Housework

I particularly like this chapter, I think it shows exactly how creative alchemy could be, especially Ed's. I tried to tailor the boys' gifts, not as creative, but useful and things I think they would want/enjoy.

Christmas

“Why are we doing this? We don't even believe in god.” Edward was whining, he did not want to be shopping, he wanted to be sleeping in and lazing around during his vacation.

“Brother, don't be like that. We should get Roy something nice for Christmas, and we have to look to do it. We can't just grab whatever like you do for me.” Even Al was getting tired, Fuery had started lagging an hour ago. Havoc was still wandering around, chewing his cigarette; Roy had forbidden him to smoke in front of the boys. “What would he like?”

“Well, I don't know! If we knew, we'd be done by now.” Ed watched with interest as Jean rubbed Kain's head affectionately while pointing out a few books. Kain blushed red and tried to pull away but his partner held onto him and tucked him under his arm. “Maybe a book? Or a new record? He hasn't gotten one of those for awhile.”

“I don't think he's bought himself anything for a bit. He's usually buying us presents. Fuery, Havoc, stop it! Help us.” The two men had just started dating recently and were still pretty infatuated with each other. Havoc grinned at the boys and released his captive.

“Alright, alright. Geez, you guys are pretty helpless aren't ya? Why don't you get him some new gloves, his are looking pretty ragged lately. Or some dress ones, he could do with a new set of those.”

“I think a record would be a lovely idea. Do you now which ones he has?” Kain was more for a cultured gift than a practical one. The brothers shook their heads, they had no idea, they just listened when something was played.

Ed darted over to a shop, peering in the window. There was a pair of gloves, light blue with dark edging, on display. “Those, I'm getting those.” The men followed him inside and grabbed a saleslady before she could talk down to the boy. He had grown, but he was still pretty short. She was more than happy to help, the gloves were expensive and her commission would be fairly high. He also got two pairs of plain white ones. Ed was thrilled, he had chosen something all by himself, without even Al's help.

Al was less pleased, he still hadn't found anything and they had to go home soon. He wandered down the hall, looking in windows and checking shops. The other three followed. At least his brother had stopped whining. If he could just find something... There. A book, THE book. Roy had been talking about his grandfather's collection last month and mentioned that a rare book had gone missing a few years ago and he was looking for another copy. Al pounced.

“Brother, I found it.” Ed jogged over and looked at it; he grinned.

“Perfect, that's the one he wanted, right? Kinda expensive isn't it? Can you afford it?”

“If you gimme what's left of yours, I can.” His brother looked horrified.

“What! No! That's mine and I'm using it to get lunch anyways.”

“Come on, you can have lunch at the office. Please? For Roy?” Ha, Al won. He didn't use it often, but his brother would do anything if it was for Roy. Even give up lunch.

They ended up back at the office, too late for lunch, but Breda took them down anyways and teased his girlfriend into feeding them.

Christmas Evening

“Al!! Help me!” The metal boy wandered into the living room and watched his brother fight with the tape. How someone so good with his hands could not wrap a simple box was beyond him.

“Boys? What are you doing? You're being awfully loud.” Roy was in his office, doing some work so he could have an extra day off after Christmas.

“Nothing, sir.” Uh huh, that was almost a dare to get up and go look. Roy restrained himself, he was pretty sure Edward would not appreciate his presence right now. There had been cussing, which he'd stopped, and yelling, which he'd tried to stop, and general frustration all evening. This holiday had been extremely stressful for the blond and Roy wasn't going to make it worse.

Finally, quiet settled over the house, and it was deemed safe to leave the office. A little brightly wrapped box was under the small tree with the others. The boys had decorated the tree he'd brought home, after measuring carefully to make sure Edward could reach the top. It was their first holiday together and he was determined it would all go well. At least as well as could be expected with those two.

“Colonel, are you finished?” Al was standing behind him, wearing a new pair of gloves. “Want to see?” He held them up for inspection. The older man took the metal hands gently in his and examined the array on the back. It was, as usual, an original, and looked like it was for water.

“What does it do?” Al had gotten into the habit of making a set of gloves for all types of transmutations; he had one for spikes, one for ice, one for making a sword, and a variety of others. They helped him keep up with his brother and let him win more mock battles without resorting to physical force.

“Come see!” He ran outside, waving to Ed. His bother clapped and started a small flame burning. Al snapped and rain misted down, extinguishing the flame.

Roy clapped, it was always impressive to watch these two work. “That was great, how does it work?”

“You just press your fingers here to activate it and change the hydrogen and oxygen levels around a bit. You don't need to snap, I just like it.” Al sounded like he would have been blushing from the praise, even though Roy was always generous, it was still nice.

Ed bounded over in time to hear his brother being praised. “That was nice, Edward, the flame was well controlled.” Roy felt it important to praise him for control, it was something he often had to practice. Not that he lost control, things just got out of hand sometimes. Like the incident where he tried to make a pond and flooded the garden instead.

“Shall we go in? I wanted to play a quick game before we go to bed, if you two would like to join me.” They loved to play against him and had learned how to move together in that department as well, balancing each other out. Edward still charged ahead, using his stronger units to protect the weak ones, while Al tended to be too careful, not using them enough.

Morning dawned bright and clear. And early, very very early. Al was up making breakfast by 5 and his brother rolled out and wandered the house around 6. Roy finally stumbled out of his room at 6:30 to send them for a run before going back to bed. He was up by the time they got back and ate quickly. They dragged him into the living room and sat him down in his chair, presenting him with bright gifts. They sat by his feet and stared up at him while he unwrapped them carefully, fully intending to enjoy every moment of this.

Al's was first and Roy was speechless when he uncovered the book he'd been looking for for three years. He finally got his voice back enough to ask, “Where did you get this?”

“Found it at a shop at the market place Fuery and Havoc took us to. Is it the right one?” He sounded a bit worried.

“Of course it is, it's wonderful. Thank you, Al.” He rubbed the smooth head. Edward was poking him in the shin. “Don't be in such a hurry, we have all day. See, I'm opening it.” He carefully unwrapped the white box and opened it. There were three set of gloves, a blue one and two white ones. Each pair had a set of arrays, red for the white ones and gold for the blue ones. “These are beautiful Edward. Did you make the arrays?” He tugged a pair on. The blond shrugged and blushed a bit. “Shall we try them?” At their nods, he snapped his fingers and a clean flame rose in front of him. “Excellent job. These are wonderful presents, you two.”

Edward stood and motioned to Al. Al tugged his own gloves on and waved at Roy to stand. He did so, confused but always willing to let these two try things. The boys led him outside and turned to face him. Al did his water snap and mist fell, getting the new gloves damp. Roy went to remove them to keep them safe but Edward stopped him by waving for him to try. “They won't work when they're wet. The cloth won't spark.” He was waved on again and obediently snapped. A flame burst up in front of him. It extinguished quickly, but it had been there. “How did you do that?”

“I treated them to be water resistant, they'll work for a bit when they're wet, not as well as dry, but at least they'll do something. One of the other sets doesn't need a spark, just activate it and flame will be produced. Now you won't be as useless on rainy days.” He clapped his hand over his mouth.

“Heard that, did you? Well, it's partially true, I'm not completely useless on rainy days. I can still sign papers.” He grinned to show he wasn't offended and led the way back inside.

The boys shredded their gifts, tossing papers everywhere. Al got a pair of new books, some new clothes, and a set of binders for his notes. They were currently housed in boxes in the spare room, disorganized and practically unusable. Roy volunteered to help him sort them later. Ed gave him a glass paper weight with swirls of color and vague designs. It was fascinating to the metal suit and he spent hours staring at it.

Edward got some new shirts, covers for his arm and leg to help keep them from hurting so badly when it rained or was cold, and a manuscript on ancient runes and advanced circles. His brother gave him a set of hair ties, a new hat, and permission to choose supper. All in all, it was an excellent holiday.