He Brought Him Grapes

Part 6

An Edited RolePlay by Interstella and 'Jordan'

"Sir, perhaps you should calm down and get off Edward." She commanded in a stern voice. From her perspective, Roy was holding Ed down and doing things to him that no child should ever receive. In her eyes, the Elric brothers would always be those twelve year old children she'd met four years ago.

At the sound of a familiar voice, Mustang immediately stopped all movement, his head turning slowly toward the door of the room until he locked eyes with his Lieutenant.

Shit.

Roy was breathing heavily. Slowly, steadily, but still close to panting. He sat up slowly, never taking his eyes off of Riza or her gun, and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

"Hawkeye... Put down the gun..." He ordered slowly.

Roy wouldn't have been so peeved at himself if the fact of the matter was that he had simply forgotten about the door. But he hadn't forgotten. He just... didn't care at the time.

'Lessons learned...' he droned in his mind.

He could imagine what this looked like to Hawkeye. A 29-year-old man on top of a 16-year-old boy with less than pure intentions was... well, it was exactly what was happening. But at least he wasn't raping the kid.

...Right?

Ed stayed exactly where he was, his arms by his head and his eyes closed. He was panting like crazy and painfully aroused. After a moment, he turned his head to look at Riza dazedly. A dark flush was still on his face, along with a small smile. He was perfectly aware that Roy was still straddling him, and he quite liked that fact.

Riza looked between the two and kept her gun aimed at Mustang. Taking two steps into the room, she kicked the door behind her and stared at the two. "Get off him Colonel." She ordered, taking things quite seriously. Ed had yet to say anything, so she wasn't sure what exactly was going on. But she wouldn't believe that it was entirely consensual, Ed was only sixteen, after all.

Ed frowned, finally moving his arms, but they didn't move to push Roy off, like Riza expected, rather, they moved down to sit on Roy's hips, holding him where he was.

"H-" His throat felt dry, so he swallowed then tried again, "Hawkeye…" He said quietly, "I don't want him to move."

Clenching her teeth, Riza looked between the two and slowly lowered her gun. "What exactly is going on here?" She asked dangerously, her arms still holding her gun tightly, ready to re-aim should she feel the need to.

Roy couldn't help but smirk when the boy beneath him refused to let him move, keeping Roy straddled over his hips, but the expression quickly faded when Riza spoke up again, demanding to know what was going on.

What was he supposed to say?

'Well, you see, Hawkeye, Edward here wanted me to teach him the proper technique of homosexual fornication.'

He didn't have any acceptable explanation for his actions. Something in the back of Roy's mind spoke up to inform him that it just went to show how wrong this was, but somehow it never got loud enough for the colonel to pay any real attention to. As if having a gun pointed at your face wasn't loud enough.

"Uh..." Roy began, rather pathetically. "He started it?"

Ed's body was calming down now, and his brain finally had enough blood to think. He bit his lip then and nodded before moving his face away. He was ashamed now. He knew that it was wrong to be with another guy, and having Hawkeye find them like this…

"I just… I wanted to…" He could figure out what he wanted to say though, and finally, he began to move. Letting go of Roy's hips, he wiggled from under him and stood, straightening out his clothes before looking at Roy with a blush, then at Riza with a darker one. "Um… I should go." He managed to say before fleeing from the room.

As he passed Riza, he said something to her, "It was consensual." Those three words were said with such shame, that she couldn't be sure they were right.

Once Ed had left, she turned to look at Roy. "You have some explaining to do." She ordered, for once not caring that Roy outranked her. "Because from where I'm stood, it didn't look consensual." She warned, still standing ready to aim. "What's going on?"

If it really was consensual, then why would Ed run away like that? Did he think that he'd done something wrong?

Mustang cursed under his breath as he watched Ed flee his room for about the fiftieth time. He started to get up to follow him but Riza was still holding her gun. Roy sat back down.

"Damn it..." he muttered, holding his hands up in surrender. "Hawkeye, wait - just- hold on! Let me just... let me just go after him to see if he..." Roy frowned. "Come on, Hawkeye. You don't seriously think I would force him to do something like that?"

Mustang was starting to worry. He was afraid that Ed might not go back to his hotel. He wanted to make sure that he was safe. He wanted to know that he would be ok, that he wasn't upset over any of this. And if he was, Roy wanted to be there to comfort him.

Mostly, he was afraid that Ed wouldn't come back after this - that he would pretend like it had never happened. Somehow, Roy wasn't sure he'd be able to handle that. It could have something to with the guilt, afraid he'd gone too far and scared him away. Maybe it had to do with simply wanting to be with Ed. Mustang didn't know why he wanted that so badly, especially with a teenager.

The voice in the back of his mind was beginning to speak more clearly once again. Roy knew that Ed wasn't the one who should have felt ashamed.

Mustang sighed. His problem down below was painful... Hopefully Hawkeye would at least release him for that.

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "Why did he run." She asked, this time a little quieter. She could tell that Roy was in pain, and weather or not it was consensual, Roy certainly had a soft spot for Ed it seemed.

Ed had brought him grapes, and that was strange for the kid, so maybe it wasn't as one sided as she was thinking. But still, the young Elric probably didn't understand what he was getting himself into, and she didn't want to have to watch his heart break.

"Explain this to me." She told him, completely lowering her gun and sitting on the chair, making it obvious that she wasn't going to let him go until she had the whole story. "I've been your subordinate for a long time, colonel, and even before that, I like to think we were friends. So trust me with this." She asked him. "Edward will be fine. Alphonse is outside the room." She added, trying to make Roy feel better about not going after him. "He probably needs some time to think."

Mustang rubbed his temples. What a hell of a day.

Opening his eyes, he decided he might as well just get through with this. Hawkeye only had the best of intentions.

Roy shifted uncomfortably in his seat before taking on a serious expression. "He ran... because he thinks it's wrong to be gay. He was angry with me for the way I made him feel. He said I was invading his dreams. When he confessed all of that... I guess I must have fallen for him."

Roy couldn't believe how stupid it sounded in hind sight. A kid admits they have a crush on you and you're suddenly in love with them? He shook his head. There was more to the story - the rest of it probably gave way to some justification.

"We both decided that we should get over each other and Ed left. Then he came storming back in, called me a bastard, and kissed me."

Apparently he was wrong. The last part was just as stupid and thoughtless as the first. He cursed his impulsiveness.

Riza stayed silent for a short time longer before shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "The fighting you guys usually do," She began, realizing that Roy hadn't suddenly developed feelings for Ed, "Was like a school boy throwing sticks at a pretty girl." She shook her head with a soft, barely there smile. "Would I be correct to assume you haven't just developed these feelings, but rather just… discovered them?" She asked, relaxing slightly.

"As for thinking it's wrong, he grew up in a small village. It's possible that he had some bad experiences with a homosexual before, or heard something bad of them." She said, "Weather he wants to admit it or not, Edward is still a child and he's quite impressionable. Perhaps we should have Fuery talk to him?" She suggested with a soft sigh. "We need to help him change his mind on that one."

"Discovered them, huh?" Roy tilted his head back, looking up to the ceiling that was in desperate need of an elaborate mural. "I thought about that... I guess it seems about right."

Mustang lowered his chin to look at Riza again. His eyebrows were pulled together slightly and he looked confused. "What does this have to do with Fuery?"

Riza smiled softly, "Fuery's gay, sir." She said to him, "He has been since he's been about Edward's age." She smiled and stood. "I think you should give him some space. You're not supposed to be out of bed yet anyway. He'll come back to you when he's ready." She looked at the door before sighing softly.

"Permission to speak freely sir?" She asked quietly. Rarely did she ask that, knowing that Roy wouldn't take offense at what she normally would say, but what was to come next would likely cause him some distress.

Mustang covered his eyes with his hand as if trying to relieve a headache that was yet to come. If Riza was preparing him for something, it was bound to be bad.

He stayed silent for just a moment before deciding that he might as well here it. Whatever it was, it couldn't be anything worse than he'd ever told himself.

"Granted." He mumbled.

Riza stayed silent for a moment before she spoke. "I think he really likes you. Don't break his heart." She said, "If you're going to have him, make sure it's only him." She knew Roy probably would be offended by her insinuation, but at the same time, he knew what he was. "If you break him, he might never be fixed." Pausing, she thought weather she should add the next bit or not. "I think you could be good for each other. Try and help him learn that it's not bad to be gay."

And with that, she smiled softly and left the room with a quiet "I'll be in the office if you need me.".

--- ---- ----

Outside the room, Ed had run into Al – literally and was hyperventilating, his mind only just realizing what he'd done with Roy – what he'd nearly done. He wanted it, oh that was painfully obvious, but all his reasons came flooding back to him. As soon as he'd seen his brother, he'd wanted to break down and confess everything, to cry on his brother's shoulder and trust that Al would take care of things. But he couldn't. Edward was the older brother, not Alphonse. It was Ed's job to 'take care of things'.

So he'd just sat down, back in his spot against the wall of Roy's room. He could hear what was being said on the other side, and had to wonder exactly what Roy would say to Riza.

He didn't talk to Al, just sat there silently, his knees by his chest and his head against the wall. Quietly listening in on the conversation behind them.

Alphonse looked down at his brother. What no idea what had happened in the first place, he didn't know what to say or do.

Ed seemed to be listening through the wall, so that ruled out talking to him. He supposed that sometimes it was better just to be there, to wait and see if there was anything his brother was willing to talk about.

So Alphonse stayed where he was. He was there for his big brother, just like Ed was always there for him.

After a little while, Ed sighed. They were talking about him. He understood that they were only trying to help… maybe listening in wouldn't be such a good idea – it was just pissing him off.

Turning to Al, he gestured for his brother to sit down. Thankfully, it was lunch time now, so nobody was in the corridor, he could talk to his brother in private, sat right there.

"We… We kissed." He said to his brother, not being able to find a way to describe it fully. The word 'kiss' didn't seem right, like it barely covered how amazing the action was, how excruciatingly exciting it had been. "I-I like him, Al." He admitted, finally. "I know it's wrong, for so many reasons. But… But I want to be with him. I don't know what to do." He added. "It's scary how strong I feel for him – he's a bastard, a manipulative ass who makes my knees go weak when he smiles." He shook his head before placing it on his knees like he had less than half an hour before. "I don't know what to do." The terrified whisper was loud enough for Al to hear, but barely.

Alphonse stayed quiet, listening intently to everything his brother had to say.

And then it came to that question of what he was supposed to do. Alphonse didn't know much about relationship advice... but the answer seemed obvious to him.

"If you like him, Brother.... if he makes you feel that way... then why not just be with him?"

It was an innocent question, his tone unsure as it was asked, afraid that it might upset Ed. But it seemed like Ed was going at full length to avoid what seemed to Alphonse to be the easiest way out. Al couldn't help but wonder... why?

Ed smiled softly at his brother, lifting his head to do so. "It's not as easy as all that, Al." He told him softly, "I know you don't think that it's wrong for me to be with another guy, but I can't help but feel that way. And if it was only that, I might just get over it. But it's not. He's my superior officer, my boss. He's fourteen years older than me, and…" He curled closer in on himself now, "And I don't know how faithful he'd be." He added finally.

For Ed, he knew that there could be nothing worse than betrayal. Roy had chased a lot of skirts in his time, and Ed wasn't sure if Roy would be able to remain loyal to just one person. It wasn't in his nature.

"I don't think I could handle having my heart broken if I gave it to him…"

Ed was feeling very vulnerable today.

Alphonse looked down at the floor. When he put it like that, it sounded like Ed might be right. But Alphonse didn't believe in giving up hope. Maybe this was different for Mustang. Maybe...

Alphonse sighed inwardly. Ed was right, he didn't understand any of this well enough to be of any help to his brother. All he could do was wish for the best, whether that meant for Mustang to want Ed the way Ed wanted him or simply for his brother to be able to accept and get past all this when it was over.

He only hoped that Ed would be happy in the end.

--- --- ---

When Riza left the room, she saw Ed and stopped. The young man jumped up instantly, flushed a dark red. She smiled at him, but that only served to make him redder and turn away.

"Edward…" She said softly. "You can go back in now."

A single nod was all she got in return and Ed walked back into the room. Turning to Alphonse, she smiled softly. "I don't think Ed will be coming out again any time soon. They have some things to talk about. Why don't you come and keep me company for lunch?"

Alphonse sighed gently but smiled to himself, holding onto the hope that things would work out. Nodding, Al followed Riza.

--- End Part 6 ---