Chapter 9

The Date

Ed sat on the train next to Roy fidgeting. He played relentlessly with the seam on his red jacket all day. It helped to keep his mind off the topic that kept returning to the forefront of his mind. After their early morning lovemaking, they'd seemed happy, enthusiastic to forget about where they were headed. All had been back to normal, except the reality of being at Central was creeping slowly back at them, as each mile raced by. Ed sighed heavily and focused his gaze out the train window, he wanted to speak, but he didn't know what to say. They were almost home and they still had to come to some understanding about how they would conduct themselves once they got there. Many times he'd opened his mouth and searched for the right words to say what was on his mind, but then he'd thought better of it.

Roy read his paperwork, same as yesterday, same as every damn day as far as he was concerned. His eyes were having a hard time seeing the words, instead his mind worked tirelessly on finding a solution to their dilemma. There had to be a way for him to convince Ed to trust him enough to allow him to date platonically. He couldn't come up with a way around it; Hawkeye for one would be suspicious if he stopped dating. Maybe he could feign some sort of illness, he mused. He smiled faintly to himself and peeked at Ed. The blonde had been messing with his robe all day and it was starting to get irritating. Roy reached over and placed his hand over Ed's, stopping his assault on the helpless seam.

"What?" Ed asked nervously as he peered up at Roy.

"Stop playing with your robe, you're going to drive me crazy," Roy responded, he tried to not to sound as irritated as he actually was. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Ed's feelings yet again.

"Sorry," Ed replied as he lowered his hands to his lap and tilted his head forward.

Roy set his papers down and sighed, "Ed, what if I meet you half way here, what if I just see Sally tonight and then figure out a way to weasel out of the other dates for now? I just don't want to leave her hanging," he told the blonde as sincerely as he could. He scanned Ed's face for a reaction.

Ed kept his gaze on his fingers, he knew they had to talk about it and he knew Roy was probably being very generous with his offer. But that didn't seem to lesson the pain a whole lot. "What do you mean, 'for now'?" he asked suspiciously as he brought his gaze up to the elder man's.

Ed's question took Roy off guard; he hadn't gotten farther than figuring out how to handle probably the next week. "Uh, well, I will need to be with women occasionally, at some point, or at least look like I'm with a woman. Please try to understand, Ed," Roy told him, hoping his words would fend off another argument.

"I am NOT wearing a dress, just get that idea out of your head," Ed hissed. It was bad enough he was taking on the female role of their relationship; his manhood just couldn't accept dressing like a woman on top of it, for whatever reason.

Roy started to chuckle, he didn't even mean the statement the way Ed had taken it. The image of Edward Elric wearing a nice little black cocktail dress popped into his head, complete with high heels. It was too much and his chuckle turned into an all out laugh. "Come on, then I could take you out like you want and everyone would think I had a sexy little woman with me," he joked.

Ed could feel the heat rising in his face as his anger shot to the surface, "What do you mean I'm so little I'm smaller than most girls! And I would NOT be sexy in a dress, you pervert!" he shot back at Roy, glaring.

"Stop it, don't get so dramatic, I'm only kidding," Roy responded, he tried his best to stop laughing, but he couldn't shake the image of Ed in a cocktail dress.

"Dramatic? You want to see dramatic?" Ed yelled as he stood up and clapped his hands.

Before Roy had a chance to grab his wrists, Ed slapped his hands on the elder man, one on each arm. Roy gasped as he felt his clothing slide unnaturally over his body, transmuting into God knew what. By the time he shoved Edward backwards, his arms and legs were exposed as his military uniform was transformed into a blue sleeveless, crossover type dress. The hem was so high it rested along the lower edge of his boxers. Now Roy was angry, he glared at Ed, "Change it back, NOW!" he said furiously.

"No!" Ed retorted as he sat back on his seat and folded his arms over his chest.

"Damn you Ed, change it back now or I'll…I'll ask Sally out for another date tonight!" Roy snapped as he sat forward in his seat. He attempted to look menacing even though he felt ridiculous.

"You wouldn't dare!" Ed quipped.

"Oh yes I would, and she'd go out with me again too. She likes me, Ed. A lot. And she doesn't get mad and mess with my clothes!" Roy shouted. Just then, he felt the train jolt as it stopped in the station at Central. They'd been so busy fighting; he hadn't noticed the train slowing.

"I don't care what you do, you bastard!" Ed shouted as he shot up from his seat, grabbed his suitcase, opened the compartment door, and bolted from the train. He left a very bewildered Colonel Roy Mustang standing in a military blue mini-dress with black socks and shiny men's dress shoes.

Roy shut the door behind Edward quickly; he'd die if anyone saw him in this get-up. He didn't quite understand how the argument got so out of hand, but at least he wouldn't feel so bad about taking Sally to the theatre tonight. It'd serve Ed right, now. Roy sighed as he raked a hand through his black hair and figured out how to exit the train without anyone seeing his outfit. He carefully pulled his suitcase down and opened it. Thankfully, he had a change of clothes with him, the civilian outfit he wore into the Ishbalan camp. It was a little dirty, but it would get him home.

-O-

Ed ran from the train and entered the first taxi he saw. His rage and bitterness were the only things keeping him from breaking down. He seethed as he watched the familiar sites of his home race by the windows. He wondered if Al would be at their room when he got there and how he'd be able to keep his emotions at bay if he was. He still wasn't sure if or how he'd tell his brother what had happened on the trip. The taxi stopped in front of the building housing the dorm room he shared with his sibling. He paid the driver, got his luggage and stomped inside.

Ed's anger was starting to dissipate and tears gained entrance into his golden eyes. As he made his way up to his door, he sniffled and felt a tear run down his cheek. He quickly swatted it away and silently prayed his brother was out when he got the door open.

The door hit the stop with a dull thud as Edward scanned the contents of his room. Thankfully, there was no shiny metal armor anywhere to be found. Ed brought his suitcase inside the room, slammed the door shut and darted for his bed. He threw himself on the soft familiar covers and buried his face deep into his pillow. He allowed his emotions to surface as he began to sob helplessly into the soft casing, which muffled his agony.

Ed knew Mustang would be getting ready for his date and he would just have to suffer through the evening. He berated himself for loosing control on the train and hoped Roy would come get him when the date ended. Fear ate at him as well; he feared their fight would cause Roy to turn the date into something a little more than platonic. He held his arms tight to his side and bent at the elbows as he clutched at his bedspread with his fists. "Roy, please don't do anything," he sobbed softly to himself.

xxx

A few hours had passed and Ed had been able to finally collect himself enough to unpack his things and wash some clothes in the laundry room downstairs. Now his tears only came sporadically when he thought about where Roy was and imagined him doing things he shouldn't with his date. Ed did his best to keep himself busy, if he didn't he was afraid he'd have another break down. He still wondered where Al was as he walked back up from the laundry room holding his dried and folded clothes in his hamper. He opened the door and almost smiled as his eyes lay upon Alphonse.

"Brother, you're back!" Al said excitedly. "Here, let me help you," he exclaimed as he clanked toward Edward. He saw it immediately, something was wrong with his sibling, he'd obviously been crying and there was something else too, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Have you eaten? Can I get you something?" he offered, as he pulled the basket out of Ed's grasp.

"No, but, I don't think I'm hungry," Ed replied, feigning a sad smile.

"I can't believe that, you're always hungry," Al responded. He tried to sound upbeat as if it would be contagious and lighten his brother's mood.

Ed knew Al could see his anguish, but he didn't want to talk about it. Plus, he knew Al would start to question him soon, so he decided to let him get some food. "Ah, you're right Al, it would be really nice if you'd just get me something," he requested sullenly.

"Some noodles from the restaurant across the street, maybe?" Al offered.

"Yeah, sounds great. Thanks," Ed replied. He watched his brother bound off through the door and out of the room. Ed turned around and peered at his laundry basket, the neatly folded clothing started to blur as more tears came. Suddenly, an impatient knock sounded at his door. He sighed and padded over to the door. He wondered who the hell would be disturbing him. He opened the door abruptly after the second series of knocks to find a distraught Roy Mustang standing solemnly in his doorway. He only had a second to comprehend who it was before Roy's lips descended on his own in a flurry of activity. He was pushed backward as Roy's hands cupped his face and the elder man's body pressed up against him.

"Ed, Ed, Ed…" Roy whispered in-between feverish kisses. He pinned the blonde up against the far wall of his room and continued his assault on his lover. He grabbed Ed's wrists and bent his arms as he raised their hands to either side of Ed's face. He laced his fingers through Ed's and held them. He pushed Ed's body firmly against the wall with his own.

Ed managed to pull away from the insistent kisses for a moment, "What…happened," he implored, it was still relatively early and he knew the theatre would not have let out yet.

Roy pulled away reluctantly from Ed's mouth and locked onto his eyes with his own, "I couldn't do it, Ed. I couldn't stay there with her. Every time I looked at her I wished I were looking at you. Every time she touched me," Roy stopped as Ed's face turned away from him in pain at the thought of their bodies touching. Roy brought Ed's face back to him with a solid grip and made him look into his eyes again, "I never touched her, Ed. I never held her hand; I never did anything. I'm just talking about the casual sort of brushing against each other that can't be helped. Every time, I was repulsed, I just wanted to be holding you, feeling you against me, like this," Roy admitted as he pressed his lips back to Ed's. "I missed you," he added softly.

Ed returned the kisses with more intensity as he processed Roy's words and what they really meant. All his fears were unfounded; all his pain was unwarranted. He kissed Roy with abandon, caught up in a moment of such intense intimacy; he'd never realized it was possible between two people. He felt Roy's hands roam his body and he returned the action.

There was a slam as the door of the room flew open, "Brother, I…Brother??? Good God, what the hell are you doing?" Al shrieked as he stood in the doorway, witness to the tender moment between his sibling and the superior officer.

Roy broke the kiss in time to turn and see the bag of dinner in Alphonse's hand fall to the floor with a soft thunk. Roy tried to think fast, come up with a reason why he was kissing and fondling Al's brother, but his mouth and brain were frozen.

Ed stepped out from behind Roy and walked over to face the dumbfounded boy in armor. It was obvious by the awkward stillness of his stance that Al was having a hard time believing what he just saw. "Uh…Al?" Ed questioned uneasily. He saw Al's helmeted head change position to glance at Roy and then return to him.

"You're going to tell me a good reason for this, right? I mean, you're doing something, I don't know, for an experiment of some sort, for the mission you were on, or…"Al stopped his rant when he saw his brothers head shake in disagreement.

Ed turned back to glance at Roy, he wanted a confirmation from his lover what he was about to say would be all right. But Roy still had a facial expression resembling something close to terrified. "No, Al. I guess I'm just going to come right out and say it,' he spoke evenly. He gazed directly at the glowing holes of his brothers head, "Roy and I, well, we just sort of…um…well, we started seeing each other, you know, like normally I guess, men and women do," he cringed as the last words unleashed from his mouth. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity for his brother to say something or move in some way, but instead the armor was as inanimate as if Al ceased to exist. Ed turned to look at Roy again and watched as Roy just shrugged his shoulders. He returned to his brother, "Uh…Al?" he asked timidly.

"B-but th-that's… it's impossible, isn't it?" Al questioned, his voice grew more alarmed with each word as he started to imagine his brother doing unmentionable things with Colonel Roy Mustang. "Uh…can I t-talk to you alone, brother?" Al squeaked.

Ed saw Roy hastily brush past him and out the still open doorway into the hall. Then Roy closed the door as he gave a supportive nod to Ed. The blonde returned his focus to Al as the armored boy picked up the bag of food and ambled into the room. Ed waited for his brother to face him before he spoke again. "Al, I know this sounds crazy, I never would have thought in a million years something like this would happen, or that I was…could love another man, like this," he started to explain. His explanation was just as much for himself as it was for his brother. Bringing the relationship home made it all much more real.

"Ed, you're gay?" Al interrupted loudly.

"No…well, I don't know. I like girls too, so I don't really know what it means," Ed admitted, now gazing at the floor as he tried to sort out his feelings.

"Wait, but you're in LOVE with Colonel Mustang? Are you sure? Isn't this sort of…sudden? When you left here you hated him," Al's voice raised in pitch as he spoke.

Ed walked close to his brother and peered up at his glowing orbs, "Yes, I love him. I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

Roy smiled on the other side of the door, he couldn't help himself, he had to press his ear to the door and eaves drop on the conversation.

"Isn't it forbidden? Won't you both get in trouble?" Al questioned, getting serious.

"Yeah, it is. But I can't help it; I can't stop it. We just have to hide it, that's all. Can you help me, Al? Or… do you hate me?" Ed implored as he reached out and took Al's gloved hands into his own.

Al visibly slumped, "You know I could never hate you. I'll help you, I'll keep your secret…by the way, at least you picked a really attractive man to fall in love with," Al said as empathetically as he could.

Ed looked sideways at his brother, "Al? Are you…"

"God no!" Al quipped, then shuddered.

"So…would you mind if I spent the night at Roy's?" Ed asked shyly. Now that he knew Roy couldn't go through with the date and hadn't done anything sordid with Sally, he wanted more than ever to spend the night with him.

"Brother! You sleep together? You're not a-a virgin anymore are you!" he accused. He knew better than to think anyone could spend much time with Mustang and remain virginal.

Ed didn't answer, he just grabbed some clothes and stuffed them back into his suitcase. He ran to the door, suitcase and dinner in his hand, and abruptly tugged it open. Roy fell forward onto the floor and looked sheepishly up at the astonished brothers. "Mustang, were you listening?" Ed charged.

Roy stood and brushed himself off, he tried to regain as much of his dignity as possible. "Of course not, I was just…leaning…on the door." He lied.

Ed disregarded it and grabbed Roy by the arm, "Come on, we're going to your house," he informed his lover as he towed him down the hallway.

xxx

Ed walked into Roy's bedroom following his lover. He'd finished eating his noodles and now he couldn't wait to feel and taste Roy's skin. The elder man's earlier confession had lit a fire inside him that only one thing could put out. It had been agony to sit beside him on the ride over and not be able to ravage him.

Roy had barely turned around when Ed tackled him; the force threw him backwards onto his bed. Roy was stunned, Ed was on top of him hungrily kissing and sucking on his chest, descending as he unbuttoned his dress shirt. "Edward, your in such a rush," he said smiling faintly.

"I can't help it, everything you said was just so…" he couldn't finish his sentence, his mouth found Roy's hardness after unfastening the elder man's belt and pants. Ed's head bobbed up and down between Roy's legs, pleasuring him with an insistency and urgency that matched his character. Ed heard his lover respond with loud moans and ragged breathing. His erection was throbbing, in need of attention. He stopped what he was doing and raised himself back up to Roy's face. He fervently ground his hips into Roy and kissed him deeply. "Roy, do you love me?" he whispered as he pulled his mouth away briefly.

"I think you know the answer to that," Roy replied as he gently sucked on Ed's lower lip. He moved his body and hand to position it over his lover's hardness and stroked him slowly, but solidly.

"That doesn't mean I don't want to hear it, all the time," he said as his breathing became heavier and his brow tensed with the delicious friction Roy provided.

Roy spoke softly between gentle bites and nips on the soft skin of Ed's neck, "I love you…I love you…I love you."

The words Roy spoke coursed through his body and made the sensations all the more intense. Ed wanted to possess his lover; he wanted to be inside him. "Roy, can I try it? Can I go inside you?" he asked somewhat timidly.

Roy smiled, he never thought he'd actually want something like that, but after seeing how much pleasure it had given Ed he'd been curious. He also realized they had the advantage of being at his house. They had access to his massage oils. "Yeah, I would like that, I think," he answered. He gently pulled away from Ed and rolled over to reach for the drawer on his nightstand.

"Um, what are you doing?" Ed asked, he no idea about such things.

Roy turned back around with a small bottle in his hand, "Well, Ed, I have a little something here that will make it even better, I think," he spoke a little smugly as he held up the bottle for his lover to inspect.

"Massage oil?" Ed questioned. Then a wicked grin spread on his lips as he thought about the slick fluid covering his member. The mere thought of it sent a shiver through him and made his member throb again. "Hurry," he instructed the elder man as he exposed himself.

Roy did as he was asked and stroked Ed's length sensually, covering him completely in oil. He laid on his back and spread his legs as Ed quickly climbed on top. Roy felt Ed at his entrance; his lover's forehead was pressed against his chest. It was obvious Ed was struggling to maintain control of himself. "Go ahead," Roy told him softly as he braced himself for the initial pain of entry. He further prodded Ed by pushing on his behind.

Ed drove into Roy slowly; he didn't want to hurt him. He listened for sounds of pain from his lover but there were none. The exquisite sensation engulfed his erection and he gasped sharply, unable to maintain his slow progression. He pulled out and drove into Roy again much quicker and repeated the movement over and over again. He was faintly aware of Roy's hip adjustments as the elder man found his own sweet spot. Ed's need was insatiable, uncontrollable when he saw the intense pleasure on Roy's features and heard his insistent moans. He could feel his climax coming on quickly as his body tensed. All his focus was on this one action. He stopped suddenly and held onto his lover, he didn't want it to end so soon.

"What's wrong?" Roy asked, not sure why Ed had stopped when it'd felt so good.

Ed panted, "I-I can't hold on," he admitted. Then he felt Roy pull his hips away and push back into him, effectively doing the work for him.

"It's okay, let go," Roy told him through heavy breathing. The motions were quickly consuming him as well and he felt his own release close. He pushed his hands into the small of Ed's back in order to increase the friction on him from Ed's stomach. Roy felt Ed's thrusts come hard and fast as the blonde allowed his climax to pulse into the elder man. Ed's sharp moans were loud and full of passion. Roy followed almost immediately, his release driven from the inside and outside of his body. His seed spilled out between them as his sumptuous peak overrode his senses.

They both lay there for a few minutes as their post-coital high subsided. Roy was the first to stir. "Ed, are you still awake?" he whispered. He tried to move the quiet blonde as he spoke.

"Yeah, barely," Ed admitted. He'd been surprised by how good it felt to be inside his lover, it seemed to him there was always something new to experience.

"Well, we need to get cleaned up, I certainly don't want to wake up all crusty in the morning," he chided as he gently pushed Ed aside.

Ed mumbled, "yeah, crusty…" as he turned onto his back to allow Roy to get up. The stressful day had really worn him out and he struggled to keep sleep from overtaking him. He was aware of Roy leaving the bed and then he must have dozed off for a few minutes because suddenly a cold wet washcloth was rubbing his torso, removing the evidence of their lovemaking. "Ah…Roy! Cold!" he muttered, irritated at the assault but too tired to do anything about it. Then as quickly as it started, the sensation left him. He turned over onto his side and felt warm bedcovers fall over his body just before sleep took him away.