The Un-fic

A/N: I'm glad everyone is enjoying this so much. It is a non-traditional pairing, but I've had fun with it.
Roy leaned against the tree, a smirk on his face as he heard Fullmetal talking to his brother.

Unsparing Trust

“I’m going to visit my second father and that smug bastard,” he said, apparently doing his best not to technically lie to his brother. Roy had long been disowned of the title of smug bastard in deference to his long-time friend. “Why don’t you just go back to the dorms?”

“Brother,” Al said, taking that ever chastising tone, “that isn’t very nice.”

Ed rolled his eyes. “Just go back to the dorms. I’ll be there soon enough.”

Al shook his helmet of a head and walked away, muttering something about his stubborn brother. Roy’s smirk turned into a full-out smile as he waited for Ed to walk by. He grabbed hold of the automail arm as he went by.

“I don’t think Maes would appreciate you calling him that.” Roy grinned down at the blond.

“Which one?” Ed asked.

“Either.” Roy released the young man’s arm, walking beside him in the strange comfort that overtaken the commanding officer and his subordinate in the last month. Ed was with Maes, and that was fine. Roy only found it slightly disturbing that Ed had called Roy a second father, yet was dating a man older than him. Or was it even dating, since the blond had only managed a few make-out sessions with Maes thus far?

Roy winced at the unpleasant mental image.

“So, did Maes talk to you about guys’ night out?” Roy asked as they walked into the Central Headquarters.

“Yeah, but I still don’t understand why it’s so important to him that I be there to watch you and the rest of your team get yourselves drunk.”

Roy shook his head as he lifted the flaps on his uniform to jam his hands in his pockets. “I think you’re missing the point.” Ed looked up at him, eyebrow raised. “Maes sometimes comes to these, and I’m sure he will if you are going to be there. He’s not a very heavy drinker, but once you get enough liquor in the others, well, Havoc and Breda aren’t going to notice anything, and Fuery will be too busy being entertained by them to really care what else is going on.”

Roy knew the kid was a genius, really he did, but at the moment, the young prodigy was being so dense, it made the older man question why on earth he’d thought the teen was capable of being a state alchemist in the first place.

“You, Maes and I will sit in a booth. No one will think anything of it, and you two will probably make me uncomfortable all night long.”

“You mean this would be a…” Roy chuckled at Ed’s struggle to say the word “date.” “And Maes wants to… not just at the office… And you're willing to cover...”

Roy waited until they were at the doors, not wanting to continue this conversation in front of some of his more nosy subordinates. He opened the door to his office, shutting it behind them, all the while ignoring Riza’s expression of understated surprise at the ease with which the two now spoke to one another. Having Ed no longer lusting after him… Roy shook his head, trying to dislodge that thought as unsuccessfully as he had so many others since Maes had decided to be with the teenager... Well, with Ed having someone to be interested in who wasn’t Roy had definitely paved the way for a comfortable friendship between them, one that damned Hawkeye—curse the person who named her so accurately—had not failed to notice.

“I’m not saying you will be able to try to swallow his face whole like you did in my office last week,” he said in an annoyed tone, still trying to shake the memory of his best friend and young subordinate in a lover’s embrace on his sofa, in his office, with the door unlocked. “This will be a public setting, and we can’t exactly have that.”

Ed only nodded, his head tilted downward as he watched his fidgeting hands.

“What is it, Fullmetal?”

“Is it a date, though? I mean, I’ve never… Do I bring chocolates, or… no… public setting, it wouldn’t be right. But should I dress up? Because I don’t have much more in my wardrobe but this.” He gestured with his gloved hands to his ever present red and black ensemble.

“It’s just the men from the office, Fullmetal. We’ll all probably still be in uniform, maybe partial uniform. Breda tends to end up down to his undershirt and pants by the end of the night. Less if you give him tequila.” Roy smiled as Ed blinked away the unpleasant image; serves him right. “So you will be fine.” Ed sat down on the sofa, not looking a bit comforted by those words. Roy sat beside the small teen, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to worry about the way you’re dressed, or how you look, Fullmetal, Maes is completely enamored with you. And if you’ve been around him when he talks about Gracia or Elysia, you should know how he gets when he’s completely head over heels about something.”

It wasn’t very often that Ed looked timid, even uncomfortable, usually putting up a tough façade, but over the last month, that had slowly come down as the teen struggled to find an understanding ear that wasn’t attached to the same person who spent hours each week kissing and petting him. At these moments, it was when Roy hated to admit he felt fatherly to the boy—despite the logistics of only a 13 year age difference—and wanted to try and make him feel better.

“You do realize how much Maes likes what you wear now, don’t you, Ed?”

“Huh?”

“All I hear about when you’re not around is how much he thinks about you, and how much he loves the leather pants.”

Ed flushed a bit at that, as did Roy. He felt a familial affection to the teen, which didn’t mean he felt comfortable telling him how often Maes talked about how “good Ed’s ass looks in black leather.”

“Listen, Ed, just come as you are. The only problem we’ll have is convincing the bartender that you’re not twelve, since you’ll need a footstool to see over the bar.”

“You damned bastard!” Ed yelled, smacking Roy hard with both hands. Just because they were on better terms didn’t mean he didn’t take every possible opportunity to make a short joke at the younger man’s expense.