Chimera

I realize it's pretty short, but 22.5 hrs of work and I'm wiped. I'll work on it later, I need food and a nap. Thank you so much for the reviews, I read them at least once daily to keep moving forward.

Toy

He sat on the couch, staring at the wall. She was going to kill him, she knew and would kill him. Not easily, no, at least three shots, probably to sensitive areas too. Al carried Edward in and laid him on the couch beside the older man. Sleepy whining and pawing found the boy in Roy's lap, his head on his shoulder, soft snores ruffling his hair. Roy petted him absently, focused on his impending doom. “Sir? What happened?”

“She knows. I'm leaving the house to you two, take good care of my plants.” He looked down at Ed and rubbed his back. “I'll miss you both.”

“Sir, she won't shoot you. At least she won't kill you.” That was not as reassuring as it was probably meant to be. “You'll probably just get a talking to. I can talk her first, if you like.” Good idea, she loved Al, never, ever, shot at him. Al patted him on the head before leaving to make breakfast.

He continued thinking of ways to avoid harm while Ed snuggled and woke up slowly, curling around him and nibbling his neck. “No, Edward, none of that.” The ears twitched, inviting and adorable. “No, I promised Al not to until you're back to normal.” He looked so disappointed, Roy almost broke. No, no, he promised and he'd stick to it if it killed him. “Hungry?” The ears perked forward and the boy bounced off him and into the kitchen.

All day, Ed followed him, stalked was a better word. Just out of reach, he rolled and stretched, showed off and flaunted. Al told him to stop but he was ignored in favor of flicking Roy with the gold tail. He had no interest in anything else, his radio forgotten, any cards or strings ignored. Finally, he went to have a nap on the bed, curled sweetly in Roy's blanket. “I think he's mad at you.” Al stated the obvious. “What did you do?”

“Nothing, I told you I wouldn't touch him until he was better and he's annoyed about it.” Roy tried to find a comfortable place in his chair. The brat was just too hot, and when he was aggressive like that, the dark haired alchemist found it most uncomfortable.

Al wasn't looking all that comfortable either, Roy could almost see a blush on the armor. Well, good, served him right. Then he felt petty for thinking like that, Al was only concerned. Of course discussing his brother's sex life with him was a bad idea, he was still a child. “Don't worry about it, he'll be fine. What do you want to do tonight? I have to finish those reports but they won't take long. Would you like to go out to the porch? Maye a few games of chess would be good.” Al nodded and carried the board out to set it up.

“I'll get Brother up, he won't sleep tonight if he sleeps too much now. Can he come in here with you while I make supper?”

“I'll get him, I want to give him something anyways.” Roy headed for the bedroom and tugged the blanket off the blond. “Get up, almost time for supper.” Mumbling and pulling on the blanket occurred. “Come on, I have present for you.” Some interest and Ed followed him curiously to the living room. “Here you go.” Roy handed him the cat doll. The boy stared at it, not sure what to do. Then, he glared at Roy and threw it as hard as he could before turning to stalk off, his tail slightly fluffed. The cat hit the wall and chirped. Ed froze in mid stomp, his ears almost turning backwards to listen to the sound.

Roy watched, fascinated, while the boy turned and snuck over to the doll, poking it with his foot. It remained silent and he picked it up, turning it over and squeezing it. It made a little chirp, not as loud as before. He turned it over again, examining it closely, squishing it to make the tiny sound. 'Has he never seen something like that before?' Roy wondered, still watching while Ed threw the doll at the wall again, making a loud chirp. Roy walked over and picked it up. “Here, Ed, squeeze it like this.” He showed him the right spot to squeeze to get the louder sound. Al came back, attracted by the thumps and chirps.

“What's that?” He came over and tried to examine it too, working around his brother. “How does it work?”

“It's a toy I got for Edward, I thought he might like it. It makes a chirping noise when you squeeze it properly. Haven't you two seen things like that?” How could they not have, they weren't that old.

“No, we didn't have anything like this when we were little, Mom made most of our toys. We've been so busy in the last few years, we haven't really paid attention to things like this. Is there a toy inside this one?” The younger brother had taken the toy and was pressing against it, holding it over Ed's head.

“No, there's a button, and it uses air pressure through holes, a bit like a whistle would, to make the noise.” Ed jumped a few times, then tried to climb his taller brother. “Give it back, you can look at it later or we can get you one too.” Al started and looked down at his brother as if he'd forgotten about him and handed it back.

“Sorry, it's just neat. Can we go the store you got it at? There must be a lot of interesting things there.” Roy raised an eyebrow, he hadn't thought to take them to a toy store before.

“Of course, we can go as soon as Ed's healed up.” His nose twitched, something smelled funny. “Al, is supper still on? I smell something.”

Al's eyes widened, if that was even possible and he bolted for the kitchen, his brother running behind him, his new toy in his hand. “Oh no, supper! I'm so sorry, I'll make something else right away.” Ed climbed on the counter and sat, swinging his legs and squeezing his cat. He snuck pieces of burnt chicken into his mouth, pretending not to hear Al telling him not to or he'd burn himself. He promptly did and ran to Roy to cuddle, whining about his burnt tongue. Roy gave him a scratch and let him sit in his lap while he signed forms. The chirping was a steady, soothing background and Ed quickly fell asleep. Supper turned into pasta, again. Ed was surprisingly agreeable to eating by himself and even took his pills with minimum fuss. After a games of chess, the blond was exhausted from running in the yard and Al carried him to Roy's room.

“Are you sure,Al? He can stay with you, he should sleep all night.” And, he didn't want to push his control if Ed was beside him all night.

“Yes, he sleeps better with you. He seem much better, don't you think? I think he'll start changing back soon.” He settled his brother and covered him with a blanket. Loud purring showed his appreciation.

“Yes, he has been healing well, only a few days and the mark is almost gone. Will it scar?” Roy hadn't really had time to explore Ed's healing abilities. But, the auto-mail had scarred, so they weren't perfect.

“I doubt it, Brother never scars. Except the auto-mail, but there is constant pressure, it keeps it from healing completely. If he took it off and left it, it might fix itself, but then the arm wouldn't work, so he leaves it on. Or, it might not, it's been a long time and it might be too late to heal those ones. It doesn't matter, I just wish it didn't hurt as much.” At Roy's frown, “Didn't you know? It hurts when it's cold or rains a lot. That's why we like it here and in Ressembool so much, it's usually warm and rarely rains for long.” Roy ran his hand over Edward's head; he hadn't realized it still hurt him. The other soldiers he'd known had always said the surgery hurt a lot, and recovery, but never mentioned it hurt after as well. Of course, now that he thought about it, they had all moved to warm places too.

“I'm going to bed now. Good night, Al.” Roy dismissed him a bit abruptly and gathered his sleeping clothes before going to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Al was gone when he returned and he climbed in beside Ed, who immediately curled up against him, leeching heat. The older man drifted to sleep, wishing he could do more for these boys.