BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

A loud groan sounded as a red gloved hand danced around the side table, searching for the source of the noise. Eventually a finger-tip found its way on top of the alarm, and tapped the top.

BEE-

Once the noise was gone, a small sigh left the figure laying in the bed. Sitting up slowly, long, golden hair moved out of his face, and draped around his suit. Ed moved a gloved hand up to his head, and trailed it down his face. After a moment of peace, Ed cracked his eyes open, and blinked away the grogginess that still hung over his head.

Feet hit the ground as blankets were tossed to the side, leaving the bed in a complete and utter mess. Ed shook his head, moving his hand down his chest, and then his stomach. His bed wasn't the only thing that was a mess. Holes, rips, and tears littered the blue and red suit, revealing cuts, scrapes and gashes underneath. Sure, they had healed overnight – it was part of his DNA now to heal much quicker – but the skin was still tender, leaving his body sensitive, and sore.

The blonde student trudged his way over to the mirror, where he could fully assess himself. "Shit," He laughed, running another hand through his grimy hair as he took in the horrific sight before him. His neck was an entirely different shade of color than his skin, black, blue, and gray bruises running all along his neck, a hand-print almost visible among them. Something makeup definitely couldn't fix.

"Fuckin' hate turtlenecks." He mumbled to himself as he snatched a thick, black turtleneck from his closet. He threw it onto his bed, and peeled the suit off of his body as gingerly as possible, small hisses and murmurs of protest leaving the teen's mouth during the process. Once all of his clothes were removed, he snatched a towel from the closet, and trudged towards the bathroom for his shower.

"Elric!"

A blonde head jerked up from the wooden table, a small noise escaping his lips as he resurfaced into consciousness. "Hunn..?" He asked vaguely, golden eyes blinking away his blurry world.

Prominent footsteps became closer and louder as Ed shook himself out of his previous state, doing his best to fix himself. As he began to sit up straight, a thick book slapped the top of his head, causing him to yell louder than usual. "What?" He hissed, his eyes darting up to meet the furious blue eyes of his professor.

"What did I tell you yesterday, Edward?" Growled the young professor, his teeth clenched in an effort to keep his temper under control. Surely the young student hadn't already forgot about their discussion already, or was he just that shallow?

Grunting, Ed rubbed the top of his head, feeling a bump begin to form where the hardback book had struck him. "No, professor." He mumbled, his tone obviously insincere as he began to rest his head back down on the table. Today, he just didn't have it in him.

"Elric, I mean it."

"Yeah, and so do I. Kay?" He huffed, straining his voice as he tried to keep the pain out of his voice.

With an eyebrow now raised, Mustang let his dark eyes sweep over the small frame of his student, noting the unusual clothing, not to mention the behavior. Taking note of this, he tore his eyes off of the blonde-haired student, and began to descend down the rows of stairs, back down to his chalkboard. "I will see you after class, Edward." He announced firmly, before taking another piece of chalk in hand to continue his lecture.

With a restrained groan, Ed raised his hand up in the air, signaling a thumbs up to the professor before he let it fall down on the desk with a thump. "Fuckin' bastard." He mumbled, before hauling his head back up in an attempt to watch professor Mustang finish his lecture.

Once again, Mustang had finished his lecture, dismissing everybody with a closing statement of, "and I expect those essay's to be handed into me tomorrow morning, no exceptions." With the last remaining shuffles of the students exiting the door, Ed and his professor were left alone in the silent, blank room.

"Come down here." The ebony-haired instructor called.

Reluctantly, Edward complied as he slung his book-bag onto his right shoulder, the rattle of his belongings within echoing in the vacant classroom. "Where else did you think I was gonna go?" murmured the blonde-haired teen, who was now stepping down the rows of seats and desks, and towards his professor. "Up?" He joked, a small smirk leaving his lips as he watched his professor's face contort with confusion, and a hint of another emotion.

"If you had, that would have been rather interesting," the professor murmured, eyeing Ed as he approached him. Something was poking out of the top of Ed's turtleneck, some kind of discoloration, it looked. Roy's eyebrows raised as he tried to get a closer look, but by the time he'd begun to focus on the matter, it was invisible, covered by the blonde's long, loose hair. Clearing his throat, Mustang shook the thought out of his head.

"You do remember the conversation we had yesterday, yes?" Roy repeated as a hand moved up to brush a few loose strands of hair out of his face.

"Yeah. No sleeping, and not paying attention in class. I told you, already, I remember." Ed groaned, straining his voice to show the lack of seriousness he had in this conversation.

"Yes, that's been made clear to me. I want to talk about your sleeping schedule."

Ed stiffened.

"You're always sleeping in my class. It can't just be boredom that's causing you to fall asleep. Is everything alright?" asked Roy, his eyebrows furrowing now as he waited for an answer from the teen.

Biting his lip, Ed glanced around the classroom, his mind spinning as he tried to come up with a logical excuse. What would make sense for his lack of sleep that wouldn't give away what was actually going on? Clearing his throat, he decided to wing it. "It's just all the studying I do for my other classes," He lied, a nod following his explanation. "I stay up pretty late almost every night writing and studying the material." He sucked in a breath. "Nothing to worry about, really."

Nodding, Roy put a hand to his chin as he took in Edward's words. "I see. Well, as long as it's not anything serious, then I suppose I shouldn't need to call counseling or anything—"

"Nah, I'm good, really." How long was this going to go on? And why the sudden interest in his sleeping patterns? Professor Mustang was never one to personally care for his students. Then again, when had he ever had a student that slept in his class almost 24/7? Ed assumed he probably never had.

After a second of silence, Ed huffed, and shrugged his back-pack further onto his shoulder. "Well, I've got some work to do, don't wanna be up to late, y'know?" With a half-hearted grin, Ed turned his body towards the door of the classroom. "Be seeing you, professor." Ed told professor Mustang as he neared the door. "Don't worry about me, really." And with that, the golden-haired student was gone.

Sighing, Roy ran a hand through his hair, and let it slide down the back of his neck, before falling back into place beside his body. Something was definitely off about that kid, but Roy didn't want to come off as prying. Besides, he thought, he had his own matters to attend to. Slowly, he began to make his way back towards his desk, letting out a yawn as he thought about the stacks of papers waiting to be graded on his desk. He'd be at this for a while.