The Gift
3
Al
November 11th – (Saturday)
Ed walked down the hall of the military building, deep in thought. Since he'd gotten home, almost a week ago, he'd hardly seen the colonel at all. They'd had dinner at Mustang's house last Sunday and of course he'd stayed the night.
Roy had definitely kept his word and made it up to him…
Ed grinned stupidly at the memory, but pulled himself together when a couple of sergeants passed by him.
And then of course they'd had lunch on Tuesday, but then the man had been called away on some business… Other than that, the teen really hadn't seen much of his lover. It was only when Ed dropped by the colonel's office did he see him, and even then, half of the time Mustang wasn't even in his office.
It was frustrating, and worrisome. Mustang rarely worked as hard as he seemed to be, especially when Ed wasn't away. Normally after being gone for as long as he had, they spent every night together doin' the bow-chika-bow-wow, but not this time.
Ed sighed as he approached the colonel's door. It was Saturday and the man was working… Something was definitely off here…
He turned the door handle and opened the door, but stopped when he saw, not only the colonel sitting at his desk, but Al standing in front of the desk with his arms folded.
Now, to most people, Alphonse just looked like a suit of armor, devoid of any emotion, but to Ed he was more. He'd spent enough time around his brother to know which gestures and motions were caused by what emotion, and right now, he could tell that Al was not very happy.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Nothing," Mustang responded a little too quickly. "Alphonse and I were just having a little chat. Right, Alphonse?"
The silver-gray armor looked from Mustang to Ed then nodded his head. "That's right…just talking. Can I leave now?"
The colonel nodded, and said, "I'd like to finish this conversation later, if you don't mind."
"I guess…" Al said in a noncommittal tone and began crossing the room toward the door.
"You can stay," Ed said, when he saw his brother planned on leaving.
"No, thanks," Al replied, and Ed sighed. His brother was definitely unhappy about something.
After the door closed behind Al, Ed looked back at Mustang and asked again, "What's going on?"
"Like I said, we were just having a little chat." With that said, the colonel grinned and crooked a finger for Ed to come over to him. Ed smiled back and crossed the room to where Mustang was sitting behind his desk.
"You are definitely a sight for sore eyes, Ed," Roy said, and gently tugged on the teen's coat. Getting the none-to-subtle hint, he stepped forward so that Mustang could give him a kiss. When he pulled back, the older alchemist said, "You know, you never answered my question."
Ed's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "What question?"
"What are you doing for Thanksgiv…" he cut off when the phone rang. Sighing, the colonel reached over, picked up the receiver and said, "Mustang."
Ed watched as the man's features when from slight irritation from being interrupted to surprise, then regret and … what? Mustang's eyes glanced slowly at him. It was that look again. The one that made Ed think the colonel was hiding something from him.
"Just a moment, please," Mustang said, and covered the phone with his hand. "I'm sorry; this is a confidential call."
He nodded in disappointment.
"Let's meet tomorrow, okay? At my house? Dinner and…" A grin. "…other…activities?"
This brought an instant smile to Ed's face and he nodded before leaving the colonel with his phonecall.
Happy Birthday to Lina
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