Forgive the delay for the answering of reviews, but here we go. And a quick thank you to all of you who did review, even with FFnet giving everyone so many problems, I was so honored to hear that so many of you kept trying until you finally got through. So thank you very much, your efforts did not go unnoticed.
kingdomhearts: Yes, that's one of the many questions that will be playing a part in the story. How Edward feels pain. And you were actually the only one who made mention of it, so I commend you on that.
Gaara: Or else? That's ominous. Should I tell Ed to run just in case? And thank you!
crackedmind: Your fangirling was scary yet hilarious, I loved it. And believe me, you aren't the only one wondering what Roy's kinks are XD. I did not know goats could be paper trained, but I bet that came in very handy. Sounds like you've had quite the zoo over the years. And I've made notes of your animal suggestions, thank you for them! I'm glad someone enjoys the unusual pets as much as I do. Out of curiosity, what are your views on skunks?
AnimeAddic5: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this one just as much.
reighchama: Well, I'm glad you finally got into the reviewing mode, it's nice to meet another hopefully former lurker. I hope you have fun on your month of fun and adventure. Maybe by the time you get back I'll have seen that movie.
Koorii: I know, totally unlike me, right? Cliffhangers... pfft... when have I ever used cliffhangers? XD
GreedxEd: Roy just fails at guessing dessert now. It's his fate. He's doomed.
loser in the gutter: Aww thanks! Yes, fear the cliffy. As always XD.
amlf: Did the cliffhanger make you want to attack me with an axe? I had a reader do that... it was frightening.
blackrose5130: You have made Kang's day, and mine. Because now he'll leave my boots out of his memory for a bit.
The Lone Eagle: Yep... pretty much I had to XD. It was too much fun for me to resist. And thanks! I think I'd pay to see Roy streaking through a park while intoxicated. Oh the video footage...
Hikari Kura: Woo! I am loved. I hope the wait didn't kill you too much.
E: Roy informs me that virginal twins are a once in a lifetime opportunity. And you know Hughes was, the sneaky man probably has photographic evidence.
Alyzabeth: I am evil -cackles-. And thank you so much, I always like hearing that my pet OC's are loved.
XwhiteXspiritX: Your dogs sound evil. I'd suggest closing your door at night to keep them out but I bet they'd bark or something equally annoying.
Tana: Oh yes, bonding is always fun. A road littered with hilarity and good old fashioned pothole bumps. They're in for a fun ride.
Rei-chan: Wonderful possibilities that will definitely include room for funny possibilities. ...which takes us back to the endless evil that seems to lurk inside me when I write. And yes, a change of pace. They both needed something akin to chaos thrown at them.
moonstone: The delights of a squirrel. Oh to be one. Play all day with invisible creatures. Sign me up to be one if reincarnation actually works.
mutantpenguins: Ooo a cuteness factor increase is always good news.
Daisuke: Thank you! I hope you didn't pass out from holding... thanks to FFnet's little games.
Twisted Vixen: And how did you hurt your hand? ...I sliced my finger open last night, wasn't fun. I think a squirrel as an alarm clock would be the best way to wake up. Just a cute little furry fluff ball instead of annoying beeps.
ferret: Excuse me while I spazz out and celebrate you found your way here... -spazzyglomp- ...Okay! Yeah, you and your not finding it for 6 chapters... it's funny. Thanks, I'm glad you're loving the idea, and Hazel. I just give them all the fun pets.
Sailor Silver Rose: ...never read Believe In Me if you don't want to see me being mean to them XD.
DarkSapphire: I'm rather proud of that cliffhanger. And thank you, I really do make an effort with the pets. I just can't see them lasting long without one.
checkmate: Oh I definitely will, and thanks!
Vermilion: I honestly have no idea what day it is... is it wednesday? I fear I may be in trouble.
EveningAlchemist: Roy the raging manwhore, that made me crack up laughing. So befitting of his actions. So thank you for that. And a squirrel really does make him cute, it just gives him this... cuddly sort of side.
musicaltastic: Mmm cookies... much yummier than Roy's brains. Hazel's thoughts... I am not sure he's yet past the stage of "omgIhaveafriendSQUEE", but animals are very perceptive over time.
Cheru-chan: Mmm that certainly would be my favorite way to eat chocolate.
haganeno: That is a delicious image, isn't it. I think I could love that image forever. I might have to give Roy a motorcycle more often.
neena: Thank you, I'm glad that you're liking the idea.
Eli: I'm sure you kicked brother-butt, I have faith in you. Now what you need to do is hold the results of this chapter hostage until he does something nice to make it up to you. But please don't kill me XD. You love me, remember? You're writing that scene... you know the one... yes... I want it -cackles-.
Mary: I may have all the answers, but you're asking a lot of good questions.
Okay, so while FFnet was playing games, I updated some of my other stories on LJ. November, Ransom, and Absolution (for whoever is reading that just to see how I pull the request off). Really not much else to say... except that I am never again mentioning bananas in an LJ post.
And now to the story!
Chapter Seven
"…will you come with me?"
Edward had been staring directly into Roy's eyes the entire time, and without averting them, he answered. "Yes." And only the instant the backdrop he'd barely seen of that white world vanished, as if it had never been, did he look away.
"Edward?" Roy asked softly.
The ghost in question had floated up to his feet looking very much like he'd seen a ghost himself.
Roy frowned, the ghost didn't appear to be in pain. "Ed? Is it white again?"
"It's…" Edward floated to Roy, his hands reaching out to hover just over the man's shoulder, a shoulder he continued to stare over. "It's gone."
Roy tilted his head, and looked over his shoulder as well before looking back to the ghost. "The thing that caused you pain? Or the whiteness?"
"All of it." Edward's voice was gripped in disbelief, and was beginning to shake. "I can see… a large table, and a desk, right?"
"Right." Roy's face broke into a sudden grin as he watched the stunned uncertainty wage with delight on the ghost's face. "Can you pass through the doorway though, is the question."
The ghost floated down until his feet touched the firm floor. And it was firm, he couldn't pass down under it. Such knowledge caused him to gulp in hesitation. He could see out the door now, a glance behind him told him he still couldn't see out the windows, and while this was a bracing hope of change that he could see out the door… could he really bear it if he couldn't pass? Before, he was just blocked off, couldn't see what lay beyond, what he was missing. But now that he could see, if he were blocked from it, cruelty was no longer so limited.
"Edward." Roy called softly, and as the ghost's silvery eyes flickered up to his, filled with uncertainty, he stepped back through the doorway and into the other office. All the while keeping the ghost's gaze locked with his. "Even if you can't pass through, it's okay. You've come this far after seven years. And I'm inclined without ego to believe that it's because I'm here. You asked me to ask you to come with me for a reason. So you must believe on some level that it's something to do with me. The sudden jolting of that whiteness. And now that I've asked you to come with me, and you've told me yes, you can see unhindered. Things do not change so rapidly without reason." He told the ghost gently, trying to set some ease into those eyes. And stepping back once more he held out his hand. "So even if you cannot pass tonight, it's okay. We'll keep trying. Because what I asked you was asked in truth, I do want you to come with me, I mean that."
Edward felt himself smile, or, it was a true attempt at a smile. Roy's words had had their intended effect upon him. He could feel the uncertainty begin to ebb. Because Roy was here, and Roy was waiting for him patiently. There was no hurry, they'd keep trying even if he couldn't pass through tonight. Because Roy wouldn't give up on him. "You realize what happens if I can?" He suddenly asked.
Roy smiled, "I do."
"And you don't mind, really?" Edward asked with a slight frown. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to ask, but he asked it all the same.
"Come with me, Edward." Roy merely answered in reply, and he stretched out his extended hand a bit farther.
Edward looked down at it, back to the world-not-so-white beyond the door, and then turned his gaze to meet Roy's. He padded over slowly until he was right by the doorway, the place he was normally blocked if he tried to move even a millimeter farther. And never taking his gaze from Roy's, he reached out for Roy's hand.
What he was met with was not a blocking force, nor even a repelling force. It was a force thick like the honey he remembered. Sticky, thick, and capable of trapping those not strong enough to get free.
It was terrifying at the same time it was heartening, and Edward was suddenly fighting to push through. Never taking his eyes from Roy's, neither of them dared look down or away from each other. And he believed that even if they'd wanted to it would have been impossible. An intangible force seemed to hum between them, keeping them fixated on each other.
The notion of not trying too hard, lest you fail, had fled Edward's mind. If he was going to get hurt because he couldn't pass, he was going to get hurt without reservation. He wanted to go with Roy as truthfully as Roy wanted him to come. And for the first time in seven years, he had something resembling choice.
He was trying to reach out and take it, with everything he had.
Time seemed to warp around them. The resistance Edward was being met with seemed to slow time to a wounded crawl. The absence of time for Roy as he willed Edward to him. It was an energy to dwarf alchemy that neither of them felt. Nothing but each other was in their eyes, nothing but each other in their wills. And they strained for it in their own ways.
Neither of them saw the moment that Edward's hand finally reached Roy's. But they felt it. The spell that seemed to have fallen over them shattered, and Edward toppled forward with the remaining momentum he'd been trying to push through with, and Roy could suddenly feel the strain he'd been under.
But neither of them paid those trifles any attention.
For Edward was on his hands and knees on the floor, next to Roy's legs and shaking. And Roy was dropping to his own knees in worry.
"Ed!" Roy called softly, "are you okay?"
Edward was sucking in deep breaths from behind the concealing silver curtain his hair made. "I… did I…?"
Roy suddenly smiled, worry fading from him as he rocked back to sit on his heels. "Look around."
Edward closed his eyes briefly, hands clenching at the floor underneath them. He felt a silly, stupid urge to refuse to look. But he fought it away, and raised his head. His silvery hair fell back out of his face, and he looked around as he sat back with his legs angled out to either side. "I can't believe it… I'm finally free." And he turned to Roy, amazement shining in his eyes. "You set me free."
Roy chuckled softly, beginning to feel the effects of the events of the night. For lasting relatively a short time, he sure felt exhausted. Almost as if he'd run a marathon underneath the water. "You suspected I could, didn't you."
"I had hoped…" Edward smiled a bit shyly. "I always thought that I could be set free if someone were to ever see me. But that didn't happen."
"But if I wanted you to come with me?" Roy asked.
The ghost nodded, "and you meant it."
Roy chuckled again. "I did mean it. I don't like the thought of you being alone. Now, of course we'll need to talk about this in more detail. But for tonight, let's just get you out of this place for once in your afterlife."
The smile Roy received had a brilliance to it that nearly made him stop breathing.
"Thank you." Edward beamed at him, only now daring to let himself feel the rush of success that brought a feeling of intense joy with it. He was free! And to him, that didn't mean free to go around and haunt the world. That meant free to stay with the only person who could see him. He could stay with Roy no matter what. And that was the most precious freedom of all.
Roy smiled and stood up. "Come on, ghost." He beckoned, "I think it's time I show you your world."
Edward looked up at him, and then floated up off the floor to hover mid-air once more. "Is the world still big?"
"The world seems unending as a child." Roy replied gently. "You've not seen it since you were a child. So this may be a bit of a shock for you, especially seeing a city. But stay close to me, I promise you'll be fine. You're a ghost after all, nothing can harm you."
Edward wasn't too sure about that last part. But he nodded. "I don't plan on straying far."
Roy turned to begin walking towards the door to the hallway, still watching the ghost over his shoulder. "The world just has more in it."
Edward floated after him eagerly, still smiling as if he could never stop. As long as the world had Roy in it, he was good. But he'd never tell the man that. It wasn't as if he could die from embarrassment, but it would certainly be a close call. "I feel like a stray you fed and now I get to follow you home."
Roy laughed, and passed through the doorway into the hall. He stopped there, and turned back to make sure Edward actually got through. "You're better than a stray, you don't have fleas."
"That's what you think." Edward scoffed and paused at the doorway to the hallway.
Roy frowned a bit. "Can you see past? Or do I need to ask you through again?"
Edward worried his bottom lip between his teeth for a moment before he shook his head. "I can see… I'm just nervous." He mumbled the last word.
That was understandable, but Roy refused to believe that after all that – whatever all that had been – Edward wouldn't be able to come any farther. It just didn't make any sense. He refused to believe that they would come this far if they weren't allowed to stay this way. "Don't think about it, just come to me." And when Edward still hesitated, he held out his hand. "Please?"
Edward looked at Roy's hand, the silliness of such a gesture as lost on him now as it had been minutes earlier. And he slowly reached out towards him. When he was met with no resistance at all, he took heart and floated through all the way. Though his hand still hovered just against Roy's, not passing through. And he smiled up at the man, relieved with his success. "I think I'll be okay now."
"You will." Roy agreed and let his hand fall away. "So come along, I'm not leaving you behind anymore."
With a quick pirouette in which he made a noise that although indecipherable, sounded joyful, Edward floated down the hallway looking back at Roy. "Now who's leaving who behind?" He taunted.
Roy chuckled at the ghost's sudden delighted antics. Edward could make the most childish of acts seem all too endearing. "Well wait up, I can't even run as fast as you can zoom through the air." He chided and started after the apparition.
Edward came to a mid-air halt, bubbling over with happiness that was bringing him ever nearer to laughter. "I can't believe it. I'm free!" And he spun again. "I can be with you longer. Even if you one day change offices. I can still see you."
"That's right." Roy laughed some more. How could he not? Edward was so happy, and he loved that. Seven years of seclusion, the ghost needed this. Even if Edward had said that the loneliness was easier to bear trapped, he believed that the ghost having just this freedom with him would be an even better option. Better than having been originally allowed to roam free from the beginning and leave it to chance that they might meet. Better than remaining trapped in that office with only company five days a week for eight hours, for however long that lasted. This was the third choice, and Roy believed that it was the best one for the ghost. But… "are you sure you'll be okay? When I eventually die?"
Edward's smile did not fade, but it did mellow into something reminiscent of a soft, understanding sadness. And he settled down to the floor to stand there as Roy walked up to him. "It will be lonely." He admitted without reservation. "And I will miss you very much. But I'll have the memories of our time together. Memories of more than just us being together at the office. And that is what will make it bearable. I may be alone, in a whole wide world. But only physically alone." And he smiled up at Roy. "I'll remember you for eternity."
Roy returned the smile. Yes, this was the best choice. He realized he was sacrificing a part of his life to being there for Edward – but it didn't feel like a sacrifice. They'd make this work. He knew they would. "In case I ever forget to tell you," he began, "I'm glad that it's me."
"Me too." Edward smiled up at him. Even if at first he wouldn't have chosen Roy to see him, now he knew he wouldn't change it. Roy was kind to him, wanted to know him, and he got the feeling that it was a side of Roy that he was privileged and among very few to know.
Roy's expression was surprised, and then relieved in turn. "It's never taken me so long to get out of a workplace before." He realized with a laugh, and started walking again.
Edward watched him walk away with a thoughtful smile, and then ran after him. There was no way he was letting Roy out of his sight. "It's a Friday, and you're supposed to be recovering tonight from your manwhoring of earlier. So you really have no reason to complain."
"I was not manwhoring!" Roy protested. "Healthy sexual appetite."
Edward laughed as he fell in step with Roy. "Keep telling yourself that."
They were nearly out of the building – it had taken near an hour because Edward had wanted to examine even the staircases with fascination – and just about to enter the main foyer, when Edward stopped. And he floated backward almost uncertainly as he gazed off to the right. He was sure it was another hallway, but it remained white. That white world he'd grown so used to seeing. And he felt as if ice had gripped him.
"What's wrong?" Roy asked, having stopped and turned around when he'd noticed Edward was no longer beside him. "You okay?"
Edward fidgeted and shook his head. "What's over there?" And he pointed to the whiteness.
Roy frowned, and looked in the direction the ghost was pointing. "Just the hallway that leads to the general secretarial offices. Phone receptionists and such. Why?"
The silvery eyes had flown open the moment Roy had turned, and the ghost had completely phased out whatever it was Roy had said. He was too in shock. The instant Roy had turned, that whiteness had vanished. And now he could clearly see a dark corridor lit only by the dim lights of the security lighting. "When you turned and looked at it…" Edward turned his head to look at Roy, confusion in his still-wide eyes. "It was like before, in the office. Just that white sort of world I wasn't able to penetrate. And it was there, but when you looked at it, it just vanished."
Roy frowned, and looked from the ghost, to that corridor, and back to the ghost. "There was no pain?"
Edward shook his head mutely.
"Strange." A hand moved to Roy's chin as he pondered the anomaly. Although… maybe not such an anomaly. "Though a lot about you defies many things. But I wonder… I think I have a theory, just work with me on this and whatever you do, don't panic. You trust me, right?"
"Of course I trust you." Edward frowned. "But what are you going to do?"
Roy smiled and beckoned the ghost to follow. "I have an idea. Simple really, but I need you to help me test it." And he walked to the main doors, placing a hand on one of the handles and looking back at Edward. "After I step outside, follow, and tell me if there's any more of this white world of yours lingering."
Edward nodded, that sounded simple enough. But he was unsure of what Roy was getting at here. Yet he waited patiently as Roy opened the door and stepped outside into darkness. He could vaguely still see Roy standing there waiting for him, so he hurried forward. He passed through the doorway without trouble, pulling the door closed behind him.
Now in the outside world, for the first time since his death.
He looked around, seeing the vague outlines of trees, the darkness of grass, the dull grey of concrete sidewalk bathed in the yellow lamplight. Could hear the rustle of a slight wind through the leaves, and the sleepy noises of fowl in the trees trying to sleep. A world he'd never thought he'd see again. A world he'd begun to forget. Even in darkness of night, it was magical.
"Edward?" Roy prompted with a smile as he watched the ghost look around in the sort of awe that implied the ghost could hardly dare to believe what he was seeing. And how could Roy blame him? The ghost had spent seven years in captivity, never even being able to see out a window. He wasn't sure he could understand just how overwhelmed and in what ways Edward felt. But seeing him like this now… he knew that the ghost was in a place of peace that had been long denied.
"It's… so beautiful." Edward replied after a moment, hazily having heard Roy. And hesitantly he floated up off the ground and out a few feet while looking every which way. "I'd forgotten."
Roy walked after him, letting Edward drink it all in. He stayed quiet for nearly a minute before he softly cleared his throat. "Go around to the corner of the building. Tell me if you can see this-" he waved a hand around, "-or that white world that trapped you."
Edward cast him a look that still said he wasn't sure what Roy was trying to figure out here, but he nodded. "Okay." And throwing himself into the flight over, he zoomed through the air towards the corner. Upon reaching it, skidding himself to a stop.
A very confused stop filled with blinking of the eyes and floating backwards just a bit.
"Thought so." Roy smiled, and walked after the ghost. Once he had joined the confused spirit, he smiled up at him. "I'm going to look around the corner. And you tell me what happens." And without allowing time for questions, he did as he'd planned.
A poorly stifled gasp slipped past Edward's lips as again, that whiteness vanished. Instead showing him a large expanse of sidewalk, bushes, and bike racks shaded by trees. "It's… gone."
"And no pain?" Roy queried as he looked back at Edward.
"No." Edward floated down to stand on the grass next to Roy. "I don't get it…"
"I think I do." Roy said, and turned about. "I'll explain as we walk. Come on, or else I'm never getting out of here tonight." And as the ghost followed along beside him, he began. "It's my theory that somehow you're reliant on me for more than just having gotten you out of the office. As we were going down the hallways to get out, I was looking everywhere just to be sure no one was about. Until we got to the foyer. Where you first noticed that the impassable whiteness was back."
Edward listened intently, even as he marveled at the grass.
"When I looked at it, it vanished." Roy paused for a moment. "And when I went outside I looked everywhere I could see, even up. But I didn't go over to the side of the building and look around the corners. It's my belief, and I think you proved it tonight, that you can't see any place I yet haven't. And that you are blocked from it."
"So I'm entirely reliant upon what you see, to shape my world?" Edward was fairly certain he was following along properly.
Roy hummed his agreement. "Yes, I believe so. Of course we can further experiment, but I am willing to place money that that is what it is."
"My link to you is my freedom." Edward mulled this over to himself. "I'm still trapped by that world. I just have a bigger cage."
"Yes." Roy wished that weren't the case, for when put like that it sounded cruel. But he was determined to make this work. "But listen, I'll open up as much of the world for you as I can. I promise you that."
Edward smiled up at him. "I'll hold you to that promise." And he suddenly threw himself up into the air and backwards so he was floating on his back. Crossing his arms behind his head as his hair cascaded down he looked up at the night sky.
He'd forgotten what it truly looked like. His hazy memory had been dots of white against a canvas of black. But now those dots of light were gleaming silver, like himself. And the canvas was not so black, for it was splashed with dark purples and blues of the universe beyond. Even some of the stars didn't shine silver, they were pale blue, or with a gleam of red. The sky at night was beautiful.
Roy looked over at him with a smile, and then up to the stars as well. "Just follow my voice, silly."
Edward chuckled softly, and did so. Using Roy's voice to navigate him along while he continued to soak in the stars. It was the most beautiful sight he'd seen. He floated this way until the un-obscured sky began to be blocked out by the tops of buildings. And he straightened to float along next to Roy rather close as he looked around at them all in a mixture of fascination and uncertainty.
He'd never been in a city before. And the buildings were so much bigger than the ones he remembered in Risembool. There were paved streets, and cars parked along the curb of some of them. Every now and then they encountered people, but Roy never lingered near them for long. For which Edward was very grateful. He was too occupied looking around to be very successful at dodging crowds.
Roy waited until they were on an empty side-road before he spoke again. "Are you okay so far? I've been looking around and taking some detours, just so you can see more."
"I'm fine." Edward smiled over at him. "Thank you. I just have never seen a city before. And I'd forgotten what the night sky looked like." And he looked around at it all again. "It's overwhelming… but I want more. I want to keep seeing it until I'm not overwhelmed. It's a bit of a culture shock for someone who spent their childhood in a rural area and then most of their teenage years locked in an office."
"Well you're handling it well." Roy praised him with a smile.
Edward chuckled, "never let them see you bleed. Even if I can't bleed. But I think I'm too happy to be scared right now."
Roy could see the reasoning in that. "Well, we're nearly to my house. That'll be a bit more closed in for you if you wish. Of course, that being said and with you being a ghost, I don't mind if you leave the house. I mean, technically you should be able to walk through the walls as long as you've seen what's on the other side."
"I would think." Edward agreed. "I guess we'll soon see."
The rest of the walk to Roy's house sent them past bars and nightclubs – the latter thrumming with music, the former raucous with drunken revelries – and Edward was far more annoyed at all the noise than alarmed. They walked through a park in which Edward had joyfully explored all the plant and animal life he could find as they passed through, including hovering over someone who was walking their dog until said dog felt his presence and in the urge to get to the ghost, had run a circle around its owner causing the lady to become tangled in the leash and fall over.
Roy had tried not to laugh too much at that one, and quickly fled for it with an Edward who was less concerned about being overheard.
They walked past closed down businesses, and finally into one of the residential districts. Here the noise was more mellow, more family oriented. And Edward would float around looking in every which direction he would see without Roy climbing a fence or breaking into a house so he could glimpse farther. He accepted there were some places he'd never go. In some yards he marveled over the bought toys of children, explaining to an amused Roy that he'd always had to make his own toys as a kid.
"Well I'll buy you a tricycle one day." Roy teased the ghost as they rounded the corner to the street where Roy's own home was.
Edward snorted. "A tricycle? When you have a motorcycle hidden somewhere?"
"You're not using my motorcycle." Roy informed him with an amused grin, and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"Why not?" Was the protest, almost close to sounding like a whine. "I can't be damaged by one."
Roy rolled his eyes. "I know you can't. But you're a ghost who never learned to ride a bike, as you informed me earlier. Even one with training wheels. I am not letting you on a motorcycle."
Edward crossed his arms in a pout, a pout that was harder pulled off when he was smiling. "So then get me a bike to practice on? I don't even need training wheels. I can't get hurt if I fall down, I'd just let it pass through me and pick it back up again."
"I'll see what I can do." Roy decided to promise instead. But he knew he really wouldn't find the heart to deny Edward learning the things he should have before his death. And honestly he would rather Edward learn while he was around. He couldn't pass up the hilarity promised with such situations.
"So if I learn to ride a bike and stay balanced can I ride your motorcycle?" Edward asked pleadingly.
Roy chuckled at the ghost's persistence. "Ask me after you learn." And he pointed to the house that was next on their left. "That's where I live."
Edward immediately sped off to investigate. He passed through the fences and entered the yard to circle and sweep around looking. Roy's yard was empty of toys and such, but it was evident the man needed to cut the grass soon. Soon he was walking up the pathway to the front door. It was a normal looking house, quaint. A small porch, windows on either side of the front door, two story. Made of wood.
He found it somehow ironic that the Flame Alchemist lived in a wooden house.
Stepping up to the front door he rested his hands up against it, letting the contact happen, before trying to push through. He was unable.
"I'm afraid I haven't finished unpacking yet." Roy said as he stepped up beside Edward and slipped a heavy silver key into the lock. "I didn't expect to have company so soon."
Edward snorted, "you think I care? I used to live exclusively in an office."
Roy smirked and shoved the door open. He stepped inside first and flipped on the lights. "Point taken."
Edward floated in after him, and immediately began to look around as Roy took off his boots. And as soon as the man was done he was led into the living room, since the hallway wasn't much special. There was furniture already set up, but boxes still packed up along one wall. And Edward floated around to examine everything as Roy watched. "Wow…"
Roy heard the whispered word from where he'd been looking back out into the hallway and unbuttoning his jacket. "Oh, that." He said as he saw what Edward was standing in front of. And he finished unbuttoning his jacket so he could hook a hand around Hazel's middle and hoist the sleepy squirrel out. Setting the drowsy animal on the back of the couch to either fall back asleep or wake up, Roy walked over to join Edward while slipping off his jacket. "Do you like them?"
Edward had one hand against the glass pane that formed the door of the wooden cabinet. Inside on shelves were all different types of glass statues. Either with form, or without. "They're beautiful." He murmured, mesmerized by the colors he could see in some of them. Left by the heat?
"Thank you." Roy smiled, and felt Edward's sudden look. But he didn't look away from the glass works. "One of the places my team and I used to be stationed had a lot of sand. When it is met with intense heat, it melts and turns to glass."
"So, you made these?" Edward asked in awe, looking back at them.
Roy half-nodded, half shook his head. It was a rather odd movement to be sure. "The ones that have form, like the swan." He let his gaze flick over it, slender neck that could break with the slightest pressure to the delicate arch, the flared wings. "The others are what was a result of lightning striking the sand."
Edward gazed at them, and suddenly made a vow never to touch the beautiful things. "They're all so pretty. I promise I won't touch them. I'd be too afraid I'd break them."
Roy smiled over at him. "I can repair them with alchemy."
"I'm still not going to touch them." Edward insisted adamantly.
Roy chuckled and turned away, "come on, I'll show you the rest of the house and take you out into the backyard."
Edward turned to follow him, and soon they were touring the laundry room, opening the doors to all closets and other such things, and exploring the kitchen. Then in order came the backyard. And Edward immediately realized that the only non-boring thing out in Roy's yard was something he found tucked between the fence and a tool shed.
"Look what I found!" Edward called out in a sing-song voice, and slipped into the space to sit himself on the seat of the motorcycle underneath the heavy tarp.
Roy groaned and walked over to be sure Edward wasn't getting up to anything with the bike. He made a mental note to keep the keys on him at all times, just in case. Because he was fairly sure that Edward shouldn't know how to hotwire a motorcycle. He came over to lean on the fence and smile as he locked eyes with the silvery ghost who was beaming up at him from the seat of the motorcycle with a cunning grin. "Behave now."
Edward smirked at him. "So your mom doesn't know… does Hughes know?"
Roy laughed softly. "Oh believe me, he knows. And his wife, Gracia, does too. Sometimes they let me take their daughter out on it. I'm very safe, even if you choose not to believe me yet."
Edward gaped at him. "How old is their daughter?"
"Right now she's around four… five… maybe six." Roy shrugged and grinned as Edward laughed. "She loves it. A future motorcycle owner, that girl."
"Good thing you won't ever have children." Edward rolled his eyes, and then narrowed them at Roy. "You don't, do you? I mean, all those one-night stands… surely-"
Roy paled a bit, and then shook his head. "No. No children. I use protection."
Edward let out a burst of laughter. "Well, at least you have the foresight for that in your ever-going quest to pillage every virgin you can find."
"Why thank you." Roy smirked at him and drew away from the fence. "Come on. It's getting late, I still need dinner, and I still need to show you the rest of the house."
Edward nodded and floated off after Roy. And he followed the man into the kitchen where he sat on the kitchen table to watch as Roy began bustling about the kitchen making dinner. "So it's just you here then? You and Hazel? No roommate?"
"That's right." Roy agreed as he began to slice the vegetables for his stir-fry. "And you now. Of course now you have a lot more room at your disposal, so if you wanted to go elsewhere whenever you liked you could."
Either he was imagining it, or Edward believed he could hear a hint of nervousness in Roy's voice. "I won't leave you." He said quietly, and when Roy paused in his chopping at the words, before beginning a moment later, he continued. "I'd rather have some semblance of a normal life again. But when you go off to have your romp sessions in other beds, believe me you will find me waiting here for you to drag your sleepy ass back through the door."
Roy was glad that Edward at least had that all planned out. Because he wasn't about to stop. "I usually come back around two or three in the morning at the latest."
It was when Roy had finished making and eating his dinner, and they were going through the upper floor of the house, when he finally asked the one question of the night that had been bothering him. And he approached that question as he let himself into his bedroom. "Was tonight the first time you've felt pain since you died?"
Edward startled at the question, and floated over to settle down onto Roy's bed as his gaze darkened and shifted to the floor. "Yes." And he carded a hand back through his silvery fringe. "I've only known one thing before that which would cause me to lose my ability to hover, cause me to fall. And that was that nightmare you saw me wake up from."
Roy crossed the room, pajamas in hand, and sat on the bed next to the ghost. "The one of the Gate?"
"Right." Edward agreed, and looked over at him in confusion. "But it's never caused me pain before. I haven't felt pain for seven years. Just that one time tonight. And it was pain. I think if I'd felt that while alive I would have passed out. It felt like I was being torn in two."
That was confusing, and Roy settled back more on the bed while watching the ghost. "Do you have any idea why seeing the distortion caused you pain? Not that I'm saying ghosts should be incapable of it, but it is odd."
Edward shifted so he was facing Roy now. "Not an idea that makes me feel comfortable."
"Tell me." Roy prompted.
"The Gate." Edward said simply at first, and then expounded. "The only thing I know of that can make me fall like a rock is the Gate. First that nightmare… and now who's to say it wasn't the Gate this time as well? Except I'm also beginning to believe that the Gate was behind my imprisonment all along. And still is behind what remains of it. Tonight you allowed me to break free of it, so perhaps breaking free came at the price of pain on my part."
Roy could see the similarities, now that Edward pointed them out. But there was still that question of why all of this had happened as it had. And why it was he who could see Edward. "Hopefully that's the last time you'll experience it."
Edward silently agreed. "I don't like falling. It… scares me." And he slipped off the bed. "I'll leave so you can get changed and go to sleep."
Roy could barely form a protest if he'd wanted to before Edward had floated through the bedroom door and vanished. Lowering the hand he'd raised, he heaved out a sigh. It had been a long day. Long night. Standing up he quickly did get changed, but he didn't go to bed.
Instead he went in search of Edward.
He found the ghost downstairs on the couch watching a sleeping Hazel. "Edward."
Edward looked up at the voice, not having heard or seen Roy come in. "Roy?"
"Are you okay?" Roy asked in concern, walking over to him.
"Sort of." Edward admitted and looked away. "I just feel a bit out of sorts. Everything is so familiar, yet not. And there's so much to take in. So much to think about."
Roy smiled, "well, if you need me tonight you can wake me up. I'm sure you could figure out a way."
Edward looked up at him again with a smile, and nodded. "Thank you, Roy."
"You're welcome." Roy replied, and turned around to head back for his bedroom. "Entertain yourself as you will. But I'm here if you need me."
"Goodnight!" Edward called after him, and heard an echo of his goodnight float back to him in Roy's voice.
Upstairs Roy had finally fallen asleep, after thinking long and hard about the drastic turn his life had just taken. He'd need to talk with Edward at length tomorrow morning about some things. But it could wait until then. They'd both had an eventful night already. But whatever his feelings were on the fact that Edward was now with him to stay at his side, none of his feelings involved regret.
He fell asleep before he could see Edward slip back into his room and sit on the other side of the bed facing the window, watching the night sky and listening to Roy breathing.