Title: Goin' Drinking
Author: Firebird
Characters: Ed, Military group
Pairing: None
Word Count: 864
Warning/Notes/Disclaimer: Characters are not mine and I am not making any money off this. However, they do belong to Hiromu Arakawa/Square ENIX, MBS, ANX, BONES, FUNimation Productions, Ltd.

Ed answered the knock at the door and blinked when he saw the group on the other side. "What the..."

"Hey Boss," Havoc greeted him cheerfully. "We're taking you drinking now that you're eighteen."

Ed just continued blinking at him owlishly. "Uhhhh..."

Looking past Ed, Jean saw Riza. "We're kidnapping him for the next few hours. We'll try to remember to bring him back sometime before he gets to the point where we'd have to pour him into a bucket." Before Ed could finish getting over his surprise, Havoc picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, hauling him to the car. At that point, Ed started flailing.

"Hey, stop! Put me down! Or at least let me get my boots!"

"I've got them for you already," Fuery informed him, showing him the evidence.

Ed screamed and flailed all the way to the car.

Ed coughed and waved his hand to try to dispel the cigarette smoke a bit. "Is it always this smokey?"

Breda shrugged. "Depends on the time of day." He watched Jean make his usual attempt to get the phone number of a particular waitress and get the usual rebuff.

"I don't know why you keep trying with her. Give up and move on to someone else," he told Havoc as he arrived with a slightly hangdog look on his face.

Jean shot him a dirty look as he stole a random chair from another table. Their own waitress made her arrival with their drinks when he was about to make his retort. Their mugs thudded down onto the table, distracting him. They were followed shortly thereafter by the pitcher of beer.

There was a bit of jostling over who got the pitcher first that Ed decided to stay out of. He had no problem being last for once. When his mug was filled, he gave it a cautious sip. And wrinkled his nose.

Havoc got a look at Ed's expression and laughed. "I wasn't too impressed the first time I tried it either. You'll get used to the taste eventually."

"Why would I want to?" Ed complained, drinking more, nevertheless.

"To be social, blend in, have a good time," Farman started droning. Breda rolled his eyes.

"The kid doesn't wanna hear that, I'm sure. And I think that was rhetorical anyway," he informed him.

"Then why aren't you drinking the same thing we are?" Ed asked accusingly, eyeing Farman's glass of water.

"Destinated driver," Fuery piped up before returning to his own drink. Ed went back to drinking, listening to the others talk; eventually giving up on his beer when he felt like he couldn't cope with the taste anymore.

"You look like you could use a change of drinks. Want to try something else?"

"Yeah," Ed agreed after a moment of thought. He followed Havoc over to the bar, where Jean ordered them both whiskies. Jean slid Ed's over to him when they arrived before busying himself with replacing his almost burnt-out cigarette.

Ed gave his drink a sniff before shrugging and--figuring that it couldn't be any worse than the beer--took a large gulp. And promptly started sputtering and coughing. Havoc pounded on his back until Ed waved him off.

"Would have warned you of it's kick but I didn't look back in time," he apologized. "This is meant to be sipped, not tossed back. Unless you're in a drinking contest or doing some serious drinking."

Ed just nodded wordlessly, eyes still watering a bit. "I'm surprised that I still have tastebuds," he commented before taking a far more cautious sip of his drink.

"You know those girly-looking drinks Hawkeye likes to drink sometimes? Those things have a stronger kick than you'd think. Just warning you ahead of time in case you decide to try one."

"Mm-kay," Ed agreed. Inital trauma over, he found he liked the taste of what he was currently drinking better than the beer. "Hey, what kind is this? I think I like it."

Havoc just snorted. "Figures that you'd go for the expensive stuff. No offense, but you aren't my date and I'm not buying you any more." Tossing back the last of his own drink, he chivvied Ed back over to the table.

Ed waved as the car left before making his way into the house.

"How did things go?"

"Beer gross. Whiskey good. Company better," Ed answered vaguely. He scrunched up his face at the smells from the bar that clung to him. "Shower and then bed also good. Night, Riza."

"Don't forget to drink some water first," Riza called after him.

"I won't! Farman already reminded me!" Ed yelled back, voice moving further away until it was followed by the sound of the bathroom door closing.

Things were fairly quiet in the office the next morning. Until an entirely too chipper Ed showed up.

"Just thought I'd stop by and see how everyone's doing before heading off to where I'm supposed to be," he said brightly and overly loudly. He was greeted by moans.

"Well, see ya!" He vanished off down the hallway.

"That kid is evil," Breda muttered. The other two hungover individuals agreed heartily but quietly, to spare their aching heads.