This chapter takes place not long after the first chapter.

Ed was sitting on the floor in Roy's study. He leaned heavily on the table in front of the couch, where Roy was sitting. Roy's paperwork was spread out across the table.

Ed shook out his cramped hand. Why had he wagered on their chess match? It's not like two years of playing against Al, who was also still learning, would be enough practice to beat Roy, who had been playing his whole life.

But he had wagered. He'd been swept up in the moment, caught up in the fantasy of wiping that damn smirk off of Mustang's smug face, and had made a bet. Breakfast, made by Roy and delivered to Ed in bed, vs. Ed doing all of Roy's weekend paperwork. And he was pretty sure that the bastard had saved most of it up during the week to bring home.

The punishment was turning out worse than Ed ever feared. His hand hurt; Roy was unhelpfully reading the newspaper while drinking coffee, and occasionally glancing at Ed with a smirk, which was always met with a glare; and no matter how many times Ed repositioned himself—at the desk, on the couch, laying on the floor, sitting on the floor—he couldn't get comfortable. Probably because he was being tormented by such uncomfortable thoughts. That was the absolute worst part. The monotonous forging of Roy's signature left Ed's overactive mind far too free for thoughts, and Ed already spent too much time thinking these days.

Ever since that talk conflicting thoughts had been running around Ed's head. Was he just having trouble finding the right girl? Was he attracted to guys? How could you tell something like that? Wasn't it normal to get along better with your own gender? He could appreciate the attractiveness of a woman. Winry was pretty, so was Hawkeye; but sometimes studying a woman's body made him think of water, 35 liters; carbon, 20 kilograms; ammonia, 4 liters; lime, 1.5 kilograms; phosphorous, 800 grams; salt, 250 grams; saltpeter, 100 grams; sulfur, 80 grams; fluorine, 7.5 grams; iron, 5 grams; silicon, 3 grams; and trace amounts of 15 other elements…

…Mood killer.

Then there was the way Ed could still clearly remember how Ling looked when he took his shirt off during one of their spars, and Ed knew Mustang was good looking with his disheveled hair.

Ed sighed as he signed Roy's name again. He'd never thought about this before, never considered it. Why would he have? It wasn't normal, but if Roy… Well, as much as he hated to admit it, Ed had always respected Roy.

Realizing he hadn't signed anything in a few minutes, Ed put down his pen. Roy looked over as Ed shifted his legs, trying once again to get more comfortable.

"I need more variables," Ed mumbled.

"To sign my name?" Roy asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ed leaned back on his hands, and studied Roy. How do you know these sorts of things? Ed wasn't great with people and feelings under the best of circumstances, but this? He was a scientist; he dealt in facts, provable, testable facts and hypotheses. This was too uncertain. He didn't have all of the information obviously. He needed more, he needed to test Roy's hypothesis.

By this point, Roy had put down his paper and stared at Ed.

"I think we should kiss," Ed blurted out. He felt his face fill with color as Roy's eyes widened. "It's for science," Ed explained hastily.

Roy blinked. "You think we should kiss… for science," he said slowly.

Ed shifted again so that he was kneeling, leaning on the table, facing Roy. "Yes," Ed said, "That's how you prove a hypothesis, with an experiment." Roy stared at Ed like he had gone insane. He was probably confused, but of course he was because Ed wasn't explaining very well, was he? Ed shifted again. "Your hypothesis. From the other day, remember? But how am I supposed to know, you know? I mean, if I don't know, because I don't, how can I know without gathering all of the information?" Ed couldn't stop talking. Shut up, you idiot, he thought to himself, why did you say anything at all? Because he had to know. He had to, and this was the best way to find out. "I'm lacking data in certain areas. Too much to make a final decision," Ed continued. He took a deep breath. It was hard to hold Roy's eye, but he managed, even though he knew that his face must be bright red. "I've kissed girls before, and we've discussed the unsatisfying results. So, to make an informed decision, I need to repeat the experiment with a change in the gender variable." Roy's eyes softened. Ed glanced away and scratched the back of his head. He mumbled awkwardly, "So, yeah… I think we should kiss. For science." He peaked at Roy through his bangs.

"Oh, Ed," he said gently. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I'm missing something?" Ed asked.

"The friendship variable, the ex-boss factor, and the age variation—"

"Age variation? Are you calling me a kid? I'm 18, bastard, that means I'm an adult."

"I'm 14 years older than you—"

"You're not that old." Roy gave Ed a glare. Ed continued, "Oh, come on, I didn't mean it like that." Ed jumped to his feet and sat facing Roy on the couch, one leg tucked under him and the other dangling down to the floor. "I meant that, I mean, yeah you're old, but—" Ed cut himself off and buried his head between Roy's shoulder and the couch cushion with a groan. Nothing was coming out right. Why was he so flustered?

"If this is how you asked for permission to kiss those girls, then I'm not surprised that it didn't go well." Ed could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Shut up," Ed whined. He lifted his head again. "I meant that you're older than I am. That's fact. But I don't really think of it like that. You're older, but not old…" Ed paused, trying to make sense of his thoughts. "You're Roy," he finally just blurted. He sighed. Well Ed always knew he was a failure with feelings. "Damn it, Mustang," he growled. "I'm not asking you to skip around Central holding hands with me. I'm just asking you to help me in a social experiment. I'm sure we, as two consenting adults, can manage one kiss without it affecting our friendship or non-existent work relationship." Ed glared as Roy leaned his head back and covered his face with his hands.

"I expected you to ask questions maybe, but not this," Roy said.

"I can ask questions," Ed said. Roy lowered his hands, and raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Ed. Ed continued, "How did you know? That you were…" he trailed off, looking for the right word.

Roy nodded and turned more to face Ed. "I spent years in a situation similar to yours. Failed relationships, no 'spark,' as you put it, and wondering what was wrong with me." He sighed. "Then I started noticing things. I was appreciating the aesthetics of my fellow male soldiers more than I should have, I didn't want to spy on the girls with the other guys in academy… It was a lot of little things adding up over a number of years." He waved his hand as if to wave off the thought. "Realizations led to panic, which led to denial and overcompensation, then eventual acceptance and self-actualization. I'm sorry, Ed, but I don't think there is one sure test."

There had to be though. Ed didn't want to spend years wondering. Well, maybe he had a head start since he had Roy to point it out to him. It didn't sound like Mustang had anyone like that when he was younger.

"Where do you meet guys?" Ed asked.

Roy averted his gaze. "I don't know." He cleared his throat. "I've heard rumors of a few places, but they aren't really places it would be appropriate for someone of my rank and reputation to frequent."

"What about when you were younger?" Ed tried to catch Roy's eye, but couldn't.

"By the time I fully realized… The war had already ended."

"And you were the Hero of Ishval."

Roy gave a dark chuckle. "Even early on I was adept at gaining the attention and applaud of my superiors."

All eyes on him, Ed thought. No room to be confused, or anything less than perfect. How would he even approach the subject? Ed was having trouble and he knew that Roy was gay. How had he never considered this before? Because he was too busy being selfish, and Mustang was supposed to be experienced at everything. The best at anything he put his mind to. Smarter than Ed with things like this. "So you've never..." Ed trailed off. Roy had never even kissed a man? So much for him having enough experience to help Ed through his identity crisis. Ed shifted closer to Roy on the couch. "So then a kiss might benefit both of us." Ed could have smacked himself when Roy started to glare.

"Alright," Ed said, "That was stupid, but its just one kiss." Ed leaned closer. "Really quick. Closed mouth." Ed started to close the small gap between them. His heart beat faster, harder, as he reached his hand out to Roy's face. He reached so slowly, but Roy didn't move away. The pounding in his ears was so loud, distracting him as his fingers touched Roy's jaw and skimmed up so that Ed could cup his face. His cheek was fairly smooth, but definitely rougher than any girl's Ed had ever touched. Hard, defined, and covered in the beginnings of 5 o'clock shadow.

Ed's eyes drifted to Roy's lips as he leaned forward. Please don't let me miss, he thought. Then he closed the gap, and his eyes, and touched his lips to Roy's.

His lips were harder than a girl's, but softer than Ed expected. No fruity smells from lip gloss, just coffee and a stronger version of the smell of Roy's house.

Roy moved his lips to kiss him back, and without meaning to, Ed shifted his hand so that it was half in Roy's hair. So soft. Roy's hand touched his side. It was sudden, and Ed's stomach muscles twitched in surprise, sending a shiver coursing through his whole body. His heart kicked into another gear; louder, impossibly fast, and Ed saw...

...sparks.

Ed jolted away from Roy. Not far enough though, Roy's face still filled his entire vision. Soft black hair, deep, dark eyes, clear skin stretched across a handsome face that held lips that Ed could still feel the ghost of tingling against his own.

"Huh," Ed said.

"'Huh'?" Roy asked with a raised brow and incredulous tone.

Ed realized that Roy's fingertips were still touching his side, but they fell as Ed scrambled up from the couch. He backed towards the door muttering about having to go.

"Ed," Roy began.

"The results of any experiment should be studied thoroughly and at length before a conclusion is reached," Ed said quickly, the words tumbling over each other in their race to get out of his mouth.

Then he ran from the room like the coward he was.

Hopefully, it won't take me long to get the next chapter of this story out, and then I'll focus on the next chapter of Redo.

Please let me know if you find any mistakes, so that I can fix them asap :) And feel free to tell me if you have ideas, or if there is a scene you would like to see.