Title: At the Bottom of the Glass You Find
Author: S J Smith
Rating: Teen
Summary: Now that he's awake, Ed isn't sure what he should do.
Disclaimer: If I had any part of this, I wouldn't be living in Boxtown
Ed hated Rush Valley.
Well, it wasn't that he hated it, but…it was hot and dry and uncomfortable, and the hyenas could hear automail the way Den could hear someone dropping a bit of cheese in the kitchen, and they were just as crazy about going after the person with the automail. And then there were those comments, like, "Lemmee get a look under the hood!" that made Ed want to just punch someone. And anyone who wasn't a mechanic hated him – okay, so he'd gotten into a couple of fights here, but he'd fixed everything afterward, right? He'd made everything right, but everyone still remembered the hot-headed brat who got into fights with the Xingese, or with Paninya.
But now he had a whole new reason to hate Rush Valley.
Or, rather, the fact that alcohol had been introduced into Rush Valley.
Okay, okay, Ed knew that Amestrians liked their booze. From mining towns to farming burgs to Briggs to Central City, there were bars that always did a booming business. People liked drinking. Ed knew it. He'd had a chance to sample various brews over the years, from the first time Winry, Al and he had sneaked hard cider from Granny's stash and been hungover for what felt like a week afterward, to the goofy blue drink Winry'd handed him just last night.
Oh, last night.
Groaning mentally, Ed buried his face in his hands. Winry still lay sleeping next to him in a tangle of sheets. Her face was hidden in the pillow, leaving her back exposed, her hair slipping to puddle by her left shoulder. Her right leg from the knee down was bare to his eyes. Ed traced the line of her body with his eyes, swallowing hard when he remembered he'd traced the same with shaking fingers last night. Fuck.
A giggle bubbled out at his mental curse. That's what they'd done, right? His body felt relaxed, and drained, and he couldn't remember everything that happened last night. A blue drink, a flower he'd tucked behind Winry's ear, then kisses flavored with something sweet, and touches that he couldn't quite remember.
"Nnnn…"
Ed jerked, slapping his hands over his mouth. Dammit, Winry was awake! Or waking up, and he was still here, in her bed, and there was no way he could sneak out of her room, not without getting caught! Shit! Shit! There was no fucking way he was getting out of this without a concussion, not if Winry still slept with a stupid wrench under her pillow. Still, he could try, right? Ran Fan wasn't the only one who could be stealthy.
Sliding his leg out from under the blanket, Ed congratulated himself just before it hit the floor. The reverberating 'clang! was worse than an alarm bell, and with the few seconds left of his life, Ed spotted the piece of sheet metal beneath his automail toes.
"Ed?"
Fuck, fuck, fuck, he was naked, and the sound of Winry's sleepy morning voice went straight to his – Ed snatched at the sheet, pulling it over his lap.
"What…" The warm morning air suddenly took on a decidedly Briggs chill. "What are you doing in my bed?" Winry shrieked, and the sheet was suddenly jerked right out of his hands. "Why are we naked? What did we do last night?"
Ed braced himself for the inevitable thump of tool steel against his skull.
…seriously, he hated Rush Valley.