Summary: To give someone red tulips is commonly recognised as a declaration of love. For Edward, the declaration just came at a bad time. Shōnen-ai, Roy x Ed.
Warnings: Contains shōnen-ai (which, for the uninformed, is mild guy on guy), Edward being a bit of a jerk, and Valentine's day (which is, as we know, associated with mushy stuff. Bleh.). If you find yourself here because of the joke of a coworker, because you're lost or because insert random excuse here, please feel free to either use the back button (located top left-hand corner of your screen) or press Alt+F4.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the FMA characters associated with the anime, manga or movie. I have no claims on the property of Hiromu Arakawa and am merely grateful for the possibility of borrowing the characters. What does belong to me are the words of this fanfic and what could be laughingly described as the 'plotline' of what is to follow.
A/N: What you are reading here is something I began writing with the intention of posting on Valentine's day this year, but didn't bother to finish in time. So that's how long it's been, on and off, in production. Hopefully, you can get some kind of enjoyment out of it (and you're welcome to tell me if you have! 3).
There was one day in the year that Edward hated beyond all others. He hadn't always hated it, because it had never meant anything to him, but for the past four years, he'd learnt to loathe it almost as much as he loathed milk.
Every year he'd forget it was arriving. Roy would wake him up as usual with a gentle peck over his left eyebrow before leaving him to take a shower. He'd stumble into the kitchen where a normal breakfast would already be waiting in front of his usual seat, so he'd sit down and shovel it into his mouth. Then he and Roy would trade places and Edward would go for a shower instead. By the time he was done, Roy would be dressed in his uniform and waiting by the front door. He'd tell Edward what time to come into the office and with another peck, this time on the lips, Roy would leave.
Edward would go in at the specified time (since he hadn't once and Roy had withheld sex for a week). Havoc would watch him head towards Roy's office with a smug look on his face, not too different from a regular day, Breda would hide the food he'd acquired that morning… Then Edward would open the door to Roy's office only to pull up short at the giant grin on his lover's face.
Loud enough for both rooms to hear, he'd then yell, "Shit!" And it was about then when he'd realise that it was Valentine's day once again.
It would be the fourth Valentine's day that he'd shared with Roy, Edward realised after Hawkeye had glared his expletive down. He rose his gloved automail hand up to his temple and began to gently rub it in circles, already feeling a migraine coming on. As if he hadn't suffered the last three times, by the way Roy was sauntering out from behind his desk, Edward had a feeling that this was going to be the worst Valentine's day yet.
He sighed before looking pleadingly up at Roy, who had stopped just before him, looking down with that same irritating grin. The bastard ignored him, pulling a single yellow iris from behind his back and handing it to Edward. Always yellow; 'to match your hair,' Roy had told him.
"Happy-"
"Don't," Edward warned, stopping Roy from saying what he knew his lover had been going to. Instead, Roy took the blond's chin in his fingers and tilted his head back, gently planting a tender kiss on Edward's lips.
"-Valentine's day," the older alchemist finished anyway. Edward huffed, but he didn't pull away, so Roy kissed him again. When he finally let go of Edward's chin, the blond lowered his head to its normal angle again. Hearing Havoc chuckle, he spun to glare. The second lieutenant cut off his laugh immediately.
Turning back to Roy, Edward sighed again. "You know I hate this stupid day," he muttered, looking down at the iris. Roy shrugged. "And I never get you anything, I always forget."
"I know," the dark-haired officer replied. "But I like doing things for you."
"That's why I hate it," Edward murmured in a voice that only he heard.
Roy devised most of the rituals carried out during the day (and subsequent night), but there was one thing that Edward had decided to do by himself. He turned on his booted heel and, still holding the iris, strode out of the office, past Havoc who was grinning at him, past Hawkeye who looked disapproving as he left (as always). He passed Breda who was desperately clinging the last donut to his chest, passed Fuery who had a tiny smile on his boyish face and passed Falman, who didn't seem to be paying attention at all.
Had Edward done it on any ordinary day, Roy would have called him back, even going so far as to call him 'Fullmetal'; not that Roy didn't use it as often as he could, since Edward refused to answer if he was called that at home. But this was, according to his older lover, a 'special day', so the blond was allowed to leave.
As tended to happen, when Edward returned home, he put the iris on the kitchen bench and promptly forgot about it. Immediately, he walked down the hallway and turned into Roy's study. Each wall was lined with bookcases, except the one opposite the door, which had a large window pointing out to the backyard. Beneath the window was a pine desk and it was that and the locked drawer that Edward walked to.
Every Valentine's Day, Roy would insist on taking Edward out to dinner. The blond himself thought it was a 'stupid idea', since Roy insisted on taking him out all the time, so he'd argue against it before finally conceding. It had started because Roy had surprised him with the offer; usually his lover would tell him ahead of time which restaurant he was taking him to, but this day seemed like an excuse to spring it on Edward and make him run to get ready. And that was never fun, since Roy always ended up complaining about how long he was taking.
That had changed two years before, though, when Roy had left his desk drawer open, perfect for the younger alchemist to poke through. In the drawer he'd found a small blue-covered planner, so Edward had opened it to that week to see what it was Roy had decided to do with his time. There, under 'February 14', had been the name of a fancy restaurant with the time '18:00' scrawled on the paper. Edward had been ready that night when Roy had come home, much to the colonel's surprise.
So now, Edward tapped on the drawer, grinning at the thought that Roy had somehow gotten the idea into his head that by locking the drawer, it would keep his younger lover out of it. Hardly. The task of unlocking the drawer was simple and quick for Edward, who merely clapped his hands together and touched his fingers to the wooden drawer. The flash of blue light told him the transmutation was working and the click that emerged from the lock on the drawer told him he could now slide the irritating thing open with ease.
When he did, he rummaged through the various files and random things (including a picture of him at Easter the year before, face red with embarrassment while he posed on the couch, white rabbit ears on his head and a tiny bob of a tail stuck just above his rear). Soon enough, he located the planner, red this year, and opened it up. As expected, on 'February 14', a reminder about a reservation at a restaurant was written down. A fancy restaurant, Edward noticed with a little irritation.
Huffing, he put the planner back beneath the files he'd found it under and shut the drawer to lock it again. Glancing at the clock on Roy's desk, 11:46, he sighed. There was plenty of time before he had to start getting ready, so he left the study to head for the couch. Roy had, after all, woken him up too early, so if he could get some extra sleep in before he'd be taken on what Roy annoyingly dubbed a 'date', so much the better.
--
At five that afternoon, Edward took to the shower. With the towel threatening to fall off his hips, he wandered into the bedroom and opened his half of the wardrobe to figure out what Roy would want him to wear. He felt strangely tempted to just throw on the clothes he would usually wear everywhere else, but he knew that Roy wouldn't appreciate that, so instead he took out some black dress pants and a white button-up shirt.
The pants were easy to get on; as long as they didn't catch and tear on his automail foot, they'd go on quickly enough. The shirt was another matter. It slipped over his shoulders easily, that was true, but when Edward wanted to do up buttons, his right hand had a way of making it extraordinarily difficult. And he couldn't possibly do it with one hand.
He had no other choice but to wait with his shirt open, exposing his chest, until Roy got home to help. He couldn't help but hate the bastard for convincing him to buy the shirt in the first place. The next problem was his hair. Fortunately enough he could do that by himself, but he never knew which way to put it. If it were down, it would get in his way and make him look like a woman. If it were in a plait, it would end up looking just as it did every other day; and Edward knew Roy thought this day was 'special'.
In the end, just as he heard the front door unlock and open, he pulled it back into a simple, but neat, ponytail.
"Ed?" The call was from the living room, so Edward hurried down, pausing with his hands on his hips. Roy turned to look at him and smiled, seeing him ready.
"Do we have to go out?" he whined. Roy nodded.
"I made reservations over a month ago," he replied, walking over to start doing up the buttons. "Plus, tonight's special, we have to go out."
Edward snorted. "I wouldn't call it special." He met Roy's eyes with half-hearted pleading. "Can't we stay in, please?" His eyelids dropped to half-mast. "I can think of a lot of things we could do instead…"
Although Roy grinned, he still shook his head. "We can do them later anyway, so we might as well go out for dinner, too." He did up the last button and leaned in to pause with his lips just touching Edward's. "So no, we can't stay in."
The blond turned his head away and frowned, having put up the last of his barely attempted arguments. "Fine," he said simply, before his head was turned back and his lips claimed. It was Roy who pulled away, walking down the hallway to have his own five-minute shower.
Soon enough he emerged again, dressed in his own 'going out' attire, so Edward, who had put on his shoes, adjusted his collar and then promptly crashed on the couch, stood up to wait by the door. A few checks to make sure everything was in order (windows locked, lights off) and Roy was joining him, opening the door and leading him out to the car that he'd somehow convinced Hawkeye to lend him for the night.
--
It wasn't boring, going out to dinner with Roy; Edward had to admit that much. They always had something other than work and alchemy to talk about (Edward suspected that they wouldn't have lasted as a couple for nearly so long had they not been able to talk about anything else), so there were no awkward silences as he might have feared a few years ago. The food was good, as usual, and, as usual, Edward found that he was quite enjoying himself long before the end of the evening.
When they'd finished eating, though, Roy insisted on paying. Edward frowned and jammed his hands deep into his pockets. "I can pay," he said, looking up at Roy with what he suspected might be the slightest hint of a glare. Roy nodded.
"I know," he replied, handing over the money to the hostess. He looked down at the blond and offered a smile. "But I like doing this for you." Edward muttered under his breath for a moment until Roy began walking towards the doors. The younger alchemist hurried to catch up, scowling slightly when his lover opened the restaurant doors and then the car door, too.
The drive home was made in a comfortable enough silence for the most part, though Edward couldn't help but glower a little, annoyed at Roy's constant though possibly unintentional suggestions that Edward couldn't do things for himself. He made it a point to get out of the car before Roy, loudly opening his own door and almost stomping up the front path.
"Ed?" Roy called, shutting the door of the car and locking it. "Something wrong?" The blond turned and glared, shaking his head. Roy raised an eyebrow while he walked forwards, looking concerned. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Edward growled. "I'm sure." With this, he fished around in his pocket for his keys, turning to go to the door and unlock it. He opened it and went through, kicking off his boots and heading straight for the kitchen to dump his keys on the bench, but stopped when he saw the mass of flowers there instead.
"Roy…?" he called, hesitating slightly. The older man came up behind him and leant down to kiss his neck, humming a question. "What are these?"
"Flowers," came the muffled reply. Edward grunted.
"I can see that. Why are they here?"
"It's Valentine's day," Roy answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"You gave me a flower this morning!" the shorter of the two whined. "Why do I need more? And why are there so many?"
"These are different," the colonel replied. "These are red tulips. I wanted to show you just how much I love you." Edward blinked a few times before frowning.
"I know you love me! I don't need flowers to know that!"
"I thought you might like flowers," Roy murmured against his neck. At this, Edward froze for a moment before pulling away to whirl around and face him, glaring again.
"Are you calling me a woman?" he snapped. Roy looked sincerely shocked at the accusation.
"A woman?"
"The whole flowers thing, taking me on 'dates'," Edward started listing, his tone indicating he was skeptical about the date idea. "Not letting me pay for once, opening doors for me. Isn't that what guys do for women?"
Roy started to laugh gently. "Is that why you're in such a bad mood?" He went over and pulled the blond closer to him. "I just like doing all that for you, Ed, because I do love you. And I know you're not a woman, I can assure you of that." A hand slipped between them to lightly pat Edward through his clothing. "If I haven't noticed in four years that you're not a woman, Ed, I obviously haven't been paying much attention."
Edward frowned but eventually nodded. "Fine," he sighed. "But, maybe, can you not open the freaking car door for me anymore, please? I can do that myself." Roy hummed and nodded, before leaning down to kiss him.
"Now, perhaps we can finish the day off properly?" Roy suggested against the blond's mouth, his hand skimming over the band of Edward's pants. The younger alchemist grinned and nodded before stepping away slightly.
"You go ahead, I'll be there in a second. I have to do something, first." Roy inclined his head and made his way up the hallway to disappear into their bedroom. For a moment, Edward looked at the tulips before he walked to the bench and ran his fingertips over the bright red petals. A smile rose to his face and his golden eyes softened.
When he was content, he turned and followed Roy, his smile never wavering.
End.