Title: Flint and Ashes
Author: Spirix

Genre: Hot War fic
Rating: M for sMut
Pairing: EdRoy RoyEd
Summary: Roy is a young state alchemist in a new war to "unite" Amestris under one banner. But is that what's actually happening, and who is the newest alchemist?

WARNING: Written by a crazy soldier who is suffering from pre-dawn PT.

Disclaimer: I hate this part; it just reminds me of my lack of owning such a great story.

Something that is Blond

Pant. Pant. Pant.

Roy watched with vague amusement as the sweat trickled down the man's chin. His blond hair bounced on his forehead with each intact of breath, some pieces sticking in the perspiration. The man's eyes were fixed in determination with a hint of pure joy.

Yes, he was indeed a sight worth stopping to watch, which is what Roy and Edward were doing up so early. They had their lawn chairs arranged on the corner of the track and a barrack box filled with transmuted ice and beer between them.

"So what are the odds now?" Edward asked with a sigh, leaning back in his chair to stare at the cloudless sky. The sun was just piercing over the rocky horizon and the desert was a riot of colour for only a few minutes before the full daylight came.

Roy reached into his rucksack and fished out his FMP (Field Message Pad). He flicked through the pages until he found the one he wanted. "So far Hawkeye is winning with seven laps of the snake pit."

Edward scratched his bare chest in boredom. "What am I down for again?"

The runners were well beyond the bend so Roy turned his attention back to his lover momentarily. In all honesty, he would love nothing more than to abandon their morning vigil to give Edward his undivided attention but as luck would have it, he pulled the short straw in their bet.

The bet? Well to make a long story short, it was to guess how many laps of the track the new guy with the cigarette could do before he burned himself. It was an ongoing source of entertainment for the group of friends since the new recruits came to the sandbox only two weeks prior.

Ed snatched his notepad and looked over who was betting what. "Hawks is down for seven. Armstrong is out of his mind with a dozen. Hughes has no faith in this guy with his usual one lap... let's see. Roy, you have down two? What's wrong with you?"

Roy snickered and took out a beer. It wasn't great since it was Ed who created it out of god only knows what, but it had a kick and that's all Roy really wanted at the moment. He was getting tired of watching the same set of men run around in circles no matter how attractive some of them maybe. There was only one man for him and he was currently doodling in the margins of his notepad.

It was hard to imagine that only a month ago they were avoiding each other and pretending they didn't care. To anyone who knew them it was painfully obvious that they cared for one another very strongly, but they always attributed this to them being like brothers. No one aside from Kimblee ever guessed the true nature of those smiles from across the room. That suited Roy just fine since his roommate wasn't even around anymore, having left for special ops training a few days ago. His tent was blissfully empty of reason for Edward not to spend every night in it.

If only he could get Edward to see this reasoning too.

"Roy! Are you just going to sit there with that fucking smirk on your face or are you going to answer me?" Edward's growl demolished his idle fantasies of what they could do with all that empty tent space.

He sighed and turned his gaze at the blond runner. "The brand of cigarette he has burns quickly; therefore, I didn't think he'll make it far. It's not my fault the kid is fast."

"Kid? He's the same age as me," Ed said with a hint of annoyance.

Roy merely leaned back further in his chair. "Your point?"

"Who are you calling so young he could do undercover work in nurseries! If you really thought I was that young, you'd be a cradle robber! HA! YOU ROB CRADLES!" Ed's shrill yell startled two of the unfortunate recruits to be running by but thankfully not the object of their betting.

Roy's smirk returned in full capacity. This was one of the things he loved about Edward, his unrelenting ability to blow everything out of proportion. It had taken a while but Edward finally came out from behind his barriers long enough to show everyone there was a person in there. Although Roy had enjoyed his own personal viewing of Ed's humanity, it was nice that he was getting along with others too.

In the short month since the beginning of their relationship, Edward and Roy's elated moods had become contagious. It wasn't long before they had their own circle of friends and formed a 'posse' and Roy did love the word 'posse'. He once tried to get everyone to agree their posse needed a name but that only resulted in Hawkeye losing what little respect she had for him and Ed boycotting sex because he feared Roy's stupidity would 'rub off'.

Roy picked up an ice cube and dropped it on Edward's exposed abs. The blond shot up out of his chair and toppled over their little betting post in a variety of violent flails and stomps. He stumbled out into the middle of the track and effectively knocked over the object of their betting. Cigarette, notepad and heels in the air, they hit the ground with an ungraceful thump.

Roy was frozen between fixing his chair and reaching for another beer when he noticed Ed had four arms. "Ed? You alright there lov—shrimp?"

He had almost called Edward 'love', a pet name he was very fond of in their off hours but now was not the time. No, now was the time to gawk like an idiot at the blond on blond entanglement that was taking place literally at his feet. He was saved from having to help in anyway when Ed shoved himself to his feet then dragged the other blond into the same position roughly.

"Fucking ice," Ed managed to pant out. He smacked his uniform pants to free them of dust. Almost sensing the incoming range, Roy took the solitary remaining beer and backed away, slowly. Edward caught on immediately and made to reach for him with a snarl but was interrupted.

"You have ice?" It was the blond recruit of their betting pool. Crouching by their makeshift cooler, he plunged his hands into the icy water and splashed some on his face. "How did you guys get ice out here—"

"Havoc! Quick, over here!" The other recruits were all standing in the distance and gesturing vigorously for 'Havoc' to join them.

Roy noticed with displeasure how they stopped the moment his eyes fell on them. He wasn't surprised though, they were just like every other batch of recruits; horrified by alchemists until their lives are saved by one. Roy was used to being treated like he had the plague now and ignored the falling out of the bottom of his stomach.

Edward didn't seem to realise what all those looks meant yet, but he would, he definitely would.

The blond now identified as Havoc stood up to a height matching Roy's and couldn't have been older than sixteen. His boyish grin glinted and popped a piece of ice into his mouth jubilantly. He waved to his comrades but didn't join them right away. Instead he turned to face them and said, "Thanks for the ice. I heard you guys are scary murders."

Roy choked, giving Havoc a dirty look. "Then why don't you run away?"

"Are you kidding dude? Alchemists are where all the action is."

Edward was being oddly quiet but Roy didn't bother wondering why. He addressed the runner, "Do you think appropriate Private to address an officer as dude? I'll have you know I'm a major."

"Sorry Chief, but don't you think as a major, you should know that I'm not a private?" He grinned again and dashed off like a cat with a canary.

Roy gritted his teeth, turning to Edward to find him glaring back. Forgetting his annoyance with the runner, Roy gathered up his courage to ask Edward why he was trying to burns holes into him with his eyes. "Something wrong?"

"You," he stretched the word in a way that let Roy know he really fucked up somehow, "were flirting with him right in front of me."

"What—"

Roy was silenced by the squeak of Edward's new leather gloved hands clenching. Edward tilted his head down to the side, appearing as if he was trying very hard to not lunge, which Roy wholly believed. Ed's next words were barely louder than a whisper. "Don't think because our relationship is wrong that I will allow you to commit other wrongs. You WILL be only mine while we are together. Got that Roy?"

Roy loved the sound of his name on Edward's lips. He didn't say it often but when he did Roy wanted to do an odd combination of melting and ravaging. Leaning more towards the second one and thanking any higher power for the swift retreat of the new recruits, Roy took a step forward reaching out to turn that heated glare into a very different type of heated look.

"Fuck Mustang," Edward swore and shoved him away. "You've got to be kidding me. You just can't flick me off like a switch! I'm not some fucking woman you can pacify with sex. You do this fucking every time!"

"Come on, you get just as horny as me and they are all gone. How about a tumble behind that bush?" Roy gave the bush a once over and decided it would do. He gestured to it so direct Edward's approval of his choice but one look at the blond's face said he was anything but in an approving mood. "Is something wrong baby?"

Edward dropped to the ground in a low crouch and flicked out his leg with lethal precision. Roy barely registered the swift movements being implemented on him until he was flat on his back looking up at the frothing Edward pinning him expertly with his foot.

"What—" Roy started out but was silenced by the pressure on his throat.

Edward spoke quietly but Roy could suddenly see the rage following behind those golden eyes. "You are such a fucking bastard. You 'have' me, it that it? I'm a sure thing because there aren't many fucking people like us? You think you can just count on me always being here? Huh? I have a fucking life too and you know what, I don't want you in it. This has gone on long enough. If you want me so bad you'll figure out a way but until then stay the fuck away from me Mustang. I'm not your baby."

Roy lay on the ground where he was left for a long time afterwards. No one came for him so he decided to remain and figure out what the hell just happened. Did Edward just break things off? And why?

END

As you can see I skipped a chunk of time... because I wanted to. this story would last forever if I went into detail about each of their moments together and those of you used to my writing know I'm plot driven. There is more going on than just some romance in the sandbox.

Onto my life. It's complicated, all the time. Old friends confessing deep held love. New lovers discovering my duo sexuality and trying to take advantage. Pt getting harder. Sleep getting shorter. Classes getting warmer. And, family getting farther away.

Who says you can't go home? The government, that's who.

I had next weekend off to escape and deal with all my messy situations but my leave was revoked because I don't live in central Canada. Am I happy? Not even close.

Enjoy.

-rix