Of Bets and Repercussions
By Kreyana
Notes: Mostly humor, with a dash of romance.
Disclaimer: When is anything ever mine?
Summary: One word... Lobster.
"You can't be serious."
"I am."
"I'm not going to do it, Al."
"But, Brother, you promised!"
"No I didn't."
"You did too! You promised to do whatever I wanted if you lost, and you lost!"
"Damnit, I didn't think I would lose!" Edward Elric grumbled. "How the hell was I supposed to know that bastard was good at Chess?"
Al pointed at the little glass case against the far wall. "Maybe that trophy would give you some hint..." Ed glared and Al grinned. "No excuses, you have to do it!" Ed gave Al a pleading look, but the young Elric easily thwarted it. "Nii-san," he warned. Edward sighed and cursed.
"Fine, whatever. When do I have to do it?" Al put a finger to his chin, humming as he thought it over.
"Tomorrow afternoon."
"That soon!?" Al glared and Ed made a sound suspiciously like 'eep'. "Okay, tomorrow."
"At the office."
"AL!"
"At the office!"
"Fuck! Fine!" Ed stormed away, fists clenched and trying desperately not to ruin Mustang's home. Wouldn't do to wreck the place in his anger, Roy had already told him what would happen if he ever did that again. And Ed certainly didn't want to be kicked to the dog house.
0-----------------0
That day in Central was rather pleasant, Roy thought. The sun was shining and birds were chirping, and Edward Elric hadn't shown up yet. Edward Elric not showing up was always a toss between very good and very bad. If he was off on a mission, it was good because Roy knew where he was. On the other hand, if the blond was expected to hand in a report and had yet to do so, it was very bad. In fact, Edward sometimes scared Roy.
A commotion in the hallway pulled his attention from the paperwork on his desk. He hadn't been working, of course, only staring blankly as he daydreamed. About Edward, as usual. A dark eyebrow lifted as the commotion moved closer to his office door. Havoc had just stood up to investigate when the door opened, and in rushed one very flushed Edward Elric and one very entertained Alphonse Elric.
Roy blinked. Better make that one very flushed and red Edward Elric. The room was deadly silent as the Fullmetal Alchemist stood rigid near the door (conveniently blocked by the younger Elric) with fists clenched and an incredibly vivid show of pure rage and embarrassment staining his face.
Breda was the first to crack. He fell back, chair and all, as he cackled and snorted. Havoc's toothpick fell out of his mouth as his jaw hung in shock, and Falman dropped his folders. Hawkeye stared with wide, shocked eyes before quickly recovering, shaking her head and chuckling lightly. Fuery sputtered, hands covering his mouth in a frantic attempt to keep from bursting with laughter, though he visibly shook with the effort.
And Roy mimicked Hawkeye. He stared in shock before he chuckled loudly. He set his pen down and covered his mouth with one hand, bending over his desk in an attempt to calm down, but he only succeeded in laughing harder.
"I'm so glad SOMEONE is enjoying themselves!" Ed snarled. He stood dressed from head to tow in a large red lobster suit.
"F-fullmetal," Roy attempted after a minute. "What... what..." Roy made the mistake of looking up at Edward, and once again burst with laughter. The blond flushed a darker shade of red and growled, clenching his fists tighter than he thought possible. Roy coughed several times. "Fullmetal," he tried again. "What exactly are you doing in that... costume?"
Edward crossed his arms and glared back at Al, choosing to ignore the question. "Are you happy now!?" The younger blond grinned and nodded.
"Very."
"Good!" Ed shoved past his little brother and stormed down the hall once again. Laughter and shock followed him down the hall, and as soon as he'd left the office, Roy broke down once again. Al collapsed on the couch, holding his sides as he cackled.
After a good fifteen minutes, the office resettled itself and Roy cleared his throat. "Alphonse." The younger Elric hopped to his feet and saluted, still grinning. "What was this particular escapade about?"
"You see, sir," Alphonse bounced on the balls of his feet a little, "I made a bet with Nii-san. In a chess match between you and Nii-san, I bet that he would lose. And if he did lose, he had to do anything I wanted." Roy smirked, and Al grinned wider. "Nii-san doesn't pay much attention to things, so I knew he would lose."
"I am rather good at chess," Roy agreed, nodding.
"You have three contest trophies!"
Havoc coughed over a laugh. "The boss agreed to a chess match when the General has trophies?" Again, Al grinned.
"Like I said, Nii-san isn't that perceptive of things around him all the time."
Roy chuckled again. "Alphonse, you scare me sometimes." The blond grinned. "Well, that experience was the life of our week. It's a shame we'll only have our memories." The evil glint in Alphonse's eyes made one of Roy's eyebrows jump toward his hairline. "Alphonse?"
Innocently, the youngest Elric pulled out a handful of Polaroids and waved them toward Roy. In each, Edward glared furiously, blushing as red as the lobster suit and ready to murder the younger Elric.
"Definitely scare me sometimes." Roy smirked.
0-----------------0
That night was pleasantly warm as Roy walked to his front door, took out his key and unlocked it. He re-locked the door once inside and removed first his shoes, then his coat. In his living room, the younger Elric lay on the couch, asleep and guarding the Polaroids with his life. Roy chuckled quietly as he slid a blanket over the young man. He watched him for a minute before shaking his head in disbelief and leaving Alphonse to sleep.
Up in his room, Roy found all of the lights off and a small form huddled chin-deep under the blankets. He ignored the form and wandered to his bathroom, where he undressed from his uniform and prepared for bed. When he returned to his room, the form hadn't moved and Roy thought that, maybe, Edward was asleep. He didn't blame the blond, after the day the elder Elric had.
But as he climbed under the blankets, the form turned around to glare at him from just above several layers of fabric. Roy smiled gently. "I thought you were asleep."
"The brat is asleep. How could I sleep after today?" Ed replied, muffled.
Roy chuckled and shifted until he was comfortable. "You really should be more perceptive about things, Edward. Especially when a bet is involved."
The Fullmetal glowered at Roy. "It's your fault for being so damn good at everything."
"Good at everything, hm." Roy slipped one hand beneath the covers to find Ed's, and laced fingers with the blond's flesh hand. "Not everything, Ed."
"That's just what you want us to believe." An amused sound replied, and Ed squeezed Roy's hand. "I'll never live that down."
"No, I suppose not." Roy agreed. "Especially with those pictures that Al is guarding down there. But it will eventually become just a fond memory." Roy smiled, and pulled the blanket away from Ed's face with his free hand, cupping the blond's cheek. "Did you know, Edward, that your little bet made a lot of people happy today? For many of us, that's a good thing. I know you've certainly made my week." Ed smiled slightly, an embarrassed flush growing over the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah, but-" Roy interrupted him with a light kiss.
"Go to sleep, Edward. Tomorrow is a new day. Maybe you'll think of some way to get Al back." Ed snorted at that, but consented and closed his eyes, lightly resting his automail on Roy's hip.
"Love you, bastard."
Roy smiled and lightly kissed Edward once more, before relaxing back and drifting off for much needed rest in a rather eventful day.
xD Whee exactly an hour and it's done! So uh... I wanted to write a short story. And asked my best friend for one word. Well... she gave me one, and I didn't know what to do with it. But, obviously, an idea hit me. Hope you enjoyed!
I must ew at ff.n's system... this totally sucks xD