Why do you all hate Elliot? Oh, wait, stupid question...forget I asked.


"Shopping?" Ed asked, looking up from his breakfast (PANCAKES!).

"Yup." Rei said. "We need to buy tou a tux for the wedding if you're going to be Best Man. Plus, Winry and I have to get dresses. The wedding IS in two days."

"We'll have to find something for Al, too." Winry pointed out. "I don't think he owns a lot of clothes. Didn't you wear that shirt yesterday?" Al blushed.

"I washed it!" He protested.

"Why do I need a tux? I'm best man, not the groom." Ed turned back to his pancakes.

"I told you we were going out today. You said you'd come. We might as well make sure you look good for the wedding." Rei said. "Now hurry up and finish your breakfast."

"I'll do the dishes, Rei." Elliot said. "You did them last night, plus I see you still have some persuading to do."

"Thanks, Elliot. You're really so thoughtful." She said, kissing his cheek and turning back to Ed. "Now, are you coming or not?"

Ed was silent for a few moments, then sighed, knowing he was beat. "Whatever."

"Thanks, Ed." Rei said with a smile. "Because if you didn't dress up for my uncle's wedding, I'm not the only one who would strangle you."


"I found my tux three hours ago." Ed muttered. "How come it takes girls so frickin' long to choose a dress?"

"Well, it does have to be Light Blue." Elliot said. "Riza chose that color herself. Plus, dresses are a lot more complicated than tuxes. All those beads...and stuff...I really don't know, Ed. Why can't they try on dresses faster?" He sighed and slumped down in his seat.

"Well, that's one thing all men have in common." Al pointed out. "We all hate how long women take with clothes."

There was a three-man sigh.

"Okay! We're ready to show you the next one!" Winry called.

"Just get on with it!" Ed growled impatiently. Both girls came out wearing the same dress. (purposely).

It was Periwinkle, of course. It was floor length, strapless, with a sparkle or two here and there, rather simple but with a swirly, Marilyn Monroe feeling.

All three men were totally speechless. Winry and Rei were so dazzling that they would have lit a dark alley.

"Uh..." Ed tried.

"It's..." Elliot attempted.

"Stunning!" Al blurted out. "Absolutely STUNNING!"

"Beautiful!" Elliot said, finding his voice.

"Breathtaking." Ed added. "Now let's buy them and get out of here. I'm starved."

"I think we found the dresses, Winry."

"Yep. Usually they would say 'Uhn' if they didn't like it."

They paid for the dresses and decided to get something to eat, cause Ed's complaining had made them all hungry. Elliot picked out a small cafe for them to have lunch in. The silence between Ed and Elliot, however, had not lifted.

"So..." Rei searched for something Ed and Elliot had in common. "Elliot, didn't you say you knew alchemy?" Ed looked up from his food for a moment at Elliot.

"You know Alchemy?" He asked.

"Well, Just a bit. I've never even considered myself good enough to try and be a state alchemist, though. I do respect them greatly, though. You and Rei are amazing, becoming State Alchemists at such young ages." Elliot said.

"What's your major in alchemy? Any particular element?" Ed asked, suddenly interested.

"Well, I am pretty good with water." Elliot said. "I make ice sculptures for a living, you see. Alchemy just makes my job a whole lot easier."

"Ice sculptures, huh?"

"Yep. If anyone here has a birthday, a wedding, a funeral, a party...anything, and they want a ice sculpture, they come to me. I only make rough outlines with alchemy, though. All the details I do by hand. I even made one for the wedding on Saturday."

"That's cool, I guess." Ed turned back to his potato salad.

"Do you have a major?" Elliot asked him, determined to not let the conversation die.

"Nah. I just do whatever I need to do to get myself out of trouble. Most of the time I'm creating doors to escape a freaky church or turning chains into a rod so I can fight of a homocidal murderer." Ed said casually. Elliot paled a bit and looked at Rei. She gave him a look.

"Wow...You sure have an...interesting life then." He said.

"More like dangerous. Man, was I pissed when Mustang assigned Rei as my partner. I just knew something bad was going to happen to her. And it did." He chomped on a peice of steak and watched Elliot's reaction. He was surprised when he turned to Rei.

"You got hurt in battle?" He asked. Rei blinked.

"Yeah. I thought I told you. Didn't I?" Rei asked.

"No, as a matter of fact you didn't. What happened?"

"Oh, well, we were fighting the guys who had kidnapped Winry and one of them stabbed me in the side. See, here's the scar." She showed him a barely visible scar on her side just below where her midriff stopped. Elliot blinked.

"Hmm. You think I would've noticed that." Ed spit out his soda when he heard the comment.(Ooooh he's so dirty-minded)

"S-sorry...it's just...nevermind." Ed wiped up the backwash on the table and stood up. "I'm full. I'm just gonna wait outside." Ed left his part of the bill on the table and hurried out side. He sat on the edge of the fountain in the middle of the square of shops and restaraunts.

"I know I told her i'd get to know him, but it's just so HARD." Ed muttered to himself. "Things were fine until he said THAT, which reminded me they were dating." He sighed.

"Well, I'll be. The Colonel was telling the truth. Elric really is back." Ed looked up and saw Havoc standing there, his trademark cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Havoc! Been a while, huh? You still haven't managed to quit smoking?" Ed laughed to get his mind of Rei.

"Nah, I tried. Sheska says if I don't quit soon she's gonna dump me. We're going out now, you know."

"Congrats. Just make sure she doesn't read your diary. She could recreate any part of it and use it against you."

"It's a JOURNAL not a DIARY." Havoc insisted. "Hey, what's up? You look glum. Ooooohhhh this is about Elliot isn't it?"

"How'd you...? Look I--"

"Hawkeye told me this morning. Oh, yeah, and I hate you for stealing my postion as best man...okay i'm over it. Spill."

"There's nothing to say."

"Alright alright. Just to let you know, the whole office is on your side. We never liked Elliot."

"Why not?" Ed asked curiously.

"There's just something wrong with that kid. We never really knew what it was, but he's always seemed weird to us. Well, I gotta go back to the office. My lunch break's just about over. Seeya, Edward!" and with that, Havoc strolld away, whistling showtunes and lighting another cigarette.

"What is it that makes the military dislike Elliot?" Ed wondered aloud. "Whatever it is, I'm gonna find out."


Oooooooooh cliffhanger wheeeeeeee!

Is Elliot bad? Is he good? Is he EVIL? Who knows! Even I don't know! No, seriously, I haven't thought that far ahead.

NO REVIEWS, NO NEW CHAPTER!!!!!