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"Yo, bastard. Where's that file you gave me last week? I kinda need it."
A sigh sounded that could be heard even from outside the open office door.
"I don't know, Ed, you had it last, so surely you should know of its whereabouts?"
"How am I supposed to know about anything if you keep stealing my stuff?"
"I never touched it. Have you checked your desk?"
"What d'you think I've been doing? About ten times, you – oh. There it is."
"Oh, what was that, Fullmetal? I didn't hear you over the sound of you making utterly false accusations."
"Shut up." Ed poked his head around Roy's office door, file in hand. "You're gonna take forever with what you're doing anyway. Had to find some way of killing time, else I'll be stuck waiting for you." And being nervous as hell, he didn’t add, because Roy didn’t need to know that. Didn’t need to know that the idea of going on a date with Roy Mustang, Smarmiest Charming Bastard of the Known Universe, was making Ed's heart do backflips of both terror and excited anticipation. Didn’t need to know that his stomach was dropping and running around in excited circles even just from the fact that Roy was now smiling at him fondly, pen tapping lightly against the desk.
"I wouldn't dare," Roy said. "I have an appointment tonight that I wouldn't miss for the world."
Ed's primary blood pumping vessel seemed to progress onto full-blown acrobatics, judging from the way that his face heated up immediately. He scowled so he wouldn’t smile.
“Yeah, you better not.” Ed cleared his throat. He was still hovering by the doorway, neither in nor out of Roy’s office. “So, I’ll just—” He waved around the little blue folder he had clutched in his hand. The fact that Roy’s smile didn’t seem to be waning – if anything, it had become even fonder – was a little disconcerting. Though not in a bad way.
“Yes, you can just—” Roy similarly waved a hand in the air.
“You know what I mean,” Ed growled. “And could you stop the pen tapping? Since when did you do that anyway?”
Roy froze and stopped hitting his pen against the desk, staring at his hand as though it’d betrayed him.
“I don’t,” he said shortly. “Okay, shoo, I need to do some work before—”
Hawkeye’s voice drifted through the open door. “He’s tapping his pen because you’re making him nervous, Edward. And, sir, might I remind you that we’ll need those papers before tomorrow. Pen may need to meet paper before you leave tonight.”
Roy grimaced even as Ed grinned. “Yes, Captain.”
Ed finally sauntered into the room, plonking himself down on Roy’s desk.
“I make you nervous?”
Roy’s cheeks seemed to be slightly pink. Interesting. “Not nervous; that’s not really the word I’d put on the feeling,” he said smoothly. “Doesn’t really cover anything, because I don’t think it’s got anything to do with nerves. And it’s not really you in particular, it’s more to—”
Ed placed one hand firmly on top of Roy’s, resting on the desk.
“Hey, I get it.” Ed cleared his throat, feeling slightly awkward and flushing a little more at the sudden realisation that this was the first time he’d touched Roy. Well, other than punching him, but that didn’t really count. “It’s okay. Me too.”
Roy’s dark eyes searched Ed’s face for a long moment before his shoulders visibly relaxed and he let out a tentative smile.
“All right. So I guess – I’ll see you tonight?”
Ed raised an eyebrow. “Wasn’t that the plan?”
“Well, yes but—” Roy pouted and huffed out a laugh at the same time. It was adorable, and Ed was disgusted at himself for even having the word pass through his mind. “Go do your work, you brat.”
“Yes, Brigadier General, sir.” Ed grinned, hand lifting (slightly reluctantly) from Roy’s to throw a parody of a salute as he backed away, dodging the paper clip Roy launched at him. It was probably a horrendous failure, but Ed did try to wipe the stupid grin off his face as he walked back to his desk, tried to look a little more Stern and Serious.
But it was really hard not to be a little giddy, not to have the nerves buzzing a little like they had been for near a damn week now. The cocktail of nervous fear and excitement had been brewing ever since he’d handed in some report last week – he barely remembered what he’d written, he’d been that on edge. Then on the tail end of Mustang’s “dismissed, Fullmetal,” the pent up frustrated attraction he’d been keeping dammed up for damn (ha) months had spilled free like the river had decided to wreak havoc on anything that had dared to get in its way. Sloshing forth in a stammered, stumbling invitation to a date maybe some time, although Roy definitely didn’t have to if he didn’t want to. Red on his cheeks like the lines on Roy’s gloves, and maybe dinner would be good; there were a couple of nice places that Al had mentioned—
Roy had blinked once. Twice. Then he’d let out of the brightest smile Ed had ever seen in over a decade of knowing him, like Christmas had come early, and with extra gifts.
And he’d said yes.
Which meant that Ed had to deal with a whole host of new problems. Instead of spending most of his time thinking about what it’d be like to date Roy, he had to think of what exactly he would be doing on his date with Roy, set for the next Friday at seven o’clock. Freaking out about how to make conversation, never mind that they’d never had a problem with that before.
At least if all else fails, you can just go back to yelling at him, brother!
Shut up Al.
Imagining all the infinite number of ways that he could screw it up, ranging from coming back from the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to his shoe, to somehow having Roy witness firsthand Ed’s ability to make buildings collapse spontaneously. Which would really ruin everything because then Roy would gripe about expenses, and despite Ed’s limited experience he was pretty sure that was not meant to happen on a date.
It was only when Ed caught himself with a pen in his mouth, wondering what he could wear so that Roy might be willing to go on a second date with him, that he realised that he was just wearing himself out with worry and that time was better spent doodling pictures of Hayate in the margins of his notes than thinking about this anymore. And once he’d gotten out of his own internal freak out, Ed started to notice that Roy was misplacing folders more than usual, and also knocking his coffee cup off the desk with great frequency.
And oddly enough, it made Ed himself feel a bit better that he wasn’t the only one who had no fucking clue what was going on.
But now it was the next Friday, and instead of being a week away it was in fact only a few hours, and Ed’s nerves were going to shit. Time was both crawling and moving way too fast, and then it was finally late enough that he could clock off without being yelled at by Hawkeye. After he’d packed up his things, he popped his head around Roy’s door once again, squinting against the light of the sunset that lit Roy up from behind.
“Yo.”
Roy jumped, dropping the paper clip chain he’d been working on.
“Oh. Ed. Yes?”
“I’m gonna go now, I’ll…see you later?”
A nod and a smile. “Yeah, I’ll see you soon. Take care getting home, Edward.”
Ed wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, so he shrugged and smiled.
“Thanks. You too.” He hovered at the doorway a while longer, both of them just staring at each other with helpless smiles on their faces before Ed realised that his behaviour was getting ridiculous and, more importantly, was also cutting into his shower time. He cleared his throat.
“I’ll go then. See ya.”
“You certainly will.”
With one last glance at Roy, Ed headed out, but Hawkeye’s voice cut him off as he passed her desk on the way to the door.
“For both your sakes, I hope this honey-mooning will die down after a while. This has been one of the most unproductive weeks we’ve ever experienced.”
Ed froze, then turned to face her.
“Yeah, um. I’ll try. No promises though.” A weak smile.
“I don’t know, Captain,” Fuery interjected from his spot next to Hawkeye, leaning over to show her a piece of paper. “It was pretty productive if you look at how many pictures of Hayate Ed managed to sketch out.”
“Hey – what, that was on my desk!”
“Right out in the open, where you forgot to put it away when you went to say goodbye to the Brigadier General.” Fuery beamed up at him even as Ed levelled his glare, the range of which he quickly widened to include everyone else in the room after he heard a snicker from behind him.
“You’re all the worst,” he muttered. “Absolute worst.”
Fuery let out a bright laugh, fastening the collection of Hayates to Hawkeye’s pinboard on her desk.
“Thank you, Fuery,” Hawkeye murmured, watching him, before turning back to Ed. “I hope the message is understood.” Ed nodded hastily, deciding that now was not the time to remind her that technically he did outrank her, despite her promotion.
“Yep, definitely.” Ed had to resist the urge to back away as Hawkeye’s level gaze pinned him down for another moment, before giving way to a soft, amused smile.
“Good luck, Edward.”
Ed swallowed. “Oh. Thanks.”
“Yeah, enjoy your night Ed!”
“Tell us if the Boss kisses any good.”
“I hope you realise I can hear all of you out there, and might I remind you that your pay comes from me.”
Breda snorted. “Like hell, as long as Hawkeye approves we’re fine right?”
“I believe that’s correct,” Hawkeye said distractedly, having turned back to her work. Breda grinned.
“So we’re all good, and we can grill Ed as much—”
“Okay, I’m out.” Ed quickly hoisted his bag up his shoulder and strode towards the door. “See you guys next week.”
A final “make sure to take notes!” followed him as he let the door slam shut, then a slow grin spread across his face as he made his way home.
The city was busy as it could only be on a Friday night, but the crowds didn’t really bother Ed. Growing up in Risembool had been a little too quiet for him, and he actually enjoyed how the city never really stopped. Joining the throngs of people headed this way and that, he made his way through the streets with a nervous bounce in his step. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been on dates before. There had been a few, even some longer relationships – he’d been with Dean with nearly five months – but nothing had ever been quite so…real. Human. Which was fucking hilarious when you thought about the fact that Roy spent most days pretending to be anything but.
It was just that this had entirely too much potential to go entirely down the shit hole. All the others had been gentle. Normal, if you wanted to call it that. He’d certainly never had any reason to punch any of his exes, and the break up had always been simple and quiet, which would not be what happened if this ended. Because Roy had been his boss, his friend, a good friend, long before any of this had ever started. Which only meant that there was just so much more to lose now.
But he could only try, right? Could only keep moving forward, a day at a time, and just place faith in the hope that Roy would choose, every day, to be there.
They seemed to be off to a good start, because Ed could see when he rounded the corner that Roy had chosen to rock up tonight, hands tucked into the pockets of a grey trench coat, looking like a damn model. With the warmth of the evening, Roy’s sleeves were rolled up, and he seemed to have his own little pocket of peace standing next to that lamppost looking all cool and casual and shit, despite the crowds.
And as soon as he spotted Ed, calm indifference gave away to a gentle smile.
“Hello there, gorgeous.”
Ed really needed to get a handle on this blushing thing some time soon. It was getting out of control.
“Hey. Or well, only if you were actually talking to me.”
Roy grinned down at him as Ed finally came to a halt.
“Do you see anyone else quite so stunning in the immediate vicinity?”
Ed rolled his eyes. Luckily their physical capability to do so didn’t depend on his heart, because it was tossing around in his chest cavity like some kind of tugboat in a hurricane at the moment.
“Wow Mustang, we’re only two minutes out of the office. Dial it down a bit.”
“I can’t help it,” Roy said, still with his silly grin on. “I really can’t help it when I’m around you, especially now that I’m allowed to not be dialled down.”
Ed didn’t know how to respond to that except with yeah, I know what you mean, so he went back to his default reaction – hands shoved deep in pockets and scowl on his face.
“Fucking charmer, aren’t you? Wanna head in now?” he asked, jerking his head in the direction of the restaurant’s entrance.
“I’d love to.” So they made their way over, and the slight distance between the two of them as they walked side-by-side made Ed’s skin tingle. On entering, he gave his name to a waiter and they were led to their table, outside underneath the wild purple of the twilight sky amongst the burbling chatter of other diners. The little courtyard was lit by standing lamps, which gave off a slight heat as the first chill of the evening settled.
And once they were seated, the fear that they’d have nothing to talk about came crashing down to settle insidiously in Ed’s mind once more.
“So, how were Alphonse’s travels?” Roy asked, pouring the water without appearing to notice that Ed’s brain was madly scrambling for purchase on an icy cliff. “I don’t think I’ve really gotten the time to ask either of you since he came back.”
“Thanks,” Ed replied, taking the glass so that he’d have something to do with his hands. “And they were good. Really good, he learnt a bunch of stuff and finally managed to get a grasp on alkahestry. Or at least the basics, especially all the crazy healing stuff that Mei was pulling off when she was over here.”
Roy leaned forward, interested. “Oh? That would be really helpful for us, having Mei there was...a lifeline, to say the least.”
Ed nodded his agreement, thanking the waiter who deposited a little basket of bread on their table.
“Yeah, Al’s hoping to start something up so he can end up teaching it, because what we’ve got at the moment with alchemy doesn’t really seem to work with the same kind of process. Basically what ends up happening – d’you know much about the human body, biology and shit?”
“Not all that much, Roy admitted with a rueful smile. “Knew some basics from school when I was still interested in all sciences, but then once I started learning from Master Hawkeye…well, the whole reason had been to learn flame alchemy, so there wasn’t really much focus on anything that wasn’t connected.”
Ed waved a hand. “S’alright, it’s pretty basic anyway. So, what we’ve got when, say for example, someone gets cut, is usually four stages of healing.” Ed started ticking the numbers off on his fingers. “They’re bleeding out, so first the blood’ll clot to stop that, then you’ve got inflammation to protect from infection, then new skin tissue gets made, and basically at the end it all gets cleaned up, remodelled a little bit.”
Roy nodded slowly, committing the stages to memory. “All right, go on.”
“So what ends up happening with alkahestry, you’ve got the array…”
And it was – easy, talking like this. Easy to be a little carried away, gesturing animatedly and grinning as he explained all his little brother had learned. There were a couple of times when he had to pause to apologise because his hand motions had been a little too enthusiastic and had almost hit a passing customer, but other than that it was fine. Roy was the perfect audience as well, leaning forward with a soft smile and turning Ed’s heart to goo with the way he was listening with rapt attention, chin propped on his fist. Then he made some snarky comment that had Ed bursting into laughter, and Ed was about to throw back some insult or another, but then Roy reached forward and twined his fingers around Ed’s metal ones – and it was nice. Ed did jerk a little at the contact, because really, who’d want to hold the automail hand? But Roy’s grip only became firmer, so Ed relaxed, and the conversation rolled on without a hitch despite the fact that his cheeks were now slightly pink.
So really, Ed had very little to worry about in boring Roy.
“All right,” Roy said slowly, processing a little, hand still capturing Ed’s. “Right. But with that third bit with the new tissue and everything – does alkahestry not use equivalent exchange or something? How can it build something that’s not already there? I get the first few parts, where it’s just speeding up the reaction of what’s already there, but when it’s making new – tissue, you called it?” Ed nodded, so Roy continued. “How does that work?”
“Well, it’s not really new matter, they have to be able to get it from somewhere. It’s pretty much the same as with the first couple of stages, same deal – working with existing stuff but we’re just speeding it up. So what you’ve got with the tissue is making some new stuff, and then there also ends up being a kind of skeleton thing for the new stuff to build around…” Ed trailed off, glancing around for anything he could use to demonstrate. Struck by inspiration, he grabbed the bread basket, and grinned when he looked down to see plenty of flaked-off crust bits.
“Perfect.” Spreading out his napkin, he tipped a few of them out. “Lemme show you.”
“You know, this actually is a wonderful place.”
Ed made a vague noise of agreement. He was stuffed. Maybe the last dessert had been a mistake, but – actually no, it really hadn’t. Judging from Roy’s contented look as he leaned back on his chair to look up at the now dark sky, Roy was similarly sated. “Thank you for bringing me here.” God, Ed could just listen to that voice all night, the way it sent shivers down his spine and filled his heart.
“No problem,” Ed replied with a grin, gulping down some water. Honestly, it hadn’t been that hard to find, seeing as Al seemed to have an alphabetised list in his head of every single restaurant in Central City, along with their specialty dish, name of their manager, and the building’s blueprints. So when Ed had asked for somewhere “y’know, not too fancy cause I’m not sure I can handle that the first time, and not too noisy cause I kinda wanna get to talk to him,” Al had been able to reel off a whole list of places before Ed had barely finished saying “and the food needs to be good.”
“Glad you liked it.” It had been damn near perfect, and Ed really didn’t want the night to end, but the last of the plates had been cleared and the bill was on its way. Sighing, Ed too leaned back in his seat to gaze at the sky. “Fuck, the sky’s clear tonight.”
“It really is a sight.”
“Y’know, Al said that they had different constellations in Xing. Well, not different different, just they grouped the little guys differently. Which kinda makes sense, seeing as constellation names are fucking arbitrary anyway.”
“Mmm. Always interesting to see how we all work differently. I really do have to grill Alphonse about his trip sometime. Did he tell you Xing itself means star in Xingese?”
“Oh really? That’s kinda cool. Back in Risembool on a night like this, we could damn near see every single star. Haven’t really had the same happen in Central. Damn light pollution,” Ed sighed, still perfectly happy all the same. “Meant to be able to see a couple of thousand, but all we’ve got is, like, twelve.”
Roy chuckled, sipping his drink. “I think there are slightly more than twelve, but I do see your point. It is a shame, and on such a clear night as well.”
“Yeah.” There was a moment’s silence, and then Ed brought his gaze down from the lights above to rest on Roy instead. Not such a bad change. In fact, it was a really good change, being able to be with Roy like this.
“Thanks for coming with me tonight,” Ed said before the courage slipped away. “It’s been – good. Really good.”
Roy’s expression immediately melted into soft fondness, and Ed’s heart skipped a few beats when Roy reached forward to twine their fingers together again. “It has. Thank you for inviting me out,” he said, dark eyes warm and sincere. “I don’t think I’d have had the courage to do the same.”
“Eh, you would’ve figured it out eventually.” Then the bill arrived. Ed, like a smooth fucker, grasped Roy’s hand tightly while he used his other to quickly flick out a few notes out of his wallet to stick in the little tray, which the waiter took away with a bow. Laughing at Roy’s frown, Ed stood, dragging Roy to his feet as well.
“I spent a while doing shit one-handed, Mustang,” Ed said with a grin, loving the way that Roy was almost pouting.
“Ed, really, I should—”
“Don’t sweat it.” Ed tugged Roy closer, leading him towards the exit. “I asked this time. This way you owe me, and I get to drag you to a second date.” The pout gradually subsided, and Roy squeezed Ed’s fingers, a pressure which could barely be felt running up the metal. But the fact that he did had Ed’s heart full to bursting.
“You wouldn’t have to drag me, Ed. I’d happily come along.” Roy sighed. “The night’s gone too quickly, honestly.”
“Yeah” They were quiet for a moment as they weaved their way between the tables, pausing when the exited onto the ever-busy street. The disappointment of having to leave was slowly settling in, although tonight had been so utterly amazing that Ed couldn’t wait to do it again.
“Guess…we should be heading off now, yeah?” he asked, looking down at the way their fingers linked together. There was a long silence, and Ed was starting to worry that maybe Roy was about to deliver a “thank you for tonight, but I think we made better colleagues than boyfriends” but then—
“We don’t have to.” At that, Ed’s gaze snapped up to rest on Roy, who was smiling a little tentatively. “You said you wanted to see the stars? There’s a place I go sometimes; it’s not all that far. It’s high enough that Central just kind of – disappears. It’s really clear up there.” Stargazing with Roy by his side? Ed jumped at the chance.
“Hell yeah,” he breathed. “That sounds good. Great. Let’s do that.” Roy’s fledgling smile rapidly underwent adolescence to reach the most magnificent, beautiful adulthood.
“My car’s not too far, come on.” The streets were still busy, and Roy placed himself slightly behind Ed to lead him in the right direction, releasing Ed’s hand to instead keep a slight pressure on his back. And god, the feeling Roy’s fingertips settling lightly on the small of his back, steering Ed through the crowd, had to be one of the best feelings ever. It wasn’t like it was controlling or anything, just – there. Showing that Roy was present and that he wanted to be, and that this wasn’t some kind of elaborate prank. Or that Ed had already ruined it by manoeuvring the little bits of bread shrapnel left over in the basket when he was trying to explain how alkahestry could manipulate human tissue.
“I will get there in one piece yeah?” Ed asked once they’d hopped inside the car and he was reaching for his seat belt. Roy paused from fiddling with his keys for a moment to direct a glare at him.
“What’s that supposed to mean, exactly?”
“It’s just I remember the last time I was in your car, you didn’t seem to be entirely in control.”
Roy sniffed as the engine rumbled to life. “I can drive perfectly well, thank you very much.” Grinning at the tone, Ed settled back.
“Right, right. It’s just I remember you taking your eyes off to road to demand money from me, and I know I don’t drive but I get the feeling it’s one of the first rules that—”
“You made it out in one piece then, Edward,” Roy growled, although his lips were twitching into a smile. “You’ll make it this time. I believe in you.” And at that, he pulled out from the curb, almost scraping another car and making Ed’s grin disappear to give way to an expression of abject terror instead.
“Holy shit, Roy! Okay, I’m sorry, just please don’t kill me.”
Roy chuckled. “It’ll be fine, I promise. And it’s not that far. You won’t have to put up with it too long.”
Not reassured, Ed just clung on for dear life.
The way that Central was built was a little bizarre, though that was quite possibly simply a by-product of the way that the country had been forcibly developed in the first place. The city was completely urban, but then there was a very clear divide, so that after about twenty minutes bumping along in Roy’s car, they were winding their way up a dimly lit forest path with the lights from the city left long behind. The car was silent, though it was comfortable and comforting rather than anything else.
“Just around this corner,” Roy said after a while, his words enfolded into the gentle quiet of the engine’s rumbling. And after a final turn, he slowed, then stopped. After pulling the key out of the ignition, he paused for a moment before turning to Ed.
“Want to come see?”
“Hell yeah.” Ed yawned, then stepped out of the car, the twin sounds of them slamming the doors shut echoing into the night. With quiet footsteps, Roy came around to Ed’s side, one hand outstretched in an offer.
“The view’s the best just around here.”
Ed smiled and placed his hand in Roy’s, wanting to remember every last detail. The way that Roy gripped his hand firmly. The callouses on slender fingers, the smoothness of his palms.
“You didn’t lure my innocent ass here so you could kill me and dump my useless corpse, did you?” Ed asked, eyes trained on the floor so he wouldn’t trip over a rock or something – not that looking did anything really; he couldn’t see shit with how dark it was.
“Mmm, maybe I did.” Roy’s tone was amused, and his thumb was running a gentle line up and down Ed’s hand. “Guess you’ll have to wait to find out.”
“Always knew you were a bastard, now you’re a murdering bastard.” The trees gradually petered out as they walked, then suddenly the path opened up into a clearing and Ed froze.
The view that greeted him was nothing like the lit up dark of when they’d been in the restaurant looking up. This was pure, inky blackness ignited with a thousand tiny lights pinned to the stretched out canvas of the universe.
“Holy fuck,” he breathed, in awe at the sight and completely unable to stop the excited grin that was spreading across his face. “Look at – Roy what the hell? You can see every single fucking constellation from here.”
Roy’s soft laugh was like a warm blanket. “It is pretty wonderful.”
“How’d you find this place?” Ed asked absently, vaguely aware that they were heading up a slight incline. His eyes were still trained on the sky as Roy led him by the hand – if he tripped on a rabbit hole or some shit at least he’d die happy and with the vision of a thousand stars glimmering in his mind. Then there was a rustling sound, and Roy was tugging his hand downwards. Ed finally looked away from the stars to see Roy – or rather, Roy’s slightly illuminated silhouette – sitting on the ground. Ed followed suit, his hand still in Roy’s.
It was quiet for a little bit, with Ed still drinking in the sight of the stars with awe. Then Roy’s soft tones broached the quiet.
“Sometimes, when the city and – well, life itself, is a bit too much, I need somewhere to go.” His tone was light and conversational, but his grip on Ed’s hand had tightened as though needing Ed to stay. Roy smiled ruefully. “You know how it is.”
“Yeah.”
“I had a similar spot back in East City. It was always a little easier there anyway, but yeah, one of the first things I did when we were transferred was to just find a spot to go. I just – it seems a little silly, because tangibly it shouldn’t make a difference where you are, quiet is quiet. But just the physical distance helps. And I know—”
“Roy.” Ed only cut him off because of the tightened worry that was crossing Roy’s face. “It’s all right. You don’t have to explain to me.” Roy looked over at Ed, dark eyes searching. And he was quiet for so long, and Ed had no clue what he was thinking.
“Ed, I’m a mess,” he said finally. Quietly, as though hoping no one had to bear witness to the confession. “I’m a mess, and I’m so afraid I’ll mess this up.”
“Well, yeah, me too.” Ed looked down at the way that their fingers were tangled up together, and then brought them up slowly so he could lay a gentle kiss on Roy’s knuckles. It felt a bit awkward, but it also felt like the right thing to be doing. “Me too. Let’s try not to mess up together?” He lowered their hands again, and Roy was still for a while longer before he seemed to relax a little.
“You’re amazing, Edward.” Stated like a fact, as though he didn’t know all the fucked-up shit that Ed had done. “And yes,” Roy said when Ed opened his mouth to disagree. “Sounds like a plan. A good one.” And it hit Ed all over again that he was sitting on a little hill outside Central with Roy Mustang of all people, the two of them gazing into each other's’ eyes like idiots and absolutely not caring that it might be idiotic. After a moment, Ed turned back to look out across the night sky.
“I’m full of awesome plans.”
Roy made a noise of agreement, and then they lapsed into silence. Despite the rockiness of everything that had defined them up until this point, the night had been pretty much perfect, and Ed could think of no better way to end it than to just be simply enjoying Roy’s presence next to him. Feeling Roy’s warmth beside him, Roy’s fingers gently caressing his own in the quiet of the night with little else but the gentle hush of wind through the trees.
Art by edwardsroy, originally posted here.
“Hey what’s – oh.” Roy’s voice barely pierced the quiet before trailing off. Instead, he just pointed silently at the streak of light that burst across the inky night, and Ed’s breath caught in his throat at the sight. And he wanted to say something about how immensely happy he felt right now, sitting with Roy like this and being able to watch the universe unfold from their little spot inside it. How – when he finally tore his eyes away from the light as it flickered out – the sight of Roy’s face ever so faintly lit up, content, tranquil, was enough to birth the stupid hope that maybe, just maybe, this could be good. Maybe they could work.
But it was too soon, this was still too fragile and the foundations still hadn’t quite settled yet. So instead, Ed shuffled in closer and nudged an elbow against Roy’s ribs.
“Make a wish, bastard.” Roy stared at the star-speckled sky a moment longer before turning to Ed, soft smile practically glowing.
“Don’t need to.” And Roy leaned forward so that their foreheads rested together, and Ed’s heart was beating straight out of his chest at the sight of dark eyes on a dark night staring straight into his own, warm fingers gently squeezing his hand. “Mine’s already come true.”
And Ed pretty much burst into flame at that.
“You’re a fucking sappy bastard,” he grumbled, ears near burning. And then it was quiet, and all that Ed could hear was Roy’s gentle breathing over the distant sounds of the city settling down for the night. And for the life of him he couldn’t look away, leaning into the hand which came up to rest gently, tentatively against his cheek. Ed shifted, every nerve running with electricity.
“Roy?” Quiet, but sure.
“Yes, Edward?” Ed paused for a moment, then sucked in a breath and let himself fall.
“Can I kiss you?” came out in a rush, spilling into the open quiet.
Roy was silent for a moment, and Ed could hear crickets literally chirping, which would be hilarious if it weren’t for the fact that he’d pretty much tossed his heart off a cliff and was hoping, with limited prior knowledge of the fact, that there was a safety net at the bottom—
The hand on his face moved ever so slightly so that trembling fingers ran gently through his hair, and soft lips covered Ed’s.
And god, it was really fucking awesome, the way that Roy’s tongue moved lightly over Ed’s lip, and Ed revelled in the way that he was allowed to touch now. So he did, brushing Roy’s jacket aside so he could gently trace Roy’s ribs, his chest, his hip. And there was something about Roy’s breath shifting into his, Roy’s hand brushing down his face, his neck, to rest with gentle urgency on his shoulder, that was just absolutely, entirely right. Roy was making little noises in the back of his throat, and Ed gently encouraged more, tongue probing as he tightened his hold on Roy’s hip, warm under his hand.
Roy drew back, breath coming in little pants against Ed’s skin. He was also apparently unable to help himself from stroking Ed’s hair, judging from the way that his fingers were carding through it gently with no signs of stopping. Not that Ed really minded.
“That was – really good.” Ed was relieved he wasn’t the only one here that sounded slightly out of breath.
“Yeah?” Ed grinned a little, baring teeth. “If it’s so good, maybe we should do it again. You know, just in case the first time was a fluke.”
Roy laughed as he leaned in once more, and the sound, his scent, his very being seemed to drip down to warm Ed’s soul.
“I completely agree,” he murmured against Ed’s mouth. “I really think we should.”
So they did.
Ed couldn’t really remember the drive back into the city, as he’d fallen into a comfortable semi-doze with one of his hands curled up around Roy’s, resting on Ed’s thigh. Next he knew, there was a warm voice calling his name and a hand gently stroking his hair. When Ed blinked his eyes open, Roy was somehow still miraculously there, and also miraculously still smiling. And the shit seemed to be catching, because Ed couldn’t really help but smile back.
“Hey, Roy.”
“Hi, Ed. We’re just outside your apartment now.” Ed yawned hugely, his neck giving an alarming crack.
“Didn’t die from you driving?” Roy frowned, but the smile still didn’t fade.
“No,” he huffed. “You did not. And now, much as I wish you didn’t have to, I think you should be going home now. Get some rest.”
“All right, all right,” Ed grumbled. “Didn’t realise you were that eager to kick me out.” The next moment, warm lips were covering his own to breathe out another kiss, this time slow and sweet. When Roy drew back, he was looking at Ed as though the sun had come out at midnight in winter.
“Never that, Ed,” he said. “Never that. But given your penchant for worrying about things to no end, and because I’ve been the same, I think you’ve probably been a little sleep-deprived in the lead up to tonight.” And god, this is exactly why he was here. This is precisely why he had taken that chance, because Roy just knew him, inside and out.
“Fine, fine,” he said, throwing his hands up in defeat so that he wouldn’t say that shit out loud. Not yet. Too soon. “I’ll leave your sorry ass then.”
“My sorry ass will be very sorry indeed to see you leave. It will pine. For days until both it and I get to see you again.” Ed snorted.
“You’re a fucking dork, has anyone ever told you that?”
“I do believe it’s been mentioned before. Breda may have muttered as much when I got a little carried away with assigning the code names.” Ed laughed again.
“Yeah. Fucking dork.” Then Roy shifted so his arms wrapped about Ed’s shoulders, and Ed was pulled in to press up against Roy’s chest, the other man’s head resting on an automail shoulder.
“Your dork, if you’ll have me.” The voice was rough and warm and fucking perfect in his ear, and Ed circled his own arms around Roy’s waist to hold tightly.
“Yeah, I’m already here, aren’t I?” he asked, voice muffled against Roy’s collar, filled with that delicious scent.
“Mmmm. Thank you again. I had a wonderful night. In fact, the word hardly does it justice.”
“Yeah. Same.” It was nice to touch, to be with someone to have and hold, so Ed treasured every breath of the embrace, treasured the sound of Roy’s breathing in the quiet, tried to memorise every inch of detail in the way that their bodies fit together.
After a long moment, Ed drew back reluctantly.
“Should probably get back,” he said. Roy nodded, hand tucking a rogue strand of hair behind Ed’s ear. Which of course, only sprang straight back.
“You should.” Sighing, Ed let go.
“I’ll see you on Monday, yeah?”
“Yes, you will indeed.”
“And – and we can do this again some time?”
“Please.” Ed grinned, leaning in to steal one last kiss.
“I’m gonna hold you to that.”
“I really hope you do.” And Ed took in the sight one last time – Roy’s soft smile, the lamplight just brushing over his features, the way his stupid hair was all over the place but still managed to look hot as hell.
“Well, yeah, you’re alright so I guess I’ll keep you around.” Ed almost felt himself having to physically drag his eyes away from Roy’s, turning to open the door so he could hop out into the cool night air.
“Thanks for the lift, bastard.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I had a good night, Roy,” Ed said, leaning down to peer at Roy through the open door. “A really good night. So thanks.” Roy smiled, one hand resting on the steering wheel.
“I could say that same. Take care, Edward.” And with one final glance, Ed closed the door to head up to his apartment. The car was still there when he finally got his door open, so he gave a quick wave before disappearing inside.
He was still giddy from it all as he puttered around the place, getting ready for sleep. The nerves that had been crawling through his veins like bugs throughout the week had given way to a much quieter hum of fiery electricity, and he kept catching himself grinning like an idiot as he replayed the night in his mind.
And when he finally crawled into bed and flicked the light off, he fell asleep to the memory of wind whispering through leaves, weaving around a silhouette lit by starlight.