I had to forgo the smut scene in lieu of fanfiction's standards. So I posted it on a similar site with a very similar name to this one, same pen name, titled 'Aerugo Love'.

Happy hunting!

Chapter 14 A Bond With You

There are a lot of things people knew about Roy Mustang. He was a skilled alchemist, wielding his fire with ease and precision in a moments notice. He was clever, manipulating others to serve his own ends, though not maliciously so. He was a womanizer, but he managed not to become sleazy, yet. With striking eyes and that soothing voice, how could he not? He felt it would be unfair. They also knew he could be lazy, pawning his work off on his subordinates and ditching work to go sleep in the reference room. But there were also things people didn't know about, like his bond to Riza Hawkeye.

Of course there was the assumed romance that they shared, but no one truly knew what went on between them when the doors were closed or they were hidden away from prying eyes. Theirs was a relationship that had a delicate balance to it. There were many lines that were never to be crossed, others to be danced upon and things that were acceptable. In order of availability.

Riza was a strong woman, one not to be crossed, but allowing herself to be taken over was exhilarating. He wouldn't tie her up, just, give her instructions. "Put your hands behind your back," he asked casually. It wasn't an order but a request.

"Why sir?" She seemed puzzled at his request.

Roy rotated his hand at the wrist, "Come on, haven't got all night."

Automatically, she knew what was on his mind. "Alright," she said. The reason he asked her to accompany him to a storage tent was for privacy.

He undid her military issue jacket and slid it to the floor, "At ease." He watched Riza bring her hands to her sides only to be snatched up by his own. "This place is a hell."

"They made you do work again, didn't they?" she said in her usual flat tone.

He flashed a smile, "Exactly, you wouldn't believe what I had to do to convince them to get you down here."

"From what I heard you hit the bottle."

"You're good at this." Apparently there was a method to his earlier madness. Make the ones in power see he was a shell shocked mess of a man without his full team. He took a step closer, a step further within her personal space.

She averted her stare to the side, "I'm sure you've found your fair share down here, sir." Their relationship wasn't anything on a deep level, nothing romantic, just casual sex. He had been trained by Riza's father when he first signed up for the military, that's where he first met her and since then, have grown incredibly close to. Her calling him 'Sir', in situation's like this, was foreplay.

"Yeah, but they don't know me." He touched his forehead to hers.

"And I do?" She took a small plastic package from her pocket and passed it to him.

"Better than anyone." He kissed her deeply and walked her back to the edge of the table. They had stolen away to a food storage shed, bags laid about the floor and boxes were piled to the top of the tent. It was late so the kitchen was closed, no one would be near that tent till morning. Since they bunked in different tents, it was difficult to coordinate alone time, what with there being the impending return of the roommate. There was also the benefit of having no neighbours, they could make some noise. Not a lot, there were still people around, but they didn't have to be silent.

Another aspect about their relationship, the secrecy. A conflict of interest was what it would be called, so they were forced to keep their affection for one another to themselves. But that just made it all the more exciting. Roy gently reached for her waist and loosened up her belt. "You know," he said through their kiss, "If they took my miniskirt idea, we wouldn't have this problem. Lay back, Captain," he instructed. When it came to intercourse in a public area, it's best to remove as little clothing as possible. Pants to the thighs, unbuttoned and zipper down, the belt remained. It was a hassle, but it got the job done. Then again, there was the thrill of being caught.

There was a reason for all this restricted behavior. There came no emotional attachment. Not everyone needed to be in a relationship, though everyone was cursed with the desire for physical temptation. Sure there were probably exceptions to this rule, but unfortunately this was not Riza's case. Roy was not only a good friend she had known for years, he was a role model and superior officer to her. Many things made her respect him, so she was content with keeping her distance. Though he did care for her deeply, she could feel it, he never seemed to show any signs that he wanted a commitment. He only wanted carnal privileges with no emotional strings attached.

For some this was a very strange way of making things work, but for Riza, it was what she wanted too. They weren't sneaking around, their meetings were few and far between, and there were no disputes if he were to see other women. Neither of them would have it any other way. Afterward, Riza tied her hair back in a very short pony tail. She was satisfied that she would be good for a few weeks after that. "What's on the agenda for tomorrow?" Quickly dipping back into business mode.

"Foraging. They seem to think we're going to run out of food before the next shipment, so our mission tomorrow is gather enough food for a week. I told them we would be fine, but what do I know?"

"It's troublesome to be right when the appointed authorities are wrong." She was wise. Roy decided to drop this issue before they dropped a pile of paperwork on him out of spite.

The next day, the rain had left and the sun beat down. "Can you believe," Ed drug a sleeve across his forehead, "that this is winter for them?"

Al huffed as he lifted a ladder up and rested it on the branch of a tree. "The beginning of winter."

Edward laughed, "True. Then its all rain," he said while looking at the carefully placed ladder.

Alphonse shook it and it only wobbled slightly, "That's as good as it gets." With that, he watched his brother climb yet another tree. They had been taking turns going up and cutting the jack fruit down. Going up the ladder and cutting the stem off wasn't difficult, it was catching them that hurt.

Jack fruit were the world's largest fruit, weighing as much as eighty pounds. Their skin was rough and spiky, and they were awkwardly shaped, so it didn't make for a fun catch. They were instructed to only cut fruit that weighed ten pounds; at the beginning, they were shown an example of a ten pound fruit. Despite it's terror instilling outer shell the soft fruit inside practically dissolved in the mouth. It tasted similar to pineapple mixed with banana.

One trip that day, Al cut into a thick stem but knocked another fruit with a weakened stem free. Edward truly wished he had his automail arm after he caught that eighteen and a half pound monster of a fruit. It left a series of small gashes down his right arm as he caught it, only a surface scratches, but the bruise it left was great. It ended up being a dark purple in only an hour. It was near his shoulder, at the top of his bicep. Tiny spikes made their home in his first layer of skin, pock marking him with nearly fifty red dots. He also noticed a bruise on his right cheek where it came to rest.

When the day was done, Ed went back to his tent to have Winry look at his arm, "How does this feel?" she said, rotating his shoulder to see if anything was out of place.

"It's not that paaainful!" he tried not to flinch and failed near the end. It was the skin that was tight, it felt like it would tear.

"No major internal damage, so all I've got to do is clean it."

"Iodine?" he asked with dread.

"Sorry," she said, reaching for the bottle. Placing some on a cotton ball she held it towards his arm. He pulled back as she got closer, "Edward," she said sternly.

"Give me a break," he snapped and did his best to relax. He took a deep breath then quickly released it.

Like a ninja, she hastily swabbed the raised skin around the bruise and the bright red lines going down his arm. "Done," she said and saw him holding his breath, eyes widened with pain.

"Great," he muttered through gritted teeth. It burned badly but diffused into a dull throb in a matter of minutes. Giving his next few actions a recap in his mine, he began, "Winry?" he said in a low voice.

"What?" she said, busied with placing a bandage with tape at its edges over the bruise.

His words seemed to be lost. No matter how many times he went over it in his head, he drew a blank each time the subject would come up. She hadn't said anything, then again, neither did he. It was up to him to make the first move.

"What is it?" She prompted him.

While sitting next to her on the bed, he shifted some weight to his left arm, leaned over and kissed her. Not any familiar technique, one that leaned her back to rest her head on his pillow. Normally when they were having an intimate moment, both of them confirmed their actions, but not this time. Ed wanted her to just 'know' what he wanted. A nervous breath, one of those little things you notice when you're so close to another. "Where's this going?" he said impulsively as his kisses traveled to the side of her neck.

"I don't know." Her cheeks grew hot and her heart raced. She wanted to say something, but was far too nervous.

He ceased his intrusion of her soft skin and looked in her eyes and said, "Where do you want this to go?"

A strange feeling shook her whole body, it felt as though someone drained her heat. It started at her shoulders and a cold wave flowed down to her elbow and a static feeling, accentuated by her heartbeat, took its place. "Anywhere," was the only word that managed to work its way to the top.

Once again, the silence took over and the movements became more unfamiliar, but not unwelcomed. She felt his hands at her back, searching for a bra buckle that wasn't there. Realizing that, he pulled the shirt up in the front and over her head. "Wait," she said quietly, "Won't someone come in?"

Edward shook his head, "I told Al to leave me alone and I'd go get him later."

"You said that?" she asked.

"I didn't say it like that," he dismissed her accusation of his big brother position being abused. Ed tugged a condom from his back pocket, one he had gotten from the medical tent earilier in the week. From there on out, things went as planned. It would seem that Ed managed to find a position that hit a great spot, one Winry later deemed the 'sweet spot'. They were able to finish in time before anyone intruded.

"I need to be at the kitchen tent in the next hour, where are you heading?" he spoke using his regular tone. Keeping the bedroom mindset separate from the public one was easy, and it made things less awkward.

"They want me to sort pills, its going to be a long night for me. See you in the morning." They kissed and parted ways.

Edward made his way to the food tent, while Winry trotted off to the hospital tent to get her work done. On the way, she wondered why it was so easy to be around one another so casually. Normally when people had an encounter like they had, there was always some kind of unrest between them. Even in the beginning, in Resembool, there was no awkward air between them. Whenever she thought it was going to be awkward, he looked so relaxed, it gave her the comfort to act no different than she usually did. Winry though that 'poker face' wasn't quite the word she was looking for. "No matter. All right you guys," the pills, "Sortin' time." And so she began by dumping them all out on the table.

For the most part, it was only idle though while she worked, but something crossed her mind. Upon sorting her twenty fifth pill cup she considered that maybe it was how he looked at her when they were together. How different it was. It was like she was looking at a different person. His gaze was narrowed, not squinting, but the kind of look one would give an intense scene in a book. Winry looked straight ahead, there was nothing there, she stared at nothing, blankly. She figured out why Ed was so well adjusted in the bedroom, "It was rehearsed," she spoke to herself.

Meanwhile, Al was sitting with Aria having a drink of ice water in the dining hall, "Did it hurt?" Al said, knowing full well that it must have. He offered an untouched glass to Ed as he came in.

"Thanks, and yeah. I think it's going to scar," he said, trying to hide his smile. He fought it, but it just kept coming back. They talked for a while longer till Ed got up and headed toward the kitchen. He tied a red bandana over his hair as he walked behind the counter.

Aria leaned over the table to Al, "Did you notice how much smiling he was doing?" she covered the side of her mouth with her hand.

"Expected. He told me to go away while he and Winry had some alone time," he said with an inflection on 'alone'.

"Really," she looked over in Ed's direction, "He told you to go away? Kind fo rude."

"He didn't say it like that," he said.

"How did he then?" she probed.

Al thought for a moment, "Come to the tent and I will kill you, see you later'. Then he left," he sipped his glass and saw Aria's horrified expression, "What? I didn't need to go to the tent anyway." He obviously missed the point.

"Well, he's been 'there' before...but he doesn't act like this any other time. And the fact he told you that, makes me wonder." By now she was leaning over the small round table supporting her weight on the sides of her forearms, shins resting on the chair. She was spying on Ed's movements over the counter. "Winry never mentioned that she was thinking about it recently...I mean, look at him. Its got to be." She pointed to get Al to turn around.

He sighed and looked over his shoulder, "He's not acting any differently," Edward was juggling three cups, "I don't see it," Al discarded the notion. "Unless Winry initiated it, it didn't happen. Brother's no good with these things. He said it himself," he said as Aria sat back down, "and you saying Winry hasn't mentioned anything..." He allowed the rest to be fill in the blanks.

"Hmm...maybe..." she squinted at Ed over Al's shoulder. That smile could be seen from miles away.

At the supper table, Winry came in and sat down with everyone to eat. She was sure she'd be there all night but was feeling so energized the job was finished in half the time. The team that got bitten by the fire ants a few days ago needed antibiotics, she was in charge of sorting the pills needed for the following week. Pre-sorting was the way to go. Being one of six surgeons on the base, she needed to be as free as possible during the day in case she was needed. She saw four patients this week with life threatening injuries.

"Glad you made it," he handed her a bread roll, "I was going to bring you supper later."

"Thanks Ed, I finished early," she broke it in half and buttered the top piece. The thought of mentioning her epifani to him crossed her mind, but if he had gone through all the extra trouble on her account, who was she to stop him? She was enjoying it. He was always a nut when it came to studying, so she wasn't surprised that he would handle everything the same way, including sex. Before they left Resembool, she couldn't help but notice a few of her books were out of place. That must have been it. He was getting his act down before opening night.

That thing he did with his eyes when he looked at her, crouched over her on all fours, that smolder. She gasped and blushed, allowing the knife to slip from her hand. "Damn." It made as much noise as possible as it fell, hitting the edge of the table and the chair in its path. It grabbed the attention of those around her; as if her face wasn't red enough.

Ed snickered, "Tired?"

"You could say that," she picked it up, wiped it clean and resumed her buttering.

Al and Aria stared at them out of the corner of their eyes. They saw the blush but couldn't determine if it was for the reason they thought. Aria would have to corner her tonight to see if she could grill it out of her.

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