Title: Babysitting (part I)

Rating: PG

Genre: Romace/Humore

Word Count: 2000

Warnings: Language, sexual themes

Ed was exhausted. Today was a horrible day at work; there was this research he was trying to do, and it reminded him his chase after a way to regain Al's body more than anything else. Every time he thought he reached somewhere, every time he thought he finally got a step closer to the solution, new problems rose and brought him back to square one. It was frustrating and annoying, and his head hurt from all this useless thinking. The only thing that kept him going rather than simply giving up and deciding to just ditch that specific project was his stubbornness, the same one that kept him going even when retrieving his brother's physical body from the game seemed impossible. He did find a way to do that, eventually; so why won't he be able to solve this thing? It was much simpler, and even though he didn't really had his alchemy to check his theories with he knew enough about it to be able to do the whole thing theoretically.

But all of that didn't matter now. It was already almost eight PM, several good hours after he was supposed to come back home, and he was dying to leave this issue behind until the following day will come by and just relax at home with the man he chose to live his life with.

A faint smile spread on his lips as he thought about that. Roy was probably already at home; he usually left the office at about six, which meant that usually it was Ed who arrived home first and had to prepare dinner; but since he was still on his way he knew that Roy would just make something himself, preparing enough for at least three people and waiting for Ed to come back. There mere thought about Roy's cooking made the blond's mouth wet. Even though he was forced to learn how to cook (Roy insisted, once they moved in together, that Ed will stop eating 'that garbage', as he put it, and taught him to cook a few simple things, which with time developed into some more complicated meals) he was no match for Roy. The man simply knew how to work the kitchen. Besides, it was fun to think that for a change, he'll come home and a hot meal would wait for him rather than having to prepare it.

With that thought in mind, Ed finally arrived home, his smile broadening as he could smell the scent of cooking. His bad mood evaporated, and all that was left was relief that he was finally home again, and that, at least for the next several hours, he didn't have to worry about a new security system that'd sense and alarm whenever someone unauthorized is near it. He opened the door and got in. taking off his shoes and dark coat before walking straight to the kitchen.

It wasn't just because he was hungry and the good smell of beef was making his stomach to remind him that, in fact, he hadn't eaten since lunch – which was somewhere around one o'clock today. He also found it incredibly sexy to see his lover dealing with food, cooking something for him that he knew would be just as perfect as the man preparing it was.

As he passed through the living room, he could feel his excitement rising. He could already see a glimpse of Roy standing next to the stove, stirring or whatever, all too focused on what he was doing to notice that he was no longer alone. It was a beautiful sight. He was just about to turn into the kitchen when he suddenly felt something rubbing against his leg.

"Ah! Fuck what the hell-?" Startled, Ed jumped in his place, unable to hold back a call of surprise. There was nothing that was supposed to do that; they held no pets, and obviously had no kids. As far as he knew, Roy didn't have any relatives who might be stopping by and allowing their young to be on the loose in his house, which meant it could only be something that was not supposed to be there. He could hear a yell from the kitchen, his own terror mirrored in Roy's deeper voice that was calling his name, meshed with the sound of kitchen wear dropping, on the floor or on the counter he had no idea.

He looked down to see what the hell it was that touched him, his eyes going wide as he realized it was a cat. Not just a cat, but one that looked oddly familiar. But it wasn't supposed to be here.

He kept staring, puzzled, as the furry little creature just kept moving around his feet. It didn't seem to understand – or care – about the way it startled Ed, or potentially ruined his dinner, just rubbing against Ed's right leg and letting out a soft mew.

"Ed, are you alright?" Roy's voice was now much closer, and a second later he could sense him by his side, his worry clear in his voice. Ed looked up just in time to see the confused look on Roy's face as he was looking around, probably looking for the cause of Ed's startle. He obviously didn't see the cat as a possible cause.

He frowned. "Why is Mr. Cookies here?" he asked, unable to keep the blame out of his voice. His heat beat was still a little too high to his taste despite the fact that he already knew it wasn't a hostile creature, it didn't change the fact that it scared the hell out of him. It was probably clear in the way he spoke, because he could hear Roy chuckle, and he watched, annoyed, as the older man bent down and picked the cat up, making it let out another low mew before it started purring.

"Why won't he be here? I like him. Look, he's purring. You should try to hold him too, maybe bond with him – "

"No, Roy, what is it doing here?"

Finally, the smirk was erased from Roy's lips. He kept petting the cat as he looked at Ed, a serious expression on his face. "Well, Al asked me to keep him for a week. He and Winry went on a vacation and they needed someone to look after the cats while they're away."

Ed didn't even know where to start. There were too many things about what Roy said that bothered him: the presence of the second cat, Mary, in the house; the fact that his little brother was on a vacation without letting him know, and the fact that he requested that from Roy rather than from him. His frown deepened.

"Wait. Al and Winry went on vacation? What? How come I don't know about that?" he decided to ask eventually, realizing that was the part that bothered him the most. Alphonse knew about more or less anything that happened in Ed's life; it hurt to think that his own brother didn't feel the same way.

"They decided today. Alphonse called me and told me, he said he'd been trying to get a hold of you since the morning but you didn't pick up; I have to say I second that," there was some scolding in Roy's words, and Ed pouted at the blame.

"Sorry I actually had work to do. I was too busy to bother with the phone. Wait, so what did he say? And why the fuck are the cats here instead of his and Winry's apartment? If they needed me to take care of them I could just go there and – "

"He said they'd feel lonely," Roy explained with a smile. "I can see why he was worried. This furry thing didn't leave me since the second your brother brought it here, until you arrived and decided it was trying to attack you. But he's adorable; he won't hurt a fly. Right, Mr. Cookies?"

"Oh for fuck's sake," Ed muttered when he heard the way Roy was talking to the cat, his voice a little higher than usual and his syllables swallowed. The creature in question mewed, and other than that seemed completely unaffected by Roy's babytalking. "It's a cat, not a child, Roy. Where's the other one? You said Mary was here as well?"

"I don't know. Around. Maybe she's sleeping somewhere."

Ed was about to just turn away and walk into the kitchen when something occurred to him. "Is the bedroom door closed?" he asked.

Roy shrugged, still petting the red-haired cat. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Wait," Ed said, and walked towards the bedroom. If the door wasn't closed and Roy didn't know where Mary was odds were that the filthy creature was on their bed, shedding fur and dirt and fuck knew what else and he won't tolerate this.

His heart sunk when he saw the door that led to the most personal space he and Roy shared; wide and open, revealing the dark room behind it. He rushed towards it, turning on the light.

At first, he saw nothing; just their bed, messy as they always left it in a morning they were hurrying to work, thick, gray blanket thrown in disarray on the blue mattress. Then, as if to confirm his worse fear, something moved, and he realized that Mary was lying there, her gray fur camouflage with the colours of their sheets. Without wasting a second he rushed towards it, picking it up (despite it's protesting mew) and taking it with him as he left the room, only daring to place it on the floor after he closed the door behind him.

"Why did you let it go on the bed? We sleep there!"

Roy turned to look sheepishly at him. "I didn't 'let' her, Ed; she went on her own. The door happened to be open. Don't freak out so much, it's a cat, not something smelly or dirty."

"Cats are dirty, Roy! They belong in the streets, or on the floor – but not in our bed! We fuck there! Do you wanna fuck in cat's fur?!"

Roy smirked. "Actually, it doesn't sound like such a bad idea – "

"Roy -!"

"Alright, alright. Sorry. I'll make sure to keep the door closed. Now will you calm down? You're just making a fuss. I know for a fact you don't hate cats that much. Every time we visited Winry and your brother you didn't mind it one bit that they climbed onto you and you even pet them."

"I know! Because that's their house! I'm not going to care if they get a cat and it ruins their furniture or messes their bed or eats their food! It's their choice. I care now because I don't want that. I like our living room the way it is, not decorated with nail scratches all over it, thank you."

"Don't be like that. They've been here all day and they seem very educated. Besides, I don't think I've seen a single scratch on your brother's couches. Besides, it's just for a week. Suck it up and deal with it, it's not like I'm going to let you put them back in Al's house. Who knows? You might learn to love them."

Ed narrowed his eyes. "I won't, but whatever. You take care of them. Right now I just want food, and they're both dead if they touch it."

Roy chuckled again, letting Mr. Cookies down to the floor. "They won't, and you're lucky. Dinner's almost ready, so wash your hands and come help me serve."

"Whatever," Ed said, still annoyed but the idea of food automatically calming him. He went to do as he was told, the only thing in his mind is getting his empty stomach filled.