Taste

Edward rifled through Roy's medicine cabinet with one hand, wincing ever once in a while. The other hand he kept securely in place on his cheek, pressing an ice pack to his face perhaps a little harder than necessary. But his tooth hurt, damn it! Now where was that gel shit…?

"Aha!" Triumphantly, Ed removed his free hand from the cabinet, clutching a little tube of Orajel. His victorious grin faded when he saw how squished and mangled the packet was. He'd be lucky if there was any left.

A throb in his mouth had him squeezing his eyes shut. Well, he'd have to try to get something out of the tube. A little numbness sounded really good just about then.

Edward placed his ice pack down on the edge of the sink and squeezed on the tube, hard with both hands. Orajel shot out, dribbling onto his clenched fists. "Ew…" The gel was oddly runny—was it supposed to be that way?

Nevertheless, it would have to work. He needed the relief. After a moment's deliberation, he went about scooping it all up. This was messier than Ed had planned for. Just then, a knock on the bathroom door. "Ed? You ready? I only have so long for my lunch break, and I know you wanted ice cream…"

Shit! Edward had almost forgotten—he and Roy were going to go out for ice cream today….hasty now, he shoved the entire wad of gel into his mouth, using his tongue to push it onto the pained tooth—and those surrounding it. He would have preferred to be neater, but it wasn't exactly a precise process. Then he rinsed his hands and exited.

"Ready!" he chirped, smiling. Roy raised his eyebrows, but luckily didn't comment before turning around and leading the way out the door. Edward sighed with relief inwardly; this toothache was just the type of thing Roy would panic about…

A vanilla ice cream sundae covered in caramel sauce, peanuts, and whipped cream sat before Ed. It was so glorious, he almost hesitated to eat it…almost.

Edward ignored Roy's laughter as he dug his spoon in eagerly, pushing the cold delicious treat into his mouth…his face fell instantly, and he (against his better judgment) spit the ice cream into a napkin.

Roy raised his eyebrows. "You know, for once watching you eat ice cream isn't turning me on. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed, that was actually disgusting…"

Scowling, Ed couldn't help but pout a little. "It doesn't taste like anything…" Of course, Edward knew what the problem was: all that fucking Orajel. He should have known better; he'd numbed his tongue when he was spreading it around, and now he couldn't taste anything. He groaned aloud.

"That's weird, I can taste mine…" Roy licked his own ice cream—chocolate in a waffle cone, a more basic choice, but still tasty—thoughtfully.

Staring down at his hands now, Edward explained hesitantly. "Uhm, yeah, I…might have used too much Orajel just before coming here…"

"Orajel? Why?"

Ed sighed in defeat. "I have a toothache…"

And just as he had predicted, Roy began fretting. "What!? Why didn't you tell me? We have to get you to a dentist!"

The man stood up, but Edward didn't budge. "Nuh uh, nope, I'm not going. I hate dentists. Besides, it's probably nothing. People get toothaches all the time."

Roy stared down at him for a moment, before bending over and kissing him. That was a surprise, and not an unpleasant one either, even if Edward couldn't taste anything. The man's tongue roamed about Ed's mouth, and it was only when he hit the hurt tooth and Edward let out a muffled yelp that he realized what Roy was doing. Examining him.

"That was underhanded, you know," he complained as the man retreated. He rubbed his cheek gently, wary of the once again throbbing tooth.

"Ed, I think your wisdom teeth are coming in," Roy stated simply.

The color drained out of Edward's face. He'd heard about wisdom teeth—and it was all horror stories. "Nooooo..." he moaned. "You can't be serious. Aren't wisdom teeth, like, the most painful things ever? And you have to have surgery to get them out, and your gums bleed, and-"

Roy sighed, and placed a comforting hand on his back. "Unfortunately I am serious, but it's not that bad. I had to have my wisdom teeth removed, and sure, it hurt, but it would have been a lot more painful if I hadn't gotten it taken care of. Besides, you're tough—hell, you've got automail. Wisdom teeth are nothing compared to that, trust me."

"Yeah, I suppose…" Edward huffed. "But I don't want to have to deal with all that. Can't I just keep them in?"

"Not if they're hurting you! It'll be fine. Now come on, I want to get home and call the dentist, see when I can get you in." Roy held out a hand.

Ed stood obediently, taking the hand offered to him, still pouting. "Well, that's today gone to shit, I guess." After a last glance, he picked up his ice cream and took a bite. That didn't help anything at all. Edward tossed it in the trash as they walked off, complaining, "And I still can't even taste my fucking ice cream!"

Sorry for the short chapter guys, but it felt complete, and I didn't want to mess with it...I guess this evens out Sight having 2 parts?

Speaking of Sight, if you want a third part where Ed gets his vision back, let me know in the reviews and I'll post it as a bonus at the end :) Still looking for suggestions for hearing as well! Thanks~