CHAPTER 7 – Gay Andre!

Okay, here it is! Done. Finally. Whew. Hope you enjoy it. I'm sorry, but I was awful busy at college and my computer threw some bad countersets on me. T_T


No one else realized it, but he was feeling quite unique at the moment. He was entrapped in a mild trance, so to speak – because of the wine of course, but mainly thanks to what Winry was doing to him.

He could clearly feel one of her feet rubbing against his groin under the table.

At least logic told him it could only have been her foot. He hoped that foot belonged to her.


So now his head was spinning in the sort of daze you'd expect it to be in that kind of situation.

First, and utmost, he was drunk. Not completely drunk since he had "only" had, oh, four or five glasses of wine, but nonetheless his actions and thoughts were clearly clogged thanks to the alcohol in his system. And it was a considerable amount of alcohol! At least for what he was used to.

The same thing could be said about Winry, since she'd had about three glasses of wine herself (the bottle was a very big one). But of course, Winry was a girl and so she took the wine with a little less resistance than the boys did – even though she didn't really notice it. All she knew was that she felt hyper and giggly and flushed and hot.

And that was the catch: she felt hot. She felt hot not only in the way one feels hot when one puts on three pullovers and a raincoat in the middle of July. No, that wasn't quite it. She felt hot in the way that this tingly sensation between her thighs made her feel. It was… something unique.

Like in her dream. That hot tingly thing between her thighs kept interrupting her already incoherent chain of thoughts, which kept its destination locked on one single target.

She looked at Edward and her heart skipped happily. She looked at Edward and she felt sugar-high. She looked at Edward, and she knew she felt like having sex with him. She knew it, and she couldn't and wouldn't help it.

"Soooo… how to vent my sexual frustrations here and now, while there are three other boys sitting at this table?", she had been musing for the past 15 minutes, while the boys were laughing happily at their dirty jokes.

Finally, after another glass of wine and some stressful amount of longing, she removed her slipper and lifted her foot to reach Ed's groin right while he was yelling at his brother.

"This," she mused, "Should cause quite a reaction."

And she was right; he froze right on the spot and turned deep red. She smiled inwardly, smugly, as if his reaction was a prize that she could boast about to other people. And the best part was: no one really noticed, since two of the other guys were also a bit high and one of them was still too innocent to really notice those things.

So now, Ed's head was not only spinning thanks to the wine, but also because of Winry's little 'foot massage'. His brain froze for a while as he absorbed the shivers that were now jolting up and down his spine, and his leg muscles instantly contracted at the touch.

Then his brain seemed to find its own switch and decided it would be a good idea to turn it on (A/N: pun intended!). Eventually he snapped back into the real world, and his first seemingly coherent thought was: "Man, I hope this is her foot."

He looked around just to make sure. Al was still laughing and didn't really notice his older brother's reaction; Fletcher was busy munching his apple and giggling at Al, and Russell – who had given Ed a weird stare for about a second – had decided he had remembered another joke and so proceeded to tell it.

"So there's this hooker, see, right there in the middle of a street, and this man…" (Fletcher blushed and sighed – "Not another one….")

Okay, they were all busy. Good. It wasn't either of them. Double good. Now, a quick glance at Winry…

"Aw holy shit," he cursed to himself, "I wish I was imagining this…"

He looked down in a hopefully discrete manner. Yup, her foot was there alright. He looked at her, and she threw him such a glance that it made his head spin even more.

"Shit shit shit shit shit," and he was mad. Mad at himself, and confused. "Shit, what should I do?"

He glanced at her again, and the word 'shit' was replaced by another one: sex.

"Sex sex sex sex sex. With Winry... Winry Winry Winry. Winry's boobs, Winry's legs, Winry's… awww, craaap! Shit shit shit. Stop it, Edward Elric! I demand that you stop this and think rationally!"

Russell perked up and stared at Ed, annoyed that the older Elric had interrupted his joke. "Rationally what, Edward?" Of course, Ed didn't listen; he didn't even realize that he had spoken that word out loud.

Man, was he desperate. He shook his head and tried to think of something else to focus on other than what came next to 'Winry's legs'. The solution was obvious: the trustworthy periodic table! It had already saved him once.

So he started to chant the following (more like yell): "Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon, Sodium!!!…"

"Did the wine break his brain down…?" Fletcher ventured to ask, feeling genuinely worried that Ed might have gone temporarily cuckoo.

Winry was actually surprised. She'd seen him act like this before… but when? Meanwhile the chanting continued, "… Sodium, Aluminum, Magnesium, Chrome, Iron… !!"

"Oh brotherrrrr" Al blurted out, turning to his flinching, yelling brother, and pointed an amused finger at him, "You just said 'sodium' twice! You're sooo drunk!"

Edward heard his brother's loud, persistent laughter so close to his ear that he finally snapped out of it. Winry's foot wasn't there anymore, but the bulge inside his pants would still be obvious if he stood up from his chair right now.

What an uncomfortable situation he'd gotten himself into!

"Well, boys, what shall we do now? Is no one feeling like grabbing some fresh air?", Winry ventured.

"This isn't happening to me… Now she's acting as if nothing's going on. This woman's driving me crazy!" Edward felt his temper rising along with his temperature, and decided that rubbing his temples might calm him down, so he did.

"Like going where?", Russell asked, "I don't really know many places around Central we could go to, except for…"

Fletcher's voice rose up in protest.

"No! No way! I don't like going to that place, the guy's creepy! We should let them decide where to go if we wanna go outside, they know the town better."

"Actually, we don't go out that much. I don't think I know any bars that would let us go in, because of our age. How come you know of one, Russell?", Edward asked, his tension easing a little, trying to get some conversation flowing his way.

He actually didn't want to go outside, but he didn't really know what to do with the crazy Winry inside the house either. She looked like she might be able to 'assault' him during the night… wait, would that be such a bad thing? He wasn't sure whether she was acting consciously or not, so he didn't want to create any more awkward situations. He decided he should try to keep some distance for the time being.

Both Russell and Fletcher shivered oh so very slightly before answering. "We know this friend of ours. He's young and rich, but, ummm… he's kind of "off". He decided to open up a cafe here in Central because he says it's chic or something like that, and he said we're very welcome anytime, but…"

"Well," Winry chimed, "I think it would be lovely to go out somewhere different. Edward's always so boring."

Ed knew perfectly well he should hold his tongue back, but he was a man of impulses. Besides, maybe being unpleasant to her would make her step back.

"What do you know? You can't remember the usual, so how do you know you're going somewhere different? Besides, you don't usually go out anywhere!" Edward's sour remark irked her a little, and this whole thing seemed too familiar. Like a routine or something.

"Well, how do you know I still don't remember anything? Maybe the wine's revived my memory or something."

"Don't be stupid! Of course it hasn't revived anything!" he spat back.

"Oh? It didn't revive anything at all….?"

He blushed a deep red, and made a face. "SHUT UP." He told her, grinding his teeth at their own personal 'joke'. She ignored him.

"Besides, how do you know I didn't usually go out anywhere, anyways? Were you always with me, all the time, and everyday, to know I wasn't going out with friends or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous", Edward grit his teeth as he spoke, "There's nothing to do up in Risembool, where the hell would you be going to? And with what friends?"

"Maybe I wasn't going out in Risembool…"

"Oh you two, shut up", Alphonse interrupted, annoyed. "Stop bickering already!"

He stood up suddenly, his balance a little off, but he managed to secure it by holding his hands down against the table to support his weight. He decided he was safe enough to raise a hand, and stick a finger up, to better emphasize the following statement:

"I, for one, shall not be in the mood to tolerate such silliness. I am in the mood for better moods in people, so all in favor of going outside and wherever the hell we can find open, say 'aye', or otherwise just don't say anything at all!"

He waited for about half a second. Fletcher let out a shy "aye", Russell clapped his hands, Edward sighed and dropped his head, and Winry smiled and replied with an enthusiastic "Aye!"

"Good!" Alphonse nodded and smiled at all of them, swaying a little before placing his raised hand back on the table for better support, "It is decided now! And I also herby prohibit my brother's foul mood. It is henceforth banned, and from now on not presentable in my vicinity. Everyone in favor say 'aye'!"

This time, all of them – except for Edward – let out a loud 'aye', and all of them laughed. They got up (Ed was relieved that his 'bulge' was gone) and left the table as it was, preparing to go outside. Ed still tried to stop Al from finishing his nearly empty glass of wine in one gulp, but all he got in response was a flash of his brother's tongue, in a grimace much like his own.

He sighed once more, before asking Russell where exactly they were headed to.

"Some place called Chez Moi, you'll see when you get there. It's pretty cool, just don't talk too much to the owner there."

"I think I've heard of that before…" Ed tried to remember but couldn't. Maybe it was the wine.

"Why shouldn't we talk to the owner?" Winry asked.

"Oh, you'll see when we get there!" Fletcher smiled a lop-sided smile, and grabbed his coat to leave.

"Walk now, talk later!" Alphonse squeaked as he opened the house's door and ushered everyone to leave, almost forgetting his own jacket and wallet.

Ed couldn't help but let out a groan.

"He's drunk…" he deadpanned.

"Of course he is." Winry's voice came so next to his ear he almost jumped in alarm.

He looked around; the three other boys were going up the street already. Al was walking in a groggy pace while trying to keep up with the others. Ed had better hurry up himself…

What the hell? Was he afraid to be alone withher? Was he being paranoid? It's not as if she's some sort of dangerous animal, ready to pounce at any chance and – well, not kill him of course, but put him in some sort of embarrassing situation… He's the one who should be cautious not to take advantage of her condition, and that's what made this so damn hard for him. He hated being cautious.

"Winry, please, don't startle me like that."

"Hey, come on, can't you play a fair game?" she smiled in that way that made his stomach feel stupidly fuzzy, and then she did something he wasn't quite expecting: she kissed him on the cheek. Not a small peck, not a cheeky kiss in the mouth… She didn't grope him or rub against him, no. That was a kiss on the cheek!

"Come on, Mr. Grumpy, lighten up. Let the wine take you over!"

And then she turned around and ran to catch up with the others, who hadn't realized anything…

He smiled. Something about this felt more like the Winry he knew.

He hoped she'd come back to normal soon, so that he could really tell her how much he… well, how he felt for her. In spite of everything, it was awkward to find that he still had a hard time admitting how he felt about her. He didn't really want to admit he was in love with her, but what else could it possibly be?

He used to think about her. He liked being with her. And – oddly – now that he thinks about their automail maintenance sessions, he almost feels nostalgic. At first, even though he didn't want to admit it, he kept trying to find excuses to talk to her, to call her, or to visit her. Which she obviously noticed. But maybe he had wanted her to notice anyways.

And now, now that they'd begun to let things flow between them, she had to go and bump her head… Now that he was feeling ready to try and kiss her on the lips. And even though now she clearly wanted him to do even more than that, he was the one hesitating. Despite the fact that now was the time for those dreams he had to come true, because she didn't seem like she'd offer any resistance.

Ah, how it pains to be a gentleman…

"Are we there yet?" Alphonse asked for the 12th time in the past five minutes.

"Almost!" the patient Fletcher replied once more, never losing his calm.

It was approximately a twenty-five minutes walk from the Elric brothers' house till the café.

Ed could swear Winry was doing everything she could, on purpose, just to tease him.

She kept talking animatedly to Russell, admiring his good looks and telling him what a gentleman he was.

"Ohoho, you're so funny! Tell me more about what happened later."

"Well," he replied, full of himself, "Then we obviously needed to go back. I was glad I'd let Fletcher back at the hut, safe and sound. I didn't think he'd be able to climb up that mountain, let alone get back down. So I collected the sample and then my team –"

"Oh, come on, brother. You told me to stay in the hut to cook while you went out to grab some fresh mushrooms."

Fletcher wasn't really enjoying his brother's exaggerations, but no one'd pay him much attention – well, maybe except for Edward, who was downright pissed off. Fletcher was somewhat naïve, but he still managed to notice that Ed cared for Winry more than he'd let anyone know.

"Hey, is this it?" Al inquired, excited. They had arrived at a tall, yet not very large building, crammed in the middle of a series of other buildings that served as shops, in a small alleyway. It had a different color from the others surrounding it, and a very inviting doorway. Over the door was a huge sign in what seemed like hand-made letters, purple in color and full of tiny light bulbs: "CHEZ MOI – ladies, enter if you dare."

They all stood looking at the sign, taking a bit longer than they would usually to read it.

"He's a bit of a drama queen," Fletcher promptly dismissed, "You'll see. Let's go inside!"

The security guard at the entrance was a bulky man with an unfriendly face, fully dressed in black – except he had a cowboy's hat, and it was white with a purple ribbon across it. "Now that's not odd at all." Ed thought sarcastically.

He first asked for identification; he obviously was not going to let minors enter the establishment. However, he seemed to recognize Russell, whom he greeted. They whispered something to each other, nodded and smiled, and the group was ushered in.

They entered, and it was very warm inside. They had to leave their coats and wallets at the entrance, receiving in exchange colored cards – pink for girls, blue for boys – which served the purpose of registering the drinks they may consume. Everyone noticed the number of blue cards was much inferior to the number of pink cards.

Winry had been expecting a bar full of guys, handsome ones preferably, and danceable music. She'd been counting on it to tease Ed even more.

The door from the hallway to the dance floor was opened, and an unexpected blast of music hit their ears.

But instead of men, the bar was filled with beautiful women in cheeky outfits, dancing in a promiscuous way. Well, at least the music was quite danceable. In fact, Winry could not recall ever hearing music with such a rhythm and beat.

They headed to the bar, all the time being unable to avoid the many women flocking around it. Fletcher seemed to be a bit uneasy with the situation, but he kept his cool. Alphonse, however, did not.

"This. Is. HEAVEN!" he yelled, barely audible in the middle of all the music and giggling of the women. He shook his body like he had never done before, surrendering to the rhythm. Even Ed couldn't suppress a good laugh, and his own body seemed to react very well to the music.

Finally reaching the counter – they barely had any space to move around it – a young man in the far side of it seemed to recognize someone. He waved.

"Shit. Here we go." Russell cursed.

"Russell, how have you been doing? And with such lovely dates, I see!" A young man – he did not seem a day over 20 – approached the group, taking Russell's hand to shake it.

He had light brown hair and green-ish eyes, and a tanned complexion. He wasn't exactly fit, but he wasn't chubby either. He had a white smile as big as a two-story bus, and a tiny earring in his right ear. He seemed pretty friendly.

Meanwhile, the music subsided a little, carrying on in a much slower rhythm – much to Alphonse's discontent.

"Hello, Andre. How've you been doing? I see the business is flourishing?" Russell greeted back, removing his hand as quickly as possible without being rude.

Edward and Winry noticed how odd the man acted around Russell. "Oh. So he must be gay." Winry mused, and laughed only to herself.

After the introductions, Andre offered some drinks. "They're on me!" He exclaimed, smiling. "It's always a pleasure to see you two over at my humble niche. Especially since you're all warmed up already!"

He handed over a pink drink in a large glass to everyone. Ed twisted his nose at the color of the drink and the funny shape of the glass.

"What is this?!" He demanded to Andre. The young man winked and lifted one tiny glass of his own, filled with a blue-colored liquid.

"Well, this is a girl's bar after all. So we serve girl's drinks! None of that pure scotch, or vodka, or even cheap wine; no no no, we go for taste and sublime! Drink up everyone!" He cheered, dropping his tiny glass down his throat. He made a face, and sighed. "Ah! The fuel of life! I shall check on you guys later!" He chirped, flashing yet another large smile and disappearing somewhere to the far end of the counter.

"… What was that all about?" Winry asked. She found the guy funny, but he looked like he'd winked at Ed. She'd kill him.

"Everyone, a toast!" Al said, chugging his drink down all at once. "Yum! It's tasty." He licked his lips and smiled, but then made a face when he felt the taste of alcohol in the back of his throat.

Ed made a fuss over his little brother for finishing his drink too fast. He received yet another flash of his red tongue as a reply, and gave up. He wasn't used to act as the older brother, after all.

"Alphonse," Russell groaned, "If this was supposed to be a toast, why didn't you wait for everyone else? Besides," he took a small sip on his glass, and enjoyed the flavor, "what should we be toasting to?"

A small pause. Meanwhile Ed made yet another face at his own glass; he didn't want to drink anything pink. Winry herself drank a large gulp, and found the taste quite pleasant.

Then Alphonse suddenly realized: "We toast… To women!" he said dramatically. He turned to Fletcher, "You're not gunna drink tha' anyways, are ya?" he flicked the glass out of the young boy's hands and darted towards the middle of the crowd. The music had picked up again, and he only cared about enjoying those good vibrations.

"I agree! I'll join you, wait up!" Russell called, following suit behind the younger Elric.

"I won't drink this." Ed finally said, looking almost disgusted at the color of the drink. Unexpectedly, Winry took his glass and tipped it towards his mouth.

"Have a taste; it's not all that bad…"

She smiled. He blushed. She insisted; he refused. So she forced him to taste it: she herself took a sip out of his cup, and gave him an open-mouth kiss.

Tongue and everything.

And it tasted really good to him. So he kissed back, best he could – he didn't have much practice after all… The kiss was disappointingly short though!

After they parted, she shoved the drink back on Ed's hand. "Drink it!" she ordered. He didn't think twice, and in just a few seconds he was done with the glass.

"That was fast." She purred, amused. Then she made a go for the dance floor, to some spot not too far from where Al and Russell were – they were sort of busy with the ladies around them.

Winry signaled Ed to come closer, so he drifted to her side until he was right in the middle of the crowd.

"Edo, don't you dare stare at other women!" she half-teased, half-threatened. "Lock your eyes on me and don't go anywhere else…"

Suddenly, he didn't mind where he was, or under what circumstances. All he cared about was that the girl he so desperately loved was right in front of him, available, and probably as horny as he now was. None of the rest mattered.

His hands were feeling oddly tingly. It was very hot inside the bar, but her body seemed to radiate a heat of its own. He knew she was in his proximity, but still he had to check; so he leaned in a little closer, and bumped into her very lightly.

After checking the distance, well, his tingly hands seemed to gain a mind of their own. They cautiously wrapped themselves around Winry's waist and pulled her closer to him. She buried her head on his neck, inhaling his scent, while throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace.

He lowered his hands to her bottom, and managed to feel it for a moment – until she stopped him.

"No, that's too fast. I take the lead."

Before he knew it, she turned his back on him and slowly ground her hip on his, in a fluid set of motions he had never seen her do before. It made him think about seeing her move like that, only naked.

She giggled when she felt his excitement through their clothes. So she turned to face him, her hips always moving in those tight circles along with the rhythm of the intense music. She whispered on his ear, voice smooth as velvet, "I just can't seem to get any other reaction from you, can't I, Edward?"

Involved in their little games, they didn't notice Alphonse's (shirtless) moment.

"The bar's owner is totally gay! I'm not, I'm one hundred per cent straight, ladies! Plus, I'm single and PROUD of it! Who'd like to put me to shame?!"

Sorry for using the Periodical Table plot, but I can't be creative enough to think of something else that Ed might want to distract himself with :D and also sorry for the insanely OOC'd Al. But in my mind, him drunk must be such a funny sight! - giggles -

When will the night be over? – suspense –

T^T

... Oh, come on people, it's not that hard to review. It really sucks when you get people adding you to favorite author/story or to a warning's list and not even leave a tiny comment... Wouldn't you like to have people comment yout fics as well? Say, to know whether they like the style, or seen a mistake, or like your plot or something? Don't be lazy. Just a few words would make me happy ^^;