In the interest of getting this up before I get shot, I will be editing in the review responses. So if you jumped on this update like chocolate to caramel, check back in a bit if you want to see what I respond to you... and then you can wonder what the hell it was you said that made me give that reply XD
I'd like to open with a swear word at this point, but I can't choose which one would be more fitting. So please insert your favorite sailor-would-be-proud word here... yes there, and add my "I am so very sorry" to the end of it. Because I am. My FaceBook fluffies have been hearing about it for the past... what's it been guys? Half hour? That was how long-ish I was on the phone.
Maybe day. I dunno. My day has been screwy too.
Anyways... I know you all are probably skipping past this to read the chapter first and about me later, so I shall continue. Pokemon Conquest has stolen months of my life and I don't care. Work is bollocks right now thanks to some weird decisions that I believe were inspired by a lack of oxygen and one too many bouts of 'It's a Small World' which induced insanity among certain individuals. I can't remember if I'd let you all know I bought a new car... but I did. Feliciano is full of personality, I'm sure you can imagine.
I am about to add a stuffed panda and a stuffed brown squirrel to my stuffed animal collection. When I finally finish building Nitro my Ed cosplay is going to be a zoo.
Speaking of cosplays... naturally I'm going to Phoenix Comicon again. And I'm going to AWA 2013. I might be bringing my brother, ladies!
Other than that... I really should get started on the other fics now. And planning something for a Christmas story. So much to do! I'm just disappointed I missed being able to put something up for Halloween.
Oh! Oh! Holiday note! I am doing holiday cards again. Those of you who participated last year, I assure you I did not save your addresses in an attempt to stalk you with my nonexistent spare time and money, so you'll have to send me addresses again. PM's, e-mails, texts, FaceBook messages... Again as a reminder note from last year, if you live with someone who might take offense to anything above a kiddo rating should they happen to peek at your mail, let me know. I'll curb my language and my drawings... although I don't think I drew porn last year... remind me guys, did I?
And no, I don't expect one in return. Although you're always welcome to send me your first born... I mean a card. I like mail! It makes me feel like someone wants to contact me for something other than getting money. I despise my electricity bill.
Chapter Forty-Four
"This is supposed to be part of my surprise?" Edward asked, amusement coloring his tone as he cast a doubtful look in Roy's direction.
Roy gave him a secretive smirk as he rubbed his hands together and started off businesslike down the endless-seeming aisles of one of the larger Headquarter warehouses. "Now if you were able to guess it, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"
Edward shot a mocking look after him before bounding into higher air and following after him. This was a place he didn't particularly fancy getting lost in, and the few distracted glances he took assured him of that.
If the massive iron shelving units weren't floor to ceiling, they were brushing the standards of it. In this aisle a single row of incandescent industrial light bulbs cast an orangey glow onto the shelves and their contents, barely illuminating down to the floor, and throwing everything else into dark relief.
"What could you possibly have been meaning to do with me that involves the Military's version of a haunted house?" Edward asked as he continued to flit through the air just above Roy's head.
Roy smiled, "well, it's haunted now. I did bring you in here, after all."
"Not answering the question." Edward scowled.
Roy continued smiling, and soon he did cast a quick look up to spot where Edward was before saying, "we're just getting a few supplies. This isn't usually my line of expertise, so a little bit of shopping is in order."
It was then that it clicked, and Edward suddenly looked around him with a newfound fascination. This was it. This was one of the warehouses that stored the endless State Alchemist supplies. Seven years ago, this would have been paradise for him! Even so, Edward began to look around a bit more eagerly. Just because he couldn't accomplish alchemy any longer didn't precisely mean that he'd lost any of his enthusiasm for it.
Roy glanced Edward's way briefly once again, grinning to himself as he saw the fascination glowing on Edward's face. It seemed he'd figured it out after all. Good. He wanted Edward to be slightly distracted for the moment. At least long enough to gather some materials that might slip by Edward's notice. He didn't want to take the chance that the genius beside him would somehow manage to figure out his plans. He wanted Edward's surprise to be, in fact, a surprise.
It didn't take long for Roy to pocket everything he suspected he would need, so when the time came for them to leave it took more than a small bit of wheedling and promises to return to convince Edward away from his vicarious imaginings of everything he could do with access to so many alchemy ingredients. Yet as soon as they had left, Edward settled into another matter that suddenly seemed quite pressing.
"Just how is it that you're planning to explain to Hawkeye that you're not coming into the office tomorrow?" Edward asked with reasonable concern as they made their way back home. "Or that you won't be coming back from your apparent lunch today?"
Truthfully, he rather felt bad for the lieutenant today. Her morning had already begun with a rough start thanks to Grand, and while he'd gotten sufficient revenge for all parties involved, he doubted she'd feel comforted by it. And now her Colonel was about to duck out for what equated to almost two full work days without so much as a hint of a warning.
"A phone call." Roy explained promptly, adding just as promptly: "the very moment before we run out of the house and flee the city."
Edward rolled his eyes, and really, did he expect anything more of the man? "You're cruel, Roy Mustang." He informed him quite certainly, shooting a baleful glance at his far-from-chastised friend. "So I hope you can think up a miracle for Monday."
Roy didn't even bother with that one, merely giving a sardonic huff.
Edward bit down on a faint sigh, but didn't contain the roll of his eyes. Honestly, sometimes he truly wondered by what miracle it was that Roy had continued to survive so long acting the way he did around certain people. The man truly must have as many lives as a cat.
Perhaps Hazel was the universe's way of extracting karma on the man, since nothing else seemed capable of it.
Shaking his head, Edward was not entirely contented to let the matter lie, but in this, he got the strong suspicion he'd not pester anything acceptable out of the man right now. He'd have to wait until Monday.
As it was, he was about to soon be distracted.
They shortly reached the house, yet no sooner had Roy closed the front gate behind them did he call after Edward who was still continuing up to the door.
"Wait for me out in the back yard, would you?"
Edward pivoted in midair, a frown etching his features as he quirked his head at the man walking up to him. "And why would I need to do that?" He asked, puzzled. "I know you can pack on your own," and then he hesitated as he was abruptly reminded of something which caused him to scowl suspiciously, "unless you're planning on packing those damned toys of yours, which I assure you that if you do I –"
"Will take them away from me?" Roy offered in sly interjection, before allowing what fraction of control he had slip in the guise of trying to fluster the ghost as normal, "to protest me being selfish and not using them on you, perhaps?"
Edward's mouth dropped open in horrified shock, before he uttered a spluttering, avid, "no!"
Roy smiled wide, not taking it to heart. He did, after all, love getting Edward flustered like that. It wasn't a complete loss in his mind. "Well then, what would you do with them? I know you dare not touch them."
Edward gaped at him open-mouthed a moment, frantically wracking his brain to try and rediscover just where he'd been headed with that sentence before Roy so thoroughly derailed him. Yet as hard as he tried to recall, he was coming up blank of answers, so he did the only thing he could think of. "Then why do I need to wait in the yard? Much less the back yard?"
Roy allowed the obvious redirect with an indulgent smile and a slight chuckle. "Because, that's where I'll be unveiling your first surprise. Best we hurry though, before Riza starts getting twitchy about where I am and foils my brilliant plan."
"It's hardly brilliant if you'll need a miracle to keep you alive when we come back." Edward scowled.
"I have you." Roy corrected in an offhanded manner, although it was meant as anything but, and Edward knew it if Roy judged the slight widening of the ghost's eyes correctly. "I'm good with that. Now then, off you go. We're letting valuable time slip by."
Edward opened his mouth to reply, already half-turning to do as Roy had said, before he hesitated in both, finally telling the man quite seriously, "the surprise had better be worth all your ghastly flirting."
Roy couldn't help but smirk smugly at the accusation. "Is that better or worse than atrocious?"
Edward shot him a nasty glare, which only served to make Roy laugh, frustratingly enough. The man sure had gall, that was for certain. So not bothering with a response, for all the good it seemed it might do, he gave a hop upwards and shot off around the side of the house to wait in the back yard where, for at least a few minutes, he'd be idiot-free.
It took longer than Edward had actually been expecting for Roy to make a reappearance. Perhaps it was because he was accustomed to being a part of the process, not a bystander, but at long last Roy did appear with the customary suitcase in hand and Edward suddenly knew why it felt as if it had taken longer.
It clearly had. He had never seen Roy dressed like that before.
Gone were the slacks, or even denim, gone were the casual shirts or sweaters.
Edward felt himself do a double take at the Roy who walked towards him now. Full of the usual confident swagger, but enhanced now by being clad in black leather pants leather laced and studded down the hems, only loosening on his legs nearer the calves where they flared out slightly over combat boots. There was a normal white collared shirt there somewhere that had one too many buttons undone, but it was mostly covered up by the black leather jacket which also bore its fair share of steel embellishments.
Around the entirety of the thing was a belt that Edward was certain could not only be used to hold up the most slippery leather pants ever worn, but also used as a tourniquet. There was nothing fancy or studded about this belt. It was by far, the most practical piece Roy wore…
…if one overlooked the monstrous belt buckle which was emblazoned with a 'FA'.
Edward gulped and slid his eyes back up to Roy's face, trying not to think about several things this sight provoked in him. Including how long it had taken Roy to paint those leather pants onto himself. Which only led his mind astray to a place he wasn't certain he wanted to think about.
Roy barely managed to conceal his chuckle and smirk as he caught Edward's somewhat wide-eyed look. Good. Granted, this was what he would normally wear for something like this, but it was nice to know that the ulterior motive of getting Edward's attention had succeeded. While he knew that Edward had lived with him long enough not to be swayed entirely by his looks, he knew it also didn't hurt.
And it gave him a bit of pride that he was sure Edward would claim he didn't need, to know that Edward had looked him up and down twice. Whether the ghost had realized it or not.
Roy smiled just a bit smugly as he drew nearer, and set down both suitcase and a rather large box that closely resembled a tool chest that had lost its lid in an unfortunate mauling as he stopped before the now fidgeting ghost.
"What is that?" Edward asked, forcing his eyes to look straight down at the chest and fighting back the sudden flustered feeling he was now inwardly panicking about. It was all Roy's fault! He didn't know why Roy standing so close to him dressed like that affected him so… but it was Roy's fault!
"You don't know? Ed, what am I?"
"An idiot." Edward answered promptly, deadpan. Despite the situation he now found himself in.
"Besides that." Roy gave an eye roll, before deciding that he really didn't want to hear what else Edward might consider him in the attempt to get one single adjective or noun correct. "An alchemist."
Immediately it clicked for him, and Edward suddenly dropped to his knees to look at the chest in an instant flare of excitement. Every experience he'd had with Roy's alchemy, fire or otherwise, had been fascinating to him, and he was eager to see what the man had in waiting for him this time.
All that appeared to be in the chest was a variety of common enough implements. Steel bars of various weights, leather, small blocks of copper and equally small bundles of copper wire, a thick sheet of glass, several yards of folded and bound white rubber, and several other machinery odds and ends scattered throughout.
"You're making me a prison cell to stick Grand into?" Edward guessed hopefully, looking up at Roy. Curiosity having, for now, pushed Roy's attire from his mind.
Roy chuckled at the idea, it did have merit. But at the end of all this not-entirely-clandestine feud with Brigadier General Grand, he didn't want it to conclude with Grand in a prison cell. Either way, a pinewood box would be the container in order, and he was determined that it wouldn't be on order for himself.
"Not even close."
Edward hummed to himself, drifting down more in order to sit on the grass as he considered the chest and its contents again.
"Where I want to take you, there is no train." Roy explained as he began to walk around the ghost. "And although I could have taken the easy way out and borrowed a car from Headquarters, I knew you'd appreciate this more."
Edward jerked himself away from his perusing of the chest in order to look after the man in mild confusion and interest, before he slowly began to smile wide as he saw what Roy was now rolling from the shadows of the tool shed. "Seriously?" He demanded in excitement, shooting to his feet.
"Yes." Roy agreed with an answering smile, before adding as an afterthought. "In a manner. You'll soon see. No way am I letting you drive yet."
Edward could only maintain a pout for a few seconds before excitement took over again. "You're really taking me out on it? I thought it'd be years before you would!" He exclaimed, fairly bouncing over to it as Roy kept wheeling it out further into the yard.
"After a few additions, I do believe it will be safe to take you out on." Roy agreed, unable to help feeling so pleased at Edward's joy. "A few stops will be in order, just to make sure the composition of the bike isn't compromised, but –"
"This isn't a bike," Edward interrupted with a hint of awe to his voice, "I ride a bike. This is a motorcycle."
Roy chuckled and rested the motorcycle down onto its kickstand which he messed with briefly until the motorcycle sat level. "So it is. Now give me a few minutes to set this all up and we'll be on our way. And temporarily safe from my crazy lieutenant."
Edward ignored the comment about Riza in favor of avidly watching Roy begin to empty out that chest of its contents and lay them in what seemed to be a certain order on the grass near the motorcycle. He wasn't entirely sure if there was an order to this or not, he had no clue what Roy was attempting to do, mostly because he truly hadn't much of a clue about motorcycles. At least Roy appeared to know what he was doing, and without so much as a pause to look everything over, Roy activated the circle he'd initially sketched out on the grass.
Edward cursed the brilliant flash of resulting light and showers of sparks that obscured his view from what was happening. He could only vaguely see the dark shifting of the materials within the alchemy light as the transmutation wrestled its way into existence.
And then the light was abruptly gone, leaving in its place a sleek black one-wheeled contraption that looked rather like a shortened torpedo that had lost track of part of its hull exposing a rather crude but comfortable looking inner seat.
Edward was just about to open his mouth, still a bit puzzled, when the entire thing began to tip over.
Roy started forward immediately to catch it on a sturdy bar protruding from the opposite side, his mouth still quirked in a bit of successful pride. "Not bad for the first try."
"What is that?" Edward asked as he hovered his way nearer to the thing to watch as Roy drug it bodily closer up to the bike and began to fiddle with the thick, short, bracketed steel bar and the motorcycle itself.
"A sidecar." Roy explained with only a bit of distraction as he considered the options, and then dug into the pocket of his jacket to pull out one of his gloves. "Here, hold it a moment, will you?"
Edward landed on the grass and took hold of this sidecar contraption as he watched Roy pull on his glove. "What is it for?"
Roy smiled, chuckling a bit as he glanced up at Edward through the hair that had fallen further forward over his face. "For you, my clever ghost." And taking possession of the sidecar again he brought the steel support bar and its brackets back into place once more, then snapped.
Edward retreated around behind Roy in order to get a clear view, and when the flames cleared the brackets of the support bar had been fused to a part of the motorcycle that he could swear hadn't been there before. "For me…" he murmured, and as Roy stood up he didn't move away to give the man room.
Instead he peered around Roy's side as the man turned towards him, considering the sight in front of him. And then he began to grin, and he looked up quickly into Roy's waiting gaze.
"Figured it out?" Roy smiled and reached his gloved hand up as if to ruffle Edward's hair, before his smile softened and he merely slipped his hand down the intangible length before retreating to pull off the transmutation glove. "I dare not let you ride in front or behind me directly on it. I'm not sure how long the motorcycle would remain solid if I did. But this, this should work nicely."
Edward was fairly sure he was about to do something highly undignified in his excitement, and he began to bounce from one foot to the other eagerly and in an effort to mostly control himself. "You had best hope," he grinned, "because if you fall through, I can't promise I'll come back right away to rescue you from the ground."
Roy chuckled lightly, although there was a wary edge to it. He almost believed that. "That's why I wear leather. Just in case I get ejected."
Edward felt the flustered feelings return in a rush, and he wondered how many times now it was he had been grateful he couldn't blush as he hastily backed a step away from Roy. "Oh is that why." He said in what barely missed being a squeak as he waved his hands uncertainly before pointing down to the thick leather belt. "And is that to help stop the blood loss?" He asked before he could stop himself, before he realized just where he was pointing, and he quickly yanked his hand to his side where he felt it hang awkwardly as he shook his head in aggravation.
Roy might have laughed, had he not had himself in such good control. As it was, he grinned at Edward's clear embarrassed distress. Ducking his head a little, his grin morphed into a soft smile when Edward stubbornly refused to look at him and stood rock still staring over at the fence. "Yes… if I were losing a lot of blood, you'd need to take off my belt and tighten it around the area. Would you like to give it a try so you know how?"
Edward suddenly snapped out of his rigor and shot a glare at the smiling bastard. "I'll tighten it around your neck."
"Sorry." Roy grinned, not feeling at all apologetic. "Edward…" he began, his face softening as he bore the brunt of the glare he was still being pinned with. "I'm glad."
Confusion rattled him from his brooding, and Edward raised an eyebrow at the man. "Of?"
"That you're so affected by me sometimes. That I can make you feel this way." Roy explained gently, his smile becoming lopsided. "That even though I know you want to hit me sometimes… you just want to be able to touch me too."
Edward startled at the words, and finding himself becoming oddly quiescent, he looked up into Roy's eyes again. "I used to believe I was well adjusted, until I met you." Frowning slightly he cast his gaze aside a moment, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth before looking back at Roy curiously. "Why does it say "FA" on the buckle? Is that for "Fat Ass"?"
"Looked that closely, did you?" Roy couldn't help but tease.
"Roy!"
Roy raised his hands in surrender and with a grin. "I'd ask you again, what I am, but I dread your answer sometimes. It stands for Flame Alchemist, my clever ghost."
Edward shook his head mildly. Leave it to Roy Mustang to embellish a belt buckle with his State Alchemist pride.
"Now then, unless you'd like to finally admit to me how attractive you find my fat ass, we'd best get going. Else our chances of getting out of here without running into Riza 'The Terrible' doubles." Roy announced with a bit of a smirk, and turned to make his way over to his motorcycle while digging in one of the pockets of his leather jacket for the keys.
Edward stayed stationary where he was, considering the man closely and with a strange lightness in his un-beating heart as he watched Roy strap the suitcase onto the rear panel of the motorcycle which covered the rear tire, and then move to mount the motorcycle with a casual straddle. His thoughts were oddly quiet for the moment, as he met Roy's questioning gaze. Then, he smiled, and started forward with a near-silent, "it's not that fat," before bounding his way through the rest of the air to situate himself in his own private sidecar with a growing grin.
"Ready?" Roy asked as he fit the key into the ignition and pulled from one of the handles his helmet.
Edward looked up at him with a beaming smile, setting aside everything else for the moment in the excitement of finally going out on the motorcycle, in a fashion. "Yes!"
Roy chuckled and set the helmet over his head, strapping it on before digging black leather gloves stitched with his alchemy circles on their backs out of his pocket. "Then hold on tightly." Strapping on the riding gloves, he turned the key in the ignition.
Edward was only momentarily startled at the roar of the engine as it came to life with a fierce energy. He could feel his sidecar vibrating around him from the intensity of it, and immediately his grin split his face. It was loud, too loud to be able to talk to Roy, but he was beginning to believe that wouldn't matter.
Roy glanced over at Edward once and laughed to himself. It seemed that this trip was a good idea indeed. They hadn't even begun moving and already Edward was beaming. So nudging his kickstand up out of the way he began to straddle-walk the motorcycle over to the back gate which he leaned forward to flip up the lock and shove open.
Not long later he was closing it behind them, and with one last look to Edward before they got started, he brought his feet up and shifted the motorcycle into gear.
Edward screamed in delighted laughter, clutching onto the sidecar for all he was worth.
Roy was laughing to himself as they roared out of the alleyway and out onto the side road. Glancing down at Edward again, he checked ahead of them for both traffic and where he'd need to turn before really engaging the engine.
It had been far too long since he'd been on this thing, and now he had an excuse to ride it more often if it meant he could take Edward with him each time. So relaxing into the rumble of the motorcycle, Roy focused on where he was going, and Edward's shrieking laughter.
They made it out of Central without incident. And if Roy remembered as they reached the outskirts that he'd forgotten to call Riza, he wasn't too concerned. They'd be stopping to get some food shortly in one of the smaller outskirt towns. He could make a phone call there, and now that he thought about it, it was probably safer to do so from a location farther away than his own house.
It was several hundred kilometers before Edward stopped his shrieking laughter, but by then Roy had also settled on a speed and a less turn-riddled driving pattern. Now the ghost merely set in his sidecar grinning around at the scenery as it sped by in rapid flashes of color. In a way, it was as relaxing as it was fun, and for the moment, he forgot about wondering where Roy was taking him.
Some hours later though they did pull in at a roadside diner in what seemed to be the middle of a barren road located Gate-only-knew where. It was there that Roy left Edward briefly to order some food before coming back out to the pay phone on the wall outside.
Here Edward came up to him to lean against the wall as Roy dialed. "I hope you didn't shock any poor old ladies in there needlessly."
"Not with anything they weren't happy to see." Roy countered, shooting the ghost a smirk. It seemed that Edward had recovered just a bit.
Edward looked away with a smile he was only marginally successful at suppressing, a pensive look in his eyes. "Roy, I –"
"Hey there, Riza!" Roy suddenly spoke, and tilted a questioning and slightly apologetic look at Edward.
"What do you mean, "hey there, Riza"? Where the hell are you?"
Roy glanced around with pursed lips. "Actually? I've not a clue. Somewhere between there and where I'm headed."
"And just where do you think you're headed, Roy Mustang?"
"Nowhere that you'd be able to find." Roy informed her cheerfully enough. "But don't you worry, I'll be back from this little State Alchemist field trip by Monday. You won't even know I'm gone!"
"I'm noticing your lack of presence now!"
"Well, then I suppose you will notice I'm gone." Roy grinned.
Edward rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he lifted away from the wall. "Idiot."
"I noticed that an hour ago!"
Roy smiled at Edward's side profile, "you know you love me."
"I most certainly do not!"
Edward looked back at Roy, and despite how Roy tried, he couldn't discern the look in Edward's eyes. "I need to go now, Riza. You all know what to do while I'm gone." And before she could finish telling him not to hang up the phone, he did.
"Where are we headed, Roy?" Edward asked at last.
Roy pulled out his pocket watch and flipped it open to glance at the time before shoving it back into a coat pocket. "You'll see by tomorrow morning. I'm not sure you'd be able to recognize it when we get there tonight." And he glanced back towards the doors of the diner to see whether or not his food had been left at the counter yet before turning back to Edward. "What is it you were saying, before she picked up?"
Edward blinked, and then smiled faintly, shaking his head as he reflected back onto it. "It's nothing. It can wait."
Roy frowned, wanting to pursue it, when he caught sight of one of the diner waitresses waving for him through the glass. So ducking away to grab his food, he rejoined Edward by the motorcycle so he could eat and still be able to talk to the apparition.
"Will Riza try and find us?" Edward asked as he settled onto the motorcycle seat next to Roy who had scooted over to make room for him.
"Naturally. But she won't be able to find us." Roy shrugged and ate another greasy potato wedge. "Where we're going, no one goes. Not anymore. And she'd have no reason to believe I'd go there. Once we leave the main road, no one will be able to tell anyone sent looking for me where I went. We're about to disappear."
Edward smiled a bit at that, "you can try. I'm the only one who can truly vanish."
"Not from me you can't." Roy pointed out, waggling another potato wedge at the ghost.
"So I've led you to think." Edward smiled craftily, but laughed at the suddenly worried expression on Roy's face. "I'm only kidding. It's not like I've tried to disappear from you, and I've never had to worry about it before being invisible to everyone else."
"Somehow I doubt that even if they could see you, it would deter you from terrorizing the population at large." Roy sighed.
"Hardly." Edward snorted. "And if your theories are correct, and we would have eventually found each other regardless, you'd still be worrying over me and looking out for me."
"If you were still an alchemist, my fearsome ghost," Roy began thoughtfully, "Grand would have even more reason to fear you."
"I don't want him to fear me," Edward scowled, his fingers clenching against the seat of the motorcycle. "I want him to pay for what he's tried to do to you. No one tries to kill you and gets away with it."
"He'll be dealt with in time." Roy soothed and started in on his burger. "And you and I will have some peace for a while."
"I was at peace until you sauntered in and messed it up." Edward felt the need to point out teasingly.
"Ah, yes," Roy smiled smugly, "but it has been worth it, hasn't it."
When at last Roy had finished his lunch in between bites of his burger and chatting with Edward, they finally started back out on the road again. Heading ever eastward.
Edward wasn't sure what could be in the east that he needed to see, but he trusted Roy. And to be honest, he was enjoying just going on the trip itself. He recalled that they'd intended to stay in Central this weekend, but so far, he wasn't regretting breaking those plans. They could spend a weekend at home together another time. So he leaned back in his seat in the sidecar, imagining he could feel the wind and enjoying the sights around him as they sped ever further away from civilization.
It was at last beginning to grow dark out, and it was several random-seeming road changes in the middle of nowhere, before Roy began to slow the motorcycle as he headed out onto a dirt road connected to the smaller paved one they'd been on for the past several kilometers or so.
Edward clutched momentarily to the sides of his sidecar until he got accustomed to the jostling vibrations that were trying to eject him from his seat. It seemed as if they were finally getting closer to where Roy wanted to go.
Looking up at the man, Edward scooted down in his seat in order to rest back and still have a fair peripheral of him. Roy was entirely focused on the road right now, and the landmarks around it. So his gaze went unnoticed.
Roy had been acting so strange today. First the incident this morning, where Roy had admitted he was hiding something from him. Then Roy had wanted so intensely to go somewhere with him, that the man hadn't even asked what he'd done to Grand. And then there was Roy dressed in what Edward could only assume must be normal motorcycle wear… but it hadn't been Roy who was acting strangely in that moment.
No. Roy had been his usual, if overconfident self with an expected few flirtations thrown in.
No… instead Edward couldn't understand why he'd acted so strangely. Why seeing Roy like that had affected him so. It wasn't like he'd never noticed the man's body, he'd seen him in nothing but boxer briefs before. And while he'd never given that a second thought, now suddenly thinking about it… he forced his gaze away from Roy's leather-clad thigh as he fought down another rush of this strange anxiety.
This… this wasn't the only thing though. It was only the most recent.
Even at the end of their outing to the theater, even at the beginning of it, Roy had made him feel things he couldn't understand. For all of being eighteen, in a lot of ways he knew he wasn't. He didn't feel like a kid… he doubted that Roy could make a kid feel as if his long-dead heart might still be able to beat one last beat with one single, penetrating gaze. But he knew there were feelings Roy was introducing to him, he just wished that the man had a less aggravating way of going about it.
Sighing he shifted around properly again and looked out towards where the moon was beginning to become visible. It had been a strange day, for all it was a Thursday.
The sun had been set for several hours, and they had gone up and down quite a few rises that Edward was certain were not road-safe, when Roy began to slow the motorcycle from its bouncing course. Not long later, Roy was pulling the motorcycle within the cover of what appeared to be an outcropping of a rather steep hill.
The engine idled for a few moments before Roy cut it and removed his helmet which he plopped down over Edward's head instead as he sat back with a groan and a stretch, followed by a relieved sigh.
Edward flipped up the visor of the helmet and tilted his head back to look up at Roy. "Is this what I needed to see? A hill in the middle of the night?"
"Yes, if it makes you feel better." Roy grinned and then stretched again with a yawn. "Took a lot less time than the first time I did this. Though, granted I was in a slow-ass caravan and not on my own that time."
"Where exactly are we?" Edward asked then, floating up out of the sidecar and depositing the helmet on his seat.
Roy stretched his legs down after flipping down the kickstand, straddling the motorcycle with a slight swaying side-to-side as he began to take off his gloves and rub some feeling back into his jostle-numbed hands. It didn't help that it was a fraction chilly out. "Not in Amestris anymore. I just sped through half the country in less than a day. I'm beat. Although it was nice to have an excuse to go that fast."
"I pity you." Edward deadpanned and looked around, though he could not see much despite his own soft glow illuminating parts of what looked to be merely a sand-swept area. "But there's nothing to the east of Amestris. Nothing habitable at least."
"That's what you think, Elric." Roy grinned and swung off the motorcycle where he staggered only a moment to find his balance again. "There's Amestris. Then there's Ishbal. Then there's Xing. But we're in none of those right now. We're in the middle of the little strip of land nobody wants. Except maybe Drachma, and Amestrians will be damned if they will have Drachmans on two sides of them."
"I know all that!" Edward glared at him, ignoring Roy's smirk. "What I don't understand is why you brought me to the in between."
Roy shoved the motorcycle keys in a coat pocket and offered his hand out to Edward. "I'll show you. Although you won't be able to see it properly until the morning. We're just lucky that it's here, and not in Ishbal. I may have had trouble getting us in and out of there without being noticed. The Ishballans have a tendency to pop out of the ground."
Edward gave him a disbelieving look. "How drunk were you during Ishbal?"
"Not drunk enough." Roy sighed, before grimacing a bit. "Sorry."
Edward shook his head and slipped his hand into Roy's easily. Not being able to touch the man hadn't stopped him from unconsciously learning where Roy was. "Let's go then, my fearless leader."
"I'd hardly say that of me." Roy muttered but started forward anyway.
It took a moment to navigate the rocky incline to where the ground leveled once again, but Roy made it without incident. The glow emanating from both Edward and the night sky was just enough illumination to work by. And once on top he immediately spotted the dark form arching towards the sky and began to walk towards it.
"This is what I want you to see, tomorrow morning." Roy said as they reached it, and he lay a hand against the smooth, cool surface with a faraway look. "You might find it interesting to know that out of everything that survived, this was part of it."
"I don't understand." Edward frowned, and he drew nearer to what he now knew to be a structure. Manmade it appeared. And pressing his own hand against it, he could see by the light he gave off that it was merely stone. Nothing fancy about it in the least.
"You'll begin to in the morning. You need proper light to see the entire thing by." Roy looked around a moment and then back towards where they'd left the motorcycle. "We should go back and set up camp for the night. I for one need to have some dinner."
Edward took his hand away, looking around as well before looking back to Roy with a nod. "I'll keep watch tonight. If we're in a no-man's land, I'm guessing there are no laws, and perhaps some individuals who like it that way."
"Not anywhere near here. This place… it freaks most people out. I hate to sound like a tape on repeat, but you'll understand in the morning. Perhaps more than I do." Roy began to lead the way back down towards the motorcycle as he glanced around them, "it's not exactly sacred ground. But plenty of weird things have happened in this area. Not many know about this place, but not many would come here either."
"So why is it that you do?" Edward frowned, suddenly looking around in suspicion. "What sort of weird things have happened here?"
"Nothing harmful, but plenty of people are superstitious." Roy shrugged, "as to why I don't mind coming here again… I've never had a problem with this place. And I'm with you. As I said, I don't need a miracle when I have you with me."
"That's awfully high-handed of you." Edward scowled, though it didn't last long as he smiled.
"Hush and help me find some firewood." Roy chided him with a grin, and as soon as they made it back down to the motorcycle, they searched for wood with will-o-wisps of flames snapping to life to light their way and Edward's own glow to aid the search.
Between them both they were able to find enough random pieces of driftwood from the scraggly trees that managed to survive out here. So Roy lit a fire away from the outcropping that they had settled under on a blanket that Roy had brought.
Edward was curled up in Roy's leather jacket, although he didn't need it, leaning against the solid dirt wall behind them as he watched Roy roast skewers of an unfortunate snake that had slithered across Edward's path earlier during their firewood search. His eyes half closed in relaxation he was watching the strong lines of Roy's back through the white shirt as he listened to the crackling of the fire.
"I could almost fall asleep, I think." Edward murmured at last.
Roy looked over his shoulder, and he felt something inside him soften at the sight of Edward curled up so peacefully in his leather jacket. Turning back to his roasting meal only long enough to finish cooking it he rested the skewers on a paper plate and went over to join the spirit against the wall. Settling down next to Edward he sighed in contentment and felt his body lean in towards the ghost. "You don't do that very often anymore."
Edward laughed quietly, his gaze having fallen to rest on Roy's hands, bare of gloves. "No… do you need your jacket back yet? Are you cold?"
Roy gave a grunt of a noise, and finished chewing his mouthful before answering. "The fire is warm enough right now. Besides –"
"I look good in it, right?" Edward smiled to himself, remembering the last night he'd been curled up in something of Roy's.
"You've no idea…" Roy agreed quietly, and it was silent for a time as Roy finished eating his dinner. Only once he'd flung the paper plate into the fire where it blazed in a moment of incinerating glory, did he speak again.
Or rather, he tried to.
"Why don't you let anyone else get this close to you, Roy? You never had to let me stay." Edward asked quietly.
"I never had to do a lot of things." Roy answered back as he looked down at Edward's silver-haired head. "I almost hope you don't remember, and I assure you that I was only doing manly crying because someone was chopping a shit ton of onions somewhere… but the one afternoon, in Risembool… I thought you had decided not to stay with me."
Edward smiled softly, his eyes dancing in humor. "I don't remember any crying."
"Good." Roy approved firmly. "And I don't let anyone else get this close to me because they're not you. Besides, I don't think anyone else could implant themselves into my life with such ease, and anyone who can do that with me, isn't someone I want to let go of."
"Because you're filled with faults and I still stay?" Edward half-joked, looking up at Roy with eyes shining in amusement.
"Because you broke through all my barriers, and I didn't even notice until they were long gone." Roy corrected as he looked away, back towards the fire. "And I don't even care. When I realized how much I… I was relieved. And all I could think about was going back home to you and hoping that you might find it in yourself one last time to forgive me for being an idiot."
"You're my idiot," Edward murmured happily as he closed his eyes with a smile, "I'll forgive you."
Roy turned back to look at him with a soft smile, and reaching up he ran his fingers against the glow of the top of Edward's hair. "You sure you might just go to sleep and not try and hijack my motorcycle tonight?"
Edward chuckled and tilted his head to smile up at Roy in a calm, but a little bit coy manner. "Depends, are the keys in this jacket still?"
"I'm afraid I took them out before I gave that to you." Roy informed him.
"Pity." Edward hummed, and burrowed his face deeper into the collar of the jacket. "I'll try and be good."
Roy rolled his eyes, but smiled gently down on a very relaxed Edward. "Then goodnight, my ghost." He whispered over Edward's head before getting up again. He had a campfire to douse and his bed to make ready so he could get some sleep. He knew that Edward would most likely be beating him awake at sunrise, he needed to sleep while he could.