The golden eyes that speared Roy Mustang seemed different than usual. They didn't appear to have their typical bright luster, instead looked darker. Fathomless.
"Because I like you."
Wiser.
"Fullmetal... I..." What did one say in situations like this? He had no clue, as he had never truly expected to hear those words out of the young man's mouth. Fullmetal had always been so... prickly. He had never before given any indication of being interested. "That is..."
Damn it, he was supposed to be the slick one.
The boy smiled at him, his mouth slightly open but still full of teeth. And that was wrong too, Fullmetal's grins were typically... like all of the famous alchemist... all or nothing. Edward Elric couldn't do anything by halves. Not if he bothered to do it in the first place.
"Is it so hard to believe? You don't look so bad when you aren't being a dick, you aren't a complete idiot, and I guess we have a few things in common. Not much though." The last part was delivered with a derisive snort.
"I didn't think you--"
Fullmetal raised an eyebrow. "--Liked guys?"
Roy opened his mouth to say "Yes" but then stopped just as quickly. Come to think of it, he hadn't ever seen Fullmetal express even the slightest interest in women. The best he had seen out of the boy were rants about how his female childhood friend was such a tomboy and sadistic to boot.
Hmm, that reminded him of Riza at that age.
He sighed. "Fullmetal, that's not the point." He wasn't going to allow himself to be dragged into a discussion of semantics. That was how their 'conversations' usually went, yes, but this wasn't a typical talk of theirs. Not by far. "How do you even know I'm interested?"
That was it, best to let him down quickly. It would save them both a lot of pain in the long run. Besides, the boy always did seem to appreciate directness. Came of being a fairly honest soul himself.
The blond merely laughed, harshly and over-loud. "You've got to be kidding me! You think... I... haven't noticed the way you stare at me when you think I'm not looking. Ha!" Fullmetal took several paces closer to his desk, brushing a few strands of long hair out of his face as he approached. "Don't bother lying."
Damn it. Roy looked away quickly, schooling his expression back into the smug air he liked to adopt in tense situations. May it not fail him now. "I won't then." How in the world had Fullmetal noticed? Roy had always tried his best to not ogle when the boy could see. Hell, he always tried his best to not look period. It wasn't right, even if he couldn't help himself. "I apologize."
Fullmetal was at his desk now and leaning dangerously close, his gaze smoldering as badly as any of Roy's namesake flames. "Don't. Why should you feel bad? I feel the same way. You aren't making any sense."
"Fullmetal..."
There was another snort. "Mustang, don't be an idiot. I wouldn't bother feeling attracted to one." There was a pause as the two stared at each other for a long and tense moment. "I think I get it now," the younger man suddenly announced, "You think I'm a child still."
Roy attempted to scoot his chair a bit farther away from the strangely intent Fullmetal. "You are still a child."
"Hmm, am I? Really?" Those eyes met his and again Roy was struck by how damn old they looked today. "I haven't felt like a child in years. And even if I was, I'm enlisted now aren't I? If I'm good enough to be a dog..."
"You know that's completely different!"
He resisted the urge to jump as an automail hand slammed down on his desk, scattering his paperwork. The dark-haired man had only a minute to note that Riza would probably be angry about that before Fullmetal was in his face again.
"I'm an adult now, Must-- Roy. Treat me like one. If you can live with sending me out to do your dirty work... maybe die... then you can live with that that." Then the blond's lips were pressed up against his, needy and cold.
Edward waited until they broke apart again, Roy feeling clammy and not as horrified as he should have felt, before he spoke again. When Fullmetal did speak, his voice was low, serious. "I need this. Will you give it to me?"
Damn the boy. Damn him! Roy was never any good at saying 'No' to Fullmetal.
The younger man must have taken his commanding officer's boneless slump as an affirmative answer, for suddenly there was a chuckle and the alchemist was heading out towards the door of Roy's office. "Good."
He then paused, his white-gloved hand resting on the brass handle. Fullmetal turned around to face Roy soon after, smiling. It was strange, for a second Roy found himself with a near-vision of that venomous snake from a far-off land he had seen in the zoo as a child. The beast had an expression very much like that right before it went for the kill, striking a large rat dead.
"By the way, Colonel. I have a favor to ask."
Roy nodded, still trying to shake that disturbing mental image from his mind.
The grin grew wider. "Next time I come in... Act like I'm an adult, okay? That thing we did earlier... do it again. I won't bother to ask, so just go for it. Asshole."
Then Fullmetal was gone, the door shut behind him.
God, he needed a drink.
He waited until he was five blocks from HQ before he would allow himself to change back. It was probably paranoid, but as That Person always said... better safe than sorry.
Especially when you had dangerous... but valuable... bastard children to worry about.
Envy smiled as he regained his favored beautiful form. Aaah, that was much better. He hated having to take the form of the bastard's spawn. Absolutely hated it. But his plan would not work without it.
That Person wanted him to head over to Granite City right away, but he was more inclined to wait. The best part was yet to come, after all.
He had the feeling things would become quite amusing next time the Shrimp showed up at the office.