This was a gift fic for
culyerjade. I hope she enjoys it!
Title: Glow
Pairing: Roy x Ed
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Glow
Warnings/Notes: No real spoilers.
Inspired more than a little from "The Glow Worm", by Johnny Mercer. If you haven’t heard this little 1950’s gem that was based on the German song "Gluhwurmchen" by Paul Linkce (1902), then go find it, please!
(Lyrics posted at the bottom are from the song and copyright the original artists)
And yes, I did some research, so the information in the fic is correct.
“Close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Don’t you trust me?”
There was a pause. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Then close your eyes.”
Ed closed his eyes, and Roy took his hand- giving it a little squeeze. He slowly led the short alchemist out of the living room and towards the back door of the small house that they shared.
“You know that I’ve been working in my garden for some weeks now-“
“Yeah, and you haven’t let me see what you’re doing,” Ed interrupted.
“…And now that it’s summer,” Roy continued- hardly missing a beat, “it has come into full bloom. I know gardening isn’t something you’re interested in, but there’s something I want to show you.”
Ed shook his head, smiling softly. “If you promise that we’ll get to go to bed right afterwards, then I won’t complain about staring at your silly little garden.”
“Is that all you think about?”
“I am a teenager, you know.”
“Yes, you remind me almost every night. I have the bruises and soreness to prove it.”
“Are we there yet?”
“Keep your eyes closed, Ed.”
“They are, you bastard.”
Roy walked Ed carefully off the back porch, down the couple of steps, and onto the short but winding path that led to the garden in their backyard. “Stay here, and keep your eyes closed.”
“Yes, mommy.”
Quickly, the older alchemist went back into the house and turned off the porch light, then carefully made his way back in the dark to where his lover was still standing- with his eyes closed. He led Ed to one of the porch chairs, helping him sit down, and then Roy took the seat next to him.
“Okay, open your eyes.”
Ed blinked his eyes a couple of times, letting his eyes get adjusted to the low light. “Hey, you turned off the porch light. I can’t see the flowers. What were you think-”
Roy leaned over and kissed Ed. He had found out rather early in their relationship that it was the only way to get him to shut up. It worked like a charm- Ed only struggled for a moment before giving in, relaxing, and kissing back fully.
“Good. Now that we have that settled, just sit back and enjoy.” Roy swept his hand out towards the garden. At first everything was still and silent. But the longer they stayed quiet, the more the sounds starting coming back- faint at first, then slowly growing. The frogs started to croak, and the crickets chirped their love song.
And then they finally came- in the beginning it was just a few flashes, but eventually the sky filled with lightning bugs- their yellow green light glowing in the warm summer night’s breeze.
“Fireflies,” Ed said, matter of factly.
“Thank you for starting the obvious,” Roy replied flatly, with a bit of a smirk. “When I was a kid, I used to love watching them. I’d sit on the back porch and stare at them for hours, until it got too dark. My mom would have to force me to come in for dinner every night. Back then, I thought they were magic.”
“It isn’t magic. They have a chemical in their abdomen that reacts with the oxygen in the air and forms a compound that makes them glow. They flash in an attempt to attract a mate-”
Once again, Roy shut the young man up the only way that he knew how. He held the kiss as long as he could, then finally relaxed back in his chair.
After the kiss, they sat quietly, holding hands and staring into the night- bright with stars in the clear sky. They watched the fireflies glow, flashing patterns in the language that only other lightning bugs knew- their own personal language of love.
This night could use a little brightnin'.
Light up, you li'l ol' bug of lightnin'.
When you gotta glow, you gotta glow.
Glow little glow-worm, glow.