A/N: This story is a gender switch one shot. Basically, I wanted femi!Ed in a long flowy dress, thus this story.
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Dresses
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Roy scribbled furiously across a report, trying to get everything finished by five o' clock so that he could leave right on the hour when Ed Elric came bursting through the door... like always... Ed couldn't just open the door and walk in like a normal person—no that was too polite—Ed liked to make an entrance, to be noticed, and noticed she was.
Glancing up, Roy eyed the girl in front of him and sighed irritably as he listened to the nagging rant about some funds she needed approved. Dressed in a long red coat and black leather pants, black tanktop, and silver lined jacket, most people had a habit of mistaking Ed for a boy, or at least that had been the case when the girl had been younger. Now that she was sixteen, if Ed took off her jacket, it was obvious that she was maturing into a young woman.
Of course, Ed hardly took off her jacket at all these days, which helped keep her on the gender line as far as looks went. It was hard to tell Ed had breasts beneath the coat and jacket unless one looked very hard—and, of course, Roy did look hard at times; not that he'd admit it.
Ed's face was pretty enough to belong to a girl, but plain enough for her to pass off as a pretty young man as well. Perhaps it was all for the best; after all, with a name like 'Edward Elric'... An unfortunate thing, really. Apparently, Hohenheim had wanted a son so badly that he'd given his first child a male name whether that was the gender or not. But then, Roy had heard the man was a bit strange...
"Ah! You're not even listening to me!!" Ed raged with a stamp of her foot.
"I'm listening to you as much as I always do," Roy said with a forced smile. Really, he was not in the mood for this.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" Ed yelled angrily.
"Are you on the rag?" Roy asked suddenly, and instantly regretting his words as Ed's eyes widened and her face colored to a deep shade of red—from anger or embarrassment he didn't know. She looked to be on the verge of starting another rant, when Roy said, "Or maybe you're always on the rag? After all, you act like this all the time."
It was probably a rude thing to say, but he'd had enough of Ed's attitude. She obviously felt like she could do whatever she wanted because she was the 'great' Fullmetal Alchemist, and her attitude had gotten worse since she hit puberty. Before then, she'd been bratty, but reasonable. Now she was just out of control, and he was sick of it. He didn't join the military so he could deal with hormonal teenage girls.
"Whether you like it or not, you're a young lady now, Ed. Grow up and act your age. Alphonse is a year younger than you and he acts far more mature than you do. You come in here demanding and complaining all the time. I'm your commanding officer, not your father. And if I was your father, I'd put you over my knee and give you a good swatting. I don't like your attitude, and frankly, I don't like you! Now, until you can act mature and pleasant, I don't want to be around you!"
Ed's mouth had dropped open, and for the first time in many years, Roy saw that her eyes were moist. Her face contorted into a look of hurt before she rushed out of the office and slammed the door.
Roy groaned inwardly. He hadn't meant to say all of that, not because it wasn't the truth... No, it was all definitely true, but he could have said it a better way... Suddenly the door opened and Lieutenant Hawkeye stuck her head in and fixed him with a dark glare before slipping her head out and shutting the door.
His shoulders slumped and he stared irritably down at his paperwork. Great... he thought. Just great...
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After getting the silent treatment from Hawkeye, accompanied by angry glowers, for the rest of the day, followed by a harshly written note saying that he'd better apologize to the poor girl for being so mean, Roy decided that it would be best if he just did as she said.
Truthfully, he couldn't understand what the big deal was. Ed was as thick skinned as anyone he'd ever met... usually. In recent months the girl had gone one mood to another quicker than he could snap his fingers and light a fire. Sure, he'd heard that teenage girls were emotional and hormonal, but this was ridiculous...
But, Ed didn't show up that day, or the next, and after a week, Roy began to worry a little. He'd seen Alphonse around headquarters, but whenever the boy saw him, he turned and walked in the other direction—obviously Hawkeye wasn't the only one who was upset with him...
But then, it was actually nice to not be interrupted all the time by Ed wanting this, demanding that, or simply coming in to annoy him, and in the two weeks that followed, Roy had been both productive and content with his more peaceful surroundings—due to both Ed not being there and Hawkeye not speaking to him unless it was absolutely necessary.
All good things come to an end though, and by the end of the month, Roy knew that he'd be seeing Ed sometime that day. It was a requirement for Ed to come and report to him in person at the end of every month. Yet, as the hours passed with no sign of the girl, Roy was beginning to wonder if she'd decided to give up the military without telling him...
In fact, when Ed hadn't shown up by five o' clock, Roy stayed an extra hour, then two, then three... If Roy didn't have something to turn in to Hakuro the next day, then Ed would receive an official reprimand, and if she had three of those on her record, she'd be dishonorably discharged from the military.
By nine o' clock, Roy was about to give up and go home, when a small knock sounded on his office door. He frowned. Too polite to be Ed, yet everyone else had gone home for the night...
"Come," Roy said loudly, and was surprised to see that it was indeed Ed, but not the Ed he was expecting. This wasn't the boyishly-dressed, loud-mouthed girl he was used to seeing. Instead. Ed was dressed in a long, floral-print dress. The long skirt flowed and swished around Ed's legs and ankles, and the tight bodice fit perfectly over the figure Roy hadn't known Ed possessed.
His eyes lingered on her breasts, which weren't exactly big, but were much larger than he'd thought they were. Maybe the low cut dress accentuated them or maybe Ed taped them down normally. Either way, they were a nice size for her and he felt his fingers twitch to touch them. Thin straps over Ed's shoulders held the dress up, but where almost covered by her long hair that hung undone in a curtain of gold.
Ed's cheeks were a deep pink and she kept her head lowered as she shut the door and walked to Roy's desk. She grabbed her automail wrist with her flesh hand and held them tightly over her body in a shy gesture as she said quietly, "I'm here to give my report..."
Roy eyed her again, letting his eyes linger for longer than was proper on her breasts, before tearing his eyes away, clearing his throat, and saying, "Okay... report..." It was all he could choke out in his state of stunned confusion.
So, with her head still bowed, she reported in that same soft voice and Roy couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of trick. When she finished, Ed gripped the skirt of the dress tightly, did a small curtsy, and turned to leave.
"Wait," Roy said, not wanting her to go just yet. Ed stopped, but didn't turn around. With a deep breath, Roy said in a tone more kind than he'd ever used with Ed before, "You look... nice." Actually, Ed looked more than nice. She looked... well... delicious... But he'd found years ago that women didn't take that as a compliment unless they were in the middle of a romp in the sheets.
"Thanks..." Ed said, after a moment of silence, and by the way the skirt tightened around Ed's legs, Roy could tell that she was gripping her skirt again.
"Look, Ed... I've been meaning to apologize to you. You know, about what happened the last time you were in here."
There was another long moment of silence, then, "You don't hate me?" Ed's voice sounded hopefully, but that was laced with worry.
Standing up, Roy walked around his desk and stepped close to Ed. His first instinct was to put his hand on Ed's shoulder, but he didn't know how Ed would react to that and that sort of physical contact was forbidden by the military between commanding officers and subordinates.
"I never said I hated you," Roy murmured, suddenly feeling guiltier than he had before. She just seemed so vulnerable and almost fragile standing there in front of him, despite the fact that Roy knew for a fact that Ed could fight with the best.
"Yes, you did..." she mumbled and he could hear a small tremor in her voice.
He thought about it for a moment, then pointed out, "Actually, I said that I didn't like you, not that I hated you." This was obviously the wrong thing to say, as Ed's shoulders shook a little and she quickly started walking toward the door.
"Ed!" Roy said quickly, and this time he did reach out and grab Ed's shoulder. "Wait. I don't hate you, and I didn't mean what I said about disliking you..." He squeezed lightly on Ed's real shoulder and took note of the softness of her skin and how truly feminine she was. This was a side of Ed that he'd never seen before and he couldn't help but feel instantly protective over her.
"You didn't mean it?" Ed choked and turned to look tearfully up into his face.
Roy swallowed as he noticed for the first time that Ed was wearing a small amount of makeup. Not a lot, just a little—enough to give her face a more feminine look to it. It was about the amount that Lieutenant Hawkeye wore, and Roy wondered if Ed had gotten help from the lieutenant with the makeup.
"No, I didn't mean it..." Roy murmured softly and gave Ed a small, reassuring smile. "I've meant to tell you all this time, but you never came back..."
Ed lowered her head, and Roy shamelessly moved his eyes to the girl's chest to stare at her breasts, then moved his gaze away when Ed looked back up at him. This time her cheeks were a darker pink that had nothing to do with the rouge.
"So, you like me then?" It was a silly question, and even sillier sounding coming from Ed, but Roy was sure that if he said anything else than the required answer, she would get upset again, so he nodded.
"Yeah, I like you." It was an effort to keep his eyes on hers. If he'd been out with a date, he would have moved in close and tried to start something, but this was Ed, and Ed was sixteen... Of course... at sixteen, Ed was legally an adult, but still... he was much too old for her... He kept trying to tell himself that, but the idea that he and Ed were alone in the building, at night, and they were standing so close...
She looked down again, her face turning an even darker shade of red, and Roy wondered if she had taken it to mean that he liked her in a different way than a platonic one. If she did think that, then she obviously wasn't put off by it... Actually, she seemed pleased by it.
She's fourteen years younger than you! his mind screamed.
"I... I'm sorry for being such a fucking bitch..." Ed said, and Roy smiled broadly at the profanity. Now that was the Ed he knew. Lurking deep inside of this pretty girl, was the Ed he knew and for some reason that made him feel a little better.
"Apology accepted," Roy said, but when Ed gave him a small glare, Roy quickly said, "I mean, you weren't a bitch."
Ed's glare was gone in an instant, replaced by a small smile. Roy's eyes flicked involuntarily down to Ed's chest, then back to her face. Clearing his throat, Roy took his hand off her shoulder and said, "Well, you'd probably better go..." He wanted her to stay... He wanted to touch her breasts and run his hands under her skirt and...
Pervert... his mind accused, but he didn't bother to deny it. He knew he was, and so did the rest of the military; after all, he had quite a reputation when it came to the women.
"Okay..." Ed said, her cheeks going pink again. She moved over to the door, put her hand on the door knob, then turned and said, "Do you think I should wear this dress again?"
Hell yeah, he thought, and held back from asking if Ed owned anything shorter, or even any mini-skirts. Not appropriate! His mind chided again. "It looks very nice on you, so... yes, I think you should," he said, feeling pleased that it had come out so well—not nearly as lecherous as he felt.
Ed seemed pleased with that and looked ready to turn back toward the door, then she looked back at Roy and said sweetly, "Oh... Colonel... I put in a request for some funds a couple weeks ago... you know, I was telling you about it the last time I came in? Al and I will be leaving Central in another week... It's really important... could you approve that...?" Her face took on a worried, and almost cute, look.
"Sure," Roy said in an offhand manner, finding himself unable to reject her request. At this, Ed gave him a radiant smile, then slipped out of the office.
Roy sighed a little and shook his head as he walked toward the door to make sure it was shut all the way. As he was about to turn around, he heard Ed's voice on the other side of the door.
"You're right, Lieutenant," he heard Ed say. "He is pretty easy to deal with if you dress and act feminine! I'm going to have to do this more often." There was a moment of silence where Roy was sure Hawkeye was saying something, then he heard Ed say, "Yeah, he's a total pervert, but you didn't have to come with me. I could have handled it if there was a problem. Anyway, let's get out of here. I need to get out of this damn dress."
Roy opened his mouth, feeling almost offended at the remark and at the fact that the lieutenant had been waiting outside the door, then closed his mouth and shook his head. It was no secret that he was a sucker for a pretty girl... Moving back toward his desk, Roy chuckled and began to gather his things to go home. Well, maybe he would give in to Ed more often if she acted and dressed like that...
Pulling on his coat, Roy looked out the window to see Hawkeye and Ed walking quickly away from the building. He let himself enjoy the sight of Ed in the dress again, and wondered if it had all been an act. Ed had seemed genuinely hurt that Roy might not have liked her and pleased when Roy said he didn't mean it. She also seemed to enjoy the attention Roy had been giving her... Would something have happened between them tonight if Hawkeye hadn't been waiting outside?
He stood by the window until the two were out of sight, then sighed. Sure, Ed was young, and normally a little bitch, but she'd shown that she could be sweet and feminine too. He liked it; liked it a lot in fact.
Turning from the window, Roy thought that perhaps he would see if Ed wanted to have lunch with him tomorrow. Strictly business, of course... He smiled as he opened the door. Or maybe he'd ask her out to dinner; a formal dinner where a dress was required. With that thought in mind, Roy turned off the light and headed out of the office for the night.
Okay, well, I've never written gender switch before, so hopefully it wasn't too bad. There is a link in my profile to a picture drawn by Aino Hikaru of Ed in the dress described in this fic.
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Comments are love.