Random Cheeses: Yes, Roy is a manwhore... and does look good in nothing. Never fear, Ed will be sure to do something about all of those.
Anonymous PenName: Thank you! I never saw Ed as a ghost either, so I decided why the hell not. It's actually turned out to be a lot more fun than I originally thought. A lot of your questions will eventually be answered, but I agree, Hohenheim coming home to find out that a son and his wife are dead would be a really nasty shock.
accident prone: I agree, you are very hyper. That is quite the cake scene you imagined. Though I do love good tragedy... but yeah, Ed's fashion advice may or may not turn out to be sarcasm of a sort.
moonstone: Ed being jealous is just adorable. And never fear, Grand is here!
UP2L8: Aww that's good, I guess I should start putting tissue warnings for just in case moments... the tissue companies must love me.
Sailor Silver Rose: Yes he is, the precious thing. He needs to figure it out before he becomes a crazy ghostie.
neenabluegirl: They certainly are experts at the dancing thing right now. I bet they'd be great professional dancers at the end of all this. And I'm so glad you're enjoying the story as much as you are!
B.D.: They really are clueless right now, bless them. And yes, Roy's pick up line was utter failure. But we still love him. I feel so special now, I do hope your life stops those little excursions to hell though.
Koneko: You're a good Dunce queen. And I feel so evil making you wait to find out where they're going over the weekend. They're going to ----- , which is an awesome choice, don't you think? XD. That was a lot of wibbling you did in that chapter... not that I blame you. I was doing my fair share when I wrote it. Ed just has this tear jerker quality to him right now. And yes... it shall be very amusing letting Roy try and explain away the bike. He needs a challenge in his life.
Hikari Kura: Don't worry, Hazel has far from made his last appearance. And no I don't mind if you name the game squirrel Hazel, I think that's cute.
Cheru-chan: Would you be scared if I said I knew your password? ...have you run to change it yet? ...don't worry, I'm just feeling a bit evil right now XD. And I am so glad you loved that line! I melted writing it... and also had a daydream sequence of what could have happened had Ed not been a ghost. XD
Disasterifik: Who wouldn't want just Ed? That's madness to not want him.
Riku-Rocks: Thank you! I do try hard to keep everything in a flow. I'm glad I pulled it off there. And I know the feeling about wanting to bake a cake. Cakes are lovely.
luna moon girl: Yes... strange how Roy can flirt beautifully with Ed and no one else, isn't it?
bluecrystal angel: Aww I'm glad you're in love with it. Thank you!
Chaos Valkyrie: Hahaha! Yes! His favorite dessert should be Roy. ...it'd be mine... -cough- Never fear, that cake shall meet its timely and satisfying end.
camiimary: I am sure that Roy wouldn't complain if he got a bonus hot chocolate with his Ed. I know I wouldn't.
GreedxEd: Post the recipe for that cake?! You need diagrams as well to make that cake XD.
MandaxPanda: You can't wait for more cake? Or for more Ed and Roy? XD
Marylover: Instant romance would be wonderful. Kind of like instant pudding...
kazuko: Olivia huh? I shall think about it. And hey, you weren't the only one with a dirty mind when Ed said that... I was right there with you XD. And I loooove apple pie.
Kimba: That would be a rather fun end to that cake.
Kari Kurofai: Guess away XD. I can't help but bring up the hair and eye color thing. After all, Roy does love silver, but he loves gold more. And yes, go get that Scar/Al!
XD: Thank you! I will.
Lamia: Roy is a fantastic source of amusement.
Naruta13: Umm... just me XD. I'm glad you are enjoying Ed as a ghost! And don't worry, short remarks will return.
There were two reviews that got sent in that had no names... I have no idea why not... so if you didn't get a reply and you wrote something that involved various forms of fangirl squealing, you might be one of those whose username isn't showing.
So I was reading this article on that couple who got kidnapped by Somali pirates, and who Islamic extremists are wanting as their own hostages, and the pirates are bringing in pirate backup, and I just started thinking... at that point in time, you know you're having a bad day. XD
So everyone have a good day! And enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Fifteen
As dawn broke the next day, Edward was stretched out on his side on Roy's bed. During the night the man had migrated over to the left side of the bed, so he'd taken the right. Though he was more than ready to dart away should Roy flop over, he was keeping an eye on the man even as he read the book he'd grabbed sometime during the night.
He wasn't sure why he felt the impulse to always stay close to Roy, but as the man didn't seem to mind, he gave himself over to that impulse. In a way he supposed it was just something to do with not having actual verbal contact with someone in so long. Just like Roy had taken Hazel in to take care of, he felt rather the same attachment that the squirrel must. Not as a pet, but feeling as though he belonged and was wanted somewhere.
It was one of many reasons he stayed.
But it didn't fully explain the reason he stayed so close, for Hazel certainly did not seem so bound to Roy. Yet it was something.
"At least I'm not lonely anymore." Edward murmured as he continued to read.
Three pages of his book later, Edward was startled from his reading as a rust brown ball of fur sprung up onto Roy's chest. "Morning, Hazel." He greeted despite the squirrel's inability to hear him.
Hazel could sense that his owner was not alone in the bed. But no matter how hard he tried, he could never see whoever was there. And he sat back on his haunches, fluffing his tail, staring in Edward's direction for a moment until he realized that he still had a task to do.
Roy still was asleep, and this would not do at all.
Edward meanwhile had for the present forgotten about his book so he could observe.
Hazel had turned from watching in Edward's general direction in order to scamper over to sit on Roy's pillow, directly behind the man's head. He wasted no time in beginning to groom his owner's hair. A stimulation that rarely failed.
The familiar feeling of paws running through his hair caused a still sleepy Roy to groan and reach back in an attempt to fend off his furry alarm clock.
Edward could only arch an eyebrow as Hazel, instead of being discouraged by Roy's attempts to swat him away, only to see the squirrel launch himself off the pillow and latch around Roy's forearm like a leech. And that bushy tail only circled around as an anchor – just in case.
And then Hazel began spastically nuzzling Roy's wrist.
"Agh!" Roy jolted awake and whipped his arm forward so he could glare at Hazel who was running his cold nose back and forth along his wrist. "Hazel!"
Hazel only clung tighter and began to lick at his human's wrist.
"Hazel…" Roy groaned and began to shake his arm up and down in an attempt to dislodge the squirrel. "You terror."
Hazel began to chatter indignantly at being shaken, turning accusatory black eyes on Roy as he informed his human all about what he thought of being shook like that. Even if this wasn't the first, nor the last time Roy had done this.
Roy listened for only a few migraine worthy seconds before he interrupted. "Okay! Okay, I'm awake." And he used his free arm to push himself up so he was sitting up in his bed, the covers falling around his waist. "See?"
Hazel hopped off of his human's arm to sit nestled in the hollow formed by his legs under the blanket, and held up his front paws while fluffing his tail out behind him and chirping demurely.
"Isn't this the cutest thing I've ever seen." Edward drawled teasingly.
Roy nearly fell off the bed as he jumped and swore at the same time. "Ed!" He gasped while turning wide eyes on the ghost who was sprawled along his bed – Hazel momentarily forgotten.
Edward laughed as he raised himself up on an elbow. "About time it's you getting startled instead of me."
"I just wasn't expecting you there." Roy hedged, and was reminded of Hazel's presence when the squirrel suddenly jumped onto his shoulder and butted his head against Roy's chin demandingly. "Terror." He muttered under his breath while reaching up a hand to caress the furry head.
Edward's grin was positively devilish. "No one would believe you were a formidable alchemist if they saw you like this right now."
Roy stuck his tongue out childishly before plucking Hazel off his shoulder and holding the squirrel much like he would a baby. "How fortunate it is then that you're the only one who ever gets to see."
"I could always take blackmail pictures." Edward suggested through a laugh.
Stroking Hazel's belly with one forefinger Roy was smiling down at the perfectly boneless squirrel who would have been purring were he a cat. "If you can happen to get Maes's camera away from him, at that point I believe you deserve to take some blackmail pictures."
Edward took that to mean that Maes was the sort of person who'd even fight a ghost over possession of his camera. Something that he found rather amusing to think about. "The feared Flame Alchemist and his pet squirrel. It would make front page headlines."
Roy rolled his eyes, "the newspapers in this country aren't even worth a place in a compost heap." And he swung his legs around the edge of the bed and stood up, still keeping Hazel as nothing more than a happy puddle of jelly in his arms.
Edward could only smile as Roy headed off into the bathroom with a yawn and an armful of squirrel.
As Roy shut the bathroom door behind him he walked over to deposit Hazel onto the counter. And he merely smiled as the squirrel pouted at the change. "Can't have you getting spoiled now, can I?" He chuckled and began to strip for his shower.
When Roy exited the bathroom with Hazel darting ahead to lead the way, he saw that Edward had now quite contentedly sprawled himself across the entire bed to read that book. He shook his head with a bit of a smile as he looked away from the scene.
"You're not going out manwhoring tonight, are you?" Edward asked without lifting his eyes from the pages of the book.
Roy snorted softly as he continued the tedious task of buttoning his uniform. "No. I think I'm on a pretty permanent every other day schedule for right now. Tonight you have me all to yourself."
Edward's face brightened as he finally looked up from his book and whirled around so he was sitting on the bed now, facing Roy. "Can we go get me a bike tonight?"
"If that's what you want to do tonight." Roy agreed amiably, looking over with a smile to the excited ghost.
"What is it you did on your nights off from manwhoring before I came into the domestic picture?" Edward asked, struck by the sudden curiosity.
Roy finished with his uniform, his face twisting into something akin to a grimace as he walked over to the bed after a pause. "Alchemy. Sometimes dinner with Maes and the girls, but we've done that recently. Or if I really didn't feel up to alchemy research I'd read… sometimes take my motorcycle out."
"You've not felt like doing any of that?" Edward tilted his head to the right, causing his silver hair to shift and float. "Is it because of me?"
Roy sat down on the end of the bed, looking at the ghost still. "Yes and no, really. To both." He placed his hands behind him on the bedspread and leaned back. "Sometimes I want to, I won't deny. But to be quite honest I'm enjoying my time with you very much. I did most of that stuff because I had nothing else to do. No one else around. But now you're here, and I am liking the company."
"Because you want me to stay with you?" Yet Edward wasn't entirely sure what he was questioning.
Roy gave an indulgent nod of his head. "I wouldn't have asked you to stay otherwise. At the point in time I need some time for just me, and no one else, I promise I'll tell you. I know that times will come where I will, and thinking otherwise is just stupid." And a smile slipped onto his face. "But I like having you around."
Selfishly so… but he didn't say that.
Edward gave an understanding smile of acceptance. "I like being around."
Roy's smile widened for the barest of seconds before he was suddenly standing back up. "I should be getting to work. Are you coming with me, or do you want to stay here and read more?"
Edward was off the bed as well in a flash. "I can finish reading tonight while you're asleep. I'm not missing Grand's next accident for the world."
Roy laughed as he began walking out of his bedroom. "I won't get concerned then if you suddenly vanish this morning say around eight…" he hinted not so subtly.
Edward made sure to log that information away. "I'll let you know how it goes."
They left the house together without a single thought spared between them as to the cake that still sat untouched on a countertop. After all, there were always more important things than a cake baked in such frivolity as that one had been.
When they got to Roy's office Edward instantly claimed one of the couches in a flopping maneuver that couldn't have been more boneless looking if the ghost had tried.
…probably due to the fact that technically Edward no longer had bones, but that was getting too literal.
Roy meanwhile took a seat at his desk before eyeing the stack of paperwork for the day with trepidation. He would much rather be leaving in near half an hour to see General Grand get more acquainted with the troublemaking side of his ghostly companion. But as things were, even if he didn't have paperwork, he really shouldn't be seen anywhere near the vicinity of that office.
"Before I leave," Edward began, "can you find some excuse to prop the door open until I return? I'm still not quite… comfortable, passing through alone." And only the knowledge that Roy understood why, and didn't make him feel childish about it kept him from feeling self-conscious and embarrassed.
Roy took his pen in hand, "I will. And you can call me from the other side if you need me. I don't mind." He said firmly as he fixed his gaze on the ghost.
No matter what it was, he wanted Edward to trust in him. He knew what the ghost had been through. He knew the culture shock that Edward would experience for a bit longer. So he was glad that Edward had the balls to actually ask for help when he needed it. He wasn't sure he could have tolerated a silent sufferer for long.
"Considering what I do know about you, I'm sure you would make a wonderful excuse for such an emergency." Edward said drolly.
Roy grinned a bit as he began to start on the paperwork. "That and I am the superior officer in this little quadrant of Headquarters. I can prop my door open or wander in and out of the doorway as I please. Any questions or concerns will just be filed away in the trash bin."
"I'm surprised there isn't just a compost heap for those out back. Hell, you could throw the newspapers in with it." Edward chuckled as he hugged his knees to his chest.
"Only after I clipped out all the reprints of your lovely blackmail photos." Roy corrected quite happily.
Edward smirked as he considered actually getting such photos. But it might be difficult to get the camera if Maes was truly that protective of the item that he'd notice it being lifted even for a day. Sure, he could always steal a camera if provided with the access to a camera store… but he doubted that was a place Roy would ever venture, and he had certain morals about stealing things. "You tempt me greatly, Roy Mustang."
Roy carefully hid a smile as he kept his head bent to his work. "I do what I can." He merely replied, instead of giving in to the impulse to point out any potential innuendos.
Edward waited impatiently for ten more minutes before he finally popped off the couch. "I'm going to head over there now. Don't want to chance missing the fun."
Roy was on his feet without prompting, and heading over to open the door for the silvery apparition. "Just be careful, Edward."
"I doubt I'll run into anything like a ghost banisher, but I'll keep that in mind." Edward said as he floated over to wait at the door patiently.
"Or attract attention to the idea that this may not be an accident. Don't touch anything." Roy cautioned as he opened the door.
Edward nodded and floated out, "don't worry. I know how to keep a low profile. I have been this way seven years." He reminded the man with a smile before pelting off down the hallway past the front office.
He had left too fast to hear what excuse Roy must have come up with, but he didn't mind. The only thing he did mind regarding Roy was the man's absence. But it couldn't be helped. So he'd bear with the uncomfortable feeling of being a goodly distance away from Roy. It was for a good end result.
"And I need to get over this fear of losing sight of him, or being separated." Edward murmured as he pelted through the air on a course memorized last night. "Just another culture shock thing… logically I know it's silly to worry about it."
Because even on the chance he were to get trapped again somehow, he had no shadows of doubt that Roy would not find him again. He still wasn't sure what to call his unique relationship with Roy, but he knew Roy wouldn't leave him behind.
When he got to Grand's office area, he found that the front office was not as empty as it had been last night. Like with the setup Roy had, there was a more frontal office where desks, a table, and various chairs were set up. There were already officers sitting around chatting or doing work, again, much like you'd see with Roy's front office. But the one thing that wasn't the same was the person sitting at the desk Hawkeye would have occupied. She wasn't even wearing a military uniform. Regular employed civilian?
"I bet Hawkeye's better at her job." Edward said loyally before ignoring them all in order to pass through General Grand's office door.
It was something that made him highly uncomfortable and nervous to do despite his eagerness to see the general meet his next demise. But he forced himself to do it. Nothing bad had happened… so that eased his mind somewhat.
Taking a look around, specifically at the soon to be scene of the crime, Edward made sure everything was as it should be. Only then did he take to hovering above the general's desk to wait out the last minutes until his arrival. The urge to rifle through the man's things in an attempt to find anything helpful as to that laboratory was nudging at him, but even without remembering Roy's warning he knew he couldn't.
So he did his best to rein those urges in as he waited.
And he didn't have to wait long.
The door was opened, causing Edward to whirl around to watch as General Grand entered the office. He instantly felt the intense dislike he had for this man come to the forefront of his emotions. The first time he'd ever seen Grand he had known that something wasn't right about the man. And future observations of him had only cemented his belief.
"And get me some coffee!" General Grand called out behind him before he shut his office door.
Grand was scowling as he held a small baggie of ice to his head while limping towards his desk. Why did his desk have to be so far away?! He groaned aloud, nearly brained and castrated in one day. It was a shame they were all accidents, for he'd not had a new test subject in far too long. He wouldn't touch Mustang… yet. After all, he'd been one of the driving forces on approving the man's transfer. But that Riza Hawkeye, she was strong willed. She would make an excellent next lab rat if only she had given him reason to "send her to the stockades".
"Damn it all…" He growled as he limped his way around his desk.
A sneering sort of smirk was on Edward's face as he waited in anticipation. "You should just give up and leave. I can finally be seen and heard, and I know your dirty secret." His silver eyes had a steely glint to them as he added, "Roy will destroy you."
"Good thing they never had coat racks or Hawkeye behind doors in Ishbal." Grand continued to gripe. "Would have hurt my reputation. The Iron Blood Alchemist being defeated by a coat rack."
Edward's unsympathetic snickering stopped abruptly. Grand was an alchemist too?
But further thoughts on that matter were temporarily sustained as Grand pulled out his chair so he could sit down. He gave a relieved sigh at being able to sit down and relax, and was pulling his baggie of ice away from his head to apply it to his crotch when his chair gave an ominous creak.
There wasn't even time to process the noise before the chair suddenly collapsed.
"AH!" Grand yelled out as he was pitched backwards and sideways like some demented carnival ride. Too fast to stop it, too fast to avoid banging his shins against the top edge of his desk as he was cast aside by his chair. He landed on his side gracelessly and so hard his vision blacked out momentarily as the wind was knocked from his body.
The telltale shifting above him told him it wasn't over yet – whatever this madness was.
And he looked up with wide eyes just in time to see the shelf that had always been anchored to the wall behind his desk shift and tip downwards. The pictures and other baubles that had been set atop it came crashing down around him first with enough noise to have rattled even the bravest of nerves.
But his nerves weren't the greatest of his worries…
Frantically he tried to scramble out of the way despite the pain his crotch was in as he tried to move in this awkward position. And then the shelf came crashing down unmercifully to his shoulder and the arm he'd thrown over his head just in case he wasn't moving fast enough away. And he hadn't been.
Edward tilted his head to the right, lips pursed as he considered the mess before him. "You need a heavier shelf."
At that moment the door was flung open and several people, the civilian woman and two of the general's subordinate officers only hovered in the doorway to give various gasps before all hurrying over.
"General!" One officer cried as he rushed over to push the shelf off of the man.
"Sir!" The woman knelt down beside him, "what happened?!"
Edward would have thought it would be obvious.
"I'll call the medical ward!" The other officer said as he hurried over to grab General Grand's phone off the desk and frantically dial.
Edward shook his head as he watched the sickeningly saccharine scene unfold. "You all have no idea what a monster that man is, do you." He stated as he crossed his arms over his chest. "This man won't be forgiven by the people he has killed."
And he whispered it like a promise.
Edward stayed, watching Grand in disgust until the man was finally taken away on a stretcher by some of the in-Headquarters doctors. It seemed that he might have caused the man to fracture something in his arm. Not that he felt even the least flicker of guilt or sympathy. "If you are an alchemist, this is fortuitous for many." Alchemists needed full use of their hands, and if one was slung up in an arm cast…
He left the office around the time that the man's staff began to puzzle over how the chair had collapsed. None of them for one second seemed to be considering that the shelf had fallen for any reason other than the sudden earthquake that had occurred when the large framed man had been tossed to the floor.
It took him until he was only a few hallways down from Roy's office to start laughing. But it was not a carefree sort of laughter. It was more bitterly toned, the laugh of someone who felt that Grand had deserved what he'd gotten.
After all, he hadn't done any of those things to General Grand for the sheer amusement of a prank.
When he reached the front office where Hawkeye, Breda, Falman, Fuery, and Havoc were in attendance unaware of what had just befallen General Grand, he smiled. They needn't worry today about catching someone trying to spy on Roy.
Quite happily he landed down on the floor and walked through Roy's open office door. And with it open, and able to see Roy hard at work there at his desk, it cooled his nerves. "He needs a heavier shelf." Edward said in way of announcing his presence.
Roy looked up with a welcoming smile, and unbeknownst to Edward he breathed a sigh of relief that the ghost was back. "Oh? Did this one not fracture his skull to your liking?" He asked quietly – the door to his office was still open after all.
Edward's look was sour at best. "He had the sense to use an arm to cover his head since he couldn't seem to move out of the way fast enough. I think he's still suffering from what happened last time."
"Well perhaps he'll get a heavier one." Roy chuckled softly and stood so he could go close the door before heading back to his desk where Edward was seated in his chair. "Move, you."
Edward gave him a pouting look but floated up to instead sit on the left side of Roy's desk where there was more room. And as he watched Roy sit down he remembered something. "Grand is an alchemist?"
Instead of getting straight back to work, Roy looked up at the ghost in surprise. "You didn't know?"
Edward shook his head. "He never did alchemy before around me, so I never saw that he was. And it was never mentioned around me before."
Roy leaned back in his chair as his fingers wove together at the tips. "He was part of the Ishbal war, same as me. And he was rather…" Roy's already dark eyes only darkened further, "bloodthirsty. Very broad in his killing… as long as he got to kill as many as he could, he was happy. And he was laughing."
Edward believed that by the look in Roy's eyes, he wasn't the only one who had felt a cold darkness at that last part.
"With our alchemy enhanced through-" Roy cut himself off with a shake of his head, "he was able to attack with greater force. As were we all. But he more often than not became something inhuman in battle. When he realized the extent of his alchemic power through that enhancement he became overjoyed, whereas I started down the road that would eventually lead to my turning a gun on myself and nearly pulling the trigger." But he pressed on, unwilling to really talk too much about his contemplation of suicide. "They call him the Iron Blood Alchemist… and I can only guess that the reason you've never seen his alchemy yourself is because his alchemy is only good for one purpose."
Edward didn't need to be told what purpose that was, not after everything Roy had said. And it seemed Roy didn't feel the need to expound on that either.
"There's a reason that he's not called the hero of the Ishbal war." Roy didn't believe he was worthy of carrying the title either, but carry it he did. If he had to choose between Basque Grand and himself… the choice was clear.
Edward frowned in worry, "can you win against him if it ever came down to a fight?"
Roy did not answer right away, it was not an easy answer to give. "I would certainly not back down from a fight. It would all be a matter of whether or not I could react in time if he struck first. His alchemy works fast, very fast. And a second too late could dearly cost me."
Edward nodded slowly. If ever he needed the inspiration to keep pulling these sort of pranks on Grand, he had it now. "Then you'll have to be the first to strike."
"I intend to." Roy knew that the moment he sensed Grand was about to attack, he wouldn't hold back. The only situation in which he could see Grand about to attack him was the one in which he had forced the general out of the military for the crimes he was committing secretly. And at that point in time, it no longer mattered to keep Grand alive.
He wouldn't abandon Edward… so he knew he would have to win against Grand. There was no other option. He refused to abandon Edward.
It was then that the office door opened, and Roy's gaze was drawn away from the ghost on his desk.
Maes shut the door behind him before walking forward looking torn between amusement and bewilderment. "Did you have anything to do with what happened to Grand this time?"
Roy blinked at his best friend, "something happened to him?"
"Yes."
"And I didn't have anything to do with what happened last time either." Roy added for good measure. It really was all of Edward's doing. Or Riza's. The one thing he'd helped with last night had been on Edward's insistence. "So what happened to him now?"
Maes gave his friend a disbelieving look, but said nothing to it as he took a seat on the arm of one of the couches. "His chair collapsed under him and then a shelf fell and looks to have bruised up his arm pretty bad."
"No broken bones?" Edward complained.
Roy tactfully hid a smile at the whiny tone of the ghost. "Well I certainly had nothing to do with it. I've been here all morning."
Maes could believe it. With Roy's sudden dedication to getting his work done he doubted the man even left for bathroom breaks anymore. "I'll keep an eye on him even so. I doubt that even injuries like he has now will stop him from working on his own machinations."
"True." Roy tipped his head forward in a semblance of a nod. "Has he gone anywhere suspicious yet during the day?"
"No. I keep waiting for him to. But if he leaves Headquarters it's always to public places. Nothing that would ever house a secret laboratory like you're suggesting." Maes gave a quiet sigh. "I think I'll speak to Gracia about taking a few nights and weekends to follow him. She'll understand. This isn't the first time we've done something like this."
Roy nodded, knowing that Gracia would indeed. She truly was one of the most understanding women he'd ever met.
Maes considered his friend for a moment before asking, "are you ever going to tell me where you got this information? Doesn't your source have anything more to give you?"
Roy knew without even consulting the ghost that Edward didn't. Edward would have told him everything without hesitation. "No, and no. I've already told you everything my source gave us to go on. But I trust my source, they wouldn't have led me wrong."
"Certainly not." Edward agreed.
"I'll see what I can manage." Maes said and stood up. "Anything else you want me to do today aside from stalking?"
Roy smiled and shook his head. "No, go be a stalker. You're good at it."
"Yes, I am." Maes agreed wholeheartedly and stood up while adopting a bright smile as he remembered something critically important. "I'll show you pictures of Elysia tomorrow. The latest ones are still getting developed, but she is so cute in them!"
Roy's look was utterly deadpan. "Can I just take your word for it?"
"Absolutely not." Maes looked scandalized as he turned to leave.
Edward was laughing quietly as Maes left the office. "He really keeps growing on me."
"Yes." Roy agreed with a sigh, "he is rather parasitic."
"Not like that!" Edward's laugh renewed.
Roy smiled up at him and scooted his chair forward so he could grab his pen again and resume his work. "I don't have many friends. There's a reason he's my best one."
Edward didn't have to ask why, he knew. "Would Grand ever try and attack Maes with alchemy?" He asked as the question suddenly occurred to him. Before he hadn't thought much of Maes following Grand. He believed Maes was a skilled combatant. But that was before he had learned that Grand was an alchemist.
What much could someone like Maes do against an alchemist like Roy had described?
"It is very possible." Roy replied as he began to read over the form currently before him. "But Maes knows the dangers. You have to trust that he can handle himself. Sometimes faith goes a long way in a person and their ability to pull through when they're disadvantaged."
Edward couldn't help but smile, "you have a lot of faith in all of your team, don't you."
"Quite a lot." And for good reason, he'd handpicked all of them. "And they know it. So they do everything in their power not to let me down."
"I think it's more than that." Edward mused as he watched Roy work. "I've been in this office for seven years, and for that entire time I've never seen a team so loyal to their superior."
Roy smiled, "well, there is only one Roy Mustang."
"Where are you hiding him? You imposter." Edward laughed.
"You'll never know."
As the hours passed Roy continued to steadily plough through his work. Edward had left to go float in his favorite corner of the ceiling while he read another book. It was quite peaceful for them, as opposed to another part of Headquarters that was dealing with a wounded general. The only thought Roy gave the situation was wondering what Edward would do next.
But it was a passing thought.
Eventually the lunch hour rolled around, and once again Roy's office door opened. This time admitting Jean Havoc.
"You want to come out with us to lunch again? Or are you staying in?" He asked as he approached Roy's desk – not seeing a book dive bomb from the air to the floor.
Roy looked up from his paperwork, and immediately bought time for Edward to choose. "You want me to stay in, don't you." He taunted with a good-natured smirk. "That way you can have even a sliver of a chance of getting a date for tonight."
Havoc scoffed at the implication. "I'll have you know that I already have a date for tonight."
Roy perked up immediately with interest. "Oh? Do I know him? Her?"
Havoc was right to grow wary, and he pointed a finger at Mustang. "I found this one. I'm not telling you how to get to her."
"Her…" Roy gave a shrug. "Had too many hers lately anyway."
Jean was far from looking sympathetic.
"You've had too many of everything lately." Edward corrected as he walked over to join them. "Let's go out again. I'm doing better day by day."
"I'll come, just give me a few minutes." Roy said as he twirled his pen over the form he had been in the middle of perusing.
"Right. We were thinking of a pizzeria, you good with that?" Havoc asked as he half turned to leave.
Roy waved his free hand absently. "It's food. I'm good with it."
Edward floated backwards to flop onto the couch. "Is there any food you don't like?"
"Of course there is." Roy said as he began to pen corrections onto the form. "Veal and oranges. I can't stand the taste of either."
"Even if your mother prepares them?"
"Especially if my mother prepares them." Roy cracked a small smile. "She's actually not half bad as a cook. I survived as a child on her cooking. But I just don't like veal or oranges. At all. I'm sure you could stand eating a cake even though it had milk in it, right?"
"Of course!" Edward agreed, and wondered just how drunk Roy had been last night. Hadn't they spent most of their walk home talking about cakes? He'd have thought it would have been obvious he wouldn't have turned down eating cake when he was alive.
"Yeah… well I can't stand either no matter what they're mixed in with." Roy finally laid his pen down and stood up. "Is it just any cake that is your favorite dessert? Not a specific one?"
Edward chuckled as he floated up from the couch and took to standing on the floor. "I'm having a hard time deciding which is worse, your flirting, or your guessing of my favorite dessert."
Roy grimaced as he walked over to join his companion. "Let's leave my flirting out of it."
"Did you know you sometimes talk in your sleep?" Edward offered with a devilish grin.
"Changed my mind, continue bashing my flirting talent." Roy quickly sacrificed as he felt his cheeks actually begin to tinge pink. He didn't remember what he'd been dreaming last night, and he hadn't woken up with soiled sheets… but that didn't mean it couldn't have been something equally embarrassing for Edward to listen to. He'd rather be blissfully unaware.
"Spoilsport." Edward chided as he laughed. The truth was that Roy hadn't made a peep any of the nights he'd spent in the man's bedroom. But he wasn't about to tell Roy that. This was more fun.
"More like picking my battles." Roy groaned as he walked over to fetch his coat and tug it on.
Edward shrugged, "same thing." And he could only smile at Roy's withering look before following the man out of the office. He'd never been to a pizzeria before. He'd never been to a lot of places before. He just hoped that it wouldn't be too crowded… or that there'd be an empty seat next to Roy this time.