The Space Between Author: *kee Rating: Adultish for swearing Pairing: Roy/Ed Summary: What do you do on a lazy day off when you suck at relaxing? Warning/Spoilers:takes place after the end of the anime series and movie, but lives in its own little AU world. Is part of the bitter universe and falls first in the timeline. Notes: thanks to [info]halfacork for pointing me in the direction of the twicetold project and for listening to me whine about not being done. And thanks as always to my rocking beta, [info]sainnis who laughs when I'm funny, praises me when I do well and kicks my ass when I can do better. ?If the house was on fire and you could only save one thing, what would it be?? Ed turned his head in time to feel Roy?s soft puff of irritated breath. ?You know, I like it so much better when I?m the one who can?t sleep keeping you awake.? ?Whatever. Answer the question.? ?There?s a pretty big logical fallacy in your question. If the house was on fire, I?d put it out.? Roy snapped in the darkness and Ed could hear the smirk on his face. ?Your gloves were the first thing to go. Now pick.? Roy was horrible at these games. Ed didn?t know why he still tried to play them except it was late, he was tired, but couldn?t sleep and every time he closed his eyes all he could see was the Gate. It was almost enough to make him long for the endless nights shared in strange cities and backwards towns with Al, trapped in a steel body that never slept. Ed had no doubt that he could spend the rest of his life talking with Al every second of every day and never run out of things to say or games to play. With Roy, it sometimes seemed the only things they knew how do to were fuck and fight. ?I can still draw arrays.? ?Ha. You remember the array you made for Elysia last week? Good thing it wasn?t supposed to work. The outside ring was more like an oval and the lines looked like they?d been drawn by a palsied old man.? ?No one likes a showoff.? Ed blinked up at the ceiling while his fingers idly traced arrays on the sheets. ?You?re not getting out of this. What would you save?? ?Why do I think there?s no way I can answer this question correctly?? ?Because you?re paranoid after a lifetime of military service?? ?Fine. I?d save you, obviously.? ?I don?t need saving, asshole, because I?m not a child or a kitten stuck in a tree. Try again.? Like he couldn?t get himself out of a burning building. Roy heaved out a long sigh. ?God, you?re picky. Fine. Downstairs in the hallway there?s that picture that someone took of us at Al?s last birthday party. I?d want that.? It was a lovely picture; they hadn?t even been aware anyone was taking it. Roy was laughing at something Ed had said and Ed was grinning up at him with an easy, warm smile. ?You?re so lame,? he said fondly as he turned on his side. Roy moved in behind him and threw an arm across his waist. They usually slept on opposite ends of the bed?Roy was a violent sleeper and Ed put off enough heat to ignite them both?but Ed didn?t mind the closeness. After a moment, Ed twined their fingers together and Roy pressed a kiss to the back of Ed?s neck. ?Go to sleep.? Ed closed his eyes, hoping a childish hope that Roy?s mere presence would be enough to let him sleep without dreams of blood. *** ?If you could pick someone you know or knew to knock to the ground, someone you never had the chance to hit, who would it be?? It was funny to watch Roy pause, his fork halfway to his mouth. ?What?? ?You heard me, who would you have put on the ground if you could have?? Ed had finished his own plate and was considering how much of Roy?s he could steal while he was distracted. ?I make you breakfast and you ask me weird questions?? He eyed Ed warily, and then curled a protective arm around his plate. ?I don?t know.? Ed stood and carried his plate to the sink, picking leftover bits of breakfast from the pan before turning around to lean against the counter. ?Well, think about it. It?s an interesting question.? ?I really don?t know. You?re more the hitting type than me.? Roy finished the rest of his food in several quick bites before turning an accusing look on Ed. ?You know, before you, I actually took time eating. I could spend half an hour enjoying a breakfast like this. Now, if I go longer than ten minutes, I risk losing everything to you.? ?It?s just something you have to do because your body tells you it needs energy. I don?t spend half an hour enjoying a breath when my lungs tell me it?s time to breathe.? Roy sighed and rose to join his plate with Ed?s. ?You don?t have to rush through everything anymore. You can take time to enjoy an excellent breakfast,? ?So modest,? Ed muttered as he began washing plates. ?And if you want to take an extra second to enjoy a breath, you can.? Ed shrugged off Roy?s light touch to his shoulder. ?You didn?t answer my question.? This time, there was no hesitation in Roy?s answer. ?Hohenheim.? Ed let the pan fall from his fingers into the soapy water with a splash. ?Do your own fucking dishes.? *** ?Do you think you?ll have that thing back together any time soon?? Ed looked up from his sprawl on the floor, bits of the radio spread around him. His ire had cooled somewhat?just seeing Roy didn?t fill him with irrational anger. Spending a good part of the morning taking things apart and tinkering with them had helped. ?Did you want it?? Roy slumped onto the chair and peered over Ed?s shoulder at the mess. ?I was hoping to listen to the afternoon program, yes.? ?Oh.? Ed thought about how much he?d undone and how quickly he?d be able to put everything back together. ?You should have said. You might miss the first bit.? ?Can?t you just,? Roy clapped his hands. ?I could, but I?m trying to make it better. I think, if I can switch the wiring here, maybe add a few circuits here and here, we might be able to pick up broadcasts from Drachma.? And really, clapping it together wouldn?t do anything to kill hours of the lazy afternoon. When his hands were busy, when his mind was focused on a task, he had less time to worry. Less time to ponder life?s imponderables. Roy poked at one of the screws, sending it spinning in a slow arc. ?I?d settle for being able to listen to the local broadcasts.? ?Just because you can?t understand what they?re saying doesn?t mean that it wouldn?t be cool for us to be able to pick them up.? ?I?ll see if I can?t work learning a new language into my copious free time.? Ed turned to look at Roy over his shoulder. ?I don?t see you doing anything today but sitting around bitching.? ?It takes some of us more than a day to get down a new language.? ?And I?m just saying that during this time you could have learned to say ?hello? and ?where?s the bathroom?.? Roy looked like he wanted to say more, but he stood instead. ?Let me know when you?re finished.? *** Ed found Roy outside, in the backyard, lying in the sun. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was napping, but for the slight smile that creased his face when Ed approached. ?The yard looks like hell.? He nodded to the tall grass, the overgrown weeds and the sad state of the flowers lining the edge of the house. ?Maybe it?s time to call the yard boy?? Roy held out a hand, inviting Ed to sit next to him. ?I don?t like that kid. He leers.? Roy shrugged, too languid to work up to a fight. ?There?s quite a bit in this house that?s leer-worthy.? He waved a hand toward the street. ?You didn?t like the one before because he was too slow.? ?It took him six fucking hours to mow the lawn. I could have plucked out all the grass with tweezers and been done faster.? ?If the next words out of your mouth are ?kids these days.? I?m calling your brother to come over immediately and mock you mercilessly.? Ed leaned back on his hands, thrusting his chin up at the sky. ?Al wouldn?t make fun of me. He?d have my back.? ?I think you underestimate the humor in you getting old.? Ed smiled down at Roy, whose body had tensed as though waiting for some kind of retribution. ?Sometimes I think I was born old.? ?That?s not true. I?ve heard stories. I know what you and Al got up to before everything.? With a sigh, Ed relaxed back onto the ground, his arms crossed behind his head and his eyes closed against the sun. ?You can say it, you know, and I won?t break. You can say before he left and my mother died and we broke the laws of nature to try and get her back. It?s what happened. There?s no denying it and not saying it doesn?t make it any better.? Roy caressed his automail arm, a light sense of pressure along unresponsive steel. ?Is it wrong of me to think that I wouldn?t have you any other way?? No one, no one had ever thought of his automail as anything other than impressive machinery or ugly prosthetics. Before Roy, Ed himself had never seen them as anything more than useful, heavy and painful. For some reason, though, Roy liked them. He touched them without reservation as if they were just another part of Ed. ?Not wrong. Weird, maybe.? He turned his head with a wicked grin. ?What did you think of Al?s armor?? ?Oh, well you know me, raging pervert when it comes to all things metal.? Roy snorted, a slim smile on his face. ?You?re disgusting.? *** At times, like when Ed finished a book that made little to no sense and could have been more coherently written by a clever six year old, Ed thought he was wasting his time and his talent doing research and renting himself out to the military. Sure, it paid well, but was it really worth it when the new books on alchemy that were so damned popular were complete and total bullshit? He had the patience to sit down and read them; how much hard...
Mojaunicorn