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Roy closes his book and adjusts his glasses as a bright alchemical flash lights up their living room, a figure rising up from the floor.
Gods, Ed looks so small.
When Ed told him all those years ago about his time travel, Roy found it hard to believe, although the evidence Ed brought him and seeing a literal god had widened his horizon for accepting impossible things rather drastically. Still, actually seeing a younger, rougher Ed in the flesh fills him with wondrous disbelief.
Ed looks around, eyes immediately fixing on and assessing him, then fleeting to the pictures on the fireplace mantle. Roy can't help but feel impressed as he watches the recognition and then the realization pass on Ed's face.
"Didn't think it'd actually work," he says at last. His voice hasn't changed much, but the intonation is a bit off, with the traces of the Eastern lilt still present in his speech.
Roy gets up to inspect him, thrilled to see Ed's antenna barely reaching his chin. Roy is used to his Ed, matured with age and built like a tank, so seeing his husband so delicate does things to him.
Ed looks down at his automail hand, then back up at Roy with such haunted ferocity it burns Roy's soul. That's an expression he hasn't seen in a long, long time and he isn't particularly fond of seeing it again.
"Is he- did I fix him?"
Roy rushes to put him out of this particular misery.
"You did," he says. "Here, it's yours."
Roy passes him the envelope his Ed's left for himself. Ed takes it, eyeing the ring on his finger for a few long seconds. He scans the instructions, then focuses on the enclosed photo of Alphonse they took last week.
Roy watches the kaleidoscope of emotions on his face - from sheer relief to wonder to pride.
"You're taking it rather well," he can't help but observe.
Ed shrugs, not taking his eyes off the photo.
"It's not that much of a price. I'm ready to pay anything for him."
You poor thing, Roy thinks, the last ten years passing before his eyes in a flash. If only you knew.
"Are you hungry?" He asks as he gently leads Ed to the kitchen because he already knows the answer. There's still some stew left on the stove, the one his Ed cooked before kissing Roy goodbye and leaving for Resembool the previous evening.
Ed sits at the table while he busies himself with getting the plate, acutely aware of Ed's eyes on his back.
This Ed has been here before, about six months for him and more than ten years ago for Roy; Roy looks at their kitchen with detached eyes, noting, with a great deal of warmth, just how much his Ed visibly changed his life.
He sets the full plate in front of Ed, taking a seat next to him. Ed inhales the stew in what feels like a few seconds, then stops to consider the taste.
"Did.. I make this?"
Roy nods, fascinated with the faint constellation of freckles on Ed's nose - his Ed rarely gets them nowadays, and he's glad he's kept his glasses on.
Ed fiddles with the instruction paper he's still holding, then looks back at Roy.
"You look..." Ed pauses, searching for the right word. The longer he's at it the higher Roy's apprehension grows. "Less shiny," he finally adds.
Roy gives him his most charming smile, pleased to see Ed cheeks get dusted with pink, hiding the freckles entirely.
"Age tends to do that, yes," he says. "It's been very kind to you, though."
Ed clenched his hands, the paper crunching softly, the blush growing brighter when he glances down at it. Roy hasn't actually read the other set of instructions and only knows a vague outline of the incoming event, so he's mildly curious about what Ed would do now.
Ed bites his lip, then lifts his eyes at Roy. That fiery determination hasn't changed at all, and Roy feels his heart swell.
"I can't know for sure the array will work," he states, whole face going red. "I don't want to die a virgin."
He actually went there, the poor thing. It's been a long while since Roy could get Ed this flustered, and he thoroughly enjoys the moment. His Ed has been carrying the full brunt of Roy's love for ten years, and so has become immune to most of his tricks; seeing Ed like this again is a thrill.
"You're not going to die, seeing as your older version has left you those instructions," Roy points out.
Ed shakes his head.
"The timeline isn't fixed. For all I know I've just created a branch out of the main timeline and everything will cease to exist the moment I try to go back."
Time travel is so far beyond Roy's alchemical capabilities he doesn't have any solid retort for that.
"I'm sure you'll be fine," he says. "You made it, after all."
Ed opens his mouth to, presumably, argue again, and Roy uses this moment to lean in and kiss him.
Ed makes an alarmed noise, but before Roy can pull away he kisses him back, a bit clumsy but no less enthusiastic. Roy pulls him in his lap, with Ed straddling his thighs, and finally gives in to the burning urge to touch.
He grabs handfuls of him, greedily exploring all the ways Ed's changed and which he forgot over the years. Ed's hands weave into his hair, knocking his glasses almost all the way off, and when Roy's hands slip under Ed's shirt, Ed mewls, the sound setting Roy's blood on fire.
Ed's stomach is firm and golden, the scar on his side fresh and angry pink. Roy's heart seizes in sudden grief; he's managed to push it out of his mind just how young Ed was when he had to endure that, and now it slams back full force. He can feel Ed's ribs and spine a bit too well, and can only take solace in the knowledge he'd rectified that as soon as he could, back in the past.
He rises up, grunting at the added weight. Ed jerks in surprise, legs clenching around Roy's waist with similar strength, but he doesn't protest as he's carried to their bedroom.
After dropping Ed on the bed, Roy unwraps him like the present he is, taking time to kiss and taste the revealed skin as it appears. Ed squirms under his lips, unused to touch, and gives out a bitten moan when Roy's mouth closes on his lone nipple, worrying it until it perks up and reddens.
Without further prelude, he drags Ed's briefs down at last, his flushed hard cock springing out. Roy doesn't give him the time to be embarrassed, swallowing it down his throat with practiced ease.
Ed yelps, hands flying to grip his hair almost painfully tight, and it barely takes a minute to make him come sobbing, bent over Roy and hips bucking up. Roy doesn't stop until he's sure Ed's done, until he's whimpering with overstimulation.
Ed's gasping after his orgasm, giving no objections when Roy manhandles him in his preferred position, pushing his pillow under Ed's hips so his glorious ass is on display for him to admire. Ed pants softly, waiting for him to squeeze lube on his fingers, and gives off a small, choked sound when Roy brushes against his furl for the first time.
The first finger slides all the way in without much resistance, and Roy pauses.
"Where'd you find lube in the middle of the forest?"
Ed presses his face in the pillow, his ears and the back of the neck going a lovely crimson color. Roy knows for sure it's reaching his chest.
"It's not that hard to alchemize out of sap," he says, voice muffled. Roy allows the silence to stretch, idly moving his finger in and out, until Ed blurts out, "I was finally left alone for five minutes, and yes, I did finish the array right after."
Yes, that does sound like Ed alright. Roy chuckles as he slides another finger in, stretching and pulling.
"Was the array the only thing you were thinking about?"
Ed chokes on his answer when Roy crooks his fingers, finding and hitting his prostate unerringly, and rubs it until Ed's a shaking, moaning mess clenching on his fingers with each move. At this point Roy knows Ed's body way better than Ed does, and he intends to make it sing.
"Tell me," he insists. He lets Ed breathe for a moment, and Ed collapses on the bed, panting.
"You," he says hoarsely. "That I was giving you my report and you bent me over your desk."
They've played out that particular scenario many times with numerous variations, and Roy enjoyed every single one of them immensely.
"Oh? What did I do next?"
"You-" Ed's voice breaks into a sob on a particularly sweet slide. "You'd pull my pants down and take me right away. Make me take it."
Oh, so that was an old fantasy for Ed, not a recent addition. Roy catalogs that for further reference and rewards Ed with a sharp spank, making Ed yelp and spasm helplessly around his fingers.
He gives Ed a short reprieve as he climbs over him, thighs flush with Ed's, the head of his cock coming to kiss his fluttering entrance.
Roy watches, mesmerized, as Ed slowly parts for him as he pushes in, the muscles barely resisting him with how well-stretched he got him. Ed lets out a breathy gasp when he bottoms out, pressed tight against his ass, and Roy lowers himself on his elbows, lips finding Ed's nape to press a kiss to a protruding vertebrae.
Ed's smaller than what Roy's used to, delicate almost, and it's been a long, long time since he's been able to cover him with his body like this. Roy grinds against him, giving him time to adjust, and slides one arm across Ed's chest to pull him closer.
"Sweetheart," he sighs out, forgetting himself for a second, and kisses a soft spot under Ed's jaw. Ed moans high in his throat, a desperate, needy thing, and Roy's heart is so full he can barely take it.
He snaps his hips, harder than before, relishing the sounds it gets him, and then does it again; his Ed takes much more time and effort to unravel like that, to get this lost in pleasure, and Roy uses all his skill to take this one apart. Ed doesn't meet him halfway, doesn't move the way they've taught each other over the years, but Roy's more than ready to work for them both.
Ed's back glistens with sweat in the golden light when he arches it, crying out on a rough thrust. Roy keeps the same angle, again and again, until Ed's trembling and gasping underneath him, half-bitten curses dripping from his lips, and Roy knows he's close.
"Come," he gasps out, thighs burning from the strain. "That's it, sweetheart, come for me."
Ed starts spasming around him, a litany of 'fuck!'s flowing freely like a song, and Roy doesn't stop until Ed comes sobbing. Only then does he let himself go, shoving in deep and letting out a guttural groan as he fills Ed up.
He rolls them over, away from the mess, cradling Ed when he presses close, warm and boneless against his side. In the last couple of years Ed's broad shoulders have made an excellent pillow for Roy to rest his head on, so he marvels at having him fit into his frame so easily.
"When you explain this to my past self," Roy begins when his heart finally stops trying to escape his ribcage, tracing patterns on Ed's back with his fingers, "tell him that you know about Madam Christmas's raspberry wine."
"And that'd convince you?" Ed asks, sounding as if he's not sure Roy's not pulling his leg.
"Mhm. Stole a bottle from the bar, chugged half of it as if it was juice, and then was violently sick for the rest of the day. Never told a soul about that."
Ed snorts, and Roy feels giddy as well, young in a way he hasn't felt in a long time.
"Probably not as soon as I see you, right," Ed says.
The memories of the promised day resurface in his mind like a wave, and he forcefully shoves them back down, feeling his eyes burn.
"You will be too busy to worry about that."
They breathe together for a moment, Roy's fingers slowly carding through Ed's hair. As exciting as this was, the absence of his Ed starts to feel like a gaping hole in his chest, starting with Ed's hair being shorter than usual and ending with him lying on Roy's wrong side.
The Resembool train gets in early in the morning, and Roy reminds himself to set an alarm so he'll be there when it arrives.
"After it's all said and done, though, you seduced me", Roy says. "Quite aggressively, too, I'd say."
It's their favorite inside joke, the one this Ed isn't in on yet.
"Right," Ed says, in a tone that says he doesn't believe a thing Roy's saying.
Well, more fun for him to find out, Roy thinks as he leans to kiss Ed's brow.