Tuesday passed in much the same way as Monday and Sunday had; that is, in peace. Of course, Paul was still cold (though not quite hostile) to Ed and Roy, but that was no great loss. No, the big thing was that Mark still had not, by the end of the day, made his move.

And that made Edward very nervous. In their house, he paced the floor while Roy sat on the bed. "It doesn't make any sense," Ed repeated for the thousandth time. "We have to be missing something, he wouldn't go this long without doing anything."

"We aren't missing anything, Ed."

"How do you know?" Edward turned, rounding on Roy, who was (in his opinion) far too calm about the situation. "If we're missing it—"

"There's no way we could miss something involving several overly-muscled people in the community. This isn't the kind of thing Mark can hide, it's too obvious. Just breathe," Roy replied, rolling his eyes.

Edward merely shook his head. "But why would he wait? What if it's happening at night, while we're asleep? We'd never know!"

"But we would see the differences—if they changed something about the community, that would be obvious, and everyone would be able to tell something was going on. And that hasn't happened. And if Mark were forcing everyone he changed out of the community at night, we would be able to tell in the people. Their bodies would be tired, even if they didn't remember anything."

"Unless the transmutation removed traces of them being tired," Ed countered.

The man exhaled heavily. "It takes them longer, sure, but haven't you noticed? They still get fatigued. They all still need to eat and sleep and drink. These people have been changed, sure, but they're all still very clearly human. At the least, they'd be yawning or something, even if their appearance has changed so that they don't have dark circles or anything, though I doubt Mark would have wasted energy—and the Stone—on something so cosmetically centered."

On some level, Ed knew what Roy was saying made complete sense. But he was far too riled up to let the subject go that easily. "But—"

Roy stood up abruptly and, without a word, swept Edward's feet out from under him, effectively cutting him off. The man caught Ed as he fell, lifting him up into his arms. Edward gaped, mouth opening and closing repeatedly in indignation. "P-put me down!" he finally managed, shouting out as he slapped Roy on the shoulder.

"If you insist," Roy replied, shrugging. The only warning Ed got was a crafty smile, and then he was flung into the air, landing ungracefully with a huff on the bed.

Stunned, Edward merely blinked for a moment, before the sound of Roy's laughter made him frown. He pushed himself up onto his knees, grabbing the man's arm. "Okay, you asked for it." And with that, Ed yanked, putting Roy off balance and causing him to fall onto the bed as well. He didn't waste any time pushing the man further down and climbing atop him, pinning Roy down.

Still chuckling, Roy, completely unconcerned about his current situation, grabbed Edward around the waist, and, of all things, started tickling him.

Just because Ed could recognize the situation as ridiculous, didn't mean he could stop himself from laughing. He instantly loosened his grip, to try to bat away Roy's fingers, quickly losing his breath. The sensation was too much, and Edward finally rolled off the man to get away.

His reprieve didn't last long, for Roy followed him, now attempting to pin Ed down—but Edward was ready. Bringing his feet up at the last moment, he kicked Roy away, being careful not to hit the man's junk; somehow, this had turned into a game (a game! Shit, that was immature), and Ed wasn't actually upset enough to cause Roy serious pain.

The man fell back, pin wheeling his arms as he slid off the bed, barely managing to catch himself on his feet. While Roy recovered, Edward sprang to his knees, ready to pull him down when he came back to the bed. However, that wasn't quite what happened—Roy sprang at him, tackling him around the chest and pushing Ed back down again.

The wrestling continued for several minutes, with the duo flip-flopping positions repeatedly, until Roy finally pinned Edward down for the last time. Of course, Ed was loathe to admit defeat, but they were both panting and he just didn't have the energy to fight it.

Once Roy realized Edward was done, he began to laugh, grinning broadly. He bent his head down, pressing a kiss to Ed's forehead. Though the man had done so a thousand times, the action sent a shiver down Edward's spine, and made him painfully aware of just how intimate their situation was: Roy, on top of him, panting and warm and kissing him.

"Roy…?" Ed began slowly, hesitant to say what he felt he needed to. It wasn't that he minded what was happened so much as…well, suffice to say, it wasn't necessarily a good idea. He needed to make sure the boundaries were set—firmly.

"Hmm?" the man hummed, still smiling above Edward. The sight sent a pang through his chest. He quickly repressed the feeling—to begin with, it was more than surprising, and it was also not practical. Not with Roy.

"This…I mean, it's a little…close. I know it's all good fun, but…I mean—you know, despite what you told Mark, we aren't really in a relationship…that was just an excuse to make sure we could keep investigating without interference." The words sounded terrible coming out, and a large part of Ed wanted to take them away—but it was too late.

Roy's grin disappeared, like someone had turned off a light, and he pulled back, coming to rest on his knees at the foot of the bed. His expression was somewhere in between irritation and disappointment. "Yeah, I know. Does that mean I can't just…be close to you?"

"No," Edward added hastily. "I mean…"

"Before, you said you didn't mind. Even me kissing you on the forehead." If Ed hadn't known better, he would have said Roy looked almost…pained. "You said it was fine…so…"

"And it is. It's…kind of nice." Edward flushed, mentally slapping himself for it; that wasn't going to make his position any clearer. "I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. I don't want to not be close—this is going to sound stupid, but…the one good thing about this mission is that it's made me able to just relax, when you're around, so I'm not saying to stay away, I'm just…setting boundaries. We're…not a couple."

With a shock, Ed realized how shadowy Roy's face was becoming. Of course, it was only because the sun was setting, but it seemed to fit the somehow somber mood a little too well. "I know that, Ed," Roy murmured, standing up and walking around to his side of the bed, lying down as the bells began to chime. "I just…"

But the man couldn't seem to find the right words. Finally he sighed, whispered, "I'm sorry, okay? I hadn't realized I wasn't being clear about that. Now, let's just…get some sleep, alright?"

And without another word, he wrapped an arm cautiously around Edward's waist and closed his eyes. Though their positions were the same as always, Roy felt much more distant than usual. Scooting into the embrace, Ed tried not to feel the strange regret welling up inside of him—along with the feeling that he'd just, with a few words, fucked something up royally.