For Her. For Him.

A/N: Who'd have thought a sentence I added to the end of the last chapter as an afterthought would completely change what could have been a very fluffy part of the story, oh well, I don't take it back. I am so overwhelmed. I have over 3,000 hits and nearly 100 reviews. Thank you to everyone who's reading, and especially to my reviewers.

Chapter 20

Ice Cream and Potato Chips

Roy sat beside Ed, each holding a box of popcorn as they took their seats, Fullmetal on Roy’s right, on the aisle so that he could make the twenty trips he would likely need to take to the bathroom, without disturbing anyone. Roy felt like a thief for taking that kiss, and when he looked at the teen, he couldn’t help but feel guilty. Though Ed had assured him that he didn’t feel a sense of remorse over their kiss, Roy swore he saw sadness in that amber gaze.

He sat his drink on the floor as well as the popcorn and twisted his body to the smaller one at his side. Ed was sitting, elbow on his armrest, fingertips on his lips.

“Are you okay?”

“Hm?” Fullmetal said, tilting his head to face Roy. “Oh, I’m fine.”

Roy tucked the dyed brown hair behind Ed’s ear. “You’re crying. It was the kiss, wasn’t it?”

“No, it’s just the hormones, Colonel, don’t worry.” Ed sighed, seemingly unaware he had. “You seem really worried about how I feel about it. I told you it was really good.” Ed rubbed his eyes with his human hand. “Was there something wrong with your first kiss?”

At the bittersweet memories that question evoked, Roy felt his lips turn up almost at their own volition. “No, my first kiss was fine. Strange, but fine.”

“Do you mind me asking about it?”

“No.”

“Who was she?”

“Maes.” With that said, Roy took a moment to savor the expression of shock on Ed’s face.

“H-how?”

Roy reached under the seat and pulled out his drink, taking a sip before replacing it. “I was twelve, and Maes was fourteen. He’d been my best friend as long as I could remember, and were both taking dates to the upcoming dance at our school, when, we decided, we were going to take the move and have our first kiss. Maes was pretty embarrassed that at fourteen he hadn’t managed to have his, and being his best friend, I was determined to do everything the same time he did and rub it in that I managed to do it two years younger than he had. But, we were both nervous that we’d do something gross or stupid to our dates while we were trying to kiss them. My date, I was pretty sure had never had her first kiss, but Maes knew his already had, a fact which I could vouch for. She’d have known the difference between a good kisser and an inexperienced one.”

Roy looked to Ed, his gold eyes watching intently.

“While I was spending the night at Maes’s house, we decided to give it a shot on one another, to make sure we didn’t screw our kiss up. After our first attempt on one another, we realized how terrible we both were, and spent an hour trying to get it right.”

“So you practiced on one another?” Ed asked. “That doesn’t really count.”

“That’s what we decided. We went to the dance, but poor Maes’s date decided she preferred the sports hero who didn’t wear glasses and left him at the dance. Mine decided that she was too young to have her first kiss, adding that she wasn’t even certain she wanted it from me.” Roy hadn’t even noticed until this moment that he had laid his hand over Fullmetal’s on the armrest they shared. “Being a stupid kid, I bragged to all of my friends that I was going to have my first kiss that night, and they were all expecting details. Lying has not been one of my fortes, and I wasn’t sure how to face my classmates with ‘details’ on my first kiss if it hadn’t really happened. On the walk home with Maes, I remember just looking up at him and saying, ‘I told everyone that I was going to have my first kiss tonight, and damn it, I am.’ So, I grabbed Maes by the face and pulled him down into our first kiss.”

“What did he say?”

“‘Wow.’ It was really very flattering.” Roy squeezed the hand beneath his own. “Though, ‘I knew I wouldn’t regret it,’ goes right up there in my book.”

Ed turned his head away and rested his head on his right hand as the movie began. Roy adjusted their hands to put his own beneath Fulllmetal’s, a better fit, his being the longer of the limbs.

********

When they returned to Roy’s house, after realizing that the three men from the office had followed them into the theater and back to the house, the colonel placed a kiss on Ed’s cheek before opening the door for them both and ushering Ed inside.

“I hope you had a good time,” Roy said as he placed his keys in a plate on the small table in the hall.

“I did.”

“You might want to get a bath to get that stuff off out of your hair.” Roy squirmed a little. “If you aren’t completely exhausted, I’ll fix us some kind of snack.”

“After all the food and popcorn, you think I’m still going to be hungry?”

Roy fished below his collar. “Well, you flicked half of your popcorn at me.” He pulled out a piece from the back of his shirt and tossed it at Ed, smacking him square in the nose.

Ed reached in the front of his shirt and pulled out a kernel. “So did you, Colonel Bastard.” He threw it at Roy, hitting him in the chest.

“Okay, so we both could use a snack. What would you like?”

“Ice cream and potato chips.”

“Separate or together?”

“Together.” Ed traipsed down the hall, making his way up to his bedroom and into the bath. Grateful that the bathroom at least had a shower, he climbed in the bathtub, trying not to let memories of his first kiss cloud his thought process too much. What did he expect? He was carrying Roy’s kids and the older alchemist was merely trying to keep their secret. Using as much shampoo as he could, Ed washed his hair, desperate to get as much of the brown gunk out of it as he could.

It was little wonder that Mustang managed to be so successful with women. That kiss had been incredible, so tender, yet enough to still make Ed’s legs want to melt. He only wished it had meant something, anything. Perhaps like Mustang, he had simply shared his first kiss with a friend. But unlike Mustang, Ed’s first kiss had also been with the person he’d had a mild crush on for the last year.

Satisfied that as much of the brown stuff was out as was coming out, Ed stepped out of the tub, drying his body off. He didn’t know if he would get used to this. It felt as though he was an alien in someone else’s body. The only things about it that looked familiar anymore were his automail. The chest was strange, the stomach ever enlarging, his body swollen everywhere else. It all felt so unnatural. He grabbed the nightshirt that Roy had first dressed him in after he’d woken up in blood. He hated to admit that he liked the thing, but it was one of the few things left that didn’t constrict over his stomach or chest while he slept.

Ed made his way back downstairs, his automail limb making his walk sound uneven on the wooden floor. He was met in the hallway by Mustang, who carried two bowls of ice cream.

“Much better.” Mustang said as they walked into the study together. “I prefer you as a blond.”

The two sat on the sofa, Roy handing Ed his ice cream and potato chips. Ed fidgeted, trying to get comfortable. He heard a clank as the bowl with spoon still inside was set on the nearby table.

“Ed, turn a bit. Put your back toward me.” Ed did as instructed and faced away from the man, almost moaning as he felt those strong hands moving over his shoulders and down his back. “Feeling better?”

“Much,” Ed said, using the word to cover over the moan that he had been holding in. “Why are you so considerate?”

“Because I want to be.”

“Because of the babies.”

“Well, I don’t think I’d be doing some of the things I have been if it weren’t for them.” Ed nodded. “I can’t really imagine you wanting ice cream with soggy chips if you weren’t pregnant.”

Ed turned, putting his back to the sofa. “Thanks for the massage.” He began scooping the melting chocolate ice cream into his mouth.

“Ed? What is it? You’ve been sad all night. Was it the kiss?”

Ed slammed the spoon into the bowl. “Why are you so worried about that kiss. It wasn’t the kiss, okay. I just wonder if I wasn’t a human incubator if you’d be treating me this good. It felt more natural when you glared at me and got angry whenever I put any claim on the kids. Yes, I know why you did it. Now I’m waking up to you holding me, you’re kissing me, and I just don’t get it.”

Roy grabbed Ed’s face between his hands, squeezing his lips into a ridiculous fish expression, chocolate ice cream still lingering on them. “Do you really think I’m being this nice to you just because of them?”

“Yesh,” Ed answered, face pressed by Roy’s hands.

“Ed, look at me in the eyes."

“Not giving me much choish.”

“No I’m not.” For the second time that night, Roy planted his lips on Ed’s, the sensation being somewhat odd, as his own were still parted by the force of Roy’s hands on his cheeks. He wanted to just melt into the kiss, but instead squirmed away. "Ice cream and potato chips," Roy mumbled to himself before turning to Ed, as though beginning a lecture. “Now, you may have preferred your first kiss to have been from Winry or--”

“Winry? Yeck! That would be like kissing my sister.”

“Then another pretty girl--”

“What ever gave you the impression I wanted my first kiss to be from a girl, Colonel Bastard?” For once, it seemed Ed had caught the colonel speechless, and with a gratified smirk, Ed ate more of his ice cream. “But you, I never would have expected to like men.”

“I’ve always appreciated beauty in all its forms, masculine or feminine, Edward.” Ed placed his bowl down on the table beside him and turned to the man beside him.

“And what am I?”

“Right now? A little of both,” Roy turned to face Ed to know he was half-joking.

“Bite me.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Roy said with an evil smirk.

“Bastard.”

Ed grabbed that face, determined to wipe the smirk off, and pulled it to his own, mashing his lips against his superior officer’s, allowing his tongue to dart out between his lips, seeking for Mustang to allow him access. When Roy actually parted his lips, Ed put his own tongue inside of the other man’s mouth, not really sure what to do once it was in there. As though sensing Ed’s confusion, Roy moved his own tongue against Ed’s guiding it how to move, pushing Ed’s pink organ around inside of his mouth. Getting the idea, Ed took the kiss over, exploring the other man’s hot, wet mouth to become nearly as familiar with it as he was with his own.

When he pulled away, Ed looked at Roy. “You got to take the lead in my first kiss. I wanted the lead when I did that for the first time.”

Roy ran a hand along the side of Ed’s cheek.

“So what does this mean?” Ed asked.

“I am not sure.”

At that, Carlida hopped onto Ed’s lap. Behind her, Black Hayate followed, hopping onto Roy’s, knocking the wind out of the older man, earning a laugh from the blond. In apology, the dog proceeded to lick every square inch of Roy’s pale face, while Carlida purred contentedly against Ed’s sensitive stomach so loudly, he felt certain that the babies were vibrating.

Beside him, Roy was pushing the dog’s head down, trying to command it to be still. Finally, once the dog was calmed down, the colonel wiped his face. “I think I prefer your tongue to his.”

Ed jabbed Roy in the arm with his elbow. "Now, why did you have to ruin a perfectly nice moment by saying something like that, you dirty old man."