(A/N: Told ya I'd update soon. Enjoy and review. Haha, did you know that 'hübscher' means handsome one in german? So as to not confuse you, I'll be refering to Roy Mustang as 'Mustang' and the otherworld!Roy as 'Roy'…)

Chapter 2: The Official Chapter 1

Alphonse Elric had just bought groceries and was on his way home, struggling to balance the 4 bags but, unfortunately, he dropped them. A soft chuckle came from above him as somebody started to help him pick the groceries up. Al looked up to see the smiling face of Roy Hübscher, this side of the gate's version of Roy Mustang.

"Ah! Mr. Hübscher. Thank you."

"Call me Roy, and it's not a problem. We are neighbours, after all." Roy smiled warmly at Al.

Al smiled back at him as Roy picked up two of the bags and helped him carry them. Roy was Ed and Al's neighbour, but so far, neither Roy nor Ed knew the other existed. Ed preferred to stay locked in the house except for the early hours of the morning when Ed would practice sparring or when Ed needed to hand in his research reports (Ed works as a researcher, suits him, right?). Roy mostly came out in the later hours of the morning, therefore, the two never met. Al didn't tell Ed about Roy because he knew it would pain his brother.

But when Al arrived home, the door was locked.

"BRUDER (Brother in German)!!!!" Al screeched.

Roy raised an eyebrow. "You have a brother?"

Al blinked. "Oh. I never told you did I, Roy? Yes, I have an older brother, Ed."

Al sighed. "I told him to leave the door unlocked." He sighed again. "He didn't respond. That means he's probably in the backyard… You can just put the stuff down here, Roy." Then Al went 'round to the back, with Roy following behind him, to find his brother sparring in backyard like he had earlier guessed. (A/N: Ed and Al are the same height, I forgot to mention, but Ed is still kinda short for his age.) Ed was wearing nothing but his boxers and he was flipping about, kicking and punching and whatnot. After a bit, he fell to the ground panting lightly, a thin layer of sweat covering his body. He looked up then stood, and Roy could see his well-toned body. He had perfect abs and his skin was a creamy white colour. His golden blonde hair was tied in a loose braid and muscles lined his arms and legs. All in all, he was very sexy, yes, Roy was gay, though he took care not to let people know.

"Bruder! Why are you only wearing boxers?" Al squeaked.

" 'cause I didn't think anyone would walk in on me while I was sparring… who's he?"

"Oh! Bruder, this is-"

"Oh My God. Al, I'm hurt," Ed exclaimed while Al was just plain confused, "Why didn't you tell me? Don't you know that I'll love you no matter what?"

"B-bruder? What are yo-"

"Al," Ed said, exasperated, "You'll still be my precious baby brother even if you're gay or like older men (Roy's 27), you know…"

Al just gaped at him.

"You!" Ed turned to Roy, startling him. Ed clasped Roy's hands with his own and said solemnly, "I entrust my brother into your, hopefully, capable hands. If you can't cook or clean, that's all right 'cause Al can do both, he's like a little housewife, and it's soo adorable. Take care of him and invite me to your wedding. But if you break his heart," Ed suddenly turned dark, "I'll make sure to break every bone in your body…"

Roy gulped and paled slightly before saying, "We're not together."

It took a while for this to sink in.

"You mean you already broke up with him?!?" Ed ran up to his brother and hugged him tight, "Why didn't you come to me in your moment of weakness and heartbreak?"

"We were never together, Bruder." Ed blinked.

"Oh. You mean… you're NOT gay…"

"Nope."

"I'm terribly sorry about the misunderstanding, Mr…"

"Roy Hübscher, call me Roy."

"… You know that 'Hübscher' means 'handsome one' in German (It really does!)…"

"…Are you hitting on me or are you just being really random?"

"Random."

"…"

Awkward silence.

"Roy, would you like to stay for dinner?" Al piped up.

"Ummm, that would be nice."

Ed went and picked his black tank top off the ground and put it on before he strode towards the front door. When the trio reached the door, they just stood there.

"Why aren't we going in, Bruder?"

"…"

"Bruder?"

"I locked us out…"

"WHAT! What are we supposed to do now?"

"It's all right, Al, I can get us in."

"… You're not making us go through the window, are you?"

"Not at all. Watch." And with that said, Ed kicked in the door.

"… You kicked in our door."

"Yup!"

"I'm not even gonna bother." Al picked up the groceries, Ed picked up the two bags that Roy had been holding earlier.

They stepped inside and Al immediately went to the kitchen to start cooking. Ed walked off somewhere while Roy was examining the inside of the Elric household. Most of the house was filled with piles of books. Some of them were in other languages. Roy just gaped at the amount of books. Ed reappeared and noticed what Roy was staring at.

"Yeah, I have a lot of books."

"But how do you find the book you want? It's so messy."

"Bruder is always messily organized."

"That's an oxymoron."

"True but Bruder can always remember where he put each book. Dinner's ready."

And in the end, no one knew of Ed's inner pain of seeing the Roy of the other side of the gate, except his brother, who could see the pain reflected in Ed's eyes…

(A/N: Yeah… the royxed doesn't start till, like, in the chapter after next, which is chapter 4 or so… Please press the lavender 'Go' button below!)