moonstone: Yeah, Al is an upcoming thing. As is Den XD. And they really are being cute together, this chapter isn't any better with the cute factor, I'm going to have to go write angst galore after this. But I do think I will let Ed do some innocent haunting before long.
luna moon girl: Thank you! I think that's the first time I've gotten a compliment on my Maes... maybe not, I am tired. But still, thanks!
Sailor Silver Rose: I'm actually looking forward to their trip to, gives me an opportunity to write some angsty stuff -rubs hands together-.
Koolneko22: Yes, and the Elysia and the 'friend' comment will be a reoccuring thing. It's one of those little things that get to last throughout.
ixluxprinny: I can only say that Al will be coming sooner rather than later, but can't say more than that otherwise I kind of cheat myself. Just hang in there.
Infinity: Thank you!
Saltyeyes: Hmm... I need to put that hot chocolate recipe up again. The one Ed makes I actually do have a recipe for, and I did have it on my profile a few months back. If you're interested. And oh how I wish I could tell you the answer to the Al and Elysia things.
neenabluegirl: Yay! Another compliment on my Maes! I do love him, I think he's one of the most loved characters by everyone. Damn martyr that he is.
blackrose5130: Cookies! And I think you snuck some... you're quite hyper.
Cheru-chan: Before I forget, I'm supposed to pester you about a Greed/Ed fic. Consider yourself pestered. Love you XD. And damn you, now you've got me curious as to what the theory you have is to see if you figure it out. But I shant make you tell, you all shouldn't be the only ones with some suspense going on because of this story.
kazuko: Brownies! Oh brownies how I love thee! ...-borrows your PS3- And the flirting is more frequent, naughty Roy. He can't help it, Ed's a hot ghost. But yes, I did leave clues throughout the story about where Ed and Roy are going.
abei: I was thinking more magic markers, instead of pencil and paper XD.
amiegirl17: Thank you!
secret25: Um... you get to wait and see to the Risembool. Yes to the Grand. And yes, you just wait for the weekend trip and whatever it brings. I'll take care of the "working it out" thing as far as a relationship. Never fear, I am here.
Eli: Of course I need angst! Do you not know me? XD So yes, all that fluff you just mentioned? I need angst to balance it. And you are quite close on that kiss thing. Have fun with Fallen... I need to get that shower scene up before the hormonal fans murder me for making them wait for it.
camiimary: I'm glad you got all caught up! And yes, you're right, we do know better. And the flirting is increasing more and more. They cannot resist it as they grow more comfortable with each other. And I'm glad that you're happy about the theories driving you nuts. I'm happy you have so many. It means I'm doing this somewhat right XD.
Disasterifik: I swear you reviewing more would have worked had I not gotten sick, among other things. Still sick actually... but such is life. And yes, Roy is definitely getting some feelings.
AnimeAddic5: Thank you! And I hope you read more... I'd hate to lose readers now, if ever.
Cutberry: The world does need more Roy's like that. It'd make life more interesting. And thank you!
xwhitexspiritx: I sincerely hope it will rain. Though not at the cost of not updating. I swear I'm about to dry up in this forsaken desert.
MandaxPanda: I actually love that line myself. I'm glad someone got a laugh out of it.
toobeauty: Roy is priceless, I hope you devour this chapter too.
accident prone: I see you finally caught up to a story where I can answer your reviews here. Woo! And thank you so much, I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as you are. And that I'm expanding your potential pet horizons yet again.
bluecrystal angel: Thank you! I'm managing story flow! Yeah, I love this pairing too, I try hard to do them justice.
Lamia: Fun for you all to watch, fun for me to write. The dynamics I have to work with in this story just have so many levels. And so many characters to work with, which I love.
GreedxEd: They want Ima, not each other. Ima and Fane.
Kari Kurofai: Yes, I do like Scar/Al, very much. It's my favorite as far as Al pairings go. I just haven't touched it as frequently. Mainly just in Fallen, and November. Though I do plan to have more stories that incorporate it, plus I'm currently working on a multichapter for FFnet that's going to be Scar/Al almost entirely, very little scenes of Roy/Ed.
So between some life issues and me getting quite sick... you've noticed the lack of updates. I apologize, but we've all been there I'm sure.
About Alphonse, he will be showing up. I can't say when or where, but he will. I can't leave the brother out of a fic like this. Just thought I'd make a universal announcement about that.
People from AWA, welcome back. You all gave me the germs that made me sick I'm sure. Love you all too.
Umm... I know for sure I didn't make an announcement last chapter that I had updated Ransom, so I'm announcing that now. It's updated to chapter fifteen. For those looking for another chapter of Fallen, be patient a bit longer. For those still waiting, bless your hearts, for an update of Paradox, please don't kill me, it's coming. I just ran into some problems with it and my own confidence that finally seem to have sorted themselves out. I ended up deleting nearly half of part two, I'm maybe 5-6 pages away from the rewrite of it. As soon as I finish I'm putting it up no matter what, I've already lectured myself on this.
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Twelve
Monday was both a disappointment and a relief in Roy's mind as he stirred awake from a blissfully peaceful sleep. One that felt of warmth and contentment, the kind you rarely had since hitting puberty and thus the age of understanding the meaning of stress, or gaining wet dreams. No, this sleep had been completely undisturbed. And though Roy was awake, he lay there, eyes closed, for several moments more.
In one way, he was displeased about going back to work today. The start of a new week. It was for all the usual reasons that made people not want to go to work on Monday, but now he had the addition of a certain individual with whom he'd actually enjoyed spending the majority of his weekend with. If that weekend could have continued forever, he doubted he'd have ever complained. There had just been something intensely relaxing and at the same time rejuvenating, about being around the ghost for so long. Not having their time together interrupted any longer by his needing to go home, or the rush of paperwork.
But on that same token, he was relieved he could get back to that rush. Because it was the very effect the weekend had had on him, mentally, emotionally, even physically, all relating back to Edward, that made him want to seek out the stable shore he already knew. He reckoned that over time he'd grow used to the intense change in his life that Edward signified. He knew he would… after all, he had meant it when he'd asked Edward to come with him… and to stay with him.
So he slowly opened his eyes, squinting against the golden glow of sunlight that was beginning to show over the very bottom of the windowsill. And then his head lifted, looking around for Edward. Yet despite what he'd told the ghost about being welcome to come back to his bed, said silvery apparition was nowhere in sight.
It made him frown, and he ignored the shadow of disappointment that brushed at the edges of his consciousness. He had no reason to even consider feeling disappointed that Edward wasn't waiting on his bed again for the second morning in a row. Not when the sun was rising. He knew where the ghost must be. So he shoved the covers off of himself and climbed out of bed with a languid and bone-popping full body stretch.
One of these mornings he vowed to wake up in time to watch the sun rise with Edward. He got the feeling that it would mean a lot to the ghost.
One hand hooking into the front of his hair at his forehead he tugged at the black locks absently as he padded his way to the bathroom. He had a toilet to use and personal hygiene to get over with.
As per Roy's guess, Edward was in fact up on the roof already.
This particular morning he hadn't felt like watching it from inside as he'd done the previous day. And so he'd popped up through the roof once again and settled down to await his sunrise. A sight that he was sure one day would lose its continuous awe factor over him, but at the same time he never wanted it to. The sun rising, even setting, was one of the prettiest things he'd been kept from seeing these past seven years. The sky… the clouds… even the stars at night… they still held sway over him.
Yet he strayed no farther than the roof, as if going any further at such moments would spoil the majesty of the nature that surrounded him.
And the nature surrounding him the night after a rainstorm was purely surreal.
Downstairs Roy had just finished his shower, and he exited the bathroom with towel around his waist just in case. There was just no telling where Edward would pop up, although the bathroom seemed safely his own territory. And he didn't want to risk offending the ghost. This was as naked as he'd be getting in the rest of his own home it seemed, now that he actually had a human companion living with him. A companion that had the run of the house.
He was pulling an extra uniform from his closet when a rust brown ball of fur shot into his room. "Someone slept in late. Else I'm up early." He chided the squirrel, before bursting out laughing as Hazel nearly face planted into the carpet in bewilderment.
Hazel, having righted himself self-consciously after skidding to a halt, began to preen his whiskers haughtily while observing his human in sideways glances that were meant to say 'about time you became responsible'.
Roy grinned at the animal. "Between you and Edward I'm starting to feel as if you two have some secret pact now to take shifts of looking after me." And he turned on his heel to stride back to the bathroom while calling, "at least you finally trust I'm potty trained," over his shoulder.
Hazel lost no time in dashing after Roy, squeezing through the door the instant before it snapped closed. He'd narrowly avoided losing his tail, but he didn't seem to notice as he leapt onto the bathroom counter to begin grooming himself again under his human's deadpan expression.
"That isn't code for 'I think I might still need supervision'." Roy informed the squirrel, was pointedly ignored, and rolled his eyes before setting to the task of getting dressed.
Once he'd dressed and done a few second battle with his hair to get it to look perfect, Roy plucked Hazel up off the bathroom counter while murmuring something that sounded much like "unsanitary" under his breath. The squirrel was transferred to a shoulder and he left the bathroom and soon enough the bedroom to go downstairs and deal with breakfast for both he and his pet.
Somehow Hazel got served first, and he left the squirrel in the laundry room to eat while he went out into the kitchen to try and motivate himself to cook. As it was, he was frankly lacking the motivation to eat a proper breakfast. Else, the attention to task for it. Because after several minutes of opening the fridge and staring into it, closing it to go and open nearly every cupboard that contained food, reopening the fridge only to find that somehow the peanut butter had ended up inside of it between now and the first time he'd opened it, returned the peanut butter, and opened the fridge again, he realized that he was clearly not getting anywhere.
What was worse, he didn't even know what was distracting him so.
Slamming the fridge door shut again with a little more force than the situation merited, Roy grabbed a slice of bread and promptly made himself dry toast. Dry toast which he ate without so much as a flicker of a grimace as he made his way to the backdoor. Letting himself out he finished stuffing the dry toast into his mouth as he turned to stare up at the overhang of the roof. He couldn't see Edward, but he was sure the ghost was up there.
So he did the only thing that seemed logical to do. He dusted the crumbs off the fingers of his gloves and began to scale the side of his house once again.
Edward noticed this time when a living being popped up over the edge of the roof, and he looked over to see Roy straighten out of his crouched landing position. "Good morning." He smiled in cheery welcome. "How are you feeling?"
"If you're referring as to whether or not I feel ill after being soaked through twice last night," Roy answered as he walked against the slope of the roof towards the ghost, "I feel perfectly normal."
"How dare you assume I'd be worried about your health!" Edward teased through his offended look.
Roy laughed good-naturedly and sat down next to the ghost, turning his gaze to the horizon. "I dare anything against someone who can't physically touch me."
Edward scoffed, but didn't take offense to the jab at his state of existence. His being dead truly didn't bother him, he was used to it by now. "Just wait, I'll duck down and loosen the rafters so you go tumbling through. How much do you weigh? I bet I wouldn't have to loosen them much."
"Hey!" Roy exclaimed over a peal of laughter. "Don't be going and modifying my house or I'm making you fix it all, by yourself, while I'm in the hospital enjoying paid time off and nurses in short skirts."
"So how much do you weigh?" Edward persisted, though he had rolled his eyes at the 'nurses in short skirts' comment. His internal monologue at that point muttering 'manwhore', but not actually verbally voicing it.
Not this time.
Roy groaned, he'd thought those nagging personal questions had been through when Edward had asked – and eventually been told – how old he was. Okay, so that was only one question. But still. How much he weighed? And he knew from experience that the ghost was more stubborn than a dumb mule about such a question. "I think such a question qualifies under too personal for you to know."
At that, Edward smirked, not losing heart. "We didn't get to play chess last night, so I'm suffering from a withdrawal of asking you questions to get to know you better."
"And my weight will help you know me better?" Roy frowned at him incredulously.
Edward nodded with a feral grin.
Roy groaned again, this time it was accompanied by an upward flare of his eyes as if praying to whatever gods might exist for patience. Help. Sudden amnesia on Edward's part. Anything. "Do I get a question as well then, after this?" He finally asked, knowing that it would be easier to just give in. It wasn't like Edward could broadcast it to anyone.
Well, he could… but he doubted the ghost was the sort to start writing flyers portraying something to rival his medical history and distribute them.
"Is it going to be about what dessert might be my favorite?" Edward guessed.
Roy gave him a hurt look. "You make me sound so predictable. But I'm afraid you'll be disappointed there, Ed."
Edward smiled, far from being disappointed. "I agree to the terms. Now tell me how much you weigh."
"Last I checked, one hundred seventy-four pounds." Roy grumbled, thoroughly disgruntled at revealing that to anyone at all. "And I'm all muscle! Muscle weighs more."
Edward chuckled. Of course Roy had to get in a last minute claim about his figure. Something he might have teased Roy about had he the ammunition for it, but as it was, he couldn't claim Roy was fat. He'd seen the man practically naked, and Roy was telling the truth about being all muscle. "That's rather average I thought. And for someone who looks like you it almost sounds light to me. But then, I'm no doctor, and I certainly have nothing to measure you against." He grinned cheekily. "I don't weigh anything."
Roy glowered at him, but couldn't find any reasonable retort to such a thing. So instead, he latched onto the one thing he could, adopting a coy smile with which he graced the ghost. "And how do I look?"
Edward blinked at him momentarily, thinking fast on what Roy meant before it suddenly dawned on him. He snorted and turned away. "Like my personal idiot."
If it had been meant as anything but a fond sounding statement, Roy didn't catch it. "May I ask another question?"
Surprise made Edward turn and look at him again, a bit confused by the gentle smile he saw there. "please."
"Have you seen any other ghosts since you've been free?" Roy asked carefully, more in regard to the wording, than actual concern about drudging up something bad with his question.
Edward blinked, and then shook his head. "Not a one. Why?"
"Well," Roy began, careful once more, "you said you had no unfinished business–"
"I don't." Edward interrupted smoothly.
"But then what I don't understand is why there aren't thousands of other ghosts clogging the streets and such. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm wondering why you're still here. And why you were locked up in an office for seven years." Roy dug a hand into the front of his hair as his brow furrowed. "And why I'm the only one who can see you."
Edward's bottom lip had ended between his teeth as he thought about it, taking care not to take it the wrong way. He knew Roy wanted him here, else he'd never have been able to get free of that office. So it was pointless to assume that Roy meant what he'd said as anything bad. "I'm not sure myself. About any of it." And he looked around as if to truly be sure he was alone in his kind. "Maybe we're all locked up somewhere waiting for someone to release us. I don't know what the significance of you being my key to the world is, but you are. And…" he trailed off for a moment as his attention flickered back to memory momentarily. "It could be the way I died. My death wasn't a common one, at all. So maybe that's why I'm the only one, so far I've seen."
Roy supposed it could be… it was certainly the only thing that thus far made sense. The most sense.
"I don't mind that I only have you." Edward continued after a short silence, his silver eyes resting on Roy. "If I see another ghost I'll definitely be telling you, if you don't see that ghost yourself. But no matter the reasons why I'm still here, and why you're the only one who can see me, I'm glad to be here with you."
Roy still sat silent for a few seconds after Edward had quieted, now only being watched by the ghost. "I'm glad too. Despite you turning my normal life upside down, I'm glad."
Edward laughed at that, and felt a flash of pride. "You needed it, trust me. You may fear that squirrel giving you a talking to more than me, but face it, you need someone to turn your life upside down."
"Maybe you're right." Roy smiled at him thoughtfully, sharing undisturbed for the first time one of those silver-eyed gazes that should have unnerved him… should have. It was in the moment that he realized he wasn't that he abruptly looked away, breaking the mood. "I'm going to be late to work at this rate. You coming?"
Edward shot upward immediately in response. "I'm not spending the day here alone, if that's what you're getting at."
"You wouldn't be alone, you'd have Hazel." Roy teased as he began to cautiously lower himself off the edge of the roof so he could climb back down.
"As much as I like your manly pet," Edward said as he floated along beside Roy, "Hazel rather lacks the ability to have an intelligent conversation with me."
"Thought I was your personal idiot." Roy reminded him as he made it to a second story window without much difficulty – it was slower going than usual since the paint was still affected from the rain of the previous night.
Edward grinned, and floated lower as Roy managed to find leverage on the jutting upper sill of a second story window. "You are. In certain ways, things. But fine, I'd rather spend time with someone who does more than play with balls – wait…"
Roy burst into laughter, his balance wavering.
"Someone who can actually see me. Not just sense me." Edward substituted hurriedly.
Roy gripped desperately to his handholds on the house as laughter continued to shake him and threaten his strength to turn into nothingness. "I'm just that multitalented?" He queried in a voice that shook with each laugh, and he carefully tried to lower himself down further.
"Oh shut up, Roy." Edward snapped despite a grin and a great lack of irritation in his voice. He was more than amused himself, and fighting back the urge to laugh himself. He was sure that if ghosts could blush, he'd be doing it now.
Roy sniggered and finished lowering himself enough to safely jump down the rest of the way. He landed easily down on the grass, and turned to the ghost at his side as he straightened. "Now that you bring it up though, I feel rested. So tonight I'm off to get another date."
Edward scowled, "just so long as we play chess tonight before you leave work. Maes interrupted us from having a game last night and you promised me."
"We shall play chess tonight." Roy promised once again, and this time planned to keep that promise. "But you wanted to go to that dinner, so it's your fault to."
Edward blinked at the claim, and followed behind Roy as the man walked towards the backdoor so they could go back inside. "You would have turned him down if I hadn't wanted to?"
Roy closed his eyes briefly as he reached out to grasp the door handle. "Yesterday was a day just for you, including the night. I have nights that belong to me, you have ones that belong to you. I would have turned him down had you wanted me to." And he opened the door to let them in, holding it for the ghost as well.
Edward walked on through after him, trying not to feel too pleased that he had nights that were specific just for him. Yes, it had been sort of implied when Roy hadn't gone out partying and instead chose to spend the entire day and night with him. But hearing it expressly implied was a whole other thing. Something that made him feel much like he had when Roy had promised to celebrate his deathday with him. "As long as I get chess tonight."
Roy smiled as he shut the door. "That we will. And tonight will be the night I finally get it right."
"I think not. You're terrible at guessing my favorite dessert." Edward informed him, and vanished through a wall heading for the front door. "Come on, you'll be late." He called back as an afterthought.
Roy chuckled softly and headed after the silvery apparition.
Twenty minutes later found Roy arriving at work at last. He'd taken a different route that morning to expose more of the city to Edward, and that took time. But he was only pushing the clock by a few measly minutes. Well, they weren't measly to a certain Lieutenant, but to him, they had been well worth it.
"Will I ever get to see you really use your alchemy?" Edward asked through a silence that had stretched several minutes as Roy took the long way around Headquarters to enter the building.
Roy frowned slightly, one of his hands twitching reflexively at the question. "How do you mean, 'really use it'?" He asked, glad that no one was around this part of the building at this time of day. Everyone else was usually smart enough to take the short way into work when they were running late.
"Like, use it as if you were in danger." Edward clarified, and then turned a hasty look on Roy. "Not that I want you to be in danger!"
Roy smiled just a bit at the concern. "I know you didn't mean it like that." He knew how much Edward relied on him, and he didn't plan to let the ghost down. As much as Edward was dependant on him, he was beginning to believe he'd feel quite lost without the ghost around. So he could understand how Edward felt about his personal safety. He sure as hell wasn't about to let an exorcist or anyone like that get near Edward. "I'd say that the chances of you not ever seeing me go full out would be slim. Almost every new State Alchemist one day or another gets it into their head that testing their skills, in a legal way or not, against the Flame Alchemist, Hero of the Ishbal War, would be a good idea. And that's just one small part of the population I've ever had to use my alchemy against."
Edward slowly nodded. "I mean, logically I want you to be safe. Never have to protect yourself. But realistically… and I guess I'm also curious. I've heard a lot about you and I was an alchemist once too."
"A very good one too." Roy agreed, "I'm sure you would have given your father a run for his money had you lived."
Edward scowled at the mention of his father. "Just stay safe. Even if I am curious."
"Don't worry, Ed." Roy smiled at the grass they were walking across. "You're one of the few people I don't want to leave alone in this world any sooner than I must. Between you and my mother, I've got plenty of reasons to stay safe. But I'll satisfy your curiosity too."
Edward mulled that over for several yards before asking, "I'll be able to meet your mother one day, right? I'd like that. As much as I can meet her anyway."
Roy cracked a small grin. "Of course you will. When I can manage it we'll take a week or so vacation and go see her. You should probably be glad though that she can't see you, her hugs can crush steel I swear. And she'd definitely hug you."
"Why would she hug me?" Edward blinked.
Roy's grin softened to an easy smile. "Because, you turned my life upside down. She's been trying and failing to do it herself since I was a kid. In her book, that merits you a bone-crushing hug."
After that they both fell silent as they entered the building. When there was no telling when or where someone would pop out, they couldn't risk conversing right now. Or, at least Roy couldn't, but Edward stayed quiet anyway. He didn't want to make things difficult, and he didn't particularly need Roy just then. Not in a verbal way.
However their mutual silence changed somewhat once they got up to where a certain Riza Hawkeye was waiting behind her desk looking particularly murderous.
"You're seven minutes late, sir." Riza informed him with narrowed eyes, running a cloth along the barrel of her pistol in an almost sensual manner as she stared down her superior officer and longtime friend.
"She better not shoot at you." Edward growled defensively.
Roy couldn't help but smirk at the ghost's protective nature. "That's actually fairly good for me. If I recall, isn't that supposed to mean I'm early?"
Riza sighed, and stood up from her chair. "Last week you were on time. What happened to your sudden punctuality?"
"You stopped letting surprise strippers into my office before I got in in the morning." Roy shrugged nonchalantly. "Thought if I was a bit late this morning you'd have managed to find the time to sneak one in there."
"There better not be any strippers in there." Edward muttered darkly under his breath.
Riza pointed her gun at the door to Roy's office. "Strippers or not, get to work, sir. If it's not all done by the end of the day I'm going to seriously wonder about what's now missing that turned you back into your former lazy self."
Roy scoffed at that, already walking towards the door. "I am not lazy! You do not look like I do by being lazy. And such wondering would be good for you, if you've enough free time to polish your gun on military time then you're clearly not being challenged enough."
"Mustang." She growled warningly.
Roy flashed her his most winning grin, and tugged open the door. "Hawkeye." He swept her a courtly bow before stepping inside and shutting the door after him. More to protect him from potential gunfire than anything.
Riza shook her head, a small smile worming its way onto her face. "Friend or not, I don't think I'll ever understand that man." She said to herself as she sat back down again.
Edward, who had turned to her when she had spoken, tilted his head a bit. "Bet you'd never believe that he finishes his work early now so he can play chess with a ghost." And he looked down with a faint smile. "Still a bit hard for me to believe too… I'm no longer lonely."
He turned then to the shut door between he and the office. An office he'd been trapped inside for seven years. An office that now contained the one person who could see him. Floating over to the door slowly, he reached out a hesitant hand which he rested against the wood. It was firm as he had wanted it to be. His eyes slipped closed as he gave a shaking breath of nerves.
Now that he was free of that office, the thought of going back into the one place where he'd been held captive for so long was a daunting thought. More daunting than it had seemed at any moment prior to this. A barrage of "what if's" swirled in his head, each one making his eyes screw tighter shut.
It was in that moment that the door at his hand suddenly was opened.
Roy didn't meet Edward's startled look, merely looked past his companion to where Riza was working. "Could you run down to the mess hall and bring me up some coffee?"
Riza couldn't see the harm in it, the caffeine would probably be beneficial to what she wanted out of Roy. So she nodded and stood. "I'll be back in a few minutes then."
"Thank you." Roy smiled at her gratefully, and waited until she'd left before he looked down at Edward tenderly. When he'd realized that the ghost wasn't coming in right away, it seemed he'd guessed rightly that something was wrong. And the expression of heart wrenching uncertainty on Edward's face proved him correct. "Edward?"
Edward carded a nervous hand back through the silver fringe of hair that had fallen across one eye. "It's not as easy as I thought it would be."
Roy nodded in understanding, and stepped back only to extend his hand. Just as he'd done the night he'd freed Edward. And as gently as he could manage, as if Edward were nothing more than a spooked deer, said, "Edward, will you come with me?"
Edward only hesitated a moment as the familiar question registered through his uncertainty. His eyes darted up to meet Roy's own dark ones, and slowly, in just as familiar a gesture, he reached out a hand until it was a hairs breadth from where it would have connected and passed through Roy's. And he answered the only way he could. "Yes."
Roy smiled bracingly, and took a step back which caused his hand to retreat. Yet Edward moved after him as smoothly as if they had been touching. And though he had seen a shudder pass through the nearly transparent body, Edward followed him. It made his chest constrict, to know the amount of trust Edward must have in him. It nigh took his breath away, and he smiled as Edward now stood with him in the office – rather close to him. "Can you see back out?"
Edward looked away from Roy's eyes towards the door. The whiteness was still gone. He could see clearly the room he had just left, and he looked back to Roy with a bright smile. "Thank you."
Roy pushed the door shut with one hand, not moving from where he stood with Edward. "Anything for my personal ghost."
Edward watched as Roy turned to walk over to his desk, feeling more content than he'd ever felt in this office. Yes, it would be fine now. As long as he had Roy, he'd be okay. It didn't matter to him that he didn't like relying on anyone for anything. You couldn't be contained for seven years without being able to be noticed without becoming obnoxiously independent. But with Roy, it was nice to know he didn't have to go through anything alone anymore. Not if he didn't want to.
Casting Roy one last look he floated over to the shelf where he'd left the books Roy had brought for him and selected one of the thicker novels he'd not yet read. Soon he was curled up on the couch with the book open in his hands, his silver eyes only for the words written there on the pages.
Roy's coffee came and went, papers were rustled either from the desk or the couch, and silence reigned. But it was a comfortable silence. A silence that was destined to be broken soon, the serenity of the atmosphere thrown out the window with it.
When next the office door opened, Edward barely had time to let the book pass through him to thump to the couch before they were interrupted. It was the third time in an hour that his reading had been interrupted, and the glare he had turned on the person to interrupt it was soon replaced with wary apprehension and a degree of resentment.
"Colonel Mustang, thought I'd drop down personally to make sure everything was running smoothly after your transfer."
Roy may have dropped the salute he didn't feel, but he remained standing, and alert for the very reason of Edward's warning. He could see said ghost now, and Edward was hovering mid-air looking much like a dog waiting to be allowed to chase out an intruder. "Ah," he began smoothly, curbing any emotion from his voice, "General Grand, so good of you to come personally. An honor."
Edward glared at said General's back as the man finally stepped the rest of the way up to Roy's desk after having looked around in confusion for a moment for a place to invite himself to sit. "My couches." He snarled. "My office. I'd consider it an honor to drop one of my couches on you, several times."
Only years of wearing a metaphorical mask kept Roy from reacting to Edward's vehement commentary. The ghost hadn't been joking about his dislike for Grand.
Grand himself had decidedly given up on finding a temporary place to sit. "Nonsense. Always a pleasure to make sure the star State Alchemist is adjusting well. Which, judging by how efficiently you've been working, you're adjusting quite well after the transfer."
Roy's smile was thin-lipped. "Yes, the transfer went even better than I'd predicted. I must thank you for your concern about how it has gone, and of the office."
"Ah, yes." Grand looked around, frowning at the lack of chairs in front of the Colonel's desk. "Are you sure you've experienced no abnormalities? It seems your chairs have vanished." But he glanced up at Roy with a smirk, "or did you incinerate them in three seconds?"
"I am not abnormal."
Roy replied, quite unblinkingly, "I can incinerate a mere chair faster than that. As it is, I did not order chairs. I much prefer the couches. Far more sensible to sit a large group of people such as my team in the case of a meeting with them."
Grand nodded absently, still looking about. "It seems you are adjusting well then. I am very pleased with the progress of your work thus far."
"He's scoping out your territory." Edward forewarned as he floated forward to sit himself on the desk between Roy and General Grand. "He doesn't trust you. He never did it to anyone who was in his pocket. And he's stalling."
Roy couldn't help but feel that Grand had a reason to not trust him. He had a dangerous reputation among some levels of society, and for good reason. But where he had his alchemy, Grand had his manipulations. That much he knew. "Thank you, sir. Speaking of my work, however, I'm afraid I do have rather a lot of it this morning."
Grand caught the unspoken hint, and nodded magnanimously as his eyes did one last suspicious sweep of the room. Perhaps it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but every time he came into this office, it felt as if something unseen were watching him. The sensation prickled at the back of his neck. But once again, there was nothing to be seen. Damn the Fuhrer for sticking Mustang in this office… it was always harder to manipulate someone when you were unsettled. And the idea of manipulating Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist, was a great feat to undertake in itself as it was.
"Sir?" Roy prompted when Grand did not reply.
Edward, who had floated off to one side was glaring fiercely at the General. "Stay away from him."
To whom Edward was saying that to, Roy wasn't sure, but he didn't pay it much more mind as Grand finally snapped out of it.
"My apologies." Grand nodded stiffly. "It seems everything is as it should be. Before I return to my own work, I would like to invite you to the parade grounds next week to watch the practical for the new State Alchemist hopefuls. It has been a long time since we've had a State Alchemist of your caliber in Central permanently."
Roy couldn't help but think that it was because he was the only one left from the Ishbal war who had not either died, gone clinically off the deep end, or been tossed into prison for various nefarious deeds that were the result of skipping off the deep end chanting 'hallelujah' the entire way down. "I would very much like to attend."
"Suck up." Edward growled, and unless he'd been looking for it, he'd have missed Roy's dart of eyes at him. "Him, not you."
"I'll put you on the guest list then." Grand nodded imperiously. "For now, I release you back to your work."
Edward didn't even watch to see the sickening display of Roy showing submission to anyone through a salute that wasn't deserved before he had whirled through the air towards where the coat rack rested at the side of the door out of the office. Didn't even look to see if Roy was watching him, much less trying to hand signal him anything. He only watched with a vindictive gleam in his eyes as General Grand strode towards the closed door. "You try and hurt Roy, and I'll kill you." He promised, not wondering where this sudden protective streak had come from. He knew.
General Grand had just reached the door and was grasping the handle when the coat rack smacked into him. He didn't register that it had hit him with the force of something wielded and not something that had been merely off balanced. Only that his head felt as if it had been split open and he was seeing stars as he lost his balance, tumbling sideways onto the floor and landing in an ungainly heap with the metal coat rack on top of him.
Edward immediately looked over at Roy with a bright smile. "Can we get a heavier coat rack?"
Roy bit the inside of his cheek, hard, to keep himself from laughing. And he glared at the ghost, though the effect was probably ruined by the flicker of a grin that slipped through. He knew that perhaps he should be a little mad at Edward, but he couldn't bring himself to it. He understood why the ghost had done it, and to be quite honest with himself, he felt that Edward had deserved to clobber General Grand. If only to assert to himself that he could do something about protecting Roy.
Hurrying around his desk in the act of concern, Roy called out "Hawkeye!" as he went. The instant before he reached the General, the door opened quickly in response to his summons…
…hitting the fallen General with the edge of the door rather viciously in the lower regions.
Edward burst into gales of laughter, clutching at his sides as a shriek of a yelp joined the chaos.
"Oh my." Riza remarked unsympathetically as she gazed down at the scene, the moment however that she caught Roy's pointed look, she switched tunes completely. "General! Here, give me your hand and lets help you up. Colonel, please get that coat rack off him."
Roy did so with regret, and almost hoped that Edward would tip it back over. "Please escort the General back to his office, Lieutenant." He ordered, and he helped Riza get the large man up off the ground before sending them both on their way.
The General was in and out of consciousness and limping, so he didn't see the snickering faces of the rest of Roy's team.
Roy dusted off his hands with an air of a job well done, and looked at Falman. "Find Maes, inform him that the General nearly got brained with a coat rack and castrated with a door. I doubt he'll think to check the infirmary to spy on anyone."
"Yes, sir." Falman grinned and got up immediately.
Meanwhile Roy ducked back into his office and snapped the door shut before rounding on Edward who had quieted his laughter to chuckles hid behind a hand. "I should be mad at you, but actually I've never been more proud. I've wanted to club him over the head since I met him. At the very least."
Edward winked at him, silver eyes sparkling in mischief. "You keep your job, I'll act out in your place. But seriously, can't we have a heavier coat rack?"