Hey everyone! I'm not sure what to say about this chapter, maybe not so exciting? I don't know, well I hope you enjoy it anyways. I had difficulty with it. I haven't figured out how close to the end we're at, but I do have the last chapter pretty much figured out, it's just what happens or doesn't happen between this chapter and that one. Don't forget to review!
It was so good to finally be home. How he missed it. The musky smell all old houses have was comforting, to hear the familiar old creeks that he had grown so use to he hardly heard anymore, it was like seeing an old friend, where nothing has changed and yet somehow everything had. It was familiar and yet for some reason unfamiliar all at the same time. Maybe it was the change in personal perspective caused by a traumatic and near death experience or it could be because this was his first time entering his house in a wheel chair. Ed had transmuted the stairs into a slop so they could get him in, since his knee still wasn't healed, and wouldn't be so for a long time coming, and he couldn't use crutches because of his busted shoulder.
Roy had slept through most of the train ride back to Central and at the hospital as well. It was his method of escaping the pain, to simply sleep through it. It worked rather well for him for the most part. Ed had probably been bored though.
"I got you set up in one of your guest rooms down stairs. Don't you ever dust this place?" Ed asked making a face.
Roy rolled his eyes. "Yes, dusting, it would take me an entire day to do so. Honestly I have other things I'd rather be doing than dust rooms no one will use."
Riza suddenly stepped on the scene, "Don't think just because you won't be coming to work that work won't be coming to you, sir." Riza said to smash any fantasies of anything happening contradictory.
"Thank you Lieutenant, you're, as always, very capable." He said not able to hide his sarcasm from the sentence not that Riza was expecting anything less.
"Of course, sir." She said feeling slightly amused. Sometimes she had to admit she got a bit of joy making Roy do paperwork, knowing how much he detested it. "How about I make dinner?" She offered but didn't wait to hear their responses before heading for the kitchen.
Roy made a face; Riza wasn't a very good cook. She didn't know how to season things. Roy grew up with an Xing mother, who used lots of spices so Riza's lack of spices was very offsetting for Roy's taste buds. Ed gave him a strange look. "Something wrong?" He asked him. Roy just shook his head. The boy would see when he tried some of Hawkeye's bland cooking.
"Do you like chess?" He asked Ed.
Ed blinked surprised by the invitation "I've never understood the game."
"Then allow me to teach you. Take me to the living room and then go fetch the chess board from my room. The one in the library is in the middle of a game, between Grumman and myself." He explained. "My room is on the third floor second door on the right." He instructed. Ed seemed to understand and went to do as he was told.
He got up to the third floor and wondered why the man had his room up here? Didn't make any sense to him, there were perfectly good rooms on lower levels. He went to the second door on his right and opened it up. First thing he noticed were the thick books on the floor. He got a mental image of Roy sitting on the floor, much like he would, going though the books as he researched something. He smiled a bit at the image in his head. There was a full size bed against the far wall; it almost felt like the bed was an afterthought in the room. The bed wasn't made up so the blue bed spread was bundled at the foot of the bed revealing the white sheets. A rather large desk, papers strewn on top of it, with a lamp, was near the bed. Along the rest of the wall there were several bookshelves. These books seemed far more advance than the ones in his room. Roy was certainly a book worm. It was amusing, normally a man like Mustang wouldn't be a 'book worm' that would be more expect out of people who looked more like Sheizka, though she was certainly extreme in that respect.
The chess board he spoke of was in the middle of the available floor space, on a nightstand with one chair by it. Apparently Roy was never planning on having a rival on the other side of this board, though it appeared to be in the middle of a game. He piled all the pieces into the middle of the board and lifted up the sides to carry it downstairs. If Roy expected him to keep the pieces in the same place, well he could just go screw himself.
He put the chess board on the coffee table in the living room, where Roy was, and went to get one of the pieces that rolled off the table. "There you go, Bastard." He said, but with no real malice even behind the name. Roy began to instruct Ed on how to play, and once again, Ed demonstrated on just how sharp his mind really was. Sometimes Ed simply amazed him.
Ed's gold eyes flickered up and locked stares with Roy, "What?"
Roy quickly looked away, 'nothing." He muttered.
Ed wasn't buying it though. He had a lot of time to think since the 'incident' with the crazy guy. Roy had reacted to him in the alley, he had reacted to him when he was drunk, and when he came down in the kimono; he had not missed that blush. He didn't get to think any further as Riza came and told them that dinner was ready.
They went and sat down; they had simply moved a chair for Roy. The food looked really good in Ed's opinion; he didn't know what Roy was complaining about earlier. There was chicken covered in gravy, steamed green beans, and some bread on the side with butter. He scooped some onto his plate and quickly took a bite and it was as good as it looked and he quickly went to inhale what was on his plate.
Roy thanked Riza for the meal but he didn't like it, the only saving grace was the gravy and lots of salt and pepper. The chicken had no flavor, nor did the beans. He saw Ed eating it, obviously liking and mentally shook his head. It was times like this when he really did feel different from everyone else, felt like he was a different race. He supposed he was, being half Xing. He just didn't understand how people could eat things without adding flavor to it.
After the meal was done, dishes were taken care of, and coffee was shared, Riza opted to go home and take care of her dog. Ed was going to stay here and take care of Roy, Al was in Rizembool.
Ed wasn't one to dance around subjects and he wasn't about to do that now either. Roy was now looking at the chess board as if trying to find the best tactic. Ed supposed he'd never be as good as Roy with chess, just like in the office. Roy planned things far in advance pulling strings where needed where as Ed made thing up as he went along. It was one of the things that irritated him about Colonel Roy Mustang, how could the man possibly figure out Ed's actions and plan accordingly for them, if not even Ed knew what he was going to do? It was almost creepy, scratch that, it was creepy. If that was the case though did that mean that the Bastard knew "Ed, it's your turn." Ed's attention was jerked back into present and his gold eyes met with inky black ones. "Why did you kiss me?" He asked bluntly.
He felt a certain satisfaction seeing the Colonel thrown off and trying to figure out how to respond. He opened his mouth and closed his mouth twice already, but it seemed third time was the charm, "Isn't that what you wanted? We were on a mission." He said simply.
"Bull shit." Ed said calling him on it. He wasn't going to allow the Colonel to use rhetoric to get out of this one. "You didn't have to kiss me like you did if that was the reason. There was something there, Bastard."
Roy frowned he hated absolutely hated having something he said called on. "You were imagining things."
"Or maybe you're in denial." Ed countered. Ed had gone through the same thing. When he had realized that he knew what the Colonel's ass felt like he had gone through a fit of denial, now he's learned to accept it, embrace it in a way. He couldn't change how he felt, and if the Colonel felt the same way even close to it, then dammit Ed wasn't going to let him get away with talking himself out of it. He wanted to know what this was like, he wanted to experience this, what it felt like when two people had 'feelings' for each other. And that bastard wasn't going to keep him from this.
"I'm serious, Fullmetal it was for the mission and nothing," He was cut off when Ed slammed his hands on to the chess board knocking over the white and black pieces and leaned over to kiss the raven haired man, silencing him effectively. Not like the guy could get away from him anyways. He knew that he had been right though when Roy started kissing him back.
Ed may not be the most eloquent of the male species, perhaps one of the furthest from it, but he had a certain nobleness to him. The blonde had a steadfast character; he would stand by your side through thick and thin. He demonstrated this through Al, and even Roy. Ed had cared for Roy on the train ride and in the hospital, when he couldn't even move because the doctors would let him. He found he had to rely heavily on Ed and Ed didn't seem at all hindered by it, nor was his teasing too much that it crossed the line. It had taken a lot of the stress off of Roy, because he felt like he could trust Ed, because of how Ed had kept an even head through this entire thing. There was certainly a new level of respect for him but…this?
He felt thin lips against his own, and the other man's blond bangs against his cheek. Ed was … not a child. No child would have been able to demonstrate the kind of leadership and level headedness he demonstrated back there. Edward Elric was no child, his was a soldier, even if he didn't like it. He possessed the characteristics the military works on instilling into their cadets. While he may be insubordinate at times, he got the job done no matter the odds against him. That took courage and a good head. The lips were suddenly gone and he opened his eyes, not realizing he had even shut them, and looked up into Ed's smirking face and scowled. "Did I say you could stop?" He demanded.
Alright, so what did you think? Let me know if you have ideas or comments by reviewing. Later!