"Ed…Ed, wake up."

Edward rolled over, nuzzling into the bunch of blankets he was holding. He had just about no intentions of actually getting up, possibly ever. The bed was just so soft and cozy, and Roy's arm was around him like always, nice and warm and muscular…nope, not moving. "Come on, Ed," the man beside him pleaded, rubbing tiny circles into his stomach. "You can't just lay there all day."

"Watch me," Edward mumbled, hugging the blankets tighter.

Roy sighed, and—got up. Ed frowned, his tired eyes blinking open to glare around. "What, you're just going to leave?"

"No," his husband responded, walking into his sight line and bending down, quickly grabbing Edward and picking him (and half the blankets on the bed) up. "Not without you, at least."

Huffing, Ed closed his eyes again and pressed himself against Roy's chest. "That's fine. You're pretty much as comfortable to sleep on as the bed, anyway."

"Edward Mustang, don't make me drop you in the springs," Roy threatened.

More than anything, it was the use of his new name, which he just couldn't get used to, that shot through Ed's drowsiness. "Okay, okay," he mumbled, stretching to the point of almost falling out of his husband's arms. "I'm awake. Promise."

"Good." Gently, Roy sat Edward back down on the bed, grinning down at him. "Now as much as I don't want to do this, I'm going to have to ask you to get dressed. Oh, and you might want to stretch a little."

Confused and still wobbly with sleep, Ed stood up and did just that, bending backwards until he heard a satisfying crack. "What for?"

"We're going biking—it's this big tour, we get to pass all kinds of monuments and natural wonders, that kind of thing. Only it's all on bike."

Edward grinned at the prospect, walking over to his suitcase to hunt down some clothes. "I hope I'm up for that," he remarked. "I can't even remember the last time I rode a bike. I might have forgotten. I mean, I know you're not supposed to be able to forget, but what if I'm a special case?"

"You'll remember, quit being paranoid," Roy teased, pulling on some shorts. "It's muscle memory, very hard to erase."

"If you say so." Ed dressed quickly, pulling on shorts, shirt, shoes, and tying his hair back with ease. Now that he was up, he was ready to get the day started. "Ready?"

In answer, Roy held the door open, and together they walked out into the misty morning. His husband led Edward down the path back to the main building, where another taxi was waiting. Ed couldn't help but smile and shake his head. "You really are always prepared, aren't you?"

"Well, one of us has to be," Roy responded cheekily, ushering Edward into the car. "And it obviously wasn't going to be you."

"Rude," Ed commented. "There's nothing wrong with being a spur-of-the-moment kind of person."

"I didn't say there was."

"You implied it."

Roy rolled his eyes as the taxi began to move forward—evidently, he had let them know where to go ahead of time. "Let's just say we keep each other balanced, hmm?"

Grinning mischievously, Edward leaned in towards Roy, tilting his head slightly. "Oh, but being a little imbalanced seems fun, doesn't it?" He continued forward until he was perched precariously over Roy's lap, his weight held by one hand placed on the seat by the man's thigh. "I mean, I could be so off balance right now that I just fall…and I don't think you'd mind."

Ed watched, celebrating inwardly when Roy swallowed hard at his words. "Isn't this backwards? Shouldn't I be the one who's flirting with you inappropriately?"

"See?" Edward whispered. "Imbalanced." And he pushed the rest of the way forward, pressing a demanding kiss to Roy's lips. A kiss the man returned eagerly. Ed giggled, pulling away and settling back into his seat with a wink. "Fun, isn't it?"

"Alright, you win. Doesn't mean I'm tossing out all the plans I made, though."

Laughing still, Edward shot back, "I wouldn't dream of it."

Something in Roy's eyes told Ed the man was thinking of doing just what he had just promised not to and throwing the rest of the day to get naughty in the back of a cab…but just then, said cab came to a stop and the driver announced that they had arrived. Shrugging, Ed got out of the car, looking around at the scenery. They were parked in front of a large, Xingese style building, in front of which were parked easily forty bikes of various sizes. Looking down the street, he saw an expanse of forested park stretching in either direction for as far as he could see.

Coughing, Roy emerged behind him, seeming to struggle with the return to the plan. "Good weather for bike riding," the man remarked.

"Really? Talking about the weather?"

Roy sighed, shaking his head. "Everyone says that like it's a lame space filler to talk about the weather. Like you can only do that when you're being awkward around a crush or something stupid. It's a perfectly legitimate topic of conversation, especially when you're going to be outside all day and it's pertinent."

"Fair enough," Ed responded. "You're right. It is nice." More than nice, actually. The day was warm, but there was a pleasant breeze blowing through that kept it from being hot, and the sun was shining brightly in a cloudless sky, making patterns on the ground as light passed through the leaves on the trees.

Before long, there was a large group of people queuing around them, all apparently waiting for the bike tour, which was scheduled to begin at 10:00 sharp. Oddly enough, it was 9:45 and the building wasn't even open. Ed, after a few more minutes of waiting, felt like this would be important to point out. "You got the day and time right, and all, yeah? I mean…this place is closed."

"Definitely," Roy replied. "Look, we aren't the only ones waiting. Don't worry about it."

And sure enough, presently a tiny woman, even shorter than Edward and clad in khakis strode up to them. "Hello, everyone, sorry I'm late. My cat had an emergency this morning and I had to take care of her." Ed blinked, trying to figure out what emergency there could be with a cat, but the woman didn't seem to feel an explanation mattered. "Anyway, let's just do a quick headcount and you all can pick out bikes and we'll be off."

The headcount turned up perfect, a nice, odd twenty three people, and so they went about picking out bikes. After trying for at a long while to force a too-tall bike to work for him, Edward ended up swallowing his pride and settling with a shorter lime green one. Admittedly, though it did little for his ego to be on a tiny bike, it was much more comfortable.

Before they set off, their tour guide gave a few instructions. "My name's Yue. On your bike you should see a black box up by the handlebars. Everyone got that? Good. Open up the top, and plug in the earbuds. I'll be giving commentary as we pass by some monuments, and those let me address the whole group." Yue placed a headset over her own ears as everyone else inserted the earbuds. "Everyone set? Let's go."

And they were going. Edward smiled as he pedaled, realizing Roy had been right—this was as easy as if he had done it yesterday. He even dared to stand up, hovering above the seat for a few revolutions, laughing as he did so…though he did sit back down rather quickly after they went over a bump.

At first, they were only traveling through the park, too fast for easy conversation, though Roy kept close to Ed's side. Even though it wasn't a statue or anything yet, it was beautiful. Crazy species of flowers Edward had never known existed surrounded him, along with treed pathways leading to clearings filled with statues of heroic men standing in victorious poses, pools covered in lily pads, and groups of people practicing meditation on the lawns. It was all completely foreign and completely wonderful—sure, they had parks back home, but somehow even those seemed to be polluted with busyness. In Xing, the park was tranquil in the extreme, the kind of place Ed almost hated to step lest he should break the spell.

But no incident occurred, and after a short while they were spinning away, heading along the side of a street up towards a large wall just on the outskirts of the park. Yue's voice broke over the intercom, "Up ahead, you'll see the Wall of Faces. From this distance, it looks like an ordinary wall, but as we get closer, you'll see that the wall is actually intricately engraved with the faces of each Xingese emperor to date. Originally, this was the work of a small family who lived in the area, a quiet, unknown tribute to our leaders. Once it was discovered, this city was build around the Wall of Faces. Now, each time an emperor dies, there is a competition amongst the artists of Xing and the winner is permitted to engrave the newest face on the wall. The wall is seven feet tall and now stretches ten feet long, though it was only half that length when it was first discovered, and the extra five feet have been added on as needed."

Ed turned his head in unison with the rest of the group as they breezed past the wall. It was crazy to think that someone had just up and decided to carve their leader's face into a wall, and then that their sons and daughters would continue long enough for it to draw attention…talk about dedication.

They continued onwards, and Yue was silent until they came to massive fountain, bigger than any swimming pool Edward had ever seen in Amestris, covered with statues of dragons in every conceivable position. The bottom was also covered with an absurd amount of coins. "This is the Lucky Dragon Pool. Originally, it was commissioned only as a decoration for the city. It was an Amestrian tourist who discovered that it was something more. As tourists are want to do, this individual (who has asked for his name to not be disclosed) tossed in a coin and made a wish—in his case, to meet the woman of his dreams. Long story short, it happened; he met a woman on his last day in Xing, and ended up flying back to be with her and is still living here today. Of course, he spread the story of the fountain's luck, and more people began to toss in coins and make wishes. Each one has seemed to come true. Is it real luck, the luck of the dragon, or just coincidence? I don't know, but it seems to work." Yue chuckled, pulling up to the fountain and stopping. "So test it for yourself—I always do."

Slowing as well, Edward dug in his pocket for some change. He did find a few coins, but…couldn't seem to think what to wish for. Money? Stupid. He and Roy both had stable jobs in the military, asking for more money was pointless. And he obviously already had love. Although…Ed smiled, pulling out a handful of coins and tossing them all into the pool for good measure.

"What'd you wish for?" Roy asked. Edward jumped, not having realized the man was right behind him.

"Alphonse," he answered. "I wished for Alphonse to find someone and be as happy as I am with you."

His husband seemed to choke up for a moment, biting his lip and smiling, his dark eyes shining. "You know, this is why I love you. You're so perfectly selfless."

Edward snorted, settling back onto his bike as they prepared to head off again. "Not at all. It's just, there's nothing else for me to wish for. I have everything I want, so it's time for someone else to get their happy ending, too."

It was completely soppy and not the kind of thing Ed was normally comfortable saying around other people, but it was too true to not let it out. Besides, they were off moments later, Yue rushing them along to see more sights.

As they went on, they passed by a market district, colored by heavy scents and loud bartering, mostly in a language Edward didn't understand. They went further into the heart of the city, passing statues and monuments and even the tomb of a war hero, before veering off and entering the wilderness. As with the park, nature in Xing seemed more serene than nature in Amestris. They passed a waterfall, and as they did so the sound of their wheel spokes turning rustled up a group of birds that all took flight. Past the waterfall, the group followed the line of the river until it delved further into the wild, and they took a different turn, heading back to the park. Though they went at a decent speed, the sun was high in the air, beating down on them by the time they returned to the building they had begun at.

Ed returned his bike and entered the return taxi hazily, not registering any clarity until they returned to their room and he caught sight of that wonderful bed. Edward flopped onto it with a groan, stretching out tired legs.

Next to him, Roy laid down in a more graceful fashion. "So, did you have fun?"

"Yeah," Edward responded, grinning into a pillow. "It was great. Tiring, though. I mean, I'm in good shape and my legs are still aching from all that biking."

"Agreed—that was more than I had expected." Roy curled up, grabbing Ed by the waist and pulling him in close for a heated kiss. Immediately, tuckered out as he was, Edward's heart sped up eagerly at the contact, his body craving more.

Smiling gently, Roy pulled back, almost apologetic. "I suppose you're too tired for that, huh?"

In response, Ed pulled his husband back forcefully, crashing their lips together. Once they parted once more, both panting, he grinned, murmuring deviously, "Please, I'm not that tired. A little more exercise sounds like just what I need right now."

And with that as permission, Roy dove in.