The Bet of the Year - Chapter 35

[jarnsaxa]

A/N: Happy New Year!!! :D I wish you all an amazing year 2013!
@dormantdrake: Thank you for the link :D this really helps keeping the format intact ^^

Beta&Co-Author:Ca11iope ^^ I don’t think I will ever stop from thanking you :D Once again, thanks for a wonderful job done ^^ and thanks for the title XD At least when you do write them, they are longer than one word ^^°

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Chapter 35: The Beans and the Bombshell

Still Day 21

Roy looked at the man underneath him.

And the words stuck in his throat. Suddenly, the whole situation around the bet seemed completely ridiculous. Ed appeared increasingly uncomfortable while Mustang contemplated how to begin explaining this.

“Roy?” The blond man’s voice broke through the Colonel’s thoughts, and yes, Ed definitely sounded uncomfortable.

The older man wondered what he might think if he were in Ed’s position, a potential lover slamming on the brakes in the middle of a heavy make-out session, then hesitating to explain why. It wouldn’t be anything good, that was for sure.

Shit.

True, Roy could definitely be an asshole sometimes. A manipulative Bastard, as Ed liked to call him. But he was not a coward. He could do this. He just needed a suitable starting point, though blurting out, ‘There’s a bet going on’ probably wasn´t it.

For a moment, the Colonel considered dodging this by using the old ‘I want to take it slow’ escape clause, but immediately thought better of it. Edward knew him, knew who Roy was, knew his reputation, and Roy knew that kind of copout would blow right back into his face.

Damn. This was complicated, and complications made everything more dangerous.

When lying, there were a few things to avoid at all costs.  Improvising was fine, as long as it was kept simple. But inventing a complicated story on the spur of the moment for someone as intelligent as Ed… bad move. Time had to be taken to construct a plausible tale, which was not an option here. Ed wasn’t stupid. He would question the details, particularly if they seemed contrived. Roy would be better served by opting for some short-lived lie. It could work, as long as he could concoct a believable reason for his lie. It would at least give him time to come up with something better later.

But when building a complex series of lies, the most important rule of all was to either keep the number of people knowing about it small, or to have a large group of people ready to back the story up if necessary.

So, how many people knew the truth of the matter?

Breda. Havoc. Fuery. Falman. Hawkeye. Hughes. And the rest of the fucking military.

How many people could he count on to back up his story?  

. . .

Roy cleared his throat before speaking. “I need to explain something to you, so please hear me out first before you –“ What? Before freaking out? Before kicking his ass and throwing him out? Before wanting nothing more to do with him? Roy uncomfortably swallowed the lump in his throat. “-make a decision.”

One blond eyebrow arched up, then golden eyes narrowed.

It took a few moments before Ed slowly nodded.

The moment Roy opened his mouth to begin, there was a knock at the door.

He froze.

No way.

The knock repeated.

Roy groaned.

Roy wanted to burn to a crisp whoever was writing the shitty script that was currently his life. Things like this didn´t happen in real life. This was what happened in a miserable, character torturing novel written by some sadist who got their kicks by putting the protagonist into the most awkward situations imaginable.

“Ignore it,” he told Ed, pleadingly. Whoever it was would go away if they though no one was at home.

“Yo, Roy!” Maes voice was clear through the door.

Mustang closed his eyes in defeat while Edward sighed. Both men knew that Maes Hughes wouldn’t give up until he found a way in, and a locked door would not stop him.

The older alchemist took a deep breath, then lifted himself off the younger man. Ed blinked in irritation and looked down towards Roy’s lap. The eyebrow rose again.

It figured. The general was not at all impressed with the situation and had decided to ignore everything that had happened since the moment Roy had decided to talk to Edward about the bet. Despite the fact that the change of mood had pretty effectively killed Ed’s arousal, Roy’s own boner was refusing to back down. And while Roy himself had come to terms with his body’s reaction to the lack of sex, Edward appeared both irritated and intrigued by the fact that even the imminent, unwanted arrival of the nosiest, most meddlesome man in the Amestrian military – no, make that all of Amestris - had done nothing to diminish Roy’s erection.

“I´ll send him away,” Ed said, getting up and pulling his own clothes into place. “And then we´ll…” his eyes wandered down towards Roy’s lap and he bit his lip “..talk.” The blond’s sour tone told Mustang exactly who he blamed for talk being necessary at all.

Roy grimaced the moment Edward turned away.

Right. Talk. As if he wouldn´t prefer to be doing something else. But with this damn bet in the way, there was nothing else to be done but deal with it.

Sighing, Roy looked down. He was not going to be able to close his pants in his current state of arousal and –

Hughes burst into the room, closely followed by a clearly pissed Edward Elric. So much for sending Hughes away. He should have known.

Then Maes noticed Roy’s state of undress and the very prominent reason for it, pointing straight at the Investigations officer like an accusing finger.  He stopped as abruptly as if he had run into a wall.

“Oh.” Maes said.

Roy scowled back. Without any effect.

Hughes grinned.  “Morning, Roy!” he said cheerfully. He didn´t greet the general as well, although Roy could see the mischief in his friend’s eyes. “Bad timing?”

“Hughes.” Edward growled behind him, quite livid. Uh oh.

Hughes only lifted his hands defensively. “Don´t worry, Ed. We shared a dorm in academy. That´s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Oh yes, that he had. Sending a dark look in his friend’s direction, Roy attempted to stuff his package back into his pants. Edward was radiating murderous intent right now, all directed towards the Investigations officer.

Now, wasn’t that just a delightful note of jealousy in his voice? Roy couldn´t help but smirk, even though his attempts to get fully dressed were beyond uncomfortable.

Once he managed to wrestle his manhood back into his pants, Roy hesitated. Jealousy had not been the only thing he had heard in Ed’s tone. There also was a rather heavily weighted bit of pure possessiveness there. Roy noticed that he had stopped wondering over the fact that he did not mind at all.

But Hughes obviously deemed it worthy of notice, because his eyes moved away from Roy and looked to Edward. Who stared right back stubbornly with a hard and demanding gleam in his golden eyes. For a few seconds, the two stared at each other down, and although he should see to it that his pants got closed, Roy couldn´t help but observe the encounter with all his attention.

Maes’ green eyes narrowed, but the blond alchemist was not about to back down. At. All. Roy was pleased that someone else had to deal with Ed’s stubborn nature, and was particularly pleased that it was the man who had interrupted a rather important discussion. Come to think of it, Maes was also the reason why a discussion was necessary to interrupt other, more pleasurable activities in the first place

The Investigations officer finally caved and turned his back towards the couch, giving Roy the not really necessary privacy Ed was demanding, and the Colonel couldn´t help but chuckle.

Ed’s eyes shifted back to Roy, and Mustang quickly returned to the dreaded task of getting his pants closed. To describe the process as uncomfortable would be like saying Riza kind of liked guns, phrasing it away to harmlessness. There was a throbbing ache in his lower stomach similar to cramps, and the pressure his closed pants put on his manhood actually hurt his balls. Getting the fly up and the button closed felt like the first stage of thumbscrew torture - not yet really painful, but still far from enjoyable.

The corner of Ed’s mouth twitched, betraying a hint of amusement over the amount of trouble Roy had in becoming decent.

“So… I´ve obviously interrupted something,” Maes stated to the wall. “Just how far did you two…”  

“There is nothing you need to know,” Roy cut in quickly, then wondered why he didn´t just outright tell Hughes that he had not lost the bet. After all, just a moment ago he was about to tell Edward what was going on. This was not the way Roy wanted the blond to find out about the ongoing wager however, so that bombshell would have to wait until later.

Roy finally finished packing himself away and pointedly cleared his throat as a signal for Hughes to turn around again. When the man did, his gaze instantly shifted to Roy’s now trapped but thankfully calming boner.

“What the hell is with you people?” Ed muttered darkly. “Why the fuck does everybody around here think it’s okay to stick their noses into things that are none of their business?”

Instantly, both Hughes and Roy perked up.

“Everybody?” Maes voiced the question on his friend’s mind as well. ‘Everybody’ definitely implied more than just Hughes, and the Investigations officer got a hint as to why Ed had suddenly been reluctant to accept his job offer.

Ed just groaned, realizing his slip had set him up for a grilling.

“Who exactly is ‘everybody’, Ed?” Roy wanted to know.

The blond just rolled his eyes. Clearly he was not willing to discuss the matter. Ed turned to square off against Hughes once more. “Why exactly are you here?” The blond bluntly changed the subject.

There was a moment of silence, and Roy could almost hear the wheels turning in Maes’ head as his friend contemplated what to do. Finally he decided to let the current matter drop and return to the reason for his presence.

“I need to have a talk with Roy,” Maes stated. “In private.” And when it appeared that Ed was ready to lose his temper over one of the many reasons he could lose his temper over right then – the time, the interruption, the invasion of his home – Maes quickly added, “It´s urgent.”

Ed’s golden eyes shifted toward him again, and Roy knew he was in a tight spot. Roy didn’t have to wonder what the younger man was probably thinking right now; Roy saying ‘There is something I have to tell you’ was probably rocketing through his mind. Hughes’ timing was beyond bad.

The urge to prevent Edward’s thoughts from running further down a track Roy did not want them to go was almost overwhelming. Mentally, he cursed Hughes, and for a moment he was quite tempted to call the man out and insist that they have the discussion Maes deemed urgent right now, in front of Ed. At least that way the younger alchemist wouldn´t have to second guess what was going on.

But there were too many ways that course of action could go wrong when the Colonel didn´t know what it was Hughes wanted to talk to him about.

Roy stood up and moved to the door.  “I´ll see you soon,” he promised, as the blond man silently watched him get ready to leave. And when they did see each other again, both of them knew that explanations were in order.

It felt uncomfortable to leave like this. Edward probably didn’t think very highly of him at the moment. The young blond knew his former superior was keeping something from him, and after all Roy had done to gain Edward’s trust, leaving with Maes for a private discussion was bound to be a major setback. And that didn´t even take into account the fact that Roy Mustang, the infamous ladies man of Central City, had stopped them before they could sleep together. He really hoped Ed wouldn´t connect Maes’ behavior to Roy’s, and instead view the two situations as separate events.

Roy expected Ed’s reaction to him under the current circumstances to include anything from being suspiciously observed, ignored, thrown out, or result in perhaps a stubborn refusal to let Roy and Maes leave without some sort of explanation.

He certainly did not expect the blond to pull him in for an intense good bye kiss.

There were absolutely no words to describe the relief Roy felt when the younger man’s lips caressed his own. By some miracle, Ed was not angry. Suspicious, oh yes. But he was obviously not about to cut everything off without giving Roy a chance to explain.  The Colonel was extremely grateful that Ed had grown up a good bit while away, because a few years ago this scenario would have ended very differently.

“I´ll stop by on Monday at your lunch break,” the younger alchemist said.

Nodding slightly, Roy leaned down to kiss him again, suddenly on no hurry to leave. Ed was willing to hear him out. He could work this out. The last thing he wanted to do right now was let go.

And while Hughes pointedly cleared his throat, the younger alchemist wrapped his arms around Roy’s neck and returned the increasingly passionate kiss. Huh, maybe Maes could wait a bit longer. Outside the building, where he wouldn´t bother them again anytime soon.

“Roy.”

Something about the tone the Lieutenant Colonel used finally caused the Colonel to break off the kiss. Looking down at the slightly panting blond, he noticed a slightly mischievous smirk on the younger alchemist’s lips. Ed used his hold on Mustang’s neck to draw him back down. Roy could literally see the mischief in Ed’s eyes and knew that if he didn´t leave now, the blond would do his very best to see just how long he could drag this out. And in light of Maes’ recent behavior, making the Lieutenant Colonel wait would probably be considered a nice side effect.

And damn, Ed was very eager to make Hughes wait. The way he slightly nipped at Roy’s bottom lip before pressing his lips against the Colonel’s mouth was more than just enjoyable, and Mustang found himself unwilling pay attention to anything but the blond.  

Hughes at least had enough patience to wait another few moments before he called out Roy’s name again, but when he tried to pull back, mismatched hands buried their fingers in his dark hair. Ed opened his mouth to let Roy’s tongue in, and for a few seconds, the blond let him explore the warm mouth before attempting to regain control of the kiss. Oh, Roy liked the resistance. He was more than happy it was back. Unfortunately, a certain part of Roy’s anatomy still had not completely recovered from the last time Ed had kissed him like this.  And that particular part of Roy’s body was clearly demonstrating its delight at getting Edward’s attention again.

here was no way he could handle yet another hard on he wouldn´t be able to satisfy so quickly after the last one, and he was well on his way to getting one. Roy let go of the smaller man and sighed in regret.

“I´ll see you tomorrow,” he said.

He could feel Edward’s eyes on him as he followed Maes out of the apartment.

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In the small hours of the morning at Central Headquarters, one man entered an office, while another stood outside the slightly open door to keep guard. Both men had volunteered for guard duty this weekend, and a few clever changes in the duty schedule had brought them exactly where they wanted to be.

“Can´t that guy make anything easy?” the lower ranked man cursed as he sifted through various lists. It was fortunate that the list they were after wasn’t very long, and the soldier was grateful that the higher ups were usually lazy bastards.

“A freaking Monday. It just had to be a damn freaking Monday,” he continued to mutter under his breath. “What´s wrong with Tuesday? We could have done this on a regular work day instead of having to come here on a Sunday.”

“Stop whining,” the other man quietly told him. “You should be glad it´s Sunday. Imagine trying to do this, write the memos and deliver them without anyone noticing, all on top of our regular work? That would have sucked.”

The lower ranked soldier grimaced. “Don’t talk about… “ he broke off with a shake of his head. “I don´t even want to think about it.” He shuddered.

His partner grinned ferally. “See, that´s why we´re doing this. We’ve been planning this for a long time. Can you image what would have happened if we never found out? Would you ever have guessed-“

He broke off in the middle of the sentence when voices were heard down the corridor. Quickly, the two pocketed the whole schedule and left the office, just before another patrol, one male and one female soldier, turned the corner.

The three men and one woman greeted each other with slight nods. The moment the woman and man rounded the corner at the other end of the hall, the schedule was pulled out again. The higher ranked of the pair ran a finger down the list, grinning when he found the name he was looking for.

“And you thought this wasn’t going to be easy. The timing is perfect.” The man beside him grimaced again but said nothing. The ranking officer checked the other two names in the same time slot. “A private and a corporal...that´s all? Damn, our guys really are lazy.” He shook his head. It was pretty obvious that most soldiers didn´t know about being able to book the gym during working hours.

The other man looked where his superior was pointing. “You´re right, it’s almost too easy,“ he hummed in satisfaction. “These two won´t ask questions when they find these little guys in their mail.” He waved a small block of military memos in his partner’s face and smiled in satisfaction.

Part 2