Much thanks to Amanda for reading over this. I love her dearly.

And ah! Thanks to all for the reviews. The support brings me lots of joy.

As a sidenote, I would have updated sooner if my Grandmother were not in the hospital and I was not ill. Fortunately, she is out, but I'm still feeling a little under the weather, but I managed to present you all with this -grins.

Warnings - Mild Swearing, Light-hearted drinking.

Disclaimer. I own nothing. Except one day, I will own Ken'ichi Matsuyama. Oh yes, I will.

Operation Vivacity
Chapter III

But when the time comes that a man has had his dinner, then the true man comes to the surface. –Mark Twain

Edward was currently copying a list of formulas down from one of the books he had been reading. His eyes would trail to the book and then back to the list, making sure he had correctly jotted down. He couldn't help but internally groan at his handwriting. He tried to make it legible enough for even him to read, but he couldn't half the time. Many a time he had been asked by Colonel Mustang what something was, and couldn't help but feel embarrassment at his own lack of response. He honestly had no idea himself. He suddenly flipped his scrap of paper with the formulas on it over, and proceeded to slow down and try to write neatly.

He slowed himself, trying to properly form an A and a K as best as he could. Those always ended up looking like a mixture of other letters, and were spawning their very own alphabet.

Ah yes, Elriform is what he would call it.

When Roy Mustang arrived to his house, he casually tucked his mail under his left arm which was carrying a bag in one hand, and a neatly packaged boxed in the other. In the bag was a variety of food he had picked up from the Xingian restaurant and in the box was a dessert he was almost positive the boy would adore. He really wanted the boy to like him, for many reasons. It would make their working relationship a bit better, and now living together, perhaps they could even become closer, friendly terms would be a nice thing to see develop.

"Tadaima," (1) Roy said with a tone of amusement in his voice. He poked his head through the doorway of the study, and seeing Ed, he smiled

"I've got dinner. Want to join?"

Ed huffed, but gave a crooked nod, which wasn't exactly a clear indication of accepting or declining. The boy was kind of crooked in everything he did, apparently. He puzzled the older man a fair amount, and he could only wonder what was tumbling around in that head of his. What could possibly be going under the mass of messy blonde hair? The more he thought about it, the easier it was decide that he honestly, just did not want to know.

Roy shrugged and headed towards the kitchen, setting the bags onto the counter before going upstairs to change. The uniform was a bit too stuffy for his liking. He would rather be comfortable while enjoying his dinner, not sweltering. Just how did Edward Elric manage to stay in all those layers? He was in his own little cocoon. Maybe it was a personal issue, something to do with personal space or something. Hopefully he'd come out of his shell and stop driving him crazy.

Alphonse, upon hearing the arrival of Roy, decided to go downstairs and further force his brother to be mannerly and civil if possible.

He knew it was a bigif, but there's nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it, right?

"It won't kill you to be nice at dinner."

"It'd be a shame if it did. Fullmetal Alchemist, Hero of the People, dead at 16 due to traumatizing dinner experien—

"You're hopeless, brother."

"I believe not. I'd just rather keep my dignity."

"By forcing me to have to sit with you at dinner all the time just to make sure you are well behaved? You'll never get a date at this rate."

"IT'S NOT A DATE!"

"I never said this was a date, Francie."

"I'm going to start making a list of reasons why I keep you around, just to remind me not to kill you."

"Brother—"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I'm hungry. I wonder what the bastard got."

"Whatever it is that Roy got will be fine and you'll be thankful."

Ed rolled his eyes and put up the book he was reading, and tucked the scraps of paper and pen into his pocket from his earlier attempts at improving the legibility of his writings. He walked towards the kitchen, (actually, his brother was lightly kicking the heels of his feet to make them move in a walking manner), and eyed the bags.

Roy was enjoying watching the interaction between the boys as they continued their banter in the kitchen, taking guesses at what was in the bag, acting as though it was the mystery of the century. Though, he did note Edward's eating habits, so it could very possibly be a case in dire need of solving for the boy. He was probably starving because he didn't eat breakfast, (or that much of it), and he had caught no traces of cooking or eating of any sort in the kitchen.

This kid was good at being aloof and sticking to the refusal to take part in anything that was "Roy Mustang", and apparently that included his food.

Strange kid, really.

"It's Xingian food, if you're wondering."

"What's that?" Ed spoke, interested after hearing the word "food" and a possible explanation to the mystery he was trying to crack.

"It's food from Xing. And yes, all the food is dairy-free."

Ed's eyes lit up, automatically. Ah yes, that had to be a keyword to making the boy happy. Dairy-free. Perhaps, one day, he could find out the reasoning behind his loathing for products dairy. Being a boy from the country, it struck him as odd—

"Well are you going to stand there for forever, or are you going to serve me, Colonel shit?"

"Atta boy," Alphonse thought sardonically before swiftly jerking on the boy's hair.

"Ow! Godda—Okay, fine. When are we going to eat in perfect harmony, dearest Colonel whom I respect with every fiber of my being."

Roy smirked through and through.

"I believe we can dine now, Edward."

"Woah. We're not on a first name basis, bas—"

Yank.

"…Colonel."

Alphonse would be damned if he would let his older brother get away with trying to hide the well mannered boy he well, was at one point in time. The sudden change in him had to be hormonal, or something he probably didn't really want to know about. He had had enough experience with his brother to know sometimes, it was better not to ask. For instance, when he heard screaming coming from within the bathroom, it was only to declare he was growing hair in some regions that Alphonse certainly did not want to see, but was scarred with a visual none the less.

Once Roy opened the containers for serving along the island in his kitchen, Edward eyed the steaming chicken, vegetables, beef, and rice which were displayed before him. He had to be completely honest with himself. The old man did well, because nothing looked unappetizing to him. It was like heaven was displayed before his very eyes. He started spooning out rice and an assortment of things out of the other containers that he saw. Once satisfied that his plate was filled with enough food, he hurried into the dining room and sat down.

"Do you want some wine with dinner?" Roy crooned out from the kitchen.

Edward dropped the fork that was about to reach his mouth and dropped it on the plate.

"Uh, isn't that an alcoholic drink? I mean, I am only 16—"

"It's a dinner wine Ed, and you probably won't get drunk off of one glass. It'll be just enough to make you feel a bit warm."

Edward sat there, thinking about the proposition. He looked through the French doors that were between the kitchen and dining room and watched Roy proportion and distribute his food evenly across the plate. He walked over to his cabinet—but wait. Yes, Ed finally noticed it. Roy Mustang was not in a uniform, but rather a white dress shirt and some black slacks. The man looked different when he wasn't in the bulky uniform. It was easy to see he was quite slender, but not scrawny so to say. When the man turned around with a bottle of wine and two glasses in his hands, he noticed the top of his shirt was not buttoned to the top, but rather 4 buttons or so were not fastened, which freely revealed ivory skin. Heat rose to his own cheeks once he realized he was observing the man a bit too closely for his own liking.

Or perhaps it is for your own liking…

Ed hushed himself mentally as Roy placed the bottle in the center of the table and a glass beside of the blonde's plate, and then in his spot that was assumed where he would be dining. After he brought the plate in and sat down across from Edward.

"So, Edward, what did you find to do today?" Roy said, balancing a small forkful of rice in front of his mouth.

Ed, whose cheeks were currently stuffed with chicken and rice, simply shrugged at the older man.

"I read a bit."

"I see. Did you find anything interesting?" Roy then gestured to the bottle of wine. "May I?"

"Yeah, there were some good books on alchemy that I hadn't seen before, and I guess. but I've never had wine before though..."

Alphonse watched the interaction between the two, and was so far pleased that Edward was attempting to be polite. Maybe it was settling in that the man was kind and not the 'bastard' which Edward claimed him to be. Then again, Edward was a fastidious boy, thus he was simply waiting for something to allow him to nag at the man. Though…Roy was…serving him wine?

Oh dear.

Roy was highly amused at the boy in front of him. When he began eating with the boy, he was a bit tense and reluctant to give a full answer. Though, with each sip of wine the boy took, his answers were extended a couple of words. Before long, he would probably know the entire life story of his current dinner companion. With his crooked smiles and laughs, it became clear. The boy was, without doubt, jolly.

Though some small fragments of rice that were caught on his lip humored him greatly, which were in great contrast to the freckles that were spread across his nose and cheeks, which right now, were slightly flushed.

Perhaps this boy was getting a little more than warm.

When they finished their plates, Roy took them into the kitchen with him and brought back the small box which contained their dessert. Edward focused as best he could on the box and decided that it contained something good. Roy opened it and inside were candies that were white with a pecan on top.

"It's called Divinity."

Edward reached forward and picked one up, bringing it to his mouth. His teeth grazed the surface before they sank into the white confectionary, and upon the first few chews, it happened.

Roy watched the kid's face contort. At first it was as though he was enjoying it, but the more he chewed, the more he saw the expression change, and all the power from his expression went directly to his mouth.

Oh yes, that boy could spit.

Luckily for him, he dodged the half chewed candy as it flew past his head and stuck to a painting on the wall.

"What the fuck are you trying to do, kill me?" Edward eyed where the candy had made its new home and decided to add, "At least it landed on that shitty painting. You shouldn't have wasted your money on that."

Roy only raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"Edward…I didn't buy that?"

"What, you stole it?"

Roy shook his head and laughed, "No, I painted it."

Alphonse watched his brother run from the dining room, out through the kitchen, up the stairs, and he heard a bedroom door slamming and locking. Apparently, the boy had done something dreadful, and he decided to look into it. Roy was simply sitting back and sipping on his wine, along with taking small bites of what appeared to be dessert. He first checked around the floor and table for any spills that may have occurred, and he saw nothing. When he looked at Roy, the man simply waved his hand behind him, motioning at the painting.

Al walked over to it, and saw a splatter of half chewed candy sticking to it. He noted that the painting was very nice, and out of curiosity, checked the signature.

Yes, he was going to kill his older brother.

"I'm so sorry that brother did that to your painting."

"Ah, you know, it actually looks like a nice finishing touch. A bit nonconventional for my own work, but not in a bad way I suppose."

"Roy—"

"Don't worry. He's been embarrassed enough for one night. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to clean up from dinner and take care of some things in the study. Feel free to join me in the study later. Perhaps we could play a game of chess or something?"

Alphonse was delighted with the invitation and gladly accepted. Maybe the two of them would be able to discuss their little blonde quandary.

"You open with a knight?"

"I did when brother and I played chess when we were little…"

"Your brother surely seems a bit odd lately."

"It's probably a teenager thing…"

"So it seems. He was fine until he spit the candy out and it stuck to my painting."

"Did he know it was yours?"

"I told him after his candy landed on it, yes."

"Hmm. I think I may have an idea, but I don't want to jump to such strange conclusions," Alphonse said quietly.

"Oh?"

"It's nothing Colonel. Perhaps it's just something that we'll all find out in time."

He understood what was going on in the boy's mind already. But he needed to play it safe. There was no reason for him to act on the implications of what the Fullmetal Alchemist was thinking about, but rather let things play out and take their own course. Suspicions would either be confirmed or left alone in the next week. Not saying that Roy might not give a little nudge to the boy much younger than himself, but he was up for a challenge. Oh yes, he knew exactly what the youngest Elric had been implying by this conversation and conversations before. Roy was many things, and stupid was not one of them.

"Checkmate," Al said, victoriously.

Roy simply smirked.

"Good job."

When Roy finally was getting ready for bed that night, he noted a small card beside the table. He picked it up and flipped it open. In very neat manuscript he read,

"Thank you for dinner.

& I'm truly sorry about your painting. I like it a lot and I didn't want to ruin it.

E."

Just as Roy had thought, some things would start bubbling up to the surface before long. The boy was now emerging from his shell little by little, and with enough work, the cocooned boy would surely become something that would change Roy Mustang for what would be an eternity.

(1) - Tadaima is a Japanese phrase meaning "I'm home"

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