AN: Chapter 4, enjoy the jealous Roy! (though, of course, he doesn't realise it himself… -snicker-)
Chapter 4
Two hours after the Ferris Wheel, Roy and Edward were on their way home. Edward had the odd feeling that it had somehow counted as a date—after all, they had both done what a couple would do. They had won prizes for each other (to the blonde's annoyance, Roy had won a stuffed kitten for him, saying Edward resembled him), had shared cotton candy with each other (because Edward found those things delicious, but knew he couldn't eat the whole thing himself) and Roy had even insisted on taking pictures in one of those photo booths.
Well, at least, Edward figured couples did those things.
He wasn't really a very social person and had never been on too many dates. Before he figured out that he was gay, and before Alphonse had started dating her, he went out with Winry once. That didn't work out too well (besides that, Edward had no intention of ever being with someone who threw wrenches at him. He was not a masochist, thank you very much!) and a year after that, he went out with a girl named Rosé. She was nice, but again, it didn't work out, because Edward simply didn't feel anything for her except mere friendship.
After that, there had only been Russell. He had seemed like a great guy at the beginning, but again, he simply wasn't what Edward was looking for in a… man. It was still weird for him to say, even though he had known his sexuality for about eight years now. Then again, he had only been with one man in those five years.
He couldn't deny that Russell was a nice guy, but he was sneaky and sly—Edward didn't trust him enough. He had a feeling as if Russell had been cheating on him and Edward simply couldn't be with a man whom he didn't trust.
The blonde remembered never having too much friends of his own age. The only persons he truly trusted were Winry and Alphonse, but sadly, nobody else. It wasn't as if he needed any more friends—they were more than enough—but it was nice to have at least some social experience.
Arriving back at his house, Edward briefly wondered if Roy would like to rent a couple of movies. The blonde always had those moments where he just wanted to order a giant pizza and hang in front of the television, watching horror movies, comedies or sometimes even chick flicks (Gay? Oh yeah.).
"Are we going to do anything tonight?" Roy asked. Edward didn't know whether or not it was an innocent question, or if it had a double meaning—with Roy, he could never know for sure. Roy apparently caught the blush and smirked slightly. "Ah, I see," he purred and started to inch closer to Edward, only to be pushed back again.
"P—Pervert!" the blonde exclaimed, blushing fiercely. Roy simply smirked and stepped out of the car. "You… want to order pizza and watch some movies?" Edward asked hesitantly. Roy just gave him a small nod and a smile—he honestly did enjoy these 'pizza's' and movies were a lot of fun as well. Edward gave him a grin in return.
Because nothing else interesting happened the next week, we'll skip it! Yes, I can do that, because I'm the writer!
Another week had passed and the Edward vaguely noted that they only had six weeks left now, before Roy had to leave. Well, not willingly leave, but leave anyway… Edward shrugged—he knew he shouldn't grow attached to the man, but it was very hard.
The occasional flirting on Roy's side wasn't really helping either.
"Roy?" Edward asked him as he served breakfast. Roy briefly looked up from reading the newspaper in acknowledgement and nodded for him to continue. "I have to speak at a university tonight, so you'll be alone in the house," the blonde continued. He wasn't keen on leaving Roy alone, oddly enough—not because he didn't trust him or anything, but because he just didn't like the idea of the black-haired man being alone. It was weird. Roy raised an eyebrow.
"A university?" Edward nodded.
"Yeah, they want me to talk about auto-mail, the uses of it, stuff like that," he said, waving his hand. Roy's other eyebrow shot up in confusion.
"Auto-mail?" It then occurred to Edward that he had never told Roy anything about what he did to earn his money. The blonde nodded.
"Yes, it's something I invented," he said. "I originally invented it for Alphonse, didn't you notice? He was born without legs, so when I was young, I already knew what I wanted to do in life. I wanted to invent something for Alphonse, so he could walk instead of constantly sitting in a wheelchair—I made something called auto-mail. They're artificial limbs, much like prosthetics I guess, but there's a difference—auto-mail is connected to the nerves in your body, which means that they can move just like a regular arm, leg, hand or foot. I didn't do it alone, of course, Winry helped me with all the mechanics, since she's a real nerd when it comes to cars and stuff like that (though cars are obviously not the same, but she's good with anything mechanical). She specializes in auto-mail now. Anyway, that's also how I can afford all this stuff and I got to help my little brother—which was my original intent—and other people around the world." Edward gave Roy a small smile when he saw the man was gaping at him.
"That's amazing," he said. "Especially when you're so young!" The blonde blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head.
"Thanks, but I've been working on it practically my whole life, ever since I was eight, I think," he mumbled, slightly embarrassed. "So, that's why I need to give a presentation on a university for science, they want me to demonstrate and stuff like that. I hate public speaking," he added, muttering.
"Can't I come with you?" Roy asked. "This auto-mail does sound very interesting, I'd like to learn more." Edward immediately perked up a bit and couldn't suppress a grin.
"Really? It'll be very boring!" he said.
"I'm sure I will enjoy it," he said, giving him another rare true smile. It was much different than the usual annoying smirk, much nicer, Edward noted.
"Alright then," the blonde said in return.
"No wonder you and your brother are so close then," Roy concluded, talking more to himself than to Edward. He had been wondering about that—he remembered having a younger brother as well, when he still had his freedom, but he had never been as close to him as Edward and Alphonse were. Seeing the brothers together still gave him a feeling of… nostalgia though—he did long for his family back when he was free. He could see the blonde nod.
"Yeah, well, it's not the only reason though," Edward said. He didn't like talking about his past, but Roy was alright. Not many people knew about everything he and his brother had been through, but he knew he could trust the black-haired man and he would find out anyway. Roy gave him a questioningly look. "My father left us when I was two. Al was one at the time. We both tried to take care of my mother after that, tried to make her as happy as possible," Edward chuckled lightly. "You know, I felt kind of the man in the house at that time. Anyway," he briefly paused, closing his eyes. "Mom… got sick. She'd been sick for a while according to the doctor, said she had been dealing with the pain for years, but she had never shown anything to us," Edward swallowed quickly. God, why did he have to cry every time he told the story? It had been years ago! Then again, he had—did—love his mother dearly and it still hurt. "She died," he continued. Roy's eyes never left the blonde as he looked at him intently.
"If you don't want to talk about it…" he trailed off. Edward shook his head and waved a hand.
"Nah, it's alright," he said, hiding the upcoming tears with a chuckle. "Anyway, after that it was just Al and me. That bastard of a father never even showed up on her funeral," he continued, gritting his teeth. "Al still loves the guy, for reasons still unknown to me, but I hate his guts. Anyway, it was hard, y'know? We stayed at an orphanage for most of the time, because there wasn't anyone willing to adopt a boy without legs and his loudmouth of a brother. Auntie Pinako, Winry's grandmother, was kind of like the boss there, so it was alright. That's where we met Winry by the way. I worked my ass off during the summers, weekends and every second I could spare so I could pay for both of our schools," he finished. "Well, I guess that's the biggest reason for our closeness—we're all we have."
Edward closed his eyes as he wiped away two lone tears running across his cheeks. He didn't notice it when Roy shoved his chair back, stood up and walked over to Edward. Only when he embraced him, the blonde noticed Roy had left his seat. He stiffened briefly—despite the constant flirting and occasional kisses on his forehead, Roy hadn't ever shown him affection like this; he had never hugged him or anything like that, in a comforting and almost loving manner. Edward was pleasantly surprised and relaxed in the embrace, hugging Roy back.
The black-haired man felt oddly comfortable, even though he had never really liked… cuddling, so much.
That evening, Edward had given his demonstration in front of about two thousand students and fifty teachers. It had been nerve-wracking for him, but he had managed to do it, with the occasional stutter from his side. Roy had merely smiled reassuringly at him, something that had given him courage throughout the demonstration—Edward made a mental note to thank him later for tagging along.
Roy had been surprised that there were other speakers as well—a guy named Dr. Marcoh had made an appearance and another man named Tucker. Roy couldn't remember his first name, but he didn't care either.
Those were the three demonstrators and they all had different inventions that had been important for humankind, though Roy still found Edward's auto-mail the most successful one. For those who had lost an arm or a leg in war, or born without limbs, or anything like that—there was hope. They wouldn't be disabled anymore and that was a great thing.
Edward had also been the youngest one of the three, which made it even more impressing. The blonde had clearly been nervous as hell, so Roy tried to look reassuringly at him, which gained him a small thankful smile in return from the boy on the stage.
After the demonstration, a small party was being held for the teachers of the university and some other people Roy honestly didn't care about. He got to attend it too, because he was together with Edward, and Marcoh and Tucker were there too, talking animatedly to some old people. Roy frowned as some unfamiliar people shook Edward's hand excitedly and started to talk to him about the nerve system and the human body.
Roy stifled a yawn, on the contrary to Edward who was having the time of his life talking to this particular man. The frown turned into a soft smile, before he decided to get something to drink for him and Edward.
He walked over to the bar and ordered them both something non-alcoholic. Roy had no intention of getting drunk no, especially since he knew Edward didn't like it, and the blonde did need to drive them both home, so liquor was out of the question for him. Sure, Roy could make his own decisions now… but that didn't mean he wouldn't respect Edward's wishes as a friend.
After the bartender had gotten him his drinks, he said a polite 'thank you' and turned. He gazed over the crowd in search for his master, only to find him talking to a blonde boy, about his own age.
The blonde guy had (obviously) blonde hair, was about a head taller than Edward was and was flirting with his master! Now, one might wonder how Roy was able to tell from such a distance without hearing their conversation or anything, but the body signs were obviously there—the blonde bastard (that's what Roy had called him in his mind) was leaning towards Edward, very much intruding the latter's personal space, and occasionally brushed a strand of hair out of Edward's eye, or simply touching his arm with his own hand or… well, all Roy knew, was that he was touching his master way too much!
"Wait a minute…" he mumbled under his breath. He had nothing to do with his master's private life. Hell, the guy wasn't that bad looking, he had nice hair, nice eyes and was even—dare he say it?—cute, as far as a man could go, that is. But then again, there still was something about the man Roy didn't like. Maybe it was the way he was looking at him? Or the fact that he was practically drooling all over him.
And it was his duty as a servant to protect his master at all times!
Besides that, Edward also did seem rather uncomfortable by it… he could see the way Edward was looking around in search for something or someone to help him. Well, Roy was determined to be that someone!
He let out a small, predator-ish growl as he walked over to his master and his new 'friend', to have a little chat. And to save Edward from the blonde bastard.
"Hello," Roy said, a bit too polite as he swung an arm around Edward's shoulders, pressing the younger man against his chest. "Edo, I've got us something to drink. A coke is good, right?" he then continued to purr. Edward, despite his face being as red as a tomato, gave him a thankful nod and took the glass from him.
"Ah, Russell, this is Roy," he said, turning towards the blonde bastard. The blonde bastard—now known as Russell—gave him a small, annoyed nod.
"Nice meeting you," he said. It wasn't very convincing.
"Likewise," Roy replied, equally convincing. He knew the name from somewhere—didn't Alphonse mention him? Something about shoving Russell and Edward in a closet?
"Russell is a scientist too," Edward continued, trying to get the tense atmosphere out of the way.
"How nice," Roy drawled. The blonde bastard nodded, still glaring at Roy's arm. He looked as if he wanted to rip it apart.
"Yes, I went to college with Edward," he replied, still not taking his eyes away from the arm.
"Oh, by the way Edo," Roy suddenly said, turning away from Russell. "Dr. Marcoh was looking for you, he wanted to speak to you." Edward looked relieved, before giving Russell an apologetic look.
"Sorry Russ, I'll see you later!" he said cheerfully and, before Russell could even reply or say goodbye, Roy had pulled the blonde away.
"Thanks for that," Edward muttered, relieved.
"Who was that?"
"Ex-boyfriend." Roy nodded in understanding.
"The one who made you realise—"
"Yes, that one!" Edward quickly hissed, before Roy could even say it out loud. The latter let out a deep chuckle. "You wanna go home? I've had it here, I'm tired," the blonde yawned to prove his point. Roy nodded, before looking over his shoulder to see a fuming Russell standing in the middle of the room.
Roy gave him a small smirk, before leaning down to plant a kiss on top of Edward's head, earning him a quick smack from Edward and a very nice death-glare from Russell.
"Bastard! You can't do stuff like that in public!" The blonde exclaimed, blushing fiercely at the weird looks people were giving him. Roy decided to give Edward his full attention and leaned down to whisper in the blonde's ear.
"Does that mean I can do it in private?"
The only thing he got from Edward was another smack on the head.
