Roy couldn't help himself. Edward had just been too good yesterday in the office. So when he 'overheard' Edward telling Riza about the date he had set up with Sheska for the next day, he immediately looked at his calendar and noticed that he had nothing planned for Saturday. And his curiosity was boiling over. That was how Mustang ended up walking three yards behind the pair that was currently the talk of Central Command.

He was of course, dressed to look inconspicuous. A tan greatcoat and a fedora of the same color masked his beautiful black hair and almost equally dark eyes. He looked no different from the other businessmen on the street, and his trademark gloves were concealed in his pocket. Walking purposefully but slowly enough to maintain a safe distance between him and his quarry, Mustang followed the two into a bookstore not far from Central.

He laughed a little at the boy's taste. It was the first rule of womanizing to never let your date's attention drift from you. That was exactly what Edward was doing, walking the girl into the equivalent of a three-ring circus.

If they'd gone into a restaurant or movie, he would have perhaps contented himself by sitting in a nearby café and simply waiting for them to exit. But no. They'd gone into a bookstore, where Ed would have the challenge of his life trying to maintain her attention. This he had to see.

He found the two browsing the cookbook section, to his surprise. It did make sense, though, Mustang had to admit. With Alphonse in Resembool, Edward would need to learn to cook his own meals, and he was asking his girlfriend for help. It made him appear incredibly humble, adorable, and trusting, Roy realized. This tactic would never have worked for Roy himself, as he tried to seem impeccable, but someone with Edward's young countenance and more innocent view of the world could pull it off without a hitch. This is exactly what Fullmetal was doing, and he was doing it perfectly.

Mustang watched as Sheska selected some easy starter's cookbooks for Ed and they headed to the back of the store where less mainstream books were kept. This was where Sheska would bury herself in books, literally, and Ed would lose all her attention.

How little the Colonel knew about Edward. In thirty seconds, he had picked out a book neither of them had read and was sitting side by side with Sheska on the floor, both of them pouring over the page and pointing phrases and passages out to each other.

Mustang took careful note of the way Fullmetal sat so their legs just brushed each other, and how he made her laugh at what was surely some boring alchemy book. Oh, he was keeping her attention, alright. And he was doing it in completely natural ways that revolved around something they both had an interest in. To the casual observer, they would have looked like a pair that had already had their first anniversary, not two young adults on their second date.

He walked out of the bookstore without even registering the names of the titles he passed. He had to know what technique Fullmetal was using to put Sheska at ease so well and still keep her interested in him. There would be questions when he came into the office on Monday.

Ed watched Roy leave out of the corner of his eye. So, the man had been worried enough about the competition that he'd decided to check out Ed's techniques. As satisfying as it was to know that the Colonel had followed him, he also found it annoying. Did he do this to all of his male subordinates, or was Ed just a special case? Or maybe it wasn't him.

Mustang had stolen girlfriends before. In fact, his stunts with Jean's possible love interests were what started Edward on the warpath in the first place. But now that he actually had a girl he cared about, the reality of Havoc's situation kicked in.

He looked over at Sheska, still bent over the book. She was a very pretty girl, as he was beginning to realize, and bright too. There was no reason Mustang wouldn't try to get Edward back for his little jaunt with Hawkeye by stealing the bookworm away from the blonde alchemist. Anger suddenly boiled inside him. If Roy laid as much as a finger on Sheska, he'd…

Wait, what was he thinking? Edward laughed. He was acting like a jealous boyfriend. Sheska looked up at him questioningly. He quickly pointed to a phrase and said, "This here is completely incorrect. Seriously, who told this guy helium had four electrons?" To his relief, Sheska started laughing. It had been a bit of a stretch, but Sheska knew enough chemistry to find it funny. Thank the Gate she was smart as well as pretty.

Again, Ed had to ask himself why he'd just thought that. Sure, Sheska looked cute when she blushed and yesterday when she'd worn her hair down it had made her look lovely…and the sweater she was wearing today really brought out the color of her eyes. No, he was doing it again!

He, Edward Elric, child prodigy, with inhuman powers of focus, was being distracted, by a bookworm girl a year older than him, no less. Sure he'd picked her to be his partner in taking down Mustang, but it was just like what he'd done before with Hawkeye, right? Right?

He was still confused as they walked out of the shop with a bag of recipe books for him and a few dusty old tomes for Sheska. They headed for a nearby sandwich shop, Maconi's, for lunch, walking side by side. "Um," Sheska said, hesitating slightly.

He looked down and smiled at the girl. She looked even cuter from this angle. But he pulled his thoughts out of Sheska Land long enough to ask, "Yes? What is it?"

She blushed. "Well, I…" Instead of continuing to speak, she pointed to the couple walking in front of them. The woman had her hands wrapped around the man's arm.

Edward understood. He grabbed the brunette's hands and twined it around his upper sleeve. He was a little uncomfortable doing so with his automail arm, but suddenly switching sides would have been awkward. And awkward was one thing you did NOT want to be on a date.

But when she did touch his arm, it was like an electric shock ran through it and into his heart. His eyes widened. What had just happened?

Sheska is young enough that, with the new Edward, there isn't that large of an age gap. I always thought she was 19-22, which puts her right around Ed's 21 years.

Thank you QueenCari1129,FullmetalAlchemist64, SapphireClaw, and my latest reviewer, ScarMaskWarrior for your splendid support of my story!

And again, I must thank Guest for all the radiation and medical research he/she did for me to help strengthen the details of my chapters.

Thank you all.

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