A/N: 19 Reviews?! 19?! That is amazing! I am absolutely ecstatic over the entire ordeal, so much so that I decided to post what I have instead of taking another three days to try and lengthen it. Yes, this shall be short, and if that last chapter didn't make me a total bh, this one will, but I'm hoping I can finish what I was working on and spit it out ASAP.
Soooo thanks go to the nineteen WONDERFUL individuals who know how to click the little "go" button at the bottom of the page. Congrats, kids, you have just proven that you have skills beyond that of a trained monkey: mieko8804, Dark Mage Makai, jonnythehomocidalmaniac, yutakayumi, xXX Bishiman Sephiroth XXx, Visual Confectionary, AirElemental101, Sadler, GreedxEd, Nuitari Aquarius, Sophie, saraHubert, Krystal TM, hiya24, Kirbychan, Mus4u, AstroStarr42, Koigokoro-Love, and Satan in a Pretty Costume. You all rock the box.
Oh, and if you could (I know, asking for ANOTHER favor on top of wonderful reviews is a lot), would you all go hop over to the ever-lovely Visual Confectionary's brilliant masterpiece "Housing Project Elric"? It's funny as all get-out. She doesn't get NEARLY enough credit for the things she thinks up.
Enough of my ramblings. Again, please forgive the shortness and repetitive abrupt stop. Mind you, this wasn't going to be the entire chapter, but I wanted to put SOMETHING out for your enjoyment. I'm thinking of you all, really.
He was so preoccupied with the gathering of his belongings that he didn't hear Roy come up behind him, nor did he see the colonel place his hands down on each side of the table beside Ed, effectively trapping him…
"S'been great catching up with you, Colonel, but I really need to get going," Edward said quickly, gathering his things. He turned around to leave, only to be met by a very solid human barricade.
"What the…" He glanced up at Roy, feeling a mix of confusion and anxiety at being in such close proximity to the man he'd been secretly enamored with for the past eight-ish years (though he had fought it for the first four). Ever since the then-Lt. Colonel Mustang had shown up at Pinako's Edward had been fascinated with him. It hadn't helped matters that the man had come in search of the then-eleven year-old boy.
As much as he hated to admit it, Ed had been impressed with the military at first. Part of him had been in awe at the way everything was carried out effectively at Central. In the midst of smoothly flowing trails of people, papers, orders, and information sat the core of chaos in a lt. colonel's office, and at the center of that mess of mockery sat a man immaculate in appearance, a man of high stature, and the man who was firmly blocking Edward's path.
"H-hey, you mind moving?" Ed stammered, willing the other man to move with his voice, as he didn't really want to physically move towards Roy at all. It really wasn't as if he had any room to move, anyway. Still, he was afraid to really touch the colonel, sure he would pass out if he did. That thought made Ed feel like a stupid schoolgirl with a crush again, and he would have slapped himself, if not for said man in front of him.
Roy cocked an eyebrow in amusement at the young man's antics. Even though Ed wasn't really doing much, the older man could tell exactly what he was thinking. Whether that was from knowing him for so long, or knowing what it was to act like that in general, Roy didn't know. All he knew was that the fact that Ed seemed anxious at the close proximity of their bodies was a good indication that what Alphonse had told him was indeed true. Though he couldn't determine the extent of the supposed emotions, there was definitely something there. It was almost laughable, how he'd managed to miss all of the obvious signs before.
Then again, Ed wasn't like the others. Anyone else who'd had an attraction to Roy…well, they made it pretty clear. Roy almost laughed aloud. The thought that the Fullmetal Alchemist should be compared to hordes of giggling, flush-faced females was more than humorous, it was hilarious. Though Ed's reactions to Roy were different, that didn't excuse his obliviousness. Maybe he'd just been so busy thinking about his own feelings that he hadn't really been aware that such feelings could be reciprocated.
This fact, of course, had not yet occurred to Ed either, as he stood there, unable to move. All he could think of was how the object of his long-hidden affection was right in front of him, so close that moving a few mere centimeters would cause him to touch the other man. A dozen thoughts swam through his head as he desperately tried to think of an escape route. His heart jumped into his throat when Roy suddenly leaned over so that Ed could feel hot breath on his ear.
"Leaving so soon? We still have so much to catch up on," Roy said softly, causing a chill to shoot up Edward's spine.
The smaller male held back a groan. God, Roy was going to kill him. He could feel the warmth of the dark-haired man's body radiating off in waves (though he couldn't really distinguish whose heat it really was, since he was feeling rather warm himself). Roy was close enough to touch without really touching him and he smelled of a strange combination of soap and gunpowder. It really did fit him, Ed thought, and if he had the choice, he'd definitely make a cologne out of it, just for himself so he could whip it out whenever he needed to.
And oh, how he needed to. He could feel that need slowly manifesting in physical form between his legs and it was starting to make him crazy. He desperately needed to escape.
"I…really have to com—go…leave. Please," Ed said, forcing the last syllable out. He would never have begged for anything from the bastard, but he really was suffering. He'd rather have certain parts of his anatomy cut off than deal with what he was.
Roy raised a curious eyebrow once again. Never before could he really recall Edward having said the word "please" for anything. Not in all the years he'd known the kid, anyway.
He's not a kid anymore, Roy. He's a grown man, damn near, and you have to respect that, Hughes echoed in Roy's mind.
Roy sighed. He knew that was probably true. He was about to comply and move aside when he noticed a certain…"protrusion" in the blonde's lower extremities.
Oh yes, Edward was a grown man now, in more ways than one.
Suddenly, Roy wasn't so inclined to respect the young man's wishes. No, he would respect him in a totally different way—a way that would benefit the both of them if all went well.
"Well, what do we have here?" Roy inquired, smirking at the blush that was quickly flushing across the blonde's face. "I don't mean to pry, but I do believe you are poking me in the thigh."
Damnit, what do I do now?! Ed screamed in his mind. He was aroused, nay, stiff as a board and had nowhere to go. Stupid, smug Mustang had not only noticed Ed's source of discomfort, he had pointed it out! Like it was nothing to him at all!
Wait. Roy had said something about Ed's…uh-huh, and he hadn't seemed grossed out or anything by it at all! In fact, he seemed almost…pleased…
"Uh…sorry," Ed choked, trying to move backwards into the table. He hoped to move it just enough to give him an out, but instead he tripped, causing him to fall into the almost-expectant arms of his superior officer yet again.
"You sure are clumsy today, Fullmetal," Roy mused, lifting him onto the table and straightening his shirt out. "If you don't start being more careful, you're going to knock yourself or someone else out with that thing."
WHAT did he just say?! Edward's mind screeched yet again. He was confused. Was Roy just being glib? Was he teasing? For the love of all that was good and reasonable, what was going on?
Noticing the younger male's obvious confusion, Roy smiled softly and reached over to brush a few strands of stray blonde hair from his face. He could only imagine what was going through his mind right now. It probably didn't differ too much from what had been going through his own mind when Alphonse had let out his brother's little secret.
In fact, had Edward come onto him all by himself, Roy probably would have had nothing short of a stroke and died. Albeit, he would have died happily once he'd gotten an idea of what had happened. Part of him just wanted to reach out and hold the blonde, if only to make sure he was actually there, and that his own sick mind hadn't decided to play a month-long trick on him.
Unbeknownst to him, that was exactly what he was doing, leaving Edward to wonder further just what had happened to his world and how he was going to deal with the sudden change in his once-rival's behavior.
"Uh…M-Mustang? Hey, Bastard…Roy?"
