Work Text:
Fact 1: it is 1:32am.
Ed knows this, because he just checked the clock, after being lost in some weird book about the tenth Xingese emperor and his pet bear. He’s not entirely sure it’s factually correct—by his count, the bear lived for a total of 143 years—but Ling gave it to him to practice Xingese, and he’ll take what he can get.
Fact 2: Roy is still working.
Ed knows this because:
- Roy has yet to come to bed;
- The light from his study, when Ed peers out their bedroom door, is still on, and;
- If he concentrates real hard, he can hear the frustrated scribbling of Roy’s pen, and the occasional drag of Roy’s chair across the carpet.
Fact 3: Roy loves rabbits.
Ed knows this because…well, how many times has Ed caught him, in full dress uniform, seated on their living room floor while gently petting Minerva? Loads of times. Fuck loads, even, if you wanted to be really specific about it. That’s enough data to support the hypothesis.
With a yawn, Ed hops out of bed, and goes over to the wooden hutch that sits in their room. He gives the simple gold band around his finger a twist, calloused fingers running over smooth metal, before he opens up their little rabbit house.
“Sorry, buddy,” he whispers, gently lifting out the black fluffball. “I know it’s late, but if we get your dad’s stupid ass to sleep, then we’ll all sleep better, yeah?”
He’s kinda glad rabbits can’t talk—if anyone hauled his ass out of bed at stupid o’clock in the morning, Ed would either sock them or scream at them, whichever part of his brain woke up first. Minerva, thankfully, doesn’t do much, just settles down in Ed’s arms as he cradles her on their way to Roy’s study. She’s not squirming around as much as she usually does, but Ed likes to think that’s because she knows that this is important, and not because she’s pissed that he woke her up.
When he makes it to the study, sure enough, there’s his stupid ass of a husband-partner-thing. One of the first things Ed thinks is he’s gonna hurt his back, with the way that Roy’s slumped over his desk, head cradled on one arm as he loops his pen tiredly across the page.
“Y’know, lack of sleep stunts your growth,” Ed says.
At the desk, Roy straightens, but doesn’t look at him. “I think I finished growing a while ago,” he says absentmindedly. “Though if you still like to cling to hope, be my guest.”
“I’d hit you for that, but I don’t think you can put up much of a fight with the way you are now,” Ed says, before dumping Minerva unceremoniously on Roy’s lap. She glares weakly up at him, but then just settles her head on Roy’s thigh, blinking sleepily, but probably contently. Ed doesn’t blame her. Roy’s legs are great.
Roy jolts, looks down, and sighs. “Ed, you can’t distract me with Minerva,” he says weakly, but even as he says it, his hand falls to sink into black fur.
“You get five minutes with the bunny, then at least eight hours with the bed.”
Though he’s picked Minerva up to bury his face in her fur now, Roy frowns. “Ed, I need to get going by seven, and I need to get this done. I cannot waste time in bed until ten in the morning.”
“Seven with the bed.”
Roy pauses, and Ed can almost see the struggle as his brain tries to do time maths. “That’s—at most six and a half.”
“All right, we wake up at eight, and you eat breakfast. Properly.”
There’s a long silence, during which Roy just sets Minerva on his desk and runs his fingers gently through her fur. If Ed weren’t too busy being a bit worried, he might have time to be fond. Is it stupid that this makes him happy? Worried though he is, there’s just…something about seeing Roy at almost two in the morning, rabbit on top of his important state papers, fingers gradually flattening her silken ears down on her head.
If this is stupid, then Ed doesn’t want to be smart.
With a sigh, Roy finally seems to come to a decision. Standing up, he gently lifts Minerva with him, and turns so Ed can finally see his stupid ruffled hair and his tired eyes. But still, he’s smiling, and that’s something. That’s all Ed ever wants, really.
“All right then,” he says, and takes Ed’s hand in his. “Let’s go then.”
Ed lets out a sigh of relief, and follows Roy to their room. However, when Roy’s tucked under the blankets, he’s still got Minerva with him.
“Do you want me to put her back…?” Ed asks, trailing off when Roy shakes his head.
“I’ll take your bargain, but only if she’s sleeping in our bed tonight,” he says with a grin.
Ed frowns. “She’s not sleeping with us.”
“She is now,” Roy says, holding the corner of the blanket up. Minerva’s now made herself completely at home on the pillow.
“I’m gonna wake up with fur in my mouth.”
“She’s on my side of the bed. And the more time you spend arguing with me, the less sleep I’ll get,” Roy says, and though he’s got shadows under his eyes that are almost as dark as their rabbit, he’s also got his dumbass smirk on his face. Smug bastard.
Heaving a long, exaggerated sigh, Ed crawls into the bed next to him. “I was tryin’ to make you feel better,” he grumbles. “Expect you to get all smug snarky about it.”
The light clicks off, the sheets rustle, and then Roy’s arm is looped around Ed’s waist. Lips tickle the shell of his ear with a kiss. “You do make me feel better,” Roy whispers, and Ed grins in the dark. “I adore you.”
The frown falls away, and Ed grins into the dark, sighing happily as he closes his eyes. “Yeah. Love you too.”
Before he finally drifts off, he hears a soft, “and you, beautiful”. Ed doesn’t think Roy’s talking to him, but he doesn’t really mind. Because (Fact 4), he loves Roy Mustang, and at the end of the day, this is all he really needs: Roy tucked in bed beside him, their love between them, and the bunny falling asleep on their pillow.