This chapter, the Dr. Horribleness officially begins with a bit of dialogue between Roy and Ed.
Chapter soundtrack: Sparks – Trans-Siberian Orchestra (as sung by Maes Hughes)
Life was quietly going by. Every day, Ed watched the door, waiting for somebody… anybody… to clap her in chains and take her away. Roy watched her. Riza watched them both. That put the whole team on guard. Jean lit a cigarette. "Don't worry, Ed" he said, speaking for them all. "If anybody comes for you, we're not letting you go without a fight."
The others nodded. "There's no way we'll let them kill you either," Heymans said.
"Thank you," Ed said, trying to hide her concern.
It went unnoticed by all but Roy. You're damn right we would. He went back into his office.
The day dragged on by. Finally it was time to go home. Ed's path took her past a street vendor selling sweets. The smell of freshly made stuffed pastries made her stomach growl. "Maybe just one," she told her. "I've had a stressful week." She pulled out her wallet and dropped it.
She went to pick it up but a hand had beaten her to it. Roy handed it back with a smile. "What flavor do you want?"
"Chocolate but…" he walked off. "… I can get it myself." She sighed, shaking her head. "That man." He had gotten two and returned to her. 'Thank you," she said as he handed her one. She started rummaging for her wallet again.
"Don't worry about it. You don't have to pay me back," he aid, stopping her from doing just that.
They wandered off aimlessly, chatting in between mouthfuls. "I've always loved these things," she said.
"So have I. What a crazy random happenstance," he replied.
"I don't suppose you like doing laundry, do you?"
"Not really. You?"
"I love it. The smell of the detergent, the feel of freshly laundered clothes in your hands… So good."
"Next time I have to do that stunningly boring chore, I'll see if I notice either of those things. So what are your plans for the weekend?"
"When I'm not helping Colonel Hughes, I'll be hunting wild signatures."
Roy nodded. "That's some deadly prey right there."
Ed smiled and laughed. Maybe I misjudged Mustang after all. He's not so bad. He smiled back at her.
In the crowd, Maes grinned at them. "Lines of a tale, cut in the face of a crowd, sentenced no bail. There in the night, deep in the back, through the black beckons a life. Time, moving in a straight line, but then at a whim, a change in the wind, a story begins in its mind. For deep in her eyes, between the lies of the dark, leaving marks… Sparks!"
Roy glanced back at him and he grinned even wider, almost grateful his best friend couldn't hear him. "She has been steeled. Standing there, looking so tight, taut and high heeled. One of a kind. The kind of a girl that only a dream could design. Time. Seen through glasses of wine never reveals the why or the when, how this story will end as you find that deep in her eyes, beneath the lies of the dark, leaving marks… Sparks!"
He followed them at a distance. "Come on; conjure up a reason for living. Take me round and around and around and around and again. Come on; do it in the name of living. For if not tonight, tell me when. For if not tonight, tell me when." His shout got their attention but he waved it off. "Hearts can confuse. That messed up bundle of nerves that tends to bruise. Still, lay it bare. It's better to bleed than to need and never have dared. Chance. A move based on a glance. A move based on no more than feel in this unreal circumstance for deep in her eyes, beneath the lies of the dark, leaving marks… Sparks."
The three had arrived at Ed's house. She went inside, Roy headed home and Maes went towards his house, whistling.