A/N: For day 6 of FMA week 2015 on Tumblr

Title: Home

Rating: PG

Pairing: Roy/Ed, Alphonse/Winry

Genre: General

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It was a beautiful Saturday morning. It was easy, living in Central, to forget the wonders of living in the midst of nature, with singing birds and no main roads right under the window. It had been a while since Edward could indulge in waking up only from the natural light of the sun rather than the horns of the cars in the street or the wonderful sound of the neighbors fighting.

Today he did not get to enjoy the full benefits of the house in Resenbool.

"Uncle Ed!" the high voice calling his name tore Edward from his blessed sleep. He groaned and turned, looking for the warm body that was supposed to be next to him in bed, wishing to drown the offensive voice in it. It took him a few seconds of blind searching to realize he was alone in bed.

He opened his eyes and blinked before realizing that sometime between the time he was looking for Roy and the time he opened his eyes someone managed to climb the bed. Big, golden eyes stared at him, accompanied with a broad smile that only grew as the girl realized he was awake.

"Uncle Ed! Get up! It's a beautiful day and I wanna play!"

He smiled back at her, forcing himself to sit up and watching her gaze following him as he did. "Isn't it a bit early though, Irene?" he asked, suppressing a yawn. He wondered where Roy was and why he'd left him alone, but couldn't help but be bothered by the fact that his niece simply walked into the bedroom. He was still too tired to think about that, so he pushed it all to the back of his mind. He will deal with that later; now he needed to either drag himself out of bed or somehow convince Irene that she should go back to sleep.

He knew that there was no chance of the latter, so he focused on remaining seated. His broadened his smile, reaching with his hand forward to mess the girl's hair, which made her laugh. "What do you want to play?" he asked, and hoped, with all his might, that whatever the answer will be – it will not include too much moving from his side.

The girl sat on his knees, beaming at him. "I wanna play doll!"

Good. That meant mostly sitting, and moving his hands and a bit of talking. That was something he could handle at this early hour. Maybe he could even make it easier. "Do you want to bring the doll here so we can play together?"

She shook her head. Well, at least it was worth a try. "Come downstairs!" And the next thing he knew was that she turned from him and got off the bed, her little footsteps rapid as she ran out of the room.

It was tempting to lay back and curl up back in the blanket; but he will not disappoint a five year old girl, especially not when she was his brother's and best friend's daughter.

So he dragged himself out of bed and put some clothes on, allowing himself only a short pause in the bathroom before he headed downstairs where the living room was.

He expected to find the girl sitting there, surrounded by the dolls her father had transmuted for her and her mother built for her, but couldn't help but arch up an eyebrow as the only thing surrounding the girl were a few tiny bottles of colorful liquid. Ed blinked and paused before approaching Irene. He forced a smile.

"Didn't you say you want to play with dolls?" he asked, sitting on the floor next to her. He glanced around, searching for signs of Roy – but the kitchen was empty and the house was quiet. Oh well, he was a big boy and could take care of himself. Sooner or later, he will show up. He returned his attention to his niece.

"Yes," she said, smirking as her eyes followed him. "You are the doll!"

Edward laughed. "Me? Ain't I a little bit too big to be a doll?"

"No! You are just the right size. You have a lot of nails I can color."

"Mommy will be mad at you if you touch her work, you know that, right?"

"No…." the girl said, her eyes big. "She will think I made her automail pretty! I will make Uncle pretty." She reached out and took Ed's hand, examining it thoughtfully. "You have big hands! I gonna paint it real nice."

Ed wasn't too sure he liked the idea, but there was no one around right now to make fun of him; besides, just like he could drag himself out of bed before even her parents woke up, he decided he will not disappoint a five year old girl. He smiled. "What color will you pain my nails?"

Irene frowned in thought before letting his hand fall and reaching for one of the bottles. "Pink!"

Ed's eyebrows arched up. "Pink? You think pink will look good on me?"

"Pink looks good on everybody!" she said, unscrewing the cork off the little bottle and taking out the tiny brush. It was the brightest shade of pink Edward had ever seen.

He held up his hand. "Of course it does," he replied, watching as she was diligently brushing the pink polish on his fingernails. It felt cold, but not unbearably so. He watched with curiosity as she painted. "But make sure not to get out of the lines, okay? Do it pretty."

She looked up, scowling. "I will not! I'm gonna do it perfect and then show Mom and Dad and Uncle Roy and they will be happy! Uncle Roy will love you better."

Ed had the sudden mental image of his lover seeing his fingernails painted in bright pink; a sudden expression of love was not how he saw Roy reacting; maybe laughing at him was more likely. He tried to hold back a laugh. "I'm sure he will. This is very nice of you to think about my well-being like that."

"Of course! I'm a very nice girl. I think we have enough pink."

Edward glanced at his hand; he had three nails painted by now. "Really? So what color do you think you should use next?"

"Hmm." Irene looked at her tiny bottles, considering her options for a while before she closed the pink bottle and reached to another one. She held up the yellow one proudly. "This!"

"Yellow? I think it's a good choice. Will look very good with the pink. Very contrasting."

"Yes!" she called triumphantly, and started painting his remaining two fingers in yellow.

"Do you paint Daddy's nail too?" Ed placed his elbow on his knee, leaning his hand on his opened palm as he watched her work.

"No. Daddy's mean. He doesn't let me. But Mom does!" She smiled brightly. "I did her nails blue last week!"

"Did you now? I'm sure it looked really good."

"It did!" Irene moved to his other hand, forcing him to change his position and lean on his other one – to which the girl reacted in nothing short of panic. "Noooo! Don't do that! You will ruin it!"

Ed straightened up, supporting his weight with his palm on the floor instead. "Sorry. I don't have a cute girl like you at home to paint my nails, you need to guide me."

"Oy, this is not good! You and Uncle Roy should make one. Then I will have someone to play with!"

This time Ed couldn't hold back his laugh. Him and Roy? Having a baby? Even if it was physically possible he couldn't imagine himself raising a kid with his lover. While he did, when he was young, imagine himself having children one day – he and Roy were simply too busy for that, both of their careers demanding too much to be able to properly invest in a child. Not that they could have one, even if they wanted to.

"What about Vincent? You can play with him."

"Vinny's a BOY, he's no fun! And he always says I'm too little and then he goes and plays with his friends from school."

"Really? But he's only two years older from you."

"He's mean. Like Daddy."

"Aww, I'm sure Dad's not mean. Maybe he doesn't let you paint his nails because people at his work are mean and will not appreciate your lovely work."

Irene paused again. She placed the yellow back on the floor and picked the green. "Maybe. He can just bring the people from work so I can paint their nails too and they will see it is pretty and fun."

"Maybe you should offer that to him," Ed contributed, but before the girl could respond to that he could hear the front door of the house opening, and they both looked in its direction. Ed couldn't help the smile from spreading on his face as he saw Roy standing there, looking like he'd just came back from a walk. Noticing the two sitting on the floor, Roy mirrored his smile – although it changed into a wondering expression.

"Good morning," he said, walking towards them. He looked down on Ed, probably taking in the fact that his hands were now brightly colored. The younger man could see the struggle in his lover's features as he tried not to laugh before he turned to look at Irene. He chose to ignore that.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

"Around. We don't have that kind of view in Central, I used the chance to have a little walk," he shrugged, and directed his next words to Irene. "What are you doing to your uncle?" he asked, his voice lined with the laugh he was holding back.

The girl looked offended, but it was Ed who spoke first. He held out his already fully painted hand, showing it to his lover. He probably will never let him live it down, but if he was already going to suffer, he will at least make his niece happy. "She's making me pretty for you," he said.

"Oh, does she? Well, it is pretty," Roy said. "Did you have breakfast?"

"No."

"I see. Want me to make you something? I can make pancakes."

"Pancakes!" Irene called in excitement, making both men laugh.

"I think that's a yes," said Ed. "Care to make me a coffee too? I don't think I'll be able to."

"Right. I still need to paint your toes!"

Roy arched an eyebrow, but then leaned and placed a kiss on Edward's head. "Sure. Do you want hot cacao?" He directed the question at the girl.

"Yes! Uncle Roy's the best!"

Roy chuckled. "Don't say that, Ed might get offended, sacrificing his nails for you."

"He is not sacrificing! I do it for him, so he can be pretty."

"Uh, right. You did improve him a lot." That earned Roy a scolding look from his lover, who was even more annoyed by the fact he ignored that look. "Well, you go ahead and paint his toes, I'm making us breakfast."

He walked towards the kitchen, and soon enough the room was full of breakfast making noises and the sweet smell of cooking pancakes. Ed smiled as he changed position again, now letting his niece paint his toenails in purple. He loved his and Roy's place in the city, but there was something magical about Resenbool. Not too long after Alphonse and Winry got out of their room, accompanied by a tired-looking Vincent, all talking and admiring Irene's work as they waited for Roy to make breakfast for everyone.

A warm, filling emotion filled Edward's chest as they were all there together. This was no longer his home, and he'd trade his quiet life with Roy for nothing in the world, but he was happy here. Happy to see his younger brother raising his family, married to the girl of his dreams, and happy to be a part of it all, with the man he chose to share his life with.