Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Routine Maintenance ❯ Elbow Grease ( Chapter 1 )

Authors Note: I do not own this series and will make no money off this lemon. It's just something that entertains me.

This is a Humorous lemon, not silly the entire time, but don't feel bad if you find yourself giggling. This was sort of a challenge to myself, and was inspired by the following Winry/Ed hentai Doujinshi http://www.grey-space.net/turtle/kyougetsutei/ It is based off only the first 15 chapters of the FullMetal Alchemist manga and 25 episodes of the anime, so forgive potential conflicts with future plot.

***

Elbow Grease

"WHAT????" Winry's shout shattered the tranquility of the small town of Risenpool and sent a flock of birds scattering from a nearby tree. Winry had come running when Granny told her Ed and Al were home again, "You broke your arm AGAIN??? This is the third time in two years. What are you doing to them all???"

"Yeah, well..." Edward Elric rubbed the back of his head. His smile suggested he hoped she'd forgotten her promise to break him if he broke another one of her masterpieces. Like she would forget! Everyone else had the common sense to evacuate the premise, Pinako and Al supposedly to clean up the workshop. "It's really amazing how many different ways those things can be broken. I've hardly begun to find them all." Ed managed to duck a flying wrench, only to end up with a screwdriver smashed across his forehead, "I was just kidding! You didn't have to do that." Ed whined, rubbing the bump on his forehead. "I'm sorry about the arm. I can pay you extra-"

"It's not about the money! Granny is probably delighted that you're managing to single handedly keep us in business. But, I worked so hard on that arm!!!"

"I'm sorry..."

"It was the best one I've ever made!!"

"I didn't mean to break it."

"It was a work of art! Every gear, every bolt perfectly in place."

"I already said I was sorry!"

"That was my greatest masterpiece and you just went out and destroyed it!!"

"What do you want me to do about it??? I already tried to fix it, okay??" Ed's obvious irritation was probably directed more at the hopelessly damaged automail arm he pulled from his suitcase than at Winry. "If only my stupid arm weren't broken, I think I could have done it too."

"Idiot. This is a job for a mechanic, not an alchemy geek."

"What'd you call me, mechanical geek??"

"Give me that, you alchemy geek! I'll fix it. Just take better care of it next time, got it?" Winry claimed the arm from Ed, hiding her smile. It was actually kind of sweet that he'd tried so hard to fix it.

"It's not like I tried to break it or anything."

"Well you should be more careful! What if it were your other arm that you broke?? We charge extra by the pair you know." Winry grabbed his remaining arm and dragged him inside the workshop.

"I was being careful. ... Wait. You charge extra?" Ed barely managed to keep up as he was forced to move the rest of his body to match pace with his arm.

"Especially for ungrateful customers like yourself." Winry ignored the face Ed made at her. "Now sit." She sat him down and knelt to examine his leg, "You look like a moron with one platform shoe and one flat! Why haven't you come back so we could extend your leg again?"

"We've been kind of busy," Ed laughed sheepishly. "Breaking my arm and all."

"I can SEE that." Winry grumbled. He was making that face again! Did he have any idea how sexy he looked when he made that face? Ok, she found him sexy no matter what face he made, but that was beside the point. Winry felt her cheeks heating up a bit. Ed was such a clueless moron. And so careless! If only he were willing to let others help him out, things would be a lot easier, but he was sometimes too stubborn for his own good. Yet that persistence and refusal to give up no matter what was one of the things she liked best about Edward Elric. Yeah, right. She was one to talk about stupidity… She more than*liked* Edward Elric. She was old enough and pretty enough that several of the local boys had seen past her mechanic front. But she'd not paid attention to any of them. She wanted Ed, and the way he was staring at her as she leaned over him was a big clue he felt the same way about her. If he'd only admit to it. They were both such morons...

"Ed, put your legs up so I can measure them." Ed shivered slightly as she ran her hand along the bottom of his real leg to lift it onto the stool. He always seemed so sensitive to being touched! Winry wondered if the reason he wasn't used to human touch was because he kept himself so distant from everyone except Al. Or perhaps the loss of feeling in his metal leg left the other hypersensitive. Whatever it was, Winry let herself 'forget' to remove her hand from his leg, while she used her other hand to guide Ed's automail leg into place. The contrast between Ed's limbs always fascinated her. The smooth hardness of the metal, which she could feel even through his pants seemed the perfect compliment for the warm softness of his real leg.

"Er.. Winry? What are you doing?" Ed's face had turned somewhat red while he stared at her fondling his legs.

Winry blushed, yanking her hands off Ed's legs to snatch up the tape measure, "Measuring your legs, idiot. What's it look like?"

"Make sure you measure it carefully. No cutting any corners this time."

Winry nearly jumped onto Ed's lap she was so startled to hear Granny's voice right behind her. How long had she been watching??? She could feel her face heating up even more. "Don't worry, I'll be very thorough, like I always am! There's nothing to fear when I'm working on you." Winry smiled, brandishing her tools. She glanced sideways at Ed to see that his face was still rivaling the color of his jacket which was sitting beside him.

Pinako simply smiled and left those two to their flirting.

***

Several hours later Winry had finally assembled the pieces to begin work on Ed's arm and leg which she'd reclaimed from him. Everyone else had already gone to bed, but she just wasn't tired yet. How could she sleep when there was so much work to be done? There was one advantage to having to remake the arm periodically. Each time she did it she had a chance to refine the design, improve things slightly. In the last one she'd used a new elbow design that to make the motion significantly smoother. It had worked beautifully in all of her rigorous testing, but there was no test like real use.

"Aaah!!! I forgot to ask Ed how well the elbow worked! I can't get started until I know if there were any problems!"

Winry looked at the clock. Ed had gone to bed about 20 minutes ago... Surely he wasn't asleep quite yet. She could just slip into his room, ask him a few quick questions, and then get back to work. She got up and slunk quietly down the hall. Ed had been given the first floor guest room in the far end of the house from all of the others. She was glad that the single bed had forced Al to take a room upstairs as she preferred to not wake any more people than absolutely necessary.

Winry paused at his door, listening, and was pretty sure she heard some sort of rustling. Perfect. He must have just climbed into bed. She knocked softly on the door. "Ed?"

Her only answer was a suspiciously sudden silence emanating from the other side of the door.

"Ed?" Winry opened the door and peered inside. Ed was invisible under a mound of blankets on the bed, but the light which remained on was a pretty strong clue that he was only pretending to be asleep.

"I know you're awake." Winry stepped into Ed's bedroom and shut the door behind her. "I only want to ask you a few questions. It won't hurt you to answer them."

"..."

"Would you rather I go get my wrench?" Winry grinned at the fast response that got. Not minding the decidedly grumpy tone of Ed's unintelligible grumbling, she sat herself down on the foot of his bed.

"Do you remember the changes I made to your last arm? By setting the 3rd gear at a slightly different angle I was able to amplify the power efficiency, and the variable friction against the joint only helped to smooth out the overall motion." Winry found herself squirming in pure delight just thinking about it. "It was soo beautiful!" Too bad a certain someone had gone and busted it up. That's when she noticed that Ed's head, which had finally found its way out of the nest of blankets, was slowly sinking back under them. "Ed! Are you feeling ok? Your face is bright red!" She followed his eyes down to her pants which had somehow slipped a lot lower than normal... Huh. But surely that couldn't explain Ed's face. "Are you sick?"

"No, I'm fine!" Ed protested, "It's just hot in here. Can you ask your questions and leave??"

"No wonder you're hot! Your blankets are twisted all over." Winry felt a pang of guilt for not realizing sooner that Ed might have trouble getting settled into bed properly while missing an arm and a leg. Unfortunately they'd lent the spare leg to another customer for a few days, so Ed had to go without. She stood up, "Let me fix it for you."

"I don't need any help!" Ed clutched his protective blanket covering closer with his hand.

"Don't be such a baby and let someone help you out once in a while." Ed's hand did little to hinder Winry as she tugged at the edges of the blankets, straightening and smoothing them out.

"Stop that!! Who are you calling a Barely-Visible-To-The-Eye-Baby???" Ed shouted.

Winry just rolled her eyes and smoothed over whatever section of blanket Ed's hand wasn't covering at any given moment. He may have grown taller, but Edward Elric still hadn't changed all that much.

"Wait a minute! Not there!!" Edward's protest came just a little too late to prevent Winry's hand from coming into contact with a peculiar lump below Ed's stomach. Winry absently brushed over it a second time before stopping and turning bright red herself as she realized that this particular lump was not going to be smoothed out. Winry yanked her hands back and looked at Ed. Oh boy, did he look embarrassed, and it was her fault.

"Can you PLEASE ask your questions and go." Ed bristled.

"I'm sorry. I just..." Winry felt her cheeks burning. What was her question again? She glanced at Ed and saw that, while his eyes remained self-conscious looking, his lips had snuck up into a half smirk at her own embarrassment. That idiot! "You were thinking about me, weren't you??"

"What...?"

At least that took care of the smirk, although it felt like she'd broken some unspoken rule by asking that. "You were thinking about me. You're such an idiot!"

"Err..." Ed appeared to be gauging the distance to the door and wondering how far he could limp before Winry retrieved her wrench.

"If you felt that way about me why couldn't you SAY something???"

"What???" Ed's eyes widened and he stared at Winry for a minute while she tapped her feet waiting for an answer. He turned away from her staring out the window, but Winry still saw the flush on his cheeks, "I... I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me."

"So you're just going hide from everyone?" Winry leaned over, putting her hands back on Ed's bed, "Why won't you ever let anyone help you?"

"My problems... I've got too many problems for you to be able to solve." Ed was trying really hard to remain cool while he inched away from Winry.

"Oh yeah?" Winry replied, taking full advantage of the room Ed had so nicely made for her in his bed. "It seems like I could help with at least one of your problems." As Winry crawled across the bed towards Ed, her pants slipped even lower giving him a clear view of the top half of her panties.

Ed used his one arm to scoot right to the edge of his bed, leaning back against the headboard and staring at Winry's predatory approach, "Wait! What are you doing??"

"You want me to help, don't you?" Winry wriggled her chest and hips, emphasizing her point, "Let me help."

"Um.. I..." Ed seemed to be having a great deal of difficulty forming words. Possibly because all of his blood was rushing to parts of his body more important than those related to speech.

"I'll take that as a 'Yes.'" Winry swallowed her nervousness. She had to act now. She didn't know when she'd ever get the chance, or the courage, to try something like this again. She knew she wanted this and she was sure that Edward wanted it too. If only he'd stop worrying about everything long enough to let himself admit it. She kicked off her pants. She then used the distraction while Ed's eyes were confirming that she did, indeed, have legs to snatch his blankets away. So much for all the work she'd put into smoothing them, but now she had a much better view of the bulge in Ed's shorts.

"What are you doing???" Ed tried to cover himself with his hand.

"Trust me. I make automail for a living, so I've read a LOT of books on human anatomy." ...and a few others, but she'd never imagined she'd be applying what she'd learned in those particularly smutty books a friend had loaned her in quite this way. "I know what I'm doing." At least she hoped she did. She'd never dealt with that particular bit of male anatomy before, but she was eager to learn everything about how Ed worked. Winry tugged at Ed's shorts, her excitement getting the better of her nervousness. Ed had been denying his own feelings far too long and she'd be darned if she was going to let him continue.

"Winry!" Edward gasped as she removed the last thing protecting his nether region from her rather hungry gaze, "I can't.."

"You look perfectly capable to me." Winry reached out and took a hold of IT to emphasize her point.

Edward moaned, clenching the sheets in his fingers, "I mean I can't get involved with anyone until I've restored my body."

"What's wrong with your body? Are you insulting my workmanship?" Winry teasingly scolded while she experimentally ran her hands over him. "It's not smart to insult your mechanic while she's working on you."

"No, I .. nngh!!" Whatever Ed was going to say was cut short as Winry stroked him. She'd have to remember this, in the future, as a good way to win arguments.

"You need to stop worrying about what you've lost and be glad for what you still have. You have a lot going for you, you know. I don't want to see you waste your life struggling for something you may never be able to get!" Winry crawled over Ed, digging one hand into his braid while the other continued its exploration. "I like you the way you are, Ed. No matter what. Let yourself be happy." She leaned over and kissed Ed gently on the lips. "Let me love you." She pulled his head forward and kissed him again, and was rewarded when she felt him returning this kiss with an urgency that nearly took her breath away. It was good to know that she wasn't the only sexually frustrated person on that bed.

Winry came up for air just long enough to snag her underwear and toss it onto the floor. She wanted to laugh at the expression of intense desire mixed together with a healthy dose of inner turmoil on Ed's face. His face was so expressive and his emotions so varied and complex, making him very fun to watch. She leaned in for another kiss and Ed moaned, pressing his lips into hers. Winry began to think there was hope for Ed after all when he had to ruin it by opening his mouth again.

"You shouldn't get involved with me. My life is dangerous." He was obviously struggling hard to restrain himself.

"I know your life is dangerous, but there are some risks in life worth taking." Winry tugged Ed's shirt off. Much better!

"You don't understand. There are people trying to kill me!" Ed snapped.

"Then I'm already in danger because I'm your mechanic, aren't I?" Winry retorted sharply, "Shouldn't you let me decide if I want to take the risk? THIS is my decision." Winry further messed up the bed by tugging Ed away from the headboard and pushing him down onto his back. Ed squirmed a bit, but didn't really try to fight as Winry crawled over his single leg and sat herself practically on his lap.

"Winry.." Ed started, but trailed off into a moan as she trailed kisses down his neck to the scarred part of his chest around the automail attachment. There was something she'd always wanted to try, and the likelihood of it shutting Ed up made now seem like an opportune moment. The nerve endings that had originally connected to Ed's arm had been teased loose from the wound and carefully set into the metal socket. These nerves interfaced with the automail to allow Ed to control his metal arm and connected to some rudimentary pressure sensors on the palm. Although the nerves were still there, the pressure sensors came nowhere near simulating real touch and feel. Winry's fingers crept into the socket seeking that area where she'd be able to touch those nerves whose only sensation for the past 4 years had been the dulled senses of the automail and the excruciating pain of the connection process.

"We really shouldn't be... Aaaaahhhh!!!" Ed's sudden moan rather ruined the effect of his attempted lecture.

Jackpot! Winry grinned. Ed's protests were forgotten in the shock of sudden sensation in an arm that no longer physically existed. "What does it feel like, Ed?" Winy breathed as she stroked the nerve endings. It shouldn't hurt, really, but the sensation had Ed moaning and writhing to her touch. "Do you like that?"

Ed groaned something incoherent, which she took as an affirmative.

Winry couldn't help getting excited at the thought that she, and only she knew right where to touch the arm that Edward had lost more than 5 years ago. She found herself grinding her hips into Ed's, her own pleasure escalating from the friction there. Either this whole situation was incredibly kinky, or Winry had some really serious mental issues. Probably the latter, but right at that moment she didn't care.

She leaned over and kissed Ed again, feeling his moans on her lips as she continued to finger his non-existent arm. She was only a little surprised when she felt his remaining arm pulling her closer, encouraging her to continue. She obliged him quite willingly rubbing against him with her whole body. Ed's wandering hand soon discovered Winry's chest through her tube top. She moaned and pressed her breast into his hand, encouraging further abuse of the sole article of clothing valiantly remaining between them.

The combination of Ed's hand and the pleasant friction of their hips was beginning to make Winry feel slightly light headed. Something unfamiliar was building up inside her and she felt like it might soon sweep her away. She attempted to regain control of the situation by stepping up her assault upon Ed. Her right hand snuck its way down the left side of Ed's body, her fingers bypassing the point at which she should have had to stop by delving into Ed's second open socket. What she didn't consider was the motion this would cause in Ed's legs and hips. Her plan backfired when his writhing sent her over the edge into her first orgasm. Her fingers slipped from his sockets and she simply clung to him until the feeling passed. Something wet and sticky on her stomach told her she wasn't the only one who'd enjoyed that.

Ooops.. that wasn't quite how she'd thought things were supposed to happen. But the warm, fuzzy feeling that lingered didn't leave a lot to complain about. Luckily there was still plenty of time to try again, too. In a bit... just as soon as her head stopped spinning ... Right now she was far too comfortable right where she was: sprawled on top of Ed, who seemed a bit too out of it to complain about being used as a pillow.

"That wasn't the least bit fair." Ed observed, several minutes later once he'd finally caught his breath.

."Who ever said things had to be fair?" Winry asked, running her finger around the rim of Ed's socket. "You seemed to enjoy it well enough. Would you prefer I tie one arm behind my back next time?"

"I'd rather have MY arm back. .. Next time????" Ed stared.

"Ohhh, that sounds fun. I bet you can do some incredible things with those fingers." Winry smiled, still toying with the sockets, "But are you sure you want to wait that long? I'm not sure this really even counted."

Ed blushed, "I'm not here to fulfill your kinky urges. Do you like me or my automail???"

"Don't be an idiot."

"Don't call me an idiot!" Ed certainly seemed to have recovered from their exertions a few minutes ago.

"Then don't act like one. Your automail is a thing. You are a person." Winry sat up, running her hands across Ed's chest, "That automail is special because it's a part of you. It's something that I put my everything into making because it was for you. But when it breaks, I'll just build a new one because the automail is no-where near as important as the person wearing it."

Edward opened his mouth, but no reply came out.

Winry bent down and kissed Ed on the lips again. "If you want me to leave, I'll leave. Is that what you want?"

"No." Ed admitted, and Winry immediately began kissing her way down his neck to his chest. "But what about Al?"

"I know you two do everything together, but I think that's going a little far." Winry smiled up at Ed, enjoying the shocked look on his face.

"NOT THAT!!!!" Ed yelled, "I mean that can't get involved with anything else until I've restored him! It's my fault that he's trapped in that body."

Winry sighed, "Stop blaming yourself. Al has his own free will and he made his own decisions. You can't change the past." She settled down between Ed's legs... well leg and stump... and took hold of IT again. "You need to let it go and look towards the future."

"But I'm the only one who can help him! I made a promise and I have to keep it!" Ed wriggled, trying to prop himself up enough to see what Winry was doing.

"Stop arguing at a time like this!!!! You're ruining the mood!"

Ed made a face, but didn't say anything, perhaps having noticed that Winry had a rather delicate part of his anatomy in her grasp.

"I'm sure Al wants you to be happy too!! You don't have to give up your quest to be happy once in a while." Winry let the words she'd practiced in her head too many times distract her from what she was about to do. Certain things had gone a little limp, and she was pretty sure she'd have to do something about that if she wanted to progress any further tonight. Tentatively, Winry extended her tongue to lick Ed's firm stomach. She was a little nervous, as there was some stickiness from their earlier activities. There was a taste to the substance, but she found that it wasn't exactly unpleasant. Salty, musky, slightly bitter... yet distinctively the taste of Ed, and herself.

"Hey!! What are you doing??" Ed attempted to prop himself up a little too high on his arm and managed to slip and land on his back again.

"I thought you'd like some help getting cleaned up." Stroking her fingers along Ed's hips, Winry slowly worked her way downwards, cleaning the dampened skin.

"Cleaning with what? Don't do that!" Ed was certainly getting agitated again. Luckily, when Winry reached her goal, it was plain to see that Ed's mouth wasn't the only part of him that was agitated.

"I'm just trying to be nice, like I always am." Winry inclined her head and flicked her tongue over it's tip. Ed's gasp effectively cut off whatever retort he'd been about to say. Playing fair was definitely over-rated. Encouraged, she took more into her mouth, feeling it stiffen further. She was amazed at the texture as she caressed him with her tongue and fingertips... smooth and silky, yet hard underneath, and growing harder every moment.

Growing bolder as she continued her attentions, Winry slipped her hand lower, cupping underneath... them, feeling him twitch slightly in surprise or delight. Moving her head up and down with a steady rhythm, she felt Ed's hand come to rest lightly on the back of her head, encouraging the movement.

She felt rather than heard him groan, and continued to roll them in her fingers, enjoying the soft weight. Curiously, she probed further back, wondering what else might bring pleasure to him. Finding the small opening, she pressed one fingertip in, hoping that the rumors she'd heard had been correct, and this would be enjoyable for him as well.

Ed gasped, and Winry lifted her head, releasing him from her mouth. His face held an odd expression, but he didn't seem to be in pain... "Did that hurt? I can stop..."

"N-no... but you shouldn't... ahhh....!" his half-hearted protest was cut off as Winry pushed her finger deeper into there. His back arched and his head thrashed about on the pillow, tangling his hair as Winry continued her exploration.

Well, I guess I wanted to find out how he worked... Winry thought, amused and amazed that her touch could drive him to this. She gave it a few more kisses and licks, before deciding that she didn't want this to end too quickly, as it had the last time.

Withdrawing her finger from there, she sat up with a toss of her hair. Ed watched her through half-lidded eyes. Winry smiled at him as she crawled up his body, positioning him between her legs.

"Are you sure about this?" Ed panted, his face flushed.

"Would you want me to stop now?" Winry didn't really think Ed wanted to deal with his little problem alone at this point.

Ed hesitated for just long enough for Winry to wish again for her wrench in case he said something stupid. Then, before she knew what was happening, she found herself dragged down into a desperate kiss. Hughes was right about men being better with actions than words. This kiss expressed a lot better than words could have, exactly how Ed felt about her. Any remaining doubts she'd had disappeared. She reached down between their bodies to guide herself as she slowly lowered herself down onto IT. Onto Edward. She kept going until she met the expected resistance. She felt Ed's hand in her hair holding her close as she prepared herself, hoping that it wouldn't hurt too much. She broke away from Ed's kiss and sat up, angling herself more directly for penetration.

"Winry?" Ed questioned. Apparently there were a few gaps in his education, but that wasn't really surprising all things considered.

Winry forced herself to relax and pressed downwards. She winced, feeling something part inside of her, but it didn't hurt nearly as much as she'd feared. Well, she had been told it varied a lot, depending on person and situation. She must have been a lucky one.

"Winry, is something wrong??" Ed looked slightly panicked.

"No, everything is fine." Winry felt stretched in new and exciting ways, but what little pain there had been was already fading fast. "It's just because this was my first time."

"Oh, right." Ed replied, in a futile effort to cover for his ignorance. She could tell by his expression that he was really struggling to hold himself still, so as not to cause her any additional pain.

Winry smiled. He always tried to act so grown-up. So independent. But she'd be there for him when he needed to relax and be himself. She was going to see this through, and hope that her actions also expressed the way she felt.

Winry wriggled around a bit, getting used to the feeling of Edward inside of her. She felt very.. full. There was certainly something nice about the feeling, but she needed more. She slid herself up a bit and then back down. The friction sent shivers up her spine and caused Ed to gasp and clutch the sheets. That was nice... She repeated the motion, starting a jerky rhythm. Ed's moaning echoed how she felt, only she hadn't known a single person could moan quite like that. Then she realized that she was moaning as loudly as Ed, if not louder. Well, that's one of those things you did at times like this, wasn't it??

Meanwhile Ed seemed to have concluded that, if Winry was doing that she must no longer be in pain. He arched his back, pressing himself up into Winry as if he were trying to somehow merge his body into her own. He released his death grip on the sheets and stroked his way up her leg. He seemed torn between using his hand to free Winry's breasts from her top and helping her move. Much to the immediate relief of the tube-top, the more pressing need won out and he firmly grasped Winry's rear to help move her up and down meeting his thrusts. The tube-top might have reconsidered, however, if it had known how much this movement would cause things that normally stayed relatively in place to fly about. Ed didn't seem to mind the show at all, and the tube top was unable to vocalize its own protest.

Winry felt Ed's hand on her rear and leaned back to encourage him. However, Ed really didn't need any encouragement at this point and he caught Winry by surprise when he adjusted her angle a bit and began driving himself even deeper and harder into her. She tossed her head back, her hair flying around her as she got into the rhythm. Ed's eyes strayed from her face to the waving of her hair, but she saw them repeatedly dip down to her chest where she could swear he was silently rooting for her boobs to win the little battle they were having against her tube top. . Ed's hand also strayed a few times, running up her back sending shivers along her spine, but he kept returning to her lower back where he could direct her movement. She could feel something building up inside of her while she had her evil way with... er.. made love to Ed. She reached forward and ran her hands over his chest, absently tracing the scars there while she continued her motions on top of him.

Ed picked up the pace a little and Winry guessed that he, too, was nearing the end. She met his thrusts eagerly, her hands straying from caressing the parts of Ed she could reach, to periodically touching herself to further increase her pleasure. Finally Ed pulled her down even harder, holding her firmly in place as he groaned and Winry felt his release inside of her. She ground down onto him as she tumbled over the edge along with him.

Winry collapsed forward onto Ed and held onto him again as the last tremors wracked her body. His arm wrapped around her, holding her closer. Yes, she could definitely get used to this. She snuggled into Ed's embrace as she lay on top of him, basking in the afterglow.

***

It wasn't until nearly dawn that she woke up, wondering why her bed seemed unusually lumpy. She shifted a bit, trying to get comfortable, and noticed that she was laying half on top of someone. Winry momentarily panicked, unable to see who it was in the dim light, until the lack of one arm and one leg told her who it was.

"Ed!" The events of the night came back to Winry in a flash. Apparently it wasn't just a dream this time. "Ed?"

Ed grunted in response, still holding her in his sleep. She was very tempted to stay there a little longer, but some birds chirping outside informed her that she'd best move soon or risk still being there when certain other individuals in the house got curious. As she sat up she noticed some lingering stickiness that helped confirm what her brain was already telling her had happened.

"Wake up Ed!" she hissed. Of course they'd tell Al and Granny sooner or later...well tell them something at any rate... but Winry would rather not be caught like this. She'd really prefer a little time to think before bringing anyone else into the matter. "Ed!"

"Go away, I'm sleeping..." Ed growled, much like he had the night before.

"Get UP!" Winry shook Ed, whose eyes finally popped open, only to stare in confusion at what he saw.

"Winry?? What are you... oh..." Ed trailed off, his eyes fixed on something below her face.

Winry peered downwards and saw that her tube top had apparently given up at some point last night, and had slipped up to cover nothing of any use at all. She glanced back at Ed. Well, she had wanted for him to 'get up' but not quite like that. "Sorry, there's no time for that." she said, pulling her top back down, "We need to get cleaned up."

"Cleaned up?" Ed blushed, as he, too, went over the events of that night in his head. Somehow Winry didn't think last night's method was appropriate now, either, since they hadn't actually ended up all that much cleaner than they'd started.

"I'll go get some damp towels. You're a mess!" Winry teased.

"And whose fault is that?" The playful sparkle in Ed's eyes completely destroyed his attempt at a dirty look to accompany that accusation.

"I think the mess came from both of us." Winry stood up.

Ed made an effort to follow but found that even his good leg had turned traitor on him. "My leg is asleep..."

"Sorry... I sort of think I was sleeping on it. Just wait here." Winry grimaced a bit while she pulled her pants on. Now she'd have to wash them too.

Ed made a face at her, "I'm not a baby, I can wash myself." but Winry was in too much of a hurry to reply.

She snuck out to the back and rinsed off in the shower. Darn she should have gotten some clean clothes, too, she thought while putting her dirty ones back on. But a change and another shower could wait until after she'd taken care of Ed. She hurried to get a bucket of water and some towels and had almost made it safely back to his room when a voice startled her.

"Good morning, Winry."

"Granny?!" Winry dropped the bucket of water all over the floor.

"It's unusual to see you up so early, did you have trouble sleeping?"

"Err...a little.." Winry could feel Granny's eyes boring into her.

"Strange. I think Edward did too. I heard noises from his room last night." Pinako scrutinized Winry as she nervously wiped up the water with her towels.

"Really? That's weird..." Winry stared at the floor, not making eye-contact. She couldn't tell anything just by looking could she??

"Yes, I think I'll go check on him." Pinako offered cheerfully.

"No!" Winry panicked. Granny wasn't smiling was she? "I mean, I can do it! I need to talk to him about his elbow joint anyway. Wow, I'm really hungry, do you think we could have breakfast a little early?"

Pinako's eyebrow inched even higher. "Alright. Just don't forget to change the sheets." She left for the kitchen before Winry had a chance to fully process that, but it didn't stop Winry from blushing profusely after she left.

***

Al somehow knew the moment he saw them. He had gone to Ed's room to help him to the kitchen for breakfast and found Winry already doing so. He only looked at them for a moment before breaking into a grin. (How the heck he managed facial expressions with that helmet, Winry would never know!).

"Congratulations."

Ed and Winry blushed and looked at each other. They thought they'd cleaned everything up.

"It's about time." Al just kept smiling, "I'll go help Granny with breakfast."

***

Winry tried talking about things with Granny a few times over the next few days, but she just couldn't bring herself to say that stuff openly. Each time Granny managed to imply that she knew what was going on, and to give Winry some helpful advice, all the while letting her come out and say things at her own pace. Granny was almost unnerving sometimes.

***

They managed to get Ed's automail finished on time in spite of a few more late night visits to Ed's bedroom on Winry's part. She was really going to pay for this for the next few days. She'd been tempted to stall a bit to keep Ed there longer, but apparently there was something very important going on in Central regarding Roy and politics, and Ed was expected to be there.

Winry knew that Edward Elric would never settle down completely. He had an amazing talent for drawing trouble to himself, and his thirst for knowledge would probably keep him going off on crazy adventures most of his life. Still, something about the way he seemed more at peace than he had for years convinced Winry that he finally knew where his home was. She could deal with things continuing on like this for the time being.

"You'd better come in for your maintenance checks!! You might have fewer problems if you let me tune you up a little more often." Winry added a little more oil to one of Ed's joints as she inspected his new arm.

"I will, I promise." Ed's smile promised a lot more than just checking his automail, and Winry had to hold herself back from pouncing on him. It occurred to her that she might bring up the topic of marriage the next time she had Ed at her mercy. Marriage didn't have to mean that Ed had to stay put all the time, but it would make things easier not having to hide what they were doing.

"I'll hold you to that!" Maybe a surprise visit to Central in the near future wouldn't be a bad idea...

***

Thank go out to Eloy first for corrupting my mind by first making me watch Fullmetal Alchemist and then staying up until 5am discussing pairings and bad kinky jokes. Also for actually helping me write a bit that I was too much of a prude to pull off. Thanks to Vikki for listening to me ramble rabidly and for suggestions regarding the characterizations. Thanks to Steph for suggesting a title, and proofreading. Thanks to Sango-sama for proofing and nagging me at least 4 times each day to see if I've written another word yet. Thanks to Ryo for proofing and aiding in encouraging my sick mind. And thanks to Aria for always being there and anxious to read and encourage. Also thanks to Cici for proofing again and Lunaneko for encouraging me ^__^.