Morning routines were always something that Roy Mustang enjoyed, allowing him to keep a consistent schedule to start his day off right. To Ed however, a morning routine was unheard of and "spontaneous was more exciting than any lame routine," if Roy could recall his exact words correctly. The key was - Roy had figured out - not to coax him into following his morning routine, but to leave the bed cold and empty in the mornings so Ed had no other choice but to drag himself down the stairs and locate where the source of his heat had gone.
"Edward, would you pass me the coffee please?" purred a low voice, the crinkle of a newspaper following the words as pages were flipped in-between fingers.
The scraping of a coffee filled kettle against oak-wood served as the response to the Flame Alchemist's words, two golden eyes meeting black hair as he awaited recognition.
The sound of the scraping was enough to draw Roy's attention away from the newspaper, and to the alchemist sitting across from him, who looked like he would kill for another few minutes enveloped in a warm blanket.
As if it wasn't already hard enough to persuade Ed out of bed, winter made it even harder. Automail ports and cold didn't agree, which usually resulted in a whiny, mopey and sweater wearing Edward Elric.
Roy freed one hand and grasped the handle of the kettle, pouring the black liquid into his white mug. "I haven't heard a single word from you all morning," The older man observed, setting the kettle back down on the table gingerly as he kept eye contact with Edward. There was a moment of silence between the two before the blonde cleared his throat.
"Mornin'."
Roy frowned; was that a crack in his lover's voice, or just his imagination? Edward never sounded so congested as he did now in the mornings either. Roy lowered his newspaper even further, his eyebrows furrowing closer together.
"Don't tell me you're getting sick already." Roy murmured, his frown growing longer when Ed broke off their eye contact, moving to fumble with his oversized sweater. A sigh escaped the older man's lips, and his free hand moved up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"It's all this cold weather," Ed sniffed dully, his eyes still fixed on his two hands below, even though he was fully aware that Roy was now boring holes into the side of his head from across the table. It took another moment before gold met dark blue, a loud sniff breaking the silence.
"How long, then?" Roy continued, noting the sickly haze covering beautiful golden irises. "You haven't been hiding it from me, have you?"
A grumpy glare was shot in Roy's direction before he received a worded response. "I dunno, a couple days?" Ed replied bitterly to his boyfriend, moving his left hand to prop his head up on the table, golden strands falling over his shoulder. "I just feel like shit today, that's all. It'll go away." Ed added, his metal fingers carving small circles into the table as his gaze dropped back down.
Roy sighed lowly. "Medicine would definitely help if you-"
"I don't need any damn medicine! I'm fine." Interrupted the red-nosed alchemist, his fingers digging deeper into the carved wood. Ed let out a short, irritated huff, sniffing violently afterwards to recover his breath.
Roy listened to Edward's outburst quietly, taking another sip of his coffee. Anybody that knew Ed could easily vouch that he had a bad temper on normal days. Sick days made normal days seem like a blessing to Roy. The only way to deal with him was patience. Patience and self-control, Roy thought. "Edward. Medicine will help you recover faster. You wouldn't want to feel like this any more than you had to, would you?" Roy reasoned with the yellow ball of wallowing thoughts, keeping his tone as light as he possibly could.
"It's just a cold. It'll go away by itself. So stop fussin' at me." Ed muttered, removing his elbow from the table as he slid his hands back into his sweater.
"I'm not fussing at you, I'm only trying to be helpful." Roy objected delicately, watching as Ed's eyes drifted over to gaze at Roy in his long sleeved fleece shirt, and pajama pants. "Will you at least take something? If not for your sake, then for mine? I'd rather not hear coughing and sniffing in the middle of the night."
Ed rolled his eyes at Roy's conjecture, his eyebrows furrowing together. "Only because I know you'll keep your distance if I'm coughing." Ed raised his gaze to Roy's eyes, his face turning a light pink when he noted the look Roy was giving him. "And wipe that damn look off your face!" Ed spluttered, turning an even deeper red when Roy began to chuckle.
"Anything for you, my dear." Came a light-hearted tone, a smile clear on the older man's face.
Ed grunted in response and stood up, moving his chair backwards. He trudged over to where Roy was sitting, and squeezed his way in-between his lover and the table, plopping into his lap. "I'll take the medicine later. Hold the newspaper back up, 'wanna read it." Ed mumbled, slouching down in Roy's hold when he felt a warm hand wrap around his middle. Roy smiled and placed his lips on Ed's soft hair, kissing him gently.
"I'm almost done, so you better read fast." He informed Ed as he lifted the ink filled pages.
Ed sniffed loudly and burrowed deeper into Roy's hold, his eyes already scanning the lines. "I think I can manage."