Thursday

Thursday morning, Hawkeye watched as the short blond alchemist dragged himself towards her. It appeared that he had a long night, and she could only imagine after eating all that food the day before. She wouldn't have been surprised if he ended up on the toilet all night with an upset stomach just based on the knowledge of how much food he had consumed.

That or he had slept all day and now was extremely tired. He had been sleeping all week though, so maybe it was finally catching up?

Something told her that wasn't the case though, as she watched him stop before and let out a loud sigh. "Ed? Are you okay?"

A yawn erupted from Ed, while one of hands lifted to paw at an eye. "I didn't really sleep last night.." Came the mumbled answer. His fingers began fiddling with his hair, taking out the sloppy braid and re-braiding it a second later in one just as messy. Paying no mind to it, his head tilted up as he waited for Hawkeye to tell him what he'd be doing today.

"Oh? You should have listened to Breda. He warned you not to eat all that food."

With a sigh, the blond shook his head and corrected Hawkeye, "It wasn't the food. I had a nightmare. I couldn't fall back asleep after it.." He wasn't about to elaborate on what the dream was about, though. It wasn't all that uncommon for him to have nightmares though, and usually they were plagued by Homunculi and a splattered Nina Chimera on a brick wall, along with various other things that would haunt anyone of his young age if they saw it.

Lifting a hand, Ed scratched at the side of his head and mumbled to himself. "I need my comfort Roy."

Blinking a few times, Hawkeye remained silent as she tried to figure out what to say after hearing what she could have sworn was a confession of missing the General. It definitely wasn't everyday that Ed said something so blunt. Reaching out, she gave Ed a small pat on the shoulder, "Just a few more days." She reassured him.

There was a tired grumble of agreement, followed by a whiny reply, "Those girls are lucky I don't go and hunt them down myself. Even I don't get to bug Mustang endlessly for a full week, including the weekends. He'd probably lock me out Tuesday night and leave me out in the rain like the cruel bastard he is."

Hawkeye couldn't help but chuckle, "Not so loud, Sir. Someone might here you and think you're sick and they'll want to put you in a mental hospital."

"I'd just alchemy my way out and find Mustang and kick his ass. It's all his fault anyways."

Shaking her head at the love sick boy, she began walking back down the hall, Ed stomping along beside her and still mumbling to himself. "So, today you'll be cleaning an old room with Falman and Fuery. You can ask Falman or Fuery what they want you to do; I believe they're already in the room getting cleaning supplies ready." Stopping by a door, she opened it and motioned Edward inside of it. "Have fun."

As soon as Edward had shuffled into the room, she shut the door behind him and made her way towards Mustang's office. She had the urge to call the General and tell him what had just happened. After all, she was a girl, and couldn't pass up the chance to gossip! After that she'd have to find Havoc and tell him too. Then she had to get back to work.

Would gathering photos of Ed be considered work, though?

------

Watching as the scenery outside the window began to slow, the trees and grass becoming more visible as the train started to come to a stop at the station. As it came to a stop, Roy noticed a familiar pair of blonds standing outside the train, patiently waiting for the man inside the train.

"Hey, hey Winry! I think I see the General!"

"I think you're right, Al!"

Chuckling to himself, Roy rose from his seat and followed the crowd out the train. Making a straight beeline for the awaiting blonds, he smiled and greeted them, "Thanks again for helping me out."

"Oh its no problem! Don't mention it. Anything to make our Ed happy! It's a shame that he couldn't come along. He hasn't been here in ages! Maybe I'll come back with you and remind him myself.." The wrench goddess ranted, as the trio began walking back towards the house.

"Oh, no, it's fine really. I guarantee he's going through hell back in Central right now."

"What'd you do to brother! He's okay, isn't he?!" Al piped up, thinking the worst, of course. His worried eyes looking up at Roy, waiting anxiously for an answer from him.

"Don't worry, he's fine. I talked to Hawkeye earlier on the phone when I called to see how he was doing. Apparently yesterday he ate most the canteen and then had a nightmare last night."

"Sounds like Ed alright.."

"I always told brother that he shouldn't stuff his face before going to sleep! It's not healthy!"

A nod of agreement, and Roy fell quiet as he listened to the pair talk away between themselves. Every now and then they'd ask him a question, but for the most part he stayed quiet. It didn't bother him in the slightest, as he walked along towards the house.

When they finally arrived, Winry and Al set off to bring out all the pictures they had found over the past day or so after receiving the call from Roy asking for help. While he waited, Roy took a seat on their couch and filled Pinako in on everything going on in Central, along with Edward. There wasn't much to tell though, as Central had quieted down for the most part. That's if the fights between Ed and himself were excluded.

A knock on the door caused his attention to turn, eyes fixing on it as it opened not a second later and a tall woman walked inside. Her head turned, mouth opening to say something when she spotted Mustang on the couch. Oh did she have some things to say to that man before he left the house.

Al suddenly busted into the room, rushing over and engulfing the woman in a tight hug. "Teacher! You're here!"

Izumi chuckled softly, returning the hug before dropping a bag into the young boy's arms suddenly. "These are the pictures I could find of you when you were under my care.." She explained, while following Al over to the living room and taking a seat beside Mustang.

Before she could even say a word, Mustang felt a death glare burrowing into the side of his head. Things had been going so well! All of a sudden he felt like he was about to go under massive investigation and questioning by Al and the three females. Riza had been right when she had warned him about putting himself in such a dangerous position. Things were about to get serious.

"Now that he's under your care, Mustang..I'd like to ask you a few questions. Especially with the recent changes in your relationship with Edward.." The woman started, her eyes relentlessly glaring at the man she sat beside.

A wrench was suddenly being waved in front of Roy's face, causing him to give his undivided attention to the blond waving it at him. "I swear to god, Roy, if you harm one hair on his head I'll shove this so far up that ass of yours that you—"

"I'll bring back brother myself! I'll lock him away and you'll never see him again!"

A groan escaped Roy as he ran a hand through his long hair. "I knew this was going to happen.." When he got back to Central, he'd have to tell Hawkeye to never let him go on a suicide mission ever again. This was insane. Would he even make it out alive? Roy could only imagine everyone laughing at him while he begged for someone to come save him from the angry mob of Ed's loved ones.

"Well? We're waiting, Mustang." Winry grumbled, poking the man in the nose with her wrench.

Al leaned forward, getting awful close into Roy's personal space. "You loveee him, don't you!" A grin grew on his lips as he playfully began poking at Roy's side with a finger. "You do, don't you!"

Lifting a hand, Mustang coughed into it as he tried to hide his embarrassment. "I assure you I don't mean any harm.." Hopefully they'd believe him, so the topic could change and he could slip away unharmed from all of this. He had expected them to be protective, but this was just too much to take at one time. Roy glanced down at the finger that was still prodding at his ribs and tried scooting away from it. Unfortunately that just put him closer to Izumi.

Smacking Roy on the head with her fist, Izumi frowned as Roy scooted closer to her. "How do we know you aren't just lying? Using him for your own gain?"

A murmur of agreement filled the room, all eyes remaining on the man under investigation.

Roy winced at the fist hitting his head, but thanked god that it wasn't Ed's automail. "Do you think I'd walk into this, knowing you'd interrogate me, for someone I didn't really care about? It's almost suicide. Just to get some pictures, too." A sigh fled his lips, his head shaking. "The things I do for that boy."

The group casted each other loops, as if a silent language was being spoken between them at that very moment. The wrench still being waved in front of Roy's face was pulled away as Winry dropped it back into her pocket. Al leaned away, walking over and taking a seat on the floor nearby.

"You're right. I think we're the reason nobody ever took a chance at dating Ed. You've got guts." Winry concluded, flashing the General a smirk before her attention turned towards the photos scattered all over the table. Al had begun looking through them already, chuckling occasionally as he found one that was cute.

Roy let out a sigh of relief, feeling as though he wanted to melt right there on the spot and disappear. Girls were crazy. That's all there was to it. They changed moods so fast that it left him confused and wondering what the hell had just happened. At least they were off his back for now, and they could get to business.

"Aren't you risking a lot, General? Having a relationship with Ed is dangerous, right?" Al asked, lifting his attention from all the pictures he was looking at.

Nodding his head, Roy grabbed some pictures and pulled them closer to inspect them. "Yes. That's why only a handful of people know. It's also why I can't just take him out on Saturday.."

"Well, I think its cute. I mean..what you're doing. I wish I could be there to see his face on Saturday." Winry chimed in, shoving a few photos at Roy, "These are cute!"

Taking the photos in question, Roy looked them over while answering Winry. "I'm not sure you'd want to. I'm sure Saturdays going to be full of lots of screaming. From what Hawkeye told me, he's started taking out his anger on everyone else. Havoc got tackled the other day.." Reaching up, he rubbed at the side of his head and sighed softly. "I can feel a lump already.."

"Who knows! Maybe brother will be so happy he won't try and kill you for leaving him alone for a week!"

"One can only hope."