"So how's the kid doing?" Jean Havoc asked as Edward slouched into the office Wednesday afternoon. Rian's condition had been classified top-secret between Edward and Russell, so of course the entire office knew about it already.

"About what you'd expect," Edward said. He looked like shit and he knew it, having barely slept the last three nights. On top of the hours upon hours of research he was putting in, Rian didn't sleep like he used to. He would sleep in spurts, thirty and ninety-minute bursts before bounding out of bed to stalk up and down the hallway, prowling like a jungle cat. He wanted to go outside, to sit in the small bit of grass in front of the building or perhaps even to roam the streets and alleyways, but he never went out the door to do so. Rian was aware of how stupid, how foolish that was despite his burning need to keep moving. By the second night Edward only woke when Rian slid in and out of bed, curling up next to him, not-quite purring but a strange, heavy noise on the edge of his breaths.

Edward rubbed his hand up and down his face and sighed. Bailey was sitting at his desk, trying not to look up at Edward and keep typing the report he was working on but he was failing miserably. Cushler wasn't at his desk but Edward was frankly too exhausted to care. "Any word from Tringham?"

"Only bad news, I'm afraid," Hawkeye said crisply. "It appears that our alchemist friend, Mr Siegel, decided to swallow his own tongue overnight."

Edward stared at Hawkeye in horror. "You're kidding me. He killed himself?"

"It looks that way," Havoc confirmed. "Although Major Tringham isn't so certain, one of the shift guards for the brig never returned to the barracks."

This was only getting better and better. Edward had spent the past three days working on temporary transmutation circles that might be able to parse the feline genes that had been spliced into Rian's - chimeric alchemy had never been his strong suit though, mostly due to a distaste of working alchemy on living beings. However the key, and the easiest way to do something would be to replicate the rogue alchemist's own transmutation circles - the initial trap circle had been damaged in the confusion to the point that most of the lines had been destroyed. Given the right amount of time Edward could undoubtedly reconstruct it, but time was one thing that he didn't really have.

Rian had gotten very adept very quickly at hiding his feline attributes, but anyone could see that something was off about him. And while it was common for Edward to send him out on long missions out in the middle of nowhere, Rian not appearing on base to work regular missions was in fact a great curiousity ... something that would eventually catch the attention of Senior Colonel Neuhaus, which Edward really Did Not Want To Happen.

"Shit," Edward said heavily. "And Siegel's notes?"

"A good portion of them were destroyed when he was arrested," Hawkeye said. "But Cushler should be returning from Intelligence shortly with whatever remains."

"Good," Edward said. "Send him in my office when he gets here, I'll need those ASAP. And Havoc, get Tringham on the line if you can."

"That won't be necessary," Russell said from the open doorway. "And besides, Elric, you really want to be talking about this shit on the military's lines? You know everyone's been tapped three ways to Sunday."

"That is what discretion is for," Edward snapped, half-turning to glare at Russell - and then stopping dead. Russell glared right back at him, as if daring him to respond.

Instead of the military uniform, Russell was dressed in a suit and tie, cut in the style of the parliament's politicians. His usually rough blond hair was slicked back, and he was wearing glasses. "If you say it, I will hurt you."

"The glasses are a nice touch," Edward said. "It really adds to the whole air of 'I'll suck your dick for a promotion,'" Edward nodded thoughtfully. He hiked a thumb over his shoulder at the door. "In my office, now. Hawkeye, when Cushler comes back-"

"I'll send him right in with the files," Hawkeye said. "Don't forget, your meeting at three, Colonel."

Edward glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, nodded, and followed Russell into his office.

It was late by the time Edward made it home. The meeting ran long, it was yet another budget meeting that Edward had no idea why he was required to attend; it mostly featured several senior colonels arguing in circles about where to cut some spending. Edward had never really paid attention to them - the State Alchemist program was usually passed over because of the returns due to breakthroughs that the alchemists - employed by the military - discovered.

It was quiet in the apartment … dark, too. Edward closed the door behind him quietly and latched it, then looked around carefully. Just because it was dark to him, didn't mean that Rian wasn't in the room somewhere, watching him. He'd been pounced two days in a row; yesterday he'd been caught in the act of opening the door. Rian had landed on his chest and sent them both toppling out onto the sidewalk, his tail lashing furiously and ears back as he sat on Edward triumphantly.

However, no attack came. Edward cautiously turned on a lamp in the den, noticed nothing out of the ordinary, and checked the bedroom.

Rian was sprawled out on their bed, sleeping. He was laying on his back, ears flopped out because he wasn't awake to keep them flattened to his head. One arm was thrown casually above his head, the other rested on his belly, and his mouth was open slightly, revealing the points that his canines now came to.

It was such an open and honest way of sleeping, he felt safe here, this was his home. Edward leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, and just watched him.

Seeing Rian like this made Edward just want him more. He had been stopping every time he looked at Rian like that – stopping mostly for Rian's sake. Rian who had been shying away from his hand and from his kiss, turning his face away and curling up on the farthest side of the bed away from him. Edward was attracted to Rian because he was Rian, and a tail, or ears, or the faint sheen of fur in strange places didn't matter to him. Rian was Rian, and Rian was what Edward loved.

Rian's nose twitched slightly, and then his eyes cracked open, a sleepy gray that reflected the light more without actually changing the color of the irises within. He smiled, a drowsy, sated smile and began to purr.

Now, fuck, Edward wasn't supposed to find that hot but he did for some reason. Rian lifted the hand that was resting on his belly and beckoned to Edward, and Edward came, hesitantly, to the side of the bed. If Rian didn't want to he was going to have to go take care of this raging hard-on in a moment, but at the very least he could claim a kiss from his lover while he was drowsy and complacent.

"Did you sleep well?" Edward asked, crouching by Rian's side of the bed but not sitting on it. He didn't want the temptation to crawl on top of him.

"Not as well as I could have," Rian whined a bit. His ears twitched but he didn't lay them flat. Edward leaned in to kiss him - Rian's almost translucent whiskers tickled his nose, but the biggest change was the sandpaper tongue. It was rough, but not painfully so, more of a curiosity. "You weren't here."

Edward smiled gently, not wanting to break the bad news just yet. He ran his fingers through Rian's hair, avoiding the ears because of how Rian turned his head away any time Edward tried to touch them so far.

"Ed?" Rian's voice was gravelly, the edge on it somewhere between a purr and a growl. "Male cats... they don't go into heat, do they?"

"No," Edward said, giving Rian a puzzled look. Rian writhed a little on the sheets and looked plaintively at Edward. "No, they don't."

"Ah," Rian hooked his arm over Edward's shoulders. "Because I really, really want you to plow me right now and I didn't know if that was just my libido or what."

"Oh," Edward said. He couldn't think for a moment. "Even like this?"

There was a spark of hurt in Rian's eyes. "You don't want to-"

"No," Edward said, kissing him quickly. "Hell no, Rian, you're gorgeous just the way you are, cat or no cat."

Rian started purring again, how was Edward meant to resist that? He'd never been the cat person, that was always Alphonse - Edward had lost count of the times he'd woken up to a cat sleeping between his feet, or on his shoulder, or beside his head on the pillow, a purring sodden mess that occasionally had fleas. He'd be forced to stare down Alphonse's sad, empty eyes in the armor, and that almost-pathetic "Please, brother?"

Rian closed his eyes, purring still, and turned his face in to Edward's hand, which made his fingers brush over one tufted, black ear. Edward hesitated a moment, but Rian didn't flick the ear away so Edward stroked it, gently, between two fingers. It was soft, like velvet - and warm, just like Rian. Edward shifted his automail hand and ran it gently down Rian's jaw, before turning his head up so Edward could kiss him again.

There had been so much stress over the last few days, more than a full month's worth crammed in to such a small time period but all of it seemed inconsequential next to this, here and now. Edward could feel the vibrations of the purring down his throat as he kissed Rian, slowly and tenderly, still stroking his free hand through Rian's hair and over his ears.

When they parted Rian took a great, gulping breath and the purring, for the moment, stilled. Edward just looked at him, eyes searching his face quietly as Rian considered everything about this. There was a storm of emotions behind those slate eyes and Edward knew he had to let Rian come to his own decision.

Rian lifted the hand that had been thrown careless above his head and put it gently on the back of Edward's, searching out the base of his tight ponytail and too-sharp fingernails (or were they really claws, now?) slicing through the hair tie and letting Edward's long, blond hair loose. Edward smiled down at Rian as his hair settled, spilling forth over his shoulders now freed from the hair tie. "You're going to ruin all my hair ties, you brat."

Rian grinned up at him, his teeth disconcertingly sharp. His pink sandpaper tongue traced those too-sharp teeth gently as he studied Edward thoughtfully. "You can always make more," he said finally, his hand still firm on the back of Edward's head. "At least I haven't shredded your draperies, yet."

Edward laughed. "You've been thinking about it, though, I see."

Rian released Edward's head and lifted his hand to put it in front of Edward's face. His fingernails now came to sharp points, but not unnaturally so - it was almost as if the shape of his fingers had changed to accommodate the claws. "They don't retract, and they, I don't know, itch or something. I feel the need to dig them into anything and everything." Rian made a fist, and then looked at his fingers again. "It's so weird - all of it is."

Edward brushed his lips over Rian's cheek, feeling where the nearly-translucent whiskers lay. "I know," he murmured softly. "And I'm sorry."

"Well, don't be," Rian said, affectionately cuffing the side of Edward's head. "This isn't your fault - you weren't the one who thought they were being clever going in the side door and not watching where they were going." Rian exhaled thoughtfully. "There wasn't even anyone there to activate the transmutation circle, just the act of my walking onto it forced the reaction. There's got to be something in that fact somewhere that we can use - I mean, transmutation circles aren't designed to be activated unawares."

Edward lifted his head and stared at Rian, and Rian almost flinched at the expression. "What?"

"Say that again."

"What part?"

Edward was starting to get up off of his knees. "The circle activated just by you stepping on it? That's impossible. There has to be conscious will behind transmutation, it doesn't just happen."

"I was paying attention to my surroundings, at least to the point where my skull rearranged," Rian said, getting up on his elbows and watching Edward on his feet. Edward was on to something, he was pacing beside the bed, as if frantic activity would make the thoughts flow faster. "There was no one else there, just the animals in their cages." He frowned. "What are you thinking?"

"The animals, what happened to them? Were their cages moved or were they just all taken by Intel?"

Rian's brow furrowed as he thought. "I was a little distracted," he said pointedly. "But I think that they took everything."

There was something there, just beyond Edward's perception. He was used to thinking outside the box, it was usually how he was successful. And right now he was circling something, but hadn't quite figured out the solution. "I've got to - I gotta call someone," Edward said, stopping abruptly in the middle of the floor. He turned completely around and walked to the door.

"Are we going to have sex?" Rian called after him, a little put-off.

"Yes! Well, maybe - yes," Edward responded, out of sight. "I just, I don't want to lose this thought, I'll be right back."

It turned out that "being right back" was almost forty-five minutes later. Rian had sat on the bed for ten minutes, before walking out to the den where Edward was sitting hunched at his desk, verbally berating someone (probably Russell) through the phone line. Good, that prick deserved it. Rian disliked Russell less on principle and more because he let Rian go and get himself turned into a half-cat mutant chimera freak just as a fucking distraction. Hell, he hated Russell. Edward disliked him as well but seemed to think the man was useful, Rian just wanted to kick him in the face.

After listening to the Edward-talking-so-fast-because-he-was-on-to-something-that-he-wasn't-pausing-to-breathe kick for a minute, Rian decided that maybe he should go look for something to eat.

This whole… cat thing still took getting used to. He could hear so much better now; every drip of water from the tap, the creaking of pipes, the patter of mice in the walls (something best not mentioned to Edward, there were even odds he'd go on an epic extermination tour and Rian would be left to clean up the destruction … besides, now he had something to legitimately stalk if any of those furry basards dared to show a whisker while he was home) - all of it was a symphony concocted for his ears only. Here at home Rian had finally started to relax, so he let his ears stand at attention. It was easier than forcefully flattening them against his skull, when he did that for too long he gave himself headaches. He let one ear swivel back so he could continue to listen in on Edward's breathless, ranty conversation while he raided the icebox.

His sense of smell was intense, but for some reason it was easier for him to ignore that. There was very little to eat in the icebox - he'd been peckish earlier in the day but now he was starving - he sighed and stared at the empty shelves, willing something to appear. Edward didn't like going to the grocer, that was usually one of Rian's many chores; and being on house arrest meant that they had no food.

Both of his ears flicked back without his input and Rian tensed to jump, just as Edward put his hand on Rian's shoulder. "Relax," Edward murmured, and Rian tried to, his senses on edge. "Sorry about that."

Rian glanced over his shoulder at Edward, eyes narrowed. Edward seemed more relaxed, more open… he didn't smell upset or as excited, although he was definitely still aroused. "What was that all about?"

Edward kissed the side of his head. "That alchemist, the one who left the rigged transmutation circle, killed himself yesterday."

"WHAT!" Rian yelped and tried to twitch away from Edward, but Edward had a firm grip on him. "Why didn't you tell me before, fuck-"

Edward released him as Rian spun, his temper flaring with his claws. Edward took a step back, hands out. "Mostly because you would freak out like this."

"That's IMPORTANT, Ed, fuck, if he's dead than how the fuck am I going to get back to normal?" Rian's tail was thrashing with his anger, he snarled in frustration and tried not to let it twitch but that was almost impossible. Edward backed up again, this time to lean against the counter.

"We're going to fix you," Edward said firmly. "I am going to fix you. I have every confidence that we'll fix this, Rian." He didn't approach Rian though, watching him warily - and with a jolt Rian realized that the strange, acrid smell that had crept into his scent was fear.

Edward was afraid of him.

That's why he wasn't getting any closer. That's why he had backed off. Rian swallowed suddenly, his tail going still. Had he meant any of it? If he was afraid of Rian … maybe he was actually disgusted by him, too.

Almost every instinct in Rian's body said for him to run. To bolt out that door and escape into the night, but there was something holding him back. The fact that he knew that Edward loved him; despite any of this, he knew that. Even if Edward was disgusted by him he'd never outwardly show it, he'd never shrink away from Rian because of that.

After all, even Rian flinched away the first time he saw Edward with his arm off.

Rian sat suddenly, dropping into a crouch so that his butt nearly touched the floor. The abruptness of the maneuver startled Edward, but Rian hung his head and wrapped his arms around his knees. "I hate this," he said miserably, his ears back and his eyes on the floor, his dark bangs acting as blinders so he didn't have to look at Edward. "I hate this so much. Why can't things go back to normal?"

There was a long moment of silence, and then Edward crouched down beside Rian, putting his arm over Rian's shoulders and tilting his head in. "I know," he said softly. "I know, I'm sorry, we'll fix this, Rian, you just have to trust me."

"I already trust you," Rian said miserably, still focused on the floor. "It's everyone else I don't trust."

Edward kissed the side of his head. "Come on, now," he said softly. "You don't want to sit on the kitchen floor all night, do you?"

He lifted his head and looked at Edward, trying to gauge his intent. Edward lifted his hand and, gently, started stroking it through Rian's hair, fingertips just barely brushing his ears. Rian closed his eyes and laid his head on Edward's shoulder, trying to resist the urge to start purring and mostly failing. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess," he mumbled into Edward's shoulder.

"Hey, you're doing better than I would be," Edward reassured him quietly.

Rian couldn't help but smile at that thought. "You would probably be sitting in jail, or the laboratory by now because you would have hauled off and mauled someone."

"Well… yes."

He laughed and looked up at Edward, purring for real now. "I love you," he said said, and Edward kissed his temple.

Rian was surprisingly lighter like this, and Edward couldn't figure out why. His stature hadn't changed, but maybe there was something different about the build of a cat that lent it to a lighter body weight, but he was able to scoop Rian into his arms with little difficulty. Rian wrapped his arms around Edward's neck, still purring, and buried his face in Edward's shoulder.

He'd been able to talk to Russell, and Russell was going to return to the warehouse they'd found the alchemist in with some photography equipment and see if there were any other transmutation circles they'd missed. Dual-activating arrays was something Edward had fiddled with at one point in time, but that was back in his on-the-road days with Alphonse, and there were bigger things to worry about at the time so the research had gotten shoved aside and he'd never gone back to it. But if someone else had done it; that would mean that there was possibly an intact version of the transmutation circle still in the warehouse, and that there was an accomplice out there somewhere still.

More than anything Edward wanted to go check that scene out himself, right now, but … there were more important things here. He knew that Rian was unsettled; a bundle of raw emotions and as much as Edward wanted to put this right by him, Rian needed him here, more.

He laid Rian on the bed and Rian immediately curled up on his side, back to Edward. Edward didn't want to bang around in the dark to the other side of the bed but he would need to, switching the light on would probably be painful to Rian with his light-sensitive eyes. Edward started in on the buttons of his shirt, content tonight to sleep in his trousers.

Strangely, he could feel Rian's eyes on him in the darkness. Maybe it wasn't all that strange, he knew Rian could see better than he could but it was unsettling all the same. Edward tossed his rumpled shirt in the direction of the chair, and crawled into bed next to Rian, exhausted.

When Rian rolled over on top of him, still purring, Edward … stopped. Rian straddled his lap, the soft purr deep in his throat as he leaned down and sniffed Edward. It was a strange sensation, Rian making a whuffling sound as he inhaled Edward's scent, working from his hairline down to his slightly open mouth, before Rian's tongue darted out and he kissed Edward, tentatively.

Edward hesitantly put his hands on Rian's hips as they kissed, but Rian didn't twitch away. He tried to broadcast his thoughts to Rian in case telepathy was one of the new perks in his toolkit, and Rian lifted his head and Edward could almost sense him frowning. "Are you okay?" Rian asked, his voice gone husky.

"I feel like I should be the one asking you that," Edward murmured in response, stroking up and down Rian's leg with his fingertips.

"I'm fine," Rian's tongue was like sandpaper on his cheek and he ran it down Edward's throat, making Edward's skin jump at the unexpected roughness. "Just, really horny. We are going to do something about that, right?"

Edward dug his fingers into Rian's hips, resisted the urge to roll them right then and there. "You bet we are," he husked, and he knew now that Rian was smiling.