Roy returned to consciousness slowly. He didn't open his eyes—his senses came back to him gradually; the feel of the mattress on his back, the duvet on his front, Ed already squirming in his arms.

The light was hitting his face in such a way that made him softly groan and turn onto his side. He felt Ed wiggle free from his hold but he was so comfortable, he didn't want to get up yet—he'd let Ed have the shower first.

He stayed like that, snoozing, for what felt like another minute, when the rustling next to him garnered enough curiosity to crack his eyes open.

Ed.

The way the morning light caught his blond hair and made it shine, the way it highlighted every single line of muscle, every colour of his scars, even the small scratches…Gorgeous; it was the only word he could think of in that moment. He'd definitely tanned, somehow. His skin had this golden hue that complemented his hair and eyes perfectly and—

Those golden eyes turned towards him and squinted against the glare from the window. "You're being sappy again," he said matter-of-factly.

Roy gave a slow blink, and his lips curled into a sleepy smile. "Truly starting to wonder if you can read my mind."

Ed pursed his lips in that smile-battling way of his and returned his gaze to whatever he was doing. "You've got that look on your face."

"What look?"

"The sappy one."

Roy huffed a chuckle and eyed Ed's hands, and the white cloth between his fingers. That was familiar…

A sudden spark of panic made his breath catch as he realised Ed was putting on his glove and rubbing his fingers together—

And then the panic left as fast as it came, because nothing happened—no, of course nothing would happen.

Ed inspected his hand, now clad in the pyrotex glove. "I'd always wondered what this fabric feels like."

This glove was the one he'd had last night in his pocket, he realised. It had the alchemy circle embroidered onto its back, so Roy knew it was an old one. He had a couple of those stashed in his bedside cabinet and by the couch downstairs.

Their clothes from last night were dumped unceremoniously on the floor by Ed's side of the bed—the gloves had been in the pocket of his sweatpants, so Ed must've fished for them.

Speaking of last night…

Roy had slept. Round two had started off slower than their frantic humping by the front door, with Roy teasing him mercilessly and preparing him adequately, but had ended up just as frenzied. After, Roy all but collapsed in exhaustion, and was incredibly thankful they'd moved to the bed. There had, mercifully, been no dream.

"I don't often wear those anymore," he said, his voice still raspy from sleep. Ed looked over at him in surprise, then looked at the glove again. Roy added, "I wear plain ones."

Ed raised a brow. "Cause you don't need the array anymore?"

Roy hummed. "I don't need to get the array embroidered, saves me money."

Ed snorted. "Stingy bastard."

It also hid a weapon from potential enemies. Not many people knew he no longer needed arrays for alchemy; everyone expected him to have the gloves embroidered, so if they thought they'd catch him unarmed they'd be tragically wrong.

"I've never been able to find anything on fire alchemy."

Roy looked up at him, wondering for a moment why Ed would even look for books on fire alchemy, but then remembered that it was Ed.

He shifted, hoisting himself into a seated position next to Ed, his back against the headboard. Ed was probably the only person that wouldn't cause Roy to snatch the gloves out of his hands and launch into a speech about how no one should ever learn the workings of that array. "There's not many books on it. As far as I know only Berthold Hawkeye was studying it to any significant depth, and he was notoriously bad at writing things down."

Ed frowned. "Yeah but, surely there's at least a couple books on it?"

Roy nodded. "I own the first editions of the only books on fire alchemy that exist."

Ed looked at him, eyes blown wide. Roy could've sworn his eyes were sparkling.

"After Ishval, I made sure no library could stock them," he explained. "After the war there was…interest. People wanted to learn fire alchemy. I did what I had to do."

Ed stared at him in silence, in wonder, and then said, "Please."

Roy raised his eyebrows. "The books are merely the basics other alchemists have dabbled in, mostly theory. My power was Hawkeye's last discovery and there is no copy of his work." Apart from Riza's back, but even that was...destroyed.

Ed's eyes sparkled further. "Please. I wanna read them so bad."

Roy pursed his lips to hide the smile.

"Roy," Ed said very slowly, narrowing his eyes as though what he was about to say pained him greatly. "I'll beg."

Roy snorted. "Don't immediately reveal the lengths you'd go to for something, try and bargain the bare minimum first."

Ed leaned forward, until his face was right in Roy's. "I don't want a lesson in strategy I want you to show me the damn books."

Roy could feel his face softening, could feel the way his eyes turned fond as he stared at Ed's bright and glowing ones. He softly grasped his chin. "You," he said as a smile tugged at his lips, "Are possibly the only person I would ever let read those books."

The pure delight in Ed's eyes was worth everything he owned and more. He quickly threw the duvet off himself, threw on boxers, and was by the door in a heartbeat, impatiently waiting for Roy.

Roy glanced at the clock. They had half an hour before his alarm went off.

He sighed, switching the alarm off. "They're in the spare bedroom." He hadn't even finished the sentence before Ed was off, all but running to the spare bedroom and ignoring the brutal stab the bond punished them with.

Roy grimaced at the pain, getting out of bed and stretching his poor back before he threw on a pair of sweatpants and sauntered after Ed.

Ed was predictably sifting through the biggest box on the desk, with no regard whatsoever to Roy's privacy. "They're in the box next to that one."

Ed didn't miss a beat, shifting his focus to the next box. When he came across them, it was obvious from the gasp that escaped him, followed by a dramatic, "Holy fuck they're so old."

Roy thought a book would be the only reason he would ever hear Ed use the word old as though it were a turn on. Or maybe he really did have a thing for old—

That joke was going a bit far now.

Ed was holding the first book as though it were a newborn baby. He unceremoniously plopped down on the floor, crosslegged, and began reading.

"Ed."

No response.

Roy sighed.

By some miracle he had managed to drag Ed away from the spare bedroom long enough to have coffee and get to Headquarters.

It may or may not have involved a delicate kick to the ribs.

Ed was in a goodnatured teasing mood today. It was an interesting mood to observe, really. He was in a good mood, and on top of that was smiling and grinning and laughing easily, his demeanour calm and casual. Sometimes he seemed almost giddy.

It must've been the books.

Roy made a mental note to keep an eye out for any books that looked to be Ed's style; would be good leverage when his mood was foul.

But now, Roy was buried up to his eyeballs in paperwork. Dedicating yesterday to the report had pushed him even further behind than what he'd been—he was still catching up from the three weeks he took off when this whole soul bonding situation started. And those three weeks hadn't even been a holiday.

He was due a holiday.

Where would he go? Perhaps to the East somewhere; he missed the East. It was warmer there, the skies bluer, the sun brighter. Or maybe he'd venture further afield and go to Creta or Xing—he'd always wanted to visit Xing. Madame Christmas had mentioned they had some distant relations over there, and he'd get all the Xingese food he could ever want. But Creta had beaches. He'd always wanted to go to a beach.

A soft thump had him blinking out of his daydreaming and looking at the leather-clad ass now on his desk. Another blink had him looking upwards, at the face of the owner of said leather-clad ass.

"You're sitting on my desk," he deadpanned, not entirely sure what emotion that fact warranted.

"I'm bored," Ed said, huffing slightly upwards and blowing hair out his face. It was rather hot today. "Why didn't you let me bring the fire alchemy books here?"

Roy shot him an admonishing glance and pretended to go back to his paperwork. "Because we are at work, and you reading about fire alchemy counts as leisure."

"You say that as if you're doing any work, I know you're daydreaming."

Roy narrowed his eyes at him and made a vague gesture to the papers on his desk. "Your ass is resting on my work."

Ed's eyes glinted in the way Roy knew now to expect to be messed with. "You like my ass."

Roy shot him another warning glance, but he could feel the warmth rising up his neck. "My opinion on your behind is not appropriate office conversation."

Ed sighed dramatically, lying down on the desk on his back until his head hung over the edge. His braid brushed against Roy's thigh. "Bet you say that to every young, male subordinate of yours you seduce."

"Not funny."

Ed grinned at him from his upside down position, and Roy did his best pretending to be focusing on work and ignoring the massive temptation lying on his desk. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ed shift, just slightly. Gosh, his spine was so curved like that, and his tank top had ridden up to expose his abs, and he'd look so good if he just spread his legs and—

Ed was back to a seated position in a flash, leaning forward on his hands to get his face closer to Roy's. "Aw," he cooed, and Roy tensed. "Is this your whack-ass way of telling me I'm special?"

Roy sighed. He put his pen down; bad sign. "You are quite literally the exception to every rule in my life, Edward."

Ed positively beamed at him. Roy decided now would be a good time for a lunch break. "I like breaking rules." Ed smirked, leaning even closer, until Roy could feel the warmth pooling in his stomach, the tingles at Ed's proximity. "Especially your rules, Roy-boy."

Roy glared at him. He knew he shouldn't offer a reaction, he knew the best way to get someone to stop messing with him was to stop reacting, but damn— "Don't call me that."

Ed looked like he won the lottery—pure delight shone on his face. He reached out to do something with his hand, but Roy didn't let him; he seized his wrist, glaring at him in a way that would have a lesser man running for his life. Ed's smirk just widened. "Brat."

"Hey," Ed said, grinning. "Cut me some slack, my ass hurts. It's only fair I make you uncomfortable in some way too."

Roy pursed his lips at that and let his wrist go. "You're sore?"

Ed shrugged, his grin still wide and stunning. "Not complaining."

Roy let out a breath and stood, looking down at Ed's happy face. "How about I make it up to you with some lunch?"

Ed dramatically faked a swoon, and it was so sarcastic Roy was almost offended. "You sure know how to get 'em hooked, damn, Roy."

"Ed," Roy deadpanned. Ed blinked up at him happily. "Shut up."

It turned out that Roy never wanted to have to make anything up to Ed ever again. He was pretty sure his wallet was crying in his pocket after the abuse it had just experienced.

"You've got an appetite today," Roy grumbled as they sat at a table.

They stopped at a cafe today. It was something he was surprised he allowed to happen, and even more surprised that he wasn't panicking about it.

But he supposed that, after two months of being soul bonded, it wasn't the end of the world to sit at a cafe. It wasn't like they did it all the time.

Ed shrugged. "I'm hungry today," he said casually, as if that was sufficient explanation for why he nearly bankrupted Roy for lunch. His lips were still pulled up in a small smile like they had been pretty much all day, and Roy couldn't find it in him to deny him anything if it meant that smile was at risk, hence the cafe and the bankruptcy.

"You're always hungry," Roy remarked casually. "One day that metabolism of yours will betray you."

Ed smirked. "Hasn't happened to you yet so I've got a good amount of years before that happens."

Fucking brat.

"This is what I meant," Roy said slowly, "when I said you insult me and compliment me in the same breath."

Ed shrugged again, so carefree and casual. "As if you're still getting mixed signals, bastard."

Roy smiled. No, he definitely wasn't.

The waitress floated over to them, their food in her hands, and Ed immediately started vacuuming the contents of his plates—yes, plural—while Roy savoured the contents of his own singular plate.

He made a vague sound from his throat that had Roy looking up at him. He had sauce on the side of his lip.

"Say," Ed said. His tongue swept out and cleaned around his mouth. "Can Al come over tonight?"

Roy blinked. He threaded his fingers and placed his chin on top as he regarded Ed. "Depends." Ed narrowed his eyes. "If you're planning on unleashing a war in my house."

Ed rolled his eyes. "No, you drama queen." Roy was offended. "I just wanna pick his brains on the array."

Roy nodded and went back to his food. "Alphonse is more than welcome." Then, despite himself, he added, "Do you think he'll have a theory for why the bond acted up yesterday?"

Ed went rigid. Then he shifted in his seat as his cheeks turned pink. Embarrassment flowed through the bond. "Fuck knows, that was weird."

Roy watched him closely. "It was."

Ed picked at his food, scowling. "I can ask him but doubt he'll know."

Roy decided to spare him. He wasn't sure why he was in such a forgiving mood today, but Ed wasn't often so openly this happy, and he'd been damned if he ruined that.

"We have the ball tomorrow," he remarked instead, continuing with his food.

Ed let out a breath so deep it was as though Roy'd told him he had to do the Promised Day all over again and he couldn't be bothered. "Do we have to go?"

The look Roy gave him said it all. He didn't even think that deigned a response. "It will be work," he said, keeping his voice down to avoid any possible eavesdroppers. Not that the cafe was busy or anything. "I would like to gather information on my competitors, who will all undoubtedly be present to kiss the Fuhrer's ass."

Ed gave him a little teasing glance. "And you want to know how to kiss it the best?"

Roy stared blankly at him. "What I want," he drawled. "is to remain on top."

Ed's lips twitched up and he pursed his lips.

"Therefore," he continued. "I need to know if any one of those sleazeballs have come up with what they think is a good plan to top me."

Ed's face split in two as the grin took over, and a chuckle escaped him.

There it is.

Roy smirked at his victory even as he said, "Hawkeye will arrange a car to take us all to the Armstrong manor. Slightly unusual for a General to turn up with his team, but you and I turning up together would…" He trailed off as he realised this was a potential smile-stealing sentence. He glanced at Ed, who was staring at his food, but after a second of silence his golden eyes looked up.

He seemed okay.

Ed gave him a lazy smile and leaned his cheek against his fist. "All this planning…Well, I guess you do wanna be dictator of the country. Your micromanaging's fitting."

Roy remained casual, sipping his water. "My plans involve a lot of things. I believe we've briefly discussed the democracy part of it."

Ed's smile was softer this time. "Yeah, we have." His smile turned into a smirk. "Pretty sure I said I'd borrow some more money to hold over you until you manage that one." He snorted. "Good luck by the way."

"Thanks," he said dryly.

A beat of silence ensued, which felt slightly tenser than what Roy was accustomed to when it came to him and Ed.

Ed seemed to be mulling something over, and mild anxiety flowed through the bond. Roy decided to wait it out and not press the issue.

"Would you…" Ed started, then pulled on his bottom lip with his teeth. "Are you gonna, like, make this…normal?"

Roy stared at him, but Ed kept his gaze firmly on the empty plate in front of him. His words were slightly unclear, but Roy guessed the meaning behind them well enough. "Yes, I will try my damned hardest to make it more accepted and legal in Amestris." Ed slowly looked up at him. "Same sex marriage is already legal in Creta, it's about time Amestris followed in its footsteps."

Ed gave a small, breathless laugh. "If you manage that I'll have to let you fucking marry me."

Roy stared.

After a second, Ed's cheeks turned bright red. "I was fucking joking," he said tensely. "Idiot."

He was perhaps enjoying the sight of Ed cooking a bit more than what a normal, sane person would.

It didn't help that he was merely wearing boxers. The lack of clothing showed off the way Ed's muscles moved as he busied himself in the kitchen, as he lifted pans, chopped vegetables, and sautéed them with a spatula. His back muscles tensed, his biceps flexed, his ass simply gloriously existed. He'd thrown a tea towel over a shoulder, and every so often he'd use it to wipe his hands and then smack it over his skin again, and Roy thought that was a fabulous idea—the smacking part.

It was a miracle he'd managed to keep his greedy hands to himself, really. But he was hungry, and Ed had sent him a very pointed glance halfway through the cooking process that had Roy determined to stubbornly deny that he was even feeling anything at all. And so he pretended to be utterly casual, if not bored, while his hands itched and his cock twitched.

A knock on the door shattered his thought process completely—and it was for the best, because Ed had just abandoned the tea towel, which meant he was done cooking, and Roy had been very close to grabbing him.

Ed grinned as he ran through the archway to open the door. "Hello you little shit of a brother," he greeted delightfully.

Roy sighed and stood, deciding to be a polite host by at least welcoming his guest into his home.

Alphonse rolled his eyes as he walked past Ed and into the foyer. "You're still not over that?" Then he spotted Roy, and smiled. "Hello, sir! Thank you for having me!"

Roy mustered a smile; it wasn't that he wasn't happy to see Alphonse, but he really just wanted to grab Ed and hoard him for himself for the rest of the evening. "No problem at all, Alphonse." He gestured to the kitchen. "I'm sure you'll be delighted to know your brother has made himself useful for once and cooked for us."

Ed snorted. "Pretty sure you've been the useless one lately."

Roy glared at him as he walked past, so close his ponytail brushed against his shoulder.

Alphonse scoffed a laugh as he removed his shoes. "Brother—cooking? Surprised you've not set the General's home on fire."

Ed swivelled around to glare at his brother, his cheeks red. "I've been doing just fine, actually. And trust me, he's more likely to set his damn place on fire than me!"

Roy wasn't going to deny that one.

Al grinned, but it had that slight evil gleam to it Roy had very recently learned to be extremely wary of. "Look at you, turning all housewife for the General."

Roy raised his eyebrows in surprised amusement as Ed turned every shade of red under the sun and stomped into the kitchen.

Al snickered. "Sorry, sir," he said, his grin so wide it probably hurt by now. "It's just so easy, I can't resist."

Roy smirked, relishing the hot embarrassment currently flowing through the bond. "By all means continue."

Al smirked back.

"You two get no food!" Ed yelled from the kitchen.

Roy and Al walked into the kitchen as Ed was plating the food—on three plates.

"I've paid for all this, you can't exclude me," Roy said anyway as he walked over to the counter to get cutlery.

Ed was about to turn around to get the plates to the table when he bumped into Roy. He angrily shoved him with his hip. "Fucking move."

Roy pulled a face. "Apologies for wanting to help—"

"The kitchen is probably the only place where you don't move gracefully so don't bother." Ed set the plates down on the table. Alphonse had taken a seat and was looking at them with obvious interest.

"Don't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment, as usual," Roy muttered as he took a seat at the table. Alphonse had sat where Ed usually did, so Ed plopped down next to Roy.

Ed's focus was entirely on the full plate of food in front of him as he said, "Think that one's more insult than compliment."

"Thanks for clarifying, Ed."

"You're most welcome, Roy."

Roy glared at him as Ed flashed him an entirely mocking smile. Al's snicker shattered the moment and had Roy looking over at him with a raised brow. "Amused are you, Alphonse?"

Al's grin grew. "You two bicker like an old married couple."

Roy's face contorted in some lemon-swallowing way and he was entirely unable to stop it. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ed pull the same face.

"Don't make me regret inviting you, Al," Ed grumbled through a mouthful of food.

Roy chose to remain silent and let the Elric brothers bicker instead. It wasn't news to him that his interactions with Ed had changed since Ed had started living with him, but he hadn't really realised it had been so obvious to outsiders. He and Ed had always quarrelled in some way, but this…

They definitely did not sound like a married couple. The mere idea was ludicrous.

It was a few moments later that Roy was washing the dishes, Ed and Al having retreated to the living room. Roy savoured the slight peace and privacy in the kitchen, but he could still hear Ed and Al's conversation as clear as day.

They were talking alchemy and alkahestry, discussing the bond in ways that were undoubtedly interesting to Roy, and he really wished he could join them in their discussion but…

He dried his hands on a tea towel and looked at the kitchen table, where he'd brought a stack of paperwork to complete.

He sighed and took a seat, picking up his pen. This had not been what he'd wanted his evening to be. But alas, this was good. Ed and Al seemed to be engaging in a heated discussion about the array, and that meant there was headway, right? Once this bond was broken then…

Then what?

Roy paused, staring blankly at the paper in front of him.

Once this bond was broken he'd have his privacy back, he supposed, with the dreams and all. Ed would no longer be kept up at night because of him. He could send Ed to the grocery store without him. He could go to the office without dragging Ed with him. He could…

Ed would have to move out.

That sentence, that fact, had a very different effect on the state of his stomach than it had two months ago.

He felt the sudden urge to go into the living room and grab Ed, to savour whatever time they had until they had to go back to something resembling Before—but Roy knew for a fact it would never be Before ever again.

But what if they were forced to go back to Before? Ed was still his subordinate and the changes to their relationship were controversial as it was…What if they had no choice but to go back to Before; to pretend like these two months had been a dream, to act as though they hadn't actually happened, like Roy's entire existence hadn't been upended and changed and—

Roy wasn't sure he could live with that. Fear curled in his stomach; fear that he could lose this—and soon, too soon.

He found himself standing and walking into the living room, where Ed and Al sat next to each other on the couch, currently a lot more silent than they had been moments prior.

Ed was reading what looked to be Alphonse's notes—the handwriting was impeccable—and leaning so far into the couch he was basically lying on it. Alphonse was studying Ed's drawings of what was meant to be the reversal array against Ed's initial drawing of the soul bond array.

"How's the research coming along?" Roy asked casually, curiously peeking over Ed's shoulder.

Ed grumbled something under his breath and looked up at him in annoyance. "Al's just basically shat on everything I've been writing up this past week."

Al scoffed. "Not everything, Brother. I just made some corrections. You've only been studying alkahestry a week, you can't expect to get it all right first try!"

Ed sank further into the couch in what was definitely a show of petulance.

It was close to 9PM now—Roy wondered how long Alphonse was planning on staying. He hoped Ed hadn't offered the spare bedroom, and immediately felt guilty for his selfishness. If Ed wanted his brother to stay here with him he wouldn't deny him that, but he was feeling an urgency to have Ed for himself for the borrowed time that he had left.

He wouldn't even be able to have him tomorrow—not thoroughly, not all day; they had the ball, and that was going to be taking up the majority of his brain power and attention.

Al looked at him and smiled politely. "Sir, may I use your bathroom?"

Roy gestured to the stairs. "Upstairs to the right. Second door."

As Al disappeared up the stairs, Roy studied Ed's frowning face. He sat next to him on the couch, close enough for his upper arm to brush against Ed's warm one. He wished he hadn't been wearing his shirt.

"This stupid fucking tiny array will be the death of me," Ed complained conversationally, his eyes still on Al's notes.

Roy picked up the sheet of the original array, noting the egg shaped outer curves and the symbols he had never seen before—apart from one. "Small things can do a lot of damage," he drawled, a small smirk pulling at his lips. "You would know."

Ed's head turned so fast he must've gotten whiplash, but he didn't miss a beat—"Say that to my ass, you fucking bastard."

And just like that Roy was thoroughly scandalised.