"Roy! Haven't seen you in here all year—didn't forget about your old pal, did ya?"

The all too chipper early morning voice of his best friend, Maes, almost had Roy walking right back out the door to the teacher's lounge. A few of the other gathered faculty seemed to share this sentiment, with tired glances and eye rolls being directed aplenty to the completely oblivious English teacher. Of course, it was Hughes who Roy had come to see in the first place, so he could hardly turn his back on the interaction. Shaking his head resignedly, he walked over to join his friend by the espresso machine. If anyone in the world needed to avoid caffeine, it was Maes, but that didn't seem to deter him.

"Hughes, you know full well I couldn't forget you if I tried." Roy's reply was followed by a yawn wide enough to make his jaw pop. Casually, he took hold of the cup within Mae's hand—full of liquid energy, thank goodness—and commandeered it. The coffee was piping hot and mediocre in flavor, but feeling awake was worth scalding a few taste buds.

Without missing a beat, Hughes began to prepare himself another drink, having just lost his own. "Aw, c'mon, don't say that like you have tried! Really, though, would it have killed you to come and say, "Hi?'"

A few feet away, Andrea—Mrs. Elliot—stood, abruptly exiting the break room. To be fair, Maes was quite popular with everyone later in the day. How could he not be, with such a friendly demeanor? But in the early hours of the morning, Roy was one of very few people who could stomach his friend. And even then, only just. Still, though, it was quite rude to leave like that, just because the man was a little energetic. "You know how I get, Hughes," Roy responded, after another quick sip. "Work just takes over. Riza had to drag me out of the building last night. We didn't leave until five."

Humming, Maes filled his fresh cup and motioned for them to sit at the recently vacated table. Roy did so happily, resting his elbows against the smooth wood. His friend was silent for a moment—which was heavily unusual for Hughes—before he said delicately, "I'm sure she wasn't too happy about that, hmm?"

That was an understatement. Roy was in the teacher's lounge seeking solace in Maes's companionship mostly due to the awful night they'd had the night before. Despite his best efforts to play nice, his wife had remained frosty all evening. Things had finally culminated in a familiar argument. Riza vs. Roy working too much. Roy vs. Riza being unkind. Riza vs. Roy not being open. Roy and Riza vs. a monstrous resentment that had grown between them. All he could do was sigh in response to his friend's question. "No," Roy answered shortly, "she wasn't."

"I know I've said this before, but I really don't know why you two stay together," Hughes stated calmly, averting his eyes so that Roy's glare couldn't reach him. "You both seem so miserable."

Thankful for the limited number of prying ears in the break room, Roy nevertheless lowered his voice. "And I've told you before, you know she's been through enough. Riza lost her dream career and lost her chance at being a mother. I'm the only part of her life plan that she's still got. I can't take that from her."

"You really think her life plan included being stuck in an unhappy marriage?" Before Roy could make a retort, Maes continued, "I think you're trying to cover for the real reason you won't leave."

Checking the clock, Roy saw that they still had half an hour before classes would begin. Time would not provide him the excuse he wanted to exit the conversation he'd just recently been hoping for. Exasperated, he allowed his head to fall and rest upon one of his forearms, careful to keep his coffee held up in the other hand. "Go on, then," he groaned. It was too early for this shit. "What's this 'real reason,' huh?"

Again, Hughes paused briefly. "I think," he murmured, "the answer is layered. First, I think that you, being the infallible man you are, would rather suffer than admit you've made a mistake. Secondly, Roy, you're a fixer. You've always struggled with the reality that it's not your responsibility to solve everyone's problems. Finally—and I say this because I know you better than most—you're afraid to be alone. You and Riza have been a couple since you were in high school. Ya know, as students." Regardless of the serious subject at hand, Maes laughed at his own little joke. "When we were in college, you had some…shall we say, indiscretions. And then you came back here and married her. So, you've never really been single, and I think you're scared to face a future where you are all you have."

Even after all these years, Roy felt his face heating at the reminder of his university escapades. More than anything Hughes said, they might be a reason he stayed with his wife. Riza had no idea he'd been unfaithful, and the nature of those affairs…well, maybe he was still trying to make it up to her. "I didn't expect to be psychoanalyzed this morning, Hughes." Roy's tone was accusatory, and his friend held his hands up, shrugging his shoulders in surrender.

"Okay, okay. I'll leave ya be. But it's my job to worry about you." Maes took a quick gulp of coffee and, smiling that million watt smile, swiftly changed the subject to one he knew Roy wouldn't be so hesitant about. "So, you've been too busy with work to even have lunch with your dearest friend. Is that good, or bad?"

The corner of Roy's mouth twitched, a faint smile he couldn't resist. Hughes was the only person he knew who could balance perfectly serious support and genuine comedic relief. Whatever you needed, he would provide with ease and willingness. Gracia was a lucky woman. "Don't be like that. I'll have lunch with you today, okay? But, to answer your question: both, I suppose. You know how it is; some students are great, others less so. This year I don't have any outright terrors, so that's a net positive."

At that, Hughes laughed heartily, running his free hand through his hair. "I wish I was so lucky."

Grimacing in sympathy, Roy drained the last of his coffee. It wasn't enough, but it would have to do. "Yikes. How bad is it?"

"Well, I'm going over Hamlet, right? I don't know if you've heard, but someone published this parody not long ago, where they added zombies." Maes snickered, repeating, "Zombies! Frankly, it was pretty good—although nothing compared to the original!"

"Of course not." While Hughes was not a literary snob, exactly, he did hold Shakespeare in a particularly high regard.

With the quickest eye roll of acknowledgement for his sarcasm, Maes went on, "Well, this one kid—Jack—he thought that was the official, original work! Bless him, he had the nerve to ask me, 'Where are all the zombies?' after reading the first act. I almost had a heart attack, Roy, I tell ya. Sure, I should be grateful he's at least looked at the material. I've got a couple of non-readers, but that happens every year. I just…Shakespeare must have rolled in his grave. Zombies." A tiny sigh, and then, "Who's your worst?"

Roy mulled that one over. As he'd said, he didn't have any out-and-out bad students at the moment, a shining rarity in a teacher's career. No one that made his blood boil. Of course, he had one particular student who had trouble surrounding him…but did Roy really want to bring up Edward? Guilt flooded him at the mere thought of his name. After all, last night he'd gotten into a fight with Riza in part because he didn't want to gossip about the kid. Of course, they had spats frequently regardless, but somehow to Roy it felt strange that a student he'd known for a little over a week held enough of his attention to be even the most minute issue. As hesitant as he was, maybe talking to Hughes might give him some new ideas as far as how to help Edward.

"Hello? Earth to Roy!"

"Sorry, sorry, I was just…thinking." Roy looked down at his intertwined fingers, taking a last second to gather his thoughts. "Really, I don't have anyone giving me any issues…but one kid did get in a fight that I had to break up yesterday."

Hughes whistled through his teeth. "Yeah, I heard about a commotion! What happened?"

It only for the briefest second crossed Roy's mind that he was willingly telling Maes what he wouldn't tell his wife. This lack of continuity was disregarded. "His name's Edward Elric. Apparently, he's facing some bullying." Lowering his voice and leaning in, Roy whispered, "Edward's gay. The other students seem to have something against him for it. I'm sure there's more to the story, but he wouldn't tell me."

Understanding dawned on Hughes's focused face. Matching Roy's quiet tone, though they were nearly alone in the room, he said, "That makes sense; I've got Ed first bell, and he's been a pretty shy kid. I thought that was just his personality! Shame he's goin' through it."

"I just wish there was something I could do," Roy mumbled, frustrated.

"Hey," Maes began, leaning back in his chair, "I get it. You're empathetic to his troubles. But if you bother him too much, Ed's just going to resent you, too. Let him know you've got an ear to listen if he needs to talk, but otherwise just treat him like a normal kid. Sounds like he would benefit from just being dealt with like everyone else." Before Roy, open-mouthed, could protest, Hughes held his palms up. "I know you like to be hands on, but even positive attention is singling him out. I'm sure you know from experience how much Ed just wants to feel like a regular person right now."

Though his more emotional side wanted to argue, Roy logically knew his friend was right. Edward probably felt like an outcast, and even if he was trying to help in doing so, giving the boy special treatment wouldn't make him feel like his sexuality was just as natural as everyone else's. It was just that Roy was an impatient man; he was the type to work at something until he saw results. But Maes was correct in more than one way. Roy's experiments in college had, thankfully, not been so traumatic as Edward's own experience, but they'd still had him feeling entirely other when compared to the majority of the campus. "I hate it when you use logic against me, Hughes."

"Says the scientist."

Even though their discussions had been quite serious, especially for such an early hour, that made Roy chuckle. It was strange, wasn't it, that a man of data such as himself could be so emotionally driven. Shaking his head good naturedly, he rose to his feet, rolling his head to stretch out the morning's lingering kinks. "Speaking of which, I have work to do. And your first bell starts in a few minutes. Really, though, I will come up for lunch. I've enjoyed your company, and your advice." Truth be told, after having spoken with Maes, he felt quite guilty for not spending more time with his friend. Eating at his desk was more convenient, but nowhere near as fulfilling.

Giving him a little two finger salute, Hughes grinned. "I'll hold ya to that! Besides, we spent all this time talking about you…I have so much to say about my lovely Elicia!"

Roy managed to hold his smile mostly in place, though as he turned away, he was balking. Whenever that dreamy-eyed expression gripped Maes's face, you were in for it. Of course, Roy reflected as he exited into the mostly empty halls of CCHS, he wasn't really too bothered to listen to Hughes go on about how much he loved his life. With a happy wife, and a lovely daughter…who could blame Maes for his enthusiasm?

Who didn't secretly want that for themselves?