Title: Constant
Author: Kristen Sharpe
Date: December 20, 2011
Rating: G
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: "Fullmetal Alchemist" belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, Square ENIX, Studio BONES and various other parties.
Author's Note: Any continuity. This is an alternate short I wrote for the "Ed + Books = OTP" prompt for the fmagiftexchange. I didn't really like the direction it took, but it seemed post-worthy.

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Books were old friends to Edward Elric.  He couldn’t remember the time before he could read or how he had learned.  He simply did. 

And, discovered in books a world so much wider than Resembool’s quiet, rolling hills.  A world of ideas and possibilities. 

Books followed him out into that world. They became one constant in his tumultuous life.  From his father’s study in Resembool to the magnificent National Library in Central to dusty archives and personal collections across the country, he rarely found himself far from books.

They were one of the few comforts he allowed himself to fully indulge over the long years of his and Al’s journey.  Books were necessary for research, of course, but it was more than that.  He couldn’t deny the quiet joy he found in losing himself in a book.  Despite how much of what he read was repetitive or useless.  Despite how badly he needed to restore Al as soon as possible.  Still, each new book brought a ghost of the old thrill. 

Alone with a book, it was just him and knowledge and theories.  No deadlines, no duties, no expectations.        

And, when even alchemy left his life, the books never did.