#this goes out to all the other children who got so frightened by mlp swearing that they would make themselves sick over it

[tasteofdeathao3]

ficlet in reference to this old post of mine regarding Izzy being an absoutely feral iPad kid

It’s late when Ed is disturbed by a heavy thump from down the hall. 

It had been an early morning and a late night - they’d promised to take Izzy to the farmers markets (which he’d barely enjoyed after slipping about 15 minutes after they arrived) and then had a long work event for Stede’s work (Izzy was old enough to decide he wanted to stay home alone without a babysitter, on the condition he called them the second he felt any smaller). 

Suffice to say, Ed is fucking tired. 

He rolls over onto his pillow, eyes finally slipping shut, and then the door goes. 

He can hear Stede puttering about with the broken dishwasher downstairs, so he knows it isn’t him, but Izzy was sent to bed an hour ago so the chance of him having had a nightmare was a lot higher. 

With a barely concealed groan he rolls over, swiping at his eyes. “You okay, baby?” 

When he finally gets a good look at him, Ed’s stomach drops. Izzy is pale, skin awash with a gaunt white colour and his eyes stretched wide open. His hair is mussed and sticking up in all directions. His knees and hands are trembling and his chest is rising and falling at such an impressive rate that Ed is surprised he hasn’t passed out yet. 

“Izzy,” He murmurs, tossing off the duvet and stepping out into the cool bedroom air. “What’s wrong?” 

Ed knows Izzy gets nightmares. Things haven't always been… great. Ed gets them often enough, but that stress and fear is always lessened by tucking himself into Stede’s side. Izzy's are less frequent, but he knows they’re far worse than any of Ed’s. 

It’s only been a few months since Izzy moved in full time, but even Ed knows he should've had a nightmare by now, so why wasn't he coming around? 

Izzy doesn't move when addressed. His hands are bound tight in the thin fabric of his onesie, but that doesn't stop them from trembling like mad. He swallows thickly, eyes darting around the room at incredible speed. 

“Hey, baby,” Ed coos as he takes cool and calm steps towards Izzy. “Wanna tell me what happened?”

Izzy shakes his head. His lip is being bit so hard that Ed worries it might just begin to bleed. 

“Can I touch you?” When Izzy nods, Ed sets his hands on his shoulders and slides them down until Izzy’s hands are stopped from trembled in his grasp. “Did you have a nightmare?” He asks softly. 

Izzy shakes his head again. 

Ed frowns. That’s unusual. Izzy doesn’t freak out over nothing. 

“What’s got you so scared, little swallow?” 

Izzy, when grown, is very hard to get any sort of reaction out of. He has an impeccable poker face, and knows all of his own tells well enough to keep them hidden. Tiny Izzy? Not so much. 

The way Izzy’s eyes flit to the ground is practically an admission of guilt in itself. Ed sighs. 

“Did you do something?”

Izzy hesitates, then shakes his head. He seems to consider it again before he nods rapidly instead. 

“You did?” Izzy nods faster. “What did you do?” 

Izzy’s watery eyes look up to meet his own and Ed frowns. 

“Did you break something?” 

Izzy shakes his head - inwardly, Ed is relieved. He doesn’t feel like sweeping up the remains of another light fitting when he’s this tired. 

“Did you hurt yourself?”  Thankfully, Izzy shakes his head again. 

Ed sighs. “Can you tell me what you’ve done?” 

Izzy shakes his head like Ed’s suggested something appalling. “Angry.” He whispers, barely opening his lips. 

Ed holds back a deep groan. “I won’t be angry, I promise.” Izzy’s eyes are shiny with tears and an innate sense of distrust. “I just need to know what happened, okay? Because it’s my job to take care of you.”

“Don’t hit.” Izzy’s eyes are large and shiny, his lip wobbling and his nose already running.

“Oh, oh, baby, I will never hit you. You know that. My job is to look after you, and if I hurt you then I’m not taking care of you, am I?”

Izzy hiccups as a new wave of tears tumble down his cheeks, and Ed coos softly, pulling Izzy into his arms. 

Ed knows Izzy well, probably better than anyone else they’ve ever met. If someone were to ask him the rule Izzy breaks most often (and seems to enjoy doing it), it would be Tablet Time. Ed rolls his eyes. He knows for a fact that neither he or Stede had checked that the iPad in its hot pink shatterproof case had been put back in it’s charging dock, and neither had set a lock on it to prevent Izzy using it for the several hours they were out. 

“Does this have something to do with your iPad?” Izzy stays carefully still in his arms, neither nodding nor shaking his head. That’s enough of an answer of Ed. 

“Did you watch something scary?” Izzy nods meekly into his shirt. “Why would you watch something scary right before bed, birdy?”

Izzy shakes his head. “D-didn’t know.” He hiccups, gulping down big breaths of air. 

“Ohh, you thought it was something safe, didn’t you?” Izzy wails into Ed’s chest, nodding. A part of Ed does feel quite bad for Izzy, even if he did bring this on himself. 

“Do you wanna show Baba the video?”

Izzy whines. 

“Just so I can see what happened, okay? Maybe I can make it better.” 

Izzy shakes his head again, fists tightening in Ed’s shirt. He really is quite upset, so Ed does what he must and hikes Izzy up into the air and pads back down the hallway. Izzy fights him the entire time, wriggling around above the ground, but Ed keeps him still with promises of no punishment to come and a steady pat on his lower back. 

“Where’s your iPad, Iz?” Ed asks. ‘

Izzy shakes his head and Ed sighs again. “I’m not going to take it from you, you’re not getting grounded, I just want to see what you saw.” 

Izzy groans but he does finally point - under the bed. 

“What were you doing under the bed?” Ed sighs, setting Izzy gently on the floor and diving between the very thin gap between Izzy’s bed and the floor. He hadn’t minded when Stede chose a low to the ground option for Izzy - for him it was either as high off the ground and possible or as close to it when it came to being small - but Ed is already sick of this bed. How did Izzy even get underneath this? He has half a mind to make Stede buy one that’s flush to the floor.

He manages  to grab the thing by the case’s handle, kicked all the way into the far corner under the bed. 

“How didn’t you get stuck under there?” Ed gasps upon pulling himself out, but instead of the little giggle he’d been aiming for, Izzy frowns and rubs at his head. 

Ed’s face falls. “Did you hit your head?” Izzy nods as his eyes flood all over again, bottom lip wobbling like mad. “Oh, my poor little swallow, come here.” He pulls Izzy back into his lap and smoothes over his hair, pressing a litter of soft kisses over the crown of his head. “Do you need an ice pack?” 

Izzy shakes his head no, but Ed gives him a few more kisses anyway.

Once he gets the tablet and finally gets it open (they would have to change the passcode yet again) he tucks Izzy’s head under his chin and pets his hair, still damp from his bedtime shower. 

The video looks pretty inconspicuous, just a collection of ‘best moments’ from some colourful cartoon that Ed can’t remember the name of for the life of him, but as he scrolls along he finds what he’s been looking for. It’s scary, he’ll admit it, enough to make him jump were he not trying to console Izzy already. Some very realistic looking zombie ghost thing that talks in a very low and spooky voice about a curse and something about visiting under the bed every night at 3 am… He rolls his eyes at the special effects, but holds Izzy even tighter when he stiffens at the sound of the voice. 

“That’s a scary video, isn’t it?” Ed whispers into Izzy’s ear, setting the ipad down and rocking him side to side. He’ll block the channel in the morning, but for now he needs to focus on Izzy. 

Izzy whimpers into his collarbone and wriggles even further onto Ed’s lap. 

“Lucky for you,” Ed grins, “I know how to fix it.” 

He scoops Izzy back up again - no easy feat without his knee brace - and ferries him downstairs, striding into the kitchen and hurrying to set him down before his arms give out. 

“Can you watch him for a second?” He asks Stede, who’s still half buried inside the leaking dishwasher. “I need to take a call.” 

Stede pokes his head out of the dishwasher, glancing at Izzy up on the counter before eyeing Ed curiously. “What’s he doing up?” 

“Saw another jumpscare.” He says, watching fondly as Stede rolls his eyes.

“Taking a call!” He exclaims, reaching for the landline on the wall - never used aside from the occasional telemarketer - and pressing a random selection of buttons. 

“Hello, Mister Buttons?” He says loudly, watching out of the corner of his eye as Izzy perks up at the name. 

“Yes, yes, I’m just calling about a curse!” He nods, leaving gaps between his sentences  as if someone is speaking between them. “It’s Izzy, Izzy’s been cursed!” 

“Uh huh. Yes. Oh, yes. No. I can definitely do that. And it only takes one try?” He glances back over to Izzy, listening intently. “Well thank you, Mister Buttons, for helping me with breaking the curse, thank you!” He hangs the phone back on its rest and turns around to face Izzy. 

“Good news!” He exclaims, reaching across to play with Izzy’s soft, unstyled hair. “I know how to break the curse!” 

Stede gives Ed another confused look. “What curse?” 

Ed brushes him off with a look that means later, and hugs Izzy close to his chest. “The way to break the curse,” He whispers conspiratorially  into Izzy’s ear, “Is to cuddle up close with your special teddy and come to bed with me and Mama.” 

Izzy gives him a funny look. 

“I promise. I wouldn’t lie to you about something as important as this.” Ed squeezes Izzy tight against his chest. “Being with people that love you very much will keep you safe, yeah? And Buttons said being with people that love you will make everything okay, alright?” 

Somewhat reluctantly, Izzy lets Ed step back and Ed takes the opportunity to nudge Stede. “You heard the man,” He says, “Time for bed. It’s our duty.” 

Stede grumbles - he had wanted to fix the dishwasher, even if everyone in the house knew he was incapable, but he stands anyway and makes his way over to Izzy. 

“Poor precious darling,” He coos, petting Izzy’s hair. “Come, my love, time for bed.” 

Ed lets Stede carry Izzy; he’s perfectly capable of doing it himself, but Stede somehow maintains an impressive amount of strength that allows him to hold Izzy in his arms for upwards of twenty minutes without a single strained muscle. Instead, he ducks into Izzy’s room and digs around the messy bedding for his teddy, a worn but thoroughly loved stuffed whale. 

When he returns to his and Stede’s room, Stede is already laying Izzy out in the middle of their bed. “You must’ve gotten such a fright, little sweetheart,” He coos, kissing Izzy’s forehead. “Are you wet?” 

Izzy shakes his head and Stede leaves it at that, quickly tugging off his very damp formal clothes and replacing it with one of his expensive pyjama sets. 

Ed climbs in and wriggles until he’s right up against Izzy, wrapping his arms tight around his shoulders. “Look who I brought!” He whispers, tucking the whale into Izzy’s arms. Izzy gasps softly and holds the little whale close, pressing his face into it’s plush belly. 

“Thank you.” He mumbles, muffled by the soft toy. 

“It’s okay, bub.” he says softly. “Time for sleep now, okay, little man?” 

Izzy nods, eyes fluttering closed as Stede slips into bed behind him and cuddles him up close. 

Ed sighs into Izzy’s hair, utterly exhausted. It’s sure to be a late morning for all of them, but that’s fine. All will be right in the morning.