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It was early morning – early for them both, really. Rian was shoulder-to-shoulder with Edward now, jousting for space in front of the mirror in the tiny bathroom as they both rushed through their morning routines. Rian had tried this morning to get into the shower while Edward was shaving, and Edward had to kick him out of the bathroom before he made them BOTH late.
"You have to wear your uniform today," Edward had informed him as he stepped away from the mirror, hair tie dangling from his teeth. He had long since perfected sweeping his hair back into a tight ponytail without the use of mirrors, and that gave Rian the sink to finish brushing his teeth. "There's a general assembly, all the State Alchemists have to be in uniform."
Rian paused, toothbrush in hand, and looked at Edward's reflection in the mirror. "This is the first I've heard of it."
"I told you yesterday," Edward reminded him. He removed the towel from his shoulders and aimed it at the shower rod, by luck it actually landed. Rian frowned, stuck the toothbrush back into his mouth and straightened Edward's tossed towel so it would actually dry properly. Edward ducked out of the bathroom and headed for the kitchen.
"How much had I had to drink at that point?" Rian yelled after, before rinsing and wiping his face on his own towel. "You know how much I hate that fucking uniform." Edward's dry chuckle as he walked past the bathroom and back into the bedroom made Rian scowl deeper. "I'm serious."
"Oh, I know," Edward said. "All the same, you need to be in uniform. Acting-Fuhrer Dalton is going to be there, and you know how much a stickler he is for proper military protocol."
"Stick up his ass is more like it," Rian muttered.
"Do you even have your uniform here?" Edward opened his closet door and frowned, then located his own military jacket from where it had gotten tossed into a corner the night before. He held it by the shoulders and shook it out, then hung it off a chair and clapped, using alchemy to smooth the wrinkles out. "Come to think of it, does your uniform even still fit you? You've shot up this summer."
Rian appeared in the doorway and scowled at Edward, still wearing only his jeans. "I'm not a kid," he said threateningly. Edward straightened and looked over at him, observing his half-dressed state and letting the open smirk settle into place.
"No," Edward said. "That you certainly are not."
Rian actually flushed and scuffed a hand through his hair sheepishly as Edward shrugged into his jacket, fastening the catches and straightening it before the mirror. "Good as new," Edward said, brushing loose shed hair off of the epaulets. "Maybe Hawkeye won't even notice."
"She always knows when you've cleaned it with alchemy," Rian pointed out, finding his tee shirt half under the bed. He shook it out, looked at the wrinkled shirt, then shrugged and tugged it on anyway. "When's the assembly?"
"Oh-nine hundred."
"That's plenty of time," Rian said. "I can get back to the military dorms and if it doesn't fit I can alter it."
"Do you have enough material?" Edward stepped up to Rian – it was strange that they were just shy of eye-to-eye, now – and smoothed out the wrinkles of his tight-fitting tee shirt. "Your shoulders got broad very fast." He frowned, and then turned to his closet, finding an older, rumpled, and slightly singed military jacket. "Here, take this for the excess. You've got a good transmutation circle for altering clothing, right?"
"Yes, mom," Rian said with a laugh.
Edward frowned at him. "If you're not presentable, Hawkeye's going to kill us both."
"Nah," Rian said, folding the old jacket over his arm. "Just you. She likes me more than you, colonel." He laughed at the pout on Edward's face, and then grabbed the front of Edward's uniform, tugging him in close to kiss him. Edward sighed against his mouth, then opened his eyes and glared at Rian as Rian's hand started to slip down the back of his uniform trousers. Rian grinned sheepishly as Edward shoved at him and straightened his jacket.
"We don't have the time for this," Edward said.
"You're a colonel, you can get away with being a little late," Rian murmured, still standing in the doorway.
"You've used that excuse on me before," Edward said. "It doesn't fly anymore, besides I've got meetings this morning I can't reschedule." He frowned at Rian, who was stalwartly refusing to move. "Rian."
"Ed," Rian said in return. Now it was Edward's turn to flush, Rian so rarely referred to him by his given name that it was an almost automatic reaction. He was going to have to work on that before Rian pulled it in public and outed them both.
"Honestly," Edward said. He put his arms around Rian's neck and they leaned their heads in together.
"I'm going to be gone for almost a month," Rian's tone bordered on whining. "You had to assign me to that diplomatic delegation to Xing."
"I know," Edward said. "I didn't have much choice. You were a hit with those princesses the last time they were here, they requested you personally." Rian was giving him puppy-dog eyes, and they weren't supposed to work on him anymore but. But. "Dammit, Rian," he said as Rian kissed him again. "I really can't be late-"
"Then we'll be fast," Rian said, his voice going husky and Edward's brain abandoned its logical place and headed south. "I won't be able to have you inside me for a month, Ed, please just once more-"
Edward shoved Rian against the door frame and kissed him again, hard; and Rian gave a happy groan against his mouth as Edward slipped both gloved hands down into his open jeans, and started to slide them down over his hips.
*
Jean Havoc rubbed his eye blearily and looked at his watch, then yawned. "Boss's really gotta learn how to start saying no to him," he muttered, then rested his chin on his crossed arms. "Gonna be late again."