I don't own any of the characters below from Full Metal Alchemist, Shaman King or Final Fantasy VII.

Warning: Some mention of shounen-ai below. Nothing explicit, merely affection.

Author's Note:

This is purely for entertainment in-between chapters, and to explain to my readers where I am in my story developments for FMA: Full Circle, Shaman King: Do You Believe In Destiny? and to let anyone who's interested know that the next new story I start will probably be for the FFVII fandom. It helps if you're familiar with the various fandoms, but I hope that this oneshot amuses even if not. The concept of a place where characters can go to rest and relax between chapters/stories is common enough that every fanfic writer turns his or her hand to it at some point, I believe. So without further ado, here's my take on it! Do let me know what you think via a review, especially if you've read any of my stories. Thanks muchly – NF.

Intermission: Perdition

The blonde man glanced up at the sign over the warmly lit entrance to the bar. Yep, this was the place Roy had suggested. Flipping open his pocket-watch, he glanced at the time. He was a good half-hour early. Oh well. Might as well get a drink while waiting. Shoving his watch back into his pocket, he pushed the door open, blinking as his eyes readjusted to the pleasant darkness of the bar, lit by softly glowing stained-glass lamps.

"Can I help you?" a somewhat surly voice asked from the bar. "What's your poison?"

The man frowned. The place seemed nice enough, panelled in glowing oak, trimmed in gleaming brass, clean and rather cosy, but the attitude of the help was somewhat…lacking. Still, Roy swore by it, so he'd give it a shot, literally. "Scotch on the rocks, please." He settled onto a stool, pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it was, and looked around interestedly. The only other patron there was another blonde lounging at the corner of the bar. In contrast to his own neat, wheat-gold ponytail however, the other man had an unruly head of spikes the colour of flax. Glowing aquamarine eyes looked up to meet his own golden gaze, and a small nod was offered and returned before the other returned to contemplating what looked to be a stout of some kind.

"Here." The tumbler was slammed down before him, the amber liquid within nearly slopping over the sides. With a sniff, the bartender thrust a cocktail napkin at him, then turned away and began polishing the glasses behind the counter with a little too much vigour. The man narrowed his eyes at the hostile back and wondered if alchemy worked in Perdition.

"Don't mind Max, he's just a little miffed with blondes at the moment." A soft, husky tenor, almost diffident, and yet with a core of steel running through it. The man looked up. His fellow customer shrugged. "Got turned down just a few minutes before you walked in."

"Oh. Bad luck."

"Well, it was a particularly uninspired line."

He raised an eyebrow. "You heard it?"

A wry smile. "I did, since it was addressed to me."

"Oh. Dare I ask?"

"I believe it went something like, 'I'll show you my sword if you show me yours.'"

"No way."

"Oh yes. Poor Max, he really does need to get out more."

"What did you do?"

Impossibly blue eyes crinkled almost imperceptibly at the corners. "I showed him my sword." And faster than the eye could see, the tousled-headed blonde had whipped out a massive sword and laid it on the counter between them. Looking closely, the pony-tailed man could see that it was made up of several blades that could evidently be taken apart if necessary and used separately.

"That's big. Nice."

"Thanks – never leave home without it. It's really for Max's own good, anyway."

"How so?"

"Jealous lover," was the simple reply. "And if you think this sword is large, you should see his. But he does know how to use it. Prevention is much better than the cure, in this case – and I'm not sure I'd be able to cure Max once Seph was through with him anyway."

"Know what you mean. Roy's much the same way. Only he'd torch them – Flame Alchemist, you know."

"Ah. Yes, Seph's good with Fire too, if he has the right materia on him. Maybe we could introduce them to each other sometime, they might like to compare notes."

The man thought about that. "That could be interesting."

The flaxen-headed man sheathed his sword and a companionable silence fell between them again as they sipped their drinks.

"So…mind if I ask your name?" the pony-tailed man said finally. "I'm Edward Elric, by the way. The Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Cloud Strife," replied the other, picking up his drink and moving to a stool by Ed. "You don't mind, do you? I wouldn't mind a bit of company until Seph shows up." He stuck out his hand.

"Sure, I'm waiting for Roy myself," offered Ed, taking the proffered hand. "Another round?"

Max set down their drinks with a glower and flounced off. Cloud sighed. "I feel bad."

"Eh, he's a big boy," shrugged Ed. "If you're going to put the moves on someone, you should know how to handle the heat."

"True," Cloud nodded thoughtfully. "I'm not very experienced in this sort of thing though."

"Neither am I," Ed admitted. "Only ever been in love for real one time, and don't intend on falling out of it anytime soon."

"Me too," murmured his companion. "Besides, I've got lots to make up for."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I sort of…killed Seph. Three times. Only wound up hurting myself more each time though. This time around it's going to be different." Haunted blue eyes glowed with determination. "I love him. I'm not going to let Jenova get to him."

Ed frowned. "Wow. I've threatened to kill Roy before, but never for real. That's got to suck. Sorry about that."

Cloud smiled tightly. "Yeah. Me too. I'm hoping Nike Femme figures something out though."

"She will. She's a sucker for happy endings, even if she does put you through hell to get you there." Ed waved at the lettering above the door he had entered by. "Why else do you think she named her between bar Perdition? You go to hell and then she gets you out of it."

"I had been wondering about that. Good to know." A pause. "So, why are you here?"

"Waiting for Roy to pull himself together." Ed made a small sound of amusement. "I kind of let it slip to the press at his inauguration that we were together. Not that they didn't already suspect it, but a public admission of love is kind of official. He's feeling a little overwhelmed. I figured I'd take him out, buy him a drink, calm him down, and then we can get back to Chapter 36." His tawny eyes narrowed. "Soon, I hope – I'm in the middle of taking his bastard of a father down a peg. No offence – I'm actually enjoying the company - but…you know."

"None taken. Besides, I hope so too. Once she's done with you, she can get started on me." Cloud stared moodily into his drink. "I miss Seph. He promised he'd come by as soon as he was done with his last meeting, but ShinRa meetings have a tendency to run over in a major way. It's Rufus's fault, he likes to hear himself talk."

"What does he do?" asked Ed curiously. "Seph, I mean. I've heard of ShinRa."

Cloud laughed at that, his melancholic mien shedding years in an instant. "Ifrit, don't let him hear you call him that. His name is Sephiroth. Sorry – I just call him Seph because…well, because." He blushed as Ed shot him a knowing look. "Anyway…he's the General of SOLDIER, ShinRa's private army."

"Birds of a feather," grinned Ed. "Roy's a general too, although he's referred to as Fuhrer now. We really should introduce them, they'd have plenty in common, sounds like."

"Oh, the inauguration, right!" Cloud smiled. He really did look younger when he wasn't brooding. "Give him my congratulations."

"You can give them to him yourself, he should be here any minute," Ed suggested. "Hey, does this place serve food too? Maybe the four of us could have dinner, if we don't get called to our stories. Any idea what yours is going to be called yet? Mine's Full Circle."

"Nope," sighed Cloud. "She doesn't name them until she starts. Rumour has it she's toying with the title Brave New World, but it's really still up in the air."

The bell hanging over the door tinkled, and the two blondes turned expectantly towards the entrance. The new patron was unknown to Ed, however. He appeared to be of Xing blood, with long, dark hair. He also appeared to be much too young to be in Perdition.

"Hao! Or is it Yoh?" asked Cloud cheerfully. Apparently the two were acquainted. "Pull up a stool. This is Edward Elric."

The teenager smiled and stuck a hand out at Ed, who took it, surprised at the strength of his grip. Another swordsman, perhaps? "Pleased to meet you. You can call me Yoh. Family name is Asakura." His voice was young, but with a cool weight to it that spoke of a maturity beyond his years.

"Yoh and Hao are twins. Well, sort of – they're really the same person, just in two bodies. Or they were, until Nike got started on them," Cloud explained, slapping Yoh's hand away as he reached for Cloud's glass. "You're underage, kid."

Yoh rolled his eyes. "You know perfectly well my soul's well over a thousand years old, Cloud. Just because I'm using Yoh's name and body at the moment…."

"Yeah, well, your body's what I'm worried about," Cloud shot back. "But you can have a Shirley Temple if you want."

The teenager muttered something uncomplimentary, but nodded at Max, who trudged off to mix the drink after casting Cloud another reproachful look. The man dropped his head onto the bar. "Nike had better call me to a story soon or I'm going to tell Seph on Max just so he'll stop looking at me like that."

"Not before she calls me, she's not," Yoh said sharply, his cool façade slipping for a moment. "I've been hanging about for months now, thanks to some…hey, wait a minute. You're the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

Ed nodded.

"Kisama!" snarled Yoh. "You're the reason I got put on hold!"

"Language, Yoh! Or is that you, Hao?" said Cloud automatically. "You know, as much as I like the Tao kid – his hair's just as weird as mine – I don't think Anna would approve of you picking up swear words from him."

"You wouldn't tell on me," scoffed Yoh/Hao, although he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, looking around furtively as if expecting to see someone appear out of the shadows.

Cloud smirked. "Try me. Tifa never lets Cid swear in front of Marlene and Denzel, and I've picked up on the habit."

"Who's Anna?" asked Ed.

"His fiancée," said Cloud casually. "Quite possibly the one person he's afraid of."

"Fiancée?" Ed questioned in disbelief. "He can't be older than fifteen! And I thought people in Risembool married young!"

"It's a betrothal thing," sighed Yoh sheepishly. "My grandparents' idea. It's weird sometimes though – she's more like a sister to me. I'm kind of young to be thinking about marriage and whatnot, you know?"

"Hao isn't," offered Cloud.

Yoh snorted. "Yes, well, we know where Hao's interests lies at the moment."

Cloud quirked a brow. "Tao Ren?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Yoh grimaced. He took a sip of the brightly coloured Shirley Temple that Max had set down.

Ed shook his head. "Nike's got her work cut out for her, I see."

Hao glared over. Ed was surprised how easy it was for him to tell which personality had the upper hand at any particular instant. "I don't know what you're complaining about, she's been focused on bringing you Full Circle for months now, leaving me high and dry! Me! The Shaman King!"

"Come on, Hao, it's not his fault," Cloud said softly. "And you're not Shaman King yet. Besides, you've been waiting for over a thousand years, a few months delay isn't going to hurt. Do You Believe In Destiny? If you do, then there isn't a problem, is there? You'll get there eventually. And it's not like you're trying to get back to the person you love."

Yoh/Hao looked mutinous for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah. You're right. Sorry, Ed."

"It's all right," Ed said awkwardly. "I'm sorry you're having to wait this long. But I really did miss Roy."

Yoh turned a surprisingly sweet smile on him. "I can imagine, if you love him the way Cloud loves Sephiroth. Nantoka narute – everything will work out. Hao just gets a little impatient at times." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I try to keep him under control, but he's pretty powerful."

Ed smiled ruefully. "I'm the impatient one in my head – Auric actually has to keep a check on me at times."

The trio fell back into a companionable silence. Yoh drained his drink, licked the bottom of the straw, then stood reluctantly. "I should be getting back – I need to train with Amidamaru and start dinner for Anna."

"Is Amidamaru your weapon?" asked Ed.

"Sort of. My guardian spirit. The sword itself is Harusame," explained Yoh. "What type of sword do you use, Ed?"

"I don't," shrugged the blonde. "I'm an alchemist, I transmute whatever's handy. Auric uses sais though."

Yoh grinned cheerfully. "Maybe we should get together sometime and spar – Amidamaru would love to have someone around who's familiar with traditional Japanese weapons."

Ed smiled. "I'd like that."

"Cool. I'll see you around then. Try to hurry up with your story, won't you? Cloud and I want our turns. Bye, Cloud – say hi to Sephiroth for me, and remind him he owes me a training session? I really want to try out Masamune."

Cloud snorted. "That'll be the day. Even I don't get to use it. Go on, git, you brat." But his tone was one of light affection. Yoh laughed and skipped out, passing a tall, dark-haired man in uniform on the way in. They eyed each other for a moment, noting the similar exotic cast to their features, and then Yoh tilted his head towards the counter.

"You must be Roy. Go on - Ed's waiting for you."

And sure enough, Ed's face lit up as Roy stepped into the circle of light cast by the lamps behind the bar. "Hey, bastard. Took you long enough to pull yourself together."

"Don't know what you're complaining about since it was really your fault, shrimp," Roy returned, smirking faintly. "Ready to go?"

"What's the rush? Sit and have a drink," Ed smiled. "This is Cloud Strife, a new friend of mine. Nike's probably going to start his story soon."

"Roy Mustang. Pleased to meet you," Roy said politely, shaking Cloud's hand. "I hope you suffer less than we did. Perdition, indeed. Losing Ed to the Gate was…not an experience I'd care to repeat."

"Somehow I doubt I'll be that lucky," Cloud rejoined wryly. "At least you never actually killed Ed."

"Not for want of trying, he'll tell you," Roy murmured, and received a punch on the arm from his lover for it.

Ed caught a flicker of envy in Cloud's eyes at the easy intimacy between Roy and himself, and instinctively tried to distract the other blonde from it. He didn't know why he felt quite so protective of his new friend – perhaps it was because Cloud reminded him in some ways of Al. Strong, and yet so innocent somehow. "So…when will Sephiroth be getting here? I'd really like to meet him before we have to go."

"He could be a while," Cloud said, forcing a small smile. "You two should go on ahead if you're in a hurry. Perdition will always be here for us to hang out."

"We have a few minutes, don't we, Roy?" Ed asked, allowing a small note of pleading to slip into his voice. He could see that Roy knew exactly what he was doing, but the softness in Roy's eyes said that he understood.

"Of course. Another round, gentlemen?"

Max scrambled eagerly to fetch their drinks, giving Roy a very suggestive wink as he did so. Ed glared. Apparently the man had moved on to brunettes after having failed miserably with blondes. Roy raised an eyebrow in amusement at Ed's scowl, then discreetly snapped his fingers and set Max's sleeve on fire as he attempted to brush his fingers over Roy's. The bartender yelped and whirled as he flailed his arm about in panic.

"Help! Cloud! Someone!"

Cloud watched unmoving, fascinated by the fact that Roy had not required a Fire materia. Ed's mouth twitched, but before he could tell Roy to put out the fire, an icy draft brushed by his cheek and the flames on Max's arm froze solid, then crackled to the ground in a tinkling of ice chips. The trio turned as one to the door, and Ed watched fondly as Cloud's blue eyes brightened. "Seph! Since when have you carried around Ice materia?"

Ed knew he must look silly with his mouth open like that, but even Roy's poker face was showing signs of strain as Cloud lunged for the tall man who had just entered Perdition. Ed kept his hair longer than most men, but Sephiroth was in a league of his own, his silvery locks falling loose almost to his knees. Like the alchemists, he was wearing gloves, but his were of black leather, as was the coat in which he was stowing away a small, glowing orb. Definitely a one-of-a-kind fashion sense. "Nike made me. I rather suspect she saw this coming. I apologize for my lateness, but…Hojo wanted to see me at the last minute."

Cloud's face darkened. "I hate that man."

Sephiroth closed his eyes briefly. "As do I, love. But we are here now, and he is not, so let us not taint the moment with talk of him. And Nike assures me that we will get to dispose of him eventually."

The blonde nodded and tried to smile as he dragged the taller man to the bar. "Seph – these are my new friends. Edward Elric and Roy Mustang – they're a couple too, the one Nike's been working on lately."

Sephiroth inclined his head gracefully in a manner that reminded Ed unnervingly of Roy. "A pleasure. Have you been forewarning Cloud of the…trials and tribulations that lie ahead of us at her hand?" His voice was deep and resonant even when modulated, but there was the barest hint of a weary pain underlying the strong timbre, and Cloud was looking at him with concern.

Ed opened his mouth to reply, but was surprised into silence as Roy took his hand. "Indeed. Every couple has a different path to walk, and I cannot pretend to know what pain you will have to endure. But we also wanted to tell you…that it's all worth it in the end. To be together. Just hang in there."

Sephiroth's unnervingly green gaze bored into Roy's midnight blue stare for a long moment, as Cloud leaned into his shoulder and Ed squeezed Roy's hand. Then the ShinRa General smiled very faintly, the barest curve of his lips. "I know it. And I would go through much worse for Cloud."

"As I would for Ed," Roy said softly. The foursome stood in reverent silence for a moment. Then Ed cocked his head abruptly.

"I think I hear Nike calling, Roy." The Flame Alchemist nodded.

"I know – I have my father to deal with anyhow, no sense in putting it off."

Cloud sighed. "I guess you'll be taking a rain-check on dinner then."

Ed nodded ruefully. "It was great meeting you though. We'll definitely have to do this again sometime."

"I'm looking forward to that," Cloud grinned.

Sephiroth merely nodded his agreement. A man of few words, Ed decided. Or perhaps he was just shy around people he didn't know. But that would be terribly at odds with the aura of power and confidence he projected otherwise. He'd have to talk to Roy about that, get his impressions – Roy was good at sussing out that sort of thing. They shook hands all around and then Roy and Ed headed for the door. Ed looked back at the threshold and smiled at the sight of Max cowering before Sephiroth, who was doing nothing more threatening than resting what appeared to be a very long sword on the counter. When he turned back to Roy, the Flame Alchemist was regarding him with a teasing smile.

"Should I be jealous of Cloud or Sephiroth? Or both?" he asked lightly.

"If you haven't figured out who it is I'm in love with by now, bastard," grumped Ed, "maybe I really should take up with those two."

Roy laughed, and leaned down to plant a kiss on Ed's lips. "Come now, we have an argument to finish – and then someone owes me a dance."

They disappeared into the night.