Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of the associated characters. If I did, recent chapter events would not have happened…
Also, this is dedicated to my besty and love anime4ever1124 because I don't know what I would do without you. 3
It was another beautiful day in Central City. There wasn't a cloud to be seen in the bright blue sky. The sun was shining brightly onto the bustling city. While Colonel Roy Mustang, 29, was stuck in his office, behind his desk, piled to the ceiling with unsigned paperwork.
He was glumly staring out of his window, silently begging the wall to disappear and release him to the freedom that was just beyond his reach. Roy thought about just getting up and walking outside, maybe stretching out for a nap under a shady tree. But that wasn't going to happen. Not with his faithful second lieutenant outside the door. And it wasn't like pulling rank worked on her because…it didn't.
Leaving his office without a valid excuse would earn him a few bullet holes in his walls. The maintenance crew was getting tired of constantly being called to the colonel's office, be it to patch bullet holes, cleaning or replacing something that "accidentally" caught fire, or other miscellaneous destruction caused by the Fullmetal Alchemist.
Speaking of which, said temperamental teen was supposed to drop in and leave his report at two. Roy pulled his pocket watch out and flipped the lid open. He watched the second hand tick away as the minute hand moved ever closer to the numeral II. He was ten minutes late. The dark haired man shrugged his shoulders and searched for something to prolong his procrastination.
He pulled the drawers of his desk open at random seeing nothing particularly interesting. Roy paused when he saw something red peeking out. He pulled it out to find a piece of construction paper. Taking a pair of scissors from another drawer he cut away at the paper as his mind sparked an idea.
An hour later Central Headquarters' halls were graced with the frantic steps of a very late Edward Elric. The blonde teen swung the office door open and was greeted by a not so happy Lieutenant Hawkeye.
"You're late Edward."
"Yeah, sorry, sorry," the boy stifled a yawn. "Got a little held up." He walked up to the adjoining office door and knocked. "Colonel?"
Roy perked up hearing the voice on the other side of the door. He hastily swept the remnants of red paper into the trash receptacle. Shoving his creation into a drawer, he pulled the stack of ignored documents toward himself to appear busy.
"Come in Fullmetal." He said.
The door opened at his request revealing the small blonde alchemist. When the door closed, Roy let himself smile a little taking in the boy's disheveled appearance. His golden hair that was as bright as the sun shining outside stuck up in places, strands falling loosely from his trademark braid. The bright ambitious eyes of his were dulled, red and puffy. Tears shone I the corners as he failed to stifle a yawn, and he wiped them away with his flesh hand. Looked like he forgot his gloves. Roy would have to be blind to not see that Ed had been sleeping. The teen was too cute for his own good.
Edward shuffled over to place the report on the colonel's desk then slumped onto the couch, barely fighting against the onset of sleep.
"Fullmetal?"
Roy watched his subordinate's head snap up trying to blink away sleep.
"Y-yes?"
"Do you need some coffee?"
"You mean the watered down mud in the pot downstairs? No thanks."
At least he was awake enough for snide remarks. He gave the blonde a smile. Roy always took Edward the way he was, no matter how many grains of salt there were.
"We'll get some better stuff in a minute, alright?"
Ed nodded and walked over to the desk.
"Did you get that new mission for me yet?" he asked.
"I have it right here."
Roy pulled a manila folder out along with his little craft project and handed them to the waiting blonde.
"What is this?"
"What is what Fullmetal?"
"This!" He held the red construction paper heart up, the sunlight glinting off his auto mail fingers.
"It's just what it looks like." Roy sat back smiling, watching the confused teen.
"Is this some kind of joke Mustang? It's nowhere near Valentine's Day… Was this some gift or something from one of your admirers? If it is, go brag to Havoc or something because I don't care!"
"It's my gift to you Edward."
"What does that mean? What is it?" Ed was starting to get frustrated with the older man's riddling.
"It's my heart Edward. And I expect you to take good care of it." The faintest hint of a blush ran across Roy's features.
Edward stood blinking. Then his mind pieced together the information. He stared back and forth from the scrap of paper in his hand to the onyx eyes across from him. A blush spread across his face like wildfire and he looked down at his feet.
Without a word, he set the folder and heart back on the desk. He watched as his boots moved across the floor until they met up with shiny military issued ones. Ed crawled into the older man's lap and pulled him into a long kiss.
"You idiot…" he mumbled. The blush had only started to wear off.
Roy simply gave him a tender smile.
"I love you too."
Over a week later, Lieutenant Hawkeye brought in yet another stack of work to be burned, ignored, used for paper airplanes, done, along with a manila envelope.
"Sir, you received this package, but I can't figure out who sent it."
Roy took the envelope from her and turned it over in his hands. All he found was his name and the address of Central Headquarters scrawled onto the package with 'FRAGILE' stamped across it. He could feel something sliding around inside it.
Roy tore open the seal and shook the package onto his desk. Discarding the envelope, he saw a scrap of paper and a shiny red object. Upon closer examination he found the object to be a heart. A heart made of red glass. The edges were rounded out and translucent, with the core composed of red swirls, reminiscent of flames. His heart warmed as he picked up the note, already having an inkling of who sent it. The note read:
You better take good care of it……Colonel Bastard!
Roy smiled just picturing the look on Edward's face as he wrote it and chuckled.