Ishval was simple and that was not what he was expecting. In his travels he was used to busy train stations and equally busy cities. Sometimes it was the small town where everyone noticed the traveler. After all those years of talk of the impact of Ishval, he expected so much more from the life-ruining place than a quiet military base and construction site. "So this is Ishval?"
"This is just the military base." Mustang explained. "The Ishvallan villages are out there in the desert. Reconstruction is about rebuilding and leaving, I tried to keep the military away from the damage it already did. People are still uncomfortable and afraid. It's best to keep our distance."
It was quiet, Ed observed, unlike East City or Central. He had to wonder if Mustang was missing the city life at all. He always seemed like a guy who enjoyed that life, sort of how he himself had enjoyed his life as an alchemist. He wondered if he missed it as much as he did. The excitement of it all. "Do you miss the city?"
Roy looked ahead of him and curtly said, "This is the work that needs to be done and I fought pretty hard to be the one to do it. It's not about me."
"That sounds like a 'yes'." Ed said and Mustang glanced over at him with a look of annoyance that quickly faded into a softer look. An honest one.
"What happened to that kid who demanded I fix this country. The kid who stole my money and refused to give it back until I did?"
"I'm not a kid anymore. " Ed said too abruptly then added, "I'm not letting you off the hook for that either. It's called casual conversation, bastard."
"Ah." Roy said and smirked. "That whole 'friends' thing. What other personal questions are you going to ask beyond the one about Hawkeye and I being together and me being miserable in Ishval?"
Ed looked away. The first question that came to mind made his cheeks turn a little red and he didn't want Mustang to see it. This was such a bad idea. So he did what he always did when his emotions got the better of him, he changed the conversation back to alchemy. "Have you been able to put your new clap-less alchemy to use?"
Roy looked at him, the fact he wasn't looking at him made him wonder if that was the reason for this visit. Was he asking if he was abusing the powers he gained on the Promised Day? Powers Ed no longer had? "I have not used it once since coming here."
Ed realized it sounded like he was checking up on him. They had fought about his use of the stone back then. This conversation was becoming awkward and going downhill fast. "I just ask because I know you knew a little alkhestry and I never asked if passing through the gate gave you the knowledge of that science as well."
"No, unfortunately." Roy thought about that. "I think...because I am alchemist the information I was allowed to see was limited to alchemy. It's what we believe in. I paid the price for my beliefs, not someone elses."
Ed nodded.
"You'll find an alternative to alchemy." Roy said. "Don' give up."
"I gave it up." Ed said with a sigh. "I gave up my alchemy to get my brother back. I should learn my lesson after everything I went through. I have to stop trying to cheat the system."
"You're still an alchemist if you're still looking for an answer." Roy said as they arrived at the dorms. "That is what we do. Seek the truth."
Ed bit his lip as Mustang opened the door to the dorm building. Yeah, he was here to seek the Truth alright but it wasn't about alchemy.
A shower was often a place to cool off. To have some privacy. To work out some frustrations.
Mustang's shower was not that place for him right now.
He couldn't help but take a sniff of the shampoo bottle on the shelf, even though he brought his own. He resisted for a few minutes, scrubbed his hair a little harder than he should have. He was trying to resist the urge to see if what was contained in the bottle was part of the reason Mustang smelled so damned good. He hated himself for thinking about it, no for needing it, and for giving in and taking a whiff of what was inside the fancy bottle.
It did smell like him and he felt the increase of excitement immediately and snapped the cap back on and put it on the shelf.
Fuck! When did he become this guy? He felt like some stalker. Worse, he felt like some pervert who stole panties and peaked in windows! He felt like he needed to masturbate right now or he was going to have to hide an erection at dinner. This whole trip was an awful idea, he didn't need to confirm that he was lusting after Mustang at all. He could have gone on living with this just as an occasional dream of his, gone on to finish his travels without stopping in Ishval of all places.
He could have gone home to Winry.
However he didn't have this reaction to Winry's shampoo like he had to Mustang's. Winry smelled like safety, home, comfort. He didn't want to slam her into a wall and beg her to relieve him of this ache and arousal immediately after smelling her hair. He didn't hurry to get some lotion on his hand while he thought about being pushed down into a pillow, scented by this shampoo, and having hands run over him as he begged to find out what all of this really meant.
The mere thought of that brought him to climax faster than expected and he had to bite into his hand to stop from making a sound.
He took a moment to clear his mind and let his breathing and heart rate return to normal. Certainly if he took any longer Mustang would be knocking and asking if he was drowning in here. He dared not explore that idea any more than that, and he turned into the shower spray to soap up and rinse off before turning off the water and toweling off.
The question was, what exactly was he supposed to do now that he confirmed that he did have sexual interest in his old boss? If the idea that he might be attracted to him had postponed his wedding, what the hell did he do with the knowledge that he genuinely wanted to be fucked by the guy?