Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist doesn't belong to me in any way at all.

"Damn… No one told me that this place is mostly for couples…" Roy muttered sourly as he strolled along the seashore. He had a feeling that his luck was out for today. There were only a few people present in the beach, packing their stuffs. It was already dark, so there was no surprise there.

Roy kept on walking before deciding to go back, there's nothing to do there anymore anyway, and he'd learnt his lesson for the day. Oh well, there goes the boring one-day vacation, Roy summed up, still twirling the only key to his house with his finger and turned around, ready to go back to his room and wait for his massage.

Suddenly, Roy felt the keys riding up on his finger and before he could stop, the keys were already nowhere to be seen.

"Fuck!" The man roared, frustration piling up in him. Today's not a good day, not a good day at all, and the urge to punch someone in the face, particularly Hughes, just to relieve his irritation showed up. Oh yes, punching that goofy face would be something that would satisfy and humor him for many years to come.

His right leg kicked the sand beneath him, and he grumbled as he started the search for his keys. It'd be a long night… Roy found out when he realized that the stupid keys didn't fall onto the sand, oh no, apparently the keys prefer the bushes rather than the white sand. And so, he swept his eyes over the sand again, checking it once more, before diving his hand into the bushes, wandering and touching everything that was in reach. With his ass high in the air, he kept on looking minutes after minutes, and minutes turned into hours, and apparently those two hours didn't result in anything, except for a pricked finger.

With a thump, he fell on the sand, wiping the sweat off his eyebrows; not caring whether his white button-up shirt was dirtied. He couldn't get into his own house if he left the keys here, and the damn thing had all of his keys with it. And he'd rather wait for Riza to part with her guns before he'd leave his keys in the bushes. 'You should have given Maes some of your spare keys, you'll know what happens if you don't someday, Roy-boy.' Madam Christmas's voice cut through his mind and Roy grimaced as the imaginary voice reprimanded him.

With a glance at his watch, he growled. He won't make it for the massage later. Great.

Too tired, Roy just blew the bangs out of his eyes before letting the exhaustion took over and rested his eyes; his arms and legs spread out. He'll search for the keys later; right now, he just needed a rest.

It had only passed a few minutes before the sound of sand crunching beneath something disturbed him: must be someone walking around the damn beach. And in an effort to ignore the annoying sound, he turned over his side and swung his arm over his ears and eyes to protect the process of the slumber that was coming. He sighed, contented when the damned person stopped.

"You know, mister… You're kinda in the way."

Roy twitched. He sat up and glared at the person, not at all humored by the statement. He was much too cranky to be dealt with right now and so was he to deal with anyone. The irritation that had almost exploded quickly died away when he saw the person's face.

The moonlight shined just right above the boy, no older than 17, outlining the teen's blond hair as if it were shining. The blowing wind played with his long silky hair, one that went down to his backbone. Fiery golden eyes that glimmered glared upon his, a fire blazing behind those eyes. Through his flowing dark bangs, Roy could see the blond's personality through his eyes: strong, proud, gifted.

"…Oi. Are you mute or something?" The boy-ish voice sent Roy out of his gaze, his face dark and feet tapping impatiently, his fingers tapping rhythmically on an old book.

Roy looked away; quite embarrassed to be caught looking at the boy by the person himself… Well, Roy glanced at the blond through the corner of his eye, he didn't seem like he'd noticed him staring at him earlier… But he does look quite pissed… Maybe he did notice him looki— "Are you listening to me, you freaking bastard?!"

Roy jumped, and quickly faced the person who had disturbed his thoughts. For someone so beautiful, he sure was rude…

Wait, beautiful? Where did that come from?

Roy grunted loudly, trying hard to clear his head. And suddenly, he caught the boy's face twisting into uncertainty, "…Oh." Mustang raised an eyebrow at the reaction.

"I'm… Uh, sorry." A slender hand swiftly touched the back of his head, playing with strands of blond hair. "I didn't know you were actually mute…" and Roy went jaw-slacked. "Uh, yeah, sorry." The boy offered his left hand for a shake to Roy, a gesture for an apology.

The man stared at the hand, still quite shocked. He shook his head in disbelief, how the boy could come up with such a bizarre idea was entirely unthinkable.

The dazed man hadn't realized that the offered hand slowly trembled and clench into a fist while it fell to the boy's side, the whole body shook while the shadow of his bangs hid his expression when Roy had finally noticed. Roy was about to ask him when the other grabbed his collar and dragged him upwards until he's… almost standing up; Roy yelped, caught off guard. "You damn fucking bastard! I fucking apologized, all right?! What more do you want?!" Roy would have admired his strength hadn't it been him that would be the victim.

He hadn't had the time to protest and deny though; all of a sudden Roy felt the impact of falling onto the rough sand on his bottom, and he groaned in pain; rubbing his throbbing back. It was when his head straightened up he froze; not because of the pain, but because of the whimper and gasps the boy beside him was escaping.

Kneeling, the teen's hand were grasping his right shoulder, yanking the shirt; his forehead was shoved on the sand, not even noticing the rough texture that was starting to make red gashes on his temple and his teeth was gritted tight, as if he was afraid to let any sound of weakness heard.

Roy stared for a moment, quite shocked to find the boy that was so fierce earlier on reduced into the whimpering ball in front of him; the pain must be agonizing. Roy then mentally slapped himself for dazing off and not helping the boy as he immediately stood up and rushed to the boy. He lowered himself, and gently but still in haste wrapped his arm around the blonde's trembling body. "Hang on… I'm gonna take you to the lobby and get some help. Can—"

"No!"

Roy stopped questioningly when the boy gasped and yelled out, gripping on his shirt tightly, the knuckles whitening from pure pressure; and from that support alone, he struggled to straighten up himself. Roy waited till the other managed to stand up, still worried, and arms ready to catch the blond if he tumbled. The teen finally managed to stand up straight and quickly released his grip then taking a few steps back. A few moments was spent in silence between the two, before the younger finally broke the silence.

"…Thanks,"

Roy nodded, not actually knowing what to say. There were lots of question in his head, but not even one of them he could voice out. Silence continued to overwhelm them as they stood around awkwardly, avoiding the other's eye.

"…Are you alright now?" Roy eventually mustered up. His eyes wandering around, wishing that he could set them on the blond once again, but not having the courage to do so.

"Uh… Yeah…" The blond was still clenching his right shoulder, massaging it. Seemed as though his right shoulder caused the pain, Roy kept that in mind just in case.

The conversation didn't last long, and the silence went back to greet them again. He looked at the sky, and sighed, never letting his eyes off the dark night sky, million of stars filling it. How was it that hard to come up with a topic? What had rendered him speechless this night? Something was off, and it didn't look as though they were siding with him.

"…Beautiful night, huh?" The boy's soft voice snapped him out of his trance, and he looked over to him.

The other was looking at the sea and the sky along with him, and he had no words but to nod, admiring the scenery as well. The wind that had really picked up strength continued to play with both his dark hair and the other's blond and Roy noticed from the corner of his eyes that the boy's delicate hand was raised to tuck a few strands of hairs behind his ear. Roy couldn't help but smile at the sight. His golden eyes were shining with astonishment, a wide smile gracing his face, and then, the eyes closed and he took a deep breath, letting out a relaxed sigh.

The dark haired man stared at the display the blond was putting up, completely stricken. Suddenly, he caught those amazing golden eyes on his and his breath caught.

In pure reflex, he opened his mouth and spoke his mind.

"You know, you have the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen."

…Shit.

And the boy's jaw dropped. "…Excuse me?!" The said boy screeched, those beautiful golden eyes wide and unbelieving and a blush adorning his cheeks.

Shit shit shit shit shit. What the heck should he respond to THAT?! He couldn't fucking think right now and damn, he needed to come up with something: soon.

"It's true," the reply came out rather unexpected and louder than Roy would like it. He was doomed.

But… The dark-haired man couldn't deny it though; the boy was adorable when he's blushing. Calming down, he grimaced, when did he become such a pedophile? He was sure the boy wasn't any older than fifteen or something.

The blonde's cheeks redden quite nicely before his mouth opened, "You're freaking sick, you pervert!"

He had been expecting that kind of line. And yes, it was quite rewarding to see the blush, but then… From what he had gather from the other's reaction, he's not very sure he would get out of this unharmed if he continued on with this game.

"I'm getting out of here, this is getting WAY out of hand." Roy noticed the other said. He's leaving? The shorter of the two immediately brushed past him, not even sparing him a glance. "Wait," Roy grabbed the blonde's arm, holding him still. "I still don't know what your name is."

The teen looked at him, his face implying that he's still embarrassed. "Why the hell would I tell you my name, oh hail bastard?"

Roy smirked, well, the hell with it, he had already done it anyway; he could play with the little guy for a while. "Because I'm hot and you're interested in me?"

And said little guy looked like he could com bust from the heat that was getting to his face. "You damn pervert."

He jerked his arm out of Roy's hold, and stomped away, the blush never leaving his face. Roy chuckled to himself. Well, he'll be seeing him soon enough, he'll make sure of it. It's a good night, Roy decided after the blond had completely went out of his sight, even after all the—damn, Roy stopped his train of thought and groaned. His keys…

Roy dragged himself to the massage center in the resort after getting a bath. Apparently, they had reserved a room for him. Roy made a note to tip them big. The automatic slide door quickly slide open to welcome him, a burst of cool air swept by. He immediately approached the counter, and found himself being led to his private massage room; a dark room with candles spread around the corners. The atmosphere's quite nice and very fitting for a night session. It wasn't hot in there either; how with all the candles in the room, he had no idea.

He tipped the man graciously before entering the room. Once he was in, he was instructed by a woman to take off his clothes and wrapped himself in a towel and informing him that the massage therapist would enter the room shortly before the woman left the room. He did so, shrugging his clothes off and wrapping the towel around his lower body, hidden to anyone in the massage bed area by a heavy red curtain.

Once he was done stripping, he pulled the white towel and wrapped it around his lower body, effectively concealing everything hidden underneath. Roy dragged the curtain open and stepped outside of the corner. No one was there; apparently the lady had left him while he was changing, and Roy sighed, throwing his clothes on the floor even when there was a hanger for hanging clothes.

He plopped down on the table and lied on his stomach. The aroma of roses filling his nose, and he stretched, sighing as the tension flowed out of his body. He rested his head on his folded arms, and closed his eyes, thinking about when he can meet that blond again.

Roy opened his eyes and huffed. He better stop thinking like this; he's not gay and nor was he a pedophile. And he's not ready to settle down that fast, not that fast. But… Something from him just really drew his attention. Be it his staggering appearance, his strong personality, or just anything. Well, whatever it was, Roy was not going to be in too deep with this. He'll just… play a little bit.

Yeah… Play. Roy propped himself up with his arm, tapping his fingers on his face in a playful manner.

It'll relief his stress. And there was no harm in doing this and that. A game.

He won't fall for a kid like him. Oh hell no. He's as straight as a pencil.

Well, let's see if he could withstand the kid's alluring appearance and personality. Well then… Little Blondie,

Let the game begin.

"What?! I still have to work even though that freaking guy was late for what—3 hours?! It's almost midnight!" Ed shrieked, enraged, and slammed down his hands on the table counter, the papers that were there fluttering. How could they do this to him?!

"I'm sorry, Ed…" Rose apologized, hands raised to clasp each other, her eyes genuinely showed how true she was, and Ed couldn't help but sigh, letting his arm drop to his sides, swinging, feeling bad for yelling at her when it's not her fault. "We've all had been personally informed by Mr. Hakuro that Mr.—"

"May I ask why you're still here, Elric?" Hakuro's voice boomed from Ed's behind. Rose immediately went silent, sending silent signals for Ed to control his behavior. Rose had known Ed enough for her to know that he's going to act rashly in the rage, she just hoped that the good lecture she had given him last week would help him manage the fiery temper he held inside him, and one she hope wouldn't result in a loss of job; she knew how important this job was to Ed.

Ed stiffened at the voice and nodded to Rose before turning around, only to be met with Hakuro's stern eyes. He quickly turned his eyes away from the hard glare, trying hard not to burst on front of the man. He couldn't risk the possibility of being fired. "Well… Sir, I—"

"Now, Elric. Our guest is waiting." Ed cringed at his manager's tone of voice. "You should be honored to be chosen for this task, the least you can do is show up at the right time. Hadn't it been for your knack in this, I would have fired you a long time ago," Hakuro warned him. Ed had almost exploded, the heat gathering to his head, but was quickly reminded by the glare Rose had thrown him.

"What are you waiting for?" The direction in his tone was heading towards anger.

He mumbled a 'Yes, Sir' before he excused himself. He hurried to the door the right of the table, struggling not to slam the door, and stomped along the way; entering the third door on the right, he finally slammed the door, satisfying himself as the vibration rang all around the small room. He sighed aloud and leaned against the peeling wall, sliding down slowly. How he hated this job…

But he needed it. He has to.

For Al.

He swallowed hard. Raising himself up, he grabbed a cup and poured himself some cold coffee. Collapsing on a rickety chair, he gulped the black liquid down, quenching his dry throat. Squinting his eyes against the blinding light from the lamp above, he placed the cup down delicately on the table in front of him. He placed his head on the aged table, trailing the cup's rim with his finger; it was an old cup… One that was given by his mother when he was a child.

He checked the clock on the wall, and sighed resignedly when he was reminded why he was here again. He pushed himself up and cleaned himself in the small bathroom that was provided, taking a cold bath before dressing in his uniform in haste, and rushing out the door, tying up his still wet hair into a high ponytail along the path.

He slowed his steps when he was nearing the lobby, preparing and checking his rocking emotions. He just… hates Hakuro. He didn't know why, but something about him irked him. When he was at the end of the hallway, he peeked, trying to see if there were any signs of Gran still hanging there. When he saw none though, he quickly stepped out and approached Rose who was daydreaming.

He raised an eyebrow at her, and waved a hand in front of her when she still didn't notice him waiting for her. "Hey… Rose,"

"Huh?" Rose finally stepped out of her bubble, a surprised look in her eyes.

"Where's Hakuro?"

"Oh, he'd left already."

"I can see that." Ed swatted an invisible fly. "Do you know where?" Ed inquired, pushing his body over the table.

"Uh…" Rose looked at him strangely. "He didn't say."

Ed just grunted in reply.

"Can you let me know why you're so curious about him today, Ed?" The receptionist asked, curious as to why Ed was so inquiring about Hakuro when he had usually being particularly ignorant about the guy and telling her that he was a bastard.

"Nah…" Ed didn't know himself; and it was pissing him off by the minute. Today was just horrible. "Look… I gotta go before that old man Hakuro found me and started pissing me off again. Bye, Rose." Ed said his farewell to Rose, one that was greeted by her own wave and set off to find the room.

He climbed up the swirling staircase, knowing well enough where the room was and just dragging the bag full of oil bottles on the floor. He really didn't want to do this… Who was this guy anyway? Why was everyone treating the guy like he was some sort of king or something? It annoyed him actually. Ugh… With the guy being treated like this… Could he be some sort of snobby guy with a picky attitude or something like that? Ed shuddered.

Well… The bag were set down on the floor, as he looked up at the room's number… V.I.P number 6… Ed sighed. This was it.

He knocked thrice, and waited for the call.

He could hear sounds of shuffling and …Hakuro's voice? The door opened and he came face-to-face with his manager. Avoiding the man's eyes, he bowed slightly, grateful that his bangs covered his grimace and entered the room, bracing himself to look at the man he will be… massaging later.

And so, he looked up, only to be greeted by wide black-onyx eyes. Ed's breath caught.

"You!" They yelled out simultaneously, one of the tone incredulous and the other seemed quite pleased.

"Mr. Mustang?" Hakuro looked quite confused by the display going on in front of him. A quick and biting glare from Ed to Roy made him understood in split second.

The 28-year-old man immediately stood up from his spot on the bed and approached Hakuro, "Mr. Hakuro… Can you grant us some time to talk alone?"

Not wasting even a second, Hakuro had almost shouted, "Of course! I'll be waiting over here if it's alright." Hakuro tapped the floor where he was standing with his foot.

Roy nodded at him and suddenly someone was dragging him to the corner of the room, not touching the candles but still quite close.

"You! What are you doing here?!" Ed growled out, his eyes narrowing as he grabbed Roy's collar once again, dragging the older man's face near his own. Roy's smirk didn't help in deflating his rage.

"For a massage, obviously. You work here?"

"Oh, how did you know?" Ed ground out the words tightly. He exhaled a shaky breath. "Now… You listen here, bastard; don't you ever EVER dare mention my shoulder to anyone here. If I found out that you had utter even a single word about it, let's just say that the headline news next day would be of a dead body floating in the sea." The way that every single word was sputtered out of the teen's mouth was making Roy shiver in anticipation.

While the dark-haired man was curious of why the blond was so desperate to cover up the fact about his shoulder, it still didn't stop him from going along with his sudden come-up plan. He could ask the teen later, he must have had the shoulder treated as well so it wouldn't be too bad not to tell anyone.

"Of course," Roy agreed and smiled in a way that made the teen suspicious. Dismissing it, the teen breathed out a sigh of relief.

Well… Maybe this bastard's not that quite of a bastard at all.

"In a condition," Roy continued, whispering into an ear, one that was quickly covered in embarrassment by a hand, the other releasing the dark-haired man's collar.

What?!

"What the fuck did you mean by--!" The roar was cut off when Roy slapped a hand on his mouth. "Hey, quiet down," Roy put his finger in front of his lips. "Would you like for your boss there to hear us?"

And involuntarily, Ed quieted down, dropping his volume, "Explain," The note that wrapped around his words filled with venom.

Roy clicked his tongue. "Wait, I can't talk freely with that guy hanging around," He pushed Ed against the wall. "Wait here," Shrugging off the glare that was penetrating his back, he approached the man.

"Ah! Mr. Mustang! Are you done?" The man greeted him.

"Ah yes, about that Mr. Hakuro, would you mind if I ask you to leave this room? By no ill intention of course; I merely wanted more privacy with the young man there," Roy asked impatiently, but still keeping the polite manner up. Although he wouldn't mind chasing the intruding man away brusquely as long as the man would leave pronto.

The dirty-blond haired man contemplated uneasily, an eternity to Roy and a low growl from Ed had past when he finally agreed, shouting out that Roy can inform him of anything if the young blond had done anything ill to him and a warning to Ed himself before being kicked out of the room.

He had only stepped out from the small hallway that was leading to the door when he was pounced and slammed onto the solid, and very hard wall behind him. He had only a second to gather his thoughts before the one in front of him roared into his ears.

"EXPLAIN,"

Roy snarled in annoyance at the smaller man in front of him, deciding that he had had enough.

He grabbed both of the younger man's wrists, yanking them up, before he threw him to the spot he had been earlier, hearing the thud of a head colliding with wall, ignoring the yelp of pain, switching their position. He pinned the wrists together with his hand above the blonde's head, holding it tight in case the teen tried to struggle while his right leg moved to the space between the two leather-covered legs, pinning him effectively.

Still pinning him, Roy gave a moment for the both of them to calm down; apparently, the other took the time to blow up his fuse.

"What the fuck?! Let me go, you damn bastard!" Ed twisted around, trying to get his wrists free from the other's deadlock grip.

Roy flushed at the sight of the body moving and twisting and decided not to take a chance as he looked away, not granting permission to look at the body in front of him. He's still a child, damn it!

Roy closed his eyes, tightening the hold he had over the wrists while the captive's strength was eventually drained. Ed finally stopped moving when he realized that he wouldn't be getting away without talking this one over. Finally, Roy thought exasperatingly when Ed stopped twisting his body. He'd had thought that it would go on in hours.

"I get it, you want to talk. Fine; just let me go."

He grinned when those golden cat-like eyes intensified on him. "No can do. I wouldn't want a kick to my chest."

And the only thing Ed could do to reply was growl, and shouted out, "Fine! Get it over with, you asshole."

Roy looked at him disapprovingly and tsk-ed, "Language." He chuckled when he could actually feel the other trying to twist his fist free and punch his face.

Noticing the long locks of hair tied up by a rubber, he observed it and decided that he liked it better when the boy's hair was down like it was in the beach. He neared his face to the blonde's face, letting out hot breaths in the teen's ear before gritting the band with his teeth, pulling it down as the silky hair followed, flowing down gracefully. He finally distanced his face from the other's, delighted to see the boy's face flushing brilliantly.

He opened his mouth, letting the rubber fall to the floor between their feet.

"By that condition… I meant that you," He neared his face to the alarmed face the boy was giving and smirked before giving a slow lick across the bright red cheek, "have to work for it." He whispered into the crimson ear.

And people all around the resort were sent wondering where the deafening scream in the middle of the night had come from.

A/N:

First of all, I just want to say thank you for all you dear readers and reviewers! Especially the comments that the reviewers had given me. I appreciate it very very much. They had sent me in high spirits. :) So once again, thank you. And if you hadn't notice... I had actually rewrote chapter one and the summary. It's not much better than the last one, I have to admit; and of course, you all need not read it again. I have added a scenario or two, but it's not that important; so it's up to you all if you want to re-read it.

And again, I'm quite guilty saying this but the next update wouldn't be faster than this one. I actually have another exam waiting for me in three weeks. I usually make status updates in my profile though, so you can check there if you want to see if I make progress or not. (Who noticed the sudden change in my style of writing? It... had changed, right?)

Anyway, enough of my rant, please review! I'd love to hear your voices on this chapter! :)