First Impressions

Rating: PG-13 for language

†

Jean Havoc looked down at his hallmate, slightly nonplussed. Long blonde hair, slightly sullen amber eyes, sharp-featured face, stubborn chin and... "God, you're short."

Edward Elric's first instinct was to bowl right into a rather loud rant. "WHO'S SO SHORT EVERYBODY MISTAKES HIM FOR A JUNIOR HIGH STUDENT!" His voice echoed through the hallway, catching a few odd stares.

Jean held out a long arm, effectively keeping the whacked-out kid from going for his throat. "Anger management problems, much?"

Calming down a bit, Edward swatted the taller blonde's hand away. "Let's get one thing straight... uh... you! I don't want to hear one more word about my height, and if I do, somebody is going to get their ass kicked!"

Mouth quirking, Jean said, "I'd like to see you try. It's Jean, by the way."

"I may not look it, but I can hold my own in a fight!" Ed snapped, bristling. "And I don't care what your name is! I'm not telling you mine anyway!"

"I never said you couldn't," Jean said mildly.

"Ed, who the hell are you picking a fight with this time?" A young man with deep red hair walked up, a bit of an untamed look about his person and a sharp grin on his face. He smelled of smoke, bangs parted to one side in order to cover his left eye. His one visible emerald green eye, however, was looking the object of Ed's loathing top to bottom in an almost uncomfortable way. "What have we here..."

Ed shuddered at the tone of voice. "Ashton, you freak!" He'd known the guy since his sophomore year of high school, but it still creeped him out the way he leered at people like that.

Jean chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Okaay..." No, he hadn't missed the redhead's appraising once-over, but he decided to ignore it. For now.

"I see, you're across the hall from us then? Forgive the little shorty, he's got one hell of a temper..." Ashton leaned on Ed a bit. "Although you've got to admire his boundless energy and endurance..." He still hadn't lost that freakish grin of his yet, nor that blatantly suggestive tone.

"Dammit Fawkes you fucking sicko get the hell off me!" Ed shoved the redhead to the side, brushing off his clothes. "You goddamn pervert!"

That was Jean's cue to back away and slam his door in their faces but he was –

"Jean? What's all the yelling about?" An young, pretty man with long reddish-blonde hair and a faint accent peered over Jean's shoulder. "Oh. Neighbors?"

"Right across the hall, just give a knock and have this young boy here cater to your every sexual desire!" Ashton motioned to Edward with a snarky grin.

Ed flushed a brilliant shade of red. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! AND I'M NOT YOUNG I TURN NINETEEN NEXT MONTH! FAWKES YOU PERVERTED SON OF A BITCH I AM NOT A FUCKING SEX TOY!" Realizing what he'd just said, the boy clapped a hand over his mouth, turning even brighter red, if such a feat were possible, eyes wide as saucers.

The two blondes stared at the boy known as Ed. "I don't think," the red-blonde began.

Jean just burst out laughing. "Aiden, you need to get to orientation," he said, still grinning. "I think I'm going to like these two loons."

Ashton smacked Ed on the back. "Good going, Elric." Though he wasn't laughing out loud, the expression was apparent in his visible eye.

Jean's laughter had apparently startled Ed, as the boy was now staring right at him in stunned silence, still red with embarrassment.

The smile never leaving his face, Jean motioned back over his shoulder. "You guys want to come in? We have food and coffee if you want it."

Giving Ed a light shove, Ashton's grin turned a bit less feral. "How nice of you to ask! Come on, Edward, move along!" When the boy didn't move he whispered in his ear, "If you don't, I'll have to do unspeakable things to you when you go to sleep tonight..."

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Ed wriggled under Jean's arm and around behind him, just to get something in between himself and his overly creepy friend. "Don't you dare! I'll put in for a room change! I should put a fucking restraining order on you, Fawkes!"

Jean rolled his eyes heavenward. "All right, let's leave the sexual fantasies out of this," he said, nudging Ed farther into the room. "Sit wherever, and help yourselves to the food."

Ashton followed just to be a nuisance to Ed. If freaking the boy out paid money, he'd be a millionaire by now. "So... Jean was it?" He rubbed his left eye behind the fall of his bangs.

Finding a chair, Ed sat down, still slightly embarrassed and, for some reason, trying to avoid looking at Jean. Instead, he looked at the floor, bangs falling in his face.

"Yeah. Jean Havoc. Midwest farmboy given a scholarship to come to the East Coast to study history. What are you all here for?"

Waiting for Ed to speak, and noticing that he just plain wasn't going to, the redhead spoke up. "I'm here for political science, the little ball of fury and hormones over there is going to major in chemistry." He simply grinned at the sputtering from across the room.

There was a mumbling of something along the lines of 'youfuckingsuckballsfawkes' from Ed's chair, as he promptly turned away from the other two to stare at the wall.

Jean lifted an eyebrow. "Hey, could you stop pestering him long enough for us to have a decent conversation?"

"Pestering him is my job though, Jean... Or rather, it's because it's so easy to do..." Ashton nearly purred. "But if you insist... I'll do my best not to bother him for a little while... No promises, though, seeing as it seems no matter what I do or say he's annoyed with me for it..."

Ed spoke up this time. "Do you ever stop to think that just maybe it's because everything you do or say has blatantly obvious sexual undertones in it?" Molten gold glared directly at Ashton and his stupid grin.

Jean sighed, dropping his chin into his hand.

Glare evaporating again, Ed's eyes wandered from Ashton to Jean, though he quickly turned back around again. For reasons unknown, he felt kind of sick.

Glancing at Ed, Ashton chuckled. "I'm going to go get a nap, it was nice meeting you, Jean..." He stretched and made for the door.

Jean waved casually. "See you later then. Why don't we go grab dinner later? I'm sure my roommate would adore meeting you two."

Ed promptly stood. "I guess I should... go... too..." He wanted to be anywhere but here right now. It was making him extremely... uncomfortable, and he didn't know why. The look on Ashton's face made him think twice, though.

"Why don't you just stay and have fun with your new boyfriend, Ed? Unless you really want to sleep with me that badly..." Ashton let the sentence hang, grinning over his shoulder at the shorter boy.

Ed's reaction was nearly instant. "GOD DAMMIT FAWKES GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE ALREADY YOU SICK FREAK! I'M NOT COMING NEAR YOU WITH A FIFTEEN FOOT POLE YOU JACKASS!" Within that instant he had definitely changed his mind about leaving. Sure, he didn't want to be here, but he really didn't want to be in there with Fawkes.

Wincing, Jean rubbed his forehead. "Is he always like that?"

"Only if it involves embarrassing him as done by myself, or his height. See you later, just give a knock when it's time to go!" Ashton disappeared into the door across the hall.

Not quite sure whether to fume or go crawl in a hole, Ed just spun back around and plopped down in the chair he'd been sitting in. "Stupidmotherfuckingsonofabitchsickopervertfreak..." he muttered to himself.

Trying to salvage the situation (and trying not to laugh out loud), Jean asked, "Where are you two from?"

"Northern New England area..." Ed really didn't care to go into further detail, as he was currently making acute observations of the wall in front of his face.

"Northern New England? You mean Maine?" He reached over to grab a pen. "I heard that the winter's nice, if a bit cold."

"I hated it..." Ed's attention shifted to the ceiling. At least he was calming down a bit, and he didn't feel quite as sick anymore.

"M'mm... why? I've always liked winter myself..."

"It's too cold, it makes my joints ache... Especially my right shoulder and left knee. I don't know why, the doctors said there was absolutely nothing wrong with me."

"Have you ever hurt something there? I mean, old sports injuries can do that." Jean draped himself comfortably over his bunk. "Just a thought, though."

Sparing a glance at the taller man, Ed shrugged. "Not that I know of... Maybe it happened when I was really little or something..."

Jean shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Ed looked away again, sighing. He felt he should ask the same of Jean, but he didn't know if he really wanted to hear it, so he didn't.

Not even bothering to move, Jean let the silence drag out. Uptight little rat, he thought uncharitably. At least the redhead talks.

The silence was almost nerve-wracking, and Ed found that he'd started to get a mild headache. Looking around, he tried to find a clock. "What time is it anyway? You said something earlier about dinner, right?"

Jean glanced at his watch. "It's about five-thirty. My roommate's going to be coming back soon, so we can toddle down when he gets back."

"Do we have to bring Ashton? He's such a prick..."

Jean sat up. "Why don't you like him? He seems like an okay guy – I won't say nice, but okay."

Ed thought for a while on whether or not he really wanted to get into that right now. "... It's a long story... We're sort of friends, I guess, but he's just... I can't really tell if he's serious or if he's joking sometimes... And well... other things..." He really hoped that Jean wouldn't go and ask what kinds of other things...

"... other things?" At the look on Ed's face, Jean held up his hands. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But it can't be that bad, can it?"

"You've only just met him, you wouldn't understand..." Ed looked away again, just really not wanting to think about that.

"Oh, spare me the angst." Jean hauled himself up. "Unless he's actively molested you, I doubt it's anything worse than I went through."

"..."

Jean's eyebrow lifted.

"Jean, are you in there?" Another pretty male face with long reddish-blonde hair poked through the door. "My brother said you – oh, who's this? He's adorable!"

Ed blinked. "Who's a wha?" He had a feeling that this was definitely just not his day.

The new young man came in. "Is he your younger brother?"

Jean burst out laughing. "Iden, no. Al's still at home – he started eleventh grade this year. This is Ed, from across the hall. Ed, this is Iden, my roommate."

"Uh... nice to meet you..." Ed managed a smile, even though he still wasn't feeling that great. That, and the room was spinning just a little.

Iden cocked his head to the side. "You look a little faint. Maybe we should feed you?"

"That's the best idea I've heard all day." Jean grabbed both young men and bodily hauled them out. He let Iden go and knocked on Ed's dorm door. "Rise and shine! Food!"

Feeling a bit lightheaded, Ed leaned slightly against Jean. For some reason, it felt like it was a perfectly natural thing to do. It made him feel... safe, like home... But home had never felt this way... His eyes started to slowly drift closed.

There was a muffled call of 'Just a second!' from the other side of the door. A few seconds later, Ashton opened the door. Leaning against the frame, he smirked. "I see you two are getting along nicely."

Jean looked at Ed with some surprise. "Never thought he'd warm up to me. You coming or staying?"

Ed mumbled something at the sound of voices, slowly blinking back aware of his surroundings. At which point his eyes widened profusely and he nearly shoved Jean over in the process of getting away from him.

Iden caught his roommate. "Or, not," he commented, green eyes sparkling.

Jean grinned. "Oh, Ashton, this is my roommate, Iden. You met his twin earlier."

Grinning more broadly, Ashton held out his hand. "I knew you looked familiar... Nice to meet you..."

Iden took it with a gentle smile. "Nice to meet you, too, Ashton. Shall we head down for supper?"

"Sounds good to me! Don't worry about Ed, he'll follow. He's just a little freaked out right now... I think." Ashton considered freaking the boy out more, but thought otherwise. Plenty of time for that once the lights went out...

Jean shrugged. "All right. There's a mess hall in Ward, one in Lapham across the quad, and a coffee shop in the Student Union. Where do we want to go?"

Ashton shrugged, nudging Ed. "Come on, you look like an idiot like that."

Ed managed a glare in return, plotting very brutal revenge on Fawkes while he slept.

Iden shrugged at Jean's irritated look, mouthing 'later'. He could tell that the normally easy-going man was getting very, very annoyed. "Why don't we go to the coffee shop? They have good sandwiches."

"Sounds good to me." Ashton grabbed Ed's arm and tugged. "Come on, shorty, or you won't get any food." That seemed to do the trick.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE GETS LOST IN A CROWD OF ANTS!"

The long-haired man neatly inserted himself between Ed and Ashton, heading off any... unpleasant scene. "He didn't say that, Ed. Come on, before you incite a riot."

Ed gave Ashton a glare that promised a lot of pain, then grudgingly followed, hands stuffed in his pockets.

Chuckling, the redhead walked behind as well, making an attempt at idle conversation.

Iden put a gentle hand on Jean's arm. "What major are you taking, Ashton?"

Deep in thought, Ed walked with his eyes focused somewhere between the blonde head in front of him and the pair of shoes belonging to said blonde. He was pretty much looking at, but not really seeing, the middle of Jean's back.

"Political science, yourself?"

"Political journalism. I –"

"Don't let Iden fool you," Jean said, pulling himself together. "He's double majoring in journalism and psychology."

Ashton chuckled, running his fingers through his hair and coincidentally showing off his left eye. "Psychology? That's an interesting subject..."

"It has its moments." Deeming Jean safe for the moment, Iden let him go. "Are you minoring in anything?"

"Biblical studies, actually. I'm not really all that religious but I find the concepts fascinating."

"Are you doing Old or New Testament?" Jean asked, eyes lighting up.

A gaggle of boys and girls was bearing down on them at top speed. The three taller men stopped, giving the others some room.

Still off in his own little world, Ed didn't notice the others stopping. The next thing he knew, he'd run right into Jean, and instinct had him clinging to the taller blonde's shirt for support.

Ashton turned his head, simply grinning at the look on Ed's face.

Jean staggered backward, almost squishing the boy. "Goddammit!"

That dizzy feeling was back, and Ed spun around, bracing himself against the wall with one hand on his head at the ringing in his ears. "Fuck..."

Iden and Jean traded another look, whereupon the ever-faithful and courteous Iden grabbed Ed by the back of his shirt and proceeded to drag him down the stairs. "You need to EAT, dammit!"

Ashton laughed at the look on Ed's face this time, watching as the boy proceeded to make quite a scene. "I'm terribly sorry about his behavior today, I swear he's not usually like that..." A grin creeped its way onto his face. "I think he's got the hots for you, Jean..."

Jean rolled his eyes. "Don't even joke about that." He began to follow his mother-henning roommate and the squalling Ed. "Come on. I'm hungry."

Shrugging, Ashton resumed following as well. "Suit yourself..." Though that grin still hadn't left his face yet.

A few minutes later, they were ensconced comfortably in a coffee shop booth. Iden and Ashton chattering away amiably and Jean ignoring Ed entirely, concentrating on the conversation.

Ed fidgeted absently with the end of his ponytail. The day since he'd met Jean had been rapidly going downhill somehow. He was confusing himself beyond sanity, and it probably showed. He tried his best to act standoffish as he usually was, but any snappy comments he made at people lacked quite a bit of their usual vehemence.

Jean sat back, folding his arms behind his head. The school year promised to be fun, with a roommate who was almost lacking in common sense and hallmates that played so perfectly off one another. He let his eyes rest on Ed. There was something weird about that kid... he shrugged imperceptibly. Whatever it was, it would make his life interesting.

†

A/N This is the sequel to xKesshoux's (http(colon)(doubleslash)www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net(slash)u(slash)705237(slash)) fic, Unsettling Affairs. It was a collaboration fic (well, both of them are, really) and she's given me permission to post this. A note to my habitual readers (you know who you are!) I WILL be updating Short Stories and stuff when classes end. This is just going faster because she's forcing me to write it. And if you're reading this and haven't read Unsettling Affairs, DO IT. NOW. Otherwise you won't get what the hell is happening.

Honestly, this was supposed to be a one-shot deal. Y'know, just a fifteen-minute snapshot of them together. Then I opened my big mouth to Miss argh-I-must-write-more-XP and, well... here we are. Hope you keep reading. R&R, please.