~PLEASE READ!~

Hello, my lovelies! This is Meep!

I'm sad to say that I started writing this fic an entire year ago and only finished it just now. I have sseeeerious issues with completing projects. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

This story, takes place in the setting established in the third light novel by Makoto Inoue called "The Valley of the White Petals". If you're not familiar with it, all you need to know is that Roy sends Ed and Al on a mission out East to investigate a small mining town called 'Wisteria' ruled by a man named Mr. Raygen who governs under the principle of equivalent exchange.

That's about it! :D

Please let me know how you think I did- this is my first time writing AlxEd and I'd love to hear from you!

It was a nice town, Al decided. Different, but nice.

He waved to a young girl carrying an empty straw basket as they passed each other on the bridge over the river running through the middle of the village. Everyone here was so friendly and welcoming; they had even given him and Ed a small one-room abode to stay in while they were there. They had to work with Neil in the mine in order to earn their keep (equivalent exchange was the law that governed this town, after all), but Al was more than happy to help; which he had just been doing, in fact.

However, Ed had complained that something was fishy about the town from the second their feet had touched its soil. Al disagreed and even, in his private thoughts, went so far as to think that Wisteria wouldn't be a bad place to live; Mr. Raygen had taken in these people with no hope and given them a motto to live by. Besides, Ed was just bitter about the fact that the Colonel had sort of tricked them into going on this mission: "makin' us do his dirty work" as Ed had put it.

Typical Brother.

Al actually thought it was quite nice that they finally had the opportunity to do something in return for the Colonel; they owed it to him after all he'd done for them.

Had he had real eyes, Al would have shielded them from the sun that now rose high in the sky and glinted brightly off his armour. He figured it had to be almost eleven o' clock by now, so Al started back toward their borrowed hut to wake Ed up. Or, if he was already awake, keep him from getting into a shouting match with Ruby. Al sighed as he walked up the little dirt path. Ed really needed to learn to control his temper better.

He stepped up to the door and the handle twisted easily in his hand (that was another nice thing about this town: they trusted each other enough not to use locks. It reminded him of home), calling out, "Ed! Time to wake—" only to find that his brother was already awake and sitting upright in his bed. At first, Al had thought he was reading something, but upon closer inspection, discovered this was far from the truth. His brother was leaning back heavily against the pillows and his left hand –his flesh hand- was on his…

But before he even had time to fully process what he'd seen, Edward noticed him and pulled his hand away from himself before flinging the covers over his lap.

"A-Al!" he stammered, his eyes wide. "What are you doing back here so soon?" His face was flushed with embarrassment as he forced himself to make eye contact.

"Ah," Alphonse fidgeted where he stood, feeling that he'd walked in on something he shouldn't have. "I just wanted to make sure you were up. Um, Brother...? Just now…" he trailed off, not exactly sure of what to say.

"It's nothing," Ed interrupted. "Just forget about it." He glanced down at himself and reached far under the covers. Pulling his pants back up, maybe? Which begged the question of why they were down in the first place.

"Wait," Al interrupted, taking a few steps away from the door. He wasn't exactly sure what he meant to say to Ed, only that he didn't want him to get redressed for some reason.

And Ed obeyed, glancing up at his younger brother while his hands remained on the hem of his pants.

Alphonse paused a moment, trying to make sense of what he'd seen only moments before. Edward's left hand, the flesh one, had been curled into a fist around his penis, moving quickly up and down with faint, sort of wet sound. His body had twisted slightly, almost as if he were trying to get away from himself, and his face looked tense, his mouth slightly slack as he let in harsh breaths. Was he in pain? Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to him. "Brother!"

Ed jerked up, looking alarmed at his outburst.

"You weren't…" Suddenly he felt foolish. No, that couldn't be it… "You weren't trying… to pull it off, were you?" he finished, softer.

"What? No!" Ed looked horrified at the suggestion. "…'Course not."

"Oh." He hadn't thought so, but he had to be sure.

Awkward silence stretched between them and Al could sense that Ed wanted some privacy so he could get dressed. Although he wasn't entirely sure why; it's not like he'd never seen Ed naked before and Ed had never seemed shy of changing in front of him before. Quite the contrary, actually: if given the opportunity, he had always seemed more than happy to walk around completely nude, chattering away to Al as if nothing was amiss. But even still, for some reason, Alphonse just couldn't seem to make himself leave. "Um, Ed?" he ventured.

Ed looked back to him, obviously peeved now that he wasn't getting the hint.

"If not that, then what?"

Ed's brow furrowed in confusion and he seemed to be trying to figure out how he was supposed to respond.

"Your face," Al continued, trying to lead him in the right direction, "you looked like you were in pain…Does it hurt?"

Understanding darkened Ed's face and he chewed on his bottom lip and averted his eyes, looking intensely embarrassed. "No." He squirmed backward a little. "It…It feels good, actually."

"Oh," Al murmured, wondering why Ed was so embarrassed, "Kind of like sex?" He knew that sex was supposed to feel pleasurable, but he was a little unclear on the specifics.

"Uh, yeah, kinda," Ed allowed, wringing his hands in his lap.

Al thought about that a moment. So, Ed had been –it seemed silly to say 'having sex with himself' but- simulating the act, somehow? He hadn't even known a person could do that.

"Is there someone you want to do that with? Have sex, I mean?" Al asked innocently, thinking that was the natural thing to ask after learning this.

But Edward didn't seem to think so. He flushed a dark red (almost to match a certain other part of him…) and turned his head to look over his shoulder at the opposite wall.

"Ah, no, it's…It's not like that…" he muttered.

But Al knew he was lying. He could always tell when Brother was lying to him by the almost apologetic way his eyebrows twitched when he did it; which is exactly what they had done just now. But Al decided not to push him when he was clearly uncomfortable. Although he had to wonder if it was Winry; they had always fought over who would get to marry her when they were younger. It was certainly plausible, but he wasn't sure…There was something else, maybe the fact that she was a childhood friend, that made the idea seem downright indecent.

Well, whatever it was, Al decided that it didn't completely matter, anyway. Even though Al could tell Ed's body language said he wanted the conversation to be over, he couldn't help but stay where he was and look at his brother, who seemed to have taken a sudden interest in the nightstand.

He was frowning dispassionately but his hands were clenched into fists in his lap and Al got the distinct feeling that Ed felt uncomfortable being in his body; like he did right before it rained and his automail began to ache. Al hated to see Ed like this and every time he did, he got the urge to hold him and stroke his hair and somehow make it better. But he usually held back; he wasn't so deluded as to think that this body of his was at all suited to physical comforting. But maybe this time he…

As he was thinking this, Ed whipped his head around, his expression angry and he opened his mouth to say something, but Al cut him off before he could make a sound.

"I want to help you."

Ed looked shocked, but then his face immediately softened, his eyes flickering back and forth minutely across Al's armour face, looking at once horrified and relieved, as though he were trying to gauge his brother's sincerity.

"Ah, no, Al…" He said after a moment. He looked sheepish and like he wanted to accept but didn't think he should.

"Why not?" Al wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Well, that's –uh- not something brothers are supposed to do…"

Were his hands shaking?

"Well, why not?" Al demanded, the unintentional amount of force in his voice startling both Edward and himself. "I mean," his tone was softer now, but no less passionate than before, "when have we ever done what was expected of us, Ed? When have we ever done 'what brothers are supposed to do'?"

Al moved closer to the bed and Ed pretended not to notice, glancing down at his lap. He knew what they were both thinking and that saying it would only make Ed feel bad about himself, so he said nothing.

After a moment, Al moved closer still and sat gingerly on the bed beside his brother, who flinched and looked for all the world like he wanted to run away. But why, Al had no idea; sure Ed was always a little reluctant to accept his help, but this was ridiculous.

"Brother," he said, softer now, almost soothing, "you never tell me when you're hurting, when you need help, but you don't need to hold back for my sake. I want to help you, and if I can use this body of mine to do that, that would make me so happy."

They both were silent a moment before Ed finally looked up and said, "okay." Ed wasn't one to be bullied into doing something he didn't want to do, and so Al was fairly certain that he had agreed because Al had changed his mind, not because he felt he had to say yes.

"Don't worry, I'll help you," Al said in a soothing voice, hoping it would help Ed calm down. Then, slowly as if asking permission, he brought his hands over Ed's lap and gently peeled back the covers.

Ed twitched but said nothing, only biting his lower lip and clenching his hands into fists in the sheets at his sides. But Al knew Ed well enough to be able to read his body language as reluctant consent.

Al traced a single leather-clad finger along the bulge in his brother's pants, wishing he could feel the source of the tension that made the material jut outward in a way that looked unnatural. To his surprise, Ed shivered at the touch and gave a soft, tonal exhale.

A sigh?

He hesitated for a moment, his hands hovering over the fastening of Ed's pants, suddenly feeling nervous and ashamed at the thought that he was about to undress his brother. But hadn't that been his intention all along? How else did he mean to do this? Anyway, if Ed truly didn't want this, he would push him away, which he wasn't doing, so…

Al sighed and gently unbuttoned and unzipped the leather. He was just about to try to slip them off when Ed suddenly reanimated.

"I got it," he mumbled and reached between them to unceremoniously yank his own pants down to just below his knees. When he was done, he settled back against his pillow again, giving Al a clear view of what was usually hidden behind leather pants.

He wasn't wearing any underwear, Al noted, and resisted the urge to say something to him about it. He was always nagging Ed about that (and wearing socks), but his brother always insisted that those were always the first to run out. Anyway, this didn't quite seem to be the time; as it was, Ed was blushing and had his head turned to look at the far wall again as if he couldn't bear to see Al looking at him this way.

The first thing that Al noticed was that Ed's penis was very swollen and sticking straight up from between his hips, the tip of it a dark red color.

Al winced. Gosh, it really did look terribly uncomfortable; he wondered what it felt like…

His eyes followed along the length of it to where it fused with Ed's body and found the whole area was covered with a little patch of curly blonde hair. It was slightly coarser and darker than the yellow-blonde hair on his head, but Al supposed…

"S-stop staring at me," Ed grumbled, his eyebrows knitting together and his face flushing a little. "'S weird."

"Oh, ahm, I'm sorry," Al automatically apologized, the sound of this brother's voice bringing him back to the present. "So…?" He reached out with a tentative hand, careful so as not to hurt him, and wrapped it around Ed.

Immediately, his eyes widened and his left hand jerked out to grip Al's metal wrist.

"What is it?" Al asked, worried. "Did I- is- is it okay?" He unconsciously smoothed his hand over Ed while he spoke in a comforting manner. In response, Ed moaned softly and a small drip of clearish fluid seeped out of him, forming a small bubble at the very tip of his penis.

What was that?

It clearly wasn't pee and Ed didn't seem worried about it, so he didn't ask. Alphonse was sure nothing like that ever came out of him when he used to have a body, but maybe it was supposed to happen? He wondered if it smelled like anything…

"Yeah, it's okay…" Edward finally whispered, his chest heaving a little and his hand momentarily loosening from its death-grip on Al's arm. "Alphonse…Move your hand."

"Oh, um, right," he agreed and tried to remember what Ed had looked like when he had first walked into the room. He kept his grip loose and gently stroked up and down Ed's length just like he had seen Ed doing not long ago only much slower because he was afraid of doing it wrong and hurting him.

Ed seemed to enjoy this for a few moments before he began squirming uncomfortably.

Immediately, Al stopped. "What's wrong?"

"I-uh- it's too rough."

Al paused. He knew he was being as gentle as he possibly could (in fact, he had seen Ed treating himself much more harshly), which led him to believe that it was inherent due to the stiff leather of his gloves. He nearly could have sworn at his own stupidity when Ed went on. "It feels better if there's something wet there to, ah…Ease the friction."

Of course! Even if he had human hands, continually rubbing over skin –especially skin so sensitive- like that was bound to chafe without something in between. But now the question was, what was he supposed to use?

"Give me your hand, Al," Ed said.

Confused, Al debated on which hand to give until, at Ed's prompting, offering up the very one that had been occupied up until that point.

Then, Ed paused for a moment, twisting his mouth into odd shapes before leaning forward over Al's outstretched palm and spitting. "Use that," he said unapologetically. Which was fine, it's not as though Al was grossed out by his brother's saliva, he just hadn't expected him to do that.

"Okay," he murmured and put his hand back around Ed, trying his best to distribute the shiny wet blob evenly across his length. "Better?"

"Yeah," Ed sighed and seemed to relax slightly. "Little faster."

Without a word, Al obeyed, speeding up his movements a little, noting that the addition of saliva made movement noticeably easier even to him. And apparently more pleasurable for Ed if the way he moaned softly and sank further back against the pillows, murmuring some unintelligible words of pleasure, were anything to go by.

Alphonse quickly discovered that Ed liked it the most when he touched and rubbed over just the very tip of his erection near where the hole was; which was just as well because then he didn't have to hold him and risk accidentally squeezing too hard. Every time he passed his fingertips across Ed's smooth skin, trying to make the movement as fluid and natural as he could, Ed shivered, his eyes fluttered and he moaned softly like he was just waking up. And Al suddenly wished he could actually feel him, the warmth of his breath, the smell of his skin…Ed looked so beautiful and honest and real like this and Al didn't know how, but he was sure that his own body would be feeling excitement had he had it.

"Brother," he asked a bit breathlessly, continuing to stroke, "what does it feel like?"

"It…" he trailed off and cleared his throat. "It feels really good. I…feel…All warm and tense, like…Like something within me is coiling tighter and tighter and I need…" He groaned unintelligibly, his eyes slipping shut, and didn't say more.

But Al didn't understand. Didn't something that felt good make you happy? Right now, Ed's face was twisted into something that looked suspiciously akin to pain and he seemed anything but comfortable.

However, not only had he just said that it was good, his hips were now thrusting forward seemingly on their own in order to meet Al's hand.

His body seemed so tense and uncoordinated but his eyes, usually bright and alert, were hazy –almost sleepy- lowered halfway and fixed unseeingly on a random point on the wall behind Al's back

So focused was he on observing, Al almost missed the change in the sounds Ed was making. Now, instead of moaning softly, he was gasping and whining, the sounds spilling from his lips more frequently. He squirmed and bucked in Al's hold, looking like he was trying to reach for something.

Did he want Al to move faster? How could that possibly feel good?

Al fretted over this, but he had been doing good so far and experimentally moved his hand in shorter, faster strokes along the end half of Ed's length, closely watching his face for any clues.

His eyes were half-closed and his voice continued to escalate in both pitch and volume, making him sound almost panicked.

Al, worried, stopped for a moment to ask only to have Ed instantly wail, "Don't stop!" and grip Al's hand in both of his.

"O-okay," Al stuttered and started stroking him with their combined grip when almost immediately, his brother's body went completely rigid and he jerked forward and upward with a wordless cry.

His eyes squeezed shut and his face screwed up and it looked like he was holding his breath as clearish-white fluid burst out of him a few times.

While this was happening, Al merely held his hand still around Ed, sensing that this was the end, but Ed continued to stroke fast over himself with the pads of his thumbs, even though it was making him flinch hard each time.

But the spasms seemed to get weaker each time and in a matter of seconds stopped altogether and Ed slumped back against the pillows, an utterly exhausted expression on his face.

Al merely stared in shock for a moment before looking down at himself and noticing that whatever had come out of Ed was now all over him.

"Wh-what just happened?" Al asked, trailing curious fingers through where Edward's semen had splattered across his chestplate.

Ed merely panted, not answering for a moment while he caught his breath and Al began to wonder if he had heard him. But then finally, he looked up at Al and gave him a weak smile and managed to breathe a quiet explanation.

"Orgasm. I…I came."

"Wow…" Al breathed. "And, what is this stuff?"

"Semen," Ed answered for him. "It –uh- has my reproductive cells in it. If I were…If…When I want…Um…" He trailed off, looking a bit uncomfortable discussing this.

Al felt a little wistful then, knowing that if he had a body- or parents- of his own, he would surely know all of these things already.

When he looked back, Ed's hazy golden eyes had come back into focus and were flitting back over to Al and then to the evidence of his own release on his armour body.

"Sorry," he said hoarsely, "I messed up your armour." It seemed like it took more effort than it should have, but Ed sat up then and kneeled in front of him, silently surveying the 'damage'. After a moment, he clapped his hands firmly together and placed them on the surface of Al's armour.

Al watched in mild fascination as the metal glowed light blue and the stickiness on it seemed to dissolve into the air. And although Al couldn't smell, he knew from experience that that unique, ozone tang of alchemy now lingered in the air around them.

Seeming satisfied with his work, Ed heaved a sigh and let himself slump back against the pillow.

Al gazed fondly down at his brother who looked more peaceful than he could ever remember him being and they sat there in comfortable silence for a moment.

But as the minutes wore on with the only interaction passing between them being the idle stroking of Al's gloved hand on Edward's midriff, whatever seemed to have affected Ed seemed to be fading away and he grew more and more agitated again. But this time was different from before: he fidgeted uneasily, not quite wringing his hands in his lap in a way that seemed somehow ashamed or guilty, no longer trying to hide his nudity.

"Ed…?"

Ed reluctantly looked up, giving him an utterly pitiful frown that was quickly hidden by steely determination.

"I promise…I promise I'll get your original body back," he ground out.

Al started back a little, the response catching him off guard. However, the fact that Ed –as usual- did not include himself in this vow did not escape his notice.

"Yeah, but, Brother…"

"No matter what it takes," Ed interrupted, seeming not to hear him.

Al started to answer, but before he could go on, to insist that Ed needn't feel guilty about anything, he hopped out of bed and crossed the room. Then, in one swift motion, he had his pants back up and was turned around to face his younger brother who was still perched on the edge of the bed.

"Come on," Ed said, giving Al that sad smile he was so used to seeing, "The Stone isn't gonna find itself, right?" He grinned at him, showing off small, sharp teeth, but Al could tell his heart wasn't in it.

"Right," Al said quietly and stood up. "Ed?"

He turned around, looking genuinely curious.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Heh," Ed ducked his head in mock embarrassment. "'Course I do. Don't go gettin' all sappy on me." He chuckled softly and rapped his knuckles against Al's arm. "Now come on, let's find about what this Raygen guy is all about." And with that, he opened the door and trotted out into the sunlight as if nothing had happened with Al slowly following in his shadow.