Draped in Wires
by. Poisoned Scarlet

Theme 039: Friends

Edward's hand ran across the page decidedly quick, rapid strokes and slashes making up his surprisingly neat handwriting. Hours and hours of writing alchemical notes and copying down knowledge had taught his left hand to write with impeccable ease.

Currently, he had dozens of folders splayed around his desk. The curtains behind him, drawn out to allow the moons white glow, gave a perfect view to the panorama of Central City. He could just barely catch a glimpse of the nightly busy streets while the wide-open courtyard that made up Central Command emptied of soldiers and office workers alike.

A sharp rap on his door distracted him. "Come in," he replied, not removing his eyes from the report.

"You sure seem focused." Roy's voice rang in the vast silence of his office. "I almost feel bad for intruding."

Ed snorted. "Don't get me wrong," he said, finishing the report with a swift sign of his name. "It's not that I like doing this, it's that the previous chief was a total retard and he failed to file all of this crap so now I'm stuck with it!" He shut the folder, slipping it into a thick manila folder full of copies of the same report; all for different districts of Central and all holding the same information, only worded differently each time.

"It's been a week and a half and you're not done yet?" Roy scoffed. "Any other officer would have handed me the work by now."

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you!" Edward snapped, miffed. "I don't have a slave to do my work for me. This is all my well-earned hard work right here!"

Mustang scowled. "If you're implying Hawkeye then stop now while you're ahead."

Edward stretched back in his chair, resting his booted legs atop the corner of his desk. "So, what's up? What paperwork do I have to look over this time around, your holiness?"

"It's been two weeks since you last went home, right?" Roy began. He had started his job as head chief of the Division of Alchemical Abuse and Exploitation nearly a month ago and thus far he had not showed any signs of abandoning the job for another.

"Yeah, no thanks to you!"

"So, is it safe for me to call her your wife now?"

Ed spluttered, face growing pink: "N-no! She's just my girlfriend!"

"Well, at least you didn't stutter that word out," he sighed, wistful. "I remember when just thinking about that word made you stammer like a disabled kid."

Ed glared at the unsightly joke. "Ha ha. You're hilarious."

"Your urgency to find a job made me think so." Roy defended himself. "However, I was positive you'd have grown up and proposed already."

"For your information, I have."

"Did she reject you and go with your brother? I knew it. He was always better with feelings than you were."

Edward's glare became harder. "No! That was, like, four years ago, you idiot! It was before I left for the west! I bet she forgot all about that damn promise, anyway..."

"I wouldn't say that if I were you." Roy advised, casually. "Women have a tendency to remember these types of things. I believe she has more of a inclination to think that you forgot about it than the other way around."

"Why would I forget about something so important?" Ed steamed.

"You're infamous for your inability to handle emotionally loaded situations." Roy dryly remarked, refraining from taking a drink of his hot coffee at the last minute. "Coincidentally, you also tend to get a severe case of amnesia when it happens..."

Ed felt his face heat up even more. "You—what the hell would you know, anyway!"

The phone on his desk rang and Edward made a hasty grab for it, glaring at Mustang when he tried to pick up. The man only rolled his eyes as Edward greeted as he had been forcefully told to: "Major Edward Elric speaking."

"Ed? Wow, you sure sound different when you're at work!"

"Winry?" He visibly brightened, voice growing warmer. Mustang rose the coffee cup he had neglected over the past few minutes, drinking the bitter liquid as the young man conversed with his woman enthusiastically. Roy noticed how at ease he sounded when talking to her. He wondered if this was what Havoc and Breda mocked him about whenever he was on the phone with Riza Hawkeye..

I don't sound like some punk like him, Roy thought with a shake of his head. Do I? He had half a heart to record his conversations with Riza to prove himself correct.

"Rush Valley?" Edward repeated, a whine slipping into his words. "What'd'ya mean—no, I'm fine with it but I thought you finished your apprenticeship under Garfiel years ago!" There was a pause. "I guess." Another pause. "Couldn't you choose a place less...sunny? My leg is going to be killing me everytime I go and visit!" Another short pause. "Look, I just finished the last of these damn reports so I can probably go this Saturday – no promises, though, I just figured out this job has the most emergency cases in any division." He shot a meaningful look at Mustang, who merely took a sip of his coffee. "Yeah, see ya'. Take care." He grumbled.

Then something happened.

Mustang saw his eyes widen, his mouth part in what appeared to be astonishment. His lips twitched, as if unable to properly form words, before, finally, his voice a little raspy, he said: "M...me too," and he hung up.

Mustang rose a brow. "What was that all about?"

Edward stared at the phone for a bit. "She...just told me..." He frowned, snapping out of it. "Wait, why the hell am I telling you this? What do you care?"

Roy shrugged. "I don't see anyone else in the room."

Edward scowled but said nothing else. Then he stood up, adjusting the fitted blue coat on his body before pushing his leather chair in. He grabbed the manila folder of reports and shoved it into the Brigadier's hands, nearly making him spill his coffee in the process.

"What's this?"

"Damage reports and alchemical mishaps that stem back around six years." He explained, breezily. "Good luck reviewing all of them!" He grinned, cheerfully. "I left another batch a few hours ago!"

Mustang sighed, woeful "Will the paperwork ever end?" He followed him out of the office with a drag in his step at the thought of spending the next few nights reviewing the work in the cold isolation of his apartment.

He played with the thought of dropping by Riza's apartment and forcing her to keep him company while he sorted out the paperwork. He was serious when it came down to the alchemy division. He knew first-hand what could happen if he let an alchemical experiment get too far...

"Maybe," Ed shrugged, a smirk crawling on his face, "when you die or officially announce you're mentally disabled."

"You're hilarious, Full Metal." Roy snorted at his backside.

"Pipe down and toss the damn work in your office! You're giving me a lift today!" Edward arranged swiftly, ignoring his superiors grumbling as they made the walk toward his office.

A/N: I can't see Ed and Mustang having a friendship without it seeming like some sort of rivalry. I mean, it's obvious that aggressions between the two are toned down in Brotherhood, unlike in the original Fullmetal Alchemist, but I still think around eighty five of their conversations are composed of sarcasm and otherwise scathing remarks.

Scarlett.