Circle Game

"Fullmetal, I'm not sure this is such a great idea..."

Edward rolled his eyes and grasped tightly onto Roy's sleeve, tugging him past milling bodies and chattering children. "Would you just relax? Have fun for once, you humorless bastard."

Roy frowned and stood up straighter. Humorless? He found many things amusing! Take Edward, for example, and the way the boy was eyeing the elephant ear stand with drool sparkling at the corners of his mouth. Now that was amusing, if not a little unsettling.

Edward looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I'm getting one of those. You want one?"

Roy tossed a worried look down at his waistline. As appetizing as the fried and sugared dough looked, he was getting to that age where he couldn't eat just anything anymore. "I'll pass," he replied drolly and returned to looking around worriedly.

All these damned people in such closed quarters! There were thick electrical cords on the ground just threatening to trip him and small children ricocheted off of his legs like pinballs. It was just too much activity. His hand dipped unconsciously into his pocket and grasped at a glove.

Edward turned around, glowered at him and slapped his hand. "You're being ridiculous. Relax! It's a carnival. I bet it's been years since you've been to one!"

It was true. Roy seemed to remember he and Maes rather enjoying them in their younger days. They'd take all the pretty girls on the Ferris wheels and they'd feed them cotton candy before sneaking behind the grandstand and letting their hands wander up smooth skin, under flimsy blouses.

Edward probably had a very different nostalgia for carnivals. The boy was shooting his short-attention-span eyes from one ride to another, a sugary elephant ear hanging out of his mouth, and his hands rifling through his pockets to find his tokens.

"Come on the tilt-a-whirl with me!" he said, grabbing Roy's arm and dragging him again.

Roy stiffened. As fun as it seemed, his equilibrium wasn't what it once was. "I'll have to decline on this one. Why don't you take your brother?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "He's off necking somewhere with Winry. Come on. It'll be fun."

Roy hadn't come to Rizenbul to attend some carnival. He had come to gather up his subordinate and drag him back to the office. "No."

A long-suffering sigh escaped Edward's lips. Somehow, he'd already inhaled his fried dough. "Fine. The Ferris wheel, then?"

Roy frowned. He supposed that would be okay. "Fine."

Edward's face brightened and he dropped Roy's arm. "I just want to get some cotton candy first."

Roy shook his head and glanced down at the younger man's narrow waist. He must be hiding a black hole in there.

When they were secured in the seat, maybe a bit too close for the colonel's comfort, Edward turned hopeful eyes to the older man. He held up his stick of cotton candy. "Want some?"

Roy frowned. Was the boy trying to fatten him up? "No, thank you, Fullmet-"

"Just eat the fucking cotton candy!" the younger man said, swiping a finger through the fluffed sugar and shoving it in Roy's mouth.

Thin, shocked lips involuntarily closed around the narrow digit and wide eyes stared into wide eyes. Maybe his tongue made an extraneous swirl around the finger, making sure to get all the cotton candy, he really wasn't sure. He might have suckled for a moment longer than necessary, never taking his eyes off the other's, but it was hard to tell.

Edward smirked and Roy averted his eyes in a near-bashful manner. He was older, true. But maybe he wasn't too old for cotton candy and Ferris wheels, after all.