Housework

Truth and punishment

The next two days passed in much the same manner, breakfast, stop at the library, read in Roy's office, lunch, library again, read some more, go home. On the third day, Al announced that Tammy wasn't feeling well and wanted to stay home. After checking in to make sure she wasn't too sick, Roy agreed, taking a list of books and promising to bring home supper. He headed for the office, only to be captured at the gate by Hughes and his latest pictures. An hour later, he stumbled into the office with glazed eyes. Maes had been most insistent, after all, it had been FOUR WHOLE DAYS since Roy had seen pictures and didn't he just want to die??

That was just the beginning of a miserable day. The cafeteria was closed for repairs until noon and the only coffee to be had was that battery acid Fuery made. There was a huge pile of paperwork on his desk already and it started to rain. Hawkeye had taken his phone away because he wasted too much time on it and there were no little bodies to watch read and fight. It was so boring he started doing paperwork in self defense. He finally fell asleep, only to wake up to shots fired over his head. He announced at noon that he was going home and whined until his lieutenant got tired of listening to him and sent him home at one. She handed him a stack of letters and reports to go over for the morning as he wandered off down the hall. He idly shuffled them, noting one from records and the report from Ressembool. Well, he'd just have to read them when he got home.

He stopped and got some lunch and supper for the evening before bounding home, eager to see his wards. For some reason, they were endlessly entertaining to watch, so focused but still having time to squabble amongst themselves. He opened the door quietly, in case Tammy was sleeping and took off his coat and shoes. He took the food and paperwork to the kitchen, leaving the papers on the table and setting the food in the fridge for later. In the living room, pages could be heard flipping rapidly and he decided Al must be up reading. Roy walked to the door to greet him, and whirled around immediately. The two young men were laying on the floor, the blond half naked in a pair of loose pants. There was a clap, a flash of blue light, and scrambling behind him. Wait, two young men? Roy whipped around to see “Tammy” sitting quietly on the floor wearing her favorite yellow dress, her legs tucked under her. He must have imagine...no, there was guilt there, in those wide eyes, and the wariness of being caught. He could also just see the edge of the blue pants near “her” ankle.

“Take it off.” The only way to be sure was to check.

“Sir, please, we” Al moved to stand but the echoing voice was cut off by Roy's finger pointing.

“Sit.” the finger moved. “You, take the dress off.” There was a clunk signaling Al was back on the floor. The small hands fidgeted with the hem of the dress. “Hurry up.” The dress came over “her” head, showing a completely flat and obviously male chest. Roy ran his eyes down the thin body in front of him. Yes, that was a boy alright. She, no, he sat and looked up at him, biting his lip and crossing his arms in front of his chest and stomach. The tips of Roy's fingers rubbed little circles behind his eyes, try desperately to stave off the headache he could feel blossoming. The boy swallowed and dropped his eyes to the floor. Finally, Al moved, covering his partner in crime with a blanket.

Roy's hands ran through his hair, flexing as he tried to control his temper. “Al, go to your room. Your own room. Stay there until I come for you.” Al hesitated, torn between authority and loyalty. “Just go, I won't hurt him.”

“I didn't think you would, sir. It's just, Ed doesn't talk, and well...” He trailed off, his hands resting on his brother's shoulders.

“Doesn't matter, he'll be listening for the most part. Get going.” Al stood and left the room. Roy listened until his heavy footsteps were far enough away to not overhear. “Well, do you have anything to say for yourself?” A mute stare was his only answer. “Didn't think so. You lied. Repeatedly. I have told you I do not allow lying in this house. What do you think is suitable punishment?” The thin shoulders hunched, gold eyes still focused on the floor. Roy's foot began to tap. “Look at me.” Eyes fixed on his chest. “Up.” They moved to meet his black ones. They were carefully blank, awaiting whatever punishment was to be handed down. “Well?” A pink tongue licked at dry lips, and tiny sound slipped out. “Should you be banned from the library? Perhaps confining you to your room would be appropriate, without books or your...brother? I presume you are brothers.” His eyebrow raised. Nod. “And your name is Ed? Short for Edward?” Nod. “Well, Edward, is there anything else you should tell me?” The gold eyes shifted downwards. “Fine. Go to your room while I decide what to do with you and your brother.” The boy shook his head frantically, waving in the direction of Al's room. “Yes, he will be punished too, you both lied and have since you arrived here. Go on.” He watched as the little figure stood and slumped to his room.

Roy muttered to himself, “This is just great. Even better than having a girl who doesn't talk, now I have a boy that I've dressed up as a girl and dragged around the city. How am I supposed to explain this one away? Hughes is never going to let me live this down.” He dropped his head into his hands and groaned. “And I need to get new clothes, passes, fill out the wardship forms, at least I have a name now. Why is this happening to me?” 'Al, I should go talk to Al. I bet he'll tell me all kinds of things now.' “Argh!” He stomped to the kitchen, where he noticed the envelopes and reports. 'I'll just do a few, boredom will help me calm down a bit. I won't get anything out of either of them if I'm yelling.'

He picked up the stack of reports, choosing one at random. A few in, the one from Ressembool came up. 'Don't need that one anymore.' He read it anyways, even though there was nothing he didn't know; no blond females missing, two Elric brothers left town three years ago, nobody had heard of Izumi Curtis. Hmm, the last was interesting, he'd have to try and find out more from the boys. He continued signing reports until he was calm again. The letter from records pulled him, he had no idea what they would have sent him under his name, not rank. He opened it and gazed at the signed and stamped wardship forms, in the names of Edward and Alphonse Elric. Well, guess that's out of the way. They must have snuck it in on the first day. It pleased him that they had decided to stay with him right away.

He was in a much better mood by the time he walked down the hall to Al's room. A single knock was followed quickly by “Come in, sir.” Roy opened the door and stepped in. Al was sitting on the bed, looking as sorry and pathetic as he possibly could; shoulders hunched, head down, hands twisted in his lap. Roy sighed and walked over, motioning for Al to shuffle over. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at his hands.

“You know you have to be punished.” It was a statement of fact, not a question.

“Yes, sir.”

“And you know why.”

“Yes, sir”

“I'm quite disappointed, you know. You both had plenty of opportunities to tell me. I thought you had started to trust me.”

“Yes, sir.” Al seemed to shrink even more.

“Why can't I stay mad at you?” Roy ran his hand through his hair, looking sideways at the boy beside him.

“I don't know, sir, nobody seems to able to be mad at me.” A tiny smile snuck into the thin voice.

“Tell me why?” There must be a reason. Roy knew Edward would lie himself blue if he thought he had to, but Al would need a pretty good reason.

The smile vanished as if it had never been. “We weren't sure if you knew or not. We didn't want to make a fuss if you did, or make you mad by pointing it out. You seemed ok with having a girl, so...” His voice trailed off into silence.

“You didn't tell me because you thought I knew? I dressed him up as a girl, introduced him as a girl, gave him a girl's name, and you thought I knew?” Disbelief and sarcasm weighed heavily in Roy's voice.

“Well, it wouldn't be the first time.” Al muttered quietly. Roy's face went blank. He had forgotten for a moment where these two had come from.

“Alright, before I tell you your punishment, is there anything else I should know about?”

“I, um, I think I'd like to talk to Brother, please.”

“Fine. Let's go.” Roy stood and impatiently led the way to Edward's room. He knocked and waited for the door to open, following the room's owner in. The two boys sat on the bed, whispering to each other while Roy watched. He cleared his throat and Al turned to face him. “Well?”

“Just one more thing, sir. Brother, go ahead.” Edward stood and undid his pants, letting them slide down his hips and pool at his feet. The metal leg gleamed.

Roy stared, then moved forward to look more closely. He put out a hand but stopped when the blond flinched back. “May I? I just want to have a look.” Edward nodded and forced himself still as the older alchemist ran his hands over the knee and gently pushed the boxers up to the connection site. It was smooth, the metal connecting almost seamlessly with flesh. “You had a very good mechanic.” He examined it carefully, taking in the fine white scars. Suddenly, it occurred to him, “The accident. It was you, you did the transmutation.” His voice was flat.

“We did it, to bring mom back. It was a mistake, but we both made it.” Al spoke up, defending his older brother. “It wasn't Ed's fault!”

'Al said four years like this, that would make them 10 and 11. So young, and surgery on top of that! Grown men fail to withstand auto-mail surgery regularly.' He kept his face carefully blank and pushed back to his heels, then to his feet. “Well, we'll have to deal with that in the future, it's getting late. Your punishment for lying will be as follows. You are suspended from reading for one week, starting now. This includes the base library and my own. You are not allowed to borrow books from anyone either. During this week, you will spend your extra time on the raining course with Drill Sergeant Rose's new trainees. Any objections?” His voice clearly said there had better not be.

“No, sir.” Ed shook his head.

“Excellent. We leave at 7 tomorrow morning. Al, lend your brother some clothes and we'll get some for both of you in the afternoon. Off to your room Al, let Edward sleep.” Roy turned to leave the room.

“Colonel, sir? Can I stay here? Please?”

“What did I tell you at supper?”

“May I, sir?” Metal feet shuffled a bit.

“Yes, of course.” Roy smiled and closed the door behind him.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Pale light filtered into Roy's room as the door opened with a soft click. The sound of soft whispering and shuffling feet was heard in the hall before the door closed again. Roy grabbed his gloves from the table and pulled them on as he rolled to his feet facing the door. He was about to call out a challenge when he heard the soft clunk of auto-mail hitting the floor. “Edward? What's wrong?” As usual, there was no answer, but he could make out the small, still form in the middle of the gloom. He snapped his fingers and lit the lamps around the room. Edward was frozen in the middle of the room, blinking in the sudden light. He was wearing only a pair of shorts, his thin, lightly muscled body shining in the light. “What's wrong Edward?” Roy repeated.

His voice seemed to unfreeze the teen and he walked slowly towards the older man. He slid his arms around Roy and pressed his body close. The Colonel looked down at the soft blond hair on his chest and wondered what to do. Edward was not physically affectionate, quite the opposite, avoiding unnecessary touching rigorously except with Al. He stood still, making no motion to touch the boy while he wiggled a bit, then looked up. A small, trembling hand pressed against his stomach and began to slide downwards as determined gold eyes stared into black. Roy grabbed the small hand before it go to the band of his pajamas and held Edward back from him a bit.

He sighed, “I suppose this was going to come up eventually. Edward, go tell Al to come here.” The usually controlled eyes showed fear for a second, then determination. A glint of steel flashed in the golden orbs and Edward committed his first act of outright defiance. He shook his head.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Edward glared up at Roy, a startling change from his usual expressions of passive acceptance or wariness. While he had been more animated during the past few days, he was still wary and not given to showing emotions. He shook his head again, then his eyes widened in seeming understanding. He made a patting motion, to indicate younger. “Yes Edward, I want your younger brother. Go get him please.” Roy answered the question he read in Edward's eyes. Edward shook his head once more, reached back with his metal arm and broke the hair band holding his hair in a ponytail. He ran his fingers through his hair, letting it fall to his shoulders, and hunched his shoulders a bit, taking 5 years off his already young age. Suddenly Roy realized what he had been asked. Not 'do you want to see Al' but 'do you want a younger sex toy' He laughed to himself in embarrassment and patted Edward's head. Edward's expression changed from rage to fear when he heard, “Go get Al. Now. Then come back and sit on the bed, I want to talk to you both.”

Edward's shoulders slumped and he stumbled to the door, not daring to disobey the commanding tone. He opened the door, motioned Al in, and led him to the bed, where he sat between Al and Roy. Meanwhile, Roy pulled on a robe to cover his bare chest. He turned to look at the two boys; 'Fifteen and already so hard.' He thought to himself. Edward started to fidget a bit. 'Alright, think Roy, what will help him relax around you?' He walked over to stand in from of the brothers. “Anyone want to tell me what tonight was about? Not avoiding punishment, I hope.”

Edward stared at him for a minute before moving his gaze to his hands. Al spoke for them both. “Oh, no, sir! Equivalent exchange. We wanted to pay you back for helping us. We thought that since you bought Brother, you must want him like the others did, even if you thought he was a girl at first. You didn't send us away when you found out about me, or that he was a boy, so we just thought...” He trailed off in a small voice. “We're sorry, we didn't mean to make you angry.” he offered. “Please don't send us away.”

“I'm not angry with you, and I'm certainly not sending you away. You live here now, this is your home as long as you want it. I'm annoyed with myself for not making your positions here more clear to you. You don't owe me for taking you in. Keeping the house clean, making supper, and good behavior are all that I ask of you. And maybe some company when I'm home.” He sighed. “As for sex, there will be none. I am not interested in children, and that is what you are Edward, don't try and argue, I am not interested in an unwilling partner, which you obviously are, and, with very few exceptions, I am not interested in men in general.”

Edward still looked annoyed at being labeled a child, but made no motion to disrupt Roy again. He was trying to hide Al behind him, but Al was excited at having confirmation of a home and someone to trust to look after them. He was bouncing around on the bed in his happiness.

Roy smiled at Al, and tried to get Edward to meet his eyes. “Alright, as you don't trust me, how about we make a deal?” Edward looked up, faint interest in his eyes. He liked deals, because then the rules were set out and could be followed, not found out after they were broken. Roy crouched down and held out his hand as if to touch Ed, but didn't when he flinched back. He simply held his position until Edward looked at him again. “May I touch you?” he asked politely. Edward looked at him, gaging if he was serious or just mocking him. He nodded slowly, and Roy's hand moved the rest of the way to touch his arm. “See? I will always ask by putting out my hand before touching you. You can come to me anytime you want, or you can refuse. It's up to you, your choice. If I forget, or misunderstand you somehow, you can poke me right, here.” He pointed to a place just above his hip, “Now, nobody but my best friend knows about that spot, but I hate having that touched more than anything, ok? So don't tell anyone, it's a secret for us.” He smiled at the two boys, getting a bounce from Al and a stiff nod from Edward. “Al, the same goes for you. You can refuse or accept any touch you want.”

“Oh, it's ok, I like to be touched, even if I can't feel it. Makes me feel more normal. You can touch me anytime.” Al wiggled so hard he almost knocked Edward off the bed. Roy held out his hands but made no move to catch or touch him. The older brother steadied himself and pushed back onto the bed.

“Thank you Al. But, the rule still applies if you change your mind. Now, you two should get back to bed, we have a long day tomorrow. You two will begin your punishment, we're going clothes shopping and we need groceries again.” Roy stood and motioned to the door.

The two boys stood and moved to the door, Al walking straight through and Edward squishing up over to the side to stay away from Roy. The older man watched them walk down the hall and into Edward's room. He shook his head, knowing Al would spend the night there, not in his own room, and probably would for the foreseeable future.




Note: Again, thank you for all the encouragement! I'm so happy people are reading, and enjoying!, my writing. Thank you thank you thank you