So the vote ended up two against two, so I made the decision not to keep Black Hayate's name, because I honestly can't see Ed agreeing to that name. I hope you all agree with the name I settled on as I spent a lot of the last two days trying to decide.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Chapter thirty-one
"We need to name him!" Ed said, looking up at Roy, grinning. They were back at the living room above the bar and the puppy was sniffing around the room interestedly. They had stopped at a pet shop on the way over, buying the necessary supplies, leaving Roy's wallet considerably lighter than when they left here this morning. Alphonse was laying the new dog bed down on the floor and the puppy was interestedly sniffing it before he looked up at Hawkeye to check that it was all right that he lay down on it.
Roy understood why he looked to her for confirmation. Back at the office she had shot the wall around the poor creature for peeing outside the designated toilet mat. It had quickly learnt not to cross her.
When she nodded her approval, the dog yawned and then walked on top of the bed and walked around in a few circles before it lay down and rested its head on its paws.
"What do you think, Dad?" Al said. "I kind of like Freddie. Or maybe Brian."
"I don't know. I think he looks a bit like a Paul."
"I don't like them," Ed said, concentration obviously at its peak judging by the frown on his face.
"Black Hayate," Hawkeye said.
Ed just stared at her.
"No," Roy said. "I'm not shouting that in public."
Ed looked up at him, nodding once. "Good. I'm not either."
"May I ask what's wrong with it?" Hawkeye said.
"I'm not having a small dog called "Black Hurricane.""
Ed just stared at Hawkeye for suggesting it. "He's too sweet for that! He's not a hurricane! Hurricanes are bad!"
"What about Roger? Or maybe John?" Al suggested.
"No." Ed was shaking his head.
"Richard?"
"No, I can't risk someone calling my dog "Dick". Havoc would find that much too amusing," Roy said. "Maes too, for that matter."
"Why, Daddy?" Ed asked, confused.
Roy would rather explain that to him a few years, or at least not with Hawkeye present. As if reading Roy's mind, she walked towards the stairs. "I'll find a guide to boys's names and their meanings. I saw a shop that might have one on the way over here."
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
She left the room, and if Roy didn't know better, he could have sworn that Al was somehow blushing. He knew that the kid wasn't one for swearing, or explaining this for that matter. This was one of the more awkward parts of parenting. Ed was sitting on Roy's lap, looking expectantly up at him. "Daddy?"
"Uhm... Well, Ed, it's like this: "dick" can be used as a nickname for people named Richard, but other than that, it's also a swear word and a very insulting thing to call someone. It's also a more insulting name for … well … penis." Roy had to say that parenting brought him a whole lot of awkwardness.
Ed's eyes grew wide at the explanation. "Oh. Why would Jean and Maes laugh at that when it's a bad word?"
"Because they're childish and think it's funny."
"They're weird." Ed looked a bit confused, as if trying to find out exactly how it would be funny.
"That they are, Ed, but they're good people."
"I know. Daddy, can I try out Uncle Maes's present?"
Roy smiled. Ed had got a set of five rubber ducks with different "clothes" because Ed had told him about Jimmy-Charlie back home. So now Ed had a pirate duck, a doctor duck, a chef duck, a mother duck in a pink dress and a small baby duck with a pacifier and a diaper to add to his collection.
"Would it be all right with you, Al?"
"Yes, it gives me a chance to try out the new book Maes gave me." Al held up the thick spy book and Roy could hear the smile in his voice.
Roy lifted Ed up and carried him downstairs to the bar. The Madame was cleaning it, preparing for a stag party that had been planned to happen today before Roy had phoned her to tell her that they were coming. Roy was very happy that the sound proofing was excellent so that things wouldn't get awkward as drunk men would begin shouting loudly.
"I'm going to give Ed a bath, if it's all right with you?" Roy said.
"Sure. Have you decided upon a name yet?"
"No. Hawkeye left to buy a book on boys's names and their meanings in order to find something fitting."
"Ah, I see. Otherwise I quite like Geoffrey."
Ed shook his head, but then lit up. "It's perfect for the baby duck!"
Madame Christmas chuckled. "Glad to be of help." Ed had shown her the rubber ducks as soon as they got back.
"Thank you, Grandma! Good luck tonight!"
"Thank you, Ed."
And so Roy carried Ed upstairs and while Ed ran to find the ducks, Roy began preparing the bath water and removing his uniform jacket and shirt.
Roy heard the sound of small legs running excitedly towards him and smiled. Ed was soon enough standing beside him and dropping the ducks in his arms into the foamy water. They disappeared into the foam and Ed then turned to Roy and lifted his arms into the air for Roy to remove his sweater. Once the clothes were removed, Roy lifted Ed by his armpits and put him in the bath. Ed grinned at him from where he sat and began retrieving the rubber ducks in order to use them to play.
"Okay, Daddy, they need some names first. Geoffrey's fine, then there's the Mommy ducky, her name can be Winnifred, Wendy for short." Ed handed Roy the ducks as he spoke. "Then the chef ducky, he can be a Max. He's Geoffrey's uncle. Then comes the pirate ducky, he's Geoffrey's Daddy, he's actually really nice although he's a pirate and he gives the extra money to the poor. Then there's Doctor … Sheppard, he's their GP. His first name is John."
"Sounds good."
"So if you can be the Daddy and the Mommy and the uncle and then I can be Geoffrey and the doctor."
"Okay."
"So they're going to the doctor's so Mommy and Daddy and the uncle are there to follow him because Geoffrey needs a flu shot, but Geoffrey's scared."
And so Roy took the three ducks in question in his hands and was wondering where this was going. If this was some way for Ed to deal with what happened to him, then Roy wasn't going to stop it. Maybe this was a way for him to talk about his fears and feelings surrounding it.
"Come on, Son, it's time to go to Doctor Sheppard," Roy said, moving the pirate duck while trying to speak as pirate-y as he could.
"But I don't want to! Needles are scary!"
"Come on, now, Geoffrey, it will only hurt a bit and then you won't be able to get sick later," Roy said, this time talking as the mother duck and therefore making his voice lighter.
"But it's still scary. Needles hurt. What if there's something else in the syringe? What if there's been some mistake and something's wrong and I get hurt?"
"They check that. They are very proper when it comes to these sorts of things," Roy said as the uncle.
"Geoffrey? You're up," Ed said, trying, and failing, to speak gruffly, making the boy seem even more adorable than usual. He had pushed the doctor duck through the foam as he said it.
When Ed made Geoffrey hesitate, Roy gently pushed the duck with the pirate, nudging him to move forwards. "Go on, Son, it'll be alright."
"Don't wanna."
"Come on, Geoffrey, we'll go get you some ice cream afterwards," Roy said, nudging Geoffrey with the mother duck, too.
And so Ed let Geoffrey be shoved towards the foam where the doctor was waiting.
Roy kept studying Ed as they played through the scenario. Ed seemed to be partially there, yet somewhere far away as well, especially when the doctor supposedly pulled out the syringe. He was breathing a bit faster and was obviously scared. Roy wasn't sure whether this was a good idea or not anymore. Yet Ed seemed determined to go through with it. The way he presented the doctor was as a kind professional, far from the way that Lillian and Grant had been. At least from what he had gathered. When Ed made the doctor stick the invisible needle into Geoffrey's wing, Ed froze. His eyes glazed over and he clearly wasn't there anymore. He began shaking and tears streamed down his cheeks and then Roy moved forwards, lifting Ed out of the bathtub and onto his lap, not caring about the soapy water that was coming off the dripping boy and soaking through Roy's military trousers. "Listen, Ed, it's all right. You're safe. You're here and not there and nobody is going to take that away from you."
Ed just began sobbing and Roy sighed and pressed his lips against his forehead, soothing him.
"Why can't I get past it, Daddy? Why am I still so scared?"
"Because you've been through a traumatic experience and things like that need time to heal. It's just how it is, Ed."
"But I don't want it to! I don't wanna be scared anymore!"
So Ed had been stubbornly trying to face his fears…
"Ed, listen, it will be okay some day. You're already doing a lot better, aren't you?"
Roy could see some of the old impatience shining through and it made it very clear to him how this kid could get through the process of getting automail in just a year. It also reminded him that he was seeing some flashes of Fullmetal from time to time and it happened more and more often as Ed adjusted to how his world had ended up. Ed was still distrustful of most people, but he was much less jumpy unless somebody came out of nowhere with the same abruptness that an attacker would employ. He was slowly getting better and showing more and more of his personality. He still had a lot of bad dreams however, which saddened Roy greatly, but they were slowly getting fewer.
"Let's get you dried up, Ed," Roy said, moving to get a towel.
"No. I'm not done playing."
"Ed, are you sure?"
"Yes. I wanna play."
And so, once Roy was sure that Ed was up for it, he placed Ed back in the bathtub and Ed immediately grabbed the doctor and the pirate, filled them with water, and squeezed them so that Roy was suddenly had a very wet face. Roy found the towel and dried his face before he grabbed the mother and the chef and did the same to Ed, starting a full out war between the pair of them. They were soon giggling and soaked and Roy was surely going to have to use alchemy to get the soap stains out of his uniform.
After about half an hour of this, Roy heard a couple of knocks on the door before it was opened and two sets of dry pyjamas, one large and one much smaller, were lying inside the bathroom.
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
"No problem, sir. I found a book on names and their meanings. I've been discussing some options with Alphonse and we've made a list."
"Sounds great, we'll be there shortly."
"Very well, sir."
Roy turned around to talk to Ed only to have him jump out of the tub, laughing as he landed on Roy and nearly made him fall backwards as he caught him. Ed planted a big kiss on Roy's cheek and hugged him tightly.
Roy hugged him back and dried him off before drying himself as well. The pair of them were soon changing into their pyjamas before Roy pulled out a piece of chalk from the inner pocket of his uniform jacket and drew up a transmutation circle. He activated it and soon enough the soapy water was reduced to steam and Roy only had to wipe away the chalk lines with a wet piece of toilet paper.
And so they walked down into the living room where the dog was lying happily in its new bed and looking up at them while wagging its tail.
Hawkeye placed a thick book on her lap and began flicking through its pages.
And so they were soon throwing out ideas for half an hour until Ed suddenly stood up and took the book from Hawkeye's hands. He flicked through the pages before he suddenly slammed his finger onto a point on the page. "Hey, how about this? It means "legendary wolf" so that fits!" Ed looked up at them all, smiling widely.
"Rolf."
Okay, so I may have intentionally had Alphonse suggest the first names of the four members of Queen, plus John Deacon's middle name, but I just had too, I absolutely adore that band.
