Anticipated Serendipity

For Kass1964

Abuse

"Ow! Edward! You're not supposed to strike royalty!" Ling whined, shielding his wounded head as the alchemist seethed.

"I don't care who you are, you're not allowed to grab my ass, dammit!"

The shorted teen snarled as pink tinted his cheeks. Ling smiled mischievously, shuffling quickly as the blonde picked up his pace down the busy sidewalk.

"You liked it."

He whispered huskily, ghosting his hand over Ed's backside and earning himself another lump on the head.

Books

The one thing that Ling knew would never change about his Amestrian lover was his passion for literature. Ed was known to start his morning with a nice cup of coffee and a random alchemy textbook, and it wasn't rare to find him hidden away amongst the many shelves of their local library, too engrossed in his current read to note the passing of time.

Ling had always been quite supportive of his boyfriend's bookworm nature, but every man has his limits, and Edward was definitely pushing his.

"Just one more chapter!"

The blonde hissed, turning his back to the Xingese prince.

Ling sighed, crossing his arms and glaring at the offending novel. He was not just cock-blocked by a book!

Dreams

"So after you get Al's body back, what then?"

Ling asked quietly, staring at the flickering flame as it boiled Edward's boot-leather soup. The elder Elric chuckled softly as he stirred their makeshift meal, eyeing the Xingese teen through the smoke.

"You mean, if I survive the transmutation?"

He felt his chest clench at the casual way the alchemist used when speaking of death. If it weren't for Al, would the boy before him even value his own life?

"Of course."

He bit out. Ed's eyes glittered in the darkness as they caught the light of the fire. He watched as each emotion played across the blonde's face. Sadness, hope, confusion…

"I've always kind of wanted to settle down and start a family."

Fullmetal answered quietly, and Ling couldn't help but laugh, because it was the last thing he'd expected to hear. The answering glare shut him up quickly, however, and he found himself struggling to fill the awkward silence once again.

"Would you ever consider coming to Xing?"

He asked meekly as the fire crackled between them. Edward scoffed.

"Yeah, you wish."

He replied cheekily, and Ling smiled, defeated.

'If only you knew.'

Eating

Edward Elric loved to eat. Ling Yao also loved to eat.

It seemed like a match made in heaven, until they realized that neither of them could cook to save their lives.

"You know, Ed, I never thought I'd taste anything worse than your cooked boot, but…"

Ling drew out slowly, pushing the heaping bowl of something as far away from him as possible.

"Screw you!"

The tiny alchemist huffed, picking at his own questionable meal in distain.

"Not now, Ed, I'm too hungry."

The Xingian groaned, resting his head on the table as Ed rolled his eyes.

"Fine, mooch, takeout again?"

He scowled, dumping his bowl in the garbage.

He swore he'd never seen Ling so relieved in his life.

Pain

Ed rolled his shoulder uncomfortably, brows knitted and eyes squinted in pain. A quiet hiss escaped his clenched teeth as he glared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Rain drummed steadily against the window, the fluorescent light above him flickering as the storm raged outside.

The ache in his right shoulder only increased as he stretched his tired back. Sometimes he wondered if he'd just be better off removing the automail and living without his arm and leg. With Al returned to normal, it wasn't like anyone needed him anymore anyway…

No, he'd die before he let himself be vulnerable like that.

A light rapping against the bathroom door caught his attention, and he struggled to find his voice through his discomfort.

"Are you alright in there?"

Ling called through the wooden barrier, voice thick with confusion and underlying concern.

Ed sighed shakily. He'd been in the bathroom for nearly ten minutes. His boyfriend must have figured something out.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He answered as calmly as he could muster, opening the bathroom and plastering on his best fake smile.

Naked

Ling was annoying, sure, but there was only one thing that Ed really hated about him, and in all honesty, he didn't really even hate it that much. Compared to all the little quirks of the Xingese teen's that he secretly loved but would never admit to caring for (like the geeky way that he smiled, or how silky smooth his skin was), it was terribly insignificant, but Ed could never quite bring himself to disregard it.

It was just unnatural and weird, and the alchemist was pretty sure it went against his morals.

Ling liked to walk around the house naked.

Not only was it terribly awkward if Ed were to decide to bring company over for dinner, but it was also just terribly awkward in general. After a long day dealing with a dick like Roy Mustang, he tried to reason with his boyfriend, the last thing he wanted was to open the front door just to see an actual dick.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the Prince would constantly attempt to persuade him to join him in his nudist ways, and no matter how many times Ed turned him down, the squinty-eyed boy wouldn't give up!

"But it's sexy!"

Ling would argue when he refused to tear off his clothes like some type of animal.

"There's absolutely nothing sexy about it!"

He would screech in return, red-faced.

They would go on like that for a while, until Ed finally got fed up and stormed out of the room.

It was hopeless to beg, Ling knew, but the idea of a naked Edward running around their apartment was too much to pass up.

Maybe someday the tiny alchemist would finally come to his senses.

Valuable

Contrary to popular belief, Ed cared an awful lot for his Xingese boyfriend. Not that he would ever say it out loud, but every so often he liked to do something nice for the teen, just to show how much he appreciated his company.

It was never anything big, no, and Ling never mentioned if he noticed or not, but Ed was sure he knew. He wasn't nearly as stupid as he looked after all.

"Edward," Ling called from the kitchen one day, as the blonde in question folded laundry in the other room. "When did you buy this mantou?"

The eldest Elric was silent for a moment.

"I thought you liked mantou."

He spoke, his statement becoming more of a question than anything else.

"I do" Ling answered cheerfully. "It's my national dish. Did you know?"

Of course he did, but his boyfriend didn't have to know that.

Gross

When Ling was growing up in Xing, he always liked to start his day with a nice hot cup of Chai tea. It calmed his nerves and prepared him for a stressful day of survival, because back then he didn't have the skills he had now, and many of his siblings' assignation attempts came entirely too close for his comfort. Before crossing the desert to Amestris, he hadn't even thought to stock up on tea, because really, didn't everyone drink it in the morning? It was so common-place in Xing that he couldn't imagine life without it.

He was sadly mistaken, however, because while tea was available in this strange country, they didn't have Chai and no one seemed to drink it in the morning. He'd been terribly disappointed at first, and downright disgusted when he'd learned what Amesrtians drank instead.

"Cow-feet?" He asked incredulously, eying the tar-black substance that sat oh-so-innocently in the steaming mug before him.

Ed scoffed, taking a drink of his own sewage-colored drink before fixing his lover with a glare.

"It's not 'Cow-feet', it's coffee, and that was goddamn expensive, so you'd better drink it."

The so-called coffee seemed to mock him with its pungent scent, and he pushed the mug away in disgust, shaking his head.

"You Amestrians seriously replaced good, healthy tea with this garbage? You're such a strange people."

The blonde scowled as he took another drink.

"Well, your goddamn tea doesn't have caffeine in it, does it? I can't work if I don't have caffine, and if I don't work, I won't have money for your stupid imported tea, so shut the hell up and drink, asshole."

Ling blinked dumbly at the alchemist's threatening smile, choosing rather wisely to keep his mouth shut and take a halfhearted gulp of this sludge that Edward had the nerve to call a beverage.

Kiss

Ling smiled sweetly down at his blonde boyfriend, brushing a few stray hairs from his face before planting a gentle kiss on his brow. The alchemist flushed a pretty shade of pink, shoving his hands in his pockets before pulling away. The Prince's brow furrowed.

"You don't like it when I kiss you there?"

He asked softly, running his fingers through the silky gold of Edward's hair. The blonde laughed sheepishly, standing on the tips of his toes to kiss the taller boy timidly on the lips.

"That's not it, stupid." He mumbled, averting the golden eyes that Ling loved so much. "It was so… cute… so I had to hold myself back from jumping you."

The Xingian chuckled softly, ghosting his lips over the elder Elric's ear before whispering, ever so softly,

"Don't hold back, love."

Fin.

Senior year starts for me tomorrow, so I wanted to post just one more thing before then. It's rather innocent compared to my last Ed/Ling story, but that's because it was written for someone very sweet.

In the seventh drabble, I mentioned mantou. For anyone who was wondering, it's a steamed bun. It's also apparently Northern China's national dish.

By the way, I love coffee, so don't think I'm hating on it or anything! (haha) I drink it black, because I don't like creamer or sugar, but when I drink tea I have to add a little Splenda because I like it sweet. I love tea so, so much.

Alright, beverage rant over. Reviews are very-much appreciated!