All right, reviews, reviews... *scatters papers everywhere* Damn it.

Natty-J: Well, Ember loves you soooo(continuous o's) much. So she kept it coming. The whole NaNoWriMo thing? It didn't work out. Ember missed this too much so she's totally way far behind schedule and could never catch up in time.

AnimeAddic5: Oh, the joys of love. Ember's basking in yours. A wonderful writer? But surely you jest, love. She's flattered, though.

nuclearXsquid: Hopefully your NaNoWriMo's working out better than Ember's. Hers epic failed. Have fun with your caffeine and your writing and enjoy this!

ranmyaku-neko: ...Hunh. Ember's confused herself. This'll take a while. When she comes out of her unintelligent stupor, she'll work out a way to fix that one. Thanks for the tip! *dies clutching some real concrit to her chest*

kristen: Ah, love, Ember's so happy to see your review. Shall she compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art... more better. Ha. Ember killed a beautiful Shakespearean sonnet for you. She's still a little confused by the error pointed out by ranmyaku-neko. As you well know, when Ember's confused things have this alarming tendency to die. And she tends to stay confused for a while.

There. Now for the all-important NaNoWriMo update:

As Ember hinted at in various review responses, NaNoWriMo was a giant flop. It just isn't going to work out; she's barely written 2,000 words for it because she was bitten hard by the FMA bug and the Kingdom Hearts bug and the Black Cat bug and the just-about-everything-else-including-real-life bug. It will still be updated; it just won't make the end of November deadline. So now Ember's free to work on this once more.

And so, without further ado (about nothing... continuing in the Shakespearean theme :D)...

Chapter 8: Questions

Time had passed quickly, and soon it was the end of September. The band's first competition had been a total success, though Ed had been a bit miffed about the costume he'd had to wear starting at the football game the week before the competition.

Roy had smirked, quite comfortable in his own costume, and informed him that at least it wasn't a skirt.

Ed had not appreciated that remark and had nearly concussed Roy.

He had been right, though. If their show had been from any other Disney movie a skirt would have been required of him, since his costume had been modeled off of the heroine of the movie "Quest for Camelot" at the sick whim of the band director. Besides, arguments based on general principle aside, he thought he looked rather good in that shirt with its matching vest and tight pants.

Of course, now that all of his friends had seen it there were endless questions he had to deal with. Winry in particular would not stop hounding him, as she was doing at that moment.

Ed shuddered as she said delightfully, "Seriously, you two looked so cute together!"

Really, this whole thing was not helping his state of belligerent denial. When Winry harped on like that it really was far too difficult to keep himself from giving himself away by doing something horribly embarrassing like blushing.

Walking faster, he replied, "We are not cute. That was one of the weirdest things I've ever had to do and if I have anything to say about it I'm never putting that thing on again." Although, he was pretty sure that if Roy asked he would…

Wait. That thought was not conducive at all to his goal of seeming calm and unflustered.

He may have finally admitted to himself that he saw Roy a little differently than he did other people, but he sure as hell wasn't going to share that epiphany with Winry. He'd never hear the end of it. Plus, she'd probably think a confession would be a great and cute idea.

Ed shuddered. Hell no. Roy finding out was absolutely the last thing he wanted. That would definitely be the most awkward situation ever. It was bad enough feeling the way he did as it was. Continual worry didn't even come close to describing his usual state of mind, even though it felt really nice when Roy was around and they were talking like they usually did these days.

Winry's amused voice sounded from behind him. "You do realize you're smiling kind of vacantly, right? It's one of the stupidest looks I've ever seen on you, even if it is kind of cute."

Ed jumped straight up about six inches. "What?! That's the stupidest idea I ever heard coming from you. Why the hell would I be smiling?!" He hoped he sounded angry at her for even entertaining such a notion. In reality he was mortified. He had slipped up, and he was about to pay for it.

All of a sudden, the warning bell rang, signaling that they had two minutes to get to class. Ed smiled at the cliché. Saved by the bell. "Sorry, Winry, but I've got to run!" he shouted as he trotted off to class.

"And what the hell are you going on about now, Maes?" Roy asked irritably.

"I'm just saying that it looks like there's something going on between you two, Roy," Maes pointed out once again. Roy had stopped listening after about the fifth time he had said it.

"And you haven't been listening, because I do believe I just told you that there isn't." Roy had to admit, though, that he wouldn't horribly mind if there was something between he and Ed. Ed was… different from everyone else he knew. In a good way, of course. No one else he knew was quite so lively.

The others couldn't compare to his stunningly long blond hair and marvelous golden eyes, either.

"Are you even paying attention, Roy?" Maes asked, clearly amused.

"What?" Roy asked, snapping out of his temporary daze.

"That's what I thought," Maes stated.

"Why?"

"Because I just asked you if you thought Ed looked cute in his costume the other day and you nodded."

Shit. He had hoped he wouldn't do something stupid like that. But it was far too late for wishful thinking. There was absolutely no way to keep it from Maes now that he'd hinted at it. The teen was far too smart for his own good, and would figure it out even if Roy didn't tell him, so he figured it was just as well he give up.

As if Maes knew his prey had accepted defeat, he grinned evilly. "I knew there was something going on. And now you're going to tell me all about it."

On second thought, Roy wondered if playing dead was a viable strategy.

Apparently not, for he heard Maes' amused voice above him. "Pretending you're asleep on your desk isn't going to help things one bit, Roy. In fact, it'll only make things worse for you when I go ask Ed what's going on instead."

Well, he was a nice person by nature. He would willingly spare Ed the absolute humiliation this situation was sure to provide. Hughes was absolutely relentless once started, and didn't really care if a person wanted to spill his deepest and darkest secrets. Even if an explanation was provided, he would instantly dismiss the first one as a fake and continue prying until his prey said exactly what he wanted to hear. And so he scribbled on a piece of paper, Not out loud. I'm not sure of anything myself yet, so I don't want anything going around the whole school again.

Maes responded, That was only one time. It wasn't my fault you decided to confess whatever that was in the middle of the locker room. Now spill. We don't have all day. Or all class, even; I hear there's going to be a quiz.

I'm not even going to ask how you know that. You never tell me anyway.

Stop rambling and get to the point!

What point? What ridiculous story do you want to hear this time?

What's been going on?

Nothing has.

You really expect me to believe that? Maes' written statement was accompanied by a quirked sarcastic eyebrow.

Yes, I do. Ed's just been acting a little differently, that's all. It's strange.

How so?

He seems kind of nervous until he realizes I'm there. Then he freaks for a second, then smiles like Christmas came early.

Interesting, Maes returned. But no matter how much Roy pressed him Maes wouldn't explain that one-word response.

Ed had finally escaped the evil clutches of a questioning Winry once again after their second class by politely evading the question and then running as fast as he possibly could in the opposite direction. Really, he didn't understand just why the girl was asking so many questions. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, after all. He was just being an idiot. Again.

Still rushing in no particular direction, hoping it was taking him farther away from Winry, Ed didn't realize anyone was nearby until he ran into someone and started falling.

Suddenly a pair of arms was under him, breaking his fall just inches away from the tile floor and gently bringing him back up to a standing position.

Turning to thank whoever had picked him back up, he froze as an all-too-familiar voice said, "You're lucky it was me you ran into. Someone else might not be that nice."

Trying to suppress the idiotic grin that was his instinctive reaction to hearing that voice, he finally turned the rest of the way around. "Bastard. And to think I was about to continue the nice trend and say thank you and all."

"Well, don't let me stop you."

Did Roy seriously have no idea how much that smirk affected him? He was sure his face was the color red frequently found on color wheels in art classes everywhere. He couldn't even look Roy in the eye.

Roy's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Ed."

"Yeah?" Ed replied, still staring at the floor as if it were horribly fascinating.

"Look at me."

Ed jumped. Reluctantly he tore his gaze from the floor, but he still found he could not meet Roy's eyes. Instead he looked over Roy's shoulder at a convenient poster on the wall.

Roy sounded amused. "Now answer this. Is that terribly interesting floor named Roy?"

Ed really couldn't see where Roy was going with this. "No."

"And is that wall you're looking at right now named Roy?"

"No. Why?"

"Because, if I recall, you're talking to someone named Roy right now. He just might like it if you looked at him while you were talking to him."

Ed tried really hard to control the fresh blush that threatened to stain his cheeks. He wasn't quite sure how well it was working. However, if the heat across his face was anything to go by, it wasn't working at all. Still, he forced himself to finally meet Roy's eyes and respond. "Yes, I'd imagine he might like that."

Roy smiled and Ed instantly went through another exercise in self-control. "Now, was that really so hard? I don't think you've quite looked me in the eye for a week."

Of course, now that he was looking Roy in the eye he couldn't tear his gaze away if his life depended on it. "No, it's not," he replied, suddenly finding that his attention was sprinting away from the conversation and toward how Roy's dark eyes had these wonderful tiny specks of midnight blue in them.

All of a sudden the warning bell rang once more, and they quickly said their goodbyes before walking briskly in separate directions. However, Ed was still distracted as he walked, many questions revolving around Roy in his mind once more.

END CH. 8

Oh, the UST. Ember's digging it.

ZOMG EMBER POSTED HER TWENTIETH STORY! It's entitled "Something to Think About" and it's Ed-meets-religion-without-accepting-it-but-has-to-wonder-what-it's-all-about. Go read, if that sounds like your cup of tea. And look at Ember's profile whilst you're at it. There might be something yummy there for you. ;)

Ember of the mutant penguins