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Edward Elric is not gay .
Well, he never thought he could be anyway. He never considered men as an option before now, looking out at the other man before him. It’s been a long time since Ed’s had the ability to spar with someone other than Alphonse, and sparring with Al is inherently rigged for multiple reasons. He was glad to have someone who could match his strength.
…or, he was initially. It sounded like a good idea, really! Sparring with someone who doesn’t have a reason to go easy on you, who’s not a suit of armour and has reasonable weak points, and who’s skilled in areas of fighting that Ed’s never seen in the west before. The perfect opportunity to get stronger without using alchemy, right?
Unfortunately, he didn’t think of the potential feelings that could arise when doing hand-to-hand combat with another man in the Amestrian heat; a very attractive and shirtless man , much to Ed’s dismay. He’s not wrong for recognizing that Ling is objectively handsome, but he’s also definitely not just doing that right now.
Ed’s seeing Ling in a completely new light like this, witnessing his abilities up close and personal. Of course, Ling just had to discard his shirt — even though it wasn’t covering much in the first place, — so his tan and toned body is on display, a sheen of sweat and golden lighting drawing in excess attention. He’s strong , which Ed already assumed, but he’d never had that strength directed at him before, and was not expecting to be rather embarrassingly manhandled this entire time.
Too busy admiring the other man’s beauty, Ed fails to react properly when Ling charges for him once more. He tries to dart out of the way, but god forbid that goes well for him, and in an instant, he’s flat on the ground with Ling’s arm around his neck.
“ You’re crushing me !” Ed hisses, slapping the ground beneath him, tapping out for what has to be the 10th time already.
“What, are you calling me fat?” Ling jokes, relenting and letting go of Ed’s neck. He doesn’t get off of him, though, crossing one leg over the other.
Ed squirms to no avail, “You eat so much, you might as well be!” He gives up on getting out from underneath him, letting out a half grumble half sigh and lying down instead. He can’t properly see Ling’s face from this position, but he can imagine that stupid grin on his face as he pants to catch his breath, and god damn if that image doesn’t make him feel weird in his stomach.
Being ever the good sport, Ling laughs and finally stands up, which is mildly disappointing to Ed for whatever reason. He leans down, offering a hand to help him up. “Maybe using your alchemy would help next time.” The suggestion is well-intentioned, which is what makes it all the more annoying.
“Nah, I’m strong without it too,” Ed reluctantly accepts the assistance, leaning slightly against the other man to get to his feet. It would be so easy to pull Ling down and pin him to the ground and win right now, but he decides against it. “You just… catch me off guard too much.” Because I’m too busy admiring how hot you look when you’re sweaty and grabbing me by the shirt, he doesn’t say outloud.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Ling hums, resting his hands on his hips. “I’m very skilled in combat, y’know.” God, as if Ed doesn’t know that by now.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Ed shrugs his shoulders, “no need to rub it in my face.”
“Do you wanna go again?” Ling offers, and Ed feels like an absolute loser with how fast he says, “Yes.”
Luckily, either Ling doesn’t notice how pathetic that instant response was or he doesn’t care, because he makes no comment on it and begins taking a few steps back. Ed takes the opportunity of Ling being turned around to attack, eliciting a startled yelp from the other man — a sound he’s never heard him make before. It catches him by surprise, just enough for him to stutter in his movements and allow Ling to overpower him.
“ Bastard !” Ed curses as he hits the ground once more, finding himself pinned under Ling’s weight. However, Ed’s face isn’t shoved into the dirt like all the other times, rather he’s on his back, looking up at Ling. A much more compromising position. He internally hopes that Ling can’t see the way his cheeks turn red, because Ed certainly feels the blood rush to his face.
“Y’know, for your height, you’re real strong,” There’s that grin again. Ed can feel a frustrated growl bubble up in his throat. “I don’t know why you let me take you down so easily, Ed.”
“I didn’t let you take me down ! You made a weird sound! What was that?!” If I pull you down with me, will you make it again? Not a normal thought to have.
“I was surprised! It was an exclamation of surprise!” Ling scoffs, actually scoffs like a pouty kid, and Ed laughs before he can stop himself. It’s so uncharacteristic of the other man to sound like that.
Ling backs off after a moment, sitting down on the ground next to Ed. He takes the opportunity to sit up himself, mindlessly flexing his automail arm, testing it after sparring for so long.
Ling reaches behind his head to undo the white ribbon keeping his hair in a ponytail, which had already come loose. Ed’s unable to help himself from watching every movement of his body, of his chest’s rise and fall, of his muscles flexing under his skin as he lies back in the grass. His bangs are sticking to his forehead from sweat, though the rest of his hair flows freely underneath him.
God, I’m hopeless.
“I’ve seen you fight before.” Ling comments after a moment, tilting his head to look up at Ed. “You’re typically a lot more coordinated. You’re not with me. What’s up with that?”
Now that Ed thinks about it, he’s right . He’s fought people years older than him and leagues stronger than him and struggled less than he struggles with Ling. Is he really getting so caught up in his looks that he can’t focus on fighting?
“Usually I have my alchemy to help me.” He eventually settles for that, crossing his legs and tucking his hands in his lap. Before Ling can say anything about him being capable without it, Ed adds, “Plus, I’m going easy on you.”
Ling barks out a laugh in response, because, yeah, that is a pretty dumb excuse. Going easy on him? What reason would Ed have to go easy on Ling ? They hardly know each other.
“It’s fine, I don’t need a real answer.” Ling shrugs. Ed’s about to argue, but there’s no point if they both know that he’s not just going easy on Ling. “I was only curious.” Weirdly nice reply. Ed’s used to their playfully mean banter and bickering over little things, so to be let off the hook so quickly and kindly is… strange. He doesn’t comment on it, though, because for some reason, he kinda likes it.
The two rest there for a moment, silence building between them as their panting dies down. Dust and dirt sticks to Ed’s sweat-dampened skin, and Ling’s much worse, considering he’s shirtless and laying on the grass.
“I should go take a shower,” Ed announces, rising to his feet with a huff, “you wanna join me?”
“In the shower?” Ling blinks up at him, almost definitely trying to get under his skin about his poor choice of words.
“ I didn’t mean it like that !” He grumbles, though holds out his hand for the other man to take anyway. Ling grabs his hand, pulling himself to his feet.
Ling grins again, and dammit, the butterflies in his stomach are starting to get annoying. He notices the sharpness of his canine teeth and the slight weakness of his grin from exhaustion. Stupid, idiot prince.
“C’mon, let’s just go.”
The steam of the shower fills the air around Ed, the water being hot enough to feel like he’s getting softboiled, but he doesn’t turn it down. The burning sensation streaking down his skin is barely enough to distract himself from his ongoing thoughts, the ones that have been haunting him since that little sparring session.
Unbidden images of Ling, shirtless and sweaty and his face god awfully close to Ed’s, flash through his mind. His arm wrapped around Ed’s neck, holding him in a headlock. Ling’s body pressed against his, pinning him to the ground without issue. The sun reflecting off his sweat-slicked body, making him shine more than usual.
“Uu uughh! ” He groans aloud, frustrated by his inability to control his own thoughts. How dare that stupid prince invade his mind like that? Uninvited!
“You okay in there?”
“ Gah— ! When did you get in here?!” Luckily the curtains shield him from the other man seeing his nude form, but he’s quick to cover himself with his hands anyway. “ Why are you in here?!”
“I need to take a shower too,” Ling’s voice echoes off the tile walls, “figured I’d keep you company while I wait. Y’know, incase you drown in there.”
Ed would reach out and strangle him if it weren’t for his current state of wet undress. Instead, he shouts, “I’m not going to drown !” Ling simply laughs at his misfortune.
Hesitantly, Ed resumes washing himself, feeling like there’s eyes on him but knowing Ling can’t actually see him from behind the curtains. He’s just waiting for you to get out. That’s all. Nothing more or less or weird about it, even if he’s right outside the shower. Casual friend things, right? Waiting for your friend to get out of the shower? Albeit, that’s usually done outside of the bathroom.
“I can’t do anything without you following me around, huh?” Ed thinks aloud, mostly talking to himself. It is true — ever since he and Al ran into Ling in Rush Valley, it’s been hard to shake him off. Annoying, sure, but he’s proven himself as a trustworthy ally and worth keeping around, even if he does drain Ed of his money and sanity. He finds himself smiling fondly at the thought of keeping him around.
“Mmh. Nope . Not anymore.” Ed can imagine the way Ling so nonchalantly shrugs his shoulders and smiles, like it’s nothing at all.
Sometimes, Ed feels a weird appreciation for the fact that they ever ran into each other. It usually comes to him uninvited in the middle of the night, a warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest where his heart should be, spreading rapidly to his head and stomach; when the two of them are the furthest apart, Ling off in his own world and Ed lying in bed, staring at the ceiling in mostly darkness.
Tonight, however, with his head on Ling’s chest — an unfortunate admission of their height difference — and his steady heartbeat taking over Ed’s hearing, the pair are the closest they’ve ever possibly been, and the feeling’s only stronger now. It feels like he’s being suffocated by it, drowning in his own fondness for the other man.
How did they even end up like this? It started with them deciding it’d make more sense for Ling to stay over since he’d already used the shower and the sun was setting.
Then, it turned into fighting over the space on the bed and kicking each other in the legs to make the other move over, like petty toddlers. They settled down soon enough, but only drifted closer and closer somehow.
At one point, Ling shamelessly put his arms around Ed, half-asleep and maybe not fully aware of it. Ed didn’t try to get away. By the time Ed realized how close they’d gotten, Ling was already asleep, wrapped around him completely.
His muscles feel sore from sparring. He needs to have Winry check on his automail soon. Ling’s skin is soft against his own. He wonders, internally, how long this is gonna last. How long before they both get what they want and Ling goes home, for Ed to never see him again.
Such sentimental, sickeningly sweet thoughts for him to have.
Ed tilts his head to bury his face in Ling’s chest. Maybe to muffle his own thoughts, maybe just to get closer. Ling, in return, tightens his grasp on him with a small snore, closing whatever possible gap could’ve been left between them.