Creative Denial
Title: Creative Denial
Verse: Further Interruptions
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Roy/Ed
Summary: Alright, it might be childish, but he’d been stuck in the house with ten-year-old twins and a two-year-old for 42 days - and counting. He was allowed a little childishness.
Author's Note: This was written because I thought if we all have to isolate ourselves, Roy and Ed should have to share our pain :P Just a little fluffy Mustang-Elric family time. The twins are 10 and Fumi is 2 (though she only makes a nap-time appearance).
“It’ll just be for a few days, Fullmetal,” Ed mimicked as he took a deep breath. And a second. Followed by a third. And then he dropped back under the water in the bathtub and cursed until his lungs ached. When he finally came up, gasping for breath, he was no longer alone in the bathroom.
“Ed?”
“This is not a few days, Bastard.”
He drowned himself again before Roy could answer. Alright, it might be childish, but he’d been stuck in the house with ten-year-old twins and a two-year-old for 42 days - and counting. He was allowed a little childishness.
It wasn’t like he was alone with them. Hawkeye wasn’t letting Roy leave the house either until this latest threat against his life had been sufficiently dealt with, but they were all going stir-crazy.
They both tried to keep some semblance of work hours at home, but it wasn’t easy with a crying toddler, an overly athletic ten-year-old and… Maes. He loved his boy more than life itself, but he wasn’t sure how long he would be able to handle this phase where he blew things up. And with that thought, he dropped his head back against the edge of the tub twice in quick succession. He didn’t think about it often, but this wasn’t the right moment to remember that an older Tishy had gone back in time and told him that Maes never grows out of it.
He just wanted a little peace and quiet. If they could let the kids play outside, he’d have a brief respite, but the house was shut tight. Not even their house, because at least that was big enough to have a little space. This was a safe house of sorts. He would almost wish they’d moved them into the Fuhrer’s manor. There would have been extra rooms to explore and new things to keep the kids occupied with. Ed was quickly running out of ideas.
At least tomorrow was supposed to be a day off for Roy. No new files would be delivered and his husband had promised he’d work to get them all cleared off so they could at least commiserating Day 43 together. And maybe, if he was lucky, the twins might catch him being gross with Roy and ‘save’ Fumi from them for an hour. Even a few minutes would be a wonder.
When Ed came back up for air Roy was gone. He looked down at his fingers and they were all pruny so he decided it was the longest he could hide. Roy wasn’t having a better time with this than he was. And the fact that it was his job that had them jumping at shadows always made him shoulder more guilt than he needed to. He really wanted a glass of wine - maybe something stronger - but he needed to gauge Roy’s reactions tonight before he could think of mentioning it. As stressed as his husband was, alcohol was probably off the table.
He pulled himself out of the bath and dried off quickly with towels that weren’t as soft as theirs at home. He threw on a pair of pajama bottoms and a tee-shirt and sat on the bed - not nearly as comfortable as his bed - and dried his hair.
The house was too quiet when he walked out, and Ed crept around the corners until he found out why.
Roy had fallen asleep on the floor, his back up against the couch and his head on the cushions, with their two-year-old’s head pillowed on his thigh and her body resting between his legs. It would have been a sweet picture, except … the twins.
Maes had a bottle of nail polish and was finishing bright red fingernails on the Fuhrer’s right hand. The color made the scar on the back of Roy’s hand stand out somehow and he almost stopped them, but to the children, it was nothing to be afraid of. As much as they’d heard stories about their dad, no one spoke of losing blood so quickly he had to cauterize his wounds with his own fire or being so desperate he carved his transmutation circle into the back of his hand. It had been the first time, but not the last. The scar remained today because of that.
“Fucking hell, where is it?” Tishy had her back to him and as he approached, he saw a bag of makeup on the floor where she was rummaging for the right color. “There it is!” she whispered triumphantly to her brother. “Dad’s favorite color!”
Maes’ eyes went wide as he noticed Ed then. “Father?”
Ed smiled, then looked at the color Tishy picked. “Gold?”
“It’s his favorite!”
Ed smiled even wider. Blue was actually Roy’s favorite color, but he always said gold when people asked. Usually just before he turned around and winked at him. It was a joke that only Alphonse understood, though he was sure plenty of other people thought they did.
They were behaving - sort of - and Ed really wanted to see what Roy looked like with gold eyeshadow. Instead of waking his husband, he laid down on the floor beside his husband and children and put a pillow from the chair behind him under his head. “I’d like red nails also. Could you add some polka dots?” Ed asked. “And blue eyeshadow Tishy. I’d look horrible with gold and red would make me look like I was crying.”
The twins giggled. “Just don’t wake Fumi. Or your dad. If he wakes up, I will lie and tell him I fell asleep before all this mischief started.”
“He won’t believe you.”
“I have my ways.”
“Gross!” Maes whispered.
Ed laughed as he turned onto his side and curled up against his husband’s side without waking him or Fumi, or getting in Tishy’s way. The twins giggled again, but even as they bent their heads together to plan Ed’s new makeup, he felt the soft brush of his husband’s fingers against his cheek and smiled brighter.
Verse: Further Interruptions
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Roy/Ed
Summary: Alright, it might be childish, but he’d been stuck in the house with ten-year-old twins and a two-year-old for 42 days - and counting. He was allowed a little childishness.
Author's Note: This was written because I thought if we all have to isolate ourselves, Roy and Ed should have to share our pain :P Just a little fluffy Mustang-Elric family time. The twins are 10 and Fumi is 2 (though she only makes a nap-time appearance).
“It’ll just be for a few days, Fullmetal,” Ed mimicked as he took a deep breath. And a second. Followed by a third. And then he dropped back under the water in the bathtub and cursed until his lungs ached. When he finally came up, gasping for breath, he was no longer alone in the bathroom.
“Ed?”
“This is not a few days, Bastard.”
He drowned himself again before Roy could answer. Alright, it might be childish, but he’d been stuck in the house with ten-year-old twins and a two-year-old for 42 days - and counting. He was allowed a little childishness.
It wasn’t like he was alone with them. Hawkeye wasn’t letting Roy leave the house either until this latest threat against his life had been sufficiently dealt with, but they were all going stir-crazy.
They both tried to keep some semblance of work hours at home, but it wasn’t easy with a crying toddler, an overly athletic ten-year-old and… Maes. He loved his boy more than life itself, but he wasn’t sure how long he would be able to handle this phase where he blew things up. And with that thought, he dropped his head back against the edge of the tub twice in quick succession. He didn’t think about it often, but this wasn’t the right moment to remember that an older Tishy had gone back in time and told him that Maes never grows out of it.
He just wanted a little peace and quiet. If they could let the kids play outside, he’d have a brief respite, but the house was shut tight. Not even their house, because at least that was big enough to have a little space. This was a safe house of sorts. He would almost wish they’d moved them into the Fuhrer’s manor. There would have been extra rooms to explore and new things to keep the kids occupied with. Ed was quickly running out of ideas.
At least tomorrow was supposed to be a day off for Roy. No new files would be delivered and his husband had promised he’d work to get them all cleared off so they could at least commiserating Day 43 together. And maybe, if he was lucky, the twins might catch him being gross with Roy and ‘save’ Fumi from them for an hour. Even a few minutes would be a wonder.
When Ed came back up for air Roy was gone. He looked down at his fingers and they were all pruny so he decided it was the longest he could hide. Roy wasn’t having a better time with this than he was. And the fact that it was his job that had them jumping at shadows always made him shoulder more guilt than he needed to. He really wanted a glass of wine - maybe something stronger - but he needed to gauge Roy’s reactions tonight before he could think of mentioning it. As stressed as his husband was, alcohol was probably off the table.
He pulled himself out of the bath and dried off quickly with towels that weren’t as soft as theirs at home. He threw on a pair of pajama bottoms and a tee-shirt and sat on the bed - not nearly as comfortable as his bed - and dried his hair.
The house was too quiet when he walked out, and Ed crept around the corners until he found out why.
Roy had fallen asleep on the floor, his back up against the couch and his head on the cushions, with their two-year-old’s head pillowed on his thigh and her body resting between his legs. It would have been a sweet picture, except … the twins.
Maes had a bottle of nail polish and was finishing bright red fingernails on the Fuhrer’s right hand. The color made the scar on the back of Roy’s hand stand out somehow and he almost stopped them, but to the children, it was nothing to be afraid of. As much as they’d heard stories about their dad, no one spoke of losing blood so quickly he had to cauterize his wounds with his own fire or being so desperate he carved his transmutation circle into the back of his hand. It had been the first time, but not the last. The scar remained today because of that.
“Fucking hell, where is it?” Tishy had her back to him and as he approached, he saw a bag of makeup on the floor where she was rummaging for the right color. “There it is!” she whispered triumphantly to her brother. “Dad’s favorite color!”
Maes’ eyes went wide as he noticed Ed then. “Father?”
Ed smiled, then looked at the color Tishy picked. “Gold?”
“It’s his favorite!”
Ed smiled even wider. Blue was actually Roy’s favorite color, but he always said gold when people asked. Usually just before he turned around and winked at him. It was a joke that only Alphonse understood, though he was sure plenty of other people thought they did.
They were behaving - sort of - and Ed really wanted to see what Roy looked like with gold eyeshadow. Instead of waking his husband, he laid down on the floor beside his husband and children and put a pillow from the chair behind him under his head. “I’d like red nails also. Could you add some polka dots?” Ed asked. “And blue eyeshadow Tishy. I’d look horrible with gold and red would make me look like I was crying.”
The twins giggled. “Just don’t wake Fumi. Or your dad. If he wakes up, I will lie and tell him I fell asleep before all this mischief started.”
“He won’t believe you.”
“I have my ways.”
“Gross!” Maes whispered.
Ed laughed as he turned onto his side and curled up against his husband’s side without waking him or Fumi, or getting in Tishy’s way. The twins giggled again, but even as they bent their heads together to plan Ed’s new makeup, he felt the soft brush of his husband’s fingers against his cheek and smiled brighter.