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After his third orgasm in their morning—or rather, afternoon—round of passionate sex, Roy finally felt his head clear, forecasting the end of his heat.
Riza, of course, must have sensed it too, because she lifted her head from the pillow she had collapsed onto and looked at him with an infinite tenderness in her eyes—something Roy couldn't even pretend he didn’t love.
"Better?" she asked.
Roy cleared his throat.
"Better. But it'll still take about a day for everything to fully wear off."
He grimaced slightly, noting how rough his voice sounded from… improper use over the past three days.
Riza propped herself up on her elbow and leaned in to kiss him, which he reciprocated for a moment before pulling away.
He wanted to make use of his clear mind for as long as possible, and the pheromones smelling such rich array of spicies, that had once again filled the air definitely wouldn’t make that easy for him.
He sat up, grimacing as he felt a much larger amount of fluid than usual slick seep out of him and onto the bedsheets.
Maybe he should see a doctor to consult about his heats? The sudden, almost fourfold increase in its frequency was a bit concerning. And certainly very inconvenient.
He grimaced again as he looked around.
Cleaning up the mess he and Riza had made would take some time.
… And a lot of scent-neutralizing agents.
Unfortunately, that also meant he would have to wash off Riza’s scent. The rich, spicy aroma of cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg, which during his heat gained a sweet note of cinnamon and warm orange.
"What are you thinking about?" Riza's voice came from behind him. Along with the tenderness, there was a trace of exhaustion in it. He couldn’t stop the pang of guilt, knowing it was because of him. His ruts affected her too.
"Maybe I should go to the doctor?" he asked, turning to her.
She rolled onto her side, propping her head up with one hand as she studied him carefully. Her eyes scanned his body, lingering for a moment on his chest before moving back up to meet his gaze.
Riza watched him intently, as if considering something, before a tender smile bloomed on her otherwise stern face.
"I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m sure we can handle whatever’s happening with you. Together, remember?"
She emphasized the last word by placing her gentle hand over his, her fingertip brushing against his ring finger—where a wedding band might have been, had they been different people.
Roy allowed himself to savor the touch for a moment before getting out of bed, grateful that at least he didn’t feel any pain, thanks to his rut. Small blessings.
He headed to the bathroom to take a shower, completely unbothered by his nudity, as usual at home.
At some point in the afternoon, when they were both lying peacefully on the freshly made bed, reading one of the books they usually didn’t have time for, Roy suddenly cursed and shot up from the mattress.
"Where’s my robe?" he asked her.
There was a faint note of panic in his scent, but not fear, which made Riza simply look up at him questioningly instead of jumping up as well.
Roy usually didn’t wear anything during his heats. Pants would be a waste—they’d be instantly soaked and, at times, ripped apart due to her intensity. A robe was almost the only option, but definitely not preferred by her omega, so she had no idea what had suddenly prompted his question.
She didn’t have time to find out, because Roy cursed again and simply ran to the window, throwing it wide open before leaving the room. From the sound of his steps, Riza deduced that he was heading to the living room, where his robe might have been. She also heard the creak of another window opening.
She didn’t even have time to question her omega’s strange behavior before she got her answer.
There was a knock at the door.
Persistent
During Roy heats, the only people who could be knocking were someone from the team, in case of an urgent matter. After all, it was well known that Alphas could become possesive when their Omegas were in heat. And Riza was certainly not the kind of Alpha anyone would want to test their luck with. Not to mention, if Roy was conscious at the moment, he himself might burn an intruder to ashes if he didn’t deem the matter important enough.
Riza sprang up from the bed and approached the door without delay.
Unlike her Omega, she was fully dressed. The team already knew they were together, besides, she wasn’t sure if Roy had found his robe. She hoped he had, because she knew the Alpha in her would want to gouge out the eyes of anyone who saw Roy naked.
As she grabbed the key in the lock and began to turn it, she heard Roy’s voice behind her:
"Fuck, Riza, wait for a—"
But it was too late. The key had already clicked in the lock, and Riza had no reason to make Havoc or Breda wait.
"Finally! What took you so long, bas… Riza?"
The young voice definitely didn’t belong to any of the adult officers on their team.
With the rush of fresh air, a faintly sorrowfully-insipid, soapy scent of an abandoned pup reached Riza’s nose, and her eyes landed on a golden-haired head and comically widening golden eyes.
It took Riza an embarrassingly long moment to realize this wasn’t a hallucination.
"Edward? What are you doing here?"
"Eh? Um… I… came to see Colonel Bastard, but…"
He looked at her questioningly, clearly confused. Riza was almost certain the boy wanted to ask if he had gotten the right address.
"It’s okay, Edward," Riza said. "I was just helping Roy with… some things."
Edward grimaced slightly.
"yeah… Havoc said you guys were doing something top secret for adults, but then I thought, I’m a Major, and if you’re in on it, and if I remember correctly, you have a lower rank than me, then I should be fine to know what you’re doing too. Anyway, I came here—"
He didn’t get a chance to say anything more, or even ask what those “things” were, because from behind Riza came a rich baritone voice.
"Edward! What are you doing here?" Roy’s voice came from behind her. The air was suddenly filled with the scent of crème brûlée, thick with worry, affectionate irritation, and embarrassment.
Edward’s eyes darted away from Riza, and his face lit up—only to scrunch in confusion a moment later.
"Colonel Bastard! Why are you in a robe? You can’t stay in pajamas longer than ‘till noon!"
"I'm an adult, and this is my home, so I can wear whatever I want. Now—why are you here?"
"I went to the office, but you weren’t there, and I had that stupid report I was supposed to write. Something about a six-month evaluation or some shit. Anyway, you weren’t there, and I had to turn it in by the end of the month because you said it was important. But I wanted to leave with Al tomorrow, and Al insisted I finish it first, so I needed your signature, but you weren’t there, and—"
Edward shrugged.
And then, faster than Riza’s still-stunned mind could process, the boy took a step forward and, using his small size to his advantage, slipped right past her side.
He entered the house.
The house where Mustang had been in heat for four days.
The house where the windows had only been open for two minutes.
The house that still reeked of sex.
There was not even a slightest chance that Edward wouldn’t smell it.
Both adults watched in horror as the pup froze, his golden eyes widening comically. His gaze flicked to Roy—round and full of disbelief. Then to Riza. Then back to Roy.
And then his mouth opened.
"You… You were… baking cookies?"
For a moment, the words just hung in the heavy air, lost amidst their combined scent.
Riza was the first to snap out of her daze, realizing what the pup meant.
Roy smelled like burnt sugar, with a newly developed creamy undertone. Her own pheromones carried the rich scent of warm spices. So, in theory, their mixed scents could resemble freshly baked cookies.
That is, if one ignored the unmistakable scent of an omega in heat and the lingering heat-laced arousal of an alpha.
But the one smelling them wasn’t another omega or an alpha. He wasn’t an adult accustomed to sex, nor even a child familiar with the way their parents' scent shifted in certain situations.
He was a pup.
An orphaned pup, reeking of soap and loneliness.
A pup whose scent pleaded for love and affection from anyone who would care to toss even s shortest glance.
A pup who had been on his own for so long that a faint metallic undertone had seeped into his natural scent, leaving a sharp tang on the tongue—whether from his automail or from the fact that his brother’s body was nothing but a steel shell.
Riza turned her gaze to Roy, who met her eyes, and in his usually firm, confident expression, there was now a flicker of something soft—perhaps something even he hadn’t realized was there.
And with that softness came a deepening blush, blooming across his cheeks and spreading all the way to the tips of his ears.
Riza smiled slightly.
"We were baking," she confirmed, then stepped inside and shut the door.
Edward turned to her.
"Can I have some? I haven’t had lunch yet."
"I’m afraid that’s impossible." Riza crouched slightly to be at eye level with the boy.
"Why? It’s just a cookie…"
"Because, I’m afraid…" Riza couldn’t resist lifting her gaze, locking eyes with Roy just above the pup’s head. "That I ate them all."
The blush on Roy’s face darkened, and Riza had to fight the urge to lick him.
She turned back to Edward, whose face had fallen slightly at the news.
She smiled at him.
"But I definitely feel like making more. Will you help me bake them?"
Edward’s golden eyes lit up, and his tart, soapy scent, tinged with bitter metal, burst with excitement.
"Of course! I love—" And just as suddenly as it appeared, the spark of pure, childlike joy faded. "I can’t. I told Al I’d be back soon, but I didn’t think this would take so long. Besides… I don’t even really want cookies."
Now, his once-insipid scent carried the sickly weight of guilt.
The pup had no control over his scent—he probably wasn’t even fully aware of its presence. After all he had never had anyone to teach him.
But that wasn’t Riza’s place.
And until Roy realized thos and decided what he wanted to do, it wouldn’t be her concern.
"Actually, it would be good if Alphonse came too," Roy said, clearly aware of the thoughts running through the pup’s mind.
Edward’s head lifted slightly, a flicker of hope in his eyes.
"I hope Alphonse likes baking?" Roy asked.
Ed nodded eagerly.
"Yeah! Al always loved helping Mom and Winry in the kitchen when they made sweets!"
"That’s good." Roy nodded.
Then, a familiar smirk tugged at the corners of his lips—the only warning Riza got before he struck.
"After all… I could use the help of someone who can actually reach the countertop."
Golden eyes flared with a completely different kind of fire.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE CAN’T REACH A COUNTERTOP EVEN IF HE STOOD ON TIPTOES?!"
"Edward. He never said that," Riza stated calmly.
"Actually, I did insinuate that," Roy corrected.
Edward let out an enraged yell and lunged at Roy, only for Riza to grab him at the last second, keeping him from attacking her omega.
So instead, Edward resorted to shouting his usual string of insults, completely unaware that Riza had not only stopped him but had also wrapped him in a warm embrace.
The alpha did this mostly out of her instinct to protect her omega, which was heightened by the heat and the milky scent of Roy.
And if, in the process, the pup accidentally brushed against her scent gland, she had no intention of mentioning it.
Ultimately, Ed called Alphonse, who happily accepted the invitation. Riza made tea for everyone while Roy used the time to get dressed. When he finally reappeared in the living room doorway—now wearing a shirt, trousers, and, as Riza noticed from the lines on his backside, the special omega underwear that, while uncomfortable, should do their job for a few hours—he turned to the boy.
“So, Edward? What brings you here?”
Ed looked up from the book he had found lying on the coffee table.
“Oh! I just need your signature so I can leave.”
With that, he pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, unfolding it on the table and smoothing it over twice with his gloved hand, as if that would somehow erase the creases.
Roy leaned over the document, his expression twisting slightly at its poor condition—and even more at the childishly unreadable handwriting. Still, after a moment, he managed to more or less decipher the words, which, aside from a dozen or more spelling mistakes and incorrect sentence structures, weren’t all that bad.
He signed the paper before placing it inside the folder he usually carried to work.
“All right, Fullmetal. Wy the way, tell me: was it Havoc’s idea for you to come to my house?” he asked casually. Riza, however, had no trouble sensing the real thoughts hiding behind her omega’s mask of indifference.
Roy was planning to have a word with whoever had suggested Edward come here. Because if the pup had arrived just a few hours earlier, he would have found a feverish, incoherent, and very much naked Roy. And then, even someone as inexperienced and oblivious as Ed would have figured out the Colonel’s secret.
The boy, completely unaware, simply shrugged.
“No. I came up with it myself. But everyone kept insisting I shouldn’t come because you guys were working on something ‘super top-secret.’ But like you always reminds me —I have a high rank and I should act responsible, so I thought that it couldn’t be that secret that I’m not allowed to know, right? So I asked for your address, but they wouldn’t give it to me.”
“So how did you find out where I live?” Roy asked, slightly furrowing his brows.
Ed shrugged again, taking another sip of his honey-sweetened tea.
“I remembered how you once complained that the military has so much paperwork. And I figured they must have that information written down somewhere. So I asked that nice lady at reception where I could find it, and she sent me to the archives. And there was this not-so-nice guy there, but he still had to tell me where you live. And that’s how I got the information I needed.”
Edward beamed, looking at him as if expecting praise for his clever workaround of the precautions meant to keep him from walking into a potential scene of debauchery.
Roy didn’t have the heart to scold him for ignoring the team’s warnings.
“That was very resourceful of you. You did an excellent job gathering intel.”
“I know! Hughes taught me how,” the boy beamed even brighter.
“But next time, maybe call me first to let me know you’re coming?”
Not long after, Alphonse arrived, and Edward—already lively before—was now practically bursting with joy and energy. He immediately told his brother about the cookies Riza had eaten and how they would bake more.
“You’ll have a chance to show off how good you are at baking!” Ed grinned. “I’m sure Colonel Bastard will be impressed.”
“I’m sure I will be,” Roy assured with a soft smile—one that only Riza’s keen eyes would have caught.
Then, the pleasant silence was interrupted by a loud stomach growl.
Ed chuckled nervously.
“Sorry. I guess I really can’t wait for those cookies.”
Riza remembered that the boy had mentioned not having had lunch. Apparently, Roy did too, because his sweet scent was now laced with a subtle note of concern—one he likely wasn’t even aware of himself.
“We should eat dinner first,” he decided. “Cookies will be for dessert.”
“But that’ll take so long!!!” Ed groaned.
“He’s right, brother. If you fill up on cookies, your stomach will hurt later.”
“That settles it,” Roy declared firmly, standing from his chair. He stumbled slightly, catching himself on the table in a movement so natural that no one seemed to notice. Perhaps even Roy himself.
But Riza knew her omega better than he knew himself, and she couldn’t suppress the twinge of concern.
“I’ll go check the pantry and see what we can make. Alphonse, please check what vegetables we have and wash them.”
And with that, he headed down the hallway toward the stairs leading to the basement storage.
Riza followed. She closed the door behind them and switched on the light, and when they descended, she wrapped an arm around him, pressing her nose into the crook of his neck, letting her pheromones seep out just a little and relishing the warmth as he leaned into her.
For a moment, they stood in silence.
“You’re still in heat,” she finally murmured, allowing the concern to seep into her voice. She hadn’t missed how, as time passed, Roy’s flush had deepened, and the growing weakness in his legs increasingly pushed him toward sitting down.
Roy, however, instead of looking worried, merely let out a weary laugh.
“These pups,” he muttered, shaking his head.
Riza smiled slightly and kissed his scent gland. He sighed softly.
“Cookies are a good idea, but dinner… I’m afraid it might take too long.”
“I can handle it,” Roy said.
“Are you sure you’ll last?” she asked, kissing him again.
This time, though, he didn’t melt into her embrace. Instead, he turned, meeting her gaze head-on—his eyes now devoid of the slick haze of his heat.
“I’ll last,” he said firmly. And in his eyes shone all the determination of an omega protecting its pups. And although it was only the clear out in his heat. Riza had no doubt that he was telling the truth.
“I’ll be right here with you,” she assured him, kissing him once more.
“I know,” Roy murmured against her lips, resting his forehead against hers.
Suddenly, from upstairs came the loud clatter of falling pots and pans.
Roy snorted again.
“I suggest we head back before my kitchen turns into a battlefield. How about…” He glanced around. “Chicken pasta?”
“Good idea,” she murmured, pressing one last kiss to his lips. “I’ll bring everything. Go to the boys.”
When Riza came upstairs with the pasta and a jar of beets—which she figured would be a good match—she arrived just in time to catch the end of Roy’s lecture on why transmuting his pots and pans according to Edward’s whims was a terrible idea.
Alphonse was apologizing profusely, but Edward showed no sign of remorse.
Ultimately, with her presence, the argument quickly died down, and soon Roy was standing in the kitchen with the two boys, gently instructing them on how to prepare the meal.
Of course, it wasn’t some sweet picture of an omega raising children.
Edward kept arguing with Roy about who was right, insisting that he had done things differently before. Sometimes, Alphonse would chime in—either apologizing for his brother or backing up his claims.
Roy was not their mother, and the boys were nobody’s pups.
They had always been on their own, and no amount of kitchen aromas or the milky scent of a nurturing omega could mask the soapy scent of Edward or the metallic tang of Alphonse.
Regardless of all that, the meal turned out delicious.
And then, after dinner, Roy finally pulled out a cookbook and a recipe for oatmeal cookies.
Now that Edward wasn’t grumpy from hunger and Alphonse was excited to show off his skills, there was no arguing.
At some point, Riza joined them, and with the kitchen getting more crowded and the boys so focused on the recipe, she was able to sneak up behind Roy and press a kiss to his exposed neck.
Her punishment was a flick to the nose with a flour-covered finger.
Edward saw that. - And he responded by shoving a handful of flour right into Roy’s face.
Which led Roy to pour flour over the twelve-year-old’s head.
Which turned into a full-blown flour war.
Which made the baking process longer of the time of war and cleanup.
Nevertheless, in the end, the cookies were placed in the oven, baking long enough for them to clean up after everything.
“Are they done yet?” Edward asked for the third time in two minutes as they sat at the table, watching the oven.
“Not yet,” Riza answered patiently.
“When will they be?” the boy pressed.
“You have a watch. Check for yourself,” Roy muttered.
Under the table, Riza squeezed his hand, and he returned the gesture.
“It’s been eighteen minutes. The recipe said up to twenty, so they should be done, right?”
“Give them another two minutes… Edward, have some patience!” Roy added the last part when Ed suddenly jumped up and walked over to the oven.
Of course, Roy was ignored.
Edward cracked the oven door slightly, letting the warm air puff into his face, ruffling the unruly strands of his bangs.
“Brother!” Only Alphonse’s scolding managed to bring Edward back to his senses. He closed the oven and trudged back toward the table.
He let out a heavy sigh.
“They don’t smell as good.”
“Excuse me?” Roy blinked.
“What do you mean, Brother?” Al asked, tilting his helmet in a gesture that was far too innocent for a two-meter suit of armor.
“The cookies. They don’t smell as nice as the ones Riza ate.”
Roy choked on his own saliva.
Neither of the brothers noticed.
“Describe it to me, Brother,” Al requested.
Ed smiled softly.
“Well… These cookies smell good now. Like Winry’s cookies. Kind of sweet and a little… blant? But when I first came here to get that stupid signature, it smelled…”
He hesitated for a moment, inhaling deeply, as if unconsciously trying to pick up the lingering scents of the alpha and omega that had soaked into the walls of this house.
“It smelled really sweet and appetizing. Like… warm caramel and spices. Kind of like Mrs. Margaret’s gingerbread. But with more cinnamon.”
From the corner of her eye, Riza watched as a furious red blush crept up Roy’s face.
At the same time, she could feel her own cheeks heating up.
“And also…” Ed continued, blissfully unaware. “I don’t know how to describe it, but it was really creamy and soft. Kind of like vanilla, but not quite.”
Ed smiled faintly and took another deep breath. Then, he turned to Roy.
“Hey, Colonel Bastard? Why didn’t we bake what you did? Were you hiding your secret recipe from us?”
For some reason, Riza felt a bubbling, almost desperate amusement rise in her chest.
Apparently, Roy did too, judging by the way his face twitched—but the man couldn’t allow himself to laugh.
He had to maintain his mask of indifference now more than ever.
After all, an orphaned pup was asking him why the cookies they baked didn’t smell like sex.
“…The previous recipe had milk in it,” Roy finally said.
Riza turned to him in shock.
She hadn’t realized that her omega had already figured it out.
A pang hit her chest—he hadn’t told her.
He had kept it a secret from her.
And then Edward made a face.
“Milk? Gross! Ugh! Why would anyone ruin perfectly good cookies by adding cow juice? That’s disgusting! It’s a good thing we didn’t make those cookies! They probably tasted awful. Actually, now that I think about it, they didn’t smell that good after all. They were just kinda sweet and heavy—like that gross pudding in the mess hall. Ugh.”
A possessive spark flared in Riza’s chest when she heard Edward insulting her omega’s scent.
That possessiveness must have seeped into her scent because she suddenly felt Roy’s hand on her thigh, squeezing lightly. Calming her.
He smiled at her gently, a glint of mischief in his eyes.
That was when Riza realized—this wasn’t Roy’s confession.
It was a move to distract Edward.
He had mentioned milk so the boy would get sidetracked, all while remaining completely unaware that Roy’s intended lie had turned out to be the truth.
Under the table, she reached out and placed her hand over his.
The cookies were delicious.
Everyone sat in the living room, enjoying dessert and sipping tea, then playing cards.
At some point, Edward seemed sleepy after the warm meal and sweets, and his eyes started fluttering shut more and more often.
That was when Riza got up from the table and went to the bedroom closet to fetch a spare blanket, which, like everything in this house, smelled of Roy.
Edward burrowed into the warm fabric, sighing softly, probably unaware of why exactly he pressed his nose into its folds.
He managed to play half of another round with them before he didn’t laid down his cards in his next turn. His head tilted slightly to the side, and the cards slipped from his grasp.
However, he didn’t sleep for long. About fifteen minutes later, his head suddenly shot up, his gaze glassy as he looked around at them. Almost immediately, he snapped back to alertness and sprang up from the couch, shaking off the blanket.
— We’re leaving! — he announced.
— Brother! You’re awake! — Al called out.
Ed softened slightly, giving him a small smile.
— Yeah. Sorry for dozing off. Let’s go home. I think I’m just tired.
— You know… you can stay — Roy told them, setting his cards down on the table.
His sweet scent swirled with an unusual mix of tenderness, worry, and desperation, and it took Riza an embarrassingly long time to realize that it was the scent of an omega afraid of being abandoned by their pups.
Ed took a deep breath, likely registering the scent on some subconscious level. There was hesitation in his eyes, and in the dull, soapy fragrance now tinged with Roy’s shared sweetness, a note of sadness surfaced—quickly masked by determination. Determination that blended perfectly with the scent of steel.
— Thanks, but… we’d feel uncomfortable — he muttered.
Both using of plural form. and his scent told the adults where that decision came from.
It was about Al.
Edward would sleep. He wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. At least not on an instinctual level. No pup would feel uncomfortable staying in an omega’s home.
But Al couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t smell the soothing scent of milk. He would be here all night, probably too self-conscious to do anything he normally would when others were lost in dreams.
Ed said it for his brother.
He turned down Roy’s offer for Al.
Just like he was ready to turn down previous invitation for Al.
Just like everything he had done so far—was for Al.
Riza could feel the sorrow and pain of the rejected omega at the same time she saw a tender smile bloom on Roy’s face.
“Of course. Then allow me to walk you.”
Alphonse placed his cards down and thanked them politely, while Ed decided to wrap up a few cookies in a napkin to take with him. Then, the boys rushed to the hallway and toward the front door.
Roy took a deep breath and turned to follow them—only for Riza to hold him to it, wrapping her arm around his waist once more.
Again, she leaned into his collar, brushing her nose against his warm skin, wanting to comfort him in any way she could.
“Maybe it’s for the best?” she murmured so quietly that even he barely heard her. “After all, you’re still in heat.”
He turned to face her, letting her see the unwavering determination in his eyes.
“I would have endured it” he said firmly.
She knew he was telling the truth.
He would have.
He would have endured this night and the next. Even if he was in the middle of his heat. Even if ignoring his body’s needs during heat could seriously harm an omega’s health.
He would have bear this and endure it if only it meant he could keep the pups with him.
At that moment, Riza wanted nothing more than to hug him, kiss him, and make him stop thinking about anything other than her.
It seemed a lot like jealousy toward the children.
But Riza wasn’t jealous.
She only wanted to take him away from his pain.
Her omega could long for anything and anyone. If what he longed for was these orphaned pups, then she longed for them alongside him.
But her role was to comfort him through the pain he didn’t even understand—when the children turned him away.
“Go to them” she murmured, letting him go.
By the time Roy stepped into the hallway, Edward was just finishing fastening his red coat.
“Hey, Colonel Bastard!” the boy called out when he saw him. “Our train leaves at eleven tomorrow, so if you have any trouble with that stupid document, we can still come by in the morning. That is, if you’re going to work tomorrow?” he shot him a questioning look.
Roy smiled and shook his head.
“Unfortunately no. I still have things to take care of.”
Then, he leaned down toward the boy, murmuring something into his ear, his cheek brushing against Edward’s in one of the most intimate gestures usually seen between mothers and their children.
Judging by Edward’s grin and the way he openly glanced in Riza’s direction, Roy had probably whispered something about avoiding paperwork.
Watching the three of them, Riza couldn’t stop the warmth that bloomed in her chest or the smile that spread across her lips.