The Seed of the Fire- Chapter 3: "Cross the Line" (Mustang x Hughes)
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Title: Cross the Line (The Seed of the Fire- Chapter 3)
Author: SeaweedOtter
Pairing: Roy Mustang x Maes Hughes
Rating: PG-13 for slight, quick, and embarassing nudity!!!
Disclaimer: AU, Set before the anime started, while Maes and Roy were roommates at the military academy.
Summary: Maes knew- sometime in this relationship, the line that seperated friends from lovers would have to be crossed.
Read all of the chapters so far HERE!
The end of the semester loomed, and even though they had been tenatively exploring each other a bit in the few months since the winter break, they had seen less and less of each other the in last couple of weeks. Roy had a huge final exam in Theory of Alchemy that he was worried about, and Maes was studying hard for his Military History test. If they were lucky, they got to see each other in the mornings, fighting for the limited bathroom resources.
"Morning, cutie." Maes gave Roy a chaste kiss on the top of his forehead, flashing that goofy smile of his. Even though they had been a couple for 3 months, they had done much less than most couples would have. They knew that they were far from a normal couple.
Things between them had been progessing nicely, but school was looming large, and they both agreed that studies had to come first- even though neither of them liked it. This was the last day of class, and it they were about to have some serious time together after the exams were over. They had already agreed to stay over the summer break in the dorms. It was a little bit of paperwork, but since they were both Dean's List students, and they stated that they wanted to be close to the library to study (which was actually true, more for Roy), they were allowed to stay.
"Rrrrf, hey." Roy said sleepily, He rubbed his eyes and got up, heading towards the bathroom to make himself more presentable. Maes sighed softly. He could never get over how cute the alchemist looked when he first woke up in the morning. His thin black eyes were barely slits, soft black hair was spiked at every single odd angle imaginable, and he had finally started to get just a few whiskers on the end of his chin. Of course Maes never let him hear the end of it, though he let the younger man borrow a razor untill he bought his own.
He came out a bit later, hair still wet from the shower, wearing nothing but a towel around his very thin waist. Moisture beaded on his pale skin, tracing slowly down his lean form in the crevices between his muscle masses, the moisture making its way towards the inevitable place that was hidden from view. It made Maes shiver, and he had to cross his legs uncomforatably. Roy iddly dried his hair with a second towel, noticing after a while that Maes couldn't take his eyes off him. He smirked.
"Liking the show, four-eyes?" He grinned and wiggled his hips, shaking the towel just a little.
"I... Um... I.." Maes, for once, was speechless.
"Well, perhaps later, if you ever get your voice back, we can discuss what you find so intersting about your roommate drying himself off." He flashed a wide smile and walked over to his small bedroom to get dressed, softly closing the door behind him. He left a gap jawed, wide eyed roommate trying to make sense of what had just happened.
___________________
The sigh that Maes let out when he unlocked the dorm room door and opened it later that afternoon- throwing his bookbag to the floor, was heard halfway down the hall. The exam had been even harder than he had imagined, but he still felt like he had done well. Still, he couldn't help but be nervous that he wouldn't know anything for at least a week.
After a moment, he noticed that the room was dark. He'd though that Roy had would've beat him back, but he may have been at the library, or out with friends. He sighed, since he had hoped that he'd get some time this evening with his roommate to talk about him in a towel. A quick glance to Roy's room showed a closed door and no light. It was unlikely he was asleep this early in the afternoon, so he must not be here, Maes reasoned.
He sighed again, louder this time. "I guess I should get a shower. I was too busy watching him." he said to nobody. Quickly, he went to his room, not bothering to close the door, and stripped, putting a towel around his hips. The shower felt nice, helping him release the tension that had built up over the last couple of weeks. It had been a while since he had been able to.. relieve himself, and he seriously thought about it- his hand moving slowly down his solidly built, yet slim form, down his chest and stomach, until he heard the door slam closed in the main room.
He'd never finished cleaning himself as fast as he did when he heard Roy come in. It wasn't until he had already turned the water off and stepped out of the shower that he realized that he hadn't brought in any clothes change into after the shower like he usually did.
He wasn't nearly as confident in his body as Roy was. Roy had never minded walking around in a towel- even before they knew how they felt about each other. But Maes, despite wanting to be with Roy, had never shown him more than his bare chest once- when he had forgotten his undershirt after a shower. He thought about asking Roy to grab a shirt and boxers for him, but then he remembered what he had hiding in his underwear drawer, and thought better of it.
Maes sighed. "Hmm.. I guess I have no choice." he wrapped the towel around him as tight as he could and peeked his head out the door. He grumbled a little. The only clean towel he had left was smaller than most. It barely went around his waist, and
it stopped above his knees. The door to Roy's room was slightly ajar, and he could hear the radio playing. 'Good' he thought. Maybe he could get away with a stealthy run to his room.
He grabbed his shower kit in one hand and his washcloth in the other and opened the door, the cold air from the main room catching him off guard and making him freeze in place for a moment. The bathroom door squeaked as it opened. It wasn't usually loud, but this time it sounded louder than a thunderclap to Maes.
A sense of dread hit him when he heard the radio turn down. "Oh Maes! Is that you? I am glad. I wanted to talk to..." Maes froze like a deer in headlights when he heard the squeak, and before he could react- it was too late. Roy was standing in his doorway, in a sleeveless white tank top and slacks, iddly scratching at an itch on his arm and staring at the almost totally naked man in front of him.
Silence. The clock on the wall's ticking was the only noise for a few seconds. Maes tried to move, but couldn't. He had never let anyone see this much of him. Even with all the discussions they had had over the past few months, Maes had never had the guts to admit to Roy that he had never gone all the way with a girl. He had wanted to a few times, but it had never worked out.
Silence turned to horror. As Maes tried to take a step back and turn back around to the bathroom, he had the horrible feeling of gravity turning against him, the towel untucking itself and slipping down. Neither man, in future conversations, would quite be able to describe the odd sqeaking noise that Maes had made as he saw his only article of clothing take an agonizingly slow tumble to the floor. Before Roy could say a word, Maes ran back into the bathroom, slammed the door and turned the lock.
"Um.. Maes.." Roy said softly, walking towards the bathroom door with an extra clean towel. "I have one of the bigger towels here. If you open the door I can hand it to you. I swear that I will turn around and won't look, okay?"
It took a few moments for Maes to pluck up the courage to unlock the door and peek his head out. Ever the gentleman, Roy was keeping his promise. He had his back to the door, and his eyes closed, holding the towel out to the side in an outstretched arm. He didn't say a word as Maes snatched the towel and shut the door again.
The door slowly creaked open again a couple of minutes later. Roy was in the same place, eyes still closed, just in case. Maes ran, getting to his room without incident, and closed the door quickly behind him. Roy finally opened his eyes, a big grin on his face. "Boy I am glad he was too embarassed to look at me," he mumbled under his breath. "He would've seen the raging hard on he gave me!" He chuckled again and walked towards his room, keeping the door slightly ajar.
___________________
It was a while before Maes could pluck up the courage to come back out of his room. He had some comforatable cotton pants and a white t-shirt on. As usual, his bare feet slapped softly against the cold linoleum floor. He leaned over to look at the other bedroom. He was both glad and nervous that Roy was apparantly still up. And apparantly he was pretty observant and had heard Maes finally emerge. His door squeaked open, and there he stood, just as handsome as ever- Roy Mustang.
"Oh.. Um.. Hi.." Maes started, iddly scratching at the back of his head.
"Look, I am sorry about that. if I'd known that you wern't dressed, I wouldn't have come out." A little shade of pink came to his cheeks. But the look on his face proved that he didn't really look too sorry.
"It's okay. I wasn't sure when you would be home, and like an idiot, this is the one time I forgot to take my clothes in with me."
"Dont worry about it.. after all, if we are going to be a couple.. if that's what you still want.. then chances are, eventually, I would like to see you in a towel.. or.. perhaps not." Roy walked over and gently rubbed the back of his hand against his friend's stubbly cheek.
Maes gulped, but nodded his head. He knew that Roy was right. It was just that so few people had seen him like that. It was something that he hadn't gotten used to yet.
"Well, the wierd thing about it Roy, is that.. well.. I guess I don't want to admit it, but.. I'm very self concious about how I look. And... well...." Another long pause. "I had'nt ever been with a girl.. not all the way at least. I have done some stuff, but no one has ever seen me.. er... totally naked before. Well, I guess before you today."
There was a very audible sigh from Roy. He started to chuckle a little. Roy never would have imagined it in a million years. This strapping, tall, handsome man had never slept with anyone. "I find that hard to believe." was all Roy could muster as a responce.
"Why the hell would I lie about that?" Maes snapped back. His face immediatly turned to alarm. "Oh, I am sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just that there would be no reason for me to make that up, especially when admitting it to a ladies' man like yourself."
"Hmm. that is true, I guess." Roy replied, softly running his fingers thru Maes' slightly damp hair. "You know, I have to admit that I liked the show I got. Didn't really get a shot of the front, but that is a pretty nice rear that you are carrying around there." He smirked a little and leaned in to give Maes a soft, comforting kiss on the cheek. He wasn't sure which made the man blush more.
"You... like it?"
"Oh hell yeah. It has a little bit of meat to it. Not too much, just enough." Roy chuckled when the man tried to look over his shoulder at his own posterior with little success.
"It is."
Roy shot Maes a confused look. "It is what, Maes? I don't understand."
"It is still what I want." He replied, taking a deep breath, he was already taking off his shirt as he finsihed the sentence. He gently tossed it to a chair and stood there, shirtless, in front of Roy for the second time.
Roy took a step back to enjoy the shirtless man in front of him. He wasn't as well toned as Roy was, but he could see the forms of the muscles under the skin, especially on his knife throwing arm. Small patches of his pectoral muscles were lightly covered with short, fine patches of the same color hair as his beard. The rest of his chest was smooth, the abs just hinted at under the light colored flesh, until below his belly button, where a thicker patch of slightly darker hair broke a trail down his stomach and disappeared into the cotton pants that sat comforatably on his hips.
"Wow. You are.. beautiful.." Roy stammered. He ran his hand gently along one of Maes' pecs, elicting a little moan from the taller man. "I don't know why you hide yourself. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Your body is perfect." Roy took a step forward, almost nose to chin with this man, his roommate, his friend. More.
"I.. I.." Maes tried to speak, but Roy leaned up and kissed him on the lips, a long, lingering kiss. It didn't have the desperation of someone in a hurry, nor did it have the chaste of innocence that most of thier kisses had had before. It wasn't lust, but love, a deep love of the man that stood before him.
It seemed like an eternity for both men before the kiss was finally broken. Neither was sure who pulled away first. Roy smiled and easily shed his tank top, tossing it on top of his roommate's shirt. There was a moment of hesitation. Both of them knew what they wanted to do, but neither was sure how to coninue.
Roy gently took Maes' hand and gave it a little squeeze. "Come this way, Maes. Let's head to a more comforatable spot. I swear to you that I won't do anything that you don't want to. Trust me. " Maes could only nod wordlessly and followed Roy back towards his bedroom.
Title: Cross the Line (The Seed of the Fire- Chapter 3)
Author: SeaweedOtter
Pairing: Roy Mustang x Maes Hughes
Rating: PG-13 for slight, quick, and embarassing nudity!!!
Disclaimer: AU, Set before the anime started, while Maes and Roy were roommates at the military academy.
Summary: Maes knew- sometime in this relationship, the line that seperated friends from lovers would have to be crossed.
Read all of the chapters so far HERE!
The end of the semester loomed, and even though they had been tenatively exploring each other a bit in the few months since the winter break, they had seen less and less of each other the in last couple of weeks. Roy had a huge final exam in Theory of Alchemy that he was worried about, and Maes was studying hard for his Military History test. If they were lucky, they got to see each other in the mornings, fighting for the limited bathroom resources.
"Morning, cutie." Maes gave Roy a chaste kiss on the top of his forehead, flashing that goofy smile of his. Even though they had been a couple for 3 months, they had done much less than most couples would have. They knew that they were far from a normal couple.
Things between them had been progessing nicely, but school was looming large, and they both agreed that studies had to come first- even though neither of them liked it. This was the last day of class, and it they were about to have some serious time together after the exams were over. They had already agreed to stay over the summer break in the dorms. It was a little bit of paperwork, but since they were both Dean's List students, and they stated that they wanted to be close to the library to study (which was actually true, more for Roy), they were allowed to stay.
"Rrrrf, hey." Roy said sleepily, He rubbed his eyes and got up, heading towards the bathroom to make himself more presentable. Maes sighed softly. He could never get over how cute the alchemist looked when he first woke up in the morning. His thin black eyes were barely slits, soft black hair was spiked at every single odd angle imaginable, and he had finally started to get just a few whiskers on the end of his chin. Of course Maes never let him hear the end of it, though he let the younger man borrow a razor untill he bought his own.
He came out a bit later, hair still wet from the shower, wearing nothing but a towel around his very thin waist. Moisture beaded on his pale skin, tracing slowly down his lean form in the crevices between his muscle masses, the moisture making its way towards the inevitable place that was hidden from view. It made Maes shiver, and he had to cross his legs uncomforatably. Roy iddly dried his hair with a second towel, noticing after a while that Maes couldn't take his eyes off him. He smirked.
"Liking the show, four-eyes?" He grinned and wiggled his hips, shaking the towel just a little.
"I... Um... I.." Maes, for once, was speechless.
"Well, perhaps later, if you ever get your voice back, we can discuss what you find so intersting about your roommate drying himself off." He flashed a wide smile and walked over to his small bedroom to get dressed, softly closing the door behind him. He left a gap jawed, wide eyed roommate trying to make sense of what had just happened.
___________________
The sigh that Maes let out when he unlocked the dorm room door and opened it later that afternoon- throwing his bookbag to the floor, was heard halfway down the hall. The exam had been even harder than he had imagined, but he still felt like he had done well. Still, he couldn't help but be nervous that he wouldn't know anything for at least a week.
After a moment, he noticed that the room was dark. He'd though that Roy had would've beat him back, but he may have been at the library, or out with friends. He sighed, since he had hoped that he'd get some time this evening with his roommate to talk about him in a towel. A quick glance to Roy's room showed a closed door and no light. It was unlikely he was asleep this early in the afternoon, so he must not be here, Maes reasoned.
He sighed again, louder this time. "I guess I should get a shower. I was too busy watching him." he said to nobody. Quickly, he went to his room, not bothering to close the door, and stripped, putting a towel around his hips. The shower felt nice, helping him release the tension that had built up over the last couple of weeks. It had been a while since he had been able to.. relieve himself, and he seriously thought about it- his hand moving slowly down his solidly built, yet slim form, down his chest and stomach, until he heard the door slam closed in the main room.
He'd never finished cleaning himself as fast as he did when he heard Roy come in. It wasn't until he had already turned the water off and stepped out of the shower that he realized that he hadn't brought in any clothes change into after the shower like he usually did.
He wasn't nearly as confident in his body as Roy was. Roy had never minded walking around in a towel- even before they knew how they felt about each other. But Maes, despite wanting to be with Roy, had never shown him more than his bare chest once- when he had forgotten his undershirt after a shower. He thought about asking Roy to grab a shirt and boxers for him, but then he remembered what he had hiding in his underwear drawer, and thought better of it.
Maes sighed. "Hmm.. I guess I have no choice." he wrapped the towel around him as tight as he could and peeked his head out the door. He grumbled a little. The only clean towel he had left was smaller than most. It barely went around his waist, and
it stopped above his knees. The door to Roy's room was slightly ajar, and he could hear the radio playing. 'Good' he thought. Maybe he could get away with a stealthy run to his room.
He grabbed his shower kit in one hand and his washcloth in the other and opened the door, the cold air from the main room catching him off guard and making him freeze in place for a moment. The bathroom door squeaked as it opened. It wasn't usually loud, but this time it sounded louder than a thunderclap to Maes.
A sense of dread hit him when he heard the radio turn down. "Oh Maes! Is that you? I am glad. I wanted to talk to..." Maes froze like a deer in headlights when he heard the squeak, and before he could react- it was too late. Roy was standing in his doorway, in a sleeveless white tank top and slacks, iddly scratching at an itch on his arm and staring at the almost totally naked man in front of him.
Silence. The clock on the wall's ticking was the only noise for a few seconds. Maes tried to move, but couldn't. He had never let anyone see this much of him. Even with all the discussions they had had over the past few months, Maes had never had the guts to admit to Roy that he had never gone all the way with a girl. He had wanted to a few times, but it had never worked out.
Silence turned to horror. As Maes tried to take a step back and turn back around to the bathroom, he had the horrible feeling of gravity turning against him, the towel untucking itself and slipping down. Neither man, in future conversations, would quite be able to describe the odd sqeaking noise that Maes had made as he saw his only article of clothing take an agonizingly slow tumble to the floor. Before Roy could say a word, Maes ran back into the bathroom, slammed the door and turned the lock.
"Um.. Maes.." Roy said softly, walking towards the bathroom door with an extra clean towel. "I have one of the bigger towels here. If you open the door I can hand it to you. I swear that I will turn around and won't look, okay?"
It took a few moments for Maes to pluck up the courage to unlock the door and peek his head out. Ever the gentleman, Roy was keeping his promise. He had his back to the door, and his eyes closed, holding the towel out to the side in an outstretched arm. He didn't say a word as Maes snatched the towel and shut the door again.
The door slowly creaked open again a couple of minutes later. Roy was in the same place, eyes still closed, just in case. Maes ran, getting to his room without incident, and closed the door quickly behind him. Roy finally opened his eyes, a big grin on his face. "Boy I am glad he was too embarassed to look at me," he mumbled under his breath. "He would've seen the raging hard on he gave me!" He chuckled again and walked towards his room, keeping the door slightly ajar.
___________________
It was a while before Maes could pluck up the courage to come back out of his room. He had some comforatable cotton pants and a white t-shirt on. As usual, his bare feet slapped softly against the cold linoleum floor. He leaned over to look at the other bedroom. He was both glad and nervous that Roy was apparantly still up. And apparantly he was pretty observant and had heard Maes finally emerge. His door squeaked open, and there he stood, just as handsome as ever- Roy Mustang.
"Oh.. Um.. Hi.." Maes started, iddly scratching at the back of his head.
"Look, I am sorry about that. if I'd known that you wern't dressed, I wouldn't have come out." A little shade of pink came to his cheeks. But the look on his face proved that he didn't really look too sorry.
"It's okay. I wasn't sure when you would be home, and like an idiot, this is the one time I forgot to take my clothes in with me."
"Dont worry about it.. after all, if we are going to be a couple.. if that's what you still want.. then chances are, eventually, I would like to see you in a towel.. or.. perhaps not." Roy walked over and gently rubbed the back of his hand against his friend's stubbly cheek.
Maes gulped, but nodded his head. He knew that Roy was right. It was just that so few people had seen him like that. It was something that he hadn't gotten used to yet.
"Well, the wierd thing about it Roy, is that.. well.. I guess I don't want to admit it, but.. I'm very self concious about how I look. And... well...." Another long pause. "I had'nt ever been with a girl.. not all the way at least. I have done some stuff, but no one has ever seen me.. er... totally naked before. Well, I guess before you today."
There was a very audible sigh from Roy. He started to chuckle a little. Roy never would have imagined it in a million years. This strapping, tall, handsome man had never slept with anyone. "I find that hard to believe." was all Roy could muster as a responce.
"Why the hell would I lie about that?" Maes snapped back. His face immediatly turned to alarm. "Oh, I am sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just that there would be no reason for me to make that up, especially when admitting it to a ladies' man like yourself."
"Hmm. that is true, I guess." Roy replied, softly running his fingers thru Maes' slightly damp hair. "You know, I have to admit that I liked the show I got. Didn't really get a shot of the front, but that is a pretty nice rear that you are carrying around there." He smirked a little and leaned in to give Maes a soft, comforting kiss on the cheek. He wasn't sure which made the man blush more.
"You... like it?"
"Oh hell yeah. It has a little bit of meat to it. Not too much, just enough." Roy chuckled when the man tried to look over his shoulder at his own posterior with little success.
"It is."
Roy shot Maes a confused look. "It is what, Maes? I don't understand."
"It is still what I want." He replied, taking a deep breath, he was already taking off his shirt as he finsihed the sentence. He gently tossed it to a chair and stood there, shirtless, in front of Roy for the second time.
Roy took a step back to enjoy the shirtless man in front of him. He wasn't as well toned as Roy was, but he could see the forms of the muscles under the skin, especially on his knife throwing arm. Small patches of his pectoral muscles were lightly covered with short, fine patches of the same color hair as his beard. The rest of his chest was smooth, the abs just hinted at under the light colored flesh, until below his belly button, where a thicker patch of slightly darker hair broke a trail down his stomach and disappeared into the cotton pants that sat comforatably on his hips.
"Wow. You are.. beautiful.." Roy stammered. He ran his hand gently along one of Maes' pecs, elicting a little moan from the taller man. "I don't know why you hide yourself. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Your body is perfect." Roy took a step forward, almost nose to chin with this man, his roommate, his friend. More.
"I.. I.." Maes tried to speak, but Roy leaned up and kissed him on the lips, a long, lingering kiss. It didn't have the desperation of someone in a hurry, nor did it have the chaste of innocence that most of thier kisses had had before. It wasn't lust, but love, a deep love of the man that stood before him.
It seemed like an eternity for both men before the kiss was finally broken. Neither was sure who pulled away first. Roy smiled and easily shed his tank top, tossing it on top of his roommate's shirt. There was a moment of hesitation. Both of them knew what they wanted to do, but neither was sure how to coninue.
Roy gently took Maes' hand and gave it a little squeeze. "Come this way, Maes. Let's head to a more comforatable spot. I swear to you that I won't do anything that you don't want to. Trust me. " Maes could only nod wordlessly and followed Roy back towards his bedroom.