Work Text:
Ling really had not planned to do it.
Really, he hadn't.
But the tarte flambée was right there. Perfectly baked, warm, and Edward Elric had looked away at exactly the wrong moment, when Ling already reached out.
A quick move.
A clean theft.
"Hey!" Edward spun around abruptly and just caught Ling happily putting a piece into his mouth.
Ling nodded approvingly. "Very good."
Edward stared at him. "That was my tarte flambée!"
Ling swallowed and then casually reached into his fries. He pulled one out and held it out toward Edward.
"You can also have some of my fries, that is equivalent exchange."
Silence.
Edward looked at him.
Then at the fries.
Then back at Ling.
"That is not equivalent exchange at all, I am literally paying for it again!"
Ling paused.
His gaze shifted briefly between the tarte flambée and the fries.
Then he said very calmly:
"...Then it's just theft with sides?"
Edward made a sound somewhere between a scream and despair. "IT'S ALWAYS THEFT WITH YOU!"
Ling took another bite of the tarte flambée, nodded contently, and still kept holding out the fries.
"Yes..." He said cheerfully. "But with an offer."