Ok, so I am studying for exams like hardcore right now. I thought of this while studying (not even going to mention what) and the damn thing is a plot bunny. I just need to get it out, NOW! It's short and fluffy and has nothing to do with my other on-going story 'The Sharpest Lives'. FMA is not mine. :)


Quiescence

He felt silly for counting down the days like he used to as a child in the days leading up to a birthday. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually put numbers on a calendar, crossing them off as each day passed. Last night before lying down to yet another restless sleep, he marked the box with the one in it. One more night. After exactly 276 nights, he only had one more to wait.

He tried to keep his cool in the morning but he was so excited, his fingers fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. He skipped breakfast as his stomach churned with anxiety.

As he entered the office, everyone greeted him as they normally did. He understood that his subordinates did not share his excitement. They didn't even know that he was excited. His face was his normal facade of seriousness with a hint of a smirk.

His First Lieutenant knew better of course. Her eyes were sharp in the way of aiming a gun but also her mind was sharp with intuition. She could tell that Roy was elated. She smiled to him and put a hand to his arm as he passed. He paused, looking down at her questioningly.

"He's waiting in your office for you, Sir." It was little more than a whisper. She knew that to anyone else the return of the Fullmetal Alchemist to Central only meant more paperwork. It was different for Roy, and she knew it.

It felt like his ribs constricted his lungs as he took in a ragged breath. He knew that he would seem him today, but he thought that it would be later in the day. Nine o'clock in the morning was a rare time to see Edward Elric out and about. He nodded and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before moving toward the large oak door of his office. Roy only paused for a second before turning the handle and entering.

He was taller. His hair was darker, longer. His muscles were more defined. His eyes….his eyes were the same, all liquid gold with a hint of sunshine that was clue to his absolute brilliance. He was everything that Roy had committed to memory, but better. Roy leaned back on the door as he closed it behind him, almost not believing that the young alchemist was actually there, in his office, right in front of him.

They stood quietly watching each other and a smile slowly crept onto Ed's face. Roy couldn't fight the one taking over his own visage, mirroring that of the man not fifteen feet away from him.

In a moment, they were in each other's arms. Roy buried his face into Ed's neck as he laced his fingers through golden hair, drawing him closer.

He waited so long for this embrace and fantasized often of Edward's homecoming, but this hug, in this moment of time, blew all expectations out of the water. He held the younger man's face between his two gloved hands and placed a soft kiss to each eyelid; eyelids that were now weeping quietly. Roy's own tears trailed down his cheeks and dripped off his chin but he didn't care. Ed was here. Nothing else mattered.

When their lips met, it was soft and gentle. Roy wanted to take over that delicious mouth and claim it as his own, but he wanted this sweet moment to last forever. Ed was his. They both understood that, so they took their time. Roy sat on the couch and gently pulled Ed into his lap where he pulled him close and placed a kiss in his hair.

He took a deep breath, the scent of Edward filling him. He knew Ed would have to leave again. He had seen the file yesterday and he would leave in a few weeks.

Roy cupped his lover's face, lightly brushing his cheek with a thumb. Another sweet kiss and Roy forgot all about the next mission, the next time he would have to say goodbye. He decided that he would live for the times when Ed came home; the quiescent times. The promise of the next homecoming would drive him to keep trudging onward in life. His all was Edward and Edward was his all.


This story hits home for me. I go to vet school in Scotland (UK) and my husband is still home in the United States. I go for months without seeing him.

Please review!