Moving On
Title: Moving On
Verse: Further Interruptions
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Roy/Ed
Summary: They were together in every sense of the word, except that they weren’t together.
Author's Note: Chronologically between After All and First Comes Love
The fire was burning low in the grate as Roy watched Ed move closer and prod it with the metal poker that rested beside the fireplace. He was already wearing loose pajama bottoms and a gray teeshirt, ready for the inevitable pull of bed as the night drew to a close. Roy was in a plain white button-down with comfortable black pants. He wasn’t up to running a marathon, but he and Ed jogged through the neighborhood every morning and took quiet strolls every evening and he hadn’t changed when they came home tonight.
When they first started taking walks, it was all he had been able to do to get back in the door and collapse on the couch. Nights like tonight though were becoming more common. Nights when he felt like his life was becoming his own again. He still had nightmares, but those he could fend off. He had been well practiced at that before his abduction and they were simply another part of his nightly landscape now.
It had been almost a year since he’d been abducted. Seven months since the team had found him and Roy was finally getting a clean bill of health. His stamina was better than ever and he was hopeful that after his next appointment the doctors would allow him to return to full duty.
As it was now, Hawkeye had files brought to him each morning and picked up each evening. Fuhrer Grumman refused to let him come back to the office until the doctors said he was at 100%. Roy had complained that he was capable of coming in, at least part-time, to sit at his desk and sign papers, but the Fuhrer was adamant. There were too many people that had wanted to take Roy down before the abduction. They would be gunning for him again when he showed his face and Grumman needed him ready; physically and mentally.
“You ready to head up soon?” Ed asked as he set the poker down and turned away from the fire. Firelight had always been kind to Ed, making him glow in the evenings. Roy wanted to reach out and touch him, to press his lips to Ed’s and feel the strength of the muscles beneath the fabric that separated them, but that wasn’t who they were.
They had been and Roy had destroyed that. He thought that he’d almost gained a second chance, but then he’d been taken.
Now, they lived in this limbo. Ed had moved in with Roy to take care of him when he’d been released from the hospital and he’d never moved out. They ate meals together and they took strolls together. Roy helped Ed with his alchemy research when he began working at home so he didn’t have to leave Roy’s side. They slept in the same bed together.
They were together in every sense of the word, except that they weren’t together.
Roy let out a deep breath. The complexity of their relationship was enough to make his head spin on the best of days, but it constantly came to the forefront of his thoughts. He wanted to take Ed’s hand as they strolled the neighborhood together. He wanted to reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind his ear when it fell while he had his head down over some dusty tome. He wanted to pull it loose and bury himself in it when Ed laughed over some stupid story Roy told about his youth. He didn’t want an ‘except’ in their lives. He wanted to be with Ed in every way.
“Can I talk to you, Ed?”
Ed’s brow furrowed and Roy watched the tension settle on his shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“Of course. Ed, I’m fine. You know there is nothing wrong with my health.” Ed was very intuned with the health issues Roy had faced when he’d come home. In fact, Ed usually noticed something was wrong way before Roy was willing to admit to it.
“Then why are you asking if we can talk?”
“Because it’s important and I want you to sit down and listen to me.”
“Yeah. Okay,” Ed said as he sat in the chair next to the couch. Roy could reach out and touch if he wanted but he had to find a way to speak clearly tonight. As many times as he’d tried to start this conversation, for some reason this felt like it couldn’t wait any longer.
“There are actually two matters I want to discuss with you and they are connected in a way.”
“Just spit it out, Roy. Come on.”
He could see he’d made Ed nervous but Roy’s ever-ready ability to bullshit disappeared entirely when he tried to speak to Ed about this. “I think it’s time for you to move out.”
Ed’s eyes went wide and he sat up straighter in the chair. It was obvious the idea had never come to him before and he was stunned. “You want … I …” He floundered for the right words, but after taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders. “What did I do?” he finally asked.
Roy realized immediately how Ed’s mind was turning this around. “Ed, no, it’s not like that. You haven’t done anything wrong. I just think we should both have some space.” He took a deep breath and tried to think of how to best put this. “You know I enjoy your company, but you don’t need to stay to look after my health any longer.”
Ed looked down then and Roy could see the blush creeping up on his face. He was such an idiot. Ed deserved so much more than him, but he seemed to have set his heart on Roy and Roy couldn’t deny how much he wanted Ed back in his life. He loved him. It was that simple. If after everything, Ed could still want him, if he could choose to be with him when Roy’s medical needs weren’t keeping him close, then he would give everything he had to make Ed happy.
“Yeah. I get it. You don’t need me here anymore. I’m sure Al … I’ll just … pack my stuff and head out.”
“Ed, not tonight. Ed, look at me please.” When Ed finally did, Roy let out a sigh and smiled softly. “I need you to have your own place, Ed. I need you to be able to say no. Because I miss you.” It wasn’t the right thing to say, he could tell from the confusion on Ed’s face, but he was tongue-tied tonight.
“I’m right here, Bastard.”
“I want my Gold.”
Ed’s eyes widened because he understood exactly what Roy meant by that. “Oh.”
“I want you to move out so I can ask you out on a proper date, and you can tell me yes or no without letting all of this drag you back to me. I want to be able to pick you up and drop you off and worry about how your brother will react if I try to kiss you good-night on the front doorstep.”
“Roy.”
“Friends, right? That’s what you asked me for, before I was captured. I’d like to think we managed that pretty well before and I know that I wouldn’t have recovered half as quickly without you being here to help me.”
“You’d be on your ass if it wasn’t for me.”
Roy smiled then. “I know that morning at the hotel I said I’d wait for you to ask but I think we’re ready. And I can’t help wanting you back in my life, Ed. Not just as a friend, but as lovers. As partners. As everything.”
“I’ll… talk to Al. Tomorrow. I don’t think he’s given my room away to a tribe of cats yet.”
“It doesn’t have to be immediate if you don’t want. You know I enjoy your company and I like having you here. But I love you, Gold, and I miss you. With everything else that’s happened between us, I want to try to do this right by you.”
Ed smiled at him then, the first time since he’d started this conversation. “You know I’m not a girl right? I don’t need all that romantic crap.”
Roy smiled. “Of course.” Not that Roy wouldn’t do his best to wine and dine the man he loved.
“I’m going to take you out on dates too.”
Roy let out a small laugh. “Does this mean yes?”
Ed came forward and knelt on the floor between Roy’s knees. He leaned in and softly pressed a chaste kiss to Roy’s lips. “Yes, Bastard, I want you to take me on a real date.”
Roy reached up and touched Ed’s hair lightly then cupped his face. “This weekend. There is a cultural festival, a sort of holy celebration, for the Ishvalan people. Our whole team was invited for the work we did after the Promised Day. Would you go with me?”
“As your date?” Ed asked with a big toothy grin.
“Yes, Ed, as my date.”
“Yeah, I’ll be your date. For now, let’s go to bed.”
Ed got up and was halfway down the hall before Roy got up. “Roy?”
“You seem in a hurry to have our last night under the same roof over,” Roy said. He was pleased with how the conversation had gone, but he wasn’t in such a rush to sleep. He wanted more time with Ed, tonight of all nights.
Ed took his hand and pulled him down the hallway. “I’ve slept on my half of the bed for seven months. Now that we’re dating, and it’s my last night living here, I want your arms around me.”
Roy stopped as they got to the bedroom and he pulled Ed back towards him. “I’m dating you properly this time, Ed. I’m not rushing it.”
“Not sure what you think I’m asking for tonight, Roy, but I just want to be close to you. Is that okay?”
Roy looked over Ed’s face and there was no trace of tension or anger or fear. Just the affection and fondness that had settled between them before Roy had been injured and had come back after he’d started his recovery. “Yeah, that’s okay.”
They fell into bed together and Roy was allowed to pull Ed’s hair loose and he buried his nose just behind Ed’s ear while Ed curled into him. He wasn’t tired at all and Ed seemed to have less inclination to sleep than Roy did. They spent the night talking, pressed together as close as lovers, but with a sense of excitement in the air that neither seemed to be able to contain. When they closed their eyes it was the early light of dawn but they slept peacefully, neither plagued by nightmares.
And that evening, Roy Mustang showed up at Ed’s door with flowers and a bottle of wine, as well as a bag of cat treats, to ask Alphonse for the right to court his brother.
Verse: Further Interruptions
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Roy/Ed
Summary: They were together in every sense of the word, except that they weren’t together.
Author's Note: Chronologically between After All and First Comes Love
The fire was burning low in the grate as Roy watched Ed move closer and prod it with the metal poker that rested beside the fireplace. He was already wearing loose pajama bottoms and a gray teeshirt, ready for the inevitable pull of bed as the night drew to a close. Roy was in a plain white button-down with comfortable black pants. He wasn’t up to running a marathon, but he and Ed jogged through the neighborhood every morning and took quiet strolls every evening and he hadn’t changed when they came home tonight.
When they first started taking walks, it was all he had been able to do to get back in the door and collapse on the couch. Nights like tonight though were becoming more common. Nights when he felt like his life was becoming his own again. He still had nightmares, but those he could fend off. He had been well practiced at that before his abduction and they were simply another part of his nightly landscape now.
It had been almost a year since he’d been abducted. Seven months since the team had found him and Roy was finally getting a clean bill of health. His stamina was better than ever and he was hopeful that after his next appointment the doctors would allow him to return to full duty.
As it was now, Hawkeye had files brought to him each morning and picked up each evening. Fuhrer Grumman refused to let him come back to the office until the doctors said he was at 100%. Roy had complained that he was capable of coming in, at least part-time, to sit at his desk and sign papers, but the Fuhrer was adamant. There were too many people that had wanted to take Roy down before the abduction. They would be gunning for him again when he showed his face and Grumman needed him ready; physically and mentally.
“You ready to head up soon?” Ed asked as he set the poker down and turned away from the fire. Firelight had always been kind to Ed, making him glow in the evenings. Roy wanted to reach out and touch him, to press his lips to Ed’s and feel the strength of the muscles beneath the fabric that separated them, but that wasn’t who they were.
They had been and Roy had destroyed that. He thought that he’d almost gained a second chance, but then he’d been taken.
Now, they lived in this limbo. Ed had moved in with Roy to take care of him when he’d been released from the hospital and he’d never moved out. They ate meals together and they took strolls together. Roy helped Ed with his alchemy research when he began working at home so he didn’t have to leave Roy’s side. They slept in the same bed together.
They were together in every sense of the word, except that they weren’t together.
Roy let out a deep breath. The complexity of their relationship was enough to make his head spin on the best of days, but it constantly came to the forefront of his thoughts. He wanted to take Ed’s hand as they strolled the neighborhood together. He wanted to reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind his ear when it fell while he had his head down over some dusty tome. He wanted to pull it loose and bury himself in it when Ed laughed over some stupid story Roy told about his youth. He didn’t want an ‘except’ in their lives. He wanted to be with Ed in every way.
“Can I talk to you, Ed?”
Ed’s brow furrowed and Roy watched the tension settle on his shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“Of course. Ed, I’m fine. You know there is nothing wrong with my health.” Ed was very intuned with the health issues Roy had faced when he’d come home. In fact, Ed usually noticed something was wrong way before Roy was willing to admit to it.
“Then why are you asking if we can talk?”
“Because it’s important and I want you to sit down and listen to me.”
“Yeah. Okay,” Ed said as he sat in the chair next to the couch. Roy could reach out and touch if he wanted but he had to find a way to speak clearly tonight. As many times as he’d tried to start this conversation, for some reason this felt like it couldn’t wait any longer.
“There are actually two matters I want to discuss with you and they are connected in a way.”
“Just spit it out, Roy. Come on.”
He could see he’d made Ed nervous but Roy’s ever-ready ability to bullshit disappeared entirely when he tried to speak to Ed about this. “I think it’s time for you to move out.”
Ed’s eyes went wide and he sat up straighter in the chair. It was obvious the idea had never come to him before and he was stunned. “You want … I …” He floundered for the right words, but after taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders. “What did I do?” he finally asked.
Roy realized immediately how Ed’s mind was turning this around. “Ed, no, it’s not like that. You haven’t done anything wrong. I just think we should both have some space.” He took a deep breath and tried to think of how to best put this. “You know I enjoy your company, but you don’t need to stay to look after my health any longer.”
Ed looked down then and Roy could see the blush creeping up on his face. He was such an idiot. Ed deserved so much more than him, but he seemed to have set his heart on Roy and Roy couldn’t deny how much he wanted Ed back in his life. He loved him. It was that simple. If after everything, Ed could still want him, if he could choose to be with him when Roy’s medical needs weren’t keeping him close, then he would give everything he had to make Ed happy.
“Yeah. I get it. You don’t need me here anymore. I’m sure Al … I’ll just … pack my stuff and head out.”
“Ed, not tonight. Ed, look at me please.” When Ed finally did, Roy let out a sigh and smiled softly. “I need you to have your own place, Ed. I need you to be able to say no. Because I miss you.” It wasn’t the right thing to say, he could tell from the confusion on Ed’s face, but he was tongue-tied tonight.
“I’m right here, Bastard.”
“I want my Gold.”
Ed’s eyes widened because he understood exactly what Roy meant by that. “Oh.”
“I want you to move out so I can ask you out on a proper date, and you can tell me yes or no without letting all of this drag you back to me. I want to be able to pick you up and drop you off and worry about how your brother will react if I try to kiss you good-night on the front doorstep.”
“Roy.”
“Friends, right? That’s what you asked me for, before I was captured. I’d like to think we managed that pretty well before and I know that I wouldn’t have recovered half as quickly without you being here to help me.”
“You’d be on your ass if it wasn’t for me.”
Roy smiled then. “I know that morning at the hotel I said I’d wait for you to ask but I think we’re ready. And I can’t help wanting you back in my life, Ed. Not just as a friend, but as lovers. As partners. As everything.”
“I’ll… talk to Al. Tomorrow. I don’t think he’s given my room away to a tribe of cats yet.”
“It doesn’t have to be immediate if you don’t want. You know I enjoy your company and I like having you here. But I love you, Gold, and I miss you. With everything else that’s happened between us, I want to try to do this right by you.”
Ed smiled at him then, the first time since he’d started this conversation. “You know I’m not a girl right? I don’t need all that romantic crap.”
Roy smiled. “Of course.” Not that Roy wouldn’t do his best to wine and dine the man he loved.
“I’m going to take you out on dates too.”
Roy let out a small laugh. “Does this mean yes?”
Ed came forward and knelt on the floor between Roy’s knees. He leaned in and softly pressed a chaste kiss to Roy’s lips. “Yes, Bastard, I want you to take me on a real date.”
Roy reached up and touched Ed’s hair lightly then cupped his face. “This weekend. There is a cultural festival, a sort of holy celebration, for the Ishvalan people. Our whole team was invited for the work we did after the Promised Day. Would you go with me?”
“As your date?” Ed asked with a big toothy grin.
“Yes, Ed, as my date.”
“Yeah, I’ll be your date. For now, let’s go to bed.”
Ed got up and was halfway down the hall before Roy got up. “Roy?”
“You seem in a hurry to have our last night under the same roof over,” Roy said. He was pleased with how the conversation had gone, but he wasn’t in such a rush to sleep. He wanted more time with Ed, tonight of all nights.
Ed took his hand and pulled him down the hallway. “I’ve slept on my half of the bed for seven months. Now that we’re dating, and it’s my last night living here, I want your arms around me.”
Roy stopped as they got to the bedroom and he pulled Ed back towards him. “I’m dating you properly this time, Ed. I’m not rushing it.”
“Not sure what you think I’m asking for tonight, Roy, but I just want to be close to you. Is that okay?”
Roy looked over Ed’s face and there was no trace of tension or anger or fear. Just the affection and fondness that had settled between them before Roy had been injured and had come back after he’d started his recovery. “Yeah, that’s okay.”
They fell into bed together and Roy was allowed to pull Ed’s hair loose and he buried his nose just behind Ed’s ear while Ed curled into him. He wasn’t tired at all and Ed seemed to have less inclination to sleep than Roy did. They spent the night talking, pressed together as close as lovers, but with a sense of excitement in the air that neither seemed to be able to contain. When they closed their eyes it was the early light of dawn but they slept peacefully, neither plagued by nightmares.
And that evening, Roy Mustang showed up at Ed’s door with flowers and a bottle of wine, as well as a bag of cat treats, to ask Alphonse for the right to court his brother.