Edward Elric is the Fullmetal Alchemist (fullmetal_chibi) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-09-21 11:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, edward elric, neal cassidy (baelfire) |
Who:Ed and Neal
What:Ed meets Niko and other various chats
When:Recently
Where:Neal's place
Warnings:None
status:Complete~
Ed hadn’t been to Neal’s in quite a while. He didn’t like to get in the way, and Neal had a new family. It was bigger now, Ed didn’t want to be a bother so he’d kept his distance. He logically knew Neal wasn’t his father or anything, even if there were times he kind of wished he would be. He’d been thinking a lot about family since the Dream fairy dumped another dream on him about his own and it had him a little down. Riza had suggested he go to Neal’s, and at first he didn’t really want to intrude, but Riza convinced him. Even gave him a ride so there really wasn’t any fighting it. He sent Neal a awkward text along the way.
It didn’t take too long, they didn’t live terribly far from the man’s house. Ed was dropped off and glanced over his shoulder at Riza with a bit of an eyeroll as she waved and drove away. He took a few heavy steps up to the door to knock at it hoping this wasn’t a bad time.
Well, thanks to that text, Neal knew that Ed was coming over - and he didn’t mind at all. As far as he was concerned, the kid was welcome anytime. Only thing was, Henry wouldn’t get to see his alchemy hero because he was out ‘back to school’ shopping - mostly for supplies (lists had already been distributed, even if middle schoolers didn’t start until September 6th or so) but also for clothes because looking cool was important. Or something.
Nevertheless, Neal was home with the baby - who had just had a pretty nice, explosive spit-up. And by nice that was clearly sarcasm, because now Neal’s t-shirt was stained with sour milk-smelling gross. He needed to change, but he changed Niko first - now that he had a fresh diaper and a fresh onesie he was all gassy smiles and cooing. But first, Neal took a detour to answer the door after settling Nikolas in his bassinet so he didn’t roll off the sofa cushions.
“Hey,” Neal grinned, looking just a bit disheveled, but in good spirits. “Come on in. We’re in the living room.”
We’re Ed hesitated at that for a moment, there were so many families around now it made it kind of awkward for him. He attempted to move past it, but there was some kind of roadblock in his brain that didn’t want to let that happen. His own insecurities with families didn’t help, he really didn’t know how to act around them-but he followed Neal to peer into the living room a cautiously curious.
“Hey.” He gave him a little smile, awkward. That was basically the definition of Edward Elric vs. babies though. “This a bad time?” He asked, eyes traveling toward the grunge style Neal had adopted along with his new spawn.
Ed honestly needed to relax - babies happened, families grew and shrunk, and life was overall a series of events that roller coasted along without much rhyme or reason. Didn’t mean that everything you’d built up before a milestone had to come crashing down either. But hopefully he’d see that, with time. Neal just chuckled fondly at the obvious reluctance - like the kid was stepping into a vortex of a whole new reality. Yet it was still the same house he’d been to a thousand times before, only more baby-proofed.
“Nah, make yourself comfortable,” Neal gestured to the sofa. “I just need to change my shirt and then I’ll play proper host and get you something to drink or eat. Watch him,” he added, referring to Nikolas - who wasn’t really doing much now anyway. Just resting on his back and kicking, chewing on his fist and gurgling.
Then Neal disappeared upstairs, heading for a pile of clean laundry.
Ed was the actual worst at meeting babies. Well maybe second to Raven, but just as amusing likely to the parents. You couldn’t logic a baby or science one. They didn’t care about facts or interesting words. Ed didn’t know what to do with that. A pair of golden eyes watched the kid for a moment. “Comfortable I can do that.” He’d done it a million times before so why did his brain decide now was a great time to freeze up? He had been there a million times, the only difference was the age of the toy on the ground really. He’d interacted with Henry just fine, but Henry could talk. Ed sat down cautiously near by the kid as Neal went to go upstairs and change.
“Wait, what if he moves?” -Looking around Ed realized even if he did there wasn’t terribly far he could go. If he even could go. He peered into the basket where the kid was trapped. Okay, he’d met Lina’s kid and it hadn’t turned out to be a terrible disaster, so maybe this wouldn’t either. “Don’t suppose you play video games yet..?” Gurgle response. Silence and more gurgling. “Heh. Keep making that noise and you might turn inside out.” At least that’s what it sounded like to him, Ed really didn’t know what to say to the kid or if he should be saying anything at all. Maybe he should just sit and wait for Neal to come back, he clearly knew how to do this baby thing. Ed wasn’t entirely terrible, there was a hint of amusement to his voice anyway when he spoke and the kid responded with stares and squirming. “Nope, not picking you up. I break small stuff. Should have seen Al’s last action figures condition.” He mused but his expression had changed almost to a hint of fondness at the strange little squirming thing.
Babies were awesome to have soul-baring conversations with, weren’t they? They just listened, they let you talk. They didn’t judge. In fact, all they did was give you gummy smiles in responses or coo - Niko did both, looking up at Ed with those big blue eyes of his. Still the color of faded denim, but Neal was convinced they’d turn green over time. Like how Niko’s dark hair would fall out and grow back in blonde - it was just a feeling he had.
But mini-Cassidy seemed to like being talked at - he flailed and gurgled some more, smiling so cutely right as Neal came back into the room (and with a fresh shirt that smelled clean, thank goodness).
“You two getting along?” he asked, as Ed observed Nikolas in his bassinet. “Oh, lemme formally introduce you, sorry - Ed, meet Nikolas. Nik, meet Ed. Maybe Ed thinks you’re kind of cute, huh?” He poked Niko in the belly, tickling a little. “Alright, I can be a proper host now. You want anything, kiddo?” That was directed to the one who actually had all his teeth, and could talk.
Ed found you could say all sorts of weird stuff to little squirming flesh things and they seemed to enjoy it, so all the better. When Neal showed up again he wasn’t even paying attention to the stairs anymore like he had been moments ago in the hopes that Neal wouldn’t take that long. “Well he hasn’t done anything terrifying yet….” Ed admitted as he folded his arms when Neal came to take back his kid again. Ed didn’t complain, he was still a little awkward but seemed to be less so now.
He shrugged at the hosting. He didn’t really expect anything since it was kind of last second this little visit. “Got a soda or anything?” That would be enough for him, Ed wasn’t all that picky with proper hosting stuff.
“Of course. Sodas for us, milk for Niko - well, he just ate, so the little butterball’s good for awhile,” Neal said, giving the adorable tubbers another tickle. Then he went to the kitchen, bringing back bottles of Coke - the fancy ones, that were just fun to drink out of. Henry seemed to like those better than cans or plastic.
He had Niko’s rattle for him, so he wouldn’t get too bored - practicing his grip was first priority these days; he just loved opening and closing that little fist. “Sure you don’t want to hold him?” Neal hedged, handing Ed the open bottle of soda, after popping the cap off. “He’s really not that terrifying. Worst he might do is fall asleep.”
Or shit his diaper, but he’d also been changed recently too so Neal wasn’t too worried.
Ed watched curiously. So this is what real fathers did. They didn’t just vanish off the face of the planet, they actually seemed to care what happened to their spawn. There had been a time in his life when he’d actually wanted to change his last name or get rid of it all together because of that man, but kept it for his mother. She’d convinced him to try to make it into something with more worth than dirt before she passed on. He was trying. “You know...I’ve been thinking about trying to find my dad lately.” He said idly as Neal returned with the drinks and asked to hold the kid. The offer made him smile a little but he shook his head. “Maybe if I can go a week or two without crushing something delicate. Heh.” He responded with a wave of his hand as he opened the drink and sat back down.
“Most people think it’s a bad idea.” Ed was still severely angry with the man, but he wasn’t sure which one was right. Didn’t he have a right to punch him in the face if he decided the man deserved it for abandoning them? He thought he should at least have the option.
Neal sat down as well, the soda bottle on a coaster for the time being. He’d mastered the art of eating or drinking with one hand, while holding a baby, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to pick it back up when he had his offspring - and after he lifted the squirming tubbers with Niko held in the crook of his dad’s arm, then he was good to go.
“Oh yeah?” Neal lifted an eyebrow curiously. “Finding him might help with closure, if nothing else. Just be careful, kiddo. I don’t want you to get hurt.” The pacifier that dangled from the end of Niko’s bib went into his mouth, after Neal gave it to him - he was happy sucking on that thing and watching the goings-on. “Though Niko’s godfather is a PI, if you want someone to help you find the guy. I can put you in touch.” He had no idea if Ed’s dad was still around or what, but having someone else do the looking often helped with the stress.
“Mm. I’ve got a cop friend too who finds stuff..I just haven’t exactly brought it up with Riza.” He didn’t know how, it wasn’t as if it was the easiest subject in the world. Thanks for raising us, think I’ll go risk it all now and find the bastard who left us? Yeah, that didn’t exactly sound like something she’d be happy to agree to. “I know..I’m really not sure it’s a good idea either actually but..I don’t understand why someone would want one kid and not the other. I don’t know what I did.” Ed watched Niko and Neal together and it was confusing to him. “You seem to want both of yours.” He hadn’t spoken to his father since well before his mom fell ill. The asshole wasn’t around much until he came to take Al, and Ed was even more furious over that.
The subject had caused him to grip the glass a little too tightly, cracks began to form and liquid spilled out slowly. “Ick what?” Ed looked down at the bottle he held and frowned. Sugary soda had gunked up his automail a bit, but he was still able to use a flashy alchemy trick on it none the less. It was an easy repair now, his skills were getting so pinpoint he probably could repair a literal pin should it shatter without so much as breaking a sweat. A thin wall of blue light almost like an off color glare from the sun covered the glass without too much thought or effort to repair the small cracks in it.
“Of course I want both of mine,” Neal almost laughed, mostly out of disbelief. Was that really the impression given by Ed’s father, that he only cared about one son? Neal didn’t know the whole story - however, Riza seemed to think that the man was a waste of space (she’d said so herself, maybe not in those exact words but obviously she did not think kindly of him) and Neal was apt to trust her judgment.
Still, he could see why Ed wanted answers. He was old enough now that he deserved an explanation of sorts. “Your dad’s not how dads typically are, Ed,” he pointed out. “He just sounds like he was all wrong for the job to begin with.” Maybe it had to do with the death of Ed’s mother, or other factors, who knew - but he’d obviously done a lot of damage.
“Riza will support you if it’s what you want. I doubt she’d tell you no, she’ll just say what I did - to be careful.” Eying the minor snafu with the bottle, Neal reached over and offered one of Niko’s burp rags - just in case? Hey, shit happened. He was used to messes around here.
Ed wasn’t sure if his dad cared about Al either or could only take care of one etc, whatever the story was he was unimpressed with the end result. That was all he needed. “They got lucky.” He mused quietly, glancing over at Neal as he laughed and Ed put a pair of booted feet up on the table in front of them. Neal’s house really hadn’t changed all that much, it was still comfortable. “I guess so.” He didn’t really have any evidence to back up Neal’s statement, so he shrugged.
“Wonder if he knew what I could do now if he’d want me more.” Part of him wanted his father’s approval, the other part was so angry he didn’t care. “Egh, it doesn’t matter. I’m talking like an idiot, whatever. Screw him. Change the subject?” He really didn’t feel like talking about it anymore but his brain was stuck. He peered at the rag and raised an eyebrow making sure it wasn’t actually puked on. Satisfied with his looking it over, he took it and whipped away the gross sticky feeling.
“He should always want you, regardless of what you can and cannot do,” Neal frowned a bit, because he hoped Ed wasn’t going into this just to prove something to some wash-out of a father. But it was his life, and he wasn’t a little kid - so, Neal wished him the best of luck with it all. Maybe he’d have a chat with Riza too, just to see what she thought.
Fathers and sons, such complicated stuff. Or at least it seemed to be for some reason. For Neal, he knew without a doubt that he loved both his kids - didn’t matter that there were thirteen years between them. He’d do his best to always be there for them - he’d give his own life for his sons, they meant that much to him and more.
“Right, Tubbers?” he asked the baby rhetorically, who spit out his pacifier and blew bubbles. While making babbling noises. “Yeah, Niko thinks so too. Trust us, we know our stuff.” But alright, subject change - that was doable. “How’s your girlfriend? You two still in the honeymoon phase?”
“Eh well he didn’t.” Ed shrugged as if it meant nothing, but for years he’d pretended it meant nothing. It meant nothing that his father hadn’t even made an appearance at his mother’s funeral, it meant nothing that he graduated early, it meant nothing that he was top in science class. Ed just frowned. He really didn’t want to bring the mood down, but the idea of finding the bastard had been playing in his mind for a while. “Hn.” He responded, arms folding uncomfortably as he watched the pair of them. The blond had the fleeting wish that Neal could have been his father instead but he said nothing. “In my dream world, he’s some badass alchemist I hardly know, but at least I know we have something in common. He disappeared there too. Left us to be raised by someone else.” Winry and her grandma were great, but they were no replacement for real blood family.
“If you say so. Raven? Fine I guess.” Ed didn’t really know what to do with the whole girlfriend thing still. “It’s really not that much different than having a friend. Except I pay for stuff.” Raven didn’t make him pay for everything at least, but he still felt poorer paying for both. “I guess that’s just what it is.” He didn’t really know, Ed was honestly clueless how to do this whole girlfriend thing.
That was kind of sweet, wasn’t it? Neal wasn’t sure, but it sounded like neither Raven or Ed knew what hormones were - then again, that was probably best for both their aunts, less grey hair that way. “Well, there’s usually some kind of physical, romantic attachment too?” he said and damn, how was he even supposed to put stuff like this? Riza said she’d come to Neal if assistance with ‘the talk’ was necessary, you know, just to add a guy’s perspective. But maybe she didn’t have ‘the talk’ with Ed yet - honestly, he didn’t blame her for putting it off. Soon he’d have to endure the pain with Henry also.
He bounced the baby a little in his arms, rocking him - blissfully unaware Niko. “The physical is usually what separates a romantic relationship from a friendly one too, FYI. Sometimes when I hang out with my guy friends I pay for stuff, but we’re definitely not dating.”
Yeah, he usually just bought Garrus dinner at their favorite Thai place and they switched the next time - no sucking face going on there, though.
Ed glanced over at Neal with a shrug. “I don’t...really know how to do that I guess.” Maybe the other topic was better after all. He shifted awkwardly in his seat as he put down the now empty bottle of soda. Alchemy he understood better than breathing, science too, but girls? Nope. He didn’t understand shit about them. Demon girls even less.
‘I like being around her I guess, and I kissed her once.” Quite a while ago now if he was entirely honest, he didn’t have any clue how to initiate that kind of thing. He stared at the floor ass though it had suddenly become very interesting out of awkward embarrassment.
Uh. Okay? Honestly, Neal wasn’t sure how you could be sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, whatever - and not feel the crush of hormones. It was a biological thing. Or maybe both kids were just far too mature for such nonsense. If so, props - because even some adults were foiled by the dreaded hormones.
Maybe he should try to relate it all to science - that, Ed would understand better? “You know, like...when you do something you enjoy?” he started. “That releases endorphins, I think. Stuff that makes us feel good, and being with your girlfriend or boyfriend or whatever - “ Not saying you had a boyfriend, Ed, but covering all bases here, “...it’s the same type of thing, which makes romantic relationships different. All of that comes along with the ‘dating someone’ idea. You should be attracted to who you’re dating, you know. So if you wanted to kiss her again or something, maybe try?” He was sort of thinking Raven would be fine with it, because why date someone if you didn’t want them to touch you?
“Maybe next time you’re hanging out, just go for it. I’m pretty sure you both will be glad that you did.”
Ed really hadn’t given it much thought, but he also hadn’t had much exposure to it. His mind had been elsewhere the last few years if it did come up. He’d missed a lot of that information. Ed was incredibly smart in many areas, but girls were not one..”Well, I guess if that’s what you do..I’ll try. You’re sure she won’t punch me?” Ed hadn’t mentioned the part where Raven portaled in on him half dressed and freaked out, it was awkward enough already living it once.
“She is aware of the fact that you are dating? If she punches you when you kiss her, that sounds like a personal problem,” Neal responded, lifting an eyebrow. And also in that case, Ed should probably find someone else to date. Showing affection with your boyfriend and/or girlfriend was just par the course.
Oh, the fun times of navigating awkward teenaged dating pool waters. Hopefully Neal was giving good advice here - it’d be decent practice for Henry, because soon he’d also be entering this category.
“Here, let me get him settled - “ Neal glanced down at the drowsy infant, who clearly had sweet dreams to be dreaming, “...and Henry will be back in any minute. Then he’ll steal you for either video games or for you to show him cool alchemy tricks.”
Ed considered Neal’s statement. It wasn’t entirely Raven he was worried about, butt the idea had also confused him. Touching had never really been a thing he was good at until he met Neal actually. Hugs were new, his family had never been overly touchy feely. Maybe when he and Al were little kids, but he didn’t remember much of that there either. “Guess you might have a point there.” He chewed awkwardly at the inside of his cheek and nodded, letting Neal do what he needed to with the baby. The whole idea of intimacy made him feel awkward, but maybe being around Raven would loosen that awkwardness up eventually.
“I’m good with either of those things.” His alchemy was advancing so much that he barely even had to think anymore to use it, he only had to remember to eat enough to sustain himself when he did. Keep energies up and all that jazz. It wasn’t as simple a the dreams made it seem, being hungry all the time. It was pretty frustrating in reality.