The dimly lit room smelt terrible, to be put nicely. A horrifying mix of rotten eggs, brimstone and Ed's body odor. There were empty flasks and test tubes everywhere, along with messes of chemicals, that thankfully never combined. Ed gave out a yell of triumph as he raised a glass of strange, blue liquid.

"Aha! I've done it! According to my studies, this potion will change the personality of whoever drinks it, having strange and unexpected effects!" Ed set the container of fluid down and tore the goggles off, and removed the gloves he'd been wearing. His golden hair was a mess, the only part reminiscent of what it was that one lock of hair, his antenna. His golden eyes had bags under them and he yawned, stretching.

It had been a few years since the events of the Promised Day, and since then life without alchemy had been pretty tough. He'd nearly been killed on several occasions where he was either chasing down baddies, or getting into a brawl or even just dangerous situations where he had completely forgot his new Alchehestry,[1] and attempted to do his clap-alchemy, resulting in several injuries and just looking plain stupid at times.

Since he and his brother had gotten their bodies back, he quit the military and since then had been sort of relaxing. No Homunculi, no Father, no saving the world, though he may be a vigilante at times. He learned Alchehestry and kept up his appearance as the 'hero of the people', here to help when the military has their thumbs up their asses. No, seriously, that was how he put it when people asked.

Where was Alphonse? He had left, saying he was going to go learn Alchehestry in Xing. Ed had wanted to go with him, but he insisted on going alone. "And when I get back." He had said. "I'll be an even better alchemist then you brother!" Ed sighed as he went over the memory of their separation. He was missing his brother badly.

What was he doing now? He was bored, so he brewed a random potion. one might think him crazy for just making a potion without looking through it, but he knew simply from the ingredients he was using that this potion would be perfectly safe to whoever used it. From his notes, it should morph someone's personality in unexpected ways.

"Edward!" When he heard someone call his name he quickly dusted himself off as best he could, fixed his hair and ran up the steps out of his basement. There was Winry, standing in the living room of his little half kitchen, half living room kind of room. He had made his own house here in Risembool, and for some reason or another Winry had suddenly showed up with food for him at twelve o'clock. It wasn't like he couldn't cook, but for some reason that's how it worked.

"Edward Elric, you're a mess!" Winry gasped, noticing the boy's grimy jacket and messy hair, his sunken cheeks and eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, and that was true. "You look horrible!"

"Good to see you too Winry." Ed replied, his voice betraying his amusement at her fussing. For some reason, Winry had taken it upon herself to act as his caretaker of sorts. 'Well I can take care of myself, thank you very much.' Ed replied to that thought in his head. He walked over to her and she handed him his lunch.

"What have you been doing, you look like a dead man!" Winry scolded him. "I don't care if you're finding a cure for the common cold or something, you still need to sleep, ya know?" Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears as Ed scarfed down the food and drank whatever drink she'd brought him, stopping mid gulp. "...Is this..."He was deathly afraid, but he steeled himself and pulled the bottle away to look at it. It was that! His most hated enemy! MILK! He immediately spat out the milk in his mouth into the conveniently placed drain and rounded on Winry, advancing on her, setting the milk on the counter.

"ARE YOU INSANE WOMAN?! HOW COULD YOU GIVE ME THAT DISGUSTING, PUTRID COW JUICE?! YOU KNOW I HATE MILK DAMN IT!" He didn't get any farther in his rant as Winry cut him off.

"I FIGURED YOU NEEDED IT YOU TINY LITTLE RUNT!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME GEAR HEAD?!"

"YOU HEARD ME SHORTY!"

"SHORTY?! WHY YOU, STUPID AUTOMAIL FREAK! ALWAYS GETTING SO WORKED UP OVER DUMB OLD AUTOMAIL!"

He was again cut off by Winry throwing the nearest object at him. Not her wrench, which she didn't have on her at the moment. The bottle of milk. It struck him square in the face, sending him to the ground, as it flew into the air, covering the golden-haired boy in what remained of its contents before smashing to pieces on the floor.

"..." Edward got up, fuming. Winry prepared herself for whatever he might try, but the boy simply growled and went to clean himself up. "Stupid automail freak... Milk... Hate her..." Could be heard in the muttering as he walked off, leaving Winry to stand there.

She stood there for a few minutes, before slamming her fist on the counter. "That bastard! I go to the trouble to get him food and he yells at me! So I got him milk, so what, he should be glad I made him food! Maybe I shouldn't, let him cook his own food." She was so busy fuming she didn't even realize what she was doing. Suddenly thirsty herself, she snatched the beaker of blue liquid off the counter and in one go, jugged the entire thing.

"Ehh?" She noticed the peculiar flavor, a sweet, fruity taste, though it couldn't be pinned to a single fruit, and had an odd, salty after-taste. It definitely didn't taste right. Suddenly, her head began to swim and she took a step backwards, setting the glass on the counter. "What was that...?" She thought, but after that she couldn't even peice together a coherent thought. She took a few steps back and ran into the couch, falling over onto it. Suddenly tired, she fell asleep.

...

Edward Elric emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed and healthy looking once more. The only thing giving away his tiredness is the bags still under his eye as he makes his way to his room. Maybe he was a bit of a jerk. After all, she was nice enough to bring him food and she probably got the milk with good intentions, like his... admitted... shortness... He paused as he mentally yelled at himself for thinking that, before shaking his head.

He turned around and returned to the kitchen, remembering the mess and got the broom and dustpan, cleaning it up. After taking the time to do that, he noticed the room was empty. "I guess she left..." He let the sentence hang there as he just sighed, before noticing the now empty beaker, once filled with blue liquid. "..."

...1...

...2...

...3...

"DAMN IT!" He shouted this, grabbing at his hair when he realized the only viable option. He had a small panic attack, before calming down. "It's alright Ed, the potion shouldn't last too long, you didn't make it that strong. One hour, tops, what the hell could happen?" He asked himself as he made his way back to his room. He'll deal with Winry when he meets her later, if he does. He severely hopes she won't be getting into trouble.

As he enters his room, filled with alchemy notes and other things, he notices something on his bed that brings a blush to his cheeks. His eyes widen and he sucks in a breath. His heart skips a beat as he takes a step backwards, the door closing behind him as the intruder moved from his bed over to him, making him press up against the door. There, was Winry, wearing one of his shirts and a pair of his pants, her clothes on the floors. The blonde woman smiled at the blond man as she hugged him, her arms wrapping around his head, their faces inches away. "Edward! I've been waiting for you!"

Edward's entire body froze up, he didn't know what to do. His face was burning, his mind turned to mush and he couldn't form a cohesive sentence. So, his mind shut down and he began to speak the only thing he had completely and utterly memorized. "Titanium, barium, lithium, magnesium, potassium, boron, rodium, cobalt, osmium..." And on he went, naming the elements on the periodic table, his face so red it turned a whole new shade of red.

Winry tilted her head at him and sighed. "You're so weird Edward, dear." Edward almost yelped when she said dear, and did slightly when she smirked at him. "Oh well, I guess you're just my little weirdo." She looked down at her clothing and looked up at him. "So, do I look good in it?" Edward couldn't lie in his head, she did look good. Reeeaaaally good.

He could only make out a meek 'yes' in respond to her question making her smile again. "Yay! I like this, I think I'll start wearing your clothes." He didn't know why, but her exclaiming such a thing made his heart race even more. All of a sudden, Winry kissed him, making the boy's eyes snap open and causing his blush, if possible, to darken. The kiss was quick, but to him it was a lot longer than that. When she separated, he didn't know why, but he wanted to kiss her again. She smiled once more and walked over to his bed, patting the bed beside her. Edward tentatively walked over and sat beside her, and she giggled happily. "Edward, I wanted to talk to you about our relationship."

"Relationship?!" He asked, his voice squeaking. He was sweating by the bucket, he was sure, and still red as could be. His leg was shaking almost imperceptive and his heart was racing. 'The hell is wrong with me?!' He yelled inside his mind. 'This is wrong, this is all wrong! So WHY DO I LIKE IT SO MUCH?!'

"Yeah, I was thinking, maybe we can step it up a bit. Y'know, actually go out on dates and stuff, hang out at your house, stay up late doing all kinds of fun things." She put her hands to her cheeks and sighed while she no doubt was imagining all these occurrences, over-romanticizing each one. "I also want to make our status as boyfriend and girlfriend official for all to know! I love Edward Elric, I'll scream it to the world!"

"Winry, what the hell are you talking about?!" Finally gaining back what senses he had left, Ed shook his head and looked her right in the eye, confused. "We aren't a couple, not at all!"

"Well, do you like me?"

Ed fell silent. He thought about it, truly. He thought long and hard. He thought and thought, putting his chin in thumb and forefinger, seriously gauging that question. Did he like Winry? Of course he did! But... like that? Did he... love Winry? That was a hard question to answer, and his face began to heat up after long. Finally, he looked her in the eye as best he could, still blushing, and with all seriousness said, "Winry... I... I really think I do." And right after he said that, he nodded, sure of himself. He did. No denying it, he loved Winry, more than anyone else in this entire world. Well, besides Al. He took her hands in his, feeling the need to reinforce that feeling. "Winry Rockbell. I love you, with all my heart, I really do. I love the way you look, the way you laugh, everything about you is just perfect, even when you make me angry. I really love you."

Winry blinked at him for a moment, before her face turned red. "E-Edward... You really feel that way?"

Ed blinked as well, before catching sight of the wall clock. In the kitchen, when he estimated Winry had drank the potion, it had been 12:30. The clock on his wall just struck 1:31 when he looked. Winry had turned back... Right in time to hear his confession. His confusion turned to shock and embarrassment as he realized what had happened and he looked at Winry, who was still blushing, waiting for an answer. Oh well, might as well keep on the track he's making. "Yes. I really do feel that way. And... I'm sorry for how I acted earlier, it was out of line."

"Well... I can admit I was a bit out of line too, Ed, but I've got something more important to say." The seriousness of her tone made him look at her and he noticed the blush on her cheeks as she put her hands together, holding them between her legs, shifting around. "I... Well..." She suddenly took out a wrench she didn't have before and slammed it into his face, knocking to boy to the ground. "I LOVE YOU TOO YOU SHRIMP!" She yelled, running out quickly, out and away.

Edward laid on the floor and yelled after her, getting on his elbows and knees. "WHAT DID YOU-" he stopped short when he realized what she had admitted. He just lay there for a minute before chuckling. He flopped over on his back and laughed and laughed. He whispered, as he laid there, smiling. "I think I really do love that gear head."

A.U.: HEY-O LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS, CHILDREN OF ALL AGES, FREAKS AND GEEKS, TROLL AND DERPS ALIKE! I'M BACK! *dun dun DUUUN; lightning flashes* AND READY TO WRITE ONCE MORE!

[1] It's been shown before that Alchehestry can still be used even when Alchemy is turned off, and since most of Amestris' alchemists use the portal of truth, a link is provided, and it can be argued that Edward could still do Alchehestry, even when he loses his portal of truth.