Love and Other High Stake Games.txt

Love and Other High Stake Games
From the much-neglected Letterverse. And again, it does actually feature a letter ^^
Unbeta'd, written in the last three hours instead of Nano. Whoops!
Rating: R, but with a mature content warning.
Warnings: See the above. Nothing much graphic, but we stray quite far from the fluff waters. Read with caution. Also (almost forgot entirely ^^;) movie spoilers! *flails*
Disclaimer: I own one OC who everyone is *utterly* welcome to do whatever nasty thing they like to. He's being dumped in the bin of no-longer-required OCs with the rest of them after this. Apart from that? Not a single original thought is mine. Look to Hiromu Arakawa for that.

Summary: Written to cheer myself up. Ed receives a proposition it's hard to say no to for all the wrong reasons.



Ed was being good. He hoped Roy was watching.

You see this, Roy? I'm not drunk. I haven't started an argument. I haven't even given anyone a dirty look. When one of your pompous stupid military idiots with so many stars on him I couldn't see his chest began to piss seven different kinds of crap out of me, I came out here to get some air, to cool my head. I did grow up somewhere in the eighteen fucking years you've known me. So your little pep talk in the car was completely unwarranted because I am an adult. Dickwad.

He leaned on the balcony and scowled at the parade ground below. Stupid military parties. Stupid Roy and his stupid obsession with stupid ranks. He already was a general, what was his problem? (Roy looking weary in the car; "There are Generals and there are Generals, Edward.") And Ed was on display as much as Roy was, he knew that, he had to behave. Be a good boy, Edward. Sit. Roll over. Beg. Good boy.

He wanted another drink.

A youth spent nearly getting killed every other day had left him very aware of what was happening at his back, and he knew someone was coming across the balcony towards him, and he knew from their tread that they weren't Roy. His arm muscles tightened a little on the railing. (Edward, stay. Good boy.)

A uniform sighed next to him and leaned on the railing beside him. "It's a beautiful night," the uniform said.

Ed glanced up to the stars, noticed them for the first time, shrugged. "I guess."

"Always good to get some air at these things. It gets awfully muggy in there, all that hot air."

Ed raised an eyebrow, looked across at his companion for the first time. Older than Roy but not yet old, brown hair run through with silver, and a whole lot of shiny things on his chest. Fuck, if he outranked Roy then Ed really would have to be polite to him.

His eyes glittered and grinned at Ed's. Ed just gave him a slow, dubious look and then out at the night again.

"How long do these things usually last?"

"Shorter than they feel, certainly. You're here with Brigadier-General Mustang?"

There were Generals and there were Generals. "Yeah. Edward Elric."

"Dunant. You didn't look like you were having much fun earlier."

"S'not . . . really my thing. Roy's happier here than me."

"There are ways of making it more amusing." Dunant mused. Ed just leaned listlessly on the railing, head propped on a hand. "You were under Mustang's command when you were in the military, weren't you?" Ed's glance flicked back to him. "I have heard of the Fullmetal Alchemist, you know, some of the top brass do notice what happens in the rest of the world. How was he, as a Colonel?"

"He was alright," Ed said guardedly. 

"So how long have you two been . . . ?"

Ed's head snapped to Dunant's, and his eyes narrowed. "Not back then, obviously. He was my commanding officer."

"Of course."

"I was a kid, anyway." It had suddenly struck Ed that the man was standing just a bit - just half an inch - too close. Not close enough to warrant taking a step back, but all the same, just subtly too close . . .

"Of course. But you must have been young, all the same."

Ed just kept staring at him. He genuinely didn't know how to react - there was nothing he could legitimately explode at, but all his warning signals were waking up and he really wanted to be somewhere else entirely -

"First love?"

"Think I'll go back indoors," Ed muttered.

A little laugh. "You don't like to play games, do you?"

"Didn't know there was a game on."

"Alright. I'll be blunt." Dunant turned to face him fully and Ed moved his head a little back. "I'd like to see you again. I'd like to see a lot more of you. Because I know Mustang's reputation but the man's not what he was, and you . . ." His eyes flicked down from Ed's face and back again with a broadening grin. ". . . could probably handle a lot more than what he can offer you."

The rage of what did you just say about him? and the fact that Ed thought he might know what this man was getting at but wasn't positive combined to make him confused and furious and even more furious because confused. "What - the hell is your-"

"The rumour is he's the only lover you've ever had." Dunant said, and raised a hand. "And haven't you ever wondered-?"

Ed's automail moved on automatic, smacked the hand to the side before it could touch his jaw, which had tightened until it almost hurt. "I'm going back inside," he spat, because one more second on this balcony and Ed was going to piss all Roy's hard work away by beating one of his bosses to death at a military party, but as he spun a hand caught his wrist and tugged him off-balance.

"I've always quite enjoyed games," Dunant murmured into his hair and Ed wrenched himself back-

"General Dunant. Edward, I've been looking for you."

Roy in the doorway to the balcony, his face and voice both utterly flat, just a slight narrowing to his one eye. Ed gave the General one last look and his expression (if anything, amusement) made the rage flare again before he turned and stalked towards Roy.

"A pleasant evening, Mustang?" Dunant called after him.

"Mm. We're just going to turn in, though. Good night, sir."

"Good night. Goodbye, Edward."

Ed couldn't even hear him through the scream in his ears of Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you and then Roy took his arm just a little too tight and pressed him through the room, down the corridor, downstairs and to Havoc waiting by the car with a puzzled, faintly worried expression.

Dragged away on a leash like a bad dog. Ed could hardly even breathe.

*

The door banged behind Roy. Ed slung his coat onto its hook and kicked his shoes off, and glared back at Roy still standing silent in the doorway. He was impossible to read sometimes. Ed hated him for that.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he snapped. "What're you so mad at me for, what've I done this time? I didn't even punch the fucker."

"Maybe it would have been better if you had." Roy said, very quietly, his eye still hard and still utterly unreadable on Ed's. Ed felt his face go white, breath sucking in hard. He stamped the two steps to put himself right up against Roy and snarled up to his mouth, "Go on, then, say it, you crazy thick bastard, say it if you're thinking it - make this my fault like there isn't enough shit in the world that actually is my fault-"

"I haven't said anything."

"Then start talking."

Ed knew how to just begin to rile Roy, knew how to get too close and keep demanding and keep demanding and keep pushing and pushing and pushing until he would just let out a crack of the wild streak that ran through him, that he'd spent all these years holding down deep inside. And Roy's jaw had tightened, just a fraction, but on him it was a scream. His voice came out between gritted teeth. "What did he say to you?"

Ed hated himself that the flush struck him so obviously, but the rage from that - the man's not what he was -

"Bullshit and lies. Nothing that matters."

"I happen to think it does matter."

"Well, you didn't hear it, so you wouldn't know, would you?"

"I certainly saw enough."

"Saw what, me coming this close to breaking his face? What the hell're you so mad at me for? I didn't do anything, Roy, for the first fucking time in my life I actually didn't do anything wrong-"

Roy's hard drawn-in breath. "I know," he forced out. "I know." He swallowed. "I know. Edward . . ." He had to close his eye to say it. "Forgive me. I only act so insane because - you're the only thing that actually matters in my life."

His eye opened. For a moment, they just stared at one another.

Roy's hand brushed Ed's hair back. Ed felt his muscles begin to relax.

Roy kissed him. Kissed him so well that Ed's legs almost deposited him back onto the stairs.

And within two seconds he knew how Roy was trying to play this and the anger flared again and he caught Roy's wrists, span and slammed the man back into the wall, pinning him in place, kissing back hard. Roy wanted to write property of Roy Mustang across Ed's body but Ed had just been pushed too far too often tonight and he wanted to do this his way.

Roy gazed down at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well." he said. "If that's how you want to play it . . ."

Spreading his legs for Ed to force his hips close, letting Ed dominate the kiss - encouraging Ed to dominate the kiss - and when Ed grabbed his hand and marched for the bedroom he simply smiled. Under Ed's hands he shed uniform, eye patch, underwear -

And afterwards, when Ed's panting had settled a little between his shoulder blades, when Ed's nose rubbed at the side of his spine like a cat's, Roy rolled his muscles out for Ed and laughed softly and said, "Tell me I was ridiculous tonight."

"You are ridiculous," Ed said, and kissed up the points of his spine until he could bury his face into his hair and inhale.

*

Roy was brilliant at the morning after. Shutting the alarm clock off before it went off so...