Gaara: Ed as a ghost is just cute in some strange way. Cute and sad. Fluff and angst, I shall be a happy authoress.
moonstone: Poor Maes, that would be funny. I think out of anyone, Maes would be the most likely to believe Roy about there being a ghost that only he can see.
crackedmind: You're right. That wasn't how I meant it... yet XD. But it definitely fell into the flirting category. And yes, Ed without Al is like peanut butter without bananas. It just isn't right.
GreedxEd: You find it funny Ed died? How cruel.... -flee-.
Koorii: We love Roy though... manwhore and all.
Twisted Vixen: I hope you had pleasant dreams then of Roy/Ed fluffiness. And same old Roy... calling Ed short. He never learns no matter whether Ed is alive or not.
Sailor Silver Rose: Yes, Roy will drive all that loneliness away.
Akira: Not likely to drown in this one. I think the only thing it did besides knock out the electricity was turn my car into a spotted brown mess. I swear I bought a blue car...
anmb: I did start the new one! I'm glad you're back. You're okay, yes? And fooood... I love food!
blackrose: Wow, thank you. I'm glad you can finally follow one from beginning to end as well. I hope it's worth the having to wait. And thank you so much for the cookie! I love cookies.
Tana: Yes, you have to wait and see. I should make a silver Ed plushie... call him ghost Ed plushie. And you can have him.
E: Well wouldn't you want Roy there with Ed? XD And yes, Ed does need to reform that sexually free colonel.
kazuko: Yes... every day, barring natural disasters and brothers creating emergencies. But hey, what can ya do. I know the camera feeling... mine is about three years old now. And chocolates! Thank you!
Toraus: Thank you very much.
ICan'tRewrite: That is something to spazz over! And I would celebrate my deathday as well. Ed just may start a trend for future ghosts.
Chaos Valkyrie: It could be that it is actually that date. I just picked a month and a day and went for it. As far as I recall it was never said what day it really is... but who knows. Maybe you XD. Yes... your evil little self. Don't worry, you picked the right fic to vote for if you want some pranking going on. Ed's a terror in his quest to get Roy.
haganeno: Cake! Food! YAY! Yes, you must celebrate as well.
Cheru-chan: XDD I'm glad you liked it. I kind of ripped it from my Once Upon a Headache. It's just too priceless a variety of lines.
mutantpenguins: I love watching the monsoons. They're beautiful. Even if they do knock out my power.
Ghost of the Crescent Moon: Thank you, I hope it goes in the right direction.
Mary: Some anime plot, yes. But not too much as the story is already centered around a main plot.
Disasterifik: That's a relief, and thank you. I'm glad someone liked that line! It's one of my favorites XD.
Eli: I will if I remember. And yes! I can't wait for that to be done.
EveningAlchemist: Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it even if you hadn't voted for it. Always my goal. And yes... this story could definitely end a lot of ways. I think that's my ultimate cliffhanger for this one.
DarkSapphire: I do love original XD. Thank you. And I do believe that both whores and Al need to be involved here. It's just not as much fun if I leave them out.
So I am finally back. And to those of you who know what happened to me, yes, I did finally get to sleep after 53 hours of being awake. But all is well now with my brother, so that's a relief. For everyone else, my brother collapsed I think Wednesday night... my mind is still a bit shot from being up so long so I have no idea. He got a concussion from it so we had to keep him awake. That was something I never want to repeat again.
But here I am! With a new chapter! And barring all other sudden disaster upon disaster in the household, I should be able to get back to daily updates.
I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter Three
It took only a few hours for the cleaning staff to enter the room. And Edward hadn't budged at all from where he'd taken over Roy's temporary chair. He couldn't wait until the new furniture came, because he believed he absolutely hated this chair. But now with a distraction for a while, he felt much happier.
"I hate coming in here. Even if it has been over a year… I still get the feeling…" One of the men, known by the name of Gil, muttered.
Edward laughed softly at that, feeling a flash of pride.
The other, Michael, grunted his agreement as he hauled in a bucket of cleaning supplies. "Damn place is haunted I swear."
From the chair, Edward scoffed good-naturedly. "Is not. As far as I'm concerned you all are haunting me. This is my home now, has been for seven years. So get out of my home." He fell into lilting laughter as he watched them.
Gil shushed him in earnest. "We've a lot to do, but if we work fast and stay quiet, whatever spirits lurk here may stay asleep for another year."
Edward leveled a deadpan look at the man. "You've not a clue, Gil, really. It's a miracle you can even use those chemicals correctly. Though on second thought, maybe you can't. They've clearly fried your brain."
"Well," Michael muttered softly as he set his bucket down, "let's just get it done and get out of here."
"Oh come on," Edward mumbled dully, "I never do anything bad. I just hide things and move things around." Though he was seriously considering throwing something at Basque Grand if that evil snake came in here again. And he'd leave it up to Roy to explain it.
Gil and Michael immediately got to work, complaining about the fact that this place had been scheduled for a thorough cleaning top to bottom. It was something that would take most of the night. But only an hour in, they were making plans to skive off early and leave most of it unfinished.
Which Edward was having none of.
He had left the chair a while ago, not wanting to risk someone sticking their hand through him as they moved the chair. It just felt violating when someone did that. It was different if he did it, though he didn't know why. But that was just how he felt. So now he was drifting aimlessly around the room, inspecting their work. At least, until Gil had mentioned leaving early.
"Colonel Mustang probably won't notice." Michael agreed. "As long as we clean the desk, get these towels out of here. Maybe wipe off that table… he won't notice."
"Oh yes he will." Edward growled. Well, maybe he wouldn't. Roy hadn't known anything about the state of the office before Edward had informed him. A bit belatedly in areas. So it was likely that Roy wouldn't see a difference. But still… Edward would notice. And this concerned him just as much, if not more, than it did Roy. "Shit."
It took him several quick-thinking moments to figure out what to do. And finally it came to him. They believed, as workers of the night, in ghosts. And so they believed rightly, that the pranks Edward had pulled on them over the years were that of a ghostly spirit. Yet they always wanted to leave him undisturbed, which meant to Edward that as long as he continued to do nothing dangerous to them, they would never try to find help that could banish him. If he could be banished. But clearly they respected his presence here, and respected that it was not a presence that wanted to bring them harm.
So he set out not to pull a prank, but to impress his desires upon them in actions. As his words were lost to their ears.
Going down to the buckets of supplies, Edward grabbed for some. They'd never brought anything but glass cleaner and wood polish in here before. And since the last occupant, before Roy, Edward hadn't bothered touching anything in this room. Which meant that for a little over a year, these poor men hadn't had to experience him.
Yet they still believed he remained.
Which suited him just fine.
But now with their return, and his return to his tricks, he was glad to see that there was more than glass cleaner and wood polish. And within a matter of seconds, he had both buckets emptied of their contents. Contents which he placed very quickly in a neat row across the carpet.
He then grabbed a cleaning rag that had been draped over the side of one bucket, and threw it at Michael's head.
Michael sprung into the air with a shout, a hand flying to the back of his head to grasp the rag even as he whirled around breathing heavily.
"What the hell got into you? Be quiet!" Gil chastised from where he was still bent over the desk, running his rag over it.
Michael pulled away the rag from his head, his eyes riveted on the neat little row of their cleaning supplies. Now emptied from their buckets. "Gil?"
"What?" Was the slightly snarled response.
"I don't think being quiet matters anymore." He said, pointing a hand at the orderly row of their cleaning supplies.
Gil looked to where Michael was pointing, and swore under his breath. "We nearly made it to two years… what brought it back out?"
"It?!" Edward echoed indignantly. "I may be dead, but I am no 'it'."
"Well," Michael gulped and glanced over at his fellow janitor, "I'm no genius, but I think it's pretty clear. It wants us to clean."
Gil let out a sigh at length. "I need a new job."
Edward smirked and went to float in his favorite corner of the ceiling as the two got back to work. Now throwing an effort into it. At least some of the living could still be taught. So long as he was careful to maintain his place in their minds as nothing of a danger.
Because as he'd told Roy, he wasn't sure if he could be banished. But he'd rather this, than nothing.
As the hours wore on, the cleaning finished. Gil and Michael looked around suspiciously as they packed up their buckets, but nothing happened at all. So they hurried to the door and left.
Edward watched them leave. He had been satisfied that the area was now clean. All that was left would be for the new furniture to arrive. But now he settled in to suffer another night by himself. And he closed his eyes to lose touch with his fractured reality. To find that which wasn't sleep, but was as close as he could get.
And hopefully not encounter that dream again. That terrible dream.
Bine and Weer – Central
Roy was sitting at a table, mug of beer in hand, as both ladies and men sauntered over to vie for his attention. The rest of his team had already left, as it was nearing two in the morning, and thus closing time for the bar. And as soon as that had happened, the predictable happened right after.
It had started with Maggie, a buxom brunette. Followed by a Jonathon, a lanky man who was actually rather fetching when he blushed. And then there had been Colin, Brandie – which had made for some interesting alcohol jokes, Katie, Brad, Tim, Shawna, and a whole gaggle of others. Currently he was speaking to a Larry… or was it Fred.
He really wasn't too sure anymore.
And it had nothing to do with his metaphorical beer goggles.
"Can I get you a drink?" LarryFred asked nervously as he fished for conversation.
Roy held his up an inch, and tilted it to one side to make his point.
LarryFred colored, "right, you have one. Can I freshen it?"
"I'm not drinking a wine cooler or some similar nonsense." Roy said in boredom, and then turned his gaze fully on the man. "You're not my type. I like my night toys untouched. But if you're looking for an easy lay, I'd try one of the men at the bar. They may be straight, but they're drunk enough for you to convince them."
And thus LarryFred was sent away looking rather disgruntled.
Roy finished his beer in several large gulps and set the mug aside. Standing up he grabbed his coat and made for the door. It didn't seem that he'd be getting anything tonight. Wrong bar at the wrong night. But he'd live, better not to lower his standards than to end up with a disease come morning.
He was out the door and a few steps down the sidewalk when hurried footsteps caught up to him.
"Your place or mine?"
Roy turned to find a redheaded woman standing there looking at him expectantly. She was not overly pretty, but he was supposed to be drunk. And his analysis was that she was most definitely untouched. "Yours." He never brought anyone to his place, it complicated things.
She smiled at him. "Then let's go."
Roy followed her with a smirk. "And what shall I call you?"
"Whatever you like." Was the sultry reply.
Clearly, whoever she was, she was definitely tired of being a virgin. He'd just have to take care of that for her. It was so hard after all, to find one anymore. So Roy was more than happy to spend a few guiltless hours at her place. He'd have just enough time to go home for a shower and change.
Three hours later found Roy leaving the apartment of the woman, tugging on his jacket. She had finally fallen asleep, the energetic creature, and so he was making his customary escape.
It was a bit of a walk back to his small house on a corner, but he made it there in time to have himself a shower before reporting in for work. And as he stood under the spray of warm water, washing off the nights exertions and giving his cotton-filled brain a jolt, he found his thoughts straying to a certain unearthly entity.
Yesterday had been a day of many firsts.
And the one that rested on his mind the most, was the fact that he'd committed himself so easily to Edward. The ghost's name was written in his calendar twice. And not only that, he planned to spend even more time with him. It was the way he treated his friends, this type of commitment. But he barely knew Edward.
And yet…
He did. He and Edward were linked together by a bond he couldn't begin to wrap his mind around. Much less find an explanation for. Why could he only see Edward? What was so special about he himself? Or Edward? He just couldn't understand it. And so now he had committed himself to the ghost. For extra time spent with him, and celebrating those two days.
"Maybe I'm losing my mind." He murmured as he shut off the shower. "But I can't just not be there for him. I'm the only one he has… that he might ever have."
And it felt nice to be needed, to be wanted. Unconditionally.
Climbing out of the shower he dried off, dressed, and combed his hair into a sense of order before heading into the sitting room.
Still stacked along one wall were the boxes he hadn't yet had time to unpack. And in some of them were his books. So he quickly located the ones labeled 'Books', and pulled them free of their fellows. Opening them up he began to sort through what he had, creating a small pile he could take with him for now. He tried to compile as much of a variety as he could.
Once he had a selection he believed Edward might find something to read in, he searched for and found his chess set.
A cup of coffee and a banana later, Roy headed out his front door with his loot for Edward's entertainment.
He nodded a good morning to Riza, who looked to still be waking up. "Long night? Did you and Havoc hook up?" He teased her with a smile.
Hawkeye glowered at him. "Just one too many shots of whiskey. And Havoc and I will never hook up. Get in there and get working before I shoot you. There's a stack of papers on your desk."
Roy winked at her. "You say never now." And he immediately fled for his office.
As he closed the door behind him, he immediately looked for the ghost. And he spotted Edward in that same corner that he'd spotted him the morning before. Except it looked almost as if he was asleep. But ghosts didn't sleep, did they?
Shrugging, Roy made sure he was extra quiet as he went over to the desk. He set the books and chess set on top of it near one of the far corners. Sitting down he glanced back up to see that the silvery glowing apparition was still unaware of him. However he did not want to do any paperwork. So he ignored it in favor of grabbing a spare sheet of paper and a pen.
Getting a bit more comfortable, Roy rested his chin on one hand while the other manipulated the pen across the paper to create his pointless doodles.
When a sharp gasp and the sight of a silvery figure just in the peripherals of his eyesight suddenly plummeted several feet sharply, Roy's head snapped up and the pen clattered from his grasp. "Ed?! Are you okay?" He asked, standing up quickly.
Edward steadied himself about four feet from the floor, his legs curling under him as if he were sitting on them. A hand worried his temples and then dragged back through his hair. "Fine." He said through a quickened breath.
Roy was already walking over. "What happened?"
Good question. Edward shook his head wearily. He had those dreams of Al that always woke him with a jolt. And then he had those rarer dreams of that awful thing. He only had had it three times before, for which he was very grateful. For they always woke him with a flash of terror that made him freak out every time. "Gate…" he whispered, and looked over at Roy. "This big black awful Gate. Gate of truth… it's what took my life in exchange for Al's."
Roy frowned, the ghost was clearly unsettled by this Gate. "It does exist then?"
"Yes." Edward wasn't pleased about it either. "Sorry… I normally don't have that dream. I guess it's a dream. But it always makes me do that."
"It's okay." Roy soothed him. He wasn't annoyed that Edward had just freaked out. He had been worried. He was still worried. Seeing Edward fall like that through the air… it hadn't been a pleasant experience to behold. "So you do dream then? Do you sleep?"
Edward frowned, "I'm not sure if you could call it sleeping. Or dreaming. But it's the closest I can place." And then he smiled brightly, even if it was a bit forced considering he still felt unsettled. "You came back!"
Roy smiled, deciding that Edward would be okay now. "Of course I did. Work calls… and so do you." Could he ever get used to that feeling of warmth and pride that spread through him when Edward was so happy just because of something simple. Even as simple as him being there? Probably not. And he didn't want to.
"Did you go out whoring last night?" Edward asked him with narrowed eyes.
"Yes." Roy answered honestly. "But don't you worry, I didn't bring her here."
Edward smirked, "better not have. So, you prefer the women then?"
"Both." Roy shrugged. "Healthy sexual appetite, remember?"
"Well, you look terrible." Edward informed him matter of factly. "I can tell you didn't sleep at all last night."
Roy chuckled and turned away. "Then I best get some sleep tonight. Come over here, I brought you some books and a chess set."
Edward floated after him eagerly, nightmare forgotten. He was thrilled that Roy had remembered. He hadn't had a book to read in years. The withdrawal was killing him. So to speak. He choked down a laugh and passed halfway through the desk so he could face Roy. "Seven?" He counted with glee.
"I have more at home." Roy told him. "You tell me which ones you enjoy the most and I will bring more like them. Or go to the library for you."
With a grin, Edward was already grabbing the first book underneath the chess set. "I'll read them all, starting with this one." And he beamed at Roy. "Thank you!"
Roy smiled, he was beyond trying to resist it when Edward was so happy with him. In the back of his mind he was questioning whether or not he should feel guilty, having such control over Edward's happiness in this manner. But he told that part of him to shut it. "You're welcome."
Edward clasped the book to his chest with a grin and began to float towards his customary corner so he could read.
"Just be careful. If someone enters you can't let them see a book hovering mid-air." Roy cautioned the ghost, walking back towards his chair.
"Don't worry." Edward replied as he took to hovering and opened the book.
Roy was sitting down, watching the ghost, when he happened across a thought that made him frown. "Ed?"
Edward gave a loud "hmm?" in answer as a smile danced on his lips while his eyes flicked back and forth across words. Glorious words.
"How is it that you can touch inanimate objects, but you can pass through people when we're wearing clothes? Are you trying not to touch the clothes?"
Edward actually was wrested from his reading by that question, and he looked over at Roy. Sinking down to the floor, he bent to set the book down before walking towards Roy. Even if his feet still didn't quite touch the floor. "I'm really not sure." He said as he approached.
Roy turned in his seat as Edward approached him from the side, his gaze curious.
Edward bent down, his hair falling past his shoulders in silent whispers. "It doesn't ever matter whether I try to touch you here –" he reached out as if to take Roy's hand, but it passed through as he'd anticipated, "– or here." And he extended that same hand towards Roy's cheek. But again, it passed through and he pulled away. "I can touch the clothes if they're off of you. But as hard as I try, I can't touch them if they're on you."
Had Roy not been so caught up in the little experiment Edward was demonstrating for him, he might have blushed. But as it was, the connotation that some of that explanation could take on was lost on him. "That's very strange."
Straightening with a shrug, Edward backed away a bit. "My only guess is that it has something to do with your… aliveness. That your life force must somehow leech into them enough when you're wearing them that it makes it impossible for me to touch you."
"Inconvenient." Roy muttered to himself.
Edward gave him a strange look. "I'm used to such inconveniences." And with that he turned to flounce off through the air back to collect the book and resume his reading.
Roy tried not to feel too confused. But mentally he was asking himself what had just happened. Clearing his throat he turned back to his doodles, and picked up his pen again. "Did they clean thoroughly last night?"
"Yes." Edward replied distractedly. "Once I impressed upon them that they should."
His pleasure at hearing the good news about the improved state of hygiene went to the back of his mind. And Roy looked up from where he was penning out a flamel. "You impressed upon them how?"
"They were going to skive off early, and I emptied all their cleaning materials out onto the floor." And Edward took advantage of not being able to pass through the walls to lean back against one. "Back before that last person in here I used to play pranks on the cleaning staff. Being people of the night, they are eager to believe in ghosts and symbolism."
Roy frowned, his concern chasing away his amusement. "And if they one day become afraid of you and try to banish you?" He wasn't sure that he'd like Edward being gone anymore than Edward would like it when Roy eventually would be gone. And he certainly didn't want such a thing to happen sooner than it was meant to.
Edward glanced away from the book to him, "as I said yesterday, I'm a good ghost. I do nothing dangerous to them. So they have no reason to fear me. If anything, they wish not to disturb me. Hence why they're so quiet when they're in here. I know the line I walk between coexisting while still being able to prank people, and disrupting that coexistence."
"So they don't tell you to walk into the light? Or ask what your unfinished business is?" Roy asked, inquisitively, but teasingly.
Edward snorted inelegantly and went back to his reading. "There's no light to walk into. And I have no unfinished business. I succeeded in saving my brother. Business finished."
Roy smiled, and bent his head to his doodling, pen flashing across the flamel to shade it. "Is the book interesting?"
"Yes." Edward replied immediately, but still sounding distracted. "So shush. Get your work done so I can kick your ass at chess."
Roy chuckled softly, and abandoned his doodling to pull the ominous stack of documents towards him. Another first, right there. Roy Mustang starting on his paperwork the day it was originally given to him. And before noon at that. But he couldn't really find it in himself to feel bothered or self-conscious about it. Nor wonder as to how it was that Edward could so easily make him agreeable.
But maybe… perhaps… it was the idea slowly dawning on him that in a way, he was Edward's entire world, and that was causing him to want to make the ghost happy.
It was really too soon though into their unorthodox relationship to begin examining the reasons why. So he contented himself with doing his work.
When Riza Hawkeye walked in to this sight, her jaw slackened in shock. Was Mustang actually working?! This wasn't right. Unless…
She strode over to him quickly, pulling out her gun and aiming it at his head. He needn't know the safety was on. "Who is it?"
Roy gave the gun a blank look, and set the pen down quite carefully. He then shifted his deadpan expression onto the blonde woman holding him at gunpoint and raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
"Who, Roy." Riza demanded patiently.
"Me! That's who." Roy's eyebrow rose even higher. "Look, see?" He picked up the pen again and waggled it in front of her. "I'm doing my work. Me. Not someone else. There's no one in here besides us."
Edward, who had recently taken to lounging stomach down on the carpet with the book open in front of him was watching the scene with interest. His chin was propped up on a hand while he legs swung back and forth through the air.
Hawkeye frowned at him. "No, who is it that you're trying to hurry through all this for to run off and meet?"
"Yes, Roy, who?" Edward parroted with a wicked grin.
Roy barely managed to keep from shooting a scowl in the ghost's direction as the little terror had the nerve to even laugh. He'd get the brat later… somehow. "I'm running off to meet no one. By the end of the day I'll still be here, and you'll be feeling silly." He informed his Lieutenant.
"She'll be thinking you're the silly one, when you're sitting there talking to yourself, calling yourself 'Ed'." Edward chortled.
"You're doing it because…" Hawkeye trailed off suspiciously.
Roy cleared his throat, and pointedly kept his gaze away from his personal poltergeist. "I wanted to confuse you and cause you to become suspicious in a potentially violent way?" He suggested hopefully.
"Well don't." Riza holstered her gun, and cast him yet another suspicious look. "You're sure there's no one else in here?"
Roy waved a hand around. "Search away. But unless you let some surprise stripper in here before I arrived this morning, I am quite alone. Aside from your amiable presence, of course."
"Sir, someone stripping for you lost its surprise factor years ago." Hawkeye informed him blandly.
Edward half-choked and half-laughed.
Pretty sure he felt a muscle beneath his eye twitch, Roy grimaced. "I'll take that as a 'no' then, pity –"
"– what do you mean 'pity'?" Edward scolded him. "There's to be no strippers here!"
Roy felt a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he continued. "– So you may be assured I am just doing this for the aforementioned reasons. Yet, if my memory serves me right, you don't want me to? Shall I save these for the last minute?" He waved his pen-free hand at the documents.
"It'd be in your best interest not to." Riza decided, though lately her superior and longtime friend's actions were confusing at best. Maybe it was the stress of the transfer? Yes… that must be it.
Only once Riza had turned away with a proper salute did Roy whip his head over in the direction of the ghost and stick out his tongue.
Edward smirked at him. "Hi, Roy."
Any expressional response Roy was about to make was quickly abandoned as Riza deviated from her course towards the door. And he eyed her with interest and some mild surprise as she walked over to where Edward was.
And Edward instantly lifted the hand that had been holding the book open off of the text as Riza stooped to grab it. "Tell her that's mine." Edward said as he instantly took to floating after the woman as she walked back over to Roy with the book in her hands.
Roy was trying his best not to laugh. And he was thankful he was so good at masking his emotions. For he had wanted to do nothing more than burst out laughing at the indignant expression on Edward's face when Riza had taken away that book.
"Sir, you really shouldn't leave books lying around." She said, and snapped it closed.
Edward let out a pained noise.
Roy dug the heel of one of his boots into the toe of the other to help ward off the fit of laughter threatening to escape him. If Edward had been indignant before, now the ghost was outraged. "Thank you, Lieutenant. I forgot it dropped there." He said as neutrally as possible, reaching out a hand to accept the book.
Riza handed it to him with a smile. "Sure." And this time when she turned to leave, she actually left.
And Roy waited until the door had closed before turning to Edward who was at his side scowling. "Is this what you want?" He asked with a devious grin, waving the book to-and-fro.
"Gimme!" Edward ordered and lunged for it.
Roy finally let out his laughter as the book was snatched from his hands by Edward who somersaulted through the air from his lunge before righting himself somewhere near the ceiling. "Sorry…" he got out through his laughter, "your face… you looked so annoyed."
Edward gave him a withering look, but secretly was smiling inside. "She lost my page." He grumbled, and began flipping through them hurriedly.
Roy grinned at him as his laughter finally got back under control. "You'll find it again, I have faith in you."
Edward peeked over at him from over the top of the book and the pages he was frantically flipping, and his smile could no longer remain hidden. "This is the most fun I've had in ages."
Roy chuckled softly, and turned back to his paperwork. "Me too." He replied quietly.
So quietly that Edward nearly missed it, and would have if not for watching Roy's lips form the syllables. His smile softened, and wordlessly he floated back over to where he'd been lying on the floor to resume his reading. As soon as Roy was done with his work, they could talk over a game of chess. And he was looking forward to that very much.
Roy only took a break to answer phone calls and have lunch, but otherwise he applied himself to his work in as diligent a way as any admirable Colonel would. And he was admirable if he were to give his unbiased opinion. But his work ethic had nothing to do with that at all. And when he had signed the last piece of paper requiring his signature, Roy set his pen aside and looked over to where Edward was now reading while he aimlessly bobbed around through the air. "Ed."
Edward hummed, and didn't lift his eyes from the words he was absorbing with ravenous hunger.
"I'm done. And I have four hours left until I leave for the night." Roy informed him, "would you like to have that chess game?"
The book was dog-eared and closed in a series of fluid motions. "Definitely." Edward said firmly as he sank to the floor and walked across it to set the book on Roy's desk.
Roy smiled, and grabbed the chess set towards him and took off the lid. "Is the book interesting?"
"Oh, yes!" Edward looked down at it. "Though I disagree with the author on some of the points made."
"That author is a genius." Roy frowned at him, pausing in his pulling out of the chess board.
Edward snorted. "Not when they wrote that they weren't."
Roy gave him an odd look, and set the board upon his desk. "Right then. Well I'm glad it's interesting to you, and getting you so involved."
Edward grinned, and took to hovering on the other side of the desk with his legs crossed underneath him. And he steadied himself so he would be at eyelevel with Roy. "You wouldn't really bring a stripper in here, would you? Or these people on your team wouldn't?"
Roy arched an eyebrow at him. "No. But why the aversion? Were you alive you'd be at an age where you'd thoroughly enjoy such a thing."
"I'm old fashioned." Edward shrugged. "Perhaps it has to do with what I've seen in my time here. It kind of put me off a few things. But were I alive, and seen what I have seen, I'd only want to be seeing the person I love taking off their clothes." And he looked at Roy sharply. "Don't tease me. I don't share your definition of a healthy sexual appetite. Beyond the fact that I clearly am incapable of having sex."
Roy was setting up the pieces as he smiled a bit. "I'm not going to tease you. But don't worry, I don't want to bring such things into your home."
"Thank you." Edward felt a relieved sigh rustling inside.
Roy finished setting up the pieces. "Do you want white or black?"
"Black." Edward answered without a trace of hesitation.
Roy obliged, and took a white pawn in hand to move it forward two spaces. "Shall we take turns asking each other questions?" He wondered as he propped his chin in one hand and dug that elbow into the desk for support.
Edward moved a black pawn. "May I go first?"
"Please." Another white pawn advanced.
Edward nudged one of his pawns up only one space. "How long does it take you to do your hair?"
Bewildered by the question, Roy blinked at him owlishly several times before he pulled it together. "A few seconds?" And he raised a hand up self-consciously to pat at his sleek hair. "I've heard it looks like I must spend a lot of time… and money on hair products. But that couldn't be farther from the truth."
"I'll say." Edward was impressed. Maybe Roy was only vain on one level.
"Why is it that you walk around even if you aren't touching the floor?" Roy asked, seizing both his turn for a question and a chance to move in on cornering one of Edward's knights.
Edward chuckled, "habit. And it's one of the few things I do to try and remember that there was a time I was alive. Otherwise I fear one day it might only seem a dream."
In a way, Roy supposed that made sense.
"What's your favorite color?" Edward asked as he examined his options for moving a chess piece.
"Red." Roy answered automatically. "Like fire… I love fire."
Edward laughed at the admission. "So the rumors go of the Flame Alchemist." And he finally moved a bishop forward across the board.
Roy tilted his head as he considered Edward. "What color did your hair used to be?"
"Not red." Edward smiled faintly, and then met Roy's inquiring look. "It doesn't matter any longer anyway. Everything about me is silver now."
Roy decided to let it drop, since Edward didn't seem to want to answer the question. And it wasn't as if he hadn't gotten some kind of an answer. "Your turn then." He said, and moved a rook to intercept the bishop that had just been moved.
"How old were you when you joined the military?" Edward asked, frowning as his bishop was nudged off the board.
"Sixteen." Roy replied with something of a worried look on his face. "Foolish and young."
Edward studied Roy's expression carefully. He sensed there was a story there, but if Roy wasn't forthcoming just yet, he wasn't going to pry. And it wasn't his turn for a question anyway.
"What was your favorite thing to do?"
Pausing to consider the question, Edward finally smiled. "Make things with my alchemy for my mother." And he pointed a finger at Roy, even though he wasn't looking at the man. "Not a word. I was a child last I was alive."
Roy tried to control his smirk. "I was only going to say how cute that was of you."
"I just bet you were." Edward muttered through a smile, and moved his queen out of harm's way.
They played three full games against each other. Conversation falling into poised and studious silence as each of them tried to plan out how to win. And by the time the third game ended with Roy as victor, it had been the second game the man had won.
Edward rolled his eyes at Roy's gloating, and promptly lobbed a pawn at his forehead. "You suck as a winner."
Roy laughed, and scrambled to retrieve the pawn as it bounced off him and down towards his lap. "Now, Ed," he began in a diplomatic tone, "I am sure that if we had another round you would win."
Edward rolled his eyes. "Yeah, so you say when you're getting ready to leave me for the day."
With a sympathetic look, Roy began to pack up the chess set. Even though he planned to leave it here with Edward. "I'll be back tomorrow and we can play again."
Edward was already going to hold him to that. "Just get some sleep tonight. You really do look like shit."
"Never fear, Ed." Roy smiled at him as he finished putting the chess set away and stood up. "I'm not going to any bars tonight. Though I have to protest that I look like shit."
Edward smirked at him. "Protest away. But when you look in the mirror tonight, you'll see I'm right."
Roy rolled his eyes and walked around the desk to join Edward there. "If only to humor you." And he tripped over what to say next. Will you be okay?… see you tomorrow?... they were stupid things to ask. So he settled for a smile, "until tomorrow."
Edward nodded, and his smile wavered a bit as he watched Roy move off to leave. "Thank you… for being here with me. Just having you around… I'm not as lonely anymore."
Roy paused and turned back to him, oddly warmed. "Goodnight, Edward."
"Goodnight." Edward echoed, his smile becoming a bit stronger as he watched Roy walk towards the door. And he met the gaze Roy turned back to him before the man closed the door behind him. Then Roy was gone, and Edward let out the sigh that had been building. With a wry shake of his head, he picked the book he'd been reading back up and found his place while sinking into Roy's chair.