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Trying very hard not to feel like a complete and total creep, Roy watches as Ed gets back from the break room and finds the box of chocolates Roy has left on his desk with a note attached. Roy's finally gotten up the nerve to ask Ed out on a date. He watches as Ed pauses, picks up the paper, flips it open, and then reads it. The note Roy left was not long by any means so the amount of time Ed spends staring at the words is a little worrying. He doesn't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Roy quickly sits back down at his desk as he sees Ed finally put the note down. He really doesn't want to get caught staring and ruin his chances. If he really even has a chance. Roy thinks the playful banter and tentative flirting has been mutual, but he still fears this may have been a dreadful misstep. Too late for him to take it back now.
An hour later when everyone's filing out of the office is when Roy looks up from his monitor to find Ed standing there, box of chocolates and note held in one hand. When their eyes meet, Ed offers a small, nervous looking smile and gently places them down on an empty spot on Roy's desk.
"Look, I—Roy, I would really, really like to say yes—but I don't know if it would work out between us and I don't want to start something with you that might not last and risk losing you as a friend."
Roy's brow furrows in confusion. "What makes you think it wouldn't work out?"
"Well, you're… I'm not judgin' or tryin' to be y'know an asshole or anything, but I know your reputation and I've heard you brag about your… sexploits before. And I mean, I know not to believe all the workplace rumors and shit, but like, I'm pretty sure they statistically can't all be lies and well. I'll just say it. I'm ace." Ed starts pacing in front of the desk and talking with his hands, pink high on his cheeks as the rambling takes over.
"I, um, technically I'm graysexual and demiromantic. I don't know if I'd never be open to trying to have sex in the future—I've never really had the opportunity to y'know try with anyone I trust and actually wanted to try it with—but I've never felt any real desire for it so far. I'd like to kiss and hold hands and y'know do all that nonsexual intimacy stuff that couples usually do, but, um, yeah. I do really like you—in a friend kinda way and in a potential romantic partner kinda way. And that's not something I've actually ever experienced before either—'til you. 'Til we started hangin' out so much, I guess. I've never felt this… close to anyone before. Outside of, like, my brother, but that's way different. I definitely don't spend a lot of time thinking about how pretty he is or wanting to know what his hands or lips feel like. …Sorry, that was probably weird to say, um."
Ed's anxiously wringing his hands together now and Roy doesn't know how much longer he can let this go on. He needs to interject, but he doesn't want it to seem like he doesn't care about what Ed is saying. He just doesn't want Ed to worry himself into the ground over this.
"I just—I don't want to start somethin' with you and not be able to make you fully happy, y'know? You should have everything you want in a relationship. And I can't promise that I'd be able to give you physical affection or sex anytime you'd want it and some days I can even be like completely closed off to any kind of touch and I'm sure it'd be difficult to deal with and—"
"Ed, Ed—hold on a moment. May I say something?" Roy waits until Ed closes his mouth and nods. "I don't need sex in a relationship to be happy and feel fulfilled. Actually, I myself identify as demisexual. And it's been years since I've last felt close enough to anyone to want to try to build a relationship with them, truth be told." Roy watches with a bit of amusement as Ed's eyes go wide at the admission and he finally stops in his pacing pattern to give Roy his full attention.
"As for my reputation and all of the rumors, my 'dates' are simply information gathering and strategy meetings with my foster siblings and the 'sexploits' are all completely fabricated. For reasons I'm more than happy to tell you about anytime you'd like because I trust you with that kind of information." Roy takes a deep breath, trying to make sure his words come out as he wants them to. "If you'd rather we keep things as they are now, I will respect your decision, of course. I guess all I'm really hoping for is the chance to spend more time with you. In whatever capacity makes you feel the most comfortable. I simply enjoy being in your presence and I would like to be around you far more often than I am now. There are no expectations except that you be completely honest with me and tell me if something makes you uncomfortable or I cross a boundary."
Ed stares at Roy for a long time, eyes wide in wonder. He shakes his head a little and clears his throat before speaking again. "You—You're really serious about this, aren't you? You really just… wanna spend more time with me? Even if nothing more happens?"
"Yes. That's all I want. As much as you're comfortable with and willing to give me and nothing more. We don't have to do anything in any romantic capacity or call anything a date or put a label on anything until and unless you would like to." Roy hopes his honesty and unguarded expression will be enough for Ed to believe he's being genuine.
Ed's beaming smile once he seems to fully process everything is like sunshine personified and Roy's heart swells at the sight of it. "I—I want that, too! To spend as much time with you as you can stand me for. And I don't mind goin' on dates with you, I think I'd like that actually. I've never really been on any actual dates. I'd like to try and see what it's like—as long as you don't mind me bein' completely new to all of that side of stuff and prob'ly pretty bad at all of it."
"None of that matters to me in the least. Truly, I will enjoy any time spent together as long as you enjoy yourself as well. I would be honored to take you on as many dates as you'd like. There are so many places I'd love to take you—I might have to make a list."
"Well, if you're gonna do that, then I'm gonna make a list of places I wanna take you." Roy can see the moment Ed's eyes sparkle as he thinks of an idea and it is a gorgeous sight to behold. "We could make a game of it! Make our lists, cut each separate thing up, and throw 'em all in a bag or somethin' and then we take turns picking at random!"
Roy had to physically hold himself back from wrapping Ed up in a crushing hug. He was too adorable for words. "That sounds like a perfect plan to me."
"Cool!" Ed's still grinning as he looks back down to the box of chocolates sitting on his desk. "We can start that for our second date. I mean—that is—if you still wanted to go on that date tonight."
"I'd love nothing more." Roy couldn't wipe the smile from his face if he tried.
Ed nods enthusiastically as he stuffs the chocolates into his messenger bag. "Great! Guess I better go home and get ready, then. You'll come pick me up? Or did you wanna meet up wherever you planned?"
"I'd love to pick you up, if that's alright. Would about seven be alright?" Roy holds the door to their office section open and Ed smiles up at him as he passes through first.
Ed just nods again, smile never leaving his lips as they make their way downstairs and out into the crisp winter air.
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Roy pulls into one of the parking spots in front of Ed's apartment complex at ten 'til seven and makes his way up to the proper door. If he's a little over-excited, well, who could really blame him? At least he's refraining from literally having a skip in his step.
It only takes a minute for the door to open once he's knocked and Roy's breath catches in his throat at the sight of Ed in a dark blue sweater, dark-wash skinny jeans, and his hair up in a beautiful bun atop his head with a dark ribbon woven intricately through it. He must take too long drinking in the vision Ed makes because when he meets those amber eyes, he notices Ed's cheeks are flushed.
"Um. Hey. You look really, really nice." Ed toys with his fringe with a sheepish smile, gesturing to Roy in his black slacks and burgundy button up under his black wool coat.
Roy preens in response and steps back as Ed moves to join him in the hall, tugging his dark brown coat on and locking his door behind himself so they can make their way downstairs to Roy's car. "And you look absolutely stunning."
The tips of Ed's ears grow red with the compliment and it's so delightful. "Flatterer."
"I'm simply stating a fact." Roy holds the passenger door open for Ed and gets an eyeroll in return, but Ed's still smiling as he slips into the seat so he figures he'll be alright.
The drive over is spent with easy small talk about work and it feels just as comfortable as it always is with Ed, so Roy hopes that's a good sign about how the evening will go. Ed himself seems relaxed as they head into the restaurant and Roy steps up to the podium to give his name. It only takes a few minutes for them to be guided to their table in a more secluded area near the far windows overlooking a nearby river.
Roy resists the urge to help Ed out of his coat, but he does hold his chair out and Ed seems flustered again by the gesture. Once Roy's seated across from him and they're told their waiter will be with them shortly, Roy turns his attention to his date.
"I'm sorry, I should have asked beforehand if you were alright with the, er, chivalrous gestures. Opening your door for you, holding your chair out—that sort of thing. Things that have been ingrained in me for many years, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable if you think it's too much."
Ed's brow furrows as he looks up from his menu. "Why would you—You didn't do anything wrong, doofus. It's just that I'm, um, not used to it, I guess? I don't dislike it. I'm just kinda nervous and dunno how to act, I guess."
"I like you just as you are, Ed. You need only be yourself. As I said before, there are no expectations—I only want you to feel comfortable and enjoy yourself." Roy tries to relax himself and averts his eyes back down to his own menu.
Their waiter finally makes her way to their table with two glasses of water. They place their orders and their menus are whisked away. Ed clears his throat, a sheepish smile on his face. "You, uh, you've never mentioned you had foster siblings before. How many are we talkin'?"
"There are five of us in total. I'm the only boy and right in the middle age wise." Roy grins as Ed's jaw drops. "Yes, it was quite loud and chaotic growing up. I will say that growing up with four sisters does have a lot of perks, however. Like teaching me early on about proper skin and hair care, how to cook and bake, and how to use my natural charm to my advantage."
Ed laughs at that and Roy's thrilled to see him relaxing into his usual demeanor now. "How's about the downsides?"
"Well. They did seem to find that I was a wonderful subject for testing new makeup. And I did have to hear more about the horrors that can occur during menstruation than I ever truly wanted to know. But to be fair, they're the ones that have to actually go through it so it only makes sense I should suffer the gorey details."
That has Ed nearly spitting out the water he'd just taken a sip of. "Man. I'm glad all I had to deal with growin' up was Al. Well, we did have our neighbor Winry and she's basically our sister with how much time we all spent together. But she was always more into cars 'n takin' stuff apart 'n puttin' it back together again since her granny's this pretty well known car mechanic in the town we grew up in."
Ed then launches into childhood stories of the shenanigans the three of them got up to and Roy's absolutely besotted. Roy's always loved watching and listening to Ed talk—he's so expressive and uses his hands a lot and his voice is just lovely on top of it all. Their food arrives as Ed's regaling Roy with the memory of a snowman building competition they'd had as teens that had ended with all three of them destroying each other's creations which then devolved into a ruthless snowball fight. Roy's clutching his sides from laughing so hard and their waiter looks between them incredulously as she places their plates in front of them and promptly turns away.
"Anyway, I won in the end so that's all that matters!" Ed finishes up with a grin.
Roy wipes honest to goodness tears from his eyes and takes a couple of deep, steadying breaths. "I would have loved to see all of that transpire. It must have been quite a show."
"Oh yeah. Granny was pissed after 'cause we were all soaked and chilled to the bone from the snow. We all caught sick, too. Totally worth it, though." Finally looking down at his food, Ed picks up his fork with glee. "Fuck, I love pasta. The things you can do with noodles is incredible."
Roy hums in agreement, digging into his own meal. "It is one of life's greatest pleasures. That and a perfectly cooked steak."
Ed looks up with a large amount of spaghetti wrapped around his fork. "Roy, I think you might be the perfect man."
Roy feels his cheeks heating. "I do believe that would be you."
With a mouth stuffed full, Ed narrows his eyes and shakes his head and jabs his fork threateningly towards Roy. He does his best not to burst out into laughter again when he's just shoved some food into his own mouth. Roy doesn't think he's had so much fun on a date in… maybe ever, actually. He really, really hopes Ed's enjoying himself just as much. As Roy revels in the beautiful sight of the man across from him, Roy thinks that if he could be lucky enough to have this easy, fun, exhilarating, amazingly comfortable companionship with Ed for the rest of his days in any capacity, he'd probably be the happiest man to have ever lived.
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Once he's parked the car in the complex's small lot, Roy gets out to walk Ed back up to his apartment door. It takes Roy by surprise a little bit that Ed reaches for Roy's hand and laces their fingers together. He feels nothing but warmth and contentment as they make their way inside and up the stairs to Ed's unit. This day has gone so well, Roy's over the moon about it.
When they stop in front of Ed's door, Ed turns and looks up at Roy with a smile and cheeks tinted pink. "Can I, um—can I kiss you?"
Roy's heart flutters in his chest and he does his best to remain calm in this moment. He nods as he reaches out with the hand not still in Ed's to slowly and gently cup the side of Ed's face. Ed immediately leans into the touch and it feels like every single nerve in Roy's body is going haywire over it. Ed stands up on his toes, eyes fluttering closed, fingers clutching a bit of Roy's coat as Roy leans in to close the distance. Ed's lips are soft against his own and Ed makes this cute little sound at the contact and it's all Roy can do not to melt into a happy little puddle right here in the hallway.
It's a sweet, lingering kiss and they part slowly—smiling and still holding onto each other. Roy brushes his nose lightly against Ed's before straightening himself back up.
"S'just as nice as I thought it'd be." Ed says as he smoothes his hand over where he'd been holding Roy's coat, beaming up at him as he takes a step back. "Thanks for the best first date a guy could hope for."
Roy squeezes Ed's fingers before letting go as Ed digs his keys out of his pocket. "It was my absolute pleasure and honor. Thank you for everything today."
Ed rolls his eyes, but he's still smiling and his eyes hold so much warmth and affection it threatens to steal all of Roy's breath. "I'll see ya tomorrow. Don't forget to make your list!"
"It'll be my first priority when I get home." Roy chuckles, watching Ed unlock his door and step inside backwards so they're still facing each other—which is far too precious. Roy's done for. "Goodnight, Ed."
Ed grins and does a cute little wave. "G'night, Roy."
Roy's smile doesn't leave his face as he watches Ed close the door before turning to leave. It stays in place the entire drive home. It never wavers through making his list of places he wants to take Ed, through his shower, through his night-time skincare routine. Not even as his head hits his pillow and he closes his eyes to sleep does the smile fall from his lips.
And when he wakes in the morning to find a good morning text from Ed after shutting off his alarm, that smile finds its home on Roy's lips once more.