Day 19 - Lunch.

[_sixth]

Time for lunch

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[felled_hero]

Well, Hughes supposed that things could be worse. He hadn't protested much after his shower when the nurse escorted him to change into the costume his 'family' had sent. It had been good to catch up with Havoc and Cliff, and just have a small bit of down time. Sad that 'down time' was talking about the current situation in a communal shower. But you took what you could get.

As for the costume... Hughes felt somewhat ridiculous. He supposed it was supposed to be a ghost, but it was basically a sheet with holes cut out for the eyes and mouth. How was anyone supposed to know it was him? Well, the eye holes were probably big enough for someone who knew him to tell.

When he got to the cafeteria, he realized it really could have been worse. At least the outfit hid his silent laughter at some of the other outfits people had been shoved into. Shaking his head, he got his food and took a seat. He wondered if Roy had been wrestled into this, too....

[muted_flame]

The day got worse and worse.

Breakfast had come with finding out that Greed was once again around, but a completely different version of the one he'd gotten to know (and yet still damned and determined to exact some sort of claim on him). The showers had instilled a sense of overwhelming paranoia and a desperate attempt to not be seen which had failed miserably--and then there had come the irritation when Greed had gotten pissed at him for something that was hardly his fault in the first place.

And now...

The nurse was standing before him with the outfit he was apparently supposed to wear, smiling widely. "Come on, Raymond. You'll look fantastic in this!" she insisted.

Roy couldn't believe this. The institute got worse and worse each day. What was the point of making them dress up in ridiculous costumes? He'd never even heard of this holiday--chances were they'd made it up. "No

[felled_hero]

The sandwich was welcome. And hey, he'd got to choose what was put on it. All in all, Hughes wasn't feeling too badly. And then he saw something that made him do a double-take. That... that couldn't be. But it was. Nearly choking on his sandwich, Hughes grinned widely behind his white sheet. He couldn't put into words just how funny he found this entire situation.

"Hey sweetheart, looking for a little company?" he called as Roy passed by, unable to let the opportunity pass him by. Roy was in a skirt. A short skirt. And a woman's blouse. Roy was dressed up like a woman. No, Hughes couldn't let that go by without comment.

Even if Roy would kill him for it later.

[muted_flame]

Oh, Roy knew that voice, even if he hadn't noticed Hughes under the sheet at first. It all registered right as he was sitting down, but he quickly shot back up, tense and bristling at the fact that his friend thought it was a good idea to tease him.

He realized that he hadn't actually spoken to Hughes in a while. They'd been separated the entire night, he'd been distracted during breakfast and actively trying to avoid him in the showers. Normally he would have been happy to have a chance to speak with his friend again.

But when he was acting like that? Grumbling, he stalked over to his friend, brow creased heavily.

How about kill him now instead of later? If only he had his gloves. He rubbed his fingers together anyway, if only to get the point across--that is, that he was not happy with the current situation.

"Don't you think you could be a little more mature about this?" he hissed.

[felled_hero]

"Sorry, I keep getting distracted by your legs." Hughes snickered and tried hard to swallow it. It failed, miserably.

"Aw, come on! Look at you! How can I not crack jokes? Besides, it looks good on you. I mean, you do have the legs for it." Another desperate attempt at swallowing back laughter. He couldn't help it.

"You're gonna kill me in my sleep, aren't you?"

[muted_flame]

"Maybe," Roy growled. Hughes was blatantly staring and being far too obvious. While it was flattering that his friend could barely follow through with a single train of thought without getting distracted, people were bound to notice. Hopefully they would just think he was perplexed by the fact that he was wearing a skirt.

He quickly fall into a seat next to Hughes, scooting the chair as close up to the edge of the table as he could so said legs would be hidden and his friend wouldn't be able to stare.

"Why couldn't I have gotten your costume?" he asked with a sigh. "What are you, a ghost?" It was only after he asked the question that he realized how cruel of a costume it truly was--and he quieted.

He was soon distracted by the girl from the night before joining them. He ignored her comment, far more worried about how she'd reacted upon waking up that morning. "Are you all right?" he asked with a frown. "And I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten your name..."

[felled_hero]

"A ghost as made by a very, very poor person," Hughes said, chuckling. "It's okay, you can make jokes. And hey, I got off a lot easier than most people."

Roy's plan to keep Hughes from getting distracted was pretty counter-productive. Because now Roy's bare legs were right there, right under the table, right next to him. Hughes' eyes kept wandering down, and he was reminded again how he and Roy hadn't had any time to themselves. If there wasn't someone else sitting with them...

"Hey, Elena." Hughes recognized the young woman and grinned - he didn't know she'd been Special Counseled last night. She had a fairly normal costume on, even if Hughes didn't quite know what it was. "I think your costume's cute."

[muted_flame]

"I, unlike you, don't see the point in joking around about it," Roy replied to Hughes, rolling his mismatched eyes as he crossed his legs. (Sitting any other way would have left him feeling too... exposed.) He realized he'd forgotten his food at the other table, but he knew it wasn't worth the effort to go and retrieve it.

Hughes was still staring. Roy elbowed him and frowned, hoping that the girl didn't notice what was going on. They hardly needed people finding out about them, and if his friend wasn't careful...

"Yes, I'm fine. My leg was injured from the night before last, but it seems to be fine now." It shouldn't have healed so quickly, but if he'd had stitches snaking down one leg, his costume would have lost its effect. He wondered--did the institute have the ability to control that sort of thing? He glanced down at his calf. There wasn't even a scar.

She hadn't answered his other question yet. She did seem a bit... absentminded. "What was your name, again?" he repeated.

[felled_hero]

"Sometimes you just have to laugh, Roy," Hughes pointed out, waving a utensil in his friend's direction. He flushed some when Roy nudged him and gave a sheepish, semi-apologetic shrug. "Can't help it," he whispered. "You're sitting right next to me and all I can think about is what's under the table."

He tore his eyes away though, and addressed Elena. "Oh, Roy, this is Elena. Elena, this is Roy Mustang - my best friend from back home." He gathered enough of what was being said to figure out what had happened last night. He figured it best not to remark on it.

"What are you supposed to be, anyway?"

[muted_flame]

"You should know by now that laughing isn't my specialty," Roy said with a shrug of his shoulders. He was getting over his initial rage at the situation, mainly because it wasn't worth the energy. He leaned closer to Hughes when he began to whisper, though what he said didn't exactly please him. "What's under the table?" he whispered back. "What do you mean?" That was a rather vague term, after all.

"Ahh, Elena. It's good to see you're all right as well. I remember when we met that day when Highwind decked you, though we didn't exactly get a chance to introduce ourselves." Or maybe they had, and he just didn't remember. After so many introductions, it was hard to remember all those names.

When she explained her costume, Roy's confusion deepened. He glanced at Hughes for clarificaction, but quickly turned his attention back to Elena. "What is a cheerleader?"

[felled_hero]

"Might do you some good every now and again," Hughes went on, echoing the shrug. He dropped his voice again, for Roy's ears only. "Your legs. And I'm real curious about what's under that skirt of yours." What did Roy expect from him? He shows up with that much skin exposed, Hughes couldn't ignore it. Not when it had been so long since they'd been able to do anything.

"Cheerleader?" he echoed. He couldn't say he'd heard of it either. "Ucklah?" he offered, not knowing what the letters stood for. It probably didn't mean anything, knowing this place. "I wonder who came up with all this stuff. If anyone in my family was gonna dress me up, I can say for certain they'd be more creative than this."

[muted_flame]

It wouldn't have been as bad if someone hadn't been sitting at the table with them at the time. It wasn't like Hughes was making any overly bold moves, but Roy could practically sense the way his friend's hand was twitching to touch him.

He wasn't sure where exactly he wanted to touch, but it was probably best if he didn't find out.

Roy paid an admirable amount of attention to Elena's over-the-top explanation--and he was rather upset that there weren't any of these cheerleaders in Amestris. So long as he didn't have to listen to them... Who could say no to a group of girls in short skirts?

He had finally been starting to calm down when she made it absolutely, 100% obvious that she knew what they were whispering about. Roy flushed a dark shade of red and averted his gaze from both of the people sitting with him. There was no point in denying it--that would make it even more suspicious--and so he was left at a loss for words.

"Blame him," he said eventually. "Though we'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone. And... he wasn't