Sorry for the incredibly long gap between chapters. As you would know should you be following Ember's livejournal (mutant- penguins. livejournal. com, remove the spaces), there were some real life issues that came into play (damn Ember's busy schedule). Also, this chapter was recently inserted because Ember realized she had forgotten a very important part of band camp. So she had to write this entire chapter with minimal time and, she regrets to say, minimal inspiration. So that's why it took so long, in case you were wondering.

Musicluver2012: Ember's really glad. A clarinet player herself, she had to make someone do it. She loves the instrument and thinks it could always use a little more loving.

Arissa-x: Yes, poor Ed. It gets even worse for him, don't you worry. :D

I love Malfoy as a ferret: OMG YES. The saxophones in Ember's band had a shirtless day while she was writing this chapter. Suffice it to say she was drooling. Metaphorically speaking, anyway. As for Ed… shall we say he's a little slow on the uptake?

AnimeAddic5: Ember loves you. She loves everybody who says she's fabulous. See? The world would be a better place if Ember was ruler of the world and everybody said she was fabulous every day. Bwa ha ha.

And now, the chapter you've all been waiting for (made extra long just for you folk who were waiting!):

Chapter 6: Drilling

When Roy arrived the next day he saw the packets. There they were, all stacked up where he and Ed had sorted them earlier. Soon they would be meeting their owners. These were the most important papers a marching band member could have. These were drill sheets.

Luckily the duties for the day would not be excessive. He and Ed would be able to simply stand around most of the time, occasionally assisting a lost freshman who couldn't read the instructions printed on the sheets or making sure arcs did not resemble lines and vice versa. It would be a rather lazy day, and he was looking forward to it.

Soon Roy heard the door open, and he didn't even bother turning around. There was only one person who would be here this early. Sure enough, Ed's voice floated toward him. "Hey." He sounded grumpier than usual—a true feat, since Ed was not a morning person in the least and had a particular hatred for anyone who dared say a word to him before half past eight any morning, be it a weekday or a weekend. Roy had no idea how he handled the first classes of the day on a regular basis.

Roy smirked. This could get interesting. "Run out of coffee?" he commented mildly, still without turning around.

"Couldn't sleep worth shit last night," Ed snarled.

Roy finally turned to see a very tousled Ed dumping heaps of sugar into a very large cup of coffee. "You do realize that not only is that horrible for you, but it won't help in the least, right?"

"Shut up, bastard," Ed growled, but the fury of his words was not evident in his face. He was just too tired to deal with Roy's favorite sport of Ed-baiting. That was a shame, really. But Roy had no intention of stopping.

"Besides, how can you drink that? It's vile. Not to mention that cup's about as tall as you are."

The only things that prevented Ed from snapping were the hand Roy clapped over his mouth and the arm he used to hold Ed's own arms still. It was very amusing, though, watching Ed struggle wildly and his face redden with fury as his eyes flashed and he shouted things made incoherent by the hand on his face.

About thirty seconds later the blond teen had calmed down enough that Roy was willing to tentatively release him and hope he hadn't simply been lying in wait to pounce as soon as Roy's guard was down.

It hadn't; instead, Ed seemed even more exhausted. Hopefully he would get a chance to rest at some point during the day.

Idly wondering what had kept him up in the first place, Roy began to restack the piles of drill sheets in numbers that corresponded with the sizes of the various sections. As soon as Ed became aware of what he was doing about thirty seconds later, he knelt down and began sorting piles as well.

When that chore was done Ed picked up a copy and began to look at it curiously, flipping through pages and referencing the counts with bars of the music he had copies of next to him. "Looks like it'll be good this year," he commented. "I like where the company front is, and of course the drill to the slow song makes about as little sense as it usually does. But overall it looks nice."

Then the door opened again and the marchers began pouring in. Roy sighed and stood up, dragging Ed with him because he looked like he could use the help. It was time to get started.

Ed was furious with himself as they walked out to the parking lot. How could he have let his extreme case of confusion come between him and the good night's sleep he had so desperately needed?

He wasn't sure. Just like he wasn't sure how exactly he was going to get through the day with the scant half hour of sleep he had gotten. Just like he wasn't sure how to get rid of the confusion that still lingered despite his exhaustion.

Lazily he handed out drill to the section leaders so they could pass it out to their sections. As soon as he thought he could get away with it, he sat down at the edge of the lot and laid back, staring up at the fascinating cloud formations in the sky.

He didn't expect to be poked thirty seconds after he had sat down. "You can sleep later. We need to get them started," an all-too-familiar voice said.

"Wasn't sleeping," he protested sleepily.

"I'm sure you weren't," Roy replied sarcastically as he hauled Ed up for the second time that morning. Ed sincerely hoped Roy missed the blush he was sure was painted across his cheeks; when he was sleepy he had even less control over his facial expressions than he normally did.

"I wasn't and you know it. Now shut up and let's get this thing over with." Yes, he thought. Let's get this thing over with so I can get away from you as fast as possible and maybe get a little sleep while I'm at it.

There was not exactly a set time at which they would leave this practice. Instead, they would leave after a certain amount of the drill had been set. Ed rather hoped it would happen quickly.

It certainly seemed to be going well. The freshmen this year had remembered the brief information session on how to read drill and seemed to have minimal difficulties that were easily resolved by section leaders. The only problem was the difference between an arc and a line.

The poor marchers could not seem to tell the difference between the curves in the drill and the straight lines to save their lives. Granted, it was the first day, so it wasn't too unexpected. However, the constant setting and resetting just seemed to make the day even longer for Ed.

When they finally reached a water break Ed flopped down onto a small patch of grass wearily. He wasn't sure just how much longer he could go on—and practice had only been going on for an hour and a half or so. What on earth was wrong with him?

He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he certainly knew who to blame: the dark-haired older teen that was walking his way.

He wasn't quite sure exactly what happened when Roy got there, though—he was in a daze of exhaustion. He did know that they talked a little. He also knew that soon enough he fell asleep, passing out from sheer exhaustion.

To be honest, Roy wasn't all that surprised when Ed couldn't reply to anything he said with a comment that made any sense whatsoever. With the lack of sleep Ed was dealing with, he was shocked that Ed had made it this far already. "Are you sure you're all right?" he couldn't help asking.

"The clouds are pretty," Ed slurred dreamily as he struggled to a sitting position.

That was definitely a response that matched the question. And no, Roy wasn't being sarcastic at all. "OK, so you're about as high on sleep deprivation as a kite in a hurricane."

"Necesito rest. No puedo look around sin mirar pretty butterflies que no existen," was Ed's reply. Roy could only assume it was gibberish, as he had absolutely no knowledge of the Spanish language. As it was, Roy stood impressed with Ed's ability to spew Spanglish like it was a real language. It was certainly a sign that Ed was beyond tired.

With his increasingly strange responses, Roy was not surprised when Ed suddenly lapsed into complete silence.

What was surprising was when Roy suddenly felt a comfortably warm weight land on his shoulder. Looking over, all he could see was a thick mane of golden hair. Ed had finally lost his all-out war against sleep, then. He couldn't say that in and of itself was a shocker. What had been shocking was that Ed had chosen his shoulder as a suitable resting place.

Smiling in soft amusement, Roy gently moved away so that Ed was lying on the grass. When he was certain that he hadn't woken the sleeping teen, he carefully stepped away and began the long process of getting everyone ready to work again.

When he reached the color guard, Riza stopped him. "What's with Ed?" she asked, concerned. "Is he all right?"

Roy smiled. "Yeah. For whatever stupid reason he hasn't told me, he didn't sleep at all last night. It's just catching up with him."

Practice seemed to fly by, and Roy was amazed that Ed had somehow slept through it all. There had been a lot of noise involved in the few complete run-throughs of the drill they had learned.

Walking to the bit of grass where Ed slept on, Roy figured that he wouldn't be able to wake Ed up for a while yet. So instead of wasting his time, he simply picked Ed up and began carrying him to the band room, where he could at least sleep with air conditioning.

He was so light, even for his short slim build. Pondering this, Roy almost didn't notice a flicker of gold looking up at him.

This had to be the most mortifying moment of his week.

Ed wasn't too sure of all the details of his falling asleep. He just knew that it had happened.

He also knew that apparently Roy had taken it upon himself to carry him to the band room.

He had just been sleeping, minding his own business. When he slowly began the long process of waking up, he noticed that he was warm and comfortable—far more than he should have been sleeping on the grass. Cracking an eye open, all he could see was a white shirt and Roy's face.

Well, that was just lovely. Why the hell was the older teen carrying him?

There was only one thing Ed could do. He feigned continued sleep and hoped Roy didn't notice that his cheeks were just a bit redder.

After what felt like an eternity Roy put him down in the band room. That was better. He could 'wake up' and chew Roy out royally for moving him in his sleep.

Or not. The whole situation was embarrassing enough as it was. Why should Ed add to it by bringing it up when there was a good chance Roy would never mention it?

Why was he being so damn indecisive?! What was so special about Roy that all of a sudden he was thinking twice about everything he said or did around the dark-haired teen?

Was it that look he got in his eyes occasionally when he was truly happy? Was it because Ed really wanted to see that look again and again, knowing that he had caused it?

No. It wasn't. It couldn't be. Ed was just being unusually idiotic. That was what hanging out with someone he used to think of as an idiot got him.

So why couldn't he quite convince himself of that?

Ed sighed as he quickly left the school. It was clear he needed to drill himself a few times in appropriate responses to potentially awkward situations. Maybe that way he could be prepared, since it was obvious that he could no longer avoid them entirely for whatever reason.

END CH. 6

NOTE: Ed's Spanglish

When the Spanish is translated, this actually does make sense. Spanish as a second language is a great pick for Ember. What Ed meant to say:

"I need rest. I can't look around without seeing pretty butterflies that don't exist."

...Does Ember need to point out that Ed was beyond exhausted? She thinks that made it pretty obvious...

P.S.: Please leave a comment on Ember's livejournal (scroll up or see profile for link). You don't need an account to do so. It's where she was going to keep you all updated, but with no comments she doesn't think anyone's reading it and refuses to update it on a regular basis since if no one's reading it it's just a waste of time. Thanks!