More Than You Know

MORE THAN YOU KNOW

A Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction

Chapter Six: Adopted

-

Roy Mustang found himself scrambling out of bed with a sharp intake of breath with the unusual change of atmosphere in the small bedroom. On the floor beside him, (the blonde had seemingly refused to actually sleep in the bed next to him) Edward had both fingers tangled in his thick hair, his eyes sqeezed shut, moaning loudly.

Muttering, the Cononel ran his fingers though his hair, pushing it away and on end and ruining his calm exterior. He could only guess what time it was. The sky outside was an inky blue-black that threw the entire room into shadows. Edward had left Roy's table light on, though, and it threw patterns across the room, across his bed, across the blonde's sleeping face.

"Urgh...aa..." he whispered, his loud groans dying down. His eyelids fluttered for a moment, and the Colonel watched curiously, wondering if the blonde would awake and frown knowlingly up at him, asking him what God dropped dead and gave him the right to watch him while he tried to sleep. Slowly, Roy felt a fond smile touch the corners of his lips.

( No master I ever knew would let their slave go through their personal records, talk back to them, and refuse to confess their intentions without severe punishment )

"No." he said aloud, biting down on his lower lip, "He's had punishment enough. And I promised myself I wouldn't touch the boy."

"True." said a voice in his head, "But you can always sell him."

The Colonel laced his fingers together, his mind drifting...

And then Maria's echoing voice began to whisper in his ear. "You didn't buy him for additional stress." she had said sweetly, holding her mug between two slender hands, "You bought him for your own pleasure. For once, Colonel, don't feel for the boy. If you want someone to care for, adopt a son."

( I think I just did )

The phone ring pierced heavily through his faults, making him jump in his tracks and spin around wildly, eyes wide and seeming painfully stretched in his current drowsy state. Groaning, he slammed one hand down on the receiver and pressed it to his ear.

"Colonel?" her voice sounded surprisingly lively and magnified in the silence of the house. He had a wild urge to shuh her on the impulsive thought that she would wake up the sleeping child next to him, and then, shaking off the fault as quickly as it had come, he felt realization sink in as his mind paired voice and body together to make...

"Second Lt.?" he whispered huskily.

"Yes." she giggled. "I wanted to talk to you about selling Ed."

Roy felt his heart leap up into his throat. "No." he said quickly, his fingertips feeling strangly numb. "I'm not interested. Is that all, Ross?"

"Let me talk." she giggled girlishly, and then: "I have an absouloutly fantastic friend who's looking for someone of the sort."

"Of what sort?" he whispered.

"You know..." she muttered greasily, and then: "If you ever have any doubts or second thoughts, you know who to call. She's willing to pay quite a bit for the boy. I'll bring her into work just to introduce the two of you"

Roy's lips felt cold and numb. "Thanks." he whispered.

Maria clicked her tounge impatiently over the phone, and then gently whispered: "See you, then." Roy jumped at the sudden change from her soft voice to a loud, harsh dialtone.

Cursing, he threw the phone back to it's reciever. Ed's sleeping form twitched and then shot up, supported by his pale elbows. His face was pale and his eyes were as wide as china plates.

"What?" he whispered, "What!"

"Just me." Roy said cutiously. "Damn insurence company."

Edward raised an eyebrow, his face seeming too pale for his annoyed expression. "That's all?"

The Colonel forced a smile unto his face. "Might as well stay up, we're leaving in two hours."

"No, thank you." he hissed, letting his body fall with a soft thump back unto the bed.

"I'm taking you with me." he said, raising his voice to carry across the room. Edward flinced. "Why?" he snapped, rolling over to lock his golden irises on the painted roof. "So I can fuck up your day again?"

"Don't be so cocky."

"Yes, Master." he hissed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Harsh." The Colonel whispered, turning to his dresser and fishing out his uniform. "You really don't socialize well, eh?"

Ed turned heavy eyes on him. "Not with you, anyway."

"Why? Afraid I'll rape you?"

Ed's eyes grew large in his pale face. "No." he said softly, and his voice sounded unnaturally normal. "Not after yesterday. If so, you'd just be another fucker looking for a kid half your age to work outside until they're sweaty enough to screw."

"I'm touched." Roy grinned, surpressing the urge to laugh.

"You should be." he stretched, yawning as he did so, his bright hair spilling gracefully over his tanned shoulders. "D'ya have a rubber band?"

Roy snatched one off the dresser and threw it at him. Ed caught it with one hand and quickly pulled it over his wrist, his slender fingers weaving his hair into a thick braid. The Colonel watched with bland curiousity as he snapped the rubber band over his hair, cut off cleanly and churlishly. He felt a smile touch his lips. "Who taught you how to do that?"

"Mama."

He felt his tounge swell. "Is she a slave too?"

"I don't believe there are slaves in heaven." the blonde said thickly, his eyes hardening in a shockingly stoic manner. Roy felt his breath catch.

"How did she die?"

"A plauge. Me and Al were immune. I almost wish we weren't, though. We depended on her."

"Al..." he muttered. "I've heard that name before. Some boy you wanted to see?"

"He's my brother." he whispered curtly.

"Ahh, brotherhood." The Colonel snapped the buttons of his uniform tactfully over his bare chest. "The beauty of family and of love. So where does he live?"

"I don't know." Ed retorted huskily. "Probably back at Winry's."

"Your girlfriend?"

"My FRIEND." he said, his voice on the verge of shouting, and this time, Roy had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Ed obviously noticed the redness creeping into his face, as he folded his arms over his chest and clicked his tounge loudly against the roof of his mouth in annoyence.

"He's not a slave either?"

"Nah."

"Why not?"

"Mm...several reasons. All of them too complex for you to understand."

"Is that so?" he said thickly, turning around to face the blonde as he fixed to collar of his blouse. Edward grinned widely in response to the annoyence in his voice. "Ahh..." he said thickly, raising his hands and shoulders in a childish shrug. "Not all of us are blessed with knowledge."

"Slave's arn't supposed to be educated."

"How many times do I have to tell you?" he said loudly, "I wasn't always a slave! Can't you get that into your head?"

"Forgive me, Xiao." he said sarcasticly, his mood brightening. But behind him, Edward's voice deeped from a joking, friendly tone to heavy a heavy air of seriousness: "It's Edward."

Roy frowned, folding his nightgown carefully and placing it on his dresser. "Edward." he repeated softly. "Forgive me, Edward."

-

Envy brushed the back of his neck impatiently, his eyes blinking slowly up at Lust. The sin was clad in her usual long, tight dress, but she had chosen to wear something that crawled up her neck and hid her cleavege. Obviously, Envy thought, to hide that tatoo.

"How do I look?" Envy said mockingly, striking a feminine pose.

"Just like Maria." she said thickly, rolling her eyes. "Don't forget her mole, you careless thing."

Envy smirked and pushed to Colonel's door open wordlessly. Lust stepped inside carefully, brushing her thick hair over her shoulders. Inside sat the Colonel, his face hidden by the shadows as he bent over, scribbling thoughtlessly over a notepad.

"Hello." he said, raising his head at the sound of Lust's entrance. "And you are?"

"Clara." she said. "Maria's friend." she narrowed her eyes, casting them over the office. Roy raised an eyebrow. "Quite dressed for the ocassion, eh?"

"Quite." she whispered sweetly. "Where's is he?"

"Right here." Ed spoke loudly from behind her, his eyes blazing with angry recognition. "Why are you here?"

"Ooh," she cooed, her eyes widening. "He's georgeous." Roy watched with unease as she bent her knees to his eye level and gave him a good look over, her hands steady on his shoulders. Edward's eyes narrowed in instant distaste. "What's it's name?"

"...HIS name, you mean." Roy said firmly, feeling a vien in his temple pulse thickly with unspent frustration. "His name's Xiao."

"Edward Elric." The blonde said loudly, his eyes blazing with rebellion.

Lust pouted. "He doesn't know his manners, does he?"

"Shut up." The blonde said loudly, his face an alien shade of red. "What do you want, L -"

She clapped a hand heavily over his mouth, making the Colonel jump at the sudden slap of flesh colliding against flesh.

"How rude." she whispered thickly. "Don't you know you're not to speak unless spoken to?" A smirk touched her lips. "Slave-boy." She brushed her thick hair behind her shoulder with a quick flick of the wrist. "You didn't resort to violence, did you, Colonel?"

Envy gave her a startled glance.

"It'll only rebel more if you get violent." she whispered huskily, her eyes glittering. "What you have to do is..."

She bent down, one slender hand curling under the blonde's chin, lifting his face up to meet her eyes.

"...teach it."

"I'm not the abusive type." Roy answered quickly, his face redening more and more.

"Hn." she retorted simply, her free hand wandering over the muscles in his arms and chest. "He's strong."

The Colonel bit the inside of his cheek to keep from answering rudely, the pulse in his temple speeding up unpleasently. Lust pulled tactlessly at his lower lip, examining his teeth, and finally pushed her knuckles up into the hallow of his chin, keeping his face in an upright position.

"Lovely eyes." she commented quietly. "He must be fun in bed."

Roy felt the little bit of self control he had been grasping so firmly unto slip between his fingers. His fists clenched suddenly, carving bloody cresent moons into his palms. He felt his teeth slip and scrape the inside of his cheek. The thick, cooper taste of blood filled his mouth. He heard Ed's broken voice

( Because that's what it is, isn't it? Rape? )

whisper harshly in his mind. Gritting his teeth, he looked away. A dark, angry blush spead across the bridge of Edward's nose, making his hair appear brighter than it truely was in contrast. Lust laughed softly at the reaction the simple sentence had drawn out of both of them, her voice hallow. Roy gathered himself together and began to talk through his heavily clenched jaw: "Do you have any other slaves, Clara?"

"Yes." She said simply. "A woman by the name of Liza. I need someone who can influence her and make up for the work she's ... well ... incapable of doing."

"No sex involved?" he hissed dryly.

She turned her face, now lit with a sarcastic grin, toward his darkened features. "Of course not. I was mearly referring to ... you know. Your relationship with him."

"Am I correct in assuming you have no knowledge of my relationship with Xiao?"

"It's Ed." she whispered, her eyes mocking him. "And you're correct, Colonel. That was my mistake to jump to conclusions. But..." a egotistical expression spread over her eyes. "How could a man resist?"

"How cruel of you, Clara." he whispered.

"Oh, yes." Lust retorted simply, a dark smirk touching her lips. She rose, her breasts swaying gracefully in her dark silk dress. "I must be heading home now. If you ever have any second thoughts, Colonel, I'll pay you as much as you want. Maria will contact me, so you needn't worry about my adress."

"...right." he whispered. "But don't get your hopes up. He's not for sale."

"No." she whispered, turning her pale face away from the Colonel and heading toward the door. He boots clicked softly on the clean floor, her hair swishing gracefully behind her. Envy's eyes followed her's heavily, narrowing in curiousity and a twisted sort of pleasure. On the way out, he heard her voice once more, very softly.

"Not yet."