Cherry Red
Ed/Roy
For NeoDiji
Yar...this started out with a bananna. But it didn't end there. Cause if it had it would be on instead.
Fullmetal Alchemist is not mine. Got it? Good.

There were many reasons to be angry. At least, in Edward Elric's mind. Of course, to Ed anything his commanding officer and chief rival Roy Mustang did was a reason to be angry. And Roy had been particularly offensive lately. It seemed a new air of smugness seemed to hang over him whenever he was around the younger alchemist. The same type of smugness that might have come form Roy, say, sleeping with Ed's girlfriend. This new development did not go unnoticed by the rest of Mustang's staff either. Hawkeye glared at him more than usual, and even the usually accommodating Havoc seemed a bit miffed. Well, miffed was one thing, but Ed was genuinely pissed off. If he'd been annoyed on Monday, by Wednesday he was raging. And it was on this mid-week afternoon that he decided to confront Mustang. The heat of East City's summer had everyone's tempers flaring, and Ed was no exception. Ed just happened to pass Roy in the hall on the way back from lunch, and, was it his imagination or did the other actually turn his nose up at him? Either way Ed shot his superior a death glare, but Roy kept right on walking, sucking on a green popsicle he's picked up at lunch. Fullmetal felt the blood rush to his head at this response, and if Roy hadn't been safely out of range he would have decked him.

"Mustang!" he yelled "get your worthless ass back here! Don't you walk away from me!"

Roy turned and regarded the younger alchemist with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, Elric-kun?" His voice betrayed no emotion, except the same smugness that had been driving Ed insane all week.

"You…you…!" Ed stammered "I should transmute you into the ugliest fucking chimera since Shou Tucker!" Ed felt dizzy from a combination of the heat and shouting so much, but he kept right on.

"I should cut you up into tiny pieces and feed them to Black Hayete with his dinner! And you know what, I will! I will, Mustang! You just wait and see!"

Ed stood there, trembling with rage as Roy continued to eat his dessert.

"Right. I'm sure you will Elric-kun. You've been so successful in everything else you've attempted."

Ed's eyes went wide. Roy hadn't just said that. But he had. Ed clapped his hands together, fully intending to transmute his automail into a blade and slice Roy in half, but the strain of his rage combined with the heat and a lack of rest (the final two Ed was more than used to dealing with) proved too much for him. There was a crackle of blue energy and Ed staggered back before falling to the floor. He expected Roy to laugh, so he was shocked when the other hurried over to him. He felt gentle fingers pressed to the side of his neck and heard Roy saying something about his pulse being too fast and heat exhaustion before he blacked out.

The first thing Ed realized upon waking was that it was wonderfully cool. He was lying in a bed with only a light sheet covering him and there was a slight cool breeze. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in the infirmary on the top floor of East City headquarters. Then someone was blotting his face with a damp cloth. He looked over to find none other than Roy sitting beside him. Dark haired man was slightly flushed even in the coolness of the room and the first few buttons of his uniform were undone. Ed was baffled by his inability to take his eyes off him. Roy looked more vulnerable than Ed had ever seen him. It seemed like all his smugness had been stripped away. All in all, it looked like Roy should be the one lying down. It was hard to believe this was the same person Ed had threatened to slice half an hour earlier.

"Hey" he said hoarsely. Roy looked like he was being pulled out of a dream world.

"Oh, Fullmetal...you're awake." He forced a smile "The nurse had to step out for awhile, but she said once you woke up to have you drink something, so here" he pressed a glass of water to Ed's lips. The younger drank greedily. He couldn't remember ever being so thirsty. When he was through he flopped back against the pillows and stared up at Roy, confused. A few long minutes passed in silence until finally Ed, without realizing what he was doing, reached up and brushed the fingers of his human hand over Roy's cheek.

"You're warm" he said. "Maybe someone should have a look at you."

He had no idea why he was concerned. Not like Roy meant anything to him, but somehow seeing him looking so weak was almost frightening. Ed was used to his commanding officer being a pillar of smug indifference, albeit strong smug indifference.

"I'll be fine" Roy said. He got up and crossed to room to the small fridge that was used for keeping different medications cold. He opened it and took something out before coming back to sit next to Ed.

"It might be a little meted." He said , pressing the unknown object into Ed's hand. Curious, Fullmetal pealed back the white wrapper to find a cherry popsicle, much like the lime one Roy had been eating during their earlier confrontation. He stuck out his tongue and cautiously licked the sweet, not entirely sure it was safe. Roy could very well be trying to poison him.

"Don't you like cherry?" Roy asked, noticing his hesitance.

"It's not that…it's just…"

"I didn't do anything to it. You know I would never try to hurt you. At least not seriously."

Ed took a bigger lick of the popsicle. It was rather good, but something was keeping him from really enjoying it. Looking up at Roy he realized what that something was.

"What's the matter with you, Mustang?" he asked suspiciously "You're being too nice all of a sudden."

Roy looked genuinely hurt by this.

"Nothing's the matter. Everything is perfectly fine."

Another forced smile. Something was up. Ed continued to lick the popsicle as he pondered this. Suddenly he realized Roy was gazing intently at him. When Ed looked up he quickly looked away.

"Mustang" Ed said darkly "You will tell me what's wrong, or I'll tell Riza how rotten you've been to me the past week."

When Roy looked back at him Ed could see tears pooling in his eyes. Roy couldn't be that scared of Hawkeye, could he?

"Hey…it's alright. No need to be a baby over it. Just tell me."

"You really want to know, Ed?"

The younger man was too distracted by the emotion in Roy's voice to notice he'd used his first name for once.

"Of course I want to know."

Roy swallowed and pressed his eyes tightly shut as though he expected to be hit.

"I have certain…feelings for you." He said after a long pause "And these feelings might not be totally appropriate for me to have about a subordinate, much less another man."

All Ed could so was stare in shock. Roy liked him! Like that! Later in life he would wish a million times over that he could have said something then, because Roy gave him the most pitiful, hurt look he'd ever seen. Tears of embarrassment and shame spilled freely down his flushed cheeks.

"Are you saying you're in love with me?" Ed asked once a few seconds had passed.

Roy nodded.

"And that's what you've been acting like such a bastard about?"

Another nod.

Suddenly Ed's arms were around him.

"It's alright" he soothed "There's nothing to be ashamed of, except maybe being such a jerk to everyone all week. Anyway, it's not up to you who you have feelings for, so don't blame yourself."

"But you don't love me in return."

"Well, you are a condescending, ambitious, womanizing bastard, but I'd be lying if I said my thoughts about you were entirely pure all the time."

"You mean…"

"I'm not saying that I love you. It's too soon for that. But I am willing to give it a shot."

Roy gave Ed the first genuine smile of the day then. Ed pulled him into bed with him and curled protectively around his new boyfriend. The cherry popsicle lay melting on the bedside table, but neither Ed or Roy cared about the mess it was making. They cuddled close together and Ed kissed Roy for the first time. As he drifted off the sleep the only things on Roy's mind were Ed's presence and the sweet taste of cherry.

Peace and love!