wip -- the morning after
Sep. 25th, 2006 12:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mikkenekoSoooo...
Anyone remember this fic by Crynax? A Seven Sins round-robin collaboration between Pride, Envy, and That Person?
Well, maybe you don't remember, but you can read it now. :) And you should! Because it's hot.
Anyway, I never got in on the original round robin, but I think I'm making up for it now, cos I wrote 4,000 words of a morning-after sequel before I ran out of steam. Have not written further on it for several days; am posting here in the hopes that it will revive my interest, and if not, then at least you get this much.
Title: The Morning After (working title)
Pairing: Al/Ed, Roy/Al/Ed
Rating: R for now
The only thing that saved Roy's life the next morning was that Ed went for Al first.
Roy was always a heavy sleeper, which was why waking up find a swearing blond clambering over him in order to reach his other bedmate left him feeling bleary and bewildered, not to mention bruised. Memory of the night before kicked in soon after, though; a delightful night of sex games and bondage (for Edward) and dizzying sexual satiation (though not for Edward.) He would vow that it was worth every minute, but all of the threatened future retribution was suddenly, alarmingly now.
Panic was better than coffee, and Roy rolled up onto his elbows and began backing away from the swearing, scuffling tangle next to him. Alphonse seemed to be occupied with prying the Edward-anaconda off of him; Roy would have offered to help, if not for the murderous gleam in Edward's eyes and the teeth-baring curl of his lip that promised instant death to any hands that got so close to them.
"Brother, what's gotten into you?" Alphonse huffed between panting breaths, sounding very put out. The obvious answer occurred to Roy, and probably to Edward too, judging by his angry growl. Roy retreated a few more feet away from the menace, and fell off the bed with a thump.
"Ow," he remarked from the floor.
That had the effect, however unintended, of drawing Ed's ire. "Gonna kill you, you bastard!" Ed hissed, untangling from Al and lunging for the side of the bed. "You encouraged him! No -- you fuckin' egged hm on! I bet you taught him all that stuff in the first place, you shit Colonel!"
Roy thought this was entirely unfair to himself, as the Elric brothers had been experimenting long before he crossed their sexual horizon, and also unfair to Al's innovation. Al took the opportunity to make good his own escape, kicking Ed's clinging legs away from him and rolling off the other side of the bed. Ed seemed momentarily torn, unable to decide which of them he wanted to murder first.
"Fullmetal, calm down," he said, even as he managed an awkward scramble to his feet and began to edge towards the door.
"Like hell I will! You guys left me to SUFFER!" Ed snarled, and chucked a pillow in a manner that turned it into a deadly weapon. Alphonse ducked and weaved, and joined Roy in crowding to get out of the doorframe. Age before beauty, Roy decided, and unceremonially shoved Alphonse out of the way, the boy's protests following him into the hallway.
"Brother, I'm sorry! I apologize, okay?"
"Apologize, my ass!" Ed howled.
"Okay, I apologize to your a-- OW!" Judging by the sound, that was actually part of the mattress.
In the hallway, Roy was just calculating whether he needed to run fast enough to outrun Ed, or just fast enough to outrun Alphonse, when it occurred to him that no pursuit was impending. For a moment he shared a look of trepidation with Alphonse, then slowly the two of them peeked back into the bedroom, cringing in anticipation of another deadly bed-missile.
They were met with the sight of a snarling, surly, adorably mussed blond thrashing around in the covers, dragging them into a bundle which he could curl his presumably aching self around. "What the fuck are you looking at?" Edward snarled, upon seeing their wide-eyed looks.
"Brother, are you all right?" Al gulped.
"No, of course I'm not all right, what the fuck do you think? You kept me tied up so long last night I can barely bend my arm, ow! Fuck!"
It seemed they were spared, at least for now. Edward was too sore to get out of bed. Roy felt a momentary twinge of sympathy, then conscience. Perhaps they had overdone it last night, at least a little. He cleared his throat. "Is there anything I can get you, Edward? Breakfast, anything else?"
"Yeah." One malevolent golden eye glinted out from between the covers. "Put your throat close enough to my hands for me to squeeze."
Roy decided that Edward really wanted to be alone.
-------
Prudently, both Roy and Al avoided that part of the house for the rest of the morning. As the day edged past noon, however, and began a slow stately descent into afternoon, Ed had still not emerged, and Al began to worry.
"He hasn't had lunch," Al said to the room at large, a slight guilty tone lurking about the edges. He'd essayed into the room earlier, with a couple painkillers and a glass of water, and had been severely growled at; he'd left them on the nightstand and fled.
Roy looked up at him. "I assume he'll come out when he's hungry," he replied. "Don't worry, Alphonse, he won't starve. I saw dishes in the sink last night, so I assume that the two of you made short work of my icebox before I showed up."
"That's true," Al admitted, but he still fretted. If Edward had still not emerged despite the twin pangs of hunger and boredom, then either he was in a powerful world-class sulk, or really in too much pain to move.
Or both, it was possible. Commandeering two of Roy's rarer books, he poked back into the bedroom; hopefully Ed wouldn't throw or otherwise damage them, but that was just a risk Roy would have to take. As he approached the bed to set them down on the covers, a baleful glare came out from under one of the pillows, and he skipped out again.
As afternoon fell into the shadows of evening, though, Al gave up on prudence. By now even Edward's temper should have cooled, and one way or another, it was time to face the music. If he was being honest with himself, Al knew he'd used both Edward's body and his trust roughly the night before; it was time to do maintenance on both.
Ruthlessly plundering what was left of Roy's icebox, Al scraped up enough tomatoes to make meatloaf. He arranged it on a tray with more painkillers, a hot water bottle and a washcloth, and marched into Edward's chosen sanctuary.
"Get the fuck out," Edward growled without unwinding from the bedsheets, but this time Al ignored him. He plopped the tray down on the nightstand (after first removing the empty water glass and the place-marked book) and sat on the bed, pulling the covers back.
Ed squawked. "Hey! I'm warning you, Al..." As his protective covering was stripped away, he tried for a threatening swat. His arm was slow, though, and Al caught it without any difficulty. Really, he could beat Ed when he was his best, what was he thinking now?
"Come on, Nii-san, it's dinner time," he coaxed, tugging on Ed's shoulder to get him to turn over.
"Fuck! Quit it, will you!" Ed swore at him again, but Al saw the flinch behind it and felt contrition creep in. No real surprise; considering how long Ed's arms had been bound, his shoulder must be stiff as hell. Well, that was what the hot water bottle was for, among other things.
"Here," he said briskly, and slapped the hot water bottle down on Edward's flesh shoulder before his brother could respond. Edward yelped, stiffened, then began to relax involuntarily as the heat penetrated his skin. "Let me help you. Unless you'd rather I ran you a hot bath?"
Ed glared, even as his automail hand came up to hold the hot water bottle against his shoulder. "You must be out of your mind if you think I'm crawling all the way into the bathroom any time soon."
"That's what I thought." Leaving Ed to hold the hot water bottle, he picked up the warm, damp washcloth with one hand, ruthlessly stripped the bedsheets away with his other, and began to rub Edward's chest and stomach with the damp cloth.
As expected, Edward was not pleased with the intrusion, but the relief of being clean of the accumulated dried sweat, grit, lube, and other bodily fluids of last night was too great for him to really protest. He did wrestle Al for possession of the washcloth, though -- and won -- when Al went to wash below the belt -- apparently Al was not that forgiven yet.
"Here, Nii-san, roll over onto this side," Al directed him, giving him a nudge towards the tray of food. When Ed didn't move to his satisfaction, he frowned and tugged on the bedsheets. "Come on, move! I want to clean the bedsheets, and you're lying on them."
Ed sneered, but at least he moved. "Yeah, and whose fault is it that the sheets are so messed up, anyway?"
Al almost replied, Yours, since technically it was Ed's body fluids on most of them, but the point was well taken anyway. He slunk out with his bundle of sheets and his metaphorical tail between his legs, leaving Edward to contemplate the dinner tray -- stocked with all his favorite foods.
He came back with new, clean sheets to find the tray mostly empty, and Edward noticeably more compliant. Having determined that the hot water bottle had done it's work, he managed to nudge and wheedle Edward into lying on his stomach, settling next to him on the mattress where he could reach the afflicted shoulder.
"Don't try anything funny back there," Ed said, flashing a steely look over his shoulder; his body was as stiff with wariness and resentment as with muscle fatigue. By the time he was done, Al would have worked that out too, he vowed. "I won't."
He kneaded Edward's shoulder for a few minutes, warming and loosening the muscles around the joint; he was well practiced at this, having done it often for Edward's automail shoulder. This time around, though, the automail had held up better than the rest of him, an observation he kept to himself.
Bracing one hand on Edward's shoulder blade, fingers curling around to his collarbone, he took Ed's elbow in the other hand, and pulled it out straight until there was a teeth-grinding crack. Ed yelped, and twitched, but did not try to pull away, which was reassuring. "Better?" Al asked him, carefully rotating the joint, checking for restored range of motion.
Gingerly, Ed took over, moving his arm and then rolling his neck to the side. "Yeah, a little."
He ran his hands down along Edward's arms, taking a moment to feel more aesthetic -- and more than platonic -- appreciation just for Ed's body, his sheer physical presence. The muscles were hard and hot under Ed's skin, tense and sore, and he pressed along the tendons with both thumbs, easing the twitching muscles under his palms.
He had to apply real force just to make a dent in those rock-like muscles; honestly, how was it that he of all people could make Ed do anything, anything, he didn't truly want to do? His brother was soft in the head, that must be it; or in the heart, despite the tough-takes-no-prisoners attitude he tried to project.
"How's your leg?" was all he said aloud. His hands moved down the side of Ed's ribs, pressing and needing, then moved to his spine, bearing down against the mattress.
"Feels like I've been climbing mountains," Ed replied with a grumble, then grunted as his spine cracked. When Al reached for his leg, he tried to move, then winced. "No, don't -- not just yet, anyway."
"Okay. Hang on --"
A few more minutes of squirming ended up with a tight roll of blankets wedged under Ed's thigh, pressing out the afflicted muscle, and the hot water bottle working its magic on the back of Ed's thigh. Ed sighed, and relaxed a little more into the mattress. Al ran one hand down his back, and secretly thrilled at how Ed seemed to unconsciously press up into his hand, like a cat arching into a stroke.
Al reached for the final item in his tray-of-wonders; massage oil, requisitioned from Roy's oh-so-fancy hot-date stock. It had a spicy, warm smell when he poured some into his palm, and he rubbed it in his hands for a moment as much to enjoy the sensory pleasure of it as to warm it.
Ed was apparently not expecting it, however, because when Al's slick hands landed on his shoulder blades, he jumped and tried to twist his head around to look. "Ow! FUCK!" he swore, yanking his head around as if he'd been burned. Helpfully, Al grabbed at the juncture of Ed's neck and shoulders and dug in, easing the sudden painful spasm.
"Do you mind not thrashing around like a beached fish?" Al scolded, pressing down until Ed's face was buried in the pillow. "I just changed these sheets, don't flop around and get oil all over them."
Ed shrugged a little, and Al eased off, letting Ed raise his head and pull his arm around until his chin rested on his forearms; from there, he could give Al a slanted, unfavorable look. "What are you worried about, you don't imagine you're going to be sleeping in this bed tonight, do you?" he snapped.
Al sighed, partly exasperation and partly continued guilt. Abandoning the massage for now, he lay on the bed beside Ed and squirmed up next to him, to curl against his brother's side. "Come on, Nii-san," Al wheedled. "Forgive me?" Honestly, it was too easy sometimes to manipulate Ed. He was too predictable when he was angry. Al swiped his cheek against Ed's shoulder, a gesture usually guaranteed to melt Ed's heart.
Ed grumbled, however, apparently not willing to let go of his anger just yet. "Hell no. I'm still pissed. You guys made me say I was your toy."
Ah, so that was what was rankling, Al should have known. Ed's ego was so sensitive sometimes, and he was either unable or unwilling to distinguish between gameplay during sex and real humiliation. Poor Ed. Alphonse tried another placation: "Next time, I'll be your toy," he offered.
Edward turned his head as if to look over his shoulder, apparently drawn out by this. "Really?" he asked suspiciously. Al nodded enthusiastically, and Edward frowned. "Okay, but don't think you're going to promise now and then get out of it later. I'm not going to forget, and you bet I plan to collect on it in full."
"That's okay," Alphonse said, and really, he wasn't worried. Edward might start out planning elaborate revenge, but once the game got underway, he'd lose his head and go right for the finish quickly enough. He had no patience. Al didn't mind playing submissive to Edward, it didn't bother him, and it turned his brother on so powerfully.
Edward was more like Roy about sex, which helped explain why they got along so explosively; for them it was all about pride, dominance, hierarchy. Sometimes Al thought most of the sex took place in their heads, with the bodily functions as an afterthought. Strokes to Ed's ego did as much for him as a stroke to his cock would.
For Al it was different, though. Al loved the visceral, the sensual, the sheer power of the body, watching and tasting and feeling. He liked to watch Ed writhe, lashed by merciless pleasure to the heights of ecstasy, driven to ever more desperate responses. To trap him in sensation, drown him in stimulation; repay Edward a hundredfold the bounty he'd given him.
Equivalent exchange, Al thought. He was getting hard again just thinking about it.
Ed chuckled, and Al realized with a blink that he was still pressed up against Ed's side. "You like that thought, huh?" Ed said, and a wicked purr was back in his voice.
Yes, I do, Al thought, and then, What thought? Wait, Ed can't read my mind. Oh, he means the part about being his toy. Well, sure, whatever Ed wanted to think. Al nodded in eager-looking confirmation, and wormed up to steal a kiss from Edward.
"Want me to do your leg now?" he whispered into Edward's lips, squirming slightly against his front. Al always preferred to finish the job he'd started, a methodical nature bordering on obsessiveness that Roy and Ed both teased him about in terms; but he had higher designs than Edward's leg, right now.
"Okay," Ed agreed, voice slightly muddled; but then sharpened again. "But watch it, I'm sore as hell right now."
"I know," Al said humbly, hopes momentarily dashed; he caught the double meaning and the warning in that sentence, as Ed had doubtless intended. He was forgiven, but not necessarily in high favor right now. Well, he had time; he could work on that.
Scooting down Ed's body again -- dragging his fingertips artlessly over every inch of skin he passed, making Ed twitch and squirm -- Al pushed the hot water bottle aside and wrapped both hands around Ed's thigh. The hot water bottle and the blanket roll had done their work at easing the tension, which meant that Ed's leg was only as hard as a post, not as hard as rock; but it still took the application of body weight and muscle to dig in.
As Al forced the kinks out of his leg, Ed let out appreciative, breathy groans. Safely out of his brother's view, Al grinned, and began to let his hands wander: not to the obvious places, but waging a more subtle campaign. He knew his brother's body as well as (better than) his own; knew where all the sensitive places were, the unexpected erogenous zones.
The back of Ed's knee was especially tender, now, and responded to the lightest touches; digging his fingers into Ed's hips gave him the chance to brush his fingertips into the hollow of his hipbones. Deep kneading let him flex and pull at muscles normally stimulated only in the most vigorous of sexual acts, and soon Ed was fidgeting and panting breathily into the mattress from more than just muscle aches.
Wrapping his hands firmly around Ed's pelvis for leverage, Al pushed his hips hard into the mattress, angling carefully as he did so; he was rewarded with a sharp gasp and a reflexive thrust. Feigning innocence, he asked, "Sorry, Nii-san, is that too hard?"
"No," Ed said into the pillow, ears turning bright red. "No, wait -- yes -- Al, lemme up, I gotta move..."
I bet you do, Al thought, but said only, "Of course, Nii-san." He shifted over to one side, letting Ed stretch tentatively, then roll with a groan up onto his side. And when Al shifted and one leg accidentally brushed against Ed's sheet-draped groin, it was completely an accident, of course.
The flush was spreading from Ed's ears to the rest of his face. "Al --" he said.
"I see you're feeling better," said a dry voice from the doorway, and Al yipped and nearly fell off the bed as he turned around.
Roy was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a nonchalance that said he'd been there for quite some time. "Or should I say, it's good to see you up again?"
"Mustang!" Ed snapped, and seemed to be groping for shreds of his earlier rancor. A vengeful gleam returned to his eye. "Who invited you here, huh?"
Roy raised a dark eyebrow. "This is still my house, Edward, just in case you'd forgotten. I do live here, you know."
The reminder that they were technically still Roy's guests put a damper on Ed's next salvo, doubtless some comment about sleeping on the couch, and he closed his mouth, brows furrowing. Roy took advantage of the moment to step into the room, pulling something out from where it had been bundled under his arm. "I thought perhaps you could use this; the hot water bottle only lasts so long, after all."
"What is it?" Al asked.
"Ferrous oxide," Roy replied. "An easy enough transmutation; when exposed to oxygen, it will produce heat for several hours. It should be especially good for muscle aches."
"Oh," Ed said, and then grudgingly, "thank you." He frowned, obviously searching for a way to reopen lines of attack and drive Roy away, but Roy forestalled this by pulling out the room's overstuffed chair to face the bed and seating himself comfortably in it.
"But do continue," he said with a genial air. "I believe, Edward, that your brother was just doing his best to make you feel better."
Al frowned at Roy uncertainly; something about the man's presence and comments, while not exactly unwelcome, was spoiling his carefully charted seduction. Beside him, though, Edward's breathing suddenly harshened and quickened, and he somehow didn't quite feel like he could say no.
Apparently Edward wasn't quite ready to give up the ghost; he was still scowling at Roy. "What, and you think you get to sit in on it this time?" he snapped. "Al's promised to make it up to me. I haven't heard any promise from you. You were the one egging him on last night, so why should you get a free show out of this?"
If Ed was angling for an equivalent promise from Roy, however, it was not to be; Roy was far too good at this game to let Ed throw him off balance. "Ed," Roy said, "I'm hurt. You always insist on casting my actions and intentions in the worst light. Last night's... last night was not my idea; you can hardly blame me for it. And has it not occurred to you that I did you a favor?"
"You did me a favor?" Ed boggled over this, momentarily, too startled to work up a fury.
"Yes, of course," Roy responded. "If I hadn't come in when I did, and brought things to a... head, as it were, Alphonse no doubt would have been perfectly content to keep you tied up and wanting all night." He shot Alphonse a challenging look, daring him to deny the statement.
What could he say? It was true. Al could only shrug, and smile. And then attack Ed with kisses and hands, because in response to this it looked like he was drawing himself up to be insulted and angry again.
But Al's wet sucking mouth on his neck stifled any words he'd been about to say, and his hands caressing Edward's chest neatly defused his brother's rage. Really, it was a good thing that he was as good at calming Edward down as Roy was at riling him up, or else there would never be any peace.
When he slid one still-slick hand down Edward's stomach, leaving a faint sheen of oil following the treasure trail, Ed gasped and half-collapsed back onto the bed. Al had to catch his should and straighten out his arm at the last minute, or else he would have undone all Al's careful work.
Ed was hard, of course, although not quite as dramatically as he had been last night -- Al found himself rising to the occasion as well. A light, preliminary brush of his fingers over Ed's cock caused his brother to hiss, mouth, a curse, and try to buck -- then freeze and curse again, louder, as his muscles seized and refused to work properly.
Al's hand caught flat against his stomach, pushed him down against the mattress. "Relax," he murmured, against his brother's throat. Ed swallowed, his Adam's apple working, and let out a faint whine.
Behind him, he heard the intake of a sharp breath, then the rustling of cloth. "Suck him," Roy whispered, voice deepening to velvet with lust. "I want to see."
"Yes!" Ed immediately endorsed this request, before Al could object; following it up with another aborted jerk of the hips. "Ow, Al, please..."
Al felt a pang of sympathy; he really did want to make his brother feel better. "Okay," he whispered, bit lightly at the tendons that corded, stood out in Ed's throat. He began to slide down Ed's body, hands dragging hard against the skin and muscles, kissing and licking as he went.
He took care to keep his center of gravity over Ed's, to keep him from making any strenuous moves, but that only made Ed whine the more. "Oh, fuck, Al, don't tease! Didn't you have enough of that last night?"
Never, Al thought, but aloud he said "I'm not teasing, Nii-san. Just have a little patience."
That's all. :\
Anyone remember this fic by Crynax? A Seven Sins round-robin collaboration between Pride, Envy, and That Person?
Well, maybe you don't remember, but you can read it now. :) And you should! Because it's hot.
Anyway, I never got in on the original round robin, but I think I'm making up for it now, cos I wrote 4,000 words of a morning-after sequel before I ran out of steam. Have not written further on it for several days; am posting here in the hopes that it will revive my interest, and if not, then at least you get this much.
Title: The Morning After (working title)
Pairing: Al/Ed, Roy/Al/Ed
Rating: R for now
The only thing that saved Roy's life the next morning was that Ed went for Al first.
Roy was always a heavy sleeper, which was why waking up find a swearing blond clambering over him in order to reach his other bedmate left him feeling bleary and bewildered, not to mention bruised. Memory of the night before kicked in soon after, though; a delightful night of sex games and bondage (for Edward) and dizzying sexual satiation (though not for Edward.) He would vow that it was worth every minute, but all of the threatened future retribution was suddenly, alarmingly now.
Panic was better than coffee, and Roy rolled up onto his elbows and began backing away from the swearing, scuffling tangle next to him. Alphonse seemed to be occupied with prying the Edward-anaconda off of him; Roy would have offered to help, if not for the murderous gleam in Edward's eyes and the teeth-baring curl of his lip that promised instant death to any hands that got so close to them.
"Brother, what's gotten into you?" Alphonse huffed between panting breaths, sounding very put out. The obvious answer occurred to Roy, and probably to Edward too, judging by his angry growl. Roy retreated a few more feet away from the menace, and fell off the bed with a thump.
"Ow," he remarked from the floor.
That had the effect, however unintended, of drawing Ed's ire. "Gonna kill you, you bastard!" Ed hissed, untangling from Al and lunging for the side of the bed. "You encouraged him! No -- you fuckin' egged hm on! I bet you taught him all that stuff in the first place, you shit Colonel!"
Roy thought this was entirely unfair to himself, as the Elric brothers had been experimenting long before he crossed their sexual horizon, and also unfair to Al's innovation. Al took the opportunity to make good his own escape, kicking Ed's clinging legs away from him and rolling off the other side of the bed. Ed seemed momentarily torn, unable to decide which of them he wanted to murder first.
"Fullmetal, calm down," he said, even as he managed an awkward scramble to his feet and began to edge towards the door.
"Like hell I will! You guys left me to SUFFER!" Ed snarled, and chucked a pillow in a manner that turned it into a deadly weapon. Alphonse ducked and weaved, and joined Roy in crowding to get out of the doorframe. Age before beauty, Roy decided, and unceremonially shoved Alphonse out of the way, the boy's protests following him into the hallway.
"Brother, I'm sorry! I apologize, okay?"
"Apologize, my ass!" Ed howled.
"Okay, I apologize to your a-- OW!" Judging by the sound, that was actually part of the mattress.
In the hallway, Roy was just calculating whether he needed to run fast enough to outrun Ed, or just fast enough to outrun Alphonse, when it occurred to him that no pursuit was impending. For a moment he shared a look of trepidation with Alphonse, then slowly the two of them peeked back into the bedroom, cringing in anticipation of another deadly bed-missile.
They were met with the sight of a snarling, surly, adorably mussed blond thrashing around in the covers, dragging them into a bundle which he could curl his presumably aching self around. "What the fuck are you looking at?" Edward snarled, upon seeing their wide-eyed looks.
"Brother, are you all right?" Al gulped.
"No, of course I'm not all right, what the fuck do you think? You kept me tied up so long last night I can barely bend my arm, ow! Fuck!"
It seemed they were spared, at least for now. Edward was too sore to get out of bed. Roy felt a momentary twinge of sympathy, then conscience. Perhaps they had overdone it last night, at least a little. He cleared his throat. "Is there anything I can get you, Edward? Breakfast, anything else?"
"Yeah." One malevolent golden eye glinted out from between the covers. "Put your throat close enough to my hands for me to squeeze."
Roy decided that Edward really wanted to be alone.
-------
Prudently, both Roy and Al avoided that part of the house for the rest of the morning. As the day edged past noon, however, and began a slow stately descent into afternoon, Ed had still not emerged, and Al began to worry.
"He hasn't had lunch," Al said to the room at large, a slight guilty tone lurking about the edges. He'd essayed into the room earlier, with a couple painkillers and a glass of water, and had been severely growled at; he'd left them on the nightstand and fled.
Roy looked up at him. "I assume he'll come out when he's hungry," he replied. "Don't worry, Alphonse, he won't starve. I saw dishes in the sink last night, so I assume that the two of you made short work of my icebox before I showed up."
"That's true," Al admitted, but he still fretted. If Edward had still not emerged despite the twin pangs of hunger and boredom, then either he was in a powerful world-class sulk, or really in too much pain to move.
Or both, it was possible. Commandeering two of Roy's rarer books, he poked back into the bedroom; hopefully Ed wouldn't throw or otherwise damage them, but that was just a risk Roy would have to take. As he approached the bed to set them down on the covers, a baleful glare came out from under one of the pillows, and he skipped out again.
As afternoon fell into the shadows of evening, though, Al gave up on prudence. By now even Edward's temper should have cooled, and one way or another, it was time to face the music. If he was being honest with himself, Al knew he'd used both Edward's body and his trust roughly the night before; it was time to do maintenance on both.
Ruthlessly plundering what was left of Roy's icebox, Al scraped up enough tomatoes to make meatloaf. He arranged it on a tray with more painkillers, a hot water bottle and a washcloth, and marched into Edward's chosen sanctuary.
"Get the fuck out," Edward growled without unwinding from the bedsheets, but this time Al ignored him. He plopped the tray down on the nightstand (after first removing the empty water glass and the place-marked book) and sat on the bed, pulling the covers back.
Ed squawked. "Hey! I'm warning you, Al..." As his protective covering was stripped away, he tried for a threatening swat. His arm was slow, though, and Al caught it without any difficulty. Really, he could beat Ed when he was his best, what was he thinking now?
"Come on, Nii-san, it's dinner time," he coaxed, tugging on Ed's shoulder to get him to turn over.
"Fuck! Quit it, will you!" Ed swore at him again, but Al saw the flinch behind it and felt contrition creep in. No real surprise; considering how long Ed's arms had been bound, his shoulder must be stiff as hell. Well, that was what the hot water bottle was for, among other things.
"Here," he said briskly, and slapped the hot water bottle down on Edward's flesh shoulder before his brother could respond. Edward yelped, stiffened, then began to relax involuntarily as the heat penetrated his skin. "Let me help you. Unless you'd rather I ran you a hot bath?"
Ed glared, even as his automail hand came up to hold the hot water bottle against his shoulder. "You must be out of your mind if you think I'm crawling all the way into the bathroom any time soon."
"That's what I thought." Leaving Ed to hold the hot water bottle, he picked up the warm, damp washcloth with one hand, ruthlessly stripped the bedsheets away with his other, and began to rub Edward's chest and stomach with the damp cloth.
As expected, Edward was not pleased with the intrusion, but the relief of being clean of the accumulated dried sweat, grit, lube, and other bodily fluids of last night was too great for him to really protest. He did wrestle Al for possession of the washcloth, though -- and won -- when Al went to wash below the belt -- apparently Al was not that forgiven yet.
"Here, Nii-san, roll over onto this side," Al directed him, giving him a nudge towards the tray of food. When Ed didn't move to his satisfaction, he frowned and tugged on the bedsheets. "Come on, move! I want to clean the bedsheets, and you're lying on them."
Ed sneered, but at least he moved. "Yeah, and whose fault is it that the sheets are so messed up, anyway?"
Al almost replied, Yours, since technically it was Ed's body fluids on most of them, but the point was well taken anyway. He slunk out with his bundle of sheets and his metaphorical tail between his legs, leaving Edward to contemplate the dinner tray -- stocked with all his favorite foods.
He came back with new, clean sheets to find the tray mostly empty, and Edward noticeably more compliant. Having determined that the hot water bottle had done it's work, he managed to nudge and wheedle Edward into lying on his stomach, settling next to him on the mattress where he could reach the afflicted shoulder.
"Don't try anything funny back there," Ed said, flashing a steely look over his shoulder; his body was as stiff with wariness and resentment as with muscle fatigue. By the time he was done, Al would have worked that out too, he vowed. "I won't."
He kneaded Edward's shoulder for a few minutes, warming and loosening the muscles around the joint; he was well practiced at this, having done it often for Edward's automail shoulder. This time around, though, the automail had held up better than the rest of him, an observation he kept to himself.
Bracing one hand on Edward's shoulder blade, fingers curling around to his collarbone, he took Ed's elbow in the other hand, and pulled it out straight until there was a teeth-grinding crack. Ed yelped, and twitched, but did not try to pull away, which was reassuring. "Better?" Al asked him, carefully rotating the joint, checking for restored range of motion.
Gingerly, Ed took over, moving his arm and then rolling his neck to the side. "Yeah, a little."
He ran his hands down along Edward's arms, taking a moment to feel more aesthetic -- and more than platonic -- appreciation just for Ed's body, his sheer physical presence. The muscles were hard and hot under Ed's skin, tense and sore, and he pressed along the tendons with both thumbs, easing the twitching muscles under his palms.
He had to apply real force just to make a dent in those rock-like muscles; honestly, how was it that he of all people could make Ed do anything, anything, he didn't truly want to do? His brother was soft in the head, that must be it; or in the heart, despite the tough-takes-no-prisoners attitude he tried to project.
"How's your leg?" was all he said aloud. His hands moved down the side of Ed's ribs, pressing and needing, then moved to his spine, bearing down against the mattress.
"Feels like I've been climbing mountains," Ed replied with a grumble, then grunted as his spine cracked. When Al reached for his leg, he tried to move, then winced. "No, don't -- not just yet, anyway."
"Okay. Hang on --"
A few more minutes of squirming ended up with a tight roll of blankets wedged under Ed's thigh, pressing out the afflicted muscle, and the hot water bottle working its magic on the back of Ed's thigh. Ed sighed, and relaxed a little more into the mattress. Al ran one hand down his back, and secretly thrilled at how Ed seemed to unconsciously press up into his hand, like a cat arching into a stroke.
Al reached for the final item in his tray-of-wonders; massage oil, requisitioned from Roy's oh-so-fancy hot-date stock. It had a spicy, warm smell when he poured some into his palm, and he rubbed it in his hands for a moment as much to enjoy the sensory pleasure of it as to warm it.
Ed was apparently not expecting it, however, because when Al's slick hands landed on his shoulder blades, he jumped and tried to twist his head around to look. "Ow! FUCK!" he swore, yanking his head around as if he'd been burned. Helpfully, Al grabbed at the juncture of Ed's neck and shoulders and dug in, easing the sudden painful spasm.
"Do you mind not thrashing around like a beached fish?" Al scolded, pressing down until Ed's face was buried in the pillow. "I just changed these sheets, don't flop around and get oil all over them."
Ed shrugged a little, and Al eased off, letting Ed raise his head and pull his arm around until his chin rested on his forearms; from there, he could give Al a slanted, unfavorable look. "What are you worried about, you don't imagine you're going to be sleeping in this bed tonight, do you?" he snapped.
Al sighed, partly exasperation and partly continued guilt. Abandoning the massage for now, he lay on the bed beside Ed and squirmed up next to him, to curl against his brother's side. "Come on, Nii-san," Al wheedled. "Forgive me?" Honestly, it was too easy sometimes to manipulate Ed. He was too predictable when he was angry. Al swiped his cheek against Ed's shoulder, a gesture usually guaranteed to melt Ed's heart.
Ed grumbled, however, apparently not willing to let go of his anger just yet. "Hell no. I'm still pissed. You guys made me say I was your toy."
Ah, so that was what was rankling, Al should have known. Ed's ego was so sensitive sometimes, and he was either unable or unwilling to distinguish between gameplay during sex and real humiliation. Poor Ed. Alphonse tried another placation: "Next time, I'll be your toy," he offered.
Edward turned his head as if to look over his shoulder, apparently drawn out by this. "Really?" he asked suspiciously. Al nodded enthusiastically, and Edward frowned. "Okay, but don't think you're going to promise now and then get out of it later. I'm not going to forget, and you bet I plan to collect on it in full."
"That's okay," Alphonse said, and really, he wasn't worried. Edward might start out planning elaborate revenge, but once the game got underway, he'd lose his head and go right for the finish quickly enough. He had no patience. Al didn't mind playing submissive to Edward, it didn't bother him, and it turned his brother on so powerfully.
Edward was more like Roy about sex, which helped explain why they got along so explosively; for them it was all about pride, dominance, hierarchy. Sometimes Al thought most of the sex took place in their heads, with the bodily functions as an afterthought. Strokes to Ed's ego did as much for him as a stroke to his cock would.
For Al it was different, though. Al loved the visceral, the sensual, the sheer power of the body, watching and tasting and feeling. He liked to watch Ed writhe, lashed by merciless pleasure to the heights of ecstasy, driven to ever more desperate responses. To trap him in sensation, drown him in stimulation; repay Edward a hundredfold the bounty he'd given him.
Equivalent exchange, Al thought. He was getting hard again just thinking about it.
Ed chuckled, and Al realized with a blink that he was still pressed up against Ed's side. "You like that thought, huh?" Ed said, and a wicked purr was back in his voice.
Yes, I do, Al thought, and then, What thought? Wait, Ed can't read my mind. Oh, he means the part about being his toy. Well, sure, whatever Ed wanted to think. Al nodded in eager-looking confirmation, and wormed up to steal a kiss from Edward.
"Want me to do your leg now?" he whispered into Edward's lips, squirming slightly against his front. Al always preferred to finish the job he'd started, a methodical nature bordering on obsessiveness that Roy and Ed both teased him about in terms; but he had higher designs than Edward's leg, right now.
"Okay," Ed agreed, voice slightly muddled; but then sharpened again. "But watch it, I'm sore as hell right now."
"I know," Al said humbly, hopes momentarily dashed; he caught the double meaning and the warning in that sentence, as Ed had doubtless intended. He was forgiven, but not necessarily in high favor right now. Well, he had time; he could work on that.
Scooting down Ed's body again -- dragging his fingertips artlessly over every inch of skin he passed, making Ed twitch and squirm -- Al pushed the hot water bottle aside and wrapped both hands around Ed's thigh. The hot water bottle and the blanket roll had done their work at easing the tension, which meant that Ed's leg was only as hard as a post, not as hard as rock; but it still took the application of body weight and muscle to dig in.
As Al forced the kinks out of his leg, Ed let out appreciative, breathy groans. Safely out of his brother's view, Al grinned, and began to let his hands wander: not to the obvious places, but waging a more subtle campaign. He knew his brother's body as well as (better than) his own; knew where all the sensitive places were, the unexpected erogenous zones.
The back of Ed's knee was especially tender, now, and responded to the lightest touches; digging his fingers into Ed's hips gave him the chance to brush his fingertips into the hollow of his hipbones. Deep kneading let him flex and pull at muscles normally stimulated only in the most vigorous of sexual acts, and soon Ed was fidgeting and panting breathily into the mattress from more than just muscle aches.
Wrapping his hands firmly around Ed's pelvis for leverage, Al pushed his hips hard into the mattress, angling carefully as he did so; he was rewarded with a sharp gasp and a reflexive thrust. Feigning innocence, he asked, "Sorry, Nii-san, is that too hard?"
"No," Ed said into the pillow, ears turning bright red. "No, wait -- yes -- Al, lemme up, I gotta move..."
I bet you do, Al thought, but said only, "Of course, Nii-san." He shifted over to one side, letting Ed stretch tentatively, then roll with a groan up onto his side. And when Al shifted and one leg accidentally brushed against Ed's sheet-draped groin, it was completely an accident, of course.
The flush was spreading from Ed's ears to the rest of his face. "Al --" he said.
"I see you're feeling better," said a dry voice from the doorway, and Al yipped and nearly fell off the bed as he turned around.
Roy was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a nonchalance that said he'd been there for quite some time. "Or should I say, it's good to see you up again?"
"Mustang!" Ed snapped, and seemed to be groping for shreds of his earlier rancor. A vengeful gleam returned to his eye. "Who invited you here, huh?"
Roy raised a dark eyebrow. "This is still my house, Edward, just in case you'd forgotten. I do live here, you know."
The reminder that they were technically still Roy's guests put a damper on Ed's next salvo, doubtless some comment about sleeping on the couch, and he closed his mouth, brows furrowing. Roy took advantage of the moment to step into the room, pulling something out from where it had been bundled under his arm. "I thought perhaps you could use this; the hot water bottle only lasts so long, after all."
"What is it?" Al asked.
"Ferrous oxide," Roy replied. "An easy enough transmutation; when exposed to oxygen, it will produce heat for several hours. It should be especially good for muscle aches."
"Oh," Ed said, and then grudgingly, "thank you." He frowned, obviously searching for a way to reopen lines of attack and drive Roy away, but Roy forestalled this by pulling out the room's overstuffed chair to face the bed and seating himself comfortably in it.
"But do continue," he said with a genial air. "I believe, Edward, that your brother was just doing his best to make you feel better."
Al frowned at Roy uncertainly; something about the man's presence and comments, while not exactly unwelcome, was spoiling his carefully charted seduction. Beside him, though, Edward's breathing suddenly harshened and quickened, and he somehow didn't quite feel like he could say no.
Apparently Edward wasn't quite ready to give up the ghost; he was still scowling at Roy. "What, and you think you get to sit in on it this time?" he snapped. "Al's promised to make it up to me. I haven't heard any promise from you. You were the one egging him on last night, so why should you get a free show out of this?"
If Ed was angling for an equivalent promise from Roy, however, it was not to be; Roy was far too good at this game to let Ed throw him off balance. "Ed," Roy said, "I'm hurt. You always insist on casting my actions and intentions in the worst light. Last night's... last night was not my idea; you can hardly blame me for it. And has it not occurred to you that I did you a favor?"
"You did me a favor?" Ed boggled over this, momentarily, too startled to work up a fury.
"Yes, of course," Roy responded. "If I hadn't come in when I did, and brought things to a... head, as it were, Alphonse no doubt would have been perfectly content to keep you tied up and wanting all night." He shot Alphonse a challenging look, daring him to deny the statement.
What could he say? It was true. Al could only shrug, and smile. And then attack Ed with kisses and hands, because in response to this it looked like he was drawing himself up to be insulted and angry again.
But Al's wet sucking mouth on his neck stifled any words he'd been about to say, and his hands caressing Edward's chest neatly defused his brother's rage. Really, it was a good thing that he was as good at calming Edward down as Roy was at riling him up, or else there would never be any peace.
When he slid one still-slick hand down Edward's stomach, leaving a faint sheen of oil following the treasure trail, Ed gasped and half-collapsed back onto the bed. Al had to catch his should and straighten out his arm at the last minute, or else he would have undone all Al's careful work.
Ed was hard, of course, although not quite as dramatically as he had been last night -- Al found himself rising to the occasion as well. A light, preliminary brush of his fingers over Ed's cock caused his brother to hiss, mouth, a curse, and try to buck -- then freeze and curse again, louder, as his muscles seized and refused to work properly.
Al's hand caught flat against his stomach, pushed him down against the mattress. "Relax," he murmured, against his brother's throat. Ed swallowed, his Adam's apple working, and let out a faint whine.
Behind him, he heard the intake of a sharp breath, then the rustling of cloth. "Suck him," Roy whispered, voice deepening to velvet with lust. "I want to see."
"Yes!" Ed immediately endorsed this request, before Al could object; following it up with another aborted jerk of the hips. "Ow, Al, please..."
Al felt a pang of sympathy; he really did want to make his brother feel better. "Okay," he whispered, bit lightly at the tendons that corded, stood out in Ed's throat. He began to slide down Ed's body, hands dragging hard against the skin and muscles, kissing and licking as he went.
He took care to keep his center of gravity over Ed's, to keep him from making any strenuous moves, but that only made Ed whine the more. "Oh, fuck, Al, don't tease! Didn't you have enough of that last night?"
Never, Al thought, but aloud he said "I'm not teasing, Nii-san. Just have a little patience."
That's all. :\
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Date: 2006-09-24 04:11 pm (UTC)no subject
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