Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Choice Tastes ❯ One-Shot

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Fullmetal was being uncustomarily quiet.

Mustang paused over the paperwork he had been working on, listening. It wasn't that it was altogether unusual for Edward to indulge in a bit of sulking after any particular mission assigned to him by his superior. In fact, the blond did it quite often-- the Colonel's door would suddenly slam open, and there Edward Elric would stand, for just one brief moment, before he would stalk in and throw himself heavily down on the leather couch. (It was always the one to Mustang's right, the Colonel had noticed once, idly.) And after a moment of sullen silence, which seemed to say, I hate you sometimes, but you always seem to know what's going on, damn you-- well, after a moment Fullmetal would start... twitching.

Taptaptaptap would go his fingers on the arm of the couch, each digit falling in rapid succession. Tap tap tap they might go as well, steadily, against the plastic lid of a cup bought at the small convenience store across the street. (Orange juice, Alphonse had suggested once, when older brother had been faced with little else besides alcohol or milk. And so Edward drank orange juice.)

It had become almost a ritual by now. Edward would return from his recent assignment, juice in hand, and then Mustang would ignore him until the tapping began, and until he deemed it a sufficient enough interval for him to have become reasonably annoyed by the rythm. He would look up, raise a cynical eyebrow, ask "Yes, Fullmetal?" with unforced patience. Fullmetal would grin at him, self-confident smirk alighting in golden eyes, and give you your damn report, taisa, though not without a few barbs from both sides peppered throughout.

Ah. There it was, then. Fullmetal had no plastic cup today-- it was ten-thirty at night, no privately-run store would be open now-- and the fingers of his left hand were not drumming a steady, gloved rythm upon the arms of his couch, though it had been quite a few moments since Edward's arrival. Mustang took a sip of his cooling coffee.

When he looked up a moment later, curiosity piqued, it was only to smirk and go back to his paperwork, mood considerably lightened. So even Fullmetal fell asleep in the plain view of others, sometimes. Despite the rumors circling, the boy was only human-- and just that, as well. A boy. Almost a man, perhaps, on the inside, in his eyes, but very much a boy outside.

"Hey."

Mustang managed not to reveal his surprise at the sudden voice. Instead, he raised a lone eyebrow, and glanced up, not bothering to lift his head up from his paperwork. Edward was still a picture of relaxation, golden head fallen back to rest against black leather, only now one bright eye was half open, staring curiously at him.

"'S that stuff any good?"

Mustang glanced from the blond to his coffee and then back again, a thoughtful expression lighting his dark eyes, and after a moment leaned his chin on his loosely-fisted hand and made an inviting head-tilt toward the cup. "Would you like to try, Fullmetal?"

Calling him by his second name had the desired effect, and Edward's eyes sharpened as he took in the subtle jibe, a hint that, although the atmosphere was more relaxed than it usually was during their confrontations, this was, and always had been, a contest between them. Fullmetal sighed exaggeratedly, but eased himself off of the couch nonetheless.

The blond took the offered cup with no further prodding, but Edward gave it a look of undisguised distrust as he sat back down. It was only the sight of Mustang's superior smirk that urged him onward, and with a look of inward trepidation Edward tilted his head back and took a large drink of the coffee.

Mustang's eyes softened as he allowed himself to take in the unadulterated look that blossomed across Fullmetal's face as the dark liquid hit his tongue. The blond had never mastered the art of keeping his emotions from showing on his face, and so the colonel could see clearly when Fullmetal looked like he would like to spit out the daring gulp he had taken. But, true to his nature-- and with Roy watching him so closely-- Edward swallowed convulsively, forcing the drink down his throat. The face that he directed at Mustang once he had mostly gotten the taste out of his mouth was priceless.

"Why the hell do you drink this stuff!?"

Dark eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. "You have a problem with it, then?"

Edward's jaws snapped shut at the tone, teeth grinding together audibly and golden eyes flashing. That damn colonel just had to poke at him, didn't he? Well, then... With one quick glance at Mustang, to make sure the colonel was watching closely, he brought the cup back up to his lips, tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and drained the cup dry. Hah. Let's see you top that. See how you do without your damn coffee, taisa.

Mustang watched as Fullmetal recovered from his second taste of coffee, watched as the blond drummed his fingers on his thigh and considered the black cup with the silver military logo emblazoned upon it thoughtfully for a moment.

"Actually, it's not bad." Edward announced at last, grudgingly. "A bit overwhelming at first, but I could get used to it." Much like some people I know. He grinned at the colonel, lowering his eyelids and managing to pull off a decent copy of the colonel's 'I think I've won this round' look. The cup he twirled lazily around one gloved finger.

Mustang sighed regretfully and sat back in his chair, though the corners of his mouth twitched up the slightest bit. He didn't think he would be getting his cup back anytime soon.

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Well, this started out one way, headed in a certain direction for a while, then totally turned around and headed a different way about halfway through. ^.^ Hope it doesn't show too much.

This is unbeta-ed, soo... ^.^; Please, constructive criticism very much wanted. This is only my second FMA drabble, and I haven't written very much recently.

Cheers!
Nozomi