Chimera

It's late and I have to get up super early tomorrow, so I don't have time to thank everyone properly, but thank you all so much anyways! I'm so happy you guys are reading and enjoying. I'm especially glad someone is taking inspiration from me and my passable writing. Just one thing about Roy, I love him and always feel like he wants to be nice but can't, so I like to let him as much as possible. Thank you again.

Games

He wasn't sure what woke him, Ed was still beside him and the house was quiet. He lay for a minute before rolling to look at Edward. So sweet when he slept, his shirt up under his arms, showing his stomach and chest, his hair had come loose and was fanned around his shoulders. The usual lines of worry and anger were gone, softened into soft cheeks and a smooth brow. The brunette reached over to brush the bangs away from the young face and yellow eyes snapped open to stare at him, a snarl beginning to form. When recognition occurred, the snarl disappeared, replaced by a lazy grin. Soft purring started and the boy leaned up into the touch, the pink tongue lapping at Roy's hand.

“Hey, what are you doing awake?” Roy smiled down at him. “Go back to sleep, it's still dark.” Ed ignored him and kept purring, and started rubbing his hands over Roy's body. “No, Edward. I told you we aren't going to do that until you're better. Now, behave.” There was a brush of fur on his chin, little ears rubbing suggestively against his skin. “No. Now stop.” He stopped petting the boy's cheek and rolled away from him. Ed followed him, curling around his back and rubbing his body against the older alchemist's. Roy sat up, “Enough. If you don't stop right now, I'm going to send you out.” The blond head tilted but the wiggling stopped. “I know you understand me. I promised Al, please don't make this more difficult. We still have to discuss our relationship, work out the fine points before we go on.” He felt like such a girl. Discuss their relationship indeed. But, Ed had pulled back and was laying flat on his own side of the bed.

“Why? Want to.” Of course he wanted to, it felt good, his inhibitions were lowered, why wouldn't he want to?

“Ed, Al is worried about you, he talked to you a bit, right? He's worried that it won't work and he's correct.” Roy ran a hand through his hair. “You'll change back soon, your chest is almost completely healed. A little bit longer, then we'll sort it all out. Then, we can do whatever we want to.” A pale hand settled on the tanned stomach. “Promise. Come back to sleep?” The blond nodded and Roy lay back down, letting Ed curl against this side.

A week later, the usual box of papers was waiting outside when Roy finally dragged himself up. Hawkeye was allowing him to stay at home as long as the work was done and he answered his phone regularly. It was almost noon and the brothers were in the backyard. The blond sat on his brother's shoulders and picked leaved out of the tree, throwing them all over and trying to catch them before they fell past him. They were both laughing, chasing bright leaves, looking for once like the children they should have been. The officer just stood and watched; as much as he tried to protect them, they would never have many of these moments.

Ed noticed him and immediately tried to get down, wriggling and bouncing so much he knocked Al off balance and they both fell. “Brother, what are you doing? You can just ask.” Al hauled himself back to his feet, turning his back on his dazed brother. “Get up, you're fine.” The blond rolled a bit and stretched before hopping up and racing over to grab Roy. The older man swung him in a circle, lifting his feet off the ground and laughing at the shrieks he got.

“How are you two this morning? Afternoon I guess.” Roy's hands found the spot under Ed's braid, the one that made him practically collapse with joy.

“Good, thank you. Brother is feeling very active today, I think he's finished healing. His chest is clear, no marks left. We sparred a little, he seems to be up to speed and strength.” Ed's eyes opened and he purred loudly.

“Better. Last day.”

A dark eyebrow arched, “You know when you'll change?” Ed just shrugged and continued purring.

Al supplied an answer, “The initial change is hard to tell, but I would think he can feel when he's going to change back. It's never been like this, off schedule, so if he says so, it must be right.” The older alchemist just shrugged, didn't matter to him, as long as he did change back. “It's almost time for lunch, would you like pasta again?” Roy cringe visibly. “Guess not. What would you like?”

The older man considered, “Chicken would be nice, and vegetables.” He'd discovered that vegetables were not a main feature in the Elric household. Ed usually made a fuss about them and wouldn't eat if he couldn't have what Roy was having. “I'll convince him to eat. Maybe stuffing would be alright.”

“Ok, I'll go get some stuff then, it's been a bit since I shopped.” Al left his brother in their host's charge. Truthfully, as sweet as Ed had been the last few days, it was a relief to get away for some alone time.

Roy lured the boy to the couch and sat, moving the stuffed cat out of his way. He held it up to examine and noticed the teeth marks on the edge of the tiny ears. “Why are you chewing your toy? I thought you liked it?”

“Do. Dumb, not little.”

“Ed, it's not dumb, it's a nice toy. I thought you would like it, to play with when Al and I are busy. I know you're not a kid, Al likes it too. It's just to play with, something for you to focus on, it doesn't make you a child to enjoy it. And I thought it was cute, looks like you, doesn't it?” The boy immediately sat up and glared at him.

“Pretty?” He sounded very annoyed, bordering on downright pissed. Why would that annoy him?

Oh, “You're not jealous are you? You are much more beautiful than some old toy. And warm and sweet and you taste good too.” Roy dropped a kiss on his nose and laughed when it scrunched. Ed tried to lean up for a kiss but Roy leaned away. “Nope, no kisses. Be good now, don't tempt me more. Let's play a game.” He reached over and found the cards. He laid them out in a simple memory pattern. “Want to make bets? Whenever you get a match, you get to ask a question. We can keep track and use them later, if you want.” Wary yellow eyes met his, weighing the pros and cons of the situation. A short nod and Ed crawled over to sit opposite the coffee table.

He snickered, always up for a challenge. “Beat you.” Roy just smirked and chose his first cards. Half an hour later, he had twenty pairs and Ed only had 6. Really, how could that boy's luck possibly be that bad. He had turned up one of almost every card in the deck, allowing Roy to easily memorize their location and pick them up on his next turn.

“So, would you like to do this now or later.” Ed whimpered and snuggled against his chest. “Now sounds good to me. Now, what should I ask? I'll only ask a few and save the others, for when I really need them.” Ed whimpered again and snuggled harder. “Well, How many times have you snuck into the classified research rooms of the library? Any library.” Huge eyes stared at him pathetically. “Answer the question, you wanted to play too.”

“Thirty.” Ears twitched nervously and he hid his face against Roy's shoulder. “Not mad.” It was a command more than a question.

“I won't get mad for anything you tell me answering these questions. I will, however, use the answers to prevent you in the future.” At least there would be no punishment and Ed was grateful enough for that to lick Roy's ear. “How do you get in?”

“East wall. One guard, make door. Change lock, read, go.” Simple enough, straight in and out. He should have known, Ed was a straight forward kind of person. He assumed it was for all libraries, the least guarded wall, in and out. Have to increase the guards from now on, and call local libraries when the boys were in town.

“Hmm, how tall are you, from your bare feet to the top of your head, not including hair?” Ed would include his antenna if he could, and the glare he was treated to told him how annoyed the boy was that he'd caught it. The pert little nose turned up and some wiggling turned the small weight in his arms around to show the tense back. Roy tickled a little, “Come on, tell me. And don't lie.”

“Not lie.” The older man's look clearly said, 'Of course you do' Ed sighed, “Much. Five feet, 1.64 inches.” His face was an adorable shade of red and he continued looking away, his tail twitching madly against Roy's leg.

The human pillow just grinned, so damn cute! “Ok, calm down. I'm sure you'll grow one of these days.” He grabbed the flailing arms and laughed again the heated neck while Ed ranted in halting words and unrecognizable sounds. “Shh, relax. Al will think I was abusing you or something.” Gradually, the boy calmed, but refused to cuddle anymore. “I think that's enough, I'll save the rest for later. Lets have a snack.”

Grilled cheese sandwiches were on the menu, because Roy was too lazy to cook anything else. Ed was furious until he realized Roy would feed him by hand let him lick cheese off his fingers. Then it was ok, even if it WAS a dairy product. He was still licking happily when Al got home and banished them from his previously sparkling kitchen. He was not impressed with the mess, even though Roy had protested they were going to clean it up. A retort of, “Uh huh, when? Once he was done licking you?” drove him and his feeble defenses into the living room where Ed had his radio going. The Colonel decided to get some work done, then decided not to bother. If this was Ed's last day, then he would be better in the morning and Riza would be banging his door down anyways. She had a sixth sense about things like that and he could always work at the office.

He tried to tempt Ed into playing cards with him again but was firmly rebuffed. Then, it seemed like a good idea to steal the cat and play with it, which immediately brought Ed over to leap on him and defend his property from the intruder by chewing it's ears thoroughly. The cat was saved and removed from the immediate area and placed on the top shelf of the closet before it was mauled beyond recognition. Roy pulled the boy onto his chest and just lay, enjoying a quiet moment before Ed started whining. “What?” Ed just looked at him, eyes big and lip trembling slightly. “What do you want?” He was blinked at and Ed sat up.

“Toy? Mad?” Roy closed his eyes and shook his head.

“Of course I'm not mad, it's your toy, you can do anything you want with it. Though, it might be nice if you didn't destroy it, it's cute, just like you.” He tapped the blond's nose lightly. “Do you want it back?” Furious nodding was the answer and he went to get it out of the closet. He turned to go back to the couch and tripped over Ed who had followed him. “Come on, come sit with me.”

He handed the toy to its owner and led the way to his chair, settling in and opening his arms to the boy. He quickly crawled in, sprawling across the chair, hugging his toy and playing with it's ears. “I guess you like it, huh. I'm glad, it took a long time to find a nice one for you.” Ed grinned at him and held it out, pressing it against Roy's cheek while he pressed against the other. Roy's head automatically turned to press against Ed's. “See? I like you better any day.” The older man dropped a kiss on the smooth forehead and held his adorable boy until he fell asleep.