----
"Thank you, I'll be fine now, really. It was kind of you to come though." Gracia smiled, embarrassment showing clearly on her face. Maes had dropped Ed and Breda off at home with Gracia and Elysia, apparently to be her slaves until Roy and Jean got off work and came to pick them up.
Gracia was a little embarrassed by the whole situation and after having requested that they wash the dishes and sweep the floor, she was content to sit and read and let them relax.
Elysia, on the other hand, took Maes' words perfectly seriously.
"OK. Now we're going to pway hide and seek," she informed her two vassals, her L's and W's still not quite going where they should be in her words. "So you count to two-hundwed," she pointed at Breda, "While we find a good hiding pwace."
She grabbed Ed's hand and he hopped after her. At least since she was so small, he could sit on the floor while they played most of the time, so he wasn't putting too much pressure on his ankle.
"Here, get in." Elysia tugged Ed's hand and gestured to the Hughes' dryer in the laundry room.
"Wait, I don't think I should-"
"Get in! Do what I tell you or I'll tell my daddy!" Elysia yelled at him. Ed jumped in surprise and scrambled into the dryer. He definitely didn't want Maes hearing that he'd refused an order from the man's little princess.
"Good! He'll never find you. Now stay hewe and don't come out." Elysia slammed the door shut.
"Wait!" Ed screamed. There was barely enough room to breathe and for some reason, pushing on the door wasn't working. He slammed his body against it, but no dice. He couldn't even turn around to see the door. He was trapped in the dryer. He started to panic.
Meanwhile...
"Ninety-six, ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine- one hundred! Here I come, ready or not!" Breda pulled his head out from under the couch and took a breath of clean air. He tried not to look too stupid as he crawled around Gracia's living room, peeking under chairs including the one Gracia was sitting in and the coffee table. He stood and tiptoed into the kitchen, soon moving on to the bathroom.
Elysia was standing stock-still behind a full-length mirror and he tiptoed over to it and reached behind it.
"Found you!"
"Awwww," Elysia pouted. Then, "I know! Wet's pway Pwincess! Come on," she grabbed Breda's hand and pulled him into her room.
"I'm the pwincess and you're my magic pony. So I have to make you all pwetty before we go to my wedding," she told Breda, pulling some glitter, glue, a hairbrush, hairclips, a pink scepter and some pink ribbons and strips of cloth out of her closet.
"Hold still, Esmewelda," she instructed as she squirted glue on Breda's head and dumped glitter on top of it.
"Hey! Wait a minute-"
"NO! Stay STILL!" Elysia shrieked in frustration. "Or I'll tell my daddy you wouldn't pway wif me."
"But..." Breda touched the top of his head. The glue was already starting to dry. No hope for his head now, it was too late.
Elysia scraped her hairbrush over his back, grooming him like a horse. Then she tied the pink strips of cloth around him and attached some of the ribbons to him with hairclips. After that, she carefully dusted off most of the loose glitter.
"Um, Elysia? Where's Edward?"
"His name isn't Eward! It's Humperdink! Pwince Humperdink!"
"Um, so, where is the prince?" Breda blinked glitter out of his eyes.
"He's twapped! My evil twin locked him away so I wouldn't get to mawwy him but we'll wescue him!" she declared. "OK, now I have to wide the magic pony to the evil cave where my pwince is twapped!" Elysia said, throwing herself on top of Breda's back.
"Oof!" It wasn't that she was heavy, but this was not the kind of exercise Breda was used to getting.
As he awkwardly walked on all fours, Elysia pointing her pink scepter in the direction she wanted to go, Breda worried about Ed. He hadn't heard Ed scream or anything, but having not seen or heard hide nor hair of him was even scarier than listening to his rants. Breda had a feeling Elysia had locked him somewhere but- Breda swore inwardly when he knocked his knee against the step in the doorway to the laundry room. It was then that he saw the dryer shaking a little and heard a thump from inside it.
"Oh my God! Ed's not in there, is he?" Breda crawled as fast as he could to the appliance and reached for the door.
"No!" Elysia kicked her heels against Breda's ribs. "I have to use my pwincess magic to open the cave!"
"Well hurry up!" Breda snapped. Elysia thwacked him over the head with her scepter, then started waving it in the air and half-chanting, half-singing some mumbo jumbo Breda couldn't understand.
"Kid! Let him out already!"
"Be quiet!"
"That's it," Breda reached for the door.
Between Elysia's screaming, Breda's arguing back and Ed's panicked, angry screech when he fell out of the dryer, no one heard the door front door open as Maes Hughes arrived home.
"YOU SHUT ME IN THE DRYER!" Ed screamed at Elysia who was more than a little taken aback.
"I ALMOST SUFFOCATED IN THERE YOU LITTLE-!" Ed hadn't heard Maes' footsteps and he also hadn't ever realized that Maes was just as strong as Roy was. Ed was off the floor and up at Hughes eye level faster than he could say "uh-oh", Elysia in Hughes' other arm. The two kids were facing each other and Meas had an arm under both of them, not looking particularly pleased.
Ed immediately turned on the puppy eyes. He would've been embarrassed using them on anyone else, but it was Hughes and his life was probably in danger right now considering the way he'd been screaming at little Elysia who was leaning on her father's shoulder looking upset and weepy.
Breda stood up, sheepishly dusting glitter off himself.
"Stop yelling, both of you. Who wants to tell me what happened?" Hughes looked down at the children in his arms and Elysia's hand shot up into the air.
"OK, Babydoll, what happened?"
"I was pwaying pwincess, but when I came to wescue the pwince, everyone yelled at me," she started sniffling so that everyone in the room knew she was about to cry.
"What! I started yelling at you back when you shut me in the dryer!" Ed yelled. Hughes bumped him with his arm and Ed came back to himself, looking down at his hands.
"Elysia, honey, did you shut Edward in the dryer?"
"His name is Humperdink."
"Honey," Hughes tone changed almost imperceptibly as he talked to her, "Is that what he wants to be called or did you make that up? Maybe he doesn't like that name," he suggested. It worked like a charm.
"Oh... I'm sorry, Eward," Elysia turned her big, round eyes on Ed and the blond didn't know what to do.
"Now, baby, did you shut Ed in the dryer?"
"I just cwosed the door."
"But you told me to get in there," Ed protested helplessly.
"Elysia, it's dangerous to lock people in small places. Sometimes they can't get out and they get scared."
"I'm sorry, Eward."
"I'm... Sorry I yelled at you," Ed mumbled back. Elysia reached across Maes to give Ed an awkward hug, patting his arm with her soft, plump little hands.
"Awww, isn't that just the cutest thing?" Maes cooed, cuddling them closer to each other. He turned around and looked up and down at Breda.
"I'm the magic pony."
"Ah. You know a little vinegar with hot water should get the glue out. Don't bother with shampoo though."
"Ah."
A knock on the door was followed by Roy letting himself in, greeting Gracia and peeking into the laundry room.
"C'mon, Lieutenant, I'll give you a ride home-..." Roy paused at the sight of Breda, then glanced at Maes holding the two little ones. Without a word he stepped forward and held his arms out and Hughes gave Ed to him. Roy pushed Ed's arms over his shoulders and Ed flattened his hands against Roy's back for balance, not bothering to resist.
"See you later, Maes."
"Keep an eye on those two, Roy. No more skateboards."
As Roy walked out the door behind Breda and Maes turned to go back into the house, Elysia's and Ed's eyes met, each looking at each other frpm mirrored positions over the shoulders of the men who took care of them and kept them safe. It was strange for them, to suddenly know how well they understood each other right then. How they understood, without a word or gesture, the feeling of safety, of a warm shoulder, of an arm wrapped securely around them that the other was feeling.
Maes shut the door, cooing at Elysia and Roy put Ed down on the seat next to Breda. He went around to the other side of the car and got into the shotgun seat just as Jean, who was in the driver's seat, bust into laughter at Breda's appearance. The man had stripped himself of pink cloth and ribbons, but he would have to wait until they got back to the shower rooms in the dorms to take care of the glitter and glue. He just hoped it didn't clog the plumbing.
"Oh shut up, Jean!"
"Oh- ahahahaha! What the hell happened to you?"
"Elysia dumped glue and glitter on my head," Breda sighed.
"Don't you dare wash that until I get a picture!" Jean cackled.
"Like hell!! I'm not letting you take pictures!" Breda yelled angrily.
"You don't have a choice," Roy grinned evilly and reached into the glove compartment to retrieve a little camera.
"What!" Breda was enraged and Roy snapped a picture with the man's mouth wide open.
"I'll send you a copy," Roy told Jean.
"Thanks!"
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Thanks for reading!
The next chapter would have been up really soon but... well, that's the one that will containg the appearance of a HORROR MOVIE!! Unfortunately, the one I thought I was going to use is the one I just finally watched and it's not what I wanted. I have some other possibilities line up, but until I get them on Netflix, I'm afraid the next chapter will be on hold. I'm sorry.