Ed hadn't been thrilled with the prospect of having to go and work on whatever stupid task they gave him after breakfast…but when, once everyone was done eating, the bells rung three times, Edward found himself wishing he could go make some more nets.

"This is going to be like a sermon, isn't it?" Ed whispered out of the corner of his mouth, making sure everyone but Roy was out of earshot.

"Probably," the man sighed back as they joined the crowd streaming into Mark's house. That, at least, explained why it was such a large building; for the meetings, apparently the whole colony would squeeze inside.

Edward entered. In a stark contrast with the outdoors, the air inside Mark's house was warm from all the body heat people were giving off. Mirroring everyone else, Ed found a spot on a rug and sat down, wrapping his hands around his knees as he drew them to his chest. Beside him, Roy plopped down as well, and on his other side…Paul.

No one else was speaking, so Edward at least didn't have to say anything. The more Roy warned him about Paul, the more nervous Ed was around the man—which sucked, because so far he'd been a good source of information.

After several minutes, Mark still hadn't arrived to give his little speech or whatever. Edward had examined the contents of the building as closely as possible, but nothing was out of the ordinary. Really, it was just one big room, empty save a bed, the fireplace, and the rugs scattered across the floor. His back was beginning to ache, curled up as he was. With a sigh, Edward stretched his legs out, then crossed them. He was a bit more exposed than he liked that way, but it was definitely more comfortable.

Just as Ed thought this, he felt a warmth come across his shoulders. Startled, he immediately looked to Roy—only to find the man glaring out of the corners of his eyes, jaw tightly clenched to match his fists. Dread trickled down Edward's spine as he turned his head in the other direction.

Okay…so it was Paul's arm draped across his shoulders.

The feeling was similar to what Ed thought it must be like to have bugs crawling all over you. He itched with a desperation to move, but Roy was right—he'd gotten himself into this. Now, Edward was screaming internally. He could have hit himself; why had he thought it was a good idea to flirt with Paul?

And Roy was correct about one other thing, too: though Paul was merely resting his arm on Ed's shoulders, he could feel the strength, something beyond normal. Edward thought he might be shivering, but a quick glance at his flesh hand told him he was only trembling on the inside.

Luckily, Edward was given his chance to escape just then, as Mark walked in and everyone assembled stood up out of respect. Well, he sure as hell didn't respect Mark, but this was an opportunity he couldn't miss. Ed jumped up and over a little, so that he was halfway in front of Roy and away from Paul, on the pretense of being excited for what was coming. As if.

But it wasn't like Paul was giving up—Edward could tell the man expected him to come back into his half-embrace as soon as they sat down again...that was not happening. Ed locked eyes with Roy, whose expression was still livid. Under his breath, he hissed, "A little help?"

Roy nodded, just a slight jerk of his head. Edward didn't know what he planned, but that didn't matter as long as he didn't have to cuddle up to Paul. He shuddered as Mark began to speak.

"Now, now, settle down. Before I get to the message today, I have an important announcement! God has come to me in a dream, and told me that another one of you will be able to experience a miracle…who will it be?"

Everyone assembled cheered, vying for the opportunity. That was interesting—and deafening. It was all Ed could do to stop himself from clapping his hands over his ears.

"You!" Mark shouted. A hush fell over the crowd, and Edward only then thought about how disturbing the scene was. Fire blazing, the room was still dimly lit, and now completely silent as Mark pointed to a scraggly woman in front of him. "You, Elizabeth. You will receive God's miracle."

Ed stood on his tip toes to get a better look at the woman, Elizabeth, as she brought a hand to her mouth, smiling in ecstasy. "Thank you," she whispered "Oh, thank you!"

Mark held up his hands. "No need to thank me—thank God. Tonight, I will have you sleep here, and tomorrow you will be born anew. Now…you all may be seated."

Edward made to sit down, when hands grabbed him round the waist and pulled him to the floor. He yelped, but—no, this wasn't Paul.

This was Roy.

The fuck was he doing!?

Roy's arms were still wrapped firmly around Ed's waist, locking them together. The man was seated with his legs spread, Ed having fallen to the ground to fit nicely in between them. And even though he trird to move away, Roy wouldn't let him. Eager to not attract any more attention, Ed gave up, letting Roy hold him—but in whispers, he still fought. "What the hell?"

"I'm helping you," Roy mouthed.

"By being worse than him!?" Ed breathed indignantly.

"It's the only way I could think of, so suck it up. This is still better, right?"

Edward turned to face Mark, who was now standing in the middle of the crowd, and tried not to lean back into Roy's chest. Their position would have been more comfortable if he had done so, but that would also have been a whole lot of his ass a little too close to Roy's crotch.

And especially given the events of that morning, Ed wasn't sure he was too terribly comfortable with that. Still, he had to admit, it was definitely better than Paul.

Speaking of Paul…Edward glanced to his left to see how the man was taking Roy's move. Paul was frowning at them, and Ed gave a sort of apologetic glance. Internally, he was gagging, but…it might yet prove important for him to maintain contact—close contact, ew—with Paul in order to complete the mission.

So Ed had to make it seem like he wasn't altogether comfortable with Roy hugging him like that. This was perfectly true, so at least the acting on his part was minimal.

Mark was speaking now, and Edward watched as Paul's gaze left Roy to focus on the man in the center of the group. Ed didn't even bother trying to listen; it was just some stupid thing about God, which was complete and utter bullshit, so why bother paying attention?

His back was aching again, this time with the effort of keeping himself both upright and not on Roy. Well, he was already fucked…Edward let himself lean back against the man's chest, being careful not to press too much against his tender bits. Not only would it have been awkward, but placing his full weight on Roy's junk was bound to hurt, and Ed wasn't quite that horrible. Although, when Roy tightened his hold momentarily and Edward imagined the tiny, smirking grin that must have crept onto the man's face, he reconsidered this courtesy.

The longer Mark talked, the harder Ed found it to even pretend he was paying attention. More and more often he found himself dozing off, head lolling back onto Roy's shoulder. Every time he did this, the man squeezed his midriff to wake him up; after all, it wouldn't be the best thing for Mark to catch him snoring during a sermon. Not that he snored.

Finally, finally it ended—and Roy let him go. Edward stood, nearly losing his balance, and stretched, barely suppressing a yawn. He tottered out of the building, tripping a little on the stairs.

Mark, from inside, rang the bells for lunch. Ed was debating whether he should head straight for food or bother telling Roy off for his behavior, when a bit of an argument broke out behind him.

"What do you mean, 'steal him!?'" Roy asked, indignant. "For all you know, he didn't like you being so free with your hands—"

"Oh, yeah? You're one to talk, grabbing at him like that, he's probably afraid of you—"

Hurriedly, Ed pushed himself between the two men. Paul's brow was scrunched together, while Roy looked like he wished he had his lighter so he could set Paul on fire. "Hey, hey, stop! You two are acting ridiculous…"

Roy, breathing hard, stepped back a little. Edward looked at him, trying to convey through expression alone that he didn't mean what was about to come out of his mouth—being diplomatic was a pain. "I thought the idea here was that everyone belongs to everyone else. You don't have to be fighting over me." Which was fucking ridiculous in the first place, the hell was going on here? Maybe Ed had fallen asleep and was dreaming…not that he'd be dreaming about Roy and Paul fighting for him. Ew.

There was a tense pause. "You're right," Paul muttered. "But that doesn't mean we would both have you at the same time."

Okay, that was way outside of Edward's comfort zone. He barely repressed a shudder. "Yeah, well, I think I get some say in this, don't I?" Ed asked, voice lowering dangerously. "I'll decide what happens with me, thank you very much. So quit arguing, and let's just get some food, I'm starving."

"Fine," Paul agreed after a moment. He spun on his heels and led the way, while Edward hung back with Roy.

"You realize that now Paul is convinced you want my ass just as much as he does?" Ed clarified, raising his eyebrows. After all, Roy had just been a part of quite the scene, and had played the role of a jealous lover rather than a defensive boss. To be honest, Edward wanted some answers.

Roy snorted, still looking irritated. "It's not like that's what I was going for—I just didn't think he would let go of you unless someone else took hold, and then he had to be a prick and start something…"

Ed sighed. "This just keeps getting more and more complicated…"

"Especially considering there's going to be another 'miracle' tonight," Roy murmured.

Unfortunately, Edward knew what that meant. Any thought of problems with Paul was wiped from his mind as dread took hold. "I don't get to sleep tonight, do I?"

"Nope."