FMA Fanfic: Malleability Part 3
Title: Malleability Part 3
Pairing: RoyxEd
Rating: R
Warnings: None, spoiler-free I think.
Part 1
Part 2
It appeared that, despite Roy’s fears to the contrary, Edward’s life had taught him well what it meant to be discreet.
Monday and Tuesday passed without incident and Wednesday brought little chaos, save a telephone call from Hughes, and even that had started out under control.
It had been somewhere in between a riveting retelling of “Elysia’s First Pumpkin” and the now somewhat tongue-in-cheek reminder to “hurry up and get a wife,” that Roy had found himself ambushed.
“So, Gracia and I were talking. She reminded me how long it has been since we’ve had you over for a proper dinner. We were thinking that you might join us for meat pie this Friday.”
A meat pie made in the Hughes household was a work of art to behold and ingest.
“What do you say? I promise to go light on the Drachman vodka,” he added with a wink in his voice.
“Tell Gracia that I look forward to it.”
“We were also thinking that we haven’t had the Elric brothers over in quite some time, either.”
Roy swallowed. “Is that so?”
“Mmhmm. And since Elysia has been keeping us so busy, we thought we could wrangle all three of you together for one big dinner.”
“Very clever of you and the wife. That Gracia, always thinking,” Roy responded drolly.
“Yes, always. So, is it a date?”
Roy scowled. “How does seven o’clock sound?”
“Perfect. Bring a dish to pass.”
They could handle this. It was just dinner. But Maes and Gracia would be watching them like hawks and Alphonse would surely sense something was up, assuming the boy didn’t already know anyway. Well, this would be interesting.
“So, he doesn’t know and he can’t know, but he thinks he knows.”
“So he knows?”
“No.”
Edward cocked his head to the side. “No?”
“No. Well...maybe. I mean, I guess he does,” Roy said, chewing on his lower lip and eyeing his lover anxiously.
“Well, why don’t we just tell him?”
Roy averted his eyes. How was he supposed to tell this boy, his friend, that he hadn’t intended to let things develop this far? That the first kiss had been a mistake? That, even though he hadn’t felt this content in ages, he sometimes wanted the situation to just go away?
“Because he doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.”
Edward knitted his brows together. “But doesn’t he work in Investigations?”
Roy almost felt his brain jiggle as he carded through his mental file for a response. “But this is office gossip. It’s different. Remember when you heard about Breada and the chilli incident?”
Edward nodded slowly.
“And who told you about it?”
“Lieutenant Colonel Hughes...I see your point.”
Roy nodded sagely. “Now, the question of Alphonse. What have you told him?”
Edward’s eyes widened. “Not a thing! Are you nuts?”
Ah, very good. “I see your concern. You do understand how we must proceed, right?”
Edward smirked and Roy noted that the boy was picking up some terrible habits from him. “Sure. Straight to the bedroom, right now.”
Roy frowned. “Very amusing, Ed. But you do see that we must not let anyone know?”
Edward rolled his eyes. “Of course I do. Do you think I want people to know that I willingly associate with you?”he asked with venom, paused for a moment, then added, “Bastard.”
Roy felt his face flush just a hair. Edward’s smirk grew deeper.
“I knew you liked that. You’re sick, you know,” he added crawling across the couch to straddle his lover’s legs. Edward rested a hand on each of Roy’s shoulders and kneaded a bit. Roy moaned and felt his cock begin to awaken from its slumber.
It was moments like these - and it was amazing how many moments like these they’d had in their few days together - that Roy contemplated just calling it off. They reminded him that, though his will to do the intelligent, right thing was strong, his body was telling him something different. This, certainly, was nothing new and should have been no cause for concern. But now other parts of him were getting involved, too. Deeper, more hidden parts and that was where this was going to lead to trouble. But, as always, his flesh, now in concert with his heart, resisted his brain’s warnings of impending doom and commanded his lips to find Edward’s and ordered his hands to roam up Edward’s shirt, pushing the fabric out of the way as they gained strategic territory.
Edward sighed and arched his spine to follow the teasing caress of Roy’s fingers. He didn’t look fifteen now; instead, he looked like a man, painted in broad brush strokes of want and desire. Something in the way he held himself, in the way his fingertips dug deep with pleasure into Roy’s shoulder blades, spoke of maturity and Roy was certain that this small man could command him to the ends of the earth and back because he was so beautiful. The silky ends of blond hair tickled Roy’s forearm as the younger man lifted his chin to allow the colonel to slide a slick tongue up a graceful line of his lover’s throat.
“Roy, please take me to the bedroom. I want this.”
The older man’s tongue disentangled itself from his lover’s earlobe and he slowly pulled his mouth away. God help him, he at least had held that last bit of ground and had not yet proceeded that far with the youth poised over his lap.
“Edward...”
“I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to say that I’m not ready, that I wouldn’t like it. But I don’t care. I want it. Please?”
Roy sighed and his shoulders sagged. “Edward, four days ago, you had no interest in me. It’s taken us years to be civil to each other. What’s the rush?”
“The rush,” he said, his hand snaking downward on Roy’s body, “is this,” he cupped his palm around Roy’s growing erection. “It’s pushing on me and I want it.”
Roy swallowed thickly. “Please? Not yet, Edward. Tell me what you want -anything else - and I’ll do it.”
“Don’t tell me I’m not ready!”
The older man sighed. “I didn’t say you weren’t ready. I don’t think we’re ready. I don’t want to rush this. I want to do it right.”
Edward’s shoulders slumped and he smiled at his lover weakly. “Okay, you win. Stupid bastard,” one side of his mouth jerked up when Roy’s eyebrow twitched, “So, anything I want, you say?”
Roy smiled at the challenge thick in Edward’s voice and scratched his fingernails lightly down the younger man’s back. He nodded slowly. “Anything.” Anything, Edward. Just let me keep this shred of clear conscience.
Edward smiled in a predatory fashion, then softened it to something that almost resembled affection. “On your knees, old man.”
“Maes,” Gracia said as her husband slid into bed beside her, “Why do you have to torture Roy like this? Just let him be.”
“Now, dear,” he curled an arm around her shoulders, “It’s good for him. Builds character.”
She sighed and nestled her head into the valley of his shoulder. “That’s what we tell Elysia to make her clean her room, Maes. Roy is a grown man and these are important decisions.”
Hughes chuckled. “It’s just dinner, sweetie. They’ll survive.”
“Meat pie! Are you serious?”
Edward sighed and shook his head. “It’s not like you can eat it anyway, Al. I don’t know why you’re so excited.”
“I know, I just haven’t had it in so long. Do you remember Mom’s?”
Edward nodded fondly and patted his belly.
“I haven’t seen Elysia in ages. I bet she’s getting big.”
“According to Hughes’ duffel bag of photos, she’s getting tall,” Edward said with a grimace.
Al’s armor rattled as he shook his head. “I don’t know how you do it, Brother.”
More rattling ensued as Al shifted around, not out of a desire for comfort that he couldn’t feel, but more out of habit. Edward flopped around twice until he was on his belly, legs and arms spread out greedily on his bed.
“So, why is the Colonel coming?”
Thursday morning worked double-time and brought a minimal amount of paperwork to the Colonel’s desk as it was near enough to the weekend for people to get a head start on the whole ‘relaxing’ thing, as well as a lunch date with Lieutenant Havoc. Roy’s intention had been to just have his subordinate drive him to that delectable bistro on Twelfth Street, but Havoc had implied that he was in possession of some rather juicy office gossip and had thus earned himself a free lunch. Roy would even ask for them to be seated in the smoking section.
The tall blond sipped at his water and poked suspiciously at his pasta with a fork. “So, you know Diane down in the typing pool?”
“The one with the daughter in the academy?”
Havoc nodded. “Well, rumor has it that she will be facing an inquiry.”
Roy raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”
“It seems she was seen out a few Fridays ago with General Metzler and the brass is none too happy.”
Truth be told, it wasn’t very good gossip. Diane was a nice lady, divorced, and deserved to go dancing occasionally.
“It will just be a slap on the wrist, right?”
Havoc shrugged. “Normally. But I’ve heard that they want to make an example with them. Fraternization has gotten out of hand, they say.”
Roy frowned. He didn’t agree with it, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise. He needed to end this...thing...with Edward and the fraternization crack-down was all the more incentive to do it quickly. He might not even wait until after dinner at the Hughes’ to break it off. And it wasn’t just for him. This was for Edward, too. The boy potentially had a long career ahead of him and Roy was in no position to endanger that just because he was a little confused at the moment.
“Hey, Chief?” Havoc asked, snapping his fingers in front of Roy’s eyes, “You’re a little out of it today.”
Roy blinked and refocused back in on Havoc. “Hmmm?”
Havoc narrowed his eyes and glared suspiciously. “It’s Janine, isn’t it? Damn it, Colonel, not Janine too! I just went out with her last night!”
“Janine? What? Who’s Janine?”
“My girlfriend from typing and you’d better remember that!”
“Relax Lieutenant. I have no interest in stealing this girlfriend.”
Havoc opened his mouth to continue his rant, then closed it and set down his fork. “Really?”
Roy sighed and shook his head. More than you know... “Really.”
Havoc breathed a sigh of relief and downed the rest of his pasta.
Well, it wasn’t Drachman vodka, but maybe that was a good thing. It was cheap scotch, and it was doing the trick well enough.
He hadn’t intended for it to happen. Really. He’d meant what he’d said.
But when Janine had practically slithered into the office, swaying her lovely hips, and looking so disappointed when she was told that Havoc had stepped out for a moment, Roy really had no choice but to console the woman with an offer for drinks. Really.
Things were going well for the most part. Roy had been a bit disturbed when she had slipped a hand onto his knee and he didn’t get that usual jerk in his guts, but it could be expected. He had been under a lot of stress lately.
Then she’d taken another delicate sip of scotch and slowly licked the excess alcohol off her top lip, proceeding to Seduction: Step Two. It had actually taken Roy a moment to realize what had just happened. And he’d felt nothing, aside from a strong desire to hand the lady a napkin.
When she initiated Step Three, leaning back against the bar and resting her elbows behind her on the counter to provide a nice clear view of her slender waist and ample cleavage, all Roy could think about was what nice taste Lieutenant Havoc had and if her father knew that she was out so late with lecherous military men.
“Aren’t you a bit young to be a colonel, Colonel?” she asked with one corner of her mouth upturned.
All Roy could think of were those innocent golden eyes and the tales he could tell Janine about exactly what youth could be capable of.
But he only smiled politely. “So...how’s the typing pool treating you these days?”
Janine must have reached her drink limit because she giggled in a high-pitched, obnoxious fashion and slapped her hand once on her slender thigh.
“Same as always, I guess,” she wheezed in between bursts of laughter.
Roy grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose. Havoc was going to have his hands full with this one.
When she continued to laugh and rested her head on his shoulder while she attempted to regain her wits, Roy was vaguely reminded of every other date he had ever had. It was unfortunate because he was tired of these giggly women, drunk off his power (though he tried to convince himself that they were drunk off his charm and dashing good looks) and since his attraction to Edward was clearly and out-of-the-question fluke, he could easily see himself remaining celibate for the rest of his years.
When Janine leaned over and said, “Take me home, Roy,” he pretended to misinterpret it and said, “My pleasure.”
He knew it was going to happen. He knew as soon as he put his hand on the door to leave the bar. It was just another ounce of incentive to give up this whole social life thing altogether.
“Fancy seeing you here, Colonel.”
Roy didn’t need to face the speaker to recognize the voice.
“Good evening, Lieutenant.”
“I trust your headache is gone, Janine?”
In a less defeated mood, Roy would have said that it wasn’t what it looked like. He would have insisted that he was merely escorting the young woman home. Any other night, Roy might have remained outside the bar and argued until he was blue to restore his good name. But, at the moment, all he wanted to do was to go home, take a hot shower, and go to bed. He had an emotional teen to dump the next day.
“Lieutenant, would you be kind enough to walk our friend back to her home?”
Roy reached out and grabbed Havoc’s arm, pushed it around Janine’s waist, and turned to head for home.
Cradling the heavy pot under his flesh arm, Edward poked his head into the break room. The four men who served under Roy were huddled together around the card table and eyed him with suspicion when he cleared his throat.
“I was going to force this on the bastard, but he’s not here. So I’m going to make you try my soup.”
Havoc and Fuery both leaned back in their chairs, watching the pot under Ed’s arm like they were waiting for it to lunge or belch or do something else unsavory for a pot of soup. Falman began to recite from memory the office policy on the utilization of the ice box space and the recommended cooling temperature for foodstuffs containing meat. Breda, however, laced his fingers together, cracked his knuckles, and popped his neck vertebrae.
“I’m game,” he said and reached for his spoon on the table.
Edward passed the pot of soup to the red-haired man and turned back to the other three men cowering the corner. “Where is the bastard, anyway?”
Havoc snorted. “After seeing him out with Janine last night, I’m sure he’s scrolling through the phone book to see what girlfriends of mine he hasn’t dated.”
Edward raised his eyebrows. “Last night?”
Havoc scowled. “Yeah. He took my date out after she said she had a headache.”
Ed frowned and contemplated if it would be possible to poison only Roy’s portion of the soup he had made.
Pairing: RoyxEd
Rating: R
Warnings: None, spoiler-free I think.
Part 1
Part 2
It appeared that, despite Roy’s fears to the contrary, Edward’s life had taught him well what it meant to be discreet.
Monday and Tuesday passed without incident and Wednesday brought little chaos, save a telephone call from Hughes, and even that had started out under control.
It had been somewhere in between a riveting retelling of “Elysia’s First Pumpkin” and the now somewhat tongue-in-cheek reminder to “hurry up and get a wife,” that Roy had found himself ambushed.
“So, Gracia and I were talking. She reminded me how long it has been since we’ve had you over for a proper dinner. We were thinking that you might join us for meat pie this Friday.”
A meat pie made in the Hughes household was a work of art to behold and ingest.
“What do you say? I promise to go light on the Drachman vodka,” he added with a wink in his voice.
“Tell Gracia that I look forward to it.”
“We were also thinking that we haven’t had the Elric brothers over in quite some time, either.”
Roy swallowed. “Is that so?”
“Mmhmm. And since Elysia has been keeping us so busy, we thought we could wrangle all three of you together for one big dinner.”
“Very clever of you and the wife. That Gracia, always thinking,” Roy responded drolly.
“Yes, always. So, is it a date?”
Roy scowled. “How does seven o’clock sound?”
“Perfect. Bring a dish to pass.”
They could handle this. It was just dinner. But Maes and Gracia would be watching them like hawks and Alphonse would surely sense something was up, assuming the boy didn’t already know anyway. Well, this would be interesting.
“So, he doesn’t know and he can’t know, but he thinks he knows.”
“So he knows?”
“No.”
Edward cocked his head to the side. “No?”
“No. Well...maybe. I mean, I guess he does,” Roy said, chewing on his lower lip and eyeing his lover anxiously.
“Well, why don’t we just tell him?”
Roy averted his eyes. How was he supposed to tell this boy, his friend, that he hadn’t intended to let things develop this far? That the first kiss had been a mistake? That, even though he hadn’t felt this content in ages, he sometimes wanted the situation to just go away?
“Because he doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.”
Edward knitted his brows together. “But doesn’t he work in Investigations?”
Roy almost felt his brain jiggle as he carded through his mental file for a response. “But this is office gossip. It’s different. Remember when you heard about Breada and the chilli incident?”
Edward nodded slowly.
“And who told you about it?”
“Lieutenant Colonel Hughes...I see your point.”
Roy nodded sagely. “Now, the question of Alphonse. What have you told him?”
Edward’s eyes widened. “Not a thing! Are you nuts?”
Ah, very good. “I see your concern. You do understand how we must proceed, right?”
Edward smirked and Roy noted that the boy was picking up some terrible habits from him. “Sure. Straight to the bedroom, right now.”
Roy frowned. “Very amusing, Ed. But you do see that we must not let anyone know?”
Edward rolled his eyes. “Of course I do. Do you think I want people to know that I willingly associate with you?”he asked with venom, paused for a moment, then added, “Bastard.”
Roy felt his face flush just a hair. Edward’s smirk grew deeper.
“I knew you liked that. You’re sick, you know,” he added crawling across the couch to straddle his lover’s legs. Edward rested a hand on each of Roy’s shoulders and kneaded a bit. Roy moaned and felt his cock begin to awaken from its slumber.
It was moments like these - and it was amazing how many moments like these they’d had in their few days together - that Roy contemplated just calling it off. They reminded him that, though his will to do the intelligent, right thing was strong, his body was telling him something different. This, certainly, was nothing new and should have been no cause for concern. But now other parts of him were getting involved, too. Deeper, more hidden parts and that was where this was going to lead to trouble. But, as always, his flesh, now in concert with his heart, resisted his brain’s warnings of impending doom and commanded his lips to find Edward’s and ordered his hands to roam up Edward’s shirt, pushing the fabric out of the way as they gained strategic territory.
Edward sighed and arched his spine to follow the teasing caress of Roy’s fingers. He didn’t look fifteen now; instead, he looked like a man, painted in broad brush strokes of want and desire. Something in the way he held himself, in the way his fingertips dug deep with pleasure into Roy’s shoulder blades, spoke of maturity and Roy was certain that this small man could command him to the ends of the earth and back because he was so beautiful. The silky ends of blond hair tickled Roy’s forearm as the younger man lifted his chin to allow the colonel to slide a slick tongue up a graceful line of his lover’s throat.
“Roy, please take me to the bedroom. I want this.”
The older man’s tongue disentangled itself from his lover’s earlobe and he slowly pulled his mouth away. God help him, he at least had held that last bit of ground and had not yet proceeded that far with the youth poised over his lap.
“Edward...”
“I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to say that I’m not ready, that I wouldn’t like it. But I don’t care. I want it. Please?”
Roy sighed and his shoulders sagged. “Edward, four days ago, you had no interest in me. It’s taken us years to be civil to each other. What’s the rush?”
“The rush,” he said, his hand snaking downward on Roy’s body, “is this,” he cupped his palm around Roy’s growing erection. “It’s pushing on me and I want it.”
Roy swallowed thickly. “Please? Not yet, Edward. Tell me what you want -anything else - and I’ll do it.”
“Don’t tell me I’m not ready!”
The older man sighed. “I didn’t say you weren’t ready. I don’t think we’re ready. I don’t want to rush this. I want to do it right.”
Edward’s shoulders slumped and he smiled at his lover weakly. “Okay, you win. Stupid bastard,” one side of his mouth jerked up when Roy’s eyebrow twitched, “So, anything I want, you say?”
Roy smiled at the challenge thick in Edward’s voice and scratched his fingernails lightly down the younger man’s back. He nodded slowly. “Anything.” Anything, Edward. Just let me keep this shred of clear conscience.
Edward smiled in a predatory fashion, then softened it to something that almost resembled affection. “On your knees, old man.”
“Maes,” Gracia said as her husband slid into bed beside her, “Why do you have to torture Roy like this? Just let him be.”
“Now, dear,” he curled an arm around her shoulders, “It’s good for him. Builds character.”
She sighed and nestled her head into the valley of his shoulder. “That’s what we tell Elysia to make her clean her room, Maes. Roy is a grown man and these are important decisions.”
Hughes chuckled. “It’s just dinner, sweetie. They’ll survive.”
“Meat pie! Are you serious?”
Edward sighed and shook his head. “It’s not like you can eat it anyway, Al. I don’t know why you’re so excited.”
“I know, I just haven’t had it in so long. Do you remember Mom’s?”
Edward nodded fondly and patted his belly.
“I haven’t seen Elysia in ages. I bet she’s getting big.”
“According to Hughes’ duffel bag of photos, she’s getting tall,” Edward said with a grimace.
Al’s armor rattled as he shook his head. “I don’t know how you do it, Brother.”
More rattling ensued as Al shifted around, not out of a desire for comfort that he couldn’t feel, but more out of habit. Edward flopped around twice until he was on his belly, legs and arms spread out greedily on his bed.
“So, why is the Colonel coming?”
Thursday morning worked double-time and brought a minimal amount of paperwork to the Colonel’s desk as it was near enough to the weekend for people to get a head start on the whole ‘relaxing’ thing, as well as a lunch date with Lieutenant Havoc. Roy’s intention had been to just have his subordinate drive him to that delectable bistro on Twelfth Street, but Havoc had implied that he was in possession of some rather juicy office gossip and had thus earned himself a free lunch. Roy would even ask for them to be seated in the smoking section.
The tall blond sipped at his water and poked suspiciously at his pasta with a fork. “So, you know Diane down in the typing pool?”
“The one with the daughter in the academy?”
Havoc nodded. “Well, rumor has it that she will be facing an inquiry.”
Roy raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”
“It seems she was seen out a few Fridays ago with General Metzler and the brass is none too happy.”
Truth be told, it wasn’t very good gossip. Diane was a nice lady, divorced, and deserved to go dancing occasionally.
“It will just be a slap on the wrist, right?”
Havoc shrugged. “Normally. But I’ve heard that they want to make an example with them. Fraternization has gotten out of hand, they say.”
Roy frowned. He didn’t agree with it, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise. He needed to end this...thing...with Edward and the fraternization crack-down was all the more incentive to do it quickly. He might not even wait until after dinner at the Hughes’ to break it off. And it wasn’t just for him. This was for Edward, too. The boy potentially had a long career ahead of him and Roy was in no position to endanger that just because he was a little confused at the moment.
“Hey, Chief?” Havoc asked, snapping his fingers in front of Roy’s eyes, “You’re a little out of it today.”
Roy blinked and refocused back in on Havoc. “Hmmm?”
Havoc narrowed his eyes and glared suspiciously. “It’s Janine, isn’t it? Damn it, Colonel, not Janine too! I just went out with her last night!”
“Janine? What? Who’s Janine?”
“My girlfriend from typing and you’d better remember that!”
“Relax Lieutenant. I have no interest in stealing this girlfriend.”
Havoc opened his mouth to continue his rant, then closed it and set down his fork. “Really?”
Roy sighed and shook his head. More than you know... “Really.”
Havoc breathed a sigh of relief and downed the rest of his pasta.
Well, it wasn’t Drachman vodka, but maybe that was a good thing. It was cheap scotch, and it was doing the trick well enough.
He hadn’t intended for it to happen. Really. He’d meant what he’d said.
But when Janine had practically slithered into the office, swaying her lovely hips, and looking so disappointed when she was told that Havoc had stepped out for a moment, Roy really had no choice but to console the woman with an offer for drinks. Really.
Things were going well for the most part. Roy had been a bit disturbed when she had slipped a hand onto his knee and he didn’t get that usual jerk in his guts, but it could be expected. He had been under a lot of stress lately.
Then she’d taken another delicate sip of scotch and slowly licked the excess alcohol off her top lip, proceeding to Seduction: Step Two. It had actually taken Roy a moment to realize what had just happened. And he’d felt nothing, aside from a strong desire to hand the lady a napkin.
When she initiated Step Three, leaning back against the bar and resting her elbows behind her on the counter to provide a nice clear view of her slender waist and ample cleavage, all Roy could think about was what nice taste Lieutenant Havoc had and if her father knew that she was out so late with lecherous military men.
“Aren’t you a bit young to be a colonel, Colonel?” she asked with one corner of her mouth upturned.
All Roy could think of were those innocent golden eyes and the tales he could tell Janine about exactly what youth could be capable of.
But he only smiled politely. “So...how’s the typing pool treating you these days?”
Janine must have reached her drink limit because she giggled in a high-pitched, obnoxious fashion and slapped her hand once on her slender thigh.
“Same as always, I guess,” she wheezed in between bursts of laughter.
Roy grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose. Havoc was going to have his hands full with this one.
When she continued to laugh and rested her head on his shoulder while she attempted to regain her wits, Roy was vaguely reminded of every other date he had ever had. It was unfortunate because he was tired of these giggly women, drunk off his power (though he tried to convince himself that they were drunk off his charm and dashing good looks) and since his attraction to Edward was clearly and out-of-the-question fluke, he could easily see himself remaining celibate for the rest of his years.
When Janine leaned over and said, “Take me home, Roy,” he pretended to misinterpret it and said, “My pleasure.”
He knew it was going to happen. He knew as soon as he put his hand on the door to leave the bar. It was just another ounce of incentive to give up this whole social life thing altogether.
“Fancy seeing you here, Colonel.”
Roy didn’t need to face the speaker to recognize the voice.
“Good evening, Lieutenant.”
“I trust your headache is gone, Janine?”
In a less defeated mood, Roy would have said that it wasn’t what it looked like. He would have insisted that he was merely escorting the young woman home. Any other night, Roy might have remained outside the bar and argued until he was blue to restore his good name. But, at the moment, all he wanted to do was to go home, take a hot shower, and go to bed. He had an emotional teen to dump the next day.
“Lieutenant, would you be kind enough to walk our friend back to her home?”
Roy reached out and grabbed Havoc’s arm, pushed it around Janine’s waist, and turned to head for home.
Cradling the heavy pot under his flesh arm, Edward poked his head into the break room. The four men who served under Roy were huddled together around the card table and eyed him with suspicion when he cleared his throat.
“I was going to force this on the bastard, but he’s not here. So I’m going to make you try my soup.”
Havoc and Fuery both leaned back in their chairs, watching the pot under Ed’s arm like they were waiting for it to lunge or belch or do something else unsavory for a pot of soup. Falman began to recite from memory the office policy on the utilization of the ice box space and the recommended cooling temperature for foodstuffs containing meat. Breda, however, laced his fingers together, cracked his knuckles, and popped his neck vertebrae.
“I’m game,” he said and reached for his spoon on the table.
Edward passed the pot of soup to the red-haired man and turned back to the other three men cowering the corner. “Where is the bastard, anyway?”
Havoc snorted. “After seeing him out with Janine last night, I’m sure he’s scrolling through the phone book to see what girlfriends of mine he hasn’t dated.”
Edward raised his eyebrows. “Last night?”
Havoc scowled. “Yeah. He took my date out after she said she had a headache.”
Ed frowned and contemplated if it would be possible to poison only Roy’s portion of the soup he had made.