Chamber Two: Liquid Icebreaker

" I thought we were going out for dinner."

" We are."

Maes pushed open one of the steel double doors and ushered Roy inside. The thick cloud of accumalated cigarette smoke that behaved as the building's atmosphere rushed at the barely legal easterner.

He almost turned around but Maes caught him in his arms and buried his head in his chest. The smaller man looked up at him not bothering to hide his annoyance. " I may be new here, but I know for a fact that this is definetely a bar."

Maes' citrine eyes gave off a playful twinkle. " Yeah, but luckily for you, this also is the best place on this side of town to get a decent home cooked meal -god knows you need it- skin and bones."

He held up his captive's arm to prove his point.

Roy's rebuttal: A pair of scarlet cheeks, a glare that could've turned a volcano into an iceberg, and another attempt to push past his annoying captor.

Maes easily blocked again but this time he grabbed Roy by the wrist and led him over to the counter. He released the younger man and pulled out a chair. With fierce reluctance, Roy took his offer and swiftly sat down. Maes couldn't help but heave a sigh as he took his seat as well. A familiar bob of blonde hair caught his eye and he started to wave it down.

" Hey, Fran! Over here!"

The blonde man of about twenty answered the call and was quickly leaning over the counter to give Maes a friendly clasp on the shoulder. " Hey, what's up? Summer over already?"

Maes returned the gesture. "Yeah, just got here today to settle in my dorm. I've been unpacking all afternoon so I didn't have time to go to the photoshop," he reached into his jacket " but luckily-"

" Um, who's the kid?" The wise friend cut in. Well, maybe not that wise considering he was now receiving death glares from the so-called 'kid'.

" Oh, this is my roommate, Roy. Roy, this is Francis, the guy who's been suppling my drinks for the past couple of years." Maes grinned and gave his friend another friendly clasp on the shoulder.

His roommate however provided only a slight nod and a glance in the bartender's direction. Maes' grin dropped significantly. Fran returned the nod with a slightly more nervous demeanor and quickly asked Maes what he wanted to drink.

" Hmm, bring me a scotch and..." He looked over at his companion who seemed to completely lack interest in the task at hand and showed it by facing the other way. "... a glass of milk for my 'date'."

" Sure." Francis broke free of Maes' hand and quickly shuffled off to fulfill their drink orders.

Squinting his eyes, the taller man looked back over at his disgruntled date. The younger teen still paid him no mind.

" Y'know, it wouldn't kill ya to be just a little nicer to the person who takes you out for a free meal. "

" On the contrary, I believe the deal was that I help you put away all your crap and you'd treat me to dinner in return. You're not doing me any favor, Hughes, it's only fair."

Equivalant exchange. He should've known that the alchemy freak would shove that into his face one way or another.

" Besides, being a upperclassmen, it was very irresponsible of you to pack that much anyway. There was no way you could've finished all that unpacking by yourself in a reasonable amount of time."

" Well, I wouldn't say-"

" - which in turn would've affected me getting settled into the dorm. So, in a way, you trapped me into helping you, and offered the meal as a consolation prize- "

" Now, hold on, I-"

" Whether it was intended or not, Hughes, that's how it went down."

The blonde bartender finally returned with the beverages and Maes immediately picked his up before it reached the table and gulped the stinging liquid down his throat. He slammed the glass back down on the table immediately signaling Francis to issue another one.

The blonde looked at his friend with wide eyes but preceded to carry out his request. The next one he brought actually made it to the counter. Maes took a moment to study the contents, shuffle the ice a bit, and took a small sip. Fran pulled out his pad as to take his order but only got a muttered request for two specials. He then figured it was safe to tend to his other customers and left the frightening couple alone.

Roy stared down at his glass the way someone would look after a fly was discovered in their soup. " You've got to be kidding me."

An uncharacteristic sneer stretched across Maes' face. " Well, growing boys do need their milk. And as a responsible adult, I can't very well ignore your nutritional needs."

He was almost certain his roomy would smash the glass into the back of his skull but instead he continued to stare at the dairy product with obvious disgust.

During this time, Maes found himself once again studying the younger teen. He noticed the length of his mane that touched the nape of his neck. Long tendrils curtained his pale face but aburtly stopped at impossibly long lashes. 'Did the kid miss a haircut or something? Did he even cut it at all?' His eyes wandered down to the pair of gloves that hung out of the right pocket of his trench. 'What the hell are those for?' There were way too many questions arising about his strange bunkmate and the boy was not giving up the answers.

The outing was definetely going totally waywards from Hughes's original game plan. The whole reason Maes had thought of the dinner compromise was so he had an excuse for taking this stranger out to dinner. It would've been too weird to ask him straight out and he had hoped food and alcohol would loosen the tension that seemed to have been stuck between them like a storm cloud since they first locked eyes. Back at the dorm, even though Roy was helping him with his things, the barrier that had instantly separated them into considerably two dimensions of the same room remained as the younger man did not once make eye contact with him. When he'd ran out of room to store his clothing (as he predicted), Roy offered him his last 3 drawers (his own clothing had only taken up the first two). Maes thanked him though it seemed to be more of a gesture of praticality than generousity. When he rambled on about his own life hoping it would inspire Roy to give details about his, those jade eyes remained unmoved and those pale pink lips stayed closed.

And when their finger tips almost touched in the effort of reaching for a pair of shoes, the latter's creamy hand instinctively recoiled and reached for a pair of socks instead.

What was he- afraid of him?

The question was immediately cast aside when Roy pushed the offending liquid away and cut his eyes at Hughes.

" My nutritional needs are none of your concern. In any case, alcohol consumption is the very least of mine."

Ears perked and something mischievious flickered in those lime flavored eyes. Was that a challenge?

" Think you can hold your drink, kid?"

Unflinching, he replied; " It's you I'm worried about, old man."

Along with the comment came the ghost of a sly smirk that slid across the Xing's handsome features. Something about that action caused a slight pang in the elder teen's gut. ' Must be hunger. I hadn't eaten anything since I got off the train.' But a smaller voice told him otherwise and he quickly shook the thought away.

Once Francis made his way over to them with their food, Maes sent him off again for a bottle of scotch and another shot glass. The blonde's fushica eyes blinked at him oddly but without question he came back with the items, placed them between his two customers and was about to hurry off...

" Yo, Fran, we need you for a few."

A low groan. " For what?"

" Pour the drinks."

He did as he was told and looked from Roy to Maes as each of the young men picked up the glasses and held them to their lips.

" Seriously, Maes?"

Giving Roy a coy glance, Maes jeered to his friend; " No biggie, I just need to teach this boy a lesson about playing with grown-ups."


Half an hour later.

21 glasses... and the kid showed no signs of it.

Maes himself had only had fifteen and he could barely stand upright on the counter. How much alcohol was the lethal dose? As if it mattered, he couldn't possibly have another or risk passing out on the floor. He hadn't even touched his plate while Roy had snuffed at his but then nibbled away a good portion of it.

That snobby bastard was un-fucking-believable.

" Had enough, sensei?"

Sensei? What language was that? Hughes shook his head only making his slight dizziness completely overwhelm him.

" S-s-oooo, you've had a f-few-ew dw-rinks be-for b-i-ig del.." His forehead promptly hit the edge of the marble counter top.

And once again, another plan of his failed. Usually getting information from a drunk was like draining water from a faucet, but the kid had not allowed one defense to fall and it was Maes who ended up wasted and sprewing like moron.

It was Francis who finally ended the pitiful battle and called match in Roy's favor. A defeated Hughes pulled out his crumbled bills for the tab and tried with great valor to get up. Needless to say, he failed in his attempt.

" Hm... if I remember correctly, you said you were going to teach me a lesson? Well, lesson learned for today, if you can't hold your drink, please refrain from challenging your better. Now, are we going home or not?"

A huge groan was released from the older teen and his words were muffled. " Alright, smartass. No one's exactly stopping you from walking there yourself."

" Well, being the responsible adult in this case, I assume it would be your job to lead us home."

Another groan.

" After all, what kind of respectable upperclassmen lets his freshman classmate go around town in the middle of the night without the slightest clue of where he's going?"

Fed up with his taunts, Hughes decided it was time to go before he was charged with first degree murder. His next attempt to get up, ended with him tripping over the bar stool and nearly slamming his head against the counter. Out of the horde laughs that ensured from spectating eyes, he could've sworn he heard a light chuckle emit from the stone cold figure beside him.

But he had to be hearing things, right?

-

Sometime later, they managed to make it back to the dorm unscathed.

Not bothering to remove his glasses or any of his clothing, Hughes fell onto his now empty bunk save for the appropiate bedding. He called out a cheerful goodnight but only got the slam of a bathroom door in response.

There was no way this day happened. There was no way he actually had to share a room with that... for a whole year?!

Whoever this Mustang character was, he had major social issues.

Living with this guy was going to be a challenge, but if Maes Hughes was anything, that was determined. And one way or another, he was going to crack the code of Roy Mustang, even if it took all semester.

Chamber Two: Liquid Icebreaker; Hughes' First Attempt at Penetration. Failed.


Hm, I wonder if I made Roy frosty enough. I thought it would be ironic for a character who deals with fire to have an ice queen complex. You did see the irony, right? (audience gives blank stares) O... kay. If you were wondering about the use of japanese, I wanted to make Mustang seem as exotic as possible and I wasn't exactly sure what a Xing country's language would be. So I went with what came natural (well, semi-natural) to me. (audience still stares blankly) N... nevermind.

I love opinions especially when they belong to other people. Onegai, read and review and give me yours. Arigatou.

Aishiteru,

Ranma Matsuri