The Rain

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Ink Burns

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

This is a work of fanfiction, produced according to the principles of transformative fair use as put forward in US copyright law, and abiding by the custom and practice of fan-produced work in Japan, where the source texts were created. No author is in any way affiliated with any of the creators of the source texts, nor with the companies who distribute their products, nor any other rights holder, and these stories were not authorized by either the creators or the producers. Ink Burns is a fan site and the material here is freely provided for the enjoyment of fellow fan-community members; there is no commercial infringement.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 US license at the Ink Burns fanfiction archive (http://alltrees.org/archive/).

Published on 2004-03-06 21:06:00.

Attributions can be made by author's name and a link to the archive.

This ebook edition was published on May 16, 2012 by the Ink Burns fanfiction archive.

The Rain

Ed and Roy go for a walk in the rain... at least that was Ed's intention. Fluffy Drama, I-2.

- Associated Fanart: Roy in the Rain by Jedera

Edward Elric had spent years living out of his suitcase, and thought it a waste of time to actually unpack when he traveled. Accordingly, he dumped his current suitcase on top of a very battered chest of drawers, opened it and considered his unpacking done.

Ed wandered into the main room of the hostel suite and glanced at Roy, who stood at the window looking out at the breaking storm. They had barely beaten it to the door. Lightning flashed, a crack of thunder hard on its heels.

"So, I guess this means you'll spend today holed up inside?" Ed asked.

"I actually like rain, you know," Roy answered, tone reminiscent. "I used to go out in it all the time when I was little. Especially storms like this. Even when I started specializing, I still liked walking in it. It wasn't until later that it became," he paused a moment before finishing, "inadvisable."

Too dangerous, Ed translated. He gave Roy's back a long, thoughtful look, chewing on his lip. They had almost two days, yet, before the Fel garrison commander was expecting them. He knew Roy wanted to surprise the man, but maybe they had a little time, too, for the wistfulness in Roy's voice.

Ed went to Roy's side and held out his hands. "Come on."

Roy laid his hands in Ed's with a tiny smile. "Where?" he inquired.

"Outside."

Roy halted. Ed tightened his grasp.

"Look, no one knows we're here yet, right? And you're out of uniform. And neither of us have ever been here before so it's not like anyone will recognize us. We're about as safe as we can get." He tugged lightly, urging Roy to come with him. After another moment of frozen hesitation, Roy did.

They had wound up in one of the second floor suites with an outside entrance. The landing in front of their door was small enough that Ed, locking up, felt the shiver that ran through Roy as the rain struck them. Roy descended the stairs slowly, looking up rather than at where his feet were going, and Ed had a momentary qualm. He couldn't, offhand, remember Roy acting quite this absent-minded ever before.

When they reached the street Roy stood with his eyes closed for a moment, and Ed saw another shiver pass over him. Lightning flashed. In the taut silence before the thunder Roy tossed his head back, flinging his hair out of his eyes, and laughed. He spun towards Ed and held out a hand.

"Come on," he called over a long rumble.

Ed's eyes widened.

Roy's smile was open and unconstrained, and his eyes were bright. He looked barely older than Ed.

"Come on," Roy repeated. His grin practically glowed. "If you think you can catch me!" And he was off running, with another laugh, stride long and easy. Ed stood, open mouthed, for several long moments before collecting himself sufficiently to give chase.

Roy was in the town square by the time Ed caught him, standing with his face tipped up to the sheeting water. Ed touched his shoulder just a bit cautiously. Justifiably so, in his opinion, since Roy promptly clasped his wrists and proceeded to swing the both of them in circles until Ed was dizzy. When Roy finally caught him close, Ed could feel that he was laughing again.

When Roy kissed him, Ed tasted the rain on his lips. Roy's mouth was hot in contrast to the water running down them, hot and... bright somehow. That was the only word that came to Ed, the only one that fit this open, laughing, dripping, Roy who kissed him the the middle of the town's public center with thunder rolling overhead. Ed clung to him, dizzy again. He felt like he'd been dropped from a great height, and somehow missed the ground.

Roy drew back slowly, resting his palm against Ed's cheek for a moment before taking his hand. They strolled back through the storm, Ed just a bit dazed, Roy with a bounce in his step that almost qualified as skipping.

"Here," Ed said, once they were standing in their entryway again, "let me dry us off."

Roy caught his hands, keeping them apart. "No, no, trying not to get too much water on the floor while dashing for towels is part of the fun," he admonished, eyes sparkling.

Words failed Ed completely, and he let Roy drag him down the short hall without protest.

The bathroom was not made for two people, and Ed was laughing himself by the time they managed to peel off their soaked clothes and dump them in the tub to drain. Ed spent a moment longing for the plush robe he had stolen from Roy; cotton just wasn't the same. They completed the afternoon's exercise in the miniscule kitchenette, where Roy made tea.

"Is this part of the fun too?" Ed asked with a tiny grin, as he accepted his mug.

"Certainly," Roy answered serenely. "In the summer, at any rate. Hot cocoa in the fall."

Ed forgot his tea, gazing up at Roy instead. He had never seen Roy's eyes this brilliant, or his mouth this relaxed, not drawn the way it usually was even when he smiled. He was absolutely beautiful like this. Roy looked up from his own mug and tilted his head, questioning. Ed caught up Roy's free hand, bending his head over it, pressing the strong fingers to his lips. "Roy..." he whispered.

Roy knelt, coming down to where he could see Ed's face again. "Ed? What is it?"

Ed looked at that unaccustomed, wild happiness lingering in Roy's face and was suddenly, absolutely infuriated. He pulled Roy into his arms and buried his face in Roy's shoulder.

"Damn them all to hell for making you hide this," he breathed, almost shaking with rage. He heard the faint thunk of Roy's mug on the table, felt Roy's hand stroke his still-damp hair.

"Ssh. It's all right. It's only hidden, not gone. If it were," Roy's voice picked up an edge of teasing, "you'd never have convinced me to surprise you, today."

Ed relaxed again with a shaky sigh. "I just wish," he stopped, considered, and went on anyway, "that I could see you this way more often."

"Well, now you know one way," Roy told him. Ed lifted his head to give his lover a wry smile.

"Guess so. Thunderstorms. Who'd have thought?"

Roy gave him back another bright grin. "Get your tea," he directed, "I want to watch the rest of it."

Ed trailed after him, and consented to curl up with a blanket in the open doorway, where they could see the sky, but insisted that Roy sit upwind and keep him from getting wet again.

End