Intrusive thoughts. Everyone had them. They were normal.

Roy had first heard of the term when he attended some therapy sessions after Ishval. At the time, he'd been plagued by night terrors, and in his waking hours he had such repetitive visions of hurting people he'd seriously wondered if he was so broken beyond repair that he was now having murderous urges.

The therapist had explained the concept of intrusive thoughts to him. That the brain sometimes presented certain images that could be upsetting or distressing, but they were out of one's conscious control. The more one tried to push the thoughts away, the more distressing and reoccurring they became.

He was now having intrusive thoughts about Edward Elric.

And while murderous ones would've made more sense, it wasn't thoughts of chocking him to death on the kitchen table that were plaguing Roy's mind.

It was more of the bend-him-over-the-kitchen-table variety.

And it was wholly distressing.

It had been a couple days since their little kiss experiment, which now Roy was majorly regretting. It had been the trigger for his intrusive thoughts.

He hadn't mentioned anything to Ed, of course. And if Ed could feel the stress and panic flowing through the bond for two days straight, he didn't comment on it.

Ed had mostly gotten over his embarrassment over what had happened and what he'd blurted out; he was talking to him freely again, and they'd been discussing other theories, particularly the alkahestry one.

Roy had promised not to ever mention their kiss again. He had been so sure they would both put it behind them and never think of it again. Ed seemed to be doing that just fine. But here Roy was, unable to stop thinking about it.

Ed sat opposite him, worrying his bottom lip as he frowned, analysing a circle he'd drawn. Roy stared shamelessly.

Ed's lips had no right being that soft.

Stop.

His hair was braided today, and right now it was casually slung over one shoulder as he scribbled in his notebook. Roy couldn't decide which suited him more; ponytail, braid, or down?

He wished he'd touched his hair during the kiss. He'd always wondered if it was as soft and smooth as it looked.

Stop.

Golden eyes lifted off the page and towards him. Roy blinked out of his thoughts. He had to stop doing that.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

Ed had been about to say something, but a knock on the door startled both of them.

Roy wasted no time, practically running out of the kitchen to open the door and ignoring the tug in his chest.

Hawkeye stood in front of him, saluting as he opened the door fully. "Good morning, sir. I have some paperwork for you."

Of course she did.

And while Roy would usually absolutely hate it, right now he thought it a great distraction from his intrusive thoughts. He welcomed the paperwork.

He helped her carry the paperwork inside from the car. It was a small stack, but it was going to give him at least a few hours of distraction. He'd already numbed his brain with soul alchemy research; he decided alternating between alchemy and military forms would be a good idea. It would keep him focused.

Ed had left the kitchen and was now leaning against the threshold of the front door, arms crossed. He was dressed in a casual tank top and a pair of Roy's sweatpants. The pair he'd given him that first morning.

Ed was stealing his clothes now?

Roy had been putting his uniform on again. He hadn't exactly stopped, but he'd been more casual with it, opting to get dressed after his shower or after his coffee. Some days he felt comfortable enough to not put it on at all.

But when he emerged that morning from his room in full uniform, Ed had taken one look at him and gave him an expression that conveyed everything he thought of the state of Roy's sanity.

He didn't expect Ed to understand.

His uniform was like armour for him, and right now he needed armour against Edward Elric.

Riza had promptly left, and Roy dumped the stack of paperwork on the kitchen table, Ed reclaiming his seat.

"So now you're going to be wasting time signing military bullshit? I thought you wanted to break this bond."

Roy shot him a glare before he started reading the first document. "Contrary to you, I actually have a job."

"This is my job," Ed said, pointedly lifting his book.

"And this is mine," Roy shot back, signing the document with a bit of extra finesse.

"Boring."

"I won't disagree."

Ed rolled his eyes as he focused back on his book. While Roy did agree that the paperwork part of his job was borderline mind-numbing, right now he welcomed the break from soul alchemy.

The past couple nights Roy hadn't slept so well. He'd been unable to fall asleep, and when he did he'd randomly wake up in a slight panic, the worry over what his brain could come up with in his sleep keeping him wide awake. What if his recent intrusive thoughts came up in his dreams? They used to when he first started having them after Ishval. They'd added to his night terrors.

Considering the bond made them sleep at the same time, he guessed Ed was also as sleep deprived as he was. He hadn't said anything, and Roy was slightly suspicious. He'd expected Ed to be calling him out every chance he got.

Roy hadn't thought anything could get more embarrassing than Ed witnessing things he'd done in the past, private things he wasn't proud of and that haunted him to this day. But perhaps it would be a whole lot more embarrassing if Ed witnessed some images his brain had been coming up with the last couple days.

He'd be disgusted. He'd be uncomfortable. Maybe he'd even be scared, considering he and Roy were living together and were forced into close proximity. And while Roy didn't really care if this situation made Ed uncomfortable (it sure made him uncomfortable), he didn't want Ed thinking he was a pervert.

"We need to go to Resembool."

Ed's voice snapped him out of his reverie, and he realised he'd been staring at the same document for a few solid minutes, absently rereading the same three sentences.

He caught Ed's gaze, keeping his face blank. He knew they'd have to go to Resembool at some point, but he was surprised Ed was bringing it up now.

"And why is that, Fullmetal?"

Ed swirled his notebook around on the table and thrust it closer to Roy. Roy stared at the array on the page; it looked similar to the array that had got them in this mess, but not quite the same.

"I've been messing around with possible reversal array designs, but I need to know if alkahestry is involved. I need to ask Mei, she'll know for sure."

Mei Chan, the short Xingese girl who'd helped them with the battle against Father. She was an alkahestry expert, Roy suspected she'd be able to tell if an array contained alkahestry elements just from glancing at it.

"And why would she be in Resembool? She's a Xingese princess if I recall correctly."

Ed smirked, his eyes alight with amusement at whatever was going through his mind. "She's been visiting Al quite often, I know something's going on but he denies it, way too strongly. He goes bright red." He could hear the teasing in Ed's tone and see the fondness in his eyes.

Roy smirked, recalling how Ed always blushed when Roy teased him about women too. "So do you when I mention women. The Rockbell girl perhaps?"

Ed glared at him, his cheeks predictably turning red. "That seems to be your only fucking jab nowadays and it's annoying. And Winry's basically my sister so fuck off."

Roy shrugged, ignoring the way his chest tightened at the thought of Ed in an intimate situation with a woman. "It's only normal, you're nineteen. Your hormones must be going crazy by now."

It was natural, Roy told himself. Ed was in his late teens, he was bound to be curious about women by now. As far as Roy knew, Ed hadn't dated anyone in his teens, too preoccupied with getting Al's body back, but now he was bound to want to see what he was missing out on.

Or maybe he was like Roy had been, not really interested but wanting to test the waters and see what everyone was always on about. Though Ed was more impulsive than Roy had ever been; Roy had always had way more control than his peers when it came to women, something he prided himself on. They never got the better of him. He was always in control. And it was easy for him; he was never, ever seduced. His body might've responded to sexual touch but his mind had always remained clear as day.

But Ed was bound to give in to the impulse of need.

Ed turned a darker shade of red and glared at the table. "Tell me about it," he muttered under his breath. Roy wasn't sure he was meant to hear that.

A beat of silence ensued, and then Ed grabbed his notebook again, flicking through arrays he'd sketched. "I need to tell Al about this bond anyway, he'll be worried already. It's been almost two weeks and most missions don't take that long."

Roy pursed his lips, his mind going back to the issue at hand. He needed to go back to work but they also needed to go to Resembool. He didn't know how long they'd be there for. Next week, he thought.

They'd go to Resembool and then he'd go back to work.

The rest of the day had been uneventful. He'd signed a lot of paperwork; Hawkeye would be proud.

The lack of sleep had caught up to him, and he couldn't stop yawning after 7PM. Ed, to his dismay, had been yawning right after him every single time.

After the tenth yawn, he'd snapped. "Stop fucking yawning!"

Roy simply signed a document, putting it in his completed pile. He'd been expecting Ed's temper; he'd been feeling the annoyance bubbling inside of him through the bond with every yawn. It had only been a waiting game for the bomb to go off. "Nothing I can do, I'm afraid."

Ed growled, shutting his book with a slam. "Maybe stop keeping us up at night!"

There it was. He'd been wondering when Ed would mention the sleepless nights.

Roy interlocked his fingers on the table and faced Ed head on. Ed was most likely thinking Roy was keeping him up because he'd been scared of Ed seeing more of his dreams.

He'd been right, just perhaps hadn't guessed the type of dreams Roy was afraid of having.

Maybe that was what the bond had done. Maybe it had triggered these intrusive thoughts.

"I apologise for keeping you up, but I have no control over insomnia."

Ed glared at him, but through the bond he felt a flicker of regret. Regret for what, snapping at him?

He glanced at the clock; 9:30PM. Ed didn't reply, so Roy stood, taking his and Ed's dirty dishes to the sink. As he did the dishes, he listened to Ed flick through his notebook.

"You've been acting weird."

Roy froze, staring at the water flowing over the plates. Why was Ed always so damn direct? He would never get used to it.

Without turning around, he kept his voice bored as he said, "Have I?"

He didn't need to look at Ed to know he felt hesitant over the subject he was trying to broach. The emotion flowed through the bond, along with a faint hint of concern. It had been a new thing for Roy; Ed feeling concern for him.

How had he gone from thinking Ed strongly disliked him to feelings of concern becoming normal?

Before this soul bond, Ed would've been none the wiser to Roy's changes in mood. Just like everyone else; Roy made sure of that. Now, he seemed like an expert. Courtesy of the bond of course.

"You've been on edge since…" Ed trailed off, hesitation taking over again.

Since their kiss.

Roy resumed cleaning the dishes, trying to seem nonchalant. While he was an expert in hiding his emotions by manipulating his actions and tone of voice, he was unable to stop himself from feeling them. And so his usual tactics didn't work on Ed anymore. It was throwing him off, being called out for feeling things Ed shouldn't know he was feeling.

What other emotion had slipped through the bond? What else had Ed felt?

"I'm on edge because it's been almost two weeks and we still haven't broken the bond."

Ed's hesitation grew, and he remained silent for a moment. Roy finished the dishes and turned to him, drying his hands on a towel. He locked gazes with those stunning golden eyes, and saw the hesitation written all over his face. He wanted to say something, and Roy was curious despite himself.

"Spit it out."

Ed blushed faintly, shooting him a quick glare. "Never mind, bastard. I just hope we sleep tonight."

"I'll take a sleeping pill tonight."

Ed blinked, looking surprised. More concern flowed through the bond. "Oh. Right."

He hadn't been planning to, but it had just occurred to him that it would be a good idea. Roy hadn't taken a sleeping pill in a while; his nightmares hadn't been too bad for almost three years now, but the bond had been making him dream more than usual. He hadn't had a bad dream, however - bad meaning night terror level bad. But just Ed being witness to them was causing Roy more stress than usual. Taking a pill would hopefully stop the dreams; he was usually out cold in a different type of sleep.

Silence settled once more as they took turns in the bathroom and got ready for bed. Ed casually stripped off his tank top in the hallway, not even waiting for Roy to enter his room first. Roy looked despite himself, noticing his broad, defined shoulders, his muscular back and his rock hard abs.

Ed was fit, that hadn't been news to him. So why was it hard to tear his eyes away?

Annoyed with himself, he shut the door to his room, leaned against it and took a deep breath. Yes, a sleeping pill was a very good idea.

Walking over to his bedside cabinet, he took out the pill bottle and swallowed one dry.

Then, he got into bed, staring at the ceiling and waiting for sleep to claim him. This situation was giving him deja vu - he'd spent countless hours over the years staring at his ceiling while waiting for the sleeping pill to kick in.

The hallway light flicked off, and he closed his eyes. The anxiety was there, squeezing his chest.

He hoped there would be no dream.

Ed walked through Headquarters with a scowl, a wrinkled manila folder tucked under his arm.

He hated Headquarters. Stupidly tall people strutted about as if they were important. Everyone thought they were important in this goddamn building. The glances he received, probably for not wearing the uniform, only added to the pile of annoyance in his chest.

He caught someone's eye; a Colonel, he noticed from the stars on his uniform. The man lifted his chin at him with an air of superiority, giving his clothes a judgemental look.

Pretentious asshole.

And now he was going to meet another pretentious asshole. One who had been grinding on his nerves a lot more as of late.

As he entered the outer office of Colonel Mustang, he wished Al was with him. He'd left him in the library, thinking there was no point in him coming along and interrupting his research. Plus, he hated how people here looked at Al.

Hawkeye looked over at him and smiled. "Good morning, Edward. It's good to have you back."

Ed smiled at her. He liked Hawkeye; she was always kind to him and put the bastard in his place. "Good to be back." Kinda.

They'd just returned from a useless mission, and The Bastard wanted a report. Of course he did, the nosey shit.

Ed had wasted a whole five hours of his life writing about his experiences in a random town that had nothing to do with getting their bodies back, in a report that would most likely get insulted.

It was ridiculous.

After high-fiving Havoc and Breda and having a quick catchup conversation with the team, he entered the inner office, ignoring the way his heart always hammered in his chest as his eyes rested on the Colonel.

Deep black eyes lifted from the papers on his desk, that blank expression of his chilling. It caused a shiver to run through Ed as he shut the door and walked over to the desk.

What was he thinking? He could never, ever tell. It was unnerving. Did the man even feel anything?

He cut off Mustang's bored good morning by throwing the report on the desk. Mustang swiftly caught it before it slid on the floor, one gloved hand shooting out just in time. His eyes never strayed from Ed's.

Ed's heart pounded in his chest, his blood burning hotter. Did Mustang know how to boil blood with his eyes now?

He stared shamelessly as the Colonel read through the report. He was leaning casually back in his chair, his face blank as his eyes scanned the page. He tried to detect even the slightest bit of emotion on his face, the tiniest change, but there was nothing.

Ed gulped, noticing the way his black hair fell over his eyes, the broadness of his shoulders. His strong arms. His hands…What did he look like under that uniform? It was the only thing he'd ever seen him in. Well, unless the pictures in the newspapers counted. The pictures with women on his arm. Then, he was smartly dressed, looking like the handsome bastard that he was.

"You still can't spell."

Ed blinked, Mustang's words registering. He scowled. "I spent five hours on that shit and that's all you have to say? I have more important uses for my time you know!"

No reaction. His face stayed completely blank, his eyes chilling. "So do I, Fullmetal. Don't waste my time."

He was about to snap at him when the Colonel's mouth curled into a smirk that had Ed on high alert. Amusement was probably the only emotion the bastard felt. And annoyance. At Ed. "This took you five hours?"

Ed always tried to anticipate where their conversations would go, but he'd never quite got it right. Anticipating Mustang's teasing was actually hard; if Mustang realised he'd guessed what he was about to say he changed route, catching Ed off guard every damn time.

He flushed in embarrassment. So yeah it took him five hours to write a very mediocre report. He'd left school at eleven and had to learn how to write with his left hand. Shit was hard.

The bastard looked so amused at his reactions, staring at Ed so intensely, and that annoying feeling made itself known inside of him. The annoying feeling that only Roy Mustang could awaken in him.

He could feel his leather pants tightening, his skin getting hotter and suddenly the bastard didn't seem so annoying anymore. His mouth went dry as he watched Mustang talk, his smooth, deep voice making his whole body hum. He wanted that voice closer, intimately in his ear. He shivered at the thought.

He was telling him to rewrite the report, making use of a dictionary this time. Ed would usually be mad, but once this feeling took over him there was no room for other emotions. Not with Mustang right in front of him.

Ed growled in frustration and practically ran out of the office, ignoring the others and went straight to the bathroom. When he locked himself in a stall he was panting, and it wasn't entirely from the running.

His erection was throbbing as he urgently unbuckled his belt and shoved his hand inside his pants, stroking himself. He imagined it was Mustang's stronger, bigger hand pumping him. A groan escaped him at the thought and he bit his lip to stifle it.

His breathing grew heavier. He knew why this was happening. He was sixteen. His hormones were going crazy and it meant nothing. But still, no one could ever know. This was so fucking embarrassing.

With a moan, he threw his head back against the wall, his vision going black as he came in his hand.