A/N: Yes, you saw right. This is an Ed/Roy story, and by that I mean that Ed will be pursuing Roy. This story is pretty AU in that it doesn't follow the series.

The Game

1

Twenty-Nine and Holding

Roy smacked the snooze button on his alarm clock when it buzzed and turned over in his bed. He didn't want to get up... Today was going to be a bad day. He knew it already. After five minutes the alarm buzzed again and he reached back to turn it off with a groan. He really didn't want to go in today; he wanted to stay in bed and wallow in his misery.

Deciding he would do just that, Roy rolled to his other side, picked up the phone, and dialed. He waited, and after a few rings he heard, "General Hakuro speaking."

Clearing his throat, Roy said, trying to sound as pathetic as possible, "General, this is Roy Mustang. I'm sick, so I won't be in today."

There was silence on the other end, then a flat, "Really?"

"Yes, sir," Roy said quietly, hoping that his superior officer would believe him.

He heard some papers shuffling, then, "I don't believe turning thirty is classified as a valid illness, colonel."

"Eh..." he muttered. What could he say? That was exactly why he was calling in... Of course, Hakuro should know when his birthday was. He'd worked under the man long enough.

"Colonel?" came the voice on the other line.

"Er... yes, sir..." he mumbled unhappily.

"That's what I like to hear," Hakuro said in a business-like tone.

"Yes, sir," Roy said again in disappointment.

He was about to hang up the phone, when the general said, "Oh, and Mustang?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Happy Birthday."

Bastard, Roy thought as he hung up the phone. Happy Birthday indeed! What was happy about turning thirty?! He was officially old... Grumbling under his breath, Roy lay on his stomach and buried his head under his pillow.

Well, he might not be able to play hooky, but he could come in late and Hakuro wouldn't be any the wiser. Suddenly the phone rang and Roy flung the pillow off his head before snatching up the receiver.

"What?" he growled, not knowing who it was, but not caring either. Anyone calling him at home this early, on his birthday no less, should be fried to a crisp.

"Good morning, sir," came a female voice.

Roy pressed his lips together. "Lieutenant..." he said in flatly.

"I thought I would pick you up today so you don't have to walk to work." A pause. "Since it's your birthday."

Roy turned over and glared at the ceiling. "Hakuro called you, didn't he?" Roy asked in irritation.

"Yes, sir," came the immediate, and honest, answer.

"I wasn't planning on coming in late," he lied, though the fact that he said it without prompting made his lie that much more obvious.

"Of course, sir," Hawkeye answered back, though she didn't sound very convinced. "I'll be there in thirty minutes," she said, and before he could say anything else, the phone went dead.

Slamming the phone down, Roy sat up with a groan and scrubbed his hands over his face. Really, it wasn't fair. He rarely called in sick and was usually there on time. He didn't see why they couldn't grant him this one small thing.

Cursing the fact that he hadn't just requested the day off in the first place, Roy got out of bed, put his hands on his back and leaned backward. There were a few cracks, but nothing out of the ordinary. He shook his head and stumbled to the bathroom. His mind was automatically trying to find abnormal aches and pains. It was stupid, really. He was only one day older than he had been yesterday. It was just that he had that number hanging over his head now...

Roy peered deeply into the bathroom mirror as he searched his reflection. For his age, he actually looked pretty good. He did have wrinkles, but they were small and fine; hardly noticeable at all. His gaze rested on his thin, black hair. He'd had a few white hairs over the last few years, but he'd pulled them out as soon as he'd noticed.

He'd heard it said that white hair on a man made him looked dignified, but Roy thought that was just nice bullshit women said to flatter men into letting themselves look old, so they could feel younger themselves.

With a yawn, Roy pulled off his boxers and frowned down at his stomach. He wasn't fat by any means, but he had a couple little rolls that he wasn't too fond of on his midsection, and over all he wasn't nearly as toned as he used to be... Well, he supposed that's what happened people got desk jobs.

Ignoring the thought that he was simply making excuses, Roy reached over and turned on the shower. With a sigh, he stepped under the hot water, thinking he'd better hurry if he wanted to be ready by the time Hawkeye got there. At this thought, he scowled angrily at the showerhead.

When I'm Fuhrer, I'm going to make my birthday a national holiday... he thought vindictively as he rubbed the shampoo between his hands, then lathered his hair. And then I'll make Hakuro work that day when everyone else is off.

Smiling at the thought, Roy quickly rinsed his hair and washed his body. His hands paused on his groin and he briefly considered giving himself a quick handjob, but decided against it given his time constraints.

Cursing Hakuro again, and Hawkeye too for good measure, Roy reached down and changed the water temperature to something near freezing. The chilly water had the intended effect on his sex drive, and it made him finish his shower even faster.

Rushing out of the shower, Roy hurriedly dried off and tied the towel around his waist before lathering his face and starting to shave. His hand jerked when the doorbell rang and blood mixed in with the white shaving cream. Growling, he rushed out of the bathroom, and glanced at the clock on the way to the front door. Scowling angrily, Roy cracked open the front door to see Lieutenant Hawkeye standing there.

"You're early..." he snarled, feeling more than displeased at still being undressed, in the middle of a shave, and having cut himself.

She raised an eyebrow. "Not according to my watch."

Roy glared at her. "I just got out of the shower. I'm not dressed, so you can wait out there."

"You don't have anything I haven't seen before," she said flatly.

His eye twitched. "I have a towel on..."

"Well, good. You can let me in since you're covered," she answered briskly.

Roy opened his mouth, but closed it when he realized he didn't have a good reply. Women... he thought irritably as he let her in and shut the door. They're always trying to trick you...

Leaving her in the living room, Roy retreated back to the bathroom. He finished shaving, but the small cut he'd given himself was very obvious. Feeling exasperated with himself, Roy rushed back to his bedroom and closed the door. He hadn't cut himself shaving since... he didn't even know... but it had been a long time.

Throwing on his uniform, Roy grabbed a pair of socks and rushed back to the living room. "I'm hurrying," he said hastily. Roy knew this was partially his own fault. If he hadn't tried to get out of work today by calling in, then Hakuro would have never called Hawkeye. And, of course, his lieutenant was only following the orders given her by a superior officer... After pulling on his socks and boots, Roy stood up and grabbed his wallet and keys. "Alright," he grumbled, stuffing them in his pocket. "I'm ready."

"Sir," Hawkeye said with a small smile. When he gave her a questioning look, she said, a bit of amusement in her voice, "You might want to comb your hair first..."

"My..." he said, reaching up and touching his slightly damp hair. Sure enough it was still messy from when he'd dried it with the towel. "Eh, thanks," he said and rushed back to comb it.

"Oh, and, sir?" he heard Hawkeye say loudly.

"Yeeees?" he drawled out, trying not to get irritated, but failing miserably.

"Don't forget that today is our unit's physical assessment. You'll need your workout clothes."

Roy's shoulders sagged. He'd completely forgotten about that... Of course. That's why he hadn't taken today off... Irritably slamming the comb on the counter, Roy rushed back to his bedroom and opened the closet. There, covered in a year's worth of dust, was his blue, military-issue gym bag with the military logo on it. Pulling it off the shelf, he blew on it and tried to brush the dust off. He was supposed to do physical training, or PT for short, on a regular basis. He always meant to, but...

"Sir?" Hawkeye called out, as if the fact that he hadn't rushed back meant that his closet had eaten him.

"Yeah, yeah..." he mumbled. Standing up, he stared unhappily at the bag again. Today was definitely going to be a bad day.

Ed trudged out of the elevator and plodded heavily down the hall, his boots making a dull 'thud' against the carpet each time he took a step. He was tired and really just wanted to get some sleep.

Al and he had just come from a small town close to Yuswell last night when Ed had run into one of his "friends with benefits"; Al had gone on ahead with a shake of his head, leaving the two alone. The conversation between them had been more of a fight then anything else, yet despite that, they'd ended up spending the night having incredibly hot sex.

After only three hours of sleep, Ed had dragged his ass back home where his brother ungraciously served him with the memo General Hakuro had sent for Ed to meet with him that morning. He could almost see the sadistic pleasure played out over his brother's metal face...

He and Al had generally gotten along well growing up, though that wasn't to say they didn't have their share of arguments; siblings always do. Unfortunately, puberty on Ed's part had put their fights in a whole different arena.

Ed had been a 'late bloomer', as they say, and hadn't really started physically maturing much until he'd turned fifteen. His body had begun growing, though not as much as he'd hoped for, and he'd needed to start shaving. His voice had deepened, and, wouldn't you know it... his hormones kicked in on overdrive making him see females and, surprisingly, males in a whole different light.

At first he hadn't been sure what to think of being sexually attracted to both sexes, given that he hadn't really even thought that way about females before, but like everything else in his life, he just learned to live with it. What was…was. He couldn't change it so he'd focus on what he could.

At first, Ed had been a little shy about his sexuality, after all it wasn't as if he'd thought much about that type of thing much before, but after checking out a couple of clubs, Ed found out just how exciting sex could be.

His first had been a woman much older than him. She'd been the one to approach him, a shy newcomer, and they'd talked over drinks for several hours. She'd flirted lightly with him and he'd enjoyed every minute of it. They hadn't had sex that night, nor the night after. It had taken weeks of slowly bringing him out of his embarrassed shell. At first it had been with words, then with light touches. Their conversations became more intimate until finally she took his virginity in her large four-poster bed.

He'd had sex exclusively with her for a few weeks as she taught him the most amazing things, then one night she told him that she thought he should expand his 'sexual circle'. He'd been shocked and unsure exactly what to say. Ed had told her that he enjoyed her company and he was fine with just being with her, but she'd only smiled and told him that variety was the spice of life.

He'd glumly responded that he didn't think he'd be able to find another lover. That was when his 'lessons' from her had begun. She'd been the one who had taught him about what she called 'the game'. It was how she'd gotten him to sleep with her, though he hadn't realized it at the time. It was about confidence, self-control, and willing to put yourself out there—to take risks. It wasn't about instant gratification, she'd said, since you rarely win the best 'prizes' that way. It was about finding out how people work.

It was then that Ed finally realized how she'd won him. She'd made him feel welcome when he was nervous. She'd seen that he had a brain and made intelligent conversation with him. Ed knew that if she had tried to have sex with him that first night, he would have been too nervous and too scared to do it. She knew that too, and that's what made her such a great player of the game.

Over time, Ed's skill in the game increased and so did his list of 'prizes'. It was a year later when he became someone else's 'prize' for the second time. The man was his first among men. Ed had been too uncomfortable to approach men sexually, even though he'd had the interest. The man, older than him by at least eight or nine years, was a skillful player at the game, though he didn't call it that, and by that time, Ed was skilled enough to realize what was happening, but he didn't care. He wanted to be won; he wanted to satisfy his curiosity about men.

The man introduced him to several clubs and venues that would offer him the opportunity to find men closer to Ed's own age, who were interested in other men, and Ed expanded his 'gaming' skills even more.

Ultimately, the time he spent researching the stone began to decrease as he explored this new side of him, and made many 'friends', which sent his brother, quite understandably, into a hissy-fit. There had been a major fight, Al accusing Ed of not caring anymore, Ed accusing Al of trying to treat him like a child, but in the end, they'd worked it out. Ed gave himself so much time a week to have his fun and the rest of the time he diligently spent working with Al to find the stone. Al, on his part, quit questioning Ed every time he came home, and stopped warning him about the dangers of sleeping around so much.

When he reached Hakuro's office, Ed glanced down at the paper he was holding and reread the memo before knocking on the heavy wooden door in front of him.

Well, it worked out okay now... Al still didn't like Ed's nightlife activities, given that he couldn't really understand it on a physical level, but as long as Ed got his time to date, party, and hang out with his fuck-buddies, Ed made every effort to get along with Al and focus on what they were doing.

It was the least he could do given that it was his fault Al was the way he was... It was just... he couldn't help it... He'd tried to make things like they were before, where his focus was on the stone, and the stone alone, but he found that he couldn't concentrate and got extremely grouchy... He'd ended up reading some books on the subject and felt somewhat relieved to know that what he was going through was normal for teenage boys.

"Come," the male voice from inside said. Ed folded the paper in half before opening the door and letting himself inside. Sitting behind a large, oak desk was an older man with graying hair. "Fullmetal, have a seat," General Hakuro said, waving a hand to one of the chairs in front of the desk.

Ed nodded and took a seat, shifting a bit to find a comfortable position. The slight tenderness in his ass reminded him of last night, but he pushed away the thoughts of wanting more by asking casually, "How's the wife and kids?" Ed brought a hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. Yeah, going at it again would be great after he got a few more hours of sleep.

"They're well. Thank you for asking," the general said while grabbing a folder that was lying on the corner of his desk. "You're probably wondering why I called you in here." That was an understatement. Ed rarely saw General Hakuro, and when he did, they really didn't talk to each other. The general opened the folder and leafed through some papers. "You've been pretty mobile these last five years."

"It's the life of a State Alchemist; gotta be ready to go at a moment's notice," Ed replied. He was defiantly 'ready to go' at a moment's notice. He smirked at the sexual twist on the words, but instantly brought his expression to a more neutral one. Hakuro now; sex later. Of course, the very thought of putting a name in the same sentence with 'sex' made him think of it. He blinked at the older man and tried to picture him having sex. Clearing his throat, he instantly tried to think of something else. He liked older lovers, they generally knew what felt the best, but not that much older.

"I'd like you to stay stationary for a time. While I think that your field experience has been beneficial, I think you're somewhat at a disadvantage given that you've never been assigned to a unit and had a specific commanding officer that you report to."

Ed nodded, though somewhat unhappily, in understanding as he saw Hakuro's point. As a state alchemist, he'd had a lot of freedom, and depending on what area he was in, that was who he reported to; unless it had to do with the stone, in which case he reported to Colonel Mustang who came up with some sort of reason for Ed to be in a specific area that might help him in his search.

Of course, when Mustang had been in the East, he'd reported to him about whatever Eastern affairs he had... Ed smirked again. Not those kind of affairs... he thought, though he was sure Mustang, being the playboy that Ed had heard he was, probably wouldn't have minded hearing about them. Ed fought a grin thinking that, actually, Mustang would most likely have a heart attack if he knew even a small part of Ed's personal life.

Ed liked to keep his lifestyle low key. Unlike Mustang, Ed was happy to not be known by the whole military as a playboy. He had his inner circles, in almost every part of Amestris, and that was fine with him. Of course, some military personnel, including quite a few of Mustang's key staff, knew at least a few things about him...

"I like being mobile..." Ed returned, trying to keep his mind on the matters at hand. He had no desire to be stationed somewhere that he couldn't go look for the stone. Sure he could do the research and Al could go do the searching, but... it wouldn't be the same, and Ed had a bit more access to things since he was a state alchemist, plus Ed liked traveling with his brother.

"I understand that, but this isn't an option," Hakuro said flatly before holding a folder out for Ed to take.

"So where are am I supposed to be stationed?" he asked tiredly, hoping it wasn't somewhere lame, then opened the folder to scan the documents inside. His eyes found the name of his new commanding officer as Hakuro said it out loud. "I'm going to assign you to Colonel Roy Mustang here in Central."

"What?" Ed said irritably. Being stationed in Central was good; there was plenty of other... activities... he could do in his free time there. But being assigned to Mustang? Having to see the man on occasion was bad enough, but to have to see him every day was going to be torture.

General Hakuro leaned forward on his desk and gave Ed a sharp look. "Part of your orders is to watch him and make sure he's not doing anything...suspicious." Ed raised an eyebrow. "You see, Roy Mustang is really much too young for the position he holds. He's climbed the ranks too quickly, and it's a little unsettling to many of us. As long as he's a loyal member of the pack, there isn't a problem, but..."

"But?" Ed asked.

Hakuro shook his head. "You don't need to know our reasons, Fullmetal, you simply need to follow your orders. Get close to him; be a 'loyal' subordinate. Watch him and report to me."

Get close to him? he thought, then pictured himself getting 'close' to Mustang in a very intimate way. It took more effort to push this thought away. Roy Mustang may be a pompous ass, but he was definitely attractive and Ed had done his share of self service with Mustang in mind.

"Why me?" Ed asked. Despite how much he didn't like Mustang's attitude, he didn't like this assignment either.

"First, he's the one who found you. I've heard that this means something to you state alchemists." Hakuro said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Second, there are a lot of bullshit assignments in your record that he's noted as sending you on. I have a feeling he's been up to something and using you in a round-about way to do it."

Ed pressed his lips together. He'd had no idea that all of his missions were recorded. It suddenly occurred to him that Mustang might have been taking more risk to help him than he'd realized.

"What will you do if you find a problem with him?" Ed asked cautiously.

Hakuro smiled and said, "If it comes to that, he'll be taken care of."

Ed frowned. He didn't know exactly what that meant, but he had a good idea what it could mean. A younger him might have thought this would be a great opportunity to have something on Mustang to make up for the man's knowledge of Al and his human transmutation, but at seventeen he was older and a little wiser now, and he could see this could be a potentially dangerous situation for Mustang. If the colonel were to die, Ed would no longer have access to someone of higher rank willing to help him in his quest for the stone...

"Very well, sir..." Ed said, closing the folder. "I'll be sure to report anything out of the usual to you." Of course Ed was lying through his teeth. He had no intention on helping Hakuro, but better to let the general think he would help than have someone else assigned to this who might actually do it. Ed stood. "Is that all?" he asked, trying to keep himself from yawning again. He'd go report to Mustang after he had a nap...

Hakuro nodded, seeming pleased with Ed's cooperative attitude. "I expect you to report to Colonel Mustang immediately following this meeting as his unit will be busy this afternoon."

Aw, fuck... Ed whined mentally.

The general handed Ed another folder and said with a grin, "Give that to the colonel with my best birthday wishes."

Roy walked into the break room and headed straight for the coffee machine. Grabbing a cup, he filled it three-fourths of the way with coffee, the other fourth with milk, then dumped in two large scoops of sugar. On his way out, he snatched one of the doughnuts from the box Breda brought in every morning, and relieved the break-room table of its newspaper before heading toward his office.

He hoped he'd be able to just hide away in his office until the assessment this afternoon. Hopefully that wouldn't take too long and he could slip out early. He made a mental note to check his book of names for someone he could spend the evening with to take his mind off this whole birthday thing.

When he reached his office, Roy tucked the newspaper under his arm, balanced his breakfast in one hand, and pushed the door open. Suddenly he stopped as the shout of "Happy Birthday!" met his ears. He glanced around at the people, then let his gaze wander around the office where black streamers and balloons decorated the walls and ceiling.

His first reaction was to turn around and escape back to the break-room, but at that moment an arm was thrown around him and Maes Hughes guided him forward.

"Happy Birthday, Roy!" the man said with a huge grin.

Roy glared at him and said softly, "If this was your idea, I swear you'll be sorry."

Hughes laughed and, snatched the coffee, doughnut, and newspaper from Roy, then walked over to the desk and put them down.

"Well, well, the big three-oh," Havoc said, pounding him on the back. "Guess this is the beginning of the end for you. More aches and pains, you won't be able to get up as quickly in the morning, or at any other time I might add! Too bad for the ladies!"

To that, everyone laughed, making Roy glare at Havoc. "If that's so, then what's your excuse?" he threw back. There was more laughter at that, though Roy didn't really feel vindicated. He should have known this would happen. His staff liked to find any excuse they could to have a party, and while it was good for their morale, it drove Roy to distraction. Suddenly he smelled smoke and looked up to see Hughes holding a birthday cake, frosted in black, with enough candles on it to declare it a fire hazard.

"Okay, everyone!" Hughes called. "One. Two. Three!" After the third count a rendition of the song "Happy Birthday" was bellowed out in a way that reminded Roy of a barnyard. After it was over, Hughes set the cake down on one of the research tables on the office and demanded that Roy come and blow them out. With a sigh of complete mortification, Roy walked over to the cake and stared dully at the blaze.

"Don't forget to make a wish!" Hughes said, then laughed. "Maybe you should wish for a wife!"

That brought more laughter. Roy glared at Hughes, then glanced around at his staff, and the few people he knew in the military well enough to call them friends, before turning his attention back to the cake. He finally decided that his wish was to get a staff member that wasn't a dumb ass. This didn't include Hawkeye, who was generally serious and level headed, but the rest of his staff definitely fell into the 'idiot' category.

Drawing in a deep breath, Roy decided at the last minute that he'd also wish for someone to have a stable relationship with, just for the hell of it. After all, he was getting older and he should settle down sometime... And he would, eventually... if he found the right person... He'd met and dated plenty of great women over the years, but for some reason he'd never felt comfortable with them; at least, not in the 'dating' sense. The first few casual dates were generally great, and the romantic interest was there, but after that they ended up becoming more 'friends' than anything else.

In a way it was rather depressing. He got along so well with his dates that he now had more women friends than he knew what to do with. He had a whole book filled with their names... Truthfully, he'd given up the notion that he'd actually find someone to settle down with, and now only dated so that he wouldn't feel like a loser being home alone on Friday nights.

In a way, it was almost ironic that people thought he was such a playboy. People saw him going out with many different women all the time and just assumed that he was romantically involved with these different women. Of course, Roy did push that image by bragging about how often he went out, but it made him feel more normal to do that.

For some reason he couldn't understand, women seemed to like having him as a friend even though there was no romantic interest there on his part. Some of his friends had said that it was nice to be taken out by a man and not wonder if they were going to be pushed into sex, or some said that it was nice to have a man to talk to who actually listened to them. He'd heard different explanations when he'd asked different women, but in the end he supposed it didn't matter.

It was nice to have so many friends, and still appear to be normal, because he knew for sure that there must be something seriously wrong with him. He was sure some of the women he knew would be willing to get into a relationship with him, but he just couldn't find the real interest... At first he'd thought he was afraid of commitment, but that wasn't it. Roy was committed to many things, just not to women.

He did have a few friends who he had sex with on occasions, but he never really felt satisfied. It wasn't the sex that he went for, not really—he could get himself off easily enough—it was to be held in someone's arms for a time so that he didn't feel so damn lonely. It wasn't that he wasn't interested in sex, because he was, just not with them, and he couldn't seem to figure out just what the hell was wrong with him...

Blowing out all the candles, Roy flushed at the applause, then looked up as the door suddenly opened and Edward Elric walked into the office. The teen stopped, and glanced around. He looked slightly embarrassed by all the stares, then grinned widely.

"Is someone getting old in here?" he shouted.

Roy's eyes narrowed. This was someone he wasn't expecting. The last he'd heard, the kid was in the East. The only time Fullmetal came to see him was when he needed a reason to be sent somewhere, or to report on what he'd found about the stone. In either case he generally made an appointment... He glanced at Hawkeye, wondering if she'd know Ed would be here, and she shrugged.

"You only get one piece of cake," Roy said automatically, making reference to the never-ending pit called 'Ed's stomach'.

The teen shrugged and strode across the room. "I come bearing gifts from the general."

Roy took the proffered folder and glanced quickly at the contents before glaring at the cake that Hughes was now cutting up. Perhaps he should have been clearer on his wish. Just because he didn't want dumb ass staff members, didn't mean he wanted smart ass ones...

"Great birthday present, huh?" Ed said with a grin as he snatched one of the pieces of cake and a fork.

"The best," Roy said sarcastically, then said loudly, "Looks like Fullmetal here is joining the team, so I suppose we can make this a welcome party as well." There were some murmurs around the room. Breda and Havoc slapped the teen on the back in welcome, and surprisingly, Kain Fuery's face turned a light red, almost as if he were embarrassed about something.

Roy shrugged it off, grabbed two plates with cake on it and walked to Hawkeye. As he handed her one of the plates, she said, "Very well done, sir." He nodded. With that one statement he was able to get the humiliating attention off of himself and squelch the need for yet another party to welcome Fullmetal to the team.

Taking his coffee from the desk, he took a sip before hungrily starting on his breakfast, courtesy of Gracia Hughes. He watched as the Elric kid snatched another piece of cake after everyone had been served, and shook his head. General Hakuro didn't specify exactly what Roy was supposed to have Ed do under his command, as there were no job openings in his department. He'd simply said Ed was being moved under him and a position would be created so that Ed could work in the office.

In short, Hakuro had been a lazy ass and decided to let Roy figure out what Ed could do. This was probably to keep the kid out of trouble. Roy sighed and took another bite of the cake. He'd figure out something...

"Why do I have to clean up this mess?" Ed complained bitterly as he yanked another streamer down. He crumpled the black paper ribbon and tossed it into the garbage can, then stared irritably at Mustang. His new commanding officer was sitting at his desk, idly reading the newspaper and sipping on his third cup of coffee... If you could call it that, Ed thought snidely. In Ed's opinion it was more like sweetened, coffee-flavored milk than anything else.

"The rest of my staff have more important things to do, Fullmetal," Mustang said lazily before turning the page in the newspaper.

Ed stalked over to the couch and plopped himself down. "Look, I'm tired," Ed said, trying to reason with the man. "We just got back to Central last night and I wasn't able to get much sleep last night." All very true. It was hard to sleep when you were either getting fucked or fucking someone else...

Mustang glanced up from the paper and raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you can't clean up one little office without help? No wonder Hakuro decided to keep you from roaming."

Ed ground his teeth together, then said with a smirk, "You're right, this office is small. I'm sure if you were more important they'd give you a bigger one. Too bad you're too lazy to get promoted again."

"The office may be small, but it's still too big for you to handle," Mustang returned and Ed's smirk faded. With a smirk of his own, Mustang pulled out his white gloves and slipped them on. "Let me give you some help since you're too small to handle this task."

With several small snaps of his finger, the balloons around the office popped one by one as tiny sparks were produced. Pulling off his gloves, Mustang stared languidly at Ed for a moment and said in a condescending tone, "Better?"

Growling, Ed pushed himself up and stared cleaning up again. What a bastard! What a fucking bastard! Ed ranted mentally, trying to finish as quickly as possible. As he started picking up the deflated balloons he smirked and glanced over to where Mustang was reading at his desk. The balloons looked way too much like black cock socks and Ed wondered if he could actually strap up with one of them and give Mustang a real birthday present!

Ed smirked and shifted. The thought made him hard almost instantly, and he glanced at Mustang again before looking down to make sure his long, red coat was buttoned closed, which it was. Tight leather pants might look great on him, but they also did nothing to hide the frequent boners he got. Throwing the last of the party decorations away, Ed started for the door.

"Where are you going?" Mustang asked. "I still need to go over some paperwork with you."

Ed turned around, rolled his eyes, and said snidely, "Gonna go take a piss; that okay with you, old man? Or should I ask your permission?"

Mustang shook his head, glanced back at the newspaper, and waved a hand. "Just come right back."

Ed let himself out of the office and smirked to himself. Oh, he planned on cumming alright, he thought as he started toward the bathroom. Suddenly, one of the doors in the hallway opened and Kain Fuery stepped out carrying a large stack of books. At this Ed grinned and sped up his pace.

"Hi, Kain," Ed said smoothly, startling the short master sergeant.

"Oh, hi…eh…Major Elric…" Fuery stammered, and glanced away with a small blush on his cheeks.

Ed leaned against the wall next to the timid man and said with a friendly smile, "You can call me 'Ed', at work you know. It's not that big of a deal."

"Eh...yeah... Sorry, Ed..."

Ed grinned. Kain Fury was one of those little prizes he'd had his eye on for some time, but he'd really had to go slow and be careful. Flirting with female personnel wasn't exactly forbidden, and everyone did it to some extent, but Fuery was a guy and that wasn't exactly smiled upon.

The man was also not one of those people he knew was into men, and in fact, he wasn't really sure that the man was outright interested in doing the nasty with another guy, but Ed figured if he could make Fuery curious enough...

He didn't want any sort of real relationship with Fuery, nothing long standing, just some fun and friendly fuck sessions. The prize was nice to have, and for many people that was what made the effort worth it. But for Ed, and for those truly skilled in the game, it was the chase, not the prize, that was the best thing because the chase was the game.

The game was everything.

Without the chase, the prize had little value.

Kain stood there, shifting from foot to foot and Ed's smile widened. He'd been working on this one for a long time. Each time he came to Central, he came closer and closer to winning.

"You want some help carrying those?" Ed asked in a friendly tone and held out his hands.

"Oh, well... I'm just taking them down the hall," Fuery said slowly, though Ed was sure he wanted to take him up on the offer.

"It's not a problem," Ed said, taking some of the books. At the end of the hall was a large box of books marked for surplus and Ed put his in the box, then turned to take the ones Fuery was holding. As he did so, Ed let his hands brush against the other man's, then glanced at Kain's face as he took the books.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Ed asked casually as he put the books in the box. "I'm going to that club tonight and if you want to come, you're welcome."

"Oh, um..." Fuery stammered. "I'll need to check my calendar... I'm not sure if I already have something planned..."

Ed nodded feeling rather pleased. He and Kain had hung out on several occasions and they'd had quite a bit of fun, but as Kain realized that Ed was interested in the type of fun he usually reserved for the other gender... Well, at first the man had avoided him, but Ed wasn't detoured by that; in fact, it made him more determined. He'd never gotten a straight man to act on curiosities before and as he slowly worked with Kain, he got the impression that Kain was definitely curious, though very unsure. Even if they only had a one night stand to satisfy those curiosities, Ed would be happy because he would have done it. He would have played a difficult and challenging game, and won.

But for Kain to say that he would check his calendar meant that he was seriously thinking of going out with Ed tonight. Perhaps tonight would be the night. Ed glanced at Fuery.

Maybe.

"Sure," Ed said more causally than he felt. Patience had never been his strong point, but it was imperative in this. "Just let me know."

Kain nodded and wandered off, leaving Ed by the box. Ed watched him go, then started again toward the bathroom. After entering the men's room, Ed glanced around to make sure he was alone, then chose a stall and locked it behind him. Unbuttoning his coat, Ed dropped his pants and freed his hard erection. Licking his lips, Ed closed his eyes and started stroking himself.

His imagination took over and he thought of Kain Fuery bent over with his cock up the man's ass. It was a nice sight and he relished it a moment before the image changed to Mustang, on his knees with Ed's penis in his mouth. Ed grinned as he pumped faster, thinking that was definitely the right use for Mustang's mouth.

It didn't take long for him to cum, it rarely did, and Ed leaned over, letting the cum squirt into the toilet. Tiredness washed over him again and he sat heavily, straddling the toilet seat with his face toward the wall. Grabbing a square of toilet paper, Ed wiped the last bit of cum off the tip of his cock. He stared at it and idly played with it by pulling the foreskin up to cover the head as it shrunk in an effort to put off going back to Mustang's office.

One of the most interesting things he'd found when he'd started doing other guys was the fact that most of the city men were circumcised, but in the small towns and outlying settlements, that wasn't something that was practiced. Ed rather liked his hooded warrior how it was, but he had a thing for guys without...

Ed's head snapped up as the door to the men's room opened and he heard footsteps to the urinals. Sighing, he let go of himself, stood up, and flushed before pulling his pants back up. Letting himself out of the stall, Ed glanced over to see Colonel Mustang taking a leak. As he walked toward the sink he caught a glimpse of the other man's cock and smiled a little to himself at the size. Perhaps it was true, the saying that men with big egos had big dicks.

Not able to resist the opportunity to jab at the other man, Ed said, "What's the matter? Can't hold your bladder as much now that you're so old?"

"Actually, I'd thought maybe you'd fallen in, given how small you are, and thought I'd check on you," Mustang returned easily, flushing the urinal and zipping up his pants.

Ed growled and scrubbed his hands more vigorously under the running water, trying to think of something to counter that with, but he couldn't think of anything so he simply dried his hands and stalked out of the restroom.

When he reached Mustang's office, Ed threw himself on one of the couches. Stretching out, he rested his feet on one of the armrests and positioned one of the cushions under his head before laying one of his arms across his eyes.

He'd started dozing off when he heard Mustang entering the office and the door shutting. Ed caught something about going over paperwork, and some sort of physical assessment that he'd have to do today with the rest of them, but it all went in one ear and out the other as his body relaxed and he fell asleep.

Roy looked down at the teen sleeping on one of the office couches and shook his head before going back to his desk. He could wake Fullmetal up, but he actually wanted to get a nap in himself. He sat in his chair and wrote a small note, then looked up as the door opened and Lieutenant Hawkeye walked in with a stack of folders.

"Oh, come on, have mercy..." he mumbled, then said lamely, "You wouldn't push that much work on me today, of all days, would you? It is my birthday, after all..." He didn't think it would work, but it was worth a try.

Laying the folders down on his desk, she stared at him for a moment before reaching over and plucking a bow out of the garbage can and resting it on top of the stack.

"Happy birthday, sir," she said, then walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"Not funny..." he growled, flicking his finger at the bow.

Ed slowly became aware that he was lying, not on his bed, but on a couch... Grunting, he turned over onto his side and opened his eyes, then started in surprise at seeing Colonel Mustang sleeping next to him. He blinked a couple more times and his heart began to settle down as he realized that Mustang was sleeping on the couch across from him, not right next to him, and they were both clothed.

Of course, the thought of sleeping naked with Mustang gave him an instant hard-on and he wondered idly what Mustang would do if Ed decided to jerk off in his office. Probably kill him, he supposed. Ed smirked. He was bold, but not that bold.

Trying to ignore his body, Ed stood up and stretched before walking over to look down at his commanding officer. He folded his arms, cocked his head, and searched Mustang's face. The colonel was actually quite peaceful looking when he was asleep. The man had a slight baby-face that was only more prominent when he was asleep. He actually looked younger when he was sleeping, and it threw Ed off for a moment.

His eyes wandered down Mustang's uniform. The man's hands were ungloved and Ed thought they looked kind of soft, which would make sense given that Mustang worked at a desk. Ed took in the rest of the man's body, and he wondered what the colonel looked like in civilian clothing, or naked for that matter. Truthfully, the closest he'd seen the colonel without a uniform on was when they'd had their mock fight and Mustang had taken off his uniform jacket when they were fixing the area.

Mustang shifted and a lock of hair moved over his eye. Ed smirked and reached down to move it up. I guess I can see why all the women stare at you... Ed thought. His hand paused before touching the hair, and he slipped the glove off his flesh hand. He reached down again. When he touched the lock of hair, he was slightly surprised at how soft and fine it was. Ed's own hair was thick and coarse.

He gently rubbed the strands between his fingers, careful not to wake Mustang, and wondered what it would feel like to have his hands threaded through the colonel's hair in the throes of passion. Ed sighed, straightened, and put his glove back on. He knew it was probably impractical, but he wanted more than to just touch Mustang's hair. He felt like a little kid in front of an ice cream store who only gets one little taste. He'd fantasized about Mustang before, though more in the realm of what wasn't possible given that the colonel was so much a lady's man. Getting Mustang would be a big challenge; much more difficult than getting Fuery.

But, he wanted Roy Mustang.

He wanted him very much...

Ed pressed his lips together in determination. Yes, it would be a test of his abilities, but he could do it. He loved the challenge, the chase, and like any skilled player of the game, he never quit until he won.