Yay for another update! And you didn't even have to wait long for it! I'd been planning to update over the weekend, but I was just too sick to type. I'm still sick, but not as bad. I didn't even get out of bed Saturday. Stupid cold…Anyway! I hope you enjoy the update! Finally, some Roy and Ed interaction!
Also, if you like one-shots, I've got a new story up called And I Quote. I'm writing a bunch of one-shots with any genre or pairing based on quotes I find or people send to me, and I update it every week. Check it out!
Disclaimer: Uhh…Yeah, the disclaimer well is dry. I don't own anything. Let's go with that…yeah.
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Roy stared at the sleeping figure in the bed, his new responsibility. Sure he'd taken care of the boys on occasion, but only ever in small ways. The most he'd ever done on a larger scale was bring Ed some medicine when he was sick. Otherwise, the boy could take care of himself…so how had it come to this?
Ed turned and made an unhappy sound in his sleep. Roy felt pity for the boy, something Roy knew he hated. Perhaps he wouldn't mind it under the circumstances? One thing Roy did know for sure was that there was no way Ed had been in a right state of mind at the time. Roy wasn't sure who he felt more pity for, Al for being the victim, or Ed for the emotions he must be feeling right now.
But what's done is done; there's no way to change it.
"What are you doing here?"
Roy jumped a bit. He hadn't realized Ed was awake.
"Just came to check on you," Roy said calmly. Yes, he was nervous about telling Edward about his new living arrangements, but he wasn't about to show him that. "How're you doing?"
Ed raised an eyebrow. The colonel was acting uncharacteristically kind. "Be a lot better if everyone would leave me alone."
"Doubt that." Roy didn't let himself think about what would happen if Ed was left alone now. Ed only glared. "So no shouting contest today?" He only barely contained the short joke.
"We both know you didn't come in here just to talk. Say what you wanna say and leave."
"Alright," Roy said putting on his usual smug face, "if you really want to know." This only angered Ed further. Roy was beginning to think he liked Ed better in the shell. "Everyone, myself included, feels that it wouldn't be a good idea to let you live by yourself right now-" Roy raised a hand to stop Ed from cutting in, "and since you obviously don't want to let your mechanic know anything right now, I've been given the responsibility to watch over you. You'll move in today as soon as you're released."
"No way am I living with a bastard like you!" Finally, a glimpse of the old Ed.
"You don't think we'd let you stay anywhere on your own right now, do you? What was it you told Hawkeye? Al's not the one I should have killed? Was that it?"
Ed lowered his head in guilt but didn't remove his stare from Roy. "But why you?"
"Trust me, I didn't volunteer. No one else could. I don't believe we asked Major Armstrong if he could. Would you like me to ask? I'm positive he wouldn't mind. So who would you rather stay with, me or him?"
Ed mumbled something that Roy was sure wasn't very polite. Ed knew Roy's only intent was on making Ed say that he wanted to stay with him. "…You."
"Well then, I suppose I should be going now. The guest room needs some work."
"You're awfully cheery," Ed said, a hint of accusation in his voice.
Roy froze. Had Ed just accused him of not caring about Al's death? Had he really come off that way? He churned the thoughts around in his head, searching for just the right words to say. If he really was to be in charge of Ed, it was time to turn the parental switch on. Just acting as superior officer and subordinate wasn't going to cut it anymore. Not now, anyway.
"Ed…"Roy said slowly, testing the name. This wasn't Fullmetal in front of him, it was Ed. "Don't assume that just because a person isn't crying that they aren't mourning. All people handle death differently. Everyone that knew Al is sad. We've just lost an important member of our team, but time isn't going to stop for us. Everyone's mourning, but we're also worried about you. I don't know if you meant what you said, but we can't take any risks. We don't want to lose another one of you."
Roy turned and left the room to let Ed rest and think. Hughes was waiting on the other side of the door.
"I'd say you handled that very well," Hughes said with a grin as they walked down the hall. "Didn't know you had such great paternal instincts."
"I think I said it more for myself," Roy answered. "It's true that we're all acting rather cheery. Has our time in the military really corrupted our hearts and minds so bad that we don't even mourn long for the ones we care about?"
"You know," Hughes said, "you can't really help Ed all that much if you come unhinged yourself. I know just the thing that will help!" Roy groaned as he knew what was coming next. In the next second, he found a very familiar face in his own face. One thing was for sure, no one would ever forget what Elysia looked like.
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"Ready to go?" Roy asked Ed.
Ed didn't answer. Instead, he shuffled reluctantly to the door. Roy followed close behind and led him out to the car where Ed plopped down in the passenger seat. Roy took the driver's side and started what he was sure would be a very quiet drive home. Every now and then, he would glance at Ed. Ed never reacted. He just simply stared out the window in a trance-like state. The ride remained uneventful.
"Here we are," Roy said as they pulled up to a one-story house with a weathered fence around the yard. "This is your new, temporary home."
"This isn't home," Ed grumbled as he got out of the car. Roy chose not to answer. Instead, he grabbed Edward's suitcase and led him inside.
Ed looked around the first room they entered. It was a living room. There was a couch and chairs sitting around a coffee table in the middle of the room. On one wall, there was a fireplace, and on the opposite wall, there was a giant book shelf. Other than that, the room was fairly empty, but what else would be expected of a single man who was hardly ever home. To the left was an archway that led to a kitchen, and straight ahead, next to the book shelf, was a hallway with three doors. After giving Ed a minute to take everything in, Roy walked toward the hallway. Ed followed silently.
"The room on the left is the guest room," Roy said signaling to the door. "That's the room you'll be using. The room on the right is mine. The room straight ahead is the bathroom." Roy set Ed's suitcase down in front of the door. "Make yourself at home."
"Never would have imagined a colonel living in such a small house," Ed said as he picked up his suitcase.
"Suits me fine. What do you want for dinner?"
"Drop the nice act already," Ed said with a glare. "You're no good at it."
"Edward," Roy warned, "just because we're in my house doesn't mean that I'm not still your commanding officer. You could maybe try to show a little respect."
"Then I quit. There, you aren't my commanding officer anymore."
"Fine, but I'm still an adult, and you're just a kid so you still have to show respect."
"Bastard." Ed walked into his room and slammed the door before Roy could say a word.
"Silly me," Roy sighed, "what was I thinking? Edward show respect to anyone? Never."
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"Dinner's ready," Roy said through the door.
"Not coming."
"Yes, you are." Roy pounded on the door.
"I'm not hungry!"
"I know you are. You haven't eaten anything all day." Roy opened the door which he had made sure couldn't be locked. Ed was sitting in bed with an alchemy book. By his red eyes, he looked like he'd been crying for awhile.
"Go away. I told you I'm not hungry."
"And I told you you're lying."
"How would you know?"
"Because you're always hungry." Ed cursed his stomach for taking that moment to growl. "See?"
"I'll eat tomorrow. I don't want to right now."
"I didn't ask if you wanted to."
"Get out!"
Roy barely dodged the book that was thrown at his head. He calmly picked it up and set it on the foot of the bed.
"It'll still be there if you change your mind," Roy said as he left the room. As soon as the door was closed, he sighed heavily. "Why me?"
Roy was about to sit down and enjoy his dinner alone like he usually did when the phone rang. He groaned a bit and got up to answer it.
"Hello?" he asked irritably.
"Yo, Roy!" came the voice of Hughes. "How's your first day playing the parent going?"
"You couldn't have waited to ask me that?"
"Hey, I was just curious to see if you're still sane."
"It's only been two hours…two hours that he's stayed in his room for, I might add."
"Lucky you. So have you decided what you're going to do yet?"
"You mean about Wentworth? I'm not sure what to do. He's obviously not better, but…"
"I know, it's hard to just send him away like that. What do you think is best?"
"Honestly, I don't think sending him back will do much good. It obviously didn't help the first time. I think the best thing right now is to just watch him and keep a close eye on him. If things get worse, we'll reconsider."
"Sounds good to me! Hey, I have to go now. Elysia's calling. Good luck with Ed!"
Roy hung up but didn't move for the moment. He glanced at the doorway to Ed's room.
"I wonder if I made the right choice…"
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Strangest thing happened to me in this chapter. Normally, once I sit down and start writing, I finish the chapter in one sitting, but it took three this time. It was kinda writer's block but kinda not. I knew what I wanted to write, I just didn't want to write it. It was weird. Anyway, I meant to get this chapter up yesterday, but I got one of the Fullmetal Alchemist novels and yeah…it didn't get posted. But I hope you enjoyed it. I promise something will actually happen in the next chapter! Until next time!
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