Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist is copyrighted to... people. I have temporarily forgotten their names, but it's not me.
QY: Hi, all. New to writing in FMA. Heck, new to writing everything except Naruto. But this is a birthday fic-gift for a very good friend of mine, Seito. You probably know her from Yoake Mae: Fate and Destiny. And if you don't, you should be ashamed of yourselves. J/k... mostly.
Warning: First FMA fic, possible (almost definite OOC-ness), PWP. And I haven't watched the last eight episodes... I know, I'm horrible. And shounen-ai and randomly takes place when Ed is over 18. Just ignore the fact that I have no idea what happened in the end to Al. -mutters- Stupid friends trying to ruin it for me. But yeah, he has a body here. Don't ask how. He just does.
Story Info: Written as a gift for Seito's birthday, it has the requirements of involving three minutes (hence the title), a bridge, and someone living under said bridge. It's not exact, but nothing with me really is.
Summary: (RoyEd) There are a lot of things you can do in three minutes. And then there are some things that you just can't do in three minutes. But of course, Ed attempts to. And then...
Sanpun – QianYun
There were several things Edward Elric tried to do under three minutes. Braiding his hair was one thing. Along with dressing, eating, walking, talking and just about everything else under the sun. Many would say that most of the things he did would have to take more than three minutes. Walking, for one thing. His short strides didn't help. But if there was one thing to be said about Edward Elric, it was that he was a stubborn man, and certainly no one could stop him from trying.
Although a person would be hard pressed to say he tried to keep talking under three minutes if you had seen him with his closest... friends.
Nevertheless, there was always one thing he never tried to do under three minutes. Reading. It had begun as a necessity: speed-reading would cause him to miss out on certain vital details, but then it simply became habit.
And then one day, Ed was startled to find Roy hovering behind him with a distinctly detached, curious look on his face.
"I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. Really."
It had been a good day that time, so the blond decided to humor his superior.
"Surprised about what?"
Something lit up in Roy's eyes when Ed spoke, but he only replied with, "I'm surprised that reading is one of the only things you don't try to do under three minutes." And with that, he left; leaving Ed to blink at his back, wondering how the Colonel ever realized it.
It had taken Al years to realize that Ed didn't just live quick, he tried to live under three minutes. And even then, it was because he decided to ask Ed directly about it. And while he was pretty sure Hawkeye suspected, if not she didn't already know, he had no idea that the Colonel actually knew. Will wonders never cease?
And it appeared it wouldn't, because from that day on, something changed.
Ed couldn't really say it was a big change, but it definitely wasn't something that could've been easily brushed off. It was subtle, but subtle in the kind of way that you wouldn't really notice someone smoking habitually. That was a bad example though, considering that Havoc always was smoking. Unless Fury was around. Which was really weird, considering they seemed to be around each other more and more often. Meaning that Havoc hadn't been smoking too much in headquarters.
The blond shook his head; he starts reminiscing about one thing and somehow it travels to another subject. He had become really absentminded these days.
It was all his fault.
At the thought, Ed immediately narrowed his eyes randomly. Ever since that day, something in their relationship had changed. The dynamics weren't the same anymore; it wasn't just a regular superior-soldier uneasiness, it had stretched beyond that. Not to say they ever had a normal relationship. From day one, the two of them were at odds with each other, even while they weren't.
He was one of the few dilemmas Ed was unable to solve, mostly because his counterpart refused to be worked out like a stubborn Rubix cube. Roy always appeared to have a few random pieces inserted into his puzzles, pieces that refused to fit anywhere unless you happened to meet him at the right time. And then everything suddenly just clicked.
But Ed didn't want it to suddenly just click. He wanted it to stay there so that he wouldn't have to worry day after day about another thing he couldn't control. Of all the things he couldn't, Roy certainly wasn't the most volatile, but he most definitely was the one who was able to affect him the quickest and heaviest.
So when something changed after that day, no one could really blame him if he became just slightly grumpier than usual.
Every time Roy decided to do this, Ed had to sulk for a few days before rearranging the puzzle that he had created for Roy in his mind in order for him to relax once more. Relaxing, though, wasn't something you could do easily around Roy. And because of that, the weeks after the change had Ed avoiding headquarters as much as possible. At times he stuck with Al until even his patience ran out with Ed's foul mood. When that happened, it was a choice between going to Winry – who had moved to the city to live with them for a while – or wandering the streets. Yet again.
It was an easy enough decision.
This was a process done so many times that Ed had plotted out certain routes that he could take at certain moods. Different shops littered the streets and that was what Ed looked for in a street. Then there were the times when he just wanted some peace and quiet.
Al called it the times when, "Throwing a hissy fit in front of everyone isn't enough. You have to think too hard about it and then come home even more depressed than before because there's no doubt that you somehow persuaded yourself into believing something that isn't true and is not related to the original issue at all."
Sometimes he told Al that he was going just so he could see his younger brother turn blue by the end of the sentence.
The only trouble was that more often than not, Al was right. Somehow, each time he went to a quiet place, he came back with more issues than he left with. It was tiring sometimes, but those few hours alone were always worth it. Especially when he went to the bridge.
It was a little a ways from the main part of the city, or at least the main part of the part he was near. Half of the bridge ran over land, while the other half was above a constantly running stream. It was a picturesque view with green grass surrounding the area and a thick canopy of trees allowing plenty of shade. People rarely went to the bridge because it had been built many years before and looked as if it would crumble if more than two people stood on it at a time.
So Ed had taken it under his care. Slowly, little by little, he restored the bridge to its original glory. Taking care to make sure it was a gradual change – he wanted it to be something that grew slowly - he used only a little bit of alchemy to fix it each time he went. Most of the time, he used his own two hands. He had come close to ruining the bridge even more in the beginning, but he soon settled into a rhythm and learned just what he should and should not do. It had only been a day before that he found something living under the bridge.
He had always suspected that something was there; the scratching noises always appeared when he stayed after sunset. But it never bothered him, so he never bothered it. Until those weeks after the change. Ed approached the bridge with a brooding aura, similar to what he usually seemed like, but it was a little deeper and a little more confused. It took him some time, but when he took his head out of the clouds, he realized that he heard a purring sound coming from the land under the bridge.
In a foul mood, it didn't take much for him to become annoyed. Really! How dare there be purring when Ed was mad!
By the time he reached the bottom of the bridge, the stupidity of his statement had reached him and he resolved to silently apologizing to whatever it was when it came into his sight. Only, when he did reach the bridge, he stood there in surprise for a few moments before he was able to move. Not to say it was a totally shocking image, but it was definitely... different.
Under the bridge, Ed was able to see what looked like a family of kittens and a grown dog. He blinked at the scene for a few moments before shaking his head and returning to the top of the bridge.
"What is the world coming to?"
What indeed, for Ed was distracted from his work on the bridge an hour later by the sounds of very loud mewing and a sharp bark. It didn't sound like it was anything negative, so he continued to fix the crack he was working on until his conscience starting poking at him.
There was a little bit too much silence in the area...
He sighed to himself before standing up, dusting himself off, and walking back under the bridge. There, he was able to witness another scene, this time a little bit more weird than before. Where there had only been a collection of four tabby kittens and a Labrador, there was now a cat snuggled up to the kittens with the dog lying a few feet away, one eye peeking at Ed. It gave a huge yawn before walking the short distance to the group of cats. It nudged the, what appeared to be, Himalayan cat before lying down on the spot. The cat in turn opened an eye and watched Ed. When he did nothing except watch the group, the cat rose and stretched from head to tail.
A hiss came out and it walked over to Ed. Stopping about a foot away from him, it sat down and stared.
And stared some more.
Ed could feel the annoyance creeping up and could tell that his fuse was getting shorter by the minute. At the moment he was ready to stalk away to continue working on the bridge, the cat got up and circled Ed. It was enough to keep him from blowing, but not enough to completely calm him down. But when the cat walked between his legs, rubbing against them, something in him relaxed and the annoyance faded away.
He crouched down and petted the cat, rubbing against its spine. It arched under his hands before walking back to the group and falling asleep again. Ed dropped down to the fround and for the next few hours, he only watched the cat, the kittens and the dog interact with each other. There were times when the cat and the dog reminded him of himself with Roy, but most of the time, the two animals spent their time with each other in peace. He smiled at the little family – because that was what they were – before realizing that the sun had long set and it was time to go home.
He patted the dog before leaving and quietly left the bridge.
The next day, he had woken up refreshed and definitely less iffy than before. Somehow, seeing the scene yesterday made him feel much better.
-
Then Ed returned to headquarters and hell came back up to greet him.
As soon he stepped through the main doors, a soldier came up to him and passed along a message from Hawkeye. Curious at what she would want with him, he took little time to walk there. Upon arrival, he stopped abruptly at the door, staring at the inside of the outer office.
Burned.
Every single item in the room was burned to some degree or the other and there were actually piles of ashes in certain spots that Ed was sure had something quite valuable the last time he was in the office several weeks ago.
"We tried replacing the burnt items when he first did it. But then the expenses were piling up and we decided to wait until you finished sulking and came back." Hawkeye's voice came from behind him and Ed turned on his heels to see her.. amused face?
Surprise crossed Ed's features. In his entire time of knowing her, he never knew her to be amused when Roy decided to randomly burn something. Not that it happened very often. There were consequences to having Hawkeye directly under your command. And what in the world did she mean when he came back? What did it have to do with him? Seeing his surprise and confusion, Hawkeye only smiled wider. She was looking forward to seeing the outcome of this. She wasn't going to lose her money because of this...
Before anything could be said, the door that led to Roy and Hawkeye's office slammed open and a yell came clear across the room. "Can somebody get me the file from the third?" It was clearly Roy's voice, but there was a scratchy quality to it, like he hadn't spoken for some time.
"He's actually working?" An incredulous look crossed Ed's face. Never had he seen Roy take office work seriously enough to actually ask someone to get a file related to it.
"You'd be surprised what happens when you're not around." She pushed by Ed and breezed through the room like there was nothing obstructing her path. "Here's the file, sir."
"Thank you, close the door on your way out." Another smile appeared on Hawkeye's face, but because her back was faced towards Ed and Roy wasn't looking at her, no one noticed.
"Of course." Roy hummed at her answer and immediately went back to work. Ed's face twisted when he saw this. There was something wrong with Roy and he was going to find out what it was.
Hawkeye retreated from the room, but with a wave from Ed, refrained from closing the door. When there was only silence in the room, Roy looked up and began to speak, before faltering. "I told you to clos- Ah. Edward. How are you?"
And again, something changed. Only this time, Ed knew right away that he wouldn't and didn't like the change. "So what's wrong? Couldn't find a girl to pick up? Losing your charm?" At his words, Roy's lips compressed tightly and the blond could only take it as an affirmative. At first, he was too taken back to create a decent response, but it didn't matter anyway.
"If there isn't anything I can do for you, please leave and close the door on your way out."
For the umpteenth time in the last two days, Ed was shocked into silence. He had never known Roy to dismiss him so casually. It had never happened before in their interactions with each other. Even when outside events were beyond disastrous, Roy always took the time to aggravate the blond. Even if it was a one-liner that commented on his height. Which hadn't changed enough since he was 15- Roy could still use the same jokes he used back then.
He wanted to demand Roy to pay attention to him, but the moment passed and Roy seemed engrossed in his work. Without a word, he left the room, leaving a thick tension in his wake.
When the door finally closed, Roy put his pen down and looked across the room. With a sigh, he shook his head and turned the chair to look out the window. After a few minutes he saw Ed's blond head bobbing outside, walking away from the building.
He never liked lying to himself about his feelings. But this one time... he really wished he could.
Ed had left the building unwillingly, but there was nothing for him to do; there were no excuses for his prolonged stay in the edifice. On his way out of the building, he had passed by Havoc and Fury whispering to each other about one thing or the other. When they saw him approach, Fury shoved Havoc forward and the other blond gave him a note.
"Wait until you get to the bridge, okay?" And with that he turned back to Fury, with a frown on his face. To which Fury smiled and quickly walked back further into the building. Havoc followed soon after, but not before giving an encouraging smile to Ed.
There was something going on...
He looked at the note in his hand, wondering if he should wait until he got to the bridge to open- Wait. How did they know about the bridge! He brought his other hand to the note to pull it open, but was stopped by a shout from the building he just exited. "We meant it when we said not to open it till you got to the bridge, Edward!" Startled, he turned around to find Fury waving from a second floor window. Two windows away, he saw Havoc run around a corner and Fury waved once more before running again.
He shrugged to himself lightly, there was no harm in waiting until he got to the bridge. Besides, there was always tomorrow to ask them. Ed began walking to the bridge, but for some reason, he sped up to a light jog before he outright ran to the bridge. By the time he reached it, he was panting, out of breath from the distance he ran. He went directly under the bridge and was greeted by two of the kittens and the cat. He patted the cat before sitting to the edge of the shadow of the bridge.
There, he opened the note but only found a few words.
Think hard, Ed. Think hard.
People usually told him he thought too much. So what was with the note?
But with nothing else to do, he laid on the ground, staring up at the section of the sky his eyes could see. He stayed like that for a few hours, his thoughts jumping from subject to subject without rest. Until it stopped on one topic.
Colonel Roy Mustang.
And it was like lightning struck him and he suddenly realized that they were both in love with each other and so he went back to headquarters to confess and they lived happily ever after.
Or not.
It happened somewhere along those lines, but there was definitely more to it than that.
Thinking about Roy made Ed realize just how many memories of him he had. Even with all the traveling he had done in his younger years and the research he had done barely a year ago, he didn't see much of any one person throughout his life besides Al.
But somehow, Roy always seemed like he was there.
It was thinking about those memories that he realized that there were a lot of quirks that he noticed about Roy. There were a lot of moments where it was only the two of them. A lot of times where they talked as two soldiers in the middle of chaos. Times when they were one of the few anchors they had left to the world.
Times when their relationship seemed so much more intimate than usual.
In the midst of his thoughts, Ed had realized something very peculiar. When Roy was there, when Roy was a part of the moments of his life, he felt much calmer.
He didn't feel safe; in those times, safety was a rare feeling. But there also weren't those rushing feelings of apprehension, of the weight of the world, of the troubles he had gained in his travels, added to the world. His focus became sharp. Although at times, that focus was on insulting Roy.
Fun times, they had. Even in the times they lived in.
But thinking about Roy inevitably led to thinking about what he looked like. And thinking about what he looked like inevitably led to thinking about how good he looked.
Ed was always honest with himself when he could. Subconscious denial wasn't something he could control, but even he knew when he was checking another guy out. Even if it was Roy. Thoughts fluttered in and out of his grasp. Questions of what he should do now.
There had to be, after all, a reason that Havoc and Fury gave him the note.
He was a quick thinker though, it didn't take him too long to figure out what they wanted.
A confession, the sneaky bastards.
Footsteps approached the bridge and Ed quickly scooted under the bridge. Soft steps walked over the bridge before picking the very spot where the bridge was the strongest. A sigh was heard and somehow, something told Ed that the one who was on the bridge right then and there was none other than Roy.
Then suddenly, a flashback of what started the whole thing came to mind and a smile grew on Ed's face. Maybe...
The next few minutes passed by in a blur, consisting mainly of one of the kittens scratching his arm hard enough for him to yelp and run out from under the bridge. That was when he found out that it was true and Roy really was standing there, looking rather surprised.. and tired. Without any delay, Ed launched into a three minute monologue, covering their past together from the time from he tried to resurrect his mother, to the last few weeks. But as three minutes came to a close, his monologue faltered and his confidence was lost.
There seemed to be something inherently missing. And he didn't quite know what it was.
An amused laugh came from the man in front of him and Ed looked at him to glare, but he was startled by the absolute relief on Roy's face. Roy jumped down from the bridge and walked down to Ed. He lifted a bare hand to his face and cupped his cheek. Leaning down slightly - darn the man! - he murmured softly.
"It's just like you to try to confess in three minutes. A valiant effort, but I think this works better."
Roy pressed his hand upwards a little, lifting Ed's head. He ducked his own head, softly setting his mouth over the blond's. They breathed against each other before Roy opened his mouth and drew out his tongue. He moistened Ed's lips and nibbled at the bottom one. A tiny moan came out and Ed's mouth relaxed. Slipping his tongue into the blond's mouth, Roy felt that maybe this would be something he never had to lie to himself about.
And this was a much better way to spend sanpun.
Owari
-
QY: The ending may seem a bit fast, but besides the fact that it was because my mum was yelling me to sleep, I felt that it should be fast. After all, if Ed tries to do things under three minutes, why can't I write the ending in three minutes?
And last note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SEITO! Hope you enjoyed!
Written: 3/9/05 7 p.m. To 11 p.m. (With an hour or so of eating and misc. night chores) (ff.n not working.. day late... -cries-)