Thank You –Chapter one
"Fullmetal, come here." Roy Mustang waved his hand in a summoning motion towards the young state alchemist. The colonel felt that he was nicer than he needed to be, but he couldn't help the way he felt at the moment. It was rare enough that the colonel showed kindness, stranger still because he exhibited his kindness towards Edward. Still, Ed did take the flame alchemist's actions for granted.
"Yeah, what is it Colonel Shit?" Ed scoffed lightly at his own amusement. With a small upwards tilt of his head, Roy exhaled a long sigh.
"Urgh… you just have someone on the line." He had almost snapped back, but held it, keeping his tone of voice his normal 'I couldn't really care less, whatever the hell you're talking about' manner. He held out the phone, extending his arm to Ed. "Well," the colonel commented "take it." With a roll of his golden eyes, the teen stepped forward and took the receiver into his gloved hand, lifting it up to his ear. After sometime and some high pitched screaming from the other end of the line, Edward hung up and sighed again, sounding exasperated.
"Just Winry. I think she wants to murder me because of my automail again.
xxxxx
Ed lay on his bed thinking late into the night. He and Al were staying at another hotel, so they could pursue their usual tactics in the day. Edward's day hadn't gone badly, it was quite normal. Well, there was one thing different that kind of set it apart by a fraction of an inch, but Edward couldn't put his finger on it. He had a leaking suspicion that it had something to do with that Mustang. One thing could be admitted to himself though – he was growing somewhat fonder of the colonel. Maybe it was because of his prolonged time in the military? That couldn't be it though, he didn't like Armstrong as much (who really did?), nor Riza, or anyone else for that matter. Whatever it was, Ed did not continue his long string of thoughts, but retreated deeper into his blankets for some needed rest. Tomorrow he would have to hand in more reports about the sudden disappearance on Scar… how fun.
The next morning dawned a gloomy grey, with cold drizzle. Edward moaned groggily as he forced himself to pry open his tired eyes.
"Good morning, Niisan."
"'Morning, Al."
Alphonse Elric moved his hollow armored body towards the window, reaching out a large arm as he did so and pushed open the dully colored crème curtains aside, exposing the miserable conditions outdoors. "Niisan, are you going to the office by yourself today?" He questioned.
"Yeah, the colonel wants some more work done."
Al would've raised an eyebrow if he had any. Just colonel… and no insults? From what he knew, the flame alchemist and his Niisan were not exactly on the best of relationships. Without showing any surprise, Al turned to face Ed. "Well, then do you want something to eat?"
The teen shook his blonde head as he pulled on his coat tightly over his shoulders. Edward opened up the door, stepping outside the small hotel room, giving Al a curt "see you later" before he descended down the steps of the hotel.
Grabbing an umbrella from the public stand that was beside the exit door, Ed pushed the doors open with a hand, stepping out and putting up his umbrella against the cold rain. He let his mind wander as he watched his breath in front of him condense into puffs of vapor every time he breathed out. The streets were quiet, only the sound of passing by cars and splashing water now and then were heard. Ed's boots made soft thudding sounds each time they hit the wet pavement as he continued on to work.
xxxxx
The flame alchemist Colonel Roy Mustang sat once again in his usual chair, usual spot, and usual office. He was starting to get tired of seeing the same old scenery every day. The doorknob turned and a young, stern looking woman entered the room interrupting his thoughts. Roy lifted his eyes so they rested upon the woman. "Ah, Lieutenant Hawkeye." He said with a slight hint of interest in his voice.
"Good morning, Sir." Riza Hawkeye answered stiffly, in her usual brisk business-like tone of voice.
Riza Hawkeye was a fairly pretty woman. She had light blonde hair that was always kept up at the back with a hair clip, and serious eyes. The military uniform that she wore like all the others did not show off the extent of her physique, or so the colonel thought. Roy would have very much like to see the first lieutenant in a miniskirt, although the chance of that happening was probably less than zero. Roy still liked Riza for what she was though. She was kind, but she wasn't someone you would mess with, taken example from Black Hayate.
"Here's the paperwork." She dropped a large stack of forms and who knows what else onto his desk.
"Thank you."
"Oh, and Mister Edward Elric is coming."
"I should have guessed. "Good day, Lieutenant."
"Good day to you too, Sir."
Riza walked out of the doorway, but as she did so, she gave a brisk "good morning Edward" to a blonde teen who was also happening to be coming in.
"Good morning Fullmetal." The colonel let a small smirk play around his features. "This office seems to be a little short of air, don't you think? I should open up a window." Roy emphasized the word, making sure Edward could hear it's fully pronounced syllable. What could he say? Teasing the boy was fun.
"WHO DID YOU JUST CALL SMALLER THAN A FRIKKIN AMOEBA THAT CAN'T BE SEEN EVEN UNDER A HIGH POWERED MICROSCOPE!" The teen's face was screwed up in anger as he glared at the figure behind the desk from the chair he had just sat in.
"Now Fullmetal, I highly suggest you lower your voice in here unless you want to be turned into charcoal." Of course, this now was an empty threat for Roy wouldn't do anything like that to Edward anymore, and he didn't want to burn down his office, again. Roy folded his arms across his chest, leaning against the back of the chair duplicating the erect pose of supreme conqueror of the universe.
There was silence for a moment after this. Only the soft rustling of the uniform's fabric could be heard until the blonde teen opposite him put a automail hand down on one of the chair arms.
"Whatever, Colonel." Edward pushed himself up, his automail arm making a slightly dull clank as it made contact with the chair back. The young teen's reaction had surprised the colonel. Just 'Colonel' with no insults attached? He was expecting something more like 'wet match, Colonel Shit, useless asshole' or something along that line. "Here's the report." Edward dropped a small stack of papers onto Roy's desk before turning his heel to walk out the door. He was halfway across the office when the colonel's voice rang out.
"Hang on, Fullmetal."
Edward spun around. "Yeah?" He asked.
"Do you have somewhere to stay tonight"
"Kind of… Al's still at the hotel, but I'm not sure if we'll be staying there another night. Why?"
"I was just thinking… you could stay at my place if you wanted." Roy had no clue on what had just driven him to say what he just said. "I could put Al in another place… I know a pretty good place nearer here than where you are."
"…" Edward just stood there for a moment before answering. "Uh… sure." And what exactly had driven him to say yes struck Ed dumb. He did like the Colonel. Maybe just a bit more than he would've liked.