Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Brother, don't you think this is too much?” Al frowned as Ed set another dessert on the stack in his arms.

“I need a good setup, Al, besides you know I don't eat it all.” Ed searched the aisles for other holiday themed or flavored desserts.

“But these will all fall over!” Al squeaked as Ed tossed another package of dessert his way.

“It's the holidays, Al. There weren't any more carts or baskets when we walked in!” Ed turned to him.

“Well, take these,” Al shoved Ed's haul back into his arms.

“Hey, Al!” Ed called.

“I'll go look for a cart, brother!” Al called as he jogged down the aisle, dodging eager holiday shoppers.

Ed sighed as he shuffled around the large number of packages in his arms. He turned around to settle the items, but bumped into someone mid-turn.

“Oh, I'm sorry.” A deep voice said sympathetically.

Ed grumbled when the packages fell to the floor. Ed was happy he hadn't gone to pick up the cakes or cookies from the bakery yet.

Ed sighed as he kneeled to gather his haul.

“There are a lot of holiday sweets.” The man kneeled in front of him to help out.

Ed looked up and stopped mid-retort. The man was fucking hot! “I, uh, yeah, it's for my brother and me.” Ed hurried to grab more of the boxes.

“You must have a hell of a sweet tooth then.” The man grinned.

“Yeah, you can say that.” Ed flushed, suddenly feeling judged despite the man's kind expression. He looked the man up and down. He was definitely extremely handsome and charming. The smile alone almost had Ed swooning. Holy fuck! He stood up as the man helped reorganize the haul in his arms.

“You should really get a cart or basket to put all these in,” the man smiled again, and Ed felt his face heat as his heart beat faster. “Oh, hold on.”

Ed watched as the man caught his loosened hair tie and reties it at the bottom of his braid.

“There you go.”

“Thank you.” Ed glanced at the coat where a name tag was. “Mustang?”

“Colonel Roy Mustang,” the man, Roy, chuckled.

“Edward,” Ed nodded.

“Brother! Come on, I got one, we have to go get the cakes, or you’ll be late for your mukbang!” Al called.

“Mukbanger, eh? That makes a lot of sense.” Roy raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, it’s just a past time.” Ed swallowed. “Well, uh, thanks for the help, but I should go.”

“Happy holidays,” Roy nodded. “Maybe I’ll see you around?”

“Me?” Ed squeaked.

Roy laughed as Al pushed the cart to stand next to them.

“Tell you what, let me do this.” Roy pulled a notepad from his breast pocket alongside a pen. He scribbled for a second, then handed the number to Al. “I think your brother has his hands full.

Al looked down at the note.

“What is it!” Ed demanded.

“Brother, he gave you his number.”