Take It All Away

Chapter 17: Dinner with the General

Ed looked around, his mouth hanging open ever so slightly in awe. "You actually live here?"

Roy laughed softly, the deep baritone of his voice echoing in the large foyer. He chose to ignore Ed's question and allowed his own eyes to wander. "If memory serves me correctly, the living room should be right through here…"

His voice trailed off as he disappeared through a doorway to the right of where the Elric brothers currently stood, leaving them to gape at their surroundings in awe.

At a glance, Roy Mustang's 'house' appeared to be your average, single story mansion, complete with a six foot high, rot iron fence. The Elrics had not been too surprised. They had heard rumors of the wealth that belonged to Roy's father, the wealth that now belonged to Roy. So naturally it the General was expected to live in a fancy house. However, as soon as they stepped through the front door, they realized just how well off the Mustang family really was.

The entryway alone was about the size of the Elric brothers' childhood home. The ceiling was at least two stories high with support beams made of the finest oak wood. The beams were engraved with an intricate vine pattern on two sides, adding an artistic feel. The walls were artfully textured, covered in a rich cream paint that gave an Italian feel to the room. Golden candelabras lined the walls at three foot intervals, and the candles which had been lit only a moment before with a snap of the Flame Alchemist's fingers. The floor was made of light brown tile, textured carefully to give it an aged effect. The trim was made of the same oak wood as the ceiling supports. All in all, it was simply breathtaking.

"Edward, if you insist on standing there and drooling, would you kindly close the front door first?"

Ed jumped in surprise and spun around to face the speaker, his blush deepening when he took in the sight of the General.

Roy leaned lazily in the entryway, leaning casually against the doorframe. He had discarded the jacket of his uniform which left him in only a white undershirt that clung to his form like a second skin. His hair had been further mussed in the short time he had disappeared and his unruly bangs curtained his obsidian eyes, though his amusement was made apparent by the lazy upward turn of his lips.

Ed couldn't help but stop to admire the General. Although he had seen Roy dressed casually countless times in the hospital, there was something far more intimate about seeing him like this in the General's home. And looking at the General now, Ed couldn't help but agree with the girls at Central; There was just something about a man in uniform.

Roy quirked a brow, not oblivious to the appraising look the blonde was giving him as those golden eyes raked over his form. He found he couldn't pass up this golden opportunity to tease his favorite alchemist and stepped forward, winding his arms around the blonde's waist. "See something you like?" He grinned, his voice dropping to a husky whisper.

Ed's breath hitched at their close proximity, his thoughts immediately drifting to the kiss from the previous day and the brief peck they'd shared at the office. His eyes left Roy's as they instinctively drifted to focus on Roy's lips. Ed was vaguely aware that his own arms had wound around Roy's neck on their own accord, bringing the General considerably closer. All he had to do was tilt Roy's head…

"Ah! General Mustang! What a cute cat!" Alphonse exclaimed excitedly, unknowingly shattering the moment between the two men.

Ed reluctantly lessened his hold on Roy and managed to tear his attention from the 'too damn sexy for his own good' General, looking to his brother for the reason behind his interruption. It took a moment for Al's words to sink in. "Wait…what?" He demanded, rational thought finally returning to him after his Roy induced haze.

Al overlooked his brother's words in his excitement. "What's her name?" He asked eagerly.

Roy and Ed's eyes both landed on the bundle of fur in Al's iron arms that had gone unnoticed up to that point. The cat's fur was mostly white, but she had the coloring of a brown tabby along her back, tail, and parts of her face. She peered over Al's arm, appearing to be engulfed in the large suit of armor's hold. She gave a happy mewl when her eyes landed on Roy and she began struggling to be free of Al's arms.

Al dutifully released the feline, bending at the waist to lessen the height between his arms and the floor so not to harm the cat. He watched in surprise as said cat bounded across the floor and began winding between the Flame Alchemist's legs.

Roy bend and scooped the cat into his arms instinctively, his hand automatically stroking behind her ears. The Elric brothers looked on with unmasked amusement as the car clung to his side, similar to how a monkey hugged a tree trunk. Ed barely managed to stifle the urge to laugh.

"Who's your friend?" Ed grinned.

Roy fought down a blush as the feline in question began to lick the side of Roy's face. "Kila, stop that!" He growled, though there was no mistaking the fondness in his voice. His eyes narrowed when he met Ed's dancing eyes, silently daring the blonde alchemist to comment. For once Ed spared him.

"Kila huh?" Ed echoed, rolling the foreign name experimentally on his tongue. He brought a hand up so the cat could sniff it, allowing her to gauge the newcomer. After a moment's hesitation she butted her head against Ed's hand, encouraging him to pet her. No soon than Ed begun rubbing her chin, she began purring heavily. "So this is why you don't like dogs." Ed grinned impishly at the General. "You're a cat person."

Roy huffed indignantly and sat Kila on the back of an armchair, giving her ears a final scratch. "There is nothing wrong with liking cats." He grumbled, his body turned away from the Elrics so they wouldn't see the blush he was fighting to keep at bay. Clearly the Flame Alchemist was embarrassed that his soft spot for cats had been discovered, and by a certain blonde alchemist, no less.

"Brother…" Alphonse warned softly, his eyes locked on the General's back.

"I know, I know! I was just teasing him." Edward replied defensively. His brother's glare only intensified and Ed sighed in defeat. He reluctantly moved to stand in front of the sulking General.

He sighed heavily. "When I was little I stole Winry's dog and hid him in my room for a week." Ed admitted, albeit reluctantly. He kept his eyes downcast but he saw Roy's eyebrows disappear into his hairline out of the corner of his eye. "I have a thing for dogs, alright?" He snapped, raising his eyes to give the General the best scowl he could muster.

Ed was taken by surprise when the General smiled softly in reply.

Roy realized what Ed was doing; Instead of taunting Roy about his fetish, Ed instead volunteered one of his own to Roy. It was the blonde's way of making things even between them. Roy placed a gloved hand on top of the teen's head in silent understanding.

The moment was shattered when Roy pulled the blonde into a headlock and began to muss Ed's hair, eliciting a strangled yelp from the young prodigy. The younger alchemist struggled in the General's hold but his attempts proved futile. Roy's headlock was unyielding, even more so than even that of the Second Lieutenant. Ed wondered if this was where Jean had learned the technique in the first place. The thought was gone as soon as it had come as Edward focused on freeing himself from the death lock.

Al stood next to the armchair next to the purring cat, his hand absentmindedly stroking her back. He was too busy taking in his surroundings to pay any heed to the older men's rough housing.

"Alright, alright!" Ed panted. "I give!" He tried to pry Roy's arm away from his neck but was met with little success. "I can't breathe, dammit!"

Roy laughed and released the fuming teen, his cheeks now red from laughing so hard. Ed was in a similar state, although the majority of his hair had worked it's way lose from his braid. The scathing look Ed shot Roy once the blonde was at what he deemed a safe distance away, caused Roy to laugh yet again. Ed was really too cute when he sulked.

Roy disappeared into the kitchen, deciding to leave Edward to brood while he began working on dinner. Roy suspected that Riza had kept his cabinets and fridge stocked with fresh food while he was away. The First Lieutenant always house sat for him while he was away on a mission or business, and Roy expected this time to be no different. He wasn't disappointed.

A quick survey of his kitchen cabinets and pantry proved his theory to be correct. Riza had recently brought him fresh bread as well as restocked his fruit and vegetable supply. although she knew that the General hated such things, the First Lieutenant made a habit of forcing Roy to eat some form of vegetable every time they dined together, claiming that he was no better than a sulking five year old.

Roy had only just begun pondering what he would fix for dinner when he spotted what appeared to be a jar of Riza's famous spaghetti sauce in one of his cabinets and grinned, retrieving the item. Spaghetti it would be!

Roy had just added the noodles to a pot of boiling water when he felt arms slip around his waist and a chin rest on his shoulder. Even though he knew he was still at least a head taller than Fullmetal, he was reminded of just how tall Edward had become. Despite this realization, Roy found he couldn't resist the urge to tease the blonde. He bent his knees so that he was the same height as the man behind him. Ed caught the silent jab.

"You bastard." He growled, releasing his hold on the General and taking a step backwards to put a bit of distance between them.

Roy lowered the temperature of the burner and turned to face the still muttering alchemist. He didn't move from his spot as he captured Ed's wrist and pulled the blonde to him, closing the distance between them in a flick of his wrist. Roy smirked when the blonde didn't put up any resistance, though Ed made no move to return the gesture. Roy placed his chin on top of the blonde's head and wound his arms around his waist. "Does spaghetti sound okay?"

"Is there anything I can do?"

Roy frowned in thought. Allowing his guest to aid him in the kitchen was against every rule Roy had been raised by, but he knew the blonde alchemist well enough to know he would refuse to sit and watch Roy do all of the work. Roy had no choice but to allow the blonde to help out. "You could put together a salad."

Ed pulled away, flashing the General his trademark grin. "Alright!" He moved to retrieve the necessary items but came to a halt in front of the refrigerator. He stared in awe at the contraption, a hand reaching out and stroking it's handle in unrefined awe. "You actually have one of these?"

Roy glanced up from the stove and hid a smile at the sight of the blonde inspecting his fridge. "Is it really that uncommon?"

Ed turned to face Roy, his hands going to his hips as his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Of course it's unusual!" He snapped. "Sure, most businesses have them, but you don't often find them in people's houses!" He paused, a frown creeping across his features. "And how come it's so small?"

Roy shrugged. "It's a newer model." He turned back to the stove, completely oblivious to the imitation of him the blonde was currently giving his turned back.

"Bastard." Ed muttered before turning back to the refrigerator and retrieving the items he needed to make his salad. By the time he had gathered everything, his arms were nearly overflowing , so he was left with no choice but to kick the door shut with his foot. He grimaced when he heard the door slam shut, although it didn't sound as if anything had broken.

"It has a protective lining around it's edges so you needn't worry about it slamming shut too hard." Roy commented, as if reading Ed's mind. The General chuckled at the blonde's answering 'bastard'.

Ed carried his ingredients to the counter opposite Roy where a cutting board, knife, and salad bowl were already sat up and ready for him to use. He began to work diligently and the pair fell into a companionable silence.

Roy had just removed the noodles from the heat of the burner when a pained yelp startled him, causing his hand to jerk and boiling water to slosh onto his hand. He hissed softly and sat the pot down, rubbing his offended hand. He turned to find the source of the noise and found Ed standing next to the counter, mirroring his stance and cradling his own injury. A glance at the counter next to the blonde found a half cut tomato and knife resting innocently on the cutting board. It wasn't hard to do the math. He crossed the room and gently grabbed the blonde by his wrist and inspected his injury.

Ed scowled at the General but allowed him to examine his injured finger anyways. His fierce expression slipped when Roy unrepentantly drew the injured digit into his mouth, his tongue carefully sweeping across the shallow cut. Ed couldn't suppress the gasp that escaped his lips as Roy repeated the action. Rational thought finally returned to him and he tugged his hand away from the General, although he couldn't stifle the wave of regret that followed the action. "What the hell, Roy?"

"The cut doesn't look too deep."

"Hn." Ed replied, scowling at Roy and rubbing his assaulted finger absentmindedly. He was already missing the feel of Roy's lips on his skin, and he found himself unconsciously leaning closer to Roy. When he glanced up and met onyx eyes, he knew he was lost.

"Brother? General Mustang? Is everything going alright in here?"

Both men groaned.

Alphonse entered the kitchen, blissfully oblivious to what he had just interrupted. He saw Roy and his brother standing dangerously close but thought nothing of it. "Do you need any help with anything?"

Roy gave Ed a secretive wink, silently promising they would finish this later, before turning to Alphonse and smiling. "Actually, we just finished with everything."

The Elrics sat the table while Roy added the finishing touches to their meal before the three of them sat down around the large table and had dinner. While Alphonse could not eat, and thus could not taste the delicious looking food, he thoroughly enjoyed the conversation. During the course of the meal, it did not go unnoticed by anyone that the gathering felt completely natural to everyone involved. The conversation was never strained, although the eldest men of the group spent most of their time arguing about one thing or another, and the three men found they were completely at ease in each other's presence.

Al was very aware of the developing relationship between his brother and the General, although he chose to feign ignorance of the subject. He caught things shared between the two that even they were probably oblivious to, such as the way Roy's eyes rarely left Ed throughout the meal or how Ed kept finding ways to 'accidentally' brush Roy's hand. Alphonse was still slightly uneasy with witnessing their more blatant displays of affection, he couldn't help but smile inwardly at the couple's antics. He was happy for his brother, Ed deserved a bit of happiness, but Al found that he was not only happy on Ed's behalf; Al was beginning to see Roy as sort of a brother, or brother in law, as the case may be.

Roy was always looking out after his brother and himself, even if in doing so he endangered his own life. The General had already proven as much during the battle with Scar. Al knew it was selfish of him, he knew it wasn't right to think this way, but he was secretly glad that Roy had contracted amnesia- and he hated himself for thinking that way.

Alphonse was brought from his darkening thoughts when Ed attempted to launch himself across the table and strangle their host. Roy was laughing at the blonde's antics and easily caught the irate teen before he could do any harm to either of their persons. In one smooth movement Roy had restrained the blonde in his lap while he used his free hand to continue eating his meal. At the blonde's angry growl Roy offered Ed a forkful of spaghetti mockingly. His eyes widened in surprise when Ed ate the offered bite just to spite the man that currently held him captive.

Alphonse laughed at the couple, receiving a scathing look from his brother and an amused smirk from the General. He wished the night would never end.

R-2-F

Author's Note: Another chapter left in the dust! I originally wrote this chapter in hopes of making up for the length of the previous (short) update, but it seems that I overdid things a bit. I had to cut the chapter in half, but hopefully the second half will be up by Sunday if all goes well!

I can't believe I've passed 200 reviews! You guys never cease to amaze me! I'd like to take this time to thank all of you have reviewed, and even those who have simply read TIA up to this point. A huge thanks goes to all of my faithful reviewers; You guys know who you are!

Happy Easter everyone!

Until next time,

Cheers!

R2F