Title:Slip
Characters: Roy Mustang, and Edward and Alphonse Elric.
Summary: Ed had, of course, been suspicious of the man right from the get go. Alphonse, however, had been the voice of reason, reassuring Ed that Roy wouldn't poison the food and, besides, it would be one less meal that the older brother would have to pay for.
Disclaimer: If I owned FMA, then I wouldn't be poor and this wouldn't be fanfic.
Rating: PG/T
Warnings: A bit of foul language, no spoilers, really, that's about it.

It was a strange thing, having a kitchen. And it was a strange idea thinking he'd actually missed having one. It wasn't as if they cooked, or even knew how. Well, they could probably figure out how to make pasta, and maybe scrambled eggs, but anything more complicated, and Ed was either on the phone with the delivery place, or they went out to a restaurant.

Well, Ed went out to a restaurant; Al didn't need to eat, so he either stayed behind at the inn or sat there feeling vaguely uncomfortable.

It had been about a year since they'd been inside a real kitchen, a nice wide spacious one with room enough for two over-eager children to run circles around their mother. Though certainly Ed and Al wouldn't be running circles around anyone. No, their mother wasn't there anymore; instead, doing the cooking that evening, was none other than Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist.

This had come as a shock to everyone involved, except Mustang. As soon as it was announced that Edward had passed his first evaluation after a year of service to the Military, he'd invited the two brothers over for a bit of a celebratory dinner. Ed had, of course, been suspicious of the man right from the get go. Alphonse, however, had been the voice of reason, reassuring Ed that Roy wouldn't poison the food and, besides, it would be one less meal that the older brother would have to pay for. That last had really been the deciding factor.

So, there the two were, standing around in Roy Mustang's kitchen, looking vaguely uncomfortable watching him dart about cooking for them.

"FullMetal."

Ed jumped at the sound of his name, making Roy smirk and making Ed scowl.

"You and Alphonse do not need to look so uncomfortable. Please, help yourself to something to drink and both of you have a seat." The man gestured to the refrigerator and the bar with the stools in turn before returning his attention back to dinner.

The younger boy immediately sat down, leaving Ed to fend for himself in the drink area. He took another somewhat uncomfortable look around the kitchen, earning him another smirk from his commanding officer, before he finally made his way over to the fridge. There really wasn't much of a selection inside -- apple juice, milk, a couple of bottles of wine -- but Ed pulled out the bottle of apple juice and…realized he didn't know where the cups were.

"…U-uh…Colonel…?"

Without missing a beat, Roy turned away from the stove, opened one of the cabinets, and presented Ed with a glass. Ed really didn't like the expression on his face…but he took the glass anyway, only thanking him once Alphonse hissed a nagging, "Brother," at him. The older blonde quickly retreated to the bar with his glass, taking the seat next to Alphonse and hiding in his juice.

He'd known this was a bad idea, from the very beginning. The second the words had left the Colonel's mouth Ed had gotten that horrible sinking feeling of dread deep in his stomach. And the fact that Roy was still smirking even as he served dinner and refilled the older brother's glass was reason enough to prove to him that he wasn't overreacting, like Al kept trying to convince him he was.

All throughout dinner, Ed continued glancing suspiciously at the man sitting next to him which, of course, Roy noticed and was infinitely amused over.

"Is there something wrong, FullMetal?"

The blonde's cheeks burned though he'd already guess that Mustang had noticed. Dark eyes gazed at him expectantly, though expectant for what Ed wasn't certain he wanted to know.

"Just wondering if you poisoned the food," he grumbled, turning back to his plat and poking at his mashed potatoes suspiciously.

Mustang took on an air of shock, pressing a hand to his chest as he leaned back in his chair, "You wound me, FullMetal. You are one of the Military's most celebrated State Alchemists, and you've been working with them for only a year."

Here it comes… Ed watched blandly as Roy's expression morphed into one of pure ego.

"Why would I want to get rid of you when all of that reflects positively on me, since I was the one who discovered you?"

The older brother snorted and dropped his fork onto his plate, turning to face his commanding officer and thoroughly ignoring the tension radiating from his brother. "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you, Colonel," the blonde retorted, "You don't get bragging privileges just because you're associated with the talent."

There was another chiding, "Brother…" from the boy next to him, but Ed ignored that as well.

"Are you trying to insinuate that I don't have any talent, FullMetal?" The man was still smirking, damn him, but Ed wouldn't be intimidated by this cocky know-it-all bastard.

"If the shoe fits," he shrugged. "Why else would you need me to do all your dirty work and impress the higher-ups?"

For a second, it almost looked as if the man's expression faltered, but before Ed was given the chance to really tell, the smirk was back and Roy had turned back to his dinner. "If that is what you truly think, FullMetal, then why are you here?"

For some reason, that just made Ed furious, though that wasn't the only reason his faced flushed red.

"That's a good question," he growled and then grabbed Al's hand as he hopped off of his stool. "C'mon, Al; we're leaving."

He didn't know what was wrong with him, because Roy had never shown him anything other than that egotistical asshole he showed everyone else; he'd never even hinted that there might be something beyond that. Not until just now, when something had slipped and he'd almost shown that he had some other emotion besides "amused."

Alphonse protested weakly as he was dragged from the room, from the house, but Roy didn't say a word, didn't even turn around in his chair. But that was fine, that was how it was supposed to be. Roy didn't have any emotions, and he most certainly didn't care about anything other than using the people around him to get his next promotion.

The path to the brother's inn was littered with dented garbage cans by the time Ed had finally fished out the key, and it was another sleepless night spent in tense silence.

-End