Chapter Fifty-Five
Edward had followed Roy up to the first floor of the convent as a gunshot rang out behind them, down below in the basement. He set his feet to the floor, giving up hovering in order to walk over to where Roy was leaning against the wall of the hallway breathing a bit heavily. "Are you okay?"
Roy quirked a small smile at the ghost and let his head flop back against the wall as he continued to drag air into his lungs. "Stairs." He explained, not for the first time today. "Going up them is a bitch right now."
"You want me to make up the couch at home?" Edward questioned as he came to settle in next to Roy against the wall.
"I think I can make it one more flight, given I'll have the drive back to shore up some strength again." Roy reassured him and let his eyes fall closed as he tried to relegate his breathing towards something more normal again.
Edward grunted in displeasure at Roy's condition, casting a frown up at him. "I always thought you were in better physical condition than this. Are your injuries really this bad?"
"It's a mix between the painkillers sapping my energy and the past blood loss. But another half day of bed rest and a night of sleep and I should be doing better. Especially if I lay off the painkillers." Roy explained wearily and his lips twitched into a wry smirk. "You'd not be doubting my usual physical condition if you'd bothered to look at anything aside from my stitches."
Edward snickered at the remembrance and his eyes danced with mirth as he looked back towards the basement door. "Oh believe me, Roy, I saw plenty. Cold water or not."
Roy grudgingly had accepted that there was no way he was ever escaping that. "You're the best thing ever to happen to my ego."
"Your ego is beyond help, Roy Mustang." Edward informed him amusedly before glancing back up at him. "What are they still doing down there?"
"Clean up." Roy explained through still-closed eyes. "There's an incinerator in the basement. I'd have offered to help them but neither would have allowed it given my stitches, and I dare not think what you'd have said."
"Why not just burn the remains yourself?" Edward frowned, "aren't you supposed to be the Flame Alchemist?"
"Because humans burning is a far from pleasant aroma, and at least with the incinerator they can shut the door on the smell. I've learned to deal with it, for obvious reasons, but there's no reason for them to suffer the stench."
"I never really thought about that…" Edward trailed off, frown still in place. "Though I suppose humans being lit on fire wasn't a common thing for me when I was a kid."
Roy snorted at the mention, "I should hope not. I'm actually a bit annoyed your childhood was anything but happiness and ponies."
"Well next time my father shows up, you can say as much to him." Edward offered out as a consolation, knowing it would only be a matter of time before his father made a reappearance, however brief.
"Edward, the next time your father shows his face to me, I'm punching it." Roy informed him quite pleasantly. "Just on principle."
Edward gave a quick chuckle and shook his head, but said nothing against the plan. It wasn't a thought he particularly minded, and if his father was half as intelligent as he believed the man was, his father really should expect it to happen.
They waited upstairs alone for nearly ten minutes before the sound of footsteps on the stairs began, and one by one Maes and Riza filed back out into the hallway looking reasonably pleased with their work.
"Mopped the floor good too." Maes offered out as he and Riza walked over to where their colonel and friend was resting. "Apparently Riza fitted some interesting rounds, quite the blood spray on that one."
Riza shrugged at the questioning look that Roy gave her. "They explode on impact. You're hardly telling any of us anything, and I don't like it, so one day I started tinkering with the shell casings. Figured it couldn't hurt."
"I am beginning to like her." Edward informed Roy after a moment of shocked silence. "I've been a bit impartial to her in the past, but I'm genuinely beginning to like her right now."
Roy knew it was mostly his fault that Edward didn't really know or care about the others of his team outside of Maes, but it was becoming clear to him that those times were quickly changing. Whether he had wanted them to or not. Either way, however, he was glad that Edward was beginning to like Riza more, she was invaluable to him and one of his oldest friends.
"So," Maes brought up as he nudged his glasses further up his nose, "back to your place, oh fearless leader?"
"Yes, but not right away." Roy denied and turned his gaze onto Edward who looked about two seconds away from berating him in confusion. "There's something in the second library branch I need, and I need you to get it out for me. It's not something that is technically supposed to be removed."
"You want me to steal a book for you?" Edward queried with a frown, although oddly enough his morals weren't balking at thieving books for Roy.
"I need you to steal a blueprint for me." Roy corrected, hearing but ignoring the sounds of dawning realization from Maes and Riza. "The second branch contains all the items not deemed valuable enough to be put in the first branch. City blueprints being one of those items. I need the blueprint for Laboratory Five."
Edward didn't even feel any hesitation, instead he grinned conspiratorially. "Get me in there and I'll not only get you your blueprint, but I'll make sure that no one even notices that it's missing."
Roy grinned back and though his gaze never left Edward's face, he called over to the others. "Second branch then, if you please. Edward and I have a bit of robbing to do in the name of progress."
The foursome left the convent summarily after that announcement and loaded back into the car save for Maes who went to go man the gates so the vehicle could exit before locking the property back up and retaking his seat in the sedan.
From there Riza took a circuitous route to the second branch of the libraries belonging to the government, and for the better half of those library branches, belonging only to State Alchemists. It was not a path borne of a necessity to try and shake off anyone tailing them, for there wasn't any pursuit of their vehicle, but Roy had instructed it. Something about letting Edward see more of the area that he hadn't already yet seen, leading her to believe that there was still much about Edward's existence that she hadn't been told.
She was planning on getting answers to these questions, but not now. Without a doubt she'd have plenty of time to get to know the ghost who haunted Roy's life when Roy came back to work.
When the car finally turned into the nearest spot free along the busy street the only shuffles of movement were from Roy and Edward.
"We should only be gone a few minutes." Roy glanced aside at Riza as he reached for the door handle. "If anything goes wrong though, you'll know."
Riza glanced past him towards where the armed security officials ensured only State Alchemists entered the building, a derisive smirk flitting briefly on her lips. "Two men lounging about not even at parade rest," and her gaze dipped lower, "with inferior pistols. Don't worry, Roy, if shit goes south, men like that will hardly give me any pause in getting to you."
Maes gave a well-intentioned and teasingly put-upon groan and said, "must you women always judge a man by the quality of his pistol?"
"Are you telling me you wouldn't judge another man by the quality of his knife?" Riza countered back smoothly, but with an eyebrow cocked in teasing interest as she looked back at Maes through the rearview mirror.
"I'll just leave you two to it then, shall I?" Roy bantered lightly and shot a look back at Edward who looked equal parts highly entertained and disbelieving that this conversation was happening at all. "Edward? Ready?"
"Let's." Edward gave a nervous laugh and darted up through the roof of the vehicle and into open air to float down to meet Roy as he exited onto the sidewalk and shut the door on the other two.
"All right, my perfect little thief, let's go steal my future." Roy announced cheerfully under his breath and started towards the library.
Edward shot him a glare for the descriptive commentary on his size, but nevertheless followed after. Only once doing so did he notice the short flight of stairs they were approaching. "Roy, more stairs."
Roy knew, had known, but internally he still groaned in despair. But there was nothing for it, and if war had taught him anything, it was how to conceal the fact that you were injured when the occasion called for it. And until both the Brigadier General and the Fuhrer were dead and out of his way, the occasion called for it.
It took him a monumental effort to glide up the stairs as if they didn't exist, and he was well aware of Edward's intense and worried gaze on him as he did so.
The two men guarding the library spared him a second glance, likely only for the surprise of seeing the Flame Alchemist about sans uniform. But then, they weren't high ranking or highly paid enough to question him about it and merely gave twin salutes that he was sure even Riza would have to admit were expertly executed.
"Are you okay?" Edward whispered as they entered the library, even though logically he knew only Roy could hear him.
Roy glanced over at the apparition with a quick, reassuringly fond smile, before steering their path into the inner recesses of the aged building.
It was much like the first branch that they'd already visited. Bookcases everywhere that were neatly arranged with varying works, some with varying amounts of dust. At intervals there were tables, some of which were occupied by State Alchemists deep in their work – Edward noted that Roy steered clear of going anywhere near any of the others, and had to wonder how much of that was to keep his presence here relatively unnoticed, and how much was Roy purely not wanting to associate with them.
He had noticed that for as many State Alchemists as he knew there were, Roy mentioned few and was friendly with only one – Armstrong.
"Do you not like them?" Edward asked as he dutifully followed after Roy, suddenly unable to help himself from knowing, and when he received a confused look in response, he elaborated, "the other State Alchemists?"
Roy's face twisted into a wry smile and he shook his head, which was the truth, but it hardly explained it. Not hesitating in leading them to where the city records were kept, he glanced around quickly before his visual check and the war instincts he was currently employing to keep him from limping around like an invalid assured him that there weren't any others in the immediate area. Still he kept his voice lowered to a perfect library whisper, "I'm not exactly the most trusting person, especially right now. Aside from that, State Alchemists are a strange bunch, we oddly prefer to be solitary from one another, you'll rarely find us working together."
"So the camaraderie between you and Armstrong is rare?" Edward put together.
"Exceedingly." Roy agreed before falling silent again and turning down another aisle.
It took three more turns before they reached an area filled with sturdy black filing cabinets instead of bookcases. There, Roy took another quick glance about before easing one of the drawers open, the track only giving a slight squeal of protest.
Edward let Roy rummage through the contents of the drawer, instead his focus was on the surrounding area with a calculating expression. He took in the position of the filing cabinets to the position of the nearest bookcases, and the position of where he could recall seeing the next nearest State Alchemist. "Roy, is there a back way out of here?" He asked with deceptive lightness in his tone.
Roy, however, wasn't fooled, and he looked up at Edward sharply as he pulled free the folder he had been looking for. "Yes?"
"Good." Edward determined and looked over at the folder in Roy's hands. "Is that the one you need?"
Roy quickly flipped it open and glanced through it, barely needing ten seconds to tell, and shut it again. "Just need one more." He determined and sidestepped over to another filing cabinet and began rummaging once again.
"For where?" Edward asked as he peered over Roy's shoulder, practically merging into the man's body he was so close.
Despite the situation of his not wanting to be discovered over here messing around with the city blueprints, Roy couldn't help but smile and take a moment to enjoy the sight of Edward's silvery hair hanging just over his shoulder as the ghost tried to get a better view, and the sheer closeness between them. "The prison." He explained in a quiet hush as he sharply put his focus back on his search. "If they're swiping prisoners for fuel I need to find where the buildings are likely connected to allow it. The easiest way to gain that passage. I need to disable it so that any escape attempts can't be made and I'm left there alone having broken into a place I guarantee you I don't have clearance for."
"Are you going to leave anything for me to think about?" Edward tried to grumble the words, but he feared that the praise won out in the end, especially if the slight, pleased smile that twitched Roy's lips was anything to go by.
"Only how grateful you are that I'm trying to think of everything possible to ensure I stay alive." Roy offered out in a humored but still hushed library whisper, before he pulled free the folder he was searching for, gave it a cursory examination, and snapped it shut to stuff it into the first file folder.
Edward hummed thoughtfully, not entirely sure if Roy was being wholly honest, or just trying to ease his mind. Circling around to come to rest against this latest file cabinet, he leaned back against the open drawer to shut it then rested against the cabinet itself as he cocked his head slightly in consideration of Roy. "I'm sure some other pressing detail will come to me, it always does where you're concerned. I'm still amazed you managed to stay alive long enough for us to meet."
Roy looked up from his new acquisition and met Edward's teasing gaze, and slowly, watchful of Edward's reaction, he stepped forward to brace one hand on the filing cabinet behind Edward and in the process, closed the distance between them to next to nothing. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere until you admit that you're in love with me. And then there'll still be no getting rid of me."
Edward bowed his head with a slight huff of laughter, but he didn't move away, instead he lifted his gaze once more, the humor sparkling in his eyes masking the shaky anticipation he felt most keenly. "You speak as if I currently do."
Roy chuckled quietly, they were still in a library after all, and he lifted his hand from the filing cabinet to tangle his fingers in the silvery light of Edward's hair, his eyes never leaving the silver ones that watched him with an amusement and fondness that only ever served to give him hope. "And I'll be here when you realize it."
Edward had reached his hand forward, unseen by Roy, and in an instant had swiped the file folders out of Roy's hand and with a sudden smirk brought it around to whack him on the side of the head. "Try to seduce me when I'm not about to steal your future for you."
Roy laughed as quietly as he dared in the near silence of the library, but backed away obediently. "Oh, Edward," he grinned as he stepped aside, towards the back exit of the library which was an unsettling distance along another wall, "you've already stolen my future."
Edward tried to keep from smiling at the ridiculous statement that left him feeling rather pleased anyway, and instead of following Roy, he shook his head and floated up to investigate the bookcases a bit closer, grabbing the top of one and giving it an experimental tug.
Roy paused his backwards walking as he looked up at where Edward had gone, asking as loudly as he dared, "what are you doing?"
"Eventually the Fuhrer is going to realize you were here, you know he will. He'll want to know what you were looking for, so I may as well make it difficult for him and keep him wondering, scared, about what you took." Edward told him with an almost indifferent sounding decisiveness. "Get out the back way. I'll meet you at the car in about five minutes, and whatever you hear," he looked down at Roy sternly, "don't try and linger. I'm about to go a bit poltergeist on this place, and I don't need you getting hurt."
"You, desecrating a library?" Roy offered out with more amusement than he was sure the situation called for, in truth he should probably be talking Edward out of whatever destruction he was about to commit, but he couldn't seem to convince himself to try. Not after the talk they'd had when he'd regained consciousness.
"I'm just reorganizing it." Edward grinned at him cheerfully, before his expression sobered. "Get going, I'm going to play around a bit."
Roy hesitated a moment, but logically he knew nothing could happen to Edward, and this was hardly the first time they'd been apart even briefly, and turned to make his way towards the back exit.
"And Roy?" Edward called after him, a worried frown lining his brow as the man hesitated, loooking back. "You'll be careful?"
Roy turned again, giving Edward a long look before a smile slipped back onto his face and he nodded. Then he was hurrying away as quickly as his flagging strength – to say nothing of the stitches – would allow.
He was halfway down the service hallway that would lead him to the alleyway behind the library when the first echoing crash caused the floor underneath his feet to shake and the first of the screams began.
Edward was surveying the wreckage with the delighted interest of one who had made this rather his profession as of late. The filing cabinets that had held the blueprints he now carefully clutched under one arm were buried utterly in an avalanche of books, scrolls, and bookcases that had been pushed over in a gloriously messy chain reaction.
It seemed to be a usual go-to method for destruction in a library, so it seemed a good idea to stick to a classic method. After all, he didn't want to rouse any suspicions when the Fuhrer eventually heard of the commotion, because he knew better than to think the homunculus Fuhrer wouldn't hear about this in some fashion. His attacks on the Brigadier General inside Headquarters were common knowledge to the Fuhrer, and it settled easier on his mind that the Fuhrer might believe the culprit was still only operating inside Headquarters itself.
Likely part of the reason the Fuhrer had suddenly moved the Brigadier General mostly into that laboratory after the encounter with Maes. The Fuhrer would know the hide and seek game was up with Roy, but he was still an unknown player. Letting the Fuhrer know that he was causing destruction outside of Headquarters as well might cause the Fuhrer to decide to move the operation and the Brigadier General both in order to keep the man from coming under attack again. Then they'd not only be back to where they started, but this time even further behind.
Horrified, wordless wailing jerked him from his thoughts, and Edward looked over the edge of the nearby bookcase he'd floated up to perch on top of to see someone he could only assume was the librarian having an absolute kitten over the mess. Several others had run over as well, State Alchemists more than likely, and were gaping unhelpfully in wide-eyed surprise.
"Ah, good, you're all here." Edward murmured to himself and floated up again, taking care to maneuver the long way around so they wouldn't see the floating folders.
Reaching the next section of bookcases that really needed to be sideways, Edward gave a mighty shove. Now that he suspected that everyone had gone running for the initial disaster, he felt better about tipping bookcases elsewhere – some of those places ones still covered by the impenetrable whiteness of his world without Roy. He didn't want to hurt any of them, after all.
The next line of bookcases folded and caved over onto each other with another series of echoing crashes, heavy clouds of dust erupting from the chaos as fresh startled yells and screams rose into the air.
"I do love feeling like a proper ghost." Edward commented in a very self-satisfied voice, before noticing the crowd heading his way and with a noise borne of being caught off guard by their swiftness, darted away.
They couldn't see him, but he didn't want them to see the file folder he was carrying either. It would have been better if Roy had been able to take it, but they both knew it was better for him to be seen exiting empty-handed, should any of the guards see him exiting at all.
The next bookcase took a bit more effort to push over, being weighed down with heavier texts, but with dedication he managed to get it into a decent but subtle rocking motion, then pushed.
A fresh volley of startled yelling, now suffused heavily by fervent cursing, rang through the air.
Edward snickered delightedly, although a small portion of him did feel badly for the librarian.
Now as he looked around, he could see the two security guards he'd seen at the entrance clambering over piles of books and broken bookcases to find the culprit of the commotion. As he watched them they slipped several times when a book had been on top of a scroll, and sniggered each time they face-planted into a bookcase, or a table – but his favorite was admittedly when they fell straight into a pile of books, and the force of the fall caused the books to ricochet upwards and cascade back down around them in a bruising rain.
"Have fun!" Edward declared to them, and with one last cackling look around at the chaos he'd created, he shot up through the library roof.
Back in the car, Maes and Riza were watching the clouds of dust rolling out of the open library doors with a kind of fearful amazement – rather similar to what the gathering crowds of citizenry looked like.
Roy was the only one watching with a sort of pained amusement, because in truth he'd have really loved to stick around to watch Edward work.
The car abruptly jerked backwards and towards the left.
Riza pulled her sidearm and had it aimed into the back of the car in one swift and seamless twist of her body. Maes's knife had appeared back into his hand almost by magic.
Roy remained the only one unaffected. He was rather accustomed to Edward suddenly appearing, after all.
Edward immediately edged out of the sight of the gun, and with a smug smirk he passed the file folders up to Roy. "I learned some new curse words while I was in there."
"I'll bet you did." Roy snorted and set the folders on his thighs before turning to Riza who was staring wide-eyed at the backseat and slowly lowering her gun. "Edward's back," he relayed needlessly, "time to go."
"I could have shot him." Riza said slowly as she finished turning back around in her seat, slipping her sidearm back into the holster at her hip.
"You could have shot the car." Roy corrected as said car rumbled to life under them. "Edward wouldn't stay his version of solid for a bullet."
"You could have shot me!" Maes declared, his knife already away.
"She makes fancy bullets, I'm not sure I want to test it." Edward remarked wryly and settled back into his seat instead of almost being sat on Maes's lap.
"I wouldn't shoot you, Maes!" Riza rolled her eyes as she guided the sedan back into traffic. "I'm abstaining to let Gracia have the honor."
"Why you think she'd want to shoot me, I've no idea." Maes scoffed and folded his arms across his chest petulantly.
"Trust me," Riza muttered, "she's considered it."
Edward burst out laughing as Maes made a deeply offended noise, and settled back happily into his seat to watch and listen to the two of them bicker back and forth in a way that only convinced him that this was hardly the first time they'd had this argument.
Roy, for his part, groaned as he settled in for a long drive back home.
When the car pulled up against the curb in front of Roy's front-yard fence neither Riza nor Maes moved save to look over or up to Roy with a silent question in their eyes.
"Back to work as usual, I'll be in tomorrow morning." Roy told them as he unfastened his seat belt and glanced around the quiet neighborhood. "Get this car returned before they've much more time to wonder where it's gone."
"You sure you're okay to walk it?" Maes frowned as he cast a brief up-and-down look over his friend's torso. "Those weren't superficial wounds I stitched closed."
Roy waved a hand about dismissively then reached down for the door handle in order to let himself out. "I'll be fine. Maybe Edward will let me take the motorcycle. It's been a while since we've been out on it anyway."
"We will discuss that tomorrow." Edward told him sternly and with a narrow-eyed look.
"Yes, dear." Roy replied immediately and with a grin he was unable to help.
"Just call a taxi if it comes to it." Riza sighed and turned her focus to the rearview mirror, looking to where Edward supposedly was. "Take care of him for us, Edward."
"What does she think I've been trying to do all this time?" Edward commented with a long-suffering sigh and shook his head. "You're not an easy man to keep safe."
Roy wasn't sure if he was supposed to be proud or offended by that statement.
"Pleasure as always, Edward," Maes grinned towards the other side of the backseat. "If you see me around feel free to pop by and make yourself known."
"Undoubtedly. I'd like to try and get you to scream like a little girl in the middle of a hallway." Edward replied back with a wicked smirk not at all helped by Roy's sudden snicker.
"What is it?" Riza asked Roy curiously.
Quickly followed by, "what'd he say?"
Roy only shook his head, trying not to grin too much. "It's nothing." Yet he did sober as he eased the sedan door open and swinging his legs out he shifted so that he could catch the eyes of both his subordinates. "Neither of you are to tell the others about Edward. Is that quite clear?"
"Yes, sir." Riza immediately answered, the clear designation of Roy being her boss in this moment quite clear to her.
Maes gave a huff of a sigh before he relented and nodded in answer to Roy's sharp look, "fine. But I want front row seats when they do find out."
Roy gave a sharp nod of satisfaction and carefully got out of the sedan and straightened up, tucking the file folder bundle under one arm and stepped away as Maes got out to assume the front seat from him. But before Maes had done more than swing one leg inside, he reached out with his free hand to grasp his friend's arm, and as a curious look was turned on him said quietly, "If you happen to see Hohenheim, in all your sneaking about, do tell him I'd like a chat."
"What, so you can punch him again?" Maes queried teasingly, before instantly shifting back into seriousness and giving a short and rather slapdash salute. "Your wish is my command, Colonel."
Roy stepped away and Maes got into the car, the door closing after him. Slowly he walked around the back of the car, and carefully stepped up onto the sidewalk as Edward drifted in beside him to hover anxiously. "I'm fine."
"Keep telling yourself that, maybe next week I'll believe you." Edward retorted softly and went to open the fence gate as Roy gingerly made his way along. To an outsider, Roy would have seemed fine, but he knew better, had lived with the man long enough to see that Roy was not himself.
Roy shot him a grateful look and continued up to the house as Edward shut the gate and he heard the sedan pull away from the curb. "I'm fine if you're here with me."
Edward snorted at the ridiculous comment, but it didn't stop him from feeling absurdly pleased. "I'm not sure flattery will help get you to bed, Roy."
"Hasn't hurt me before." Roy grinned wickedly, before wincing as he drug himself up the few short stairs to the front door.
Edward shot him a withering look and went to get the front door open. That man could be on the brink of death and he'd still think about sex. Once Roy had gotten inside and he'd shut and locked the front door behind the man, he immediately whirled as he heard a hollow thump.
Roy was leaning heavily against the wall of the hallway, his eyes half closed as he breathed out heavily. The file folders he'd been carrying slipped from his grasp, clattering to the floor and several pages fluttering out in disarray.
"Roy!" Edward was in front of him in an instant, panic rising rapidly in his throat as he tried to frantically think of what to do.
Roy smiled weakly and closed his eyes. "Easy, sorry." He groaned shallowly and gave himself a mental shake before prying his eyes open again to take in the sight of a highly anxious ghost who didn't look at all convinced by his words. So he tried again, "I just needed – it's helping to rest here a moment."
Fairly certain that Roy was delusional if he thought that explanation would soothe him any, Edward only felt the worry gripping him multiply. "Couch, now."
"I can make it to the bed." It had definitely not come out as pathetically as it sounded, Roy was certain.
"Tonight you can." Edward offered out as an olive branch, his gaze hardening. "Right now, though, you are marching yourself right over to our very lovely couch and sitting down."
Knowing that it was probably a smart idea, and not entirely wanting to embarrass himself trying to climb up the stairs via hands and the upward scooting of buttocks, Roy gave in to the compromise. Easing himself away from the wall he wavered for a moment in which Edward reached out to steady him despite not actually being able to touch him, and that moment right there remained the warmth and strength that got him over to the couch.
Edward had hovered, literally, the entire time Roy had been moving, and now that the man had flopped down onto the couch he settled himself on the coffee table in front of him. "Lie down."
Roy groaned, but it was more from the state of his body than any protest to the order. Carefully he arranged himself on his back, head propped up by one of the throw pillows. "I feel like a dog, the way you're ordering me around."
A smile crept onto Edward's lips, "if you were a dog I'd go rub your nose in that mess you made of the blueprints I stole for you."
Roy laughed quietly, softly, before falling quiet save for a deep breath as his eyes slipped closed. "I'll get them in the morning."
"Want me to get you anything now?" Edward asked as he continued to watch Roy, his anxiety having faded by now into something less prominent.
"Water, and maybe a blanket." Roy tilted his head towards the sound of Edward's voice, but didn't open his eyes. "Will you read to me again?"
A chuckle escaped Edward at the request, but he didn't answer. Instead he drifted from his perch to go collect the water and the blanket, and as an afterthought something else as well, before coming back down to Roy.
He was in the exact same position he'd been left in.
He set his collected items down before snatching the folded blanket back up and giving it a good snap to open it. Draping it over Roy he then turned for the water, "sit up a moment?"
Roy did so after a moment spent convincing his body on the idea, and opening his eyes he took the glass of water offered to him with a grateful smile before downing over half of it. After handing the glass back to Edward he laid back down again, obedient without being told. His eyes closed almost the instant his head hit the pillow.
Edward looked back to see Roy already relaxing again and smiled, it likely wouldn't be long before the man was asleep. So picking up the other item he'd snatched from upstairs, he only hoped it would stay solid for Roy long enough as he floated over to land on the arm of the couch just next to Roy's head. "Stay still, I'm not sure how long this will last." He whispered, and didn't give Roy any time to question his words as he began to carefully ease the wooden comb through Roy's hair.
If Roy hadn't been boneless before in relief to be lying down, he was melting now.
Edward smiled unseen at the near-whimper of noise that escaped Roy, and he leaned sideways and back against the couch to almost curl in around Roy as he lightly stroked the comb through the dark locks. "Glad I'm not the only one with a weakness for something like this," before amending softly, "well, I did."
Roy laid there in silent bliss for nearly a minute before he managed to actually speak instead of just trying to fight down garbled noises. "No one's done this for me since I was a kid."
"I'm having trouble believing that no one's played with your hair since then. What about all those one-night stands you had?" Edward asked quietly as he slid the comb around to what he could reach of the far side of Roy's hair.
"Tugged on it, yes." Roy corrected just before a luxuriating sigh slipped past his lips and he felt the dark edges of sleep creep further towards him. "I never stuck around long enough for more."
Edward's gaze was caught on following the path of the comb, watching the black hair sweep back as if it were hypnotizing him. "I'm glad you didn't." He found himself admitting. He'd quickly grown to not enjoy those times Roy had spent with others, and in this moment he couldn't find it in himself to feel guilty over his greed.
Roy knew that, knew it well. He'd started actively noticing, caring that something might be wrong that night Edward had helped him haul that ridiculous cake back home. And knowing what he now knew he felt for Edward, he could have kicked himself back then for continuing the one-night stands as long as he had. In the end, he'd only hurt Edward in trying to run from and deny what he felt for the ghost.
In the peaceful quiet that had fallen over them, the comb eventually began to pass through Roy's hair without making contact.
Edward was surprised it had held out as long as it did, grateful, but surprised. Yet he didn't move from his position of still being sat behind Roy's head and practically curled up around him as he still leaned into the couch. The hand that had held the comb dropped it onto the cushion near Roy's face before retreating to rest through Roy's hair, the black strands glowing slightly where his hand had merged into them.
"You know," Roy began after so much time had passed in silence between them that he actually felt the couch move as Edward startled at his unexpected words, "earlier, at the library, you didn't exactly tell me to stop trying to seduce you."
"No, I didn't." Edward agreed lightly, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.
"That moment when you told me to be careful…" Roy trailed off a moment, trying to keep the wistfulness he felt out of his voice. "If I could have, I would have grabbed you down and kissed you."
Several emotions ran through Edward just then, and he could only be glad that Roy's eyes remained closed as he tried to steady himself once more out of the flustered state he'd just been sent into, although his smile remained. "That's hardly proper conduct for a library."
"And whatever you did to it was?" Roy chuckled as he recalled the clouds of dust rolling out onto the street, the echoing crashes that had rattled the floor beneath his feet. "Besides, you've not been in a proper library as an adult except for with me. How do you know if kissing is proper or not?"
"Kissing is all well and fine, I'm sure." Edward conceded with a wry smile and a shake of his head. "Kissing someone with your apparent sex drive is likely to escalate and that is not proper for a library."
"Fair point." Roy couldn't help but agree with an amused smile as he pointedly added 'ravishing Edward in a library' to his ever-growing collection of fantasies.
"I know you too well." Edward mused with a faint smile as he continued to watch Roy peacefully. "And I know that right now you should be sleeping. No more talking for you."
"Oh no, not like that." Roy grumbled and opened his eyes to give Edward a disgruntled look. "I rarely get hurt like this and I'm going to milk having you as my nurse. I am not going to sleep without being read to again."
"What are you, five?" Edward chastised him through an amused grin.
"For right now, yes." Roy agreed flippantly, determined to get what he wanted.
Edward rolled his eyes, and only the fact that Roy had stitches kept him from truly contemplating how he could dump the man off the couch. He didn't rise again though in search of the book he'd been reading earlier. "Close your eyes, Roy." And the pointed look he gave the man sent Roy's eyes closed again without argument. "I'm going to tell you a story."
"I'm not three." Roy protested just for the fun of it.
"Shut up, yes you are." Edward grinned and his gaze on Roy turned unfocused as he thought for a moment, then slowly began: "In a little house in a big city, there lived a squirrel who was the most innocent, charming squirrel to ever live. Unfortunately, the squirrel had been captured by a wicked fire sorcerer."
Roy burst out laughing so hard he nearly ripped one of his stitches.
Edward smirked but otherwise ignored him, instead continuing on with his story. "The poor little squirrel slaved day and night – " and perhaps, it wasn't the best story to put Roy to sleep, but it was amusing them both, and that, in itself, was a comfort.
And though Roy hadn't fallen asleep during the story, he did soon afterwards with a smile still on his face, while Edward readjusted the blanket in around him.