The Rumour

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor ever will, Fullmetal Alchemist or the characters within.


Chapter 7: The Invitation

Hughes was bored.

He had secreted himself in the last stall of the men's bathroom and been sitting there for two hours. Men had to be the biggest gossips. Due to the structural layout of the room, men had limited choices of what to do with their hands and eyes. You kept your hands steady and your eyes straight ahead. Only beginners ever looked down and only idiots looked sideways. So to avoid being thought unsociable, men talked. Briefly and to the point, with no eye contact until hands were washed.

"Weren in Records got dumped again."

"His record is almost as bad as that Lieutenant in Mustang's office."

"No-one's that bad. Weren did score with that little blonde from Personnel."

"Six months ago."

"Still better than Havoc."

Both had laughed and Maes had heard zippers go up, hands washed and they were gone. The next few had not been very helpful either. As a married man, he didn't think knowing that the brunette in Supply was not a natural brunette was something he could use.

"…drinks like a fish, he said." The next voice echoed and Maes sighed. After this he was going to find somewhere else. He wondered whether he could sneak into the women's bathroom.

"I think we ought to put an official complaint in. He's a danger to us all."

"How'd you reckon that?"

"It's obvious, Kol. He snaps his fingers while he's plastered and we're all toast. The Flame Alcoholic."

Maes blinked. Were they talking about Roy?

"You'd think he'd give up on the women after all of this." The one called Kol remarked.

"Not everyone leans the way you do." His friend said.

"I know." There was a laugh. "It's probably just as well. At least I know I don't have to compete against the Mustang."

Maes held his breath. Roy didn't drink that much and he had to shake his head at the thought of Roy being anything other than straight.

"And there is that lovely little blond in his office just ripe for the picking." Maes heard over running water.

"You wouldn't?"

"Hell yes. I have as much chance with Elric as the other secretaries have." The door slammed.

Maes sat down heavily, letting his breath out in a rush. Roy was an alcoholic and Ed was fair game? This was not quite what he had expected to hear. The rumour he wanted to track hadn't even been mentioned. And was any of this even related to the rumours of Roy's impending demise? And finding Ed's admirer had just become slightly more complicated as well.

He didn't think he should tell Ed about this development. Not yet anyway.


Breda turned the card over in his hand and frowned at it. He looked at the red-coated back just disappearing through the door and wondered what the hell he was supposed to do with it.

"Why did he do that?" he asked.

"Because you were the one that asked about it." Hawkeye's amused voice replied. "If you hadn't said anything, he would have thrown it in the bin."

Breda made a wry face. She was right, as usual. He had seen the card and asked about it and Edward had glowered and grumbled, saying it was an invitation to some outdoor festival tomorrow.

"I don't know where it came from." He had complained. "It was shoved in with the files from Records."

"Are you sure it's for you, Ed?" Breda had asked.

"Oh yeah, they even put it in a damned envelope with my name on it." He had dropped the files on the desk. "I really hate this. Why can't I get out of here?"

"You know you can't leave yet, Edward." Hawkeye had remarked sympathetically as he had stood there, card in his hand and a disconsolate expression on his face. He sighed resignedly.

"I know. But I have to get out of here soon, Hawkeye." He looked at her and she could see the building frustrations.

"Go to the festival and relax, Ed." Breda had said and Ed had looked at him in horror.

"Are you out of your mind?" He had waved his hands around. "Me? With whichever crazy is sending me this shit?" He shook his head vigorously. "No way."

"I'm sure it won't be that bad." Breda had replied.

"Then you go instead of me." Ed had tossed the card at him and left the room.

"I still think he should have gone. Given him a chance to be normal." Breda said thoughtfully as he began to read the card.

"I don't know if either of those boys know what 'normal' is," Hawkeye said pensively and he lifted his eyes from the card to look at her.

"This would have helped." He walked over and handed it to her. "I wonder if there's a way to persuade him to go."

"It's an invitation for two and you know how Edward feels about that." Hawkeye examined the card.

"He could take Al." Breda pointed out. "All it is, is a card for two, it's not actually specifying who the parties involved are. It could be for Ed and Al, for any two people, even us."

Hawkeye's eyebrow rose and Breda watched it move before he realised why it had moved. He blinked.

"I wasn't serious, Hawkeye. I mean, you know I'd never - none of us would ever consider you that way. I mean that's just impossible. I was just using us as an example." Breda said as calmly as he could and wondered at the slight pallor in her cheeks. "Unless, you want to go… to this… with me." He suddenly heard himself saying.


"…knew he had balls like that? She even said yes." Ed said as he walked with Maes, past the sentry at the gates. "You should have seen the bastard's face. I thought he was going to flame them when they told him."

And so it went. The First-Lieutenant had now moved on and with none other than Jean Havoc, loser-extraordinaire.


Author's Note: And so it goes…grins…enjoy.

silken :)