Edward Elric did a lot of things; swearing was high on this list. It had been two years since he'd lost his eyesight and been tossed out of the military on his ass and he was still breaking things.
"Damnit," he shouted as he hurled a broken piece of the vase that had once been on the table before him. It shatterd against the wall with a satisfying sound and he flopped down onto the floor. He'd grown used to not seeing. After spending so much time with Izumi, trusting his other senses was easy. He rarely missed his plate when eating or tripped over the tub when getting out of the shower. However, he did hit that one table all the time. He'd tried moving it to a different place. He'd even put it outside and yet he still managed to trip over it no matter where it was. Eventually he'd given up and just put if back in the front room where it would be useful; if somewhat hazardous.
The doorbell rang and he let out another string of curses as he picked himself up off the floor to open the door. The ringing continued. "I'm coming, I'm coming," he yelled at the person on the other side of the door.
He stopped and pulled out a pair of thin, dark glasses and slipped them on his face before wrenching the door open and greeting his unwanted guest. "What."
He heard a small shuffling, like coat sleeves brusing against something and then a tentative voice. "Fullmetal?"
Silence met the others question and Ed shook his head. He knew that voice. He'd spent so many years listening to it bitch at him that even with two years of no contact with it's owner, he'd still know it in his sleep.
"No ones called me that in years, Mustang."
The dark haired man cringed at the venom in the other's voice and he fidgetted with the coat sleeves. Nothing made him nervous, except his ex-subordinate.
"May I come in?"
Ed frowned but nodded and stood out of the way to let him in.
Roys eyes scanned the house and he smiled a little. It was nice, the walls were a soft blue and the carpet was cream colored. The furnitue was modest and surprisingly, not leather. There was a tipped table and what looked like a fresh water stain on the far wall. He raised an eyebrow at that. That must have been the crashing sound he'd heard on his way up the sidewalk.
The door clicked shut drawing him out of his thoughts and back to the blonde whose house he was in.
"Take a seat," the other offered and Roy found himself being steered toward a soft brown couch.
"Thanks."
Edward shrugged and sat in a chair opposite of him. He was very glad for the setup of his home right now. The room was set in a pattern that Ed had memorized to make it easy to avoid hitting anything. The last person he wanted to make a mess in front of was this man.
"What brings you here..."
"Oh, well, I have a favor to ask you, Fullmetal."
"It's Ed now. What do you want, Mustang? Just spit it out." His lips had formed a frown. Having his once superior officer here was bringing up memories he prefered to keep hidden and locked away somewhere. This was not the way he had imagined starting the new year.
"I need you to teach me how to preform alchemy without a circle."
The blonde opened his mouth to say something then closed it again, doing a fair impression of a fish he did this a few more times before shaking his head.
"...Ed?"
"No. I can't teach you that. I don't practice Alchemy anymore."
"Ed, I know that's a lie."
The younger man turned sharply. "Have you been watching me, Mustang?"
The silence said it all and he sighed. "Still a bastard I see." He reached up and ran a hand through his loose hair. He'd forgotten to put it up this morning in between getting breakfast and throwing a tantrum at the vase. "I can't teach you that and you know it. Even if I could I don't know if I would."
"Will you try at least? You're the only one who could help me with this."
Edward contemplated this for a second. Al could do it, but wasn't very likely to with his family being the biggest thing in his life. He'd do it but he wouldn't like it and neither would Winry. She hated Mustang more than enough already and didn't need to add him taking her husband away for hours at a time.
He sighed. "Why."
"Does it matter?"
"Yes. If you want me to try then you'll tell me why."
"Practical uses. I can fix anything I want to but it takes me so much time to draw a circle it's not even worth is. I shake so much anyway that it's almost impossible to get the lines perfect and I'm tired of having to do everything, other then start a fire, manually." His voice was soft and Ed could imagine the blush on his cheeks. The Flame Alchemist was feeling helpless, not something that happened often and it made Ed smile a little.
"Fine. I can try but I don't gurantee anything." Happy that the reason was nothing life threatening Ed could at least give the jerk that much. He hadn't heard a lie in the mans voice and he had helped them on their journey for so many years. Equivelant Exchange was catching up to him he supposed.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. It had his name and phone number on it. He passed it to the dark haired man. "Here, come by tomorrow afternoon and we'll get started. Bring a box of bottled water and a bag of garden soil. I'll be in the backyard at four o'clock waiting for you, don't be late, Colonel."
Roy took the card and smiled. It had some vegetables printed on it and then a name and number in the corner. He pulled out a pen and paper and wrote down his number and handed it to Ed. The other man took it and tilted his head at Roy. "It's funny that people write things down and give it to a blind man like he can see it."
His eyes widened and he stuttered out an apology. After a few moments Ed's face broke into a smile and he laughed. "That. Was fun." The grin grew wider as he stood.
Roy was still staring at him as he walked over to the phone and set the paper down next to it.
"Ed, I didn't even think about it, I'm sorry."
He laughed again. "Please, Mustang, I'm Edward Elric. If I wanted to read it I would."
With that cryptic statement he led the way to the door and said his goodbyes, a reminder of what to bring and the consequences of being late.