Disclaimer: I don't own...Willing to marry into the family though.

Roy's dialog belongs to ZaKai. Be sure to check out Roy's POV for his side of this via my profile XD

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Chapter 04

Ed frowned at the papers in his hand. He payed little attention to his surroundings as he traversed the hallways of Central HQ, trying to sort out a very pressing matter. Flipping through the small pile, Ed wiggled a sheet from the rest, placed it on top, and began to mutter to himself as he studied the page. Shaking his head at his notes, he ran a frustrated hand though his already messy bangs, and scowled at the paper.

Edward turned down the hallway on auto-pilot towards the North Central Library. He shuffled through the stack again and pulled out another sheet of paper, comparing it to the top most sheet on his notes as he went. He scowled at the page, and then rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, he stopped dead, remembering that he had a self-appointed appointment. Ed pulled on his chain and clicked open his watch. Cursing savagely under his breath, he spun around, and jogged back the way he had come.

Sliding to a stop outside his destination, with a slight skidding of his boots on the polished floor, Ed quickly tucked the papers in his black dress coat—which he'd taken to wearing it since it was so cold outside, and it offered more insulation against the frigid temperatures. Reaching into his other pocket he took out a pad of paper and a pencil before approaching the girl working at behind the switch board desk. His nosy appearance had not gone unnoticed.

"Hey, ladies, look who's here!" a pretty brunette called over her shoulder, being the first to notice Edward approach.

"Who?" asked a small red head, coming around from behind the status board to see who had come.

"I wanna see!" a youngish voice called out as well. A buxom dark-haired woman followed taking in the visitor.

Trying to fight off the blush that was threatening to sweep across his face, Ed made his feet move to the desk.

"OH! Fullmetal! What can we do for you, honey?" the red head asked, leaning on the counter with her hand and smiling suggestively. She hooked her finger at him beckoning him closer with a small smirk.

Smiling at her nervously, Ed placed his pad on the counter. "Hi...um...I was wondering if you...ladies...could help me with a project."

The brunette leaned into the counter with her hip and smiled. "I wonder what type of project he has in mind that would involve three sexy ladies, hmm?" This sent the other two into twittering laughter, causing Ed to blush at the innuendo.

"Ooh! I hope he's going to ask us all to participate," giggled the red head.

Ed laughed mechanically, fighting the desire to run from here, which would only make it worse.

The dark-haired woman leaned on the counter with her elbows, framing her amble assets for him to see. "I bet he likes big girls best, don't you hot stuff?" she purred suggestively.

"Uh...well, um, ladies...? I was hoping that you could...um...tell me about some of Mustang's..." Ed could feel the sweat trickling down his spine. He was going to die from mortification, he knew it. Damn it! Bloody fucking Mustang. "What I mean is--"

"Oooh! Are you going to play a prank on the colonel?" the brunette asked, suddenly excited.

"Yeah, the scuttlebutt around base is that you do that quite often," the buxom woman said, grinning evilly.

"The colonel is hot," the red head said wishfully.

"I think Fullmetal's pretty hot too," the brunette said, making her voice light and teasing as she smiled, leaning over the counter to tap Ed's nose.

"Uh, yeah." Leaping onto their misinterpretation, Ed launched into his spiel. "So, I wanna know everything about Mustang and what he does on his dates for my prank." He picked up his pencil and looked expectantly at the three woman, who matched his wide grin. "Where he takes women, what he says...everything."

Half an hour later, Ed was making his way back to the library. The women hadn't reveled anything he hadn't already learned. It seemed that Roy had not demonstrated any preferences of his own when taking out a date, preferring to tailor the experience to the person he was courting at the time. Which meant more work for him. Ed made a guttural sound, and glared down the hall. Why did Roy have to be so damn hard to fucking read? This was torture plain and simple, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could take this.

Making his way to his usual table in the very back of the library reserved for alchemists, Ed plopped down in his seat, making the pine chair creak under his weight. The table's surface was already covered with his other research; some pertaining to on going research into clandestine uses for alchemy, and the rest, his investigative work on Roy. Pulling his papers from his jacket pocket, he began to try and sort out a pattern that might give him a clue about what Roy would want for a date. Not as easy a task as he first thought.

Leaning heavily on the table top with his elbows, Ed cradled his head in his hands. Staring at his papers, he thrust out his bottom lip. Three weeks of Roy avoiding him and sending him bizarre signals that he didn't know what to make of, plus lack of sex was starting to make him rush to finalize his plans. He couldn't stand another week of this hell. He only hoped that Roy's strange behavior wasn't an indication of his waning interest in him.

Leaning on the table he began to draw a digram of all the similar things Roy had done in the past. Suddenly, a pair of hands blocked out the library and its surroundings.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" cursed Ed, jumping in fright, making the table rattle as his thighs bounced off of it. His hands flew up to pull at the arms, and he twisted in his chair to see who startled him so badly. Roy's grinning face hovered over him.

With a flick of the wrist, Roy reversed Ed's hold on him and pulled Ed around in the chair so that his back pressed against the edge of the table awkwardly. Ed's eyes widened as Roy claimed his lips in a demanding kiss, leaving Ed to try and keep up.

"Roy?" mumbled Ed around Roy's mouth.

"I didn't know you liked it rough..." murmured Roy.

Ed yanked his hands away from Roy's grasp, and at the same time tried to push him away. He didn't want Roy to see his notes! Smirking at him, Roy reached down to quickly fondle his groin before moving away. Fuck, Roy is such a bloody tease, cursed Ed, his groin twitching at the promise of more satisfying relief.

"I see you're working hard as usual. I have some papers that need to be gone through too. Perhaps while you're at it..."

Spinning around in the chair, Ed swept all his notes together in one large messy pile, constantly throwing looks over his shoulder to make sure Roy wasn't peeking at what he'd been working on. "Sure, sure..." Ed said absentmindedly, trying to get his breathing under control. "Um, place them over there," He pointed vaguely at the other end of the table.

"I was just joking, Ed," said Roy, chuckling. "I'd never have you do my work..."

Ed's heart skipped a beat when Roy leaned down to kiss the side of his ear, sending another jolt of expectation to his groin.

"What are you working on? You're usually not so easily surprised and flustered." Ed looked up to see Roy leaning over his shoulder at the table below.

"Nothing! Who said I was working on anything?" Ed lunged forward, huddling over his work to hide it from Roy. He moved any piece of paper that was still sticking out further under his arms. "What are you doing here? Skipping out on work? I'm busy here!" snapped Ed, he could feel his face heat up and spread across his cheeks and up to his ears. He shrugged Roy off his shoulder, hoping that he wouldn't question him too closely as to why he was blushing so hard.

"I'm not...skipping out on work...just...taking a break. You know we do get breaks."

Ed watched warily as Roy moved over to the other side of the table and pulled out a chair to sit on. Feeling decidedly safer now that Roy wasn't hovering over him, he tapped the papers into a neat pile.

"Hakuro seems to think that I have all the time in the world to work on some of the pointless things he sends my way."

"That sucks..." answered Ed, distracted with his own problems. Mainly, what to do about this date. Flipping over the stack of 'Mustang' research, he picked up a heavy looking book and placed it on top. "So, what did you want?" wondered Ed glancing at Roy before running a hand through his bangs and sagging in his chair. It was easier to be around his boyfriend knowing that he wouldn't see what he was working on.

"That's not anything illegal is it?"

Ed snorted at the ridiculousness of Roy's concern. "No," said Ed in annoyance, shooting a glare at Roy. "But I am busy, so..." he trailed off, quirking an eyebrow at Roy in a silent demand to hurry up and get to the point. Actually, he was feeling the all too familiar stirrings from Roy's nearness, and it was making him...squirmy.

Like, why would Roy fondle his groin, and then turn around and say he was busy? Kiss him like he had just done, and then get all business like on him. For the past three weeks this strange behavior had begun to really play with his mind, and he couldn't think of a good way to broach the subject. It was really starting to make him worry.

Roy was giving him 'the look', like he didn't believe a word he was saying, and began to shake his head at him. Leaning forward so Roy couldn't see what he was doing he adjusted himself so he was in a more comfortable position, as his groin slowly twitched to life. He watched as Roy reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it.

"I need you to do some research on this, and report to me on it in a week. I need an official written report, and you should be ready to give an oral report if General Hakuro should request it."

"Great." Ed leaned over the table and took the paper from Roy, looking down at the research he had to do. "Are we done?" Ed asked anxiously, looking back up at Roy. He wanted to calm down and he couldn't do that with him so near.

Roy frowned at him and then glanced over at his stash under the book. His eyes slid back over to him and he nodded. Ed could only hope that he wouldn't push the issue. He'd die if Roy saw what he'd been up too. He knew how'd he react if he found out Roy was researching him—not like he hadn't done something like that already, seeing as how he seemed to know what he was up too when ever he was out in the field, but this was a different. Roy pushed himself up from the chair, and folded his arms across his chest, giving Ed a suspicious glance. Ed met his gaze and had to resist the urge to shift guiltily in his chair.

Shaking his head, Roy waved casually and walked away. Sighing, Ed lifted the book off his research, and began to shift through his paper. They were most likely horribly mixed up now, and he would have to spend fifteen minutes restoring order to his work. Feeling grumpy now that Roy had caused him a minor set back, he placed his work on the table.

"Oh, and Ed..."

"Eep!" Shit! cursed Ed. Did he see? His back went rigid and he couldn't bring himself to turn to look at Roy, hoping against hope that he wasn't over his shoulder right now.

"Okay... What the hell are you working on?"

"Fuck off!" hissed Ed, gathering up his research to his chest. Scrambling to get out of his chair, Ed turned, keeping an eye on Roy as he backed away from him. "This isn't for you!" warned Ed, blushing full force now, not realizing the slip. Roy scowled at him.

"Ed, let me see those," Roy said, holding out his hand for the papers. He advanced on Ed forcing him to move back or else be in range should Roy strike.

"NO!" Ed yelled, thrusting the papers behind his back. "If you come any closer...I'll...I'll hit you." Feeling truly frantic, Ed backed his way into the corner. He didn't want to hit Roy, but he wasn't giving him any options here, and there was no way in FUCKING HELL he was going to show Roy what he'd been up too, it was just too fucking embarrassing.

Roy stopped, surprised, and then scowled at him. "Major, I'm ordering you to hand over those papers." Roy paused, "Now."

"No! I won't!" Ed said again, shaking his head so hard that his braid moved with him. He glared at Roy definitely. He'd follow through; he would hit Roy if he had to.

Roy suddenly laughed, breaking the tension just a little. Ed watched him warily, wondering what he was up too.

"Come on, hand them over," said Roy waving impatiently with his hand, still chuckling.

Pressing his lips, Ed did the only other thing he could think of. Rolling up the papers once more, he thrust them into his black jacket, quickly clapped his hands and touched his jacket making it momentarily shimmer. Smirking up at Roy in victory, Ed said, "What papers?"

"Not amusing, Fullmetal. You know that is defying a direct order from your superior officer," said Roy irritably, letting his hand drop back to his side.

Ah, fuck! cursed Ed mentally. He hadn't thought about that. Shifting weight from foot to foot, Ed frowned, trying to think of a way out of this without having to show his notes. "It has nothing to do with you...er." Damn, why don't I just tell him what I'm doing? Stupid. "...With the military. Just drop it...please."

Roy rubbed a hand over his forehead and then just stared at him. Maybe...he could get out of this. "Just let it go, Mustang. Go back to work before Hawkeye finds you. You're...distracting me," said Ed, shifting again in growing arousal. He dropped his eyes to the floor, no longer able to look Roy in the eyes. In those dark, dark eyes...

Ed's eyes went round as he saw Roy's feet come closer to him, making his heart beat faster in anticipation. He sensed Roy lean in and he looked up into Roy's face, breathless.

"I have a legitimate reason for begin here," said Roy, leaning in to place a kiss along Ed's ear, causing pleasant shivers to tingle throughout his body. "I'm sorry that you're easily distracted," whispered Roy. "Perhaps we should have a discussion about this in my office..."

Roy seemed to consider him for a moment before he pulled away, making Ed feel the loss of his closeness acutely.

"But that will have to be another day," Roy said in business mode now. "Okay, Fullmetal, I'll let it drop for now, but it better not be something I'm going to have to cover your ass for later."

"You like covering my ass," Ed said saucily, smirking at Roy. He was feeling very naughty right now, and only hoped that Roy would be too...because any more of this and...well, Ed wasn't sure what he'd do, but this couldn't last.

Roy quirked an eyebrow at him, and the corner of his mouth twitched as if he was fighting not to smile. "Some types of ass covering are better then others," he conceded.

Pushing himself away from the wall he was leaning against with his shoulder, Ed pressed his own very acutely aroused body into Roy's. Grabbing Roy's ass he made sure that there was no space between them. His heart was beating so fast now, that he was sure that it would burst through his chest. "You could cover it...tonight..." whispered Ed.

Sighing heavily, Roy backed away from Ed, breaking his hold on him. Ed let his hands fall heavily back to his side and leaned back into the wall, frowning at the man in front of him. What the fuck...Ed wondered. It was things like this that made him really, really wonder what the hell was going on in Roy's head.

"Sorry I'm busy tonight... Maybe another night...?"

"Yeah...sure..." said Ed uncertainly. He tried to make his face as neutral as possible. "Whatever you say," he said in growing annoyance. Brushing past Roy, he re-claimed his seat and folded his arms across his chest. From the corner of his eye, Ed could see Roy pull out his watch and click open the cover to check the time.

"I'd better go. I have a meeting in fifteen minutes. Give me a call sometime, or something, and maybe we can get together, Ed."

Ed would not look at Roy as he crossed over to him to place a kiss on the top of his head, and without saying anything else, left. Listening to the retreating sound of Roy's boots, Ed began to breathe heavily, but this time in anger. What else could Roy be up to if not sleeping around on him? This 'successful' date thing was likely a ploy to keep him around and willing while he was out playing the bloody fucking field!

All the bizarre push/pull mind games Roy was doing to him...what other explanation was there? Furiously, Ed clapped his hands and touched his jacket undoing the transmutation, pulling out the papers he'd fought so hard to keep hidden; he suddenly didn't want to have anything to do with them.

He had wasted days on this. DAYS! His stomach twisted in fear, making him feel sick and nauseous. Frowning at the papers, Ed abruptly stood, causing the chair to scrape across the floor. Walking over to the small trash can at the other end of the room, Ed let the papers fall from his hand to land how ever they would.

"Asshole!" mumbled Ed, walking away with his hands deep in his pants pockets.

Ed was in a proper rage, just like when he was younger. It almost felt as good as a night of awesome sex, being this angry. He was charged up. He felt powerful. He felt like nothing could hurt him, and nothing would, he'd make sure of that. He'd been so angry that he couldn't get to sleep at all, so he'd spent his time working on the report for Mustang.

After he left the library yesterday, early in the day, he had paced the city trying to sort out what was going to happen with them. That unfamiliar spark of fear continued to plague him, and even though he hadn't eaten since lunch, his stomach rebelled at the mere thought of food. It came and went, the fear, but when it came hard, the pain it caused to his stomach was bad. It would double him up, making him clutch at his belly in agony.

By the time he waltzed back to his dorm room, he was tired of being afraid and had started to get mad. Somewhere in the wee hours of the night, after working on the report, Ed had decided that he wasn't going to call Roy by his first name anymore. He was going to be as cool as Ro—Mustang was being to him. It was probably a pretty childish thing to do, but he really didn't feel up to being reasonable. He had even come in late for work, not that anyone had truly noticed, as he was still pretty independent when it came to being here, but still, it felt good to stay at home and make his silent protest.

Adjusting the folder to rest more firmly under his left arm, Ed glared at anyone who'd dare look at him. It gave him inordinate amounts of pleasure to see the hapless people he locked eyes with turn quickly away. He liked that. A lot.

Rounding the corner, Ed stalked up the hall toward Mustang's offices. He'd come at this time on purpose because he really didn't want to run into any of his staff just in case he started hitting Mustang. Not that he had specific plans on hitting him, but if the need arose... Everyone would be on lunch except for Mustang, who usually waited until later to eat, the perfect time.

Just as he hoped, the office was empty of any of Mustang's staff. Stomping over to the door, Ed kicked as hard as he could, sending the barely open door crashing into the wall with a loud ringing bang. Despite all the noise, Mustang didn't even look up. Fucking...dammit! Ed's stomach squirmed in protest at the sight of him sitting behind his desk.

"Good morning, Fullmetal. In a good mood today, I see..."

Rage surged through him anew, making him unable to form a reply. Without a word, Ed stomped over to the desk and threw down the report haphazardly. As he spun around on the heel of his foot, he mumbled, "Fuck off..."

"Wait," Mustang said using his commanding voice.

Sighing with exaggerated annoyance, Ed stopped. "What?" he demanded, not bothering to turn around to look. Paper shuffled behind him.

"What is this?"

"Your report," Ed practically spat at the man, his voice hard with anger.

"Obviously." Ed's eyes narrowed at the sneer he could hear in Mustang's voice. "But it isn't due for a week."

Oh, how Ed wanted to yell at Mustang and demand to know that the hell was going on with them, but he was much too pissed to actually act on that particular thought at the moment.

"This is a research report, Fullmetal. I don't care how smart you are, these things take time. This is..." Papers shuffled. "Very sloppy work. I'm not giving that to the general. You're going to have to redo it."

Snarling, Ed pivoted and swiftly traversed the distance to Mustang's desk to snatch the folder up from where it was placed. "Fine," he growled. He briefly met Mustang's gaze, giving him a sour look, and then he was heading back for the door again.

"Wait," Mustang said, again with his commanding tone of voice.

Ed stopped, silently berating himself for obeying. He could hear Mustang's chair scrape along the floor, and he soon walked into his peripheral vision making for the door. Ed followed his movements warily as Mustang closed the door and leaned against it with folded arms, blocking his path.

"What's going on?" Mustang asked quietly.

Meeting Mustang's stare with one of his own, Ed clench his jaw, making his teeth grind. "Is there anything else, Colonel Mustang?" Ed poured all his contempt into Mustang's title, leaving little room for doubt on where he stood. Only an idiot would have missed the implications, and luckily Mustang wasn't an idiot.

Mustang met his gaze for several moments, his expression unreadable before he moved away from the door. "No, I guess not. Dismissed," he said moving back to his desk.

For a moment, Ed could only stand there. He was hoping for a fight and Mustang wasn't going to play that way with him it seemed. He almost turned around...to do what, he wasn't sure. Glancing over his shoulder, at the man sitting behind the desk, Ed's anger left him, making him feel vulnerable and allowing his gut to twist painfully. Facing forward again, Ed made his feet move out of the office.

Somehow, without his knowing how he got there, Ed was out on the street standing in front of a public phone. The desire to call his brother in Rizembool was almost to much to bear. He hadn't talked to Al in a while now. Truth be told, he didn't want to intrude. Now that Al had his body back, a romance had started between him and Winry. He knew that marriage couldn't be that far now... Turning away from the phone, Ed continued down the street, wondering aimlessly.

It was times like this when he wished for someone he could turn too for advice. He'd never bring his concerns to anyone within the military. That left his teacher, Al, and maybe a few others, all of whom weren't even in Central at the moment.

As the early dusk started to settle over Central, and the cold started to make his auto-mail ache painfully, Ed made his slow way back to the military dorms for the night. He passed a few delis on his way home, but the thought of eating turned his stomach. He knew he should eat something, and soon, because he hadn't eaten since yesterday at lunch... Shaking his head, Ed moved on. Fuck it, he thought. He just wasn't up to eating right now. He'd get something tomorrow.

Dragging himself up the front steps of the dorm, Ed trudged down the hall to his room, closing the door firmly behind him. He shivered with the clinging cold that hung around his clothing. He knew he should take a shower to warm up, easing the strain on his muscles from his auto-mail; instead, he kicked off his boots, dropped his coat to the floor, and crawled under the blankets fully clothed.

--To be continued--

Don't forget to check out Roy's POV written by ZaKai. A link to her profile can be found on MY profile.