Piracy for idealists
Ed had learned, soon enough, that Roy Mustang had once been a naval officer in His Majesty's service; that disgusted with the foul tyranny of other men of state who used their power only to subjugate and abuse those weaker than themselves, Roy had turned to piracy; that he fancies himself a doer of good, protecting what innocents he may be playing the villain and waging war on the corrupt, slowly plotting their downfall.
At seventeen, Edward Elric has come to realise that there are many ways in which Roy is more of a naïve child than he himself is. Roy has seen many terrible things done by terrible people, it is true; yet somehow, despite this, he still retains this child-like faith that there is good in men, if only they are led wisely. That such a thing as justice actually exists.
Ed is a cynic, and he believes in nothing at all, certainly not Roy's idealism. He knows that man is ultimately selfish, motivated by self-gain and preservation. While he is not so jaded as to rule out the existence of love – he loves his brother Al; that he will not deny – he thinks that at its base it too is a selfish emotion, albeit one kinder than most. He certainly doesn't trust that men can truly and purely give themselves over to ideals without ulterior motive; in his opinion, ideals are too distant, too high-flown to overcome the inherent natural drive to put one's own needs and desires first.
But regardless of Ed's cynicism and his better judgement, he cannot help but want to assist Roy, want to believe in him and his foolish cause. Ed is selfish, and so he will always look out for he and his brother first and foremost, but where these duties do not conflict he will do whatever he can to support Captain Roy Mustang's crusade.
That is the hell of the man, the way he attracts followers, believers, loyal men and women drawn in by his charisma. Ed does not want to be one of them and he will never admit that he is, spitting venom and contemptuous disdain in order to preserve his fragile pride, but there is something about Roy that commands not just respect but also devotion, and extraordinary as he is in other ways, Ed is not immune to it.
He kind of hates Roy a little, for that.
“I AM NO ONE'S CABIN BOY!” Ed howls, outraged. “COME BACK HERE, YOU SHIT CAPTAIN!”
Roy smirks, so smug that it rolls off him in fucking waves, and Ed longs to wipe that look off the asshole's face with his fists.
“Is that a way to speak to your captain, small fry?” he taunts, and Ed struggles fiercely against Bossun Armstrong's hold, desperate to free himself just so he can kick Roy in his stupid bastard head.
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL?” he snarls, flailing his legs above the deck in wild vicious futility.
“Oh, by all means, I look forward to it,” Roy tells him cheerfully. Ed lets out an guttural noise of animalistic rage, rendered pre-verbal by his fury.
“Captain,” First Mate Hawkeye says disapprovingly, “Stop provoking him.”
"But it's so much fun," Roy says, and the challenging grin he shoots across the deck is for Ed and Ed alone. It says: Do your best. I dare you.
One day, Ed swears to himself, red-faced and panting as he dangles from Armstrong's hold, he will fucking kill that fuckhead.