Orphaned

Ed awoke to a warm sensation on his forehead. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the sun beams that were sifting through the blinds and hitting him in the face. He finally raised an arm to block out the painfully bright rays and rubbed his head where the warmth was. He grimaced as he felt a wet substance on his hand and glanced up to see a black-haired man. He smiled just the tiniest bit at the snoring face until he realized exactly what that warm, wet sensation was: drool. The blond let out a loud groan as he pushed Roy away and wiped furiously at the now-red spot, "That's just nasty." he commented to himself.

A final loud snore-like sound erupted from the other male's throat before his eyes batted open. He sniffed slightly and looked over at the loud boy next to him, "What's with all the noise?" he asked, stifling a yawn with his hand.

"You drooled on me!" Ed informed him, glaring.

An eyebrow raised at the accusation, "Oh?"

"'Oh' my ass, don't act innocent!"

Roy blinked a few times, having just woke up and being completely unaware of his major offensive action, "Uh...sorry?"

The smaller boy let out a frustrated grunt as he rolled off the bed, "Whatever." he mumbled as he made his way out to the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" the older one wondered, tilting his head slightly.

"To cook breakfast, I'm starving." the reply came from the other room.

'He just woke up, how can he already be starving?' Roy wondered, but just shrugged the thought off. He wouldn't be surprised if it was scientifically proven that Ed's stomach had been replaced with a black hole at some point in the boy's life. The 'I'm starving' part of the statement wasn't even the most surprising, "You don't want me to cook?" he called, tossing the covers off.

"You'd probably drool in my eggs." came the sarcastic response, "You know I don't like runny eggs."

"Really?" Roy asked, finally climbing out of his extremely comfy bed, "I would have figured you'd like runny eggs."

A suspicious glare was shot at the older man as he entered the kitchen, "Why would you think that?"

"Well, you're such a runt, I figured you could relate."

Ed growled in the back of his throat and was about to explode when the phone rang. A grin passed over the raven-haired man's face as he quickly went to the noise-making device to escape the fit he knew was about to be thrown, "Hello?"

"Hi there." came the all-too cheerful voice.

Roy secretly wondered how this man was this awake already, but just shook his head, "What is it?"

A pause silenced the conversation for a moment, "Why does there have to be anything?" the southern boy wondered, "I can't just call to chat?"

"Considering the circumstances of our relationship, I'd say no." the older one replied, bluntly.

Kanone scoffed slightly, "Well, then. I was calling to see if you had plans this evening, but I can see you probably need to practice your manners a bit more, so I won't interrupt you."

Roy sighed in defeat, "Will you get to the point?"

On his end, the golden-eyed boy smiled, "That's better. By your inquiry, I am to assume you are free later on?" Silence answered his question, and he continued, "Wonderful, how would you feel to a night out; perhaps dinner?"

"You do realize I already have a boyfriend." This remark raised suspicion from implied boy, who paused from cracking an egg open to glance at his 'boyfriend'.

'Like we're actually together.' Ed thought, snorting, and turned back to his meal. He didn't know why they continued to lie to each other like this; it was clear Roy felt nothing romantic for the boy. Or perhaps he did, and Ed was just too insecure and untrusting to see it, 'Even after all this time, why can't I open up to him more?' he silently wondered. Whatever the reason, he was sure he'd find the solution some day.

Kanone honestly didn't know how to react to the words that had just been uttered, and blinked at the phone, "I wasn't proposing a date." he informed Roy, "Simply dinner."

"Why would I want to have dinner with you?" he asked, not meaning it as harshly as the words implied.

"To discuss the terms of your agreement, of course." Kanone replied, matter-of-factly, "Certainly you didn't think I was asking you out." The idea was met with a brief laugh from the younger boy.

Roy growled, almost inaudibly, "What terms?"

A final chuckle sounded, "Well, I can't just have anyone working for me, now can I? We see what happens when I do that; I need to make sure you're trustworthy. I've already assessed your skills, so now the only aspect left is your...personality." He considered this criteria and frowned. Perhaps 'personality' wasn't the best word; lord knows if he placed heavy importance on personality, Roy would have been out the moment Kanone met him. Still, the skill and power was undeniable.

'Personality?' Roy wondered, "Where do you want to meet?"

"So impatient. You should really lighten up, you know that?"

The older man was getting a bit tired of the cheerful, in-your-face, optimistic personality of his former boss, "I was just asking where you wanted to meet. How is that being impatient?"

"You're really not one for small talk, are you?" came yet another pointless question.

An eyebrow twitched this time, "Why do you keep answering my questions with other questions?"

There was a blissfully-silent pause and Roy relaxed the tiniest bit before Kanone spoke again, "I was trying to make conversation with you, but it seems that isn't working. So, meet me at Geraldi's at 8." Without another word, the line went dead.

Roy blinked and stared at the phone for a second, a bit in shock at the change of attitude. He shook it off and hung up the phone, glancing over to see how Ed was progressing with breakfast, "Done yet?"

There was no answer for a moment as Ed turned off the stove and set the last few pieces of bacon on a napkin, "Yep." he replied, then proceeded to carry the food to the table and inhale it. Roy chuckled as he sat across from the human vacuum and grabbed a piece of toast before it was sucked up into the great abyss that was Ed's stomach. Once he was finished, Ed let out a loud burp and looked at Roy, "So, was it that guy on the phone again?"

The dark-haired man nodded in confirmation, "Yeah, Kanone. He wants me to meet him for dinner to discuss things further."

All of a sudden, Ed got very serious, "You're sure about this guy, right? I mean...I don't know what I would do..." he trailed off, looking down, 'I don't know what I would do if I lost you, too. Like I lost mom and dad...' Al had been the only person he could really talk to for years. Then, Roy came along. He changed so many things about Ed that even the boy himself was dumbfounded by how much more friendly and cheerful he was. By now, it seemed like a natural thing to laugh when six years ago, the thought would have never even crossed his mind.

"I don't know what it is about him, I just get this feeling whenever I'm near him. I can just tell that he has pure intentions." Roy was certain of his claims. Kanone seemed too innocent to be planning something evil. The older one believed the brunette when he said he simply wanted what was rightfully his. Though, he was a bit wary of the other's methods. Kanone, despite his friendly facade, seemed to be able to kill without hesitation. While that trait did prove handy at times, it was usually unnecessary. Then again, perhaps he was reading Kanone all wrong; maybe the latter wouldn't kill without an extremely valid reason. The little voice in the back of his head, though, told him that was anything but the truth.

"Just be careful." Ed warned, "This guy might have started the Underground out of good intentions, but he was also in power while it turned corrupt right under his nose. A man as powerful as you've described him not being able to do a thing about something like that? Not very likely. There might be more to him than meets the eye."

The words turned over in Roy's head as he finished a salvaged piece of bacon, "Maybe so, but we all have our skeletons. You can't hold it against him if he keeps secrets. Someone who's lived his life is almost forced into secrecy."

"I'm not worried that he's keeping secrets, I'm just worried about what those secrets are."

Ed's advice made enough sense, so the pyro nodded, "I'll keep my guard up." he said, hoping that would suffice. He couldn't avoid Kanone, the guy was everywhere, and he couldn't distance himself from him, or he would know that something wasn't right. Though, now that Ed had pointed it out, he didn't sense a little something about Kanone, almost sinister and deceiving. Whatever it was, it would have to wait until Roy had something to confirm these suspicions. It wasn't wise to make an enemy as powerful as Kanone for no good reason.