought me new ones, Al's pretty obsessed with the one decorated with kittens" he shuddered.

Roy smiled slightly with amusement and then glanced at the sink, where the bubblegum pink mug decorated with flowers and feline cartoons could be seen from afar. He smile turned to a grimace.

"I might burn it for free in any case," He said, turning away from the horrid sight "That thing is a law against nature"

"Try telling that to Al" A despairing expression settled on Ed's face "I told him it looked like Aunt Pinako on one of her bad days and he forced me to drink out of it for a week"

Roy was going to make a comment about 'Oh, so THAT'S how you got to be so feminine!' but wisely chose to keep silent, incase Edward took a leaf out of Al's book and swapped his mug for the one from hell. They finished their drinks in uncomfortable silence, and when they finished Roy went straight to sleep – still in his clothes for he had nothing else to wear, and Edward's close sure as hell wouldn't fit him in any case. He could hear Edward busying himself with cleaning the mugs and setting them to dry before the blond padded over to the window and pulled the curtains closed. The squeaking of Ed's mattress showed that he was settling down to sleep as well, and before Roy fell asleep he could vaguely hear the blond mutter-

"If you tell anyone about this you son of a bitch, I'll force Al to force YOU to drink out of that mug for a MONTH. AND in the office as well!"

Roy smirked faintly, and went to sleep.