FicWad

'It wasn't fair' was a thought Roy was experiencing far too often. And it was usually followed by some sort of surprise. When Ed had said he was going to be waiting, Roy had not expected a...patient looking Elric to be lounging outside the office....not dressed like...that.

For one the trademark red coat was absent, leaving only a rather...nice black shirt, the usual black pants, and the chain marking Ed's pocket watch, which lay so perfectly against the leg of his pants that Roy suspected Ed of having fixed it there by some sort of alchemically arcane means. White gloves were in place, Ed still not being comfortable flaunting his automail in public.

The biggest difference, the one that had Roy stopped just outside the door and staring like a damn idiot, was the fact Ed's customary braid had been replaced. It was, in all reality, the smallest of changes, but the connotation... The braid was more utilitarian, a solid way of keeping that thick mane of hair safely out of the way in Ed's fast paced lifestyle. To see that braid undone...that beautiful hair held back only by a hair tie, shifting almost constantly with the slight evening breeze...

It was mesmerizing.

Roy wanted to run his hands through that hair...to feel again how soft it was, to have it cascade down and brush lightly across his face as Ed threw his head back in a gasp of surprised pleasure...

"You're late, Colonel." Ed pushed himself away from the tree he had been lounging against, a feral grin on his face. "Hoping if I waited long enough I would get discouraged and go home?"

"N...no such thing!"

"Whatever you say, sir."

This was horribly...backwards. Roy had no reason, absolutely NO reason to feel like some adolescent. He shouldn't feel so awkward, so off center...and Ed should not be sauntering like that. Roy should be wearing that smug little grin, he should be the one so very pointedly staring, an appreciative look on his face. who the hell had the kid been taking lessons from?

"Well, Mustang, are you hungry?"

"Yes." Damn, that sounded far too anxious... "It's been a long day." What a cliché response... Roy could feel his last tenuous grip on the situation start to fail at the throaty laugh that rumbled its way out of Edward. It was an unfamiliar sound- outside of the intimate confines of the bedroom... a delicate shudder or three twitched their way along Roy's spine as he finally stopped trying to stand apart from the situation. Ed wasn't going to let him remain detached.

That was the point of dinner.

Of the coffee.

Edward stood, a mere handful of feet away, just outside of intimacy, eyes intent on Roy's face. "Well, are we going to get dinner, you bastard, or are you going to just stand there and stare?"

There was a gruff catch to Ed's voice, and Roy finally grasped the situation in its entirety. The little bastard was feeling as out of sorts as he was, maybe even more so, he was just handling it better. In true Elric fashion, what made him feel vulnerable he attacked head on.

Overconfident. Impulsive. Delectable.


...touchtastesmell...


Daring more than he ever had, risking the rejection he had been wary of, Roy closed those last few feet and ran one finger down Ed's cheek, drinking in the shuddering breath that Ed hissed out in response, gold eyes wide with shock. Roy wanted to do more now that he had decided to make a move...wanted to trail bare fingers through temptingly loose blond hair, snag it, pull it just a little...wanted those wide eyes to glaze over with sensation...

But directly in front of his place of work, with a subordinate, was most likely not the wisest choice of location or action. "What did you have in mind for dinner, Edward?" Roy purred, drawing back a bit, watching Ed try and work coherent thought back into action. He delighted in the slightly dazed look that lingered in those gorgeous eyes, in the fact that he was the cause.

"I found this café..." Ed scrambled after his elusive thought processes, trying to regain control of what had been his date.

Not a trace of regret, not a hint of rejection...something harsh eased up, something that had been bothering Roy for as long as he cared remember. His face softened, a genuine smile peeking out from behind the smirk firmly, familiarly, in place. "Lead the way."

"I was going to, bastard. Don't need your permission." Ed grumped, engaging his usual tactics in an attempt to regain control of the situation.

At least he refrained from stomping off...



Dinner was a fascinating display of awkward courtship, complete with each trying desperately not to be caught looking at the other, while trying just as desperately to enjoy the view.

It led to rather awkward attempts at conversation.

Every bit of contact, every arm that brushed another while reaching for salt or fingers that managed to touch while passing the bread, sent bursts of excited, embarrassed sensation through each of them. Each foot that nudged against the other was a reminder of how close they were. It was a tension that had evolved from their usual spats, matured into something more poignant, more refined.

Ed ate with a single minded determination not to pay attention to his partner, while Roy ingested some fine brandy in an attempt to settle nerves that had not gotten this worked up since a hellish night spent out in a cold desert having his heart broken, in a frighteningly non-metaphorical sense.

"...'s wrong?"

"Hm?" Roy looked up from the gently swirling contents of his glass to meet (for the first time that dinner) Ed's eyes.

"I said, 'what's wrong?'"

"Nothing. Why?"

"You have been looking down into that glass for the better part of ten minutes. Hell, I even kicked you a few times and you didn't even look up."

Sore, burned hands pulling desperately on a rough uniform, pleading...pale eyes staring at him from behind cracked rectangular lenses, pitying...rejecting...

"Hey. I'm sorry..." Ed sounded so contrite...

Roy blinked, and was surprised to feel a stray bit of moisture wandering its way down his face. "It's nothing."

"I shouldn't have pried. I am sorry. Hell, I shouldn't have forced you into coming out. Didn't know you were so against the idea..." Ed was babbling desperate to cover his own dismay with words.

"Not your fault. Nothing to do with you, actually. Just remembering something I think I was avoiding. After a fashion..."

"Well...while you were woolgathering I paid for dinner. Unless you want some coffee I was thinking we could leave."

Roy downed the last of the brandy, remembering he actually didn't like the stuff with a grimace. "Who said you were paying?"

"I did. I invited you out. It's only fair." All tentative awkwardness vanished as Ed's face hardened. "Don't even try and argue about that with me, dammit."

Roy held out a hand in entreaty. "I wouldn't dare. Though, since you took care of dinner, I insist you come to my apartment for a bit."

The awkwardness returned in force as both of them stared, each equally intent on what spending time at Roy's would entail. A faint blush rose in Ed's cheeks, but his lips pursed in a determined line as he nodded once, agreeing.

"Excellent." Roy murmured, standing with a stretch. "After you."