Chapter Text
Time skip; 4 days
Edward had overdone it. To be fair, he’d been dead set on following Winry’s advice and taking it easy, but with his recent bout of nightmares making him late for school every day that week, and Nina’s dad coming home from work later and later, taking it easy took a backseat.
Winry had been the first one to intervene, and though Edward had a feeling that Al put her up to it, she was the one who had threatened to detach his leg if he didn’t stay home from school and let her fix him up. Luckily for Edward, his quick agreement meant that she didn’t remove his leg, though he hadn’t quite managed to get out of being dragged over to her house.
Which meant Edward was currently sitting on Winry’s sofa, while she worked over in a corner that made up her workshop. He knew better than to needlessly interrupt her, as the last time he’d done that, she’d literally thrown him out of her room, where she’d been working at the time.
Luckily he had his evil kitten to keep him company, though she currently held very little interest in him. Edward had had Winry make Yvaine a prosthetic, and while it was nowhere near as intricate as the one she’d made for her dog, Den, it got his cat from place to place more than adequately. Unfortunately for Edward, that meant that Yvaine no longer found his presence all that exciting, as she could now explore unhindered, and had long since left his side.
Yvaine hadn’t gone too far from his side despite her new leg, but Edward had a feeling that was more to do with the fact that she was still learning how to walk and could only totter so far. Edward kept an eye on her of course, making sure she didn’t get hurt, but that could only hold his attention for so long before he was back to wishing he could talk to Winry.
Then again, she had been hunched over that table for hours, which couldn’t be comfortable. Edward knew she had some time left before she was really overdoing it, but he figured a break would do her back and neck some good. Not to mention, now was the perfect time to make good on his promise to Sheska, and find out for sure if Winry liked her.
“Oi, Winry.” He said loudly, breaking the silence and catching her attention.
Winry looked up and removed her magnifying goggles, revealing a completely unamused expression. “What?” she asked irritably, practically shooting sparks in his direction.
Edward gulped nervously, but didn’t shrink back from her gaze. If he didn’t say something now, then the opportunity to dig for information would be lost, and he would be bored again. “As skilled as you are at making prosthetics, I don’t think you’ll be able to make a bionic spine, which is what you’re going to need if you don’t take a break.” He replied, with confidence he did not have.
Winry stared at him for a few moments, before shaking her head in exasperation. “Geez Ed, do you have to be so weird about showing that you’re worried?” she asked rhetorically.
Edward scowled, but couldn’t hold it in place when he saw Winry actually listen to him and get up out of the chair. She stretched, and Edward winced as he heard the painful sounding cracks from across the room. He should’ve told her to get up sooner.
Winry walked over to where he was sitting on the couch and plopped down beside him.
Edward wrinkled his nose in mock disgust. “You reek.” He said teasingly as she put her hair up in a quick ponytail.
Winry snorted disbelievingly. “Please. I smell like your prosthetics, which you wear almost 24/7, so I doubt you can actually tell what I smell like anymore” she replied.
Edward scoffed, but said nothing to refute her claim, since it was mostly true.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence, as Edward kept an eye on Yvaine, and Winry worked the kinks out of her neck. After a few minutes of silence, the urge to get information became almost overwhelming, so Edward decided to indulge his curiosity.
“Winry?” He asked, looking away from his cat, and instead at Winry, who had her head bent at a strange angle as she stretched.
Winry paused mid stretch and raised an eyebrow. “What?” she asked, straightening out her neck.
Edward hesitated for a second, trying to get information in a way that wouldn’t incriminate Sheska, before settling on the indirect method. “Well, I have this friend who likes someone, but uh, they’re not sure if their crush likes them back. So I was wondering if you could tell me-”
“Your friend?” Winry suddenly interrupted before Edward could even finish his question, sounding highly amused. “You’re seriously gonna go with the whole ‘Friend’ Shtick?” she continued, leaving Edward feeling incredibly confused.
“What do you mean, ‘Friend’ Shtick?” Edward asked suspiciously, not at all liking the smirk on Winry’s face. After all, that smirk normally meant nothing but trouble for him. He was really hoping that she hadn’t somehow found out he was talking about Sheska.
Winry suddenly smiled in a way that seemed all too innocent, even going as far as tilting her head to the side. “So you’re not trying to find out if Roy Mustang likes you under the pretext of helping a friend?” she asked saccharinely.
Had Edward been drinking something, he was sure it would’ve left his mouth in an impressive spit take. As it was, all Edward could do was gape at Winry, and wonder if she had lost her mind. He and Mustang tolerated each other at the most, and even then there were still moments of animosity. Sure in the past four days, they’d gotten along a whole lot better than they had before, and there may have been a repeat or two of the whole hair braiding process, but to call their current relationship anything more than a tenuous friendship, was inconceivable.
“No, I was not trying to find out if Mustang likes me! How the hell did you jump to that conclusion?!” he exclaimed incredulously, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment.
Winry smirked victoriously, as though his denial of her accusation was confirmation for something. “Alright alright, I’ll help your ‘friend’.” she said, putting air quotes around the word friend, and pissing Edward off.
Edward glared at her. The fact she didn’t believe him was highly irritating, but letting her believe he was talking about himself meant she didn’t suspect Sheska. He was just going to have to deal with it, even if she thought that he liked Mustang of all people. Sheska so owed him for this.
“First,” Winry said, breaking him out of his thoughts of how best to make Sheska pay for the information he was gathering. “When you like someone, you tend to want to always be next to them, so being physically close to someone is usually a huge tip off.”
Edward nodded thoughtfully at that. Winry and Sheska were always together, whether it was sitting down to eat, or watching a movie over at his house. That could definitely be a sign that pointed towards Winry liking Sheska, but then if he based feelings solely on proximity, pretty much everyone had feelings for someone.
“What else is there?” Edward asked curiously, needing more information before he could draw any conclusions. Winry looked thoughtful, as though she’d expected that piece of information to be enough and was now trying to think up more. “Well, you can also tell a lot about someone’s feelings for a person by eyecontact. When you like someone, you tend to like looking at them, but if you get caught, you’re going to look away as fast as you can.” She explained, a faint blush crawling up her cheeks.
Edward eyed Winry suspiciously. It sounded as though she was speaking from personal experience, and the blush was definitely incriminating. “Is that why you’re always staring at Sheska?” He asked innocently, copying her from earlier in the hope that she would either answer truthfully or be surprised into reacting.
His hope for the latter came true, as Winry’s face turned a vivid shade of pink, and she made a noise that sounded like a horse choking.
Edward couldn’t contain his laughter at her reaction, but soon regretted it when he was suddenly tackled off the couch and onto the floor. He let out a pained grunt as his back flared up from its sudden introduction to the carpet, and glared at Winry who had landed on top of him. Somehow, he had forgotten her violent tendencies when she was embarrassed.
“You can’t tell her!” Winry growled desperately at him, before pushing herself up and effectively pinning him.
“That’s no reason to tackle me!” Edward exclaimed back at her, attempting to wiggle out of the tight grip she held him in. Unfortunately, he had only one arm to work with, so it was hardly effective. Well, that and the fact that Winry was freakishly strong. Stupid, machine geek.
Winry continued to glare at him. “You have to promise not to say anything, Edward!” she insisted, sounding slightly panicked, and Edward couldn’t help but agree to her demand.
“Fine.” He relented with a sigh, rolling his eyes at how over dramatic she was being. “But I want you to know that you’re being incredibly stupid, and you’re not cute at all, you violent she-devil.”
Winry freed his arm after he had agreed, but made no move to get up off him. “I’m not being stupid! We’re both friends, and this could jeopardize that. I can’t lose her friendship, and besides, it would change the dynamics of our friend group.” She rambled, sounding more and more panicked the longer she spoke.
Edward couldn’t help but think it sounded a bit rehearsed, like she’d been using those same reasons as an excuse not to make a move on Sheska for a while now.
“Look, even if she didn’t already like you, do you really think Sheska is the type of person to stop being friends with you just because she knew you liked her?” Edward asked, attempting to get her to calm down and see reason.
It was only when he saw Winry’s look of complete shock, that he realized what he had just said. Sheska was going to kill him for letting that slip.
“What did you just say?” Winry demanded, looking as though she were seconds away from having a heart attack, and Edward couldn’t help but panic.
“That Sheska isn’t the type of person to stop being friends with you if she found out you liked her?” Edward tried, hoping that against all odds, she wouldn’t ask again.
“Before. that.” She growled, dashing his unrealistic hopes.
“That you're a violent she-devil and not cute at all.” Edward answered more confidently. There was no way he was going to let it slip that Sheska liked her a second time.
“Edward, if you don't tell me right now, I'm slipping milk into everything you eat!” Winry threatened, and Edward didn't bother hiding his shudder of disgust. That was just plain wrong.
Edward opened his mouth to tell her just how low of a blow that was, when the doorbell suddenly rang.
They both startled at the sound, and turned to look at the door for a second, before Winry turned back to glare at him.
“Don't you dare-” she began, but Edward didn't let her finish.
“Come in!” He called in a sing-song voice, ignoring Winry’s string of mumbled threats and welcoming the interruption. Anything that prevented Winry from blackmailing him, was a sight for sore eyes.
The door swung open, and Edward immediately took that last part back. He’d rather have Winry blackmailing him, than see Mustang of all people standing in the doorway.
Mustang stared at them for a few moments before taking a step back. “Is now a bad time?” he asked, an unreadable expression on his face.
Edward felt his face heat up as he realized how compromising his and Winry’s position must’ve looked. “No, now’s not a bad time, Winry is just attempting to blackmail me for information. If you come back later however, you are likely to witness my brutal murder, which would be a bad time, but mostly for me.” Edward explained, resolutely ignoring Winry’s snort of amusement.
Mustang raised an eyebrow before shaking his head and sighing in exasperation. “Only you, Fullmetal.” he said, before stepping further inside.
Edward frowned, unsure as to whether he should be flattered or offended, only to grunt in pain as Winry suddenly got off of him. At this rate “taking it easy” with Winry would kill him faster than overworking himself.
“So what’re you doing here, Roy?” Winry asked, dusting herself off while Edward made no move to stand up. He was going to stay on the floor until he was sure it was safe. That or until Yvaine attempted to eat his hair again, whichever came first.
“I came to drop off Fullmetal’s homework.” Mustang replied, holding up a stack of paper, and walking over to where he was laying on the floor. “Alphonse told me you’d be here. Tell me, does he know exactly what goes on in this house?”
Edward tilted his head back so he could fully see Mustang, and saw that he was smirking. That smug bastard, Edward knew he was never going to let that drop without incentive.
“Didn’t Hawkeye put you in this very same position last Sunday for doing something stupid?” He asked, returning Mustang’s smirk. Score one for Edward.
Winry snorted loudly, pulling Edward’s attention away from Mustang. “If you boys are done flirting, Ed I believe you promised Al that you’d take Nina off his hands after he picked up her for you.” she reminded him.
Edward glared at Winry, and pulled himself up into a seated position. “It’s no wonder you haven’t made a move on Sheska yet, if you think that was flirting.” He retorted, ignoring her reminder and instead focusing on her accusation.
Rather than immediately murdering him for throwing her under the bus, Winry grinned evilly. “And just what would you know about making a move?” She challenged, a threatening aura emanating from her.
Edward shuddered in fear, but refused to back down, opening his mouth to counter with a reminder of her own lack of experience, only for Mustang to speak before he could.
“I’d assume he knows quite a bit, seeing as he proposed to me, though it was in a rather unconventional way.” He cut in, grinning playfully.
Winry froze for a second, looking incredulous, before bursting into laughter, and Edward immediately rounded on Mustang.
“I did not propose to you, dumbass! I said I’d marry you for your pancakes if you didn’t act like such a pretentious asshole!” Edward exclaimed hotly, feeling betrayed by the fact that both Mustang and Winry seemed to be against him.
Mustang affected a self depreciating smile, which Edward knew was falser than Al’s promise not to adopt any more cats. “Yes, I believe that’s the part that’s rather unconventional, and I can’t say it doesn’t sting that you prefer my pancakes over my personality.”
Winry was practically howling with laughter at this point, and Edward had had enough of the both of them. With as much dignity as he could muster, Edward stood up, picked up Yvaine who had wandered over to his side, and headed for the door. Nina at least wouldn't mock him mercilessly.
Mustang had unfortunately followed Edward after he’d stormed out of Winry’s house, and Alphonse, despite Edward’s protest, had immediately invited him in. He should've known his brother would one day betray him, it was always the quiet ones.
Currently, they were sitting on his couch in the living room with Nina, watching a movie that involved ridiculously long hair and a lizard. Mustang was struggling under a mountain of papers, because, as it turned out, the huge stack of homework he’d brought over for Edward was almost entirely his. Edward couldn’t help but feel slightly vindicated, listening to Mustang complain, while he only had to finish a few worksheets and keep an eye on Nina.
“Do you think I could get away setting this on fire?” Mustang asked, for what seemed like the seventh time since he’d started working.
Edward firmly told himself that he did not find Mustang’s hatred of homework endearing. “Far more convincing to have a dog eat it, after all, a hungry canine is much easier to explain than a freak fire that consumed your homework the weekend before it was due.” He replied.
“Yeah!” Nina suddenly piped up. “Alexander could help! He eats everything!” she exclaimed happily, and Edward decided that it was safer not to ask how she knew that. Plausible deniability was a magical thing.
Mustang looked for a moment as though he was seriously contemplating it, before he sighed forlornly. “Sorry Nina, but I'm afraid the dog excuse is too overused to be accepted by any teacher.” He apologized, looking rather put out.
Nina nodded, equally as solem, before turning back to her movie, and Edward was left to wonder how this had become his life. He should’ve known that Nina wasn’t the only one he’d have to babysit, especially since Mustang had never given off the impression that he was mature.
All he could do was be thankful that he wouldn't have to prevent possibly poisoning Nina's dog, after all, the two were nearly inseparable.
Nina suddenly tugged on his hand, pulling him out of his thoughts, and pointed to the television. “Look, look, it’s you!” She said excitedly, and Edward looked to where she was pointing to, only to see a girl with dangerously long hair wielding a frying pan.
“Oh, uhhm…thanks?” Edward replied, unsure of how else to reply. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but he really didn’t see how she thought he was in her movie.
Mustang started snickering beside him, and Edward had to resist the urge to flip him off.
“Calm down, Fullmetal, it’s just a thing that kids do. They like to compare themselves and others to the characters in their shows and movies.” Mustang explained in a whisper, before raising his voice. “So which character are you, Nina?” He asked, abandoning his homework in favor of watching her movie, and Edward couldn’t help but grin at the way Nina’s face lit up.
“Maximus!” She proclaimed proudly, pointing to the television again.
Edward instantly followed her finger, and saw a horse of all things. Not just any horse though, this one seemed to think it was a bloodhound. Only Nina would pick something so strange to aspire to, but at least it wasn’t the shifty looking lizard. At this point he wouldn’t be surprised if the lizard turned out to be the antagonist, considering how weird the movie was.
“Betcha anything the lizard is the villain.” Edward said, voicing his suspicions after a few more minutes of watching the movie.
Mustang looked away from the movie and shot him a mock disgusted look. “Have you even been watching this movie? The villain is clearly the mother! It was stated outright in the beginning!” Mustang exclaimed, his tone an even mix of incredulity and condescension.
Edward scowled. “No I haven't been watching the movie, I've been busy doing my homework, like a responsible student.” He scoffed, shooting a pointed look at Mustang's discarded pile of unfinished assignments.
“And I've been spending quality time with Nina, so who's the real winner here?” Mustang shot back, unconcerned with Edward's thinly veiled accusation.
“Well, if the basis for winning here is time spent with Nina , then Edward would be the “real winner” as you so elegantly put it” Alphonse suddenly interjected from behind the couch.
Edward immediately whirled around and saw his brother standing in the doorway with an amused smirk on his face. Without a second’s hesitation, he pulled himself over the back of the couch and joined him, needing the comfort Alphonse’s presence brought him. Ever since the incident at the mall last Saturday, Alphonse had made a guest appearance in many of his nightmares, the most frequent one being where he never made it out of the mall before it collapsed. Edward practically glued himself to Alphonse’s side as a result, in an attempt to reassure himself that his brother was very much alive. Unfortunately it didn’t do much to quell the nightmares, and Alphonse had begun to notice his newfound clinginess.
“See, Alphonse is on my side, so it’s two against one.” Edward said pettily, sticking his tongue out at Mustang.
Mustang stuck his tongue out in return, acting equally as childish. It had become a sort of ritual between the two of them, acting as childishly as possible when Alphonse was around. Edward wasn’t sure why exactly they did it, but it both amused and exasperated his brother, so there was no way he was going to stop.
“You can’t just win an argument because Alphonse is on your side, we need an impartial third party!” Mustang countered petulantly.
“Enough you two. I actually came here to ask If Roy was going to stay for dinner.” Alphonse intervened, amusement coloring his tone. “Izumi is cooking steak, and wanted a headcount.” He continued, sounding slightly disheartened by the last part, and Edward knew why. Alphonse had recently turned to vegetarianism due to the maltreatment of animals in the meat industry, and thus had to forage for himself most nights since Izumi and Sig ran a butcher shop together.
“Sure, I’d love to, let me just call my aunt to let her know.” Mustang replied, standing up and leaving the room, pulling out his phone as he did so.
“So, are Sheska and Winry coming?” Edward asked, breaking the silence that had followed Mustang’s agreement. He hadn’t seen Sheska since he’d gotten home, which was strange considering she practically lived at their house.
“Yeah, I just called Sheska and she said that she stayed at the library after school, and would be over right after she stopped to grab Winry.” Alphonse answered, satisfying Edward’s curiosity.
Edward shook his head slightly at the news. Of course the only two things that would keep Sheska away from their house would be books and Winry, though not necessarily in that order.
Suddenly Edward got a perfectly evil idea. He couldn’t tell Sheska that Winry liked her, and if he let it slip again that Sheska liked Winry, then he could say goodbye to any semblance of peace in his life, however, he could convince Sheska to make a move. Winry definitely wasn’t going to initiate anything, but Sheska, she was a bit more open to the idea.
“Hey Al, wanna help me with something?”
Dinner was beginning to look like it was going to be extremely hectic. Tucker had called Edward and had asked him if Nina could stay the night, since he wouldn’t be home until Saturday morning, and Sheska and Winry had announced that they would stay the night as well to keep Nina company. May seemed to have become a permanent fixture in their house and was most definitely coming to dinner, and Mustang had decided that he was going to make Yvaine like him. Strangely enough, Edward was looking forward to this dinner. He was used to having guests over, but there was never this atmosphere of pure enjoyment and it was making him giddy. Of course, there was also the fact that he got to watch Yvaine hiss and swipe at Mustang, while he continued to coo at her, but either way, Edward was in a fantastic mood. “Would you give it a rest already? She’s never going to like you.” Edward said amusedly, watching Mustang receive yet another swipe to the face. It really looked to Edward as though he’d make good on his promise to befriend Yvaine or die trying. “Why does she like you so much?!” Mustang demanded, as he attempted to coax her out from under the armchair. “Because I’m a kind and nurturing person.” Edward retorted. Mustang snorted disbelievingly, and gave Edward a deadpan look. “Please, the depths of space are more nurturing than you are.” He quipped. Edward scowled at Mustang’s insult. “I own a cat and babysit both Nina and her dog. What exactly do you do that qualifies you to judge how nurturing I am?” He asked skeptically. “Maes Hughes is my best friend.” Mustang replied, raising an eyebrow, as though daring Edward to dispute it. Mustang really had him there, luckily Yvaine suddenly decided to conduct revenge on Mustang while he was distracted, by biting his ear. His yelp of pain only added to Edward's amusement at the situation. “This is why I'm a dog person.” Mustang grumbled, after a minute of creative swearing and attempts to free his ear. “They at least have the decency not to go for the tender spots.” Edward smiled, not bothering to hide how thoroughly entertained he was by Mustang’s indignation at being bit. “Don’t let Alphonse hear you say that. He might love all animals, but he gets a bit dramatic if you insult cats.” Mustang threw back his head and laughed, startling Edward. He’d never heard Mustang really laugh, and it was a bit overwhelming, like the sun shining on a snowy day. Edward was suddenly overcome with the desire to make him laugh like that more often. “I can only imagine, considering how he ran back into a burning building to rescue them.” Mustang remarked, still chuckling, and it was all Edward could do to nod in agreement in his current state. It should be illegal for Mustang to laugh like that. “What’s so funny?” Sheska suddenly asked, walking into the living room with Winry following close behind. Edward shook his head, to clear it, before giving the girls a smile. “Alphonse’s extreme love for cats.” He answered, pointedly not looking at Mustang. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew that looking at Mustang with Winry in the room after witnessing him laugh, would make him feel over-exposed. “Or rather, Fullmetal’s understatement on how much Alphonse loves cats.” Mustang amended, his voice laced with amusement, and Edward felt his face grow warm for some inexplicable reason. “Well,” Winry began, shooting Edward a knowing look, which only made him blush harder. “Alphonse’s love of cats aside, dinner’s ready, so you better hurry if you want any food.” Edward instantly stood up, grateful for an excuse to
Roy’s POV
Roy was an ass, an absolutely certifiable, ass, and he was well aware of this fact.
Edward had set his plate down in front of a chair at the dinner table, before leaving to grab napkins, so naturally, Roy moved his plate and had stolen his chair. It was completely petty, but Edward’s reaction was what motivated him to do it. He had such a way with words when he was riled up, that Roy was positive he would be able to formulate a scathing insult using nothing but compliments. It was one of the things that Roy liked best about Edward.
Winry of course seemed to know exactly what he was doing judging by her knowing look, and Roy winked at her, before pointedly looking towards Sheska. They were in the same boat after all.
“You’re in my seat.” Edward suddenly said irritably, pulling Roy out of his silent conversation with Winry.
Roy affected an expression of mild surprise. “Oh? I didn’t realize we had assigned seats. Is there a seating chart I should be aware of?” He asked, enjoying the way Edward’s eye twitched in frustration.
“My plate was there, you ass! That should be enough to tell you that I was sitting there.” Edward spat angrily, unfooled by his feigned ignorance.
Roy clucked his tongue disapprovingly. “You shouldn’t cuss in front of the children, Fullmetal.” He said, tacking on the familiar name he reserved just for Edward. It had started off as a way to get a reaction out of him when they’d first met, but it had since developed into an affectionate nickname on his part.
Edward looked like he was seconds away from punching him in the face. “The only child here is you!” he hissed.
Roy smirked, thoroughly entertained. “Why don’t you just sit over there?” he asked, gesturing to the last empty seat with his fork.
“Because.” Edward replied, drawing out the word as though he were talking to an idiot. “That seat is between Izumi and Sig, and you don’t sit in between them unless you want to be caught in the middle of a love fest. The fact that there’s even a seat separating them worry’s me.”
Roy nodded sympathetically. “Good luck.” he wished Edward dramatically, as though he were heading off to war. The chilling look Edward gave him was definitely worth it.
Instead of heading over to the empty seat however, Edward shot Roy a look that gave him a bad feeling. There was no way this was going to end well on his part.
He was quickly proven right when Edward suddenly plopped down onto his lap and began eating dinner as though he weren’t sitting on someone.
Roy choked down a laugh as the full extent of the situation hit him; Edward was sitting on him because he’d refused to switch seats. If that wasn’t the most immature thing Roy had ever witnessed, he was a bullfrog.
“Could you pass me a roll, Fullmetal?” He asked after a moment, deciding that if Edward was playing it casual, he would do the same. It wasn’t as if the situation was unpleasant, quite the opposite in fact, so he saw no reason to object. Though he couldn’t say the thought of dropping his knees and watching Edward fall on his ass hadn’t crossed his mind.
Edward wordlessly transferred a roll to his plate, and out of the corner of his eye, Roy saw Alphonse shaking with silent laughter. Beside him, Winry and Sheska were in a similar state, and Roy finally allowed a small smile to grace his face. If everyone else found the situation as hilarious as he did, then he found no reason to hide his amusement.
Roy carefully maneuvered around Edward and began eating as well, enjoying the incredible meal.
“So,” Mrs. Curtis suddenly said, breaking the silence that had accumulated after his and Edward’s argument. “Are you the stalker, or the jackass?”
Roy blinked, startled, both by the sudden line of questioning, and Mrs. Curtis’ casual use of profanity. Edward had referred to Maes as a stalker often enough for him to understand that Edward had likely mentioned them in passing, but that still left the question as to why Mrs. Curtis would ever ask him that.
“He’s the jackass.” Edward answered, before Roy had a chance to even fully understand what he was being asked.
Roy nodded in agreement. That was fair.
Mrs. Curtis smiled, clearly amused. “Well then you should feel right at home hanging around Edward.” She told him, fondness wrapping around words that otherwise would’ve been biting.
“Oi!” Edward squaked indignantly, and Roy had to refrain from laughing. He really shouldn’t antagonize the person sitting on him, no matter how much he may want to.
“I’m sorry, but who was it that blew up the school’s chemistry lab just to prove a kid, who wasn’t even in your class, wrong?” Alphonse asked, and this time Roy couldn’t contain his laughter.
He soon paid for it of course when Edward elbowed him in the stomach, but he couldn’t say it wasn’t worth it.
The rest of dinner had gone (quite surprisingly) without any more incidents, and Roy soon found himself walking home. It had been nice spending time at Edward’s house, and getting to interact with him without Riza there to roll her eyes at his every word.
She didn’t approve of his constant antagonization of Edward, and was very expressive of it. Then again, she also didn’t approve of the level of procrastination he saved for his homework assignments, but he wasn’t about to stop either one. Really she should know by now that her disapproval only served to encourage him.That isn’t to say that he didn’t take her advice though. Riza had saved his ass on more than one occasion with her very helpful advice (read, threats of bodily harm if he didn’t do as she said) but when it came to interacting with homework and a certain blond, well he listened to no one.
Naturally though, he probably should, as he’d get better results if he did listen to Riza, or almost anyone else with half a brain. However, Roy had to act a certain way towards nearly everyone else, in order to maintain an illusion. To the student population; he had to be a suave, womanizing, jock, to the teachers; he had to appear smart and charismatic, but lazy, and to his hockey team; he had to appear skilled and authoritative.
With so many facades to maintain, he took great joy in in just being who he wanted to be. Neither Edward, nor homework entertained any grand impression of him, quite the opposite in fact, so there was no harm done if he appeared to them to be a petulant child. Naturally, he liked to think it was more endearing than annoying, but he was self aware enough to know that that was not the case.
So wrapped up was he in his inner monologue, that Roy didn’t notice he’d taken a wrong turn, until he crashed into the back wall of an alley. The collision hurt quite a bit, and Roy barely refrained from emitting a string of profanity. He hardly needed that added embarrassment of someone investigating, upon hearing pained swearing, and having to explain himself, after bruising both his body and his dignity on a wall.
Roy quickly turned around, planning on exiting the alley and hoping no one witnessed his mistake, only to see a silhouette standing at the exit. Apparently his lack of profanity wasn’t enough to keep someone from investigating .
With what he hoped was a charming smile, Roy smoothed back his hair, and begun walking towards the figure. “I’m afraid I took a wrong turn.” He explained, allowing good natured amusement to lace his tone. If he could laugh at his mistakes, then at least other people could laugh with him, instead of at him.
The figure said nothing however, and instead advanced towards him, coming incredibly close, and suddenly Roy felt fear snake its way up his spine.
Before he could act on it however, a sharp, agonizing pain pierced his left side. Roy couldn’t stop the pained cry, torn from his throat, nor could he stop his knees from giving out. On reflex, he put his hand to the source of his pain, only for black spots to dance before his eyes, obscuring the faceless figure in front of him. He could feel a distinctive warm wetness through the haze of pain however, and suddenly it all made sense.
The last thing he remembered before passing out, was coming to the realization that he had been stabbed.