Silly's Not a Shortcoming

Rating: PG-13

Jean stared out the window as the train pulled into the Natural History Museum in Cincinnati. Cool place, even if it was a bit icky to him. He poked Ed. "Wake up, gopher."

The smaller blonde stirred slightly, opening one eye sleepily to peer up at Jean. ''Mmnf...''

"We're home. Come on, get up."

Ed blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes and stretching. ''When's breakfast...''

"In about six hours." Jean pulled Ed to his feet. "Come on, let's go get our stuff."

''But 'm hungry now...'' Ed followed Jean almost like a lost kitten, though definitely more groggy than your typical kitten.

"We can grab something at Uncle Paul's," Jean said soothingly. "He just lives up the hill, it'll take fifteen minutes to get there."

''M'kay...'' Ed had found a motivator for staying awake.

They grabbed their bags and walked towards the atrium of the museum. Jean grinned at the sight of the familiar murals that stared down at him. "I keep forgetting how much I like this place."

''Mm'm...'' Ed yawned loudly, nearly bumping into Jean due to a general lack of attention to where his feet were going, other than forward, that is.

Jean rolled his eyes. He spotted Paul waiting outside on the portico and physically dragged Ed out of the building. "Come -on-."

Ed stifled another yawn and did his best not to trip and fall with Jean dragging him like that. ''I can walk y'know...''

"Could have fooled me." Jean pushed his way through the doors and out onto the concrete portico.

Paul smiled. "You're on time. Nice to know the train still works, if nothing else in this blasted city."

Ed rubbed at his eyes with his free hand. ''Morning.''

"Night," Paul corrected, taking Ed's suitcase from him. "It isn't morning unless one's had at least five hours of sleep on a real bed, a decent breakfast, and more importantly, a decent cup of coffee." He headed down the cascade of steps. Jean followed, guiding the sleepy Ed.

''Does that mean I get to go back to bed?'' Ed followed, mostly because he knew he'd heard the word 'breakfast' and because he was being guided.

"Of course," Paul said. "I also moved the bed from the guest room into Jean's room. Hope you don't mind," he added, a little apologetically. "I thought it would be more comfortable, since there's two of you."

"God, I don't care," Jean said around a jaw-cracking yawn. "Bed seems like a heavenly concept, whether it's mine or ours."

Ed nodded in sleepy agreement, even though he'd slept for a while on the train.

Paul grinned, shoving them and their baggage into his car. A few minutes later – twenty, instead of the fifteen Jean had promised – they pulled up in front of one of the tall, slender houses that was typical of Cincinnati hill-life. "Come on, in you go. Don't worry about your bags, I'll get those. Jean, show him up to your room."

Having almost fell back asleep in the car, Ed had to rub his eyes again as he left the vehicle, sticking close to Jean.

Jean dragged himself up to the third floor, flicking on the hall light switch as he did so. A kitten curled up on the landing mewed angrily at him for disturbing her nap.

Ed blinked a bit at the ball of fuzz, contemplating it for a moment before looking back to Jean.

"Her name's Pris. Don't ask, I'm not even sure. Uncle Paul named her." The kitten yawned. "We've had her about a year." He stooped down to scritch Pris behind the ears, then continued on.

Ed nodded, following Jean once again. ''I like cats...''

Jean smiled. "Me too." They finally made it to Jean's room. "You want pajamas, or just to sack out in you clothes?"

Ed looked around and shrugged, yawning again. ''I... guess I could use something other than this...''

Jean pointed to the bed. "Go sit down, I'll see what I can dig up."

With a nod, Ed complied, stretching a bit. ''It'll be too big for me, won't it?''

"Maybe? Hell, I don't know." He opened the closet door. "You could always sleep in boxers and a tee shirt."

''Sounds good to me.''

Jean laughed, tossing a tee shirt back at Ed. He pulled out a pair of soft flannel pants for himself. "You're not very picky at four in the morning."

''Should I be?'' Ed peeled off his shirt and wriggled out of his pants. ''Where should I put these?''

"Just toss 'em on the floor. I'll get them when I'm not dead-on-my-ass tired." Jean yanked his own shirt off. "Worst thing that can happen to them is that Pris decides to nest in them."

Ed shrugged, stretching again before tugging on the tee shirt and watching Jean with a lazy appreciation.

Jean hummed to himself as he slid into the pajama pants. He disappeared briefly to turn off the hall light, then padded back into the dark room. "Night, kiddo."

Ed blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust the slightest bit so that he could see where Jean was.

Jean drifted past Ed and sat down on the bed, resisting the urge to just sprawl over the gloriously huge mattress. He yawned again.

Ed crawled up all the way on the bed and flopped back, poking Jean's side with his toe.

"H'm?"

''Goodnight.'' The smaller blonde wiggled up under the covers, though his eyes still focused on Jean.

"M'm." The thought passed through Jean's mind that he should lie down to sleep, but that might have taken too much energy. He stayed upright, staring dreamily off into space.

Ed shook his head, finally pulling himself upright in order to drag Jean down with him. ''Silly...''

Jean chuckled. "Thanks."

''Now go to sleep...'' Ed tugged the covers up, settling in against Jean.

"Yessir..." Jean snugged himself up against a pillow.

Ed smiled softly. ''G'night, Jean...''

•†•

Jean woke with a resounding groan. He was pretty sure that he hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep. He tried to roll over, but a half-dead body stopped him.

Ed peeked an eye open to look at Jean, his half-sleep interrupted.

Jean wiggled himself deeper into the covers. He was not in the mood to get up and be human for another few hours.

Ed sighed softly and snuggled back against Jean again, perfectly content to stay in bed as long as he would.

"What time is it?" Jean managed to croak out.

''Dunno...'' Ed yawned. ''Last time I checked the clock it was around nine...''

Jean just groaned.

''It could be ten by now for all I know...'' Ed had been sleeping on and off since around seven thirty.

"Should we risk getting up, or should we just stay in bed until an earthquake hit?"

''I'm fine with staying right here...'' Ed nuzzled Jean's neck a bit.

"M'mm... good," Jean purred. "Because I'm too lazy to get my ass out of bed."

''M'kay...'' A few thoughts came to mind, but Ed dismissed them for now. Maybe he'd ask later.

Jean turned over to face Ed. "I don't want to get up," he said plaintively. "But I'm not sleepy anymore."

''Well...'' Ed looked around a bit, actually taking in the room around them now that he was awake. ''Neither am I...''

Jean smiled slightly. "We're such lazy bums."

''Now if there was the offer of food and coffee, I'd get up...'' Ed's stomach rumbled slightly at the mention of food. ''Er...''

He laughed. "I'll go downstairs and ask when food is, all right?"

''I might as well go with you.'' The smaller blonde stretched and sat up, swaying a bit from the sudden action.

"Don't bother." Jean sat up and stretched. "Ten to one, I'll be coming back up."

''Oh, fine...'' Ed propped himself up with a couple of pillows anyway.

Jean reached over to ruffle Ed's hair. "Don't sound so disappointed."

Ed swatted at Jean's hand. ''Go on, the sooner you come back, the sooner... I'll think of something.''

"Hmph." He got up, stretched again, and wandered out of the room.

Ed sighed and snuggled back into the pillows.

Jean ambled downstairs. Paul was lounging comfortably across the couch, nose buried into the newspaper. "Food?" the blonde croaked.

"If you'll wait a few more hours, you can eat lunch," Paul said without looking up. "If you absolutely have to eat, I think you're out of luck. We only have cereal left."

Jean made a face and turned to make his way upstairs. "We'll wait till lunch," he said over his shoulder.

Ed glared at his stomach as it threatened to growl again. Damn impatient thing. Jean poked his nose in. "We have a couple more hours till food," he informed Ed. "I'm going to go take a shower."

''Oh... Okay.'' Ed just dared his stomach to growl. ''I guess I can wait...''

Jean's eyebrow lifted. "Something wrong?"

''Of course not, I'm just hungry and I'll not have a shower until after I eat so I don't pass out or something.''

Laughing, Jean wandered off to the bathroom. Ed stretched again and reached down on the side of the bed for his pants, wondering absently where his suitcase was.

Jean spent a good twenty minutes in the shower, just enjoying the privacy and hot water. When he finally stepped out, he was thoroughly soaked, warm, and entirely happy. He pulled on his pants again and wandered back to his room, shivering in the cold air and dripping everywhere.

Ed looked up from his journal and closed it, putting it back in his suitcase, which he seemed to have found. ''Feel better?''

"Of course." Jean buried himself into his closet again. "Hot water is a wonderful, wonderful thing."

''I'll have to experience it first hand then once there's no chance of passing out.'' Ed watched Jean, smiling to himself.

Jean snorted. "You can't be that hungry," he said, coming up with a well-worn, faded cotton work shirt. "We ate on the train."

''But I am!'' Ed's stomach growled and he growled back.

Rolling his eyes, Jean quickly changed into a pair of jeans. "You're a little black hole, aren't you." He slipped the shirt on, buttoning it up. The soft cloth clung stubbornly to his still-damp skin.

''That's mean...''

"I'm stating a fact."

Ed shrugged. ''I can't help it.''

Jean chuckled. "I'm sure you can't," he said, trying to tuck his shirt in.

''Maybe if you'd dried off first that would be easier...'' Ed watched, slightly entertained.

"Takes too much work." Jean triumphed over the shirt, though it still stuck to his body in some places. "See?"

Ed grinned. ''Sometimes you're just plain silly.''

"You never cared before," Jean quipped, going over to sit on the bed and pull on a pair of socks.

''And I don't care now, I'm just pointing it out.''

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were only hanging around to point out my shortcomings."

''Who said being silly was a shortcoming?'' Ed crawled over and ruffled Jean's still-wet hair.

"What else would it be?"

''A perk.''

Jean twisted to look at Ed. "Explain?"

''Well I for one like your silliness.'' Ed tapped Jean on the nose.

Jean stuck his tongue out. "An interesting diversion."

''What?'' Ed just smiled. ''It's the truth.''

"Well, if you have your reasons..."

Ed leaned against him a bit. ''You smell nice and clean...''

"I would hope so."

Ed grinned and nuzzled Jean's neck. ''So when's lunch?''

Jean reached up to wind his fingers through Ed's hair. "Around twelve-thirty, one'o'clock."

Ed closed his eyes and sighed, slipping his arms around Jean's waist. ''M'kay then...''

"You just want to take a shower now?"

''I should...'' Ed murmured, making no move to get up.

"You probably should," Jean said mildly, well-used to Ed's finicky nature.

Ed nuzzled Jean's neck again. ''But now I don't want to get up...''

"Well why not?"

''M'comfy...''

"You are the laziest person I know. And that's saying a lot, since I'm including myself."

Ed nipped Jean's neck none too lightly. ''I'm not lazy, I'm comfortable.''

Jean flinched. "What's the difference?"

''The difference doesn't matter.'' Ed still refused to budge.

"Brat."

Ed nipped a little higher, and a little softer. ''Maybe...''

Jean sighed, looking up the the ceiling. "Now I know that you're a brat."

Ed frowned a bit and rested his head on Jean's shoulder and looking up at him. ''I like sitting like this...''

Jean smiled ruefully. "I know. But I just... feel... oh, hell, I don't know."

Ed sighed softly. ''Well if you figure it out, be sure to tell me, okay?''

"I will." Jean picked at his shirtsleeve. He sighed again. "God, I feel so weird right now."

''Maybe because this isn't the dorms?'' Ed offered.

"Maybe that's it. It's bizarre, you know?"

Ed shrugged. ''I'll still love you no matter where we are so I don't think it feels weird to me...''

Jean laughed. "That's because your little brother isn't liable to walk in on you and your boyfriend doing Things. Or your uncle. My god, it was bad enough with Iden, but with them..." he trailed off and went bright red at the thought.

Ed flushed a bit at the idea as well. ''Well... Yeah... That... Uh...''

"At least we don't have to sleep in different rooms," Jean offered, pushing Ed gently out of the way and flopping onto his back.

Ed nearly whimpered. ''Four fucking weeks!''

Jean blinked up at him. "Huh?"

Ed shook his head. ''I'll figure something out or I'm liable to do something stupid.''

"You are truly and utterly hopeless," Jean commented, tugging Ed down. "The doors close, gopher-boy."

''Well yeah...'' Ed grinned a bit. ''It's a start...''

"Besides, Uncle Paul is a smart man. He's dealt with people like us before." Jean's eyes closed halfway. "He can put two and two together."

''So when's lunch?''

Jean rolled his eyes. "You have a one-track mind if it isn't sex, it's food. Remind me why I put up with you?"

''I do not always just think about sex and food!'' Ed reached over to grab a pillow and smack Jean with it. Jean's laugher was muffled by the pillow. ''I'm going to go take a shower, then.'' Ed slid off the bed and stalked out of the room, only to stalk right back in a moment later. ''Where's the bathroom and where can I get a towel?''

Jean clawed the pillow off of his face. "Down the hall and hang a right, towels are in the oak cabinet next to the toilet. I recommend the purple towels over the white ones: they're softer."

''Right.'' Ed dug out a pair of clean pants and boxers to avoid having to run around in just a towel, then fled.

Jean chuckled and got to his feet. He wasn't quite sure of what to do with himself now that Ed was gone. Maybe he could go play with the cat.

Ed didn't spend half the time Jean had, and half of that was spent on his hair alone. He ambled back into Jean's room after he found his hair sufficiently dry to leave the bathroom, which had to have taken at least another five minutes of toweling. The first thing he went for was his suitcase to dig out his brush.

Jean wandered in a few minutes later, Pris perched on his shoulder. "That was quick."

''I was in there to get clean and get out.'' Ed hadn't actually gotten around to putting anything else on, still sitting on the bed and brushing his hair.

Jean shrugged, bending over to let the cat slither down his back and onto the floor. "No appreciation for the finer things in life."

''I didn't feel like sitting in there for half an hour, some days you do, but not today for me.'' Ed winced when he hit a rather nasty tangle.

Jean meandered over and sat down on the bed. "Picky, picky."

Ed carefully peeled the brush away from the tangle, trying to start at the bottom and work his way up but not quite being able to reach that far down comfortably. He glared at the brush for a few moments and tried again, snagging on that same tangle. ''Dammit!''

Jean held out a hand. "Need help?"

Ed nodded, handing the brush to Jean and wiping his watering eyes. ''Just be careful, it hurts...''

"Come on, sit down." Jean ran his fingers through Ed's hair, snagging on more than one tangle. He gripped the brush in his teeth and began the laborious process of picking the tangles apart.

''It's going to take forever that way!'' Ed didn't really find it in him to care, though, and he closed his eyes to the feeling of fingers in his hair.

"You want me to yank all your hair out? Didn't think so." Jean worked one of the knots loose. "What did you do to your hair?"

''The best I could manage without a hair dryer.'' Though, now that he thought about it, rubbing his hair dry probably was just a really bad idea to begin with.

"Why didn't you just let it air-dry?" With the help of the hairbrush, Jean got another tangle out.

''Because I really don't like the feeling of it dripping water down the back of my shirt. I was planning on putting a shirt on.''

Jean rolled his eyes, picking at the largest snarl. "Sometimes you can be so strange."

''And sometimes you can be silly, so altogether we're just odd, aren't we?'' Ed yelped. ''Careful!''

"Quit twitching and it won't hurt as much!" This would be so much easier if I had claws, Jean thought sourly, then paused. "Oh."

Ed opened his eyes, but didn't move as requested. ''What?''

"Erm. Nothing." He managed to pick the tangle into two smaller, more manageable knots.

''You expect me to believe that?''

"Yes. I do," Jean said. He finally got Ed's hair completely smoothed out, and dragged a brush through it.

Ed sighed softly. ''Only if you keep brushing...''

Jean sighed heavily, though he obediently kept running the brush though Ed's hair.

Ed made a happy little sound and closed his eyes again. ''That feels nice...'' After an uncomfortable pause, Ed sighed again, stilling Jean's hand with his own and taking the brush. As nice as it was, he couldn't ignore the feeling that something was wrong. Brush aside, he turned to face Jean. ''What's the matter...''

"Nothing."

''Liar...''

Jean colored slightly. "Ed, I'm fine."

''Something was wrong, whether it still is or not. I'm not stupid, I can tell at least a little...'' Ed frowned a bit.

Jean clenched his teeth around a bitter retort. It wasn't fair that Ed could hide everything but he couldn't...

Ed wasn't quite sure what to do, so he reached for the brush again to tie back his hair, turning away so he could get a shirt and some socks.

Jean let out a slow, shuddery breath, trying to get himself under control. He rubbed a hand across his eyes, tired of playing the game.

Ed paused momentarily, then finished pulling on his socks, running the brush once more through his ponytail. ''Lunch should be soon, right?''

"Yeah."

''You want to go ahead and go down?'' Ed put the brush aside again.

"No. You can, if you want."

Ed hung his head, still just sitting there. He felt bad for pushing the subject, but he felt equally as bad because Jean wouldn't tell him what was wrong.

Jean forced a smile. "Go on. Uncle Paul doesn't bite."

But I want to stay with you... ''I would hope not.'' Ed fidgeted with his hair a bit as he stood up. Maybe Jean just needed some time to think, or so he told his legs in order to walk.

Jean's eyebrow quirked. "Something wrong?"

''Not really...'' Ed shook it off and headed for the door. ''Don't be too long, okay?''

"I'll try not to be." Jean watched Ed disappear and flopped back onto the bed. "Dammit."

Ed willed himself calm before descending the stairs, glancing back over his shoulder at Jean's room with a soft sigh.

Paul looked up as Ed arrived downstairs looking like a whipped puppy. "Morning."

''When's lunch?''

"Yes, I'm doing quite well, thank you for asking," the older man said lightly, folding the paper. "How are you this fine and wonderful morning?"

''Hungry.'' Ed's stomach accented this fact.

"Didn't you two eat on the train?" Paul inquired mildly, getting up and setting the paper down on the low antique mahogany coffee table.

''I haven't eaten since dinner last night...''

"I suppose I can fix something to tide you over. Where's my bloody-minded nephew?" The older man moved into the kitchen and started rummaging through the cabinets.

Ed stood there, not quite sure whether he should follow the man into the kitchen or sit down here. ''He's still up in his room, he said he'd be down soon, I think...'' He fidgeted with his ponytail.

"Hmph. You want a grilled cheese sandwich?"

''That'll work, thank you.'' Ed fidgeted a bit more, looking around the room.

"Did you like those books I gave you?" The refrigerator thumped close, and Ed could hear Paul moving across the kitchen.

''Yeah, they were great, how'd you know I'd like those? I hope you didn't pay too much for them, you didn't have to do that... Thank you, really.'' The blonde carefully picked a place to sit. Though he didn't necessarily feel any more comfortable.

"Don't worry about it. I thought you might enjoy them. There are some in my personal collection, if you want to browse later. Feel free to poke around, though I do have to warn you about the basement: it's disgusting, and I think the mold is sentient."

Ed flinched at the thought. ''I'd really enjoy that, but you might not see me for days,'' he joked.

"I'll pack you a few sandwiches," Paul said, chuckling slightly. "But seriously, you have free reign over the house."

''Thanks for having me...'' Ed trailed off, wondering how much longer Jean would be up there. Somewhere in the back of his mind he laughed at the concept of 'a few sandwiches' tiding him over past one meal.

"Any time."

A thought struck him then, and Ed shook it away. His eyes wandered, glancing briefly to the staircase.

"Do you mind calling Jean down? It's pretty much time for lunch, and I'll bet you dollars to donuts that he's sulking about something."

''Yeah... I'll go get him.'' Ed was almost glad for the reason to ascend the stairs again, pausing for a moment on the landing before peeking into Jean's room. ''Lunch, you coming?''

Jean curled up tighter, growling sleepily at the intruder. " 'm sleeping..."

''It's time for lunch...'' Ed leaned against the door-frame, chewing his bottom lip a bit.

The half-asleep blonde blew a stunning raspberry.

Ed considered crawling in bed with Jean and really waking him up, but dismissed that thought considering the circumstances. ''I bet we can get you some coffee if you'd like...''

That got Jean to lift his head, eyes hopeful.

Ed smiled at the sight. ''Come on, you have to come downstairs first.''