So sorry for the long wait, but I have good news! My writers block is gone (er, you didn't know I had one, but I did, it was horrible and it lasted a whoole week! (I think it was cuz it was the week before winter break)) But now I have several oneshots that shall be posted (sooner than later)!

Next chapter is one of the ones I keep going over in my mind and is hopefully going to be fairly easy for me to write (and fun too)

I hope you will all enjoy this chapter, and thank you for your reviews!

Once again, I'm terribly sorry for the delay!

Enjoy!

"Have you seen those two lately? Things are going great!" Jean declared as he hopped into the kitchen.

"Keep it down, Jean. You know that Roy has heightened hearing now." Riza scolded from the counter where she and Gracia had been talking previously.

"Sorry, it's just exciting! We'll all be human again soon, and-"

"Jean, we've talked about this before." Riza interjected gently. "It's going to take more than just a few days for them to become friends, let alone fall in love." Gracia hopped over to Jean.

"We'll just all have to be patient a little while longer." She said with a comforting tone.

"I'm not sure how much longer we will have to wait!" Maes declared as he hopped into the kitchen as well. The three who were already present shushed him. "Yeah, yeah, I know, superior hearing. But Edward is clearly fascinating Roy. The boy is more than just a pretty face."

"Yeah, that's part of what I came into tell you ladies! The kid has lots of theories and the two of them keep challenging each other over them!" Jean exclaimed. Riza and Gracia shared a thoughtful look.

"They have been working together for the past few days..." Riza murmured. Gracia shook herself and said,

"It will still take time for love to develop. It is promising that Edward is willing to argue with Roy, and is not afraid of him."

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait this out, and see how things go." Jean shrugged. The others nodded in agreement, and went back to doing their work.

Roy was happy for an excuse to openly stare at the young blonde in front of him. And said blonde was currently explaining a theorem of his to Roy, quite animatedly.

His eyes were wide and there was this joy in them, his golden irises alight. He had, at some point, pulled his hair from a ponytail into a loose bun that his golden locks seemed to be intent on defying. He was pointing to different papers with an assortment of circles on them, and locking his eyes with Roy's frequently. That in itself was a miracle to the man-turned-beast. How with no hesitation, Edward looked at him, talked to him, and listened intently when he spoke. Willingly. The blonde seemed to be able to completely ignore his furry and animal-like appearance and have a civil conversation with him.

Not only was the Elric easy on the eyes, but very knowledgeable as well. This too was a miracle for Roy, for not even his closest friends within his manor understood much of alchemy. They had sat there and listened to him rant and rave over his findings when he had them, but they never added any valuable input or criticism.

Roy had yet to share his own theories with Edward over the past three days. Part of him was admittedly nervous at the prospect of sharing them when he was the only actual alchemist that reviewed them. Another part was afraid of how Edward would react once he knew of his knowledge of flame alchemy, and what if the blonde found that there was more in his flame alchemy? The darker secrets of alchemy in general that he had encrypted into his notes. Or would he take the notes as they were, and remain as he was now? Inquisitive and trying to help him find and remove any and all flaws.

Roy jumped a little when a hand was waved in front of his face.

"You alright? You were spacing out pretty badly there." Edward's voice was lower than it had been before, and concern for the beast shone in his eyes. Nodding Roy felt the corners of his misshapen lips lift ever so slightly.

"Yes, I'm alright." He quickly wracked his mind for the last thing he remembered the blonde saying. "I was just wondering, what would happen if you applied..."

Edward watched Mustang as he tried to expand one of his theories and look more into it.

Now that he was closer to the beast, he could see the distinctions between the man and the beast. Edward guessed the Bastard was approximately twice his actual human size, and perhaps his height was the only thing that remained the same...About a head or so taller than Edward himself.

His hands, which were picking up papers now to find formulas, were bigger than his own. Edward estimated that Mustang's palm was twice the size of his own. He also noted that the palms of his hands and the pads of his fingers seemed to be fur less, but the skin there was a pale gray. His arms were covered in think, soft black fur that also covered his chest and descended lower...A faint blush grew on the bridge of his nose as he tried to at least somewhat get his mind back on track. Mustang was also obviously strong, being able to hold Ed up, two metal limbs and all.

'His muscles must be hidden beneath all that fur.' Edward though silently.

His gaze continued upward (not down because he didn't want his face to get any redder), and settled on Mustang's face. The fur was both thicker and darker around his head, but the fur on the beast's face was thinner and lighter. His ears which occasionally twitched were small and almost dog-like. The fur on them was dark, but thin. (Ed often had to stop himself from reaching out to touch those little ears). His face must have been morphed in the enchantment, because the area around his mouth and nose vaguely represented a muzzle. His lips were black, and a little misshapen, with small fangs from his lower jaw poking out, ever so slightly.

The deep blue of his eyes were what drew Edward in. They were his first indication that there was a human within the beast. The beast's face did not seem to display his emotions well, or Edward just didn't know him well enough yet. However his eyes showed exactly what he was feeling, and at times Edward found himself getting lost in them, more often than he'd care to admit.

Edward could not tell if Mustang's voice was really as deep and scratchy as it sounded at times, he believed that his voice has been distorted in the transformation. But if he concentrated hard enough, Edward could faintly hear a smoother, silkier voice mixed in.

"Uh, Mustang?" Edward interrupted, as he became aware of something.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to share your theories?" At what Edward thought was a look of confusion, he explained. "Well over the past few days, all we've done is look over my theories. I figure that that's not quite fair to you. Equivalent Exchange and all..."

A soft rumbling, reminiscent of a laugh, came from Mustang as he nodded.

"Alright, we can take a look into mine tomorrow, seeing as it's so late." They both looked out at the dark sky. "The day certainly passed quickly."

Edward nodded as he started to pick up the papers, and sort them.

"What's your alchemy based on?"

"Fire." Edward froze just as he was about to pick up another paper, Mustang noticed and asked, "Something wrong?"

Edward snatched the paper and shook himself a little, before turning back to Mustang, an all too bright smile on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired it all." Mustang nodded, though Ed could tell he had not been convinced. "Well, I'm just going to head to my room now. Be up early tomorrow, got it?" The beast nodded again, still staring at the blonde, unnerving him. "Well...Night!" The younger alchemist practically ran for the stairs.

Once in his room and on his bed, he put his head in his left hand and stared at the right.

"It was years ago," He murmured softly to himself, "I thought I was over it..."

Envy came back from the village and found Dante laughing merrily.

"What's with the sudden change in attitude, Ma'am?"

"The Elric boy! He may just be able to get that Mustang to crack! And so much sooner than I had expected!"

"So, soon, I'll be able to go and fetch Edward?" His mistress's excitement as well as the thought of having the small alchemist to himself at last getting to him.

"Yes, Envy, dear. Very soon."