Honestly...I'm not getting the response I want for this fic...lately...I don't know. It seems no one's intrested in it...I might discontinue it...maybe. Do you think I should? It's just kind of disheartening to see no reviews is all...oh well...we'll see what happens.

Anyway, I couldn't tink of a segway to stick in here that would further the plot...SO in the spirit of fluff and wasting time, here's a mild fanservice chapter till I think of something better!

There's EdxWin fluff in this one!

Chapter 26 - Fanservice 1
After everyone setteled down again, Edward found a moment to slink away upstairs and into Winry's room. He knocked lightly on her door and awaited a resopnse.

"It's open." She said from the other side.

Ed was glad she wasn't napping, he didn't want to have to leave his jacket downstairs until she got up. "Hey..." He greeted her as he entered the room. She was laying down on her bed reading a little book. It looked like the one she had on her night table for the last little while, she must not have finished it yet.

"Edward? You guys are back early, did you get anything done in town?" She smiled at him as he carefully closed the door behind himself.

"Yeah. This and that..." He turned to face her, a red blush creeping up on him. "Actually, before I forget, we're going on a boat ride this Wednsday."

Winry's eye's lit up. "Really? I'm never been on a boat before." She closed her book and jumped up. "I can't wait!" She went over to give him a hug when he pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to her. "What's this?" His hand was turned down so she couldn't make out what it was exactly, she did however know that it was a box.

He sighed. "It took me twenty minutes to gather up the courage to go get them...but here." He laid the box in her hand.

"Hmm?" She turned the box over in her hand and read aloud. "Latex Con--" She clasped the box close tto her chest, her cheeks blood red but eyes teeming with excitment. "Where did you get these?!" She asked with an excited quiet hush to her voice.

"I bought them." He said sheepishly.

"You did?" She asked. He nodded. "You actually went in the store...and actually bought these?" She held up the little box.

He nodded again. "Yes..."

"You mean...you didn't get someone else to go in for you?" Winry was shocked as Ed nodded once again. Not for one second did she think the he, Edward Elric, would go out and actually buy a box of condoms. She just couldn't believe it.(1) "Wow...I guess I won't have to ask Nelly afterall."

Ed nodded. "Yeah...I figured not telling too many people would be safer for us...you know...just in case Pinako found out." He rubbed the back of his head as watched Winry shuffle quietly around her room, peeking in things and looking under a few things. "What are you doing?"

Winry knelt on the floor and peered under her dresser. "I'm looking for a good hiding spot. If I, or you, start acting suspicious, Granny might suspect something." She slid the box underneath the dresser and proped it behind on of the legs. "There." She stood up. "And today is laundry day, if I put them in the beaureu, she might see them."

He sighed. "Good point..."

Winry examined his face. "You look so stressed out. I thought this was suppose to be a good thing." She approached him, took him by the hand and led him over to her bed.

"Stressed?" He began. "I had to carry that in my jacket all the way home. I was so worried Dad or Al would notice them." He sat on her bed and laid back, covering his face with his hands. "Drug smugglers probably aren't as stressed as I was."

She snickered. "Maybe. But you made it home without any trouble, so I don't see what the problem is." She took hold of one of his hands and tugged it gently away from his face. "Or is it something else."

He looked up and smiled at her warmly. "Well...I guess I'm just a little anxious...I mean, this is a big deal...isn't it? It's just that..." He searched for words. "Are you sure we shouldn't wait for this to happen?"

Winry shrugged. "Wait? What's the difference between now and a few months from now? I doubt my opinion is going to change about you anytime soon Ed. You said it yourself; 'If not now, when?'"

He sat up halfway, maintaining his eye contact with Winry. "I suppose you're right...I'm still nervous about it though."

Winry nodded. "Me too." She smiled at him and leaned in close till his lips touched her own.

He smirked and brought both his hand's up to her face and rubbed her cheeks softly. A soft warm hand on one side, and a cool, smooth, metalic one on the other. Quickly taking hold of the situation, he pushed Winry back and then down to the bed. He pearched himself on top and resumed kissing her. Ed had each of her hands pinned down flat to the bed and his weight was fully resting on her hips.

Ed knew that soon, hopefully very soon, he would be able to take her fully, without worry or doubt. Sure he had imagined it at times, when no one was around looking or listening, but it was actually going to happen, for real, this time.

He knew what was going to happen, he knew the basics of the mechanics beind it, but he was still a little confused on some aspects. He lifted his head up and looked her straight in the eye. "About actually doing it...I know how that works...but how do we go about doing it?"

Winry sat up a little. "I don't know...I was kind of hoping you would know...well...I guess we could just make it up as we go along."

Ed shook his head. "That approach never worked well for me in the past."

She thougth for a moment. "You could try asking--"

"No." He said right away.

"You don't even know who I was going to say." She became slightly irritated.

Ed shrugged. "I'm not asking my dad, there's just no way. I'm not asking Al, he probably knows less than I do...I think, I hope. And asking Pinako would just be wrong on too many levels."

Winry backed down. "Oh...wait, what do you mean 'you think' Al knows less than you. There should be no 'think' about it."

He couldn't help but snicker. "I caught him and Aria doing something while hiding in Mrs. Mullins back closet."

"Doing 'something'?" She reitterated.

"Yeah, I'm not too sure what they were doing, but they both got up in a hurry." He smiled as he slumped over sideways to lay next to Winry. "Probably nothing bad, Al was all embarassed about it though."

Winry giggled. "Maybe..." She snuggled in close to him, the soft blanket beneath her bunched a little as she moved over.

Ed wrapped his free arm around her and kissed her forehead. Allowing his arm to travel lower, down to the hem of her shirt. He brushed his fingers along her bare stomach and nudge the shirt up a little. The further his hand traveled, the further up the shirt went. His hand then came in contact with something soft, and very resiliant. He groped at it gently as a little moan of happiness excaped Winry's lips. Once again he pearched himself over her, this time resting beside her on the bed. He dipped his head down so his cheek came in contact with her tummy.

She smiled and brushed a few strands of hair out of his face. "That tickels." She giggled.

He snickered a little and checked on her and then went back to what he was doing. Ed then reached his face over to the other side of her and, without bad intentions, he sunk his teeth lightly into her side. Hard enough for her to feel, but soft enough to not leave a mark. She squrimed a little under the pressure. "That really tickels." She sat up a little.

"Really?" He smirked and pushed her back down; he proceeded to bite and nibble at her sides. She fussed and squirmed to try and get away but it was no use. She couldn't help herself, it tickeled her so much that she let out a loud squeak. Ed quickly ceased his actions and came back up to her face. Locking his lips with hers. "Shh." He said quietly after breaking the kiss.

"It's kind of hard when you're doing that." She snipped at him through a smile.

He shruged. "I guess." With that said, he leaned in for a kiss again, but instead, he bit down on her lower lip. A little bit harder this time.

She inhaled deeply. "Not too rough..." She leaned up and bit back, though this time she bit harder, leaving a small mark on the outside of his bottom lip.

He moaned a little from the stimulation of the bite, but he cuoldn't help but smile; Ed seemed to be into the strangest of things at times. They played quietly in her room, just enjoying his alone time with eachother, it was more than enough.

Al grabbed the pullstring on his way down the bacement stairs. He had told Aria that there was a big freezer she could keep the tulip bulbes in till fall, so he was showing her the way. "It's right over here." He pointed across the dimly lit room to the big, and rather long, rectangular box. "See, I told you they had room."

"Geez, that's got to be at least ten feet wide." She said as she headed down the stairs.

Al turned at the base of the steps. "Oh, you have to keep that door closed. There's rat poison around, and if Den get's down here, he might eat it."

Aria stepped up a couple steps. "Sure." She made certain that the door was closed, then hopped back down the stairs with the, now significantly smaller, bag of seeds and bulbs. She looked around the bacement. It wasn't furnished, but it wasn't dirty either. Right now, it was simply for storage; there were boxes piled around. Given a bit of work, it might have been livable. There was poured cement covering the floor and the walls were made out of solid rock bricks, not clinker bricks like most houses.

"This place is really sturdy looking." She looked around some more. This time, on the way to the freezer, she saw one solitary beam supporting the celing. "What's this?" She questioned the adjustable metal pole wedged in there.

"Oh that." Al gave it a pat. "Back when we were younger, Ed noticed the floor seemed a little off level. So he poured a glass of water on the floor, sure enough it ran and pooled all in one spot. This beam is supporting the floor to stop it form bending. The floor joyces were getting old and just started to bend over time."

Aria was a little confused. "Floor joyces?"

"These things." Al reached both his hands up and grabbed hold of one of the twelve inch thick pieces of wood that ran the length of the house. "It's what the floor boards are resting on..." He looked up, a kind of surprised look on his face. "I did get really tall." He smiled and allowed his hands to fall to his sides. "The last time I was down here, that I didn't have to duck, I was about this tall." He held up a hand to the pole about four feet off the ground.

Aria smiled. "That must have been a while ago.

Al nodded. "I think I was about...seven at the time." He turned and began walking over to the freezer when he felt and heard something splash beneath his foot. "Huh?" He looked down to see that there was a pool of water there that was leaking from the freezer. "I think the freezer has a leak somewhere." He extended a hand to Aria. "You'll get your feet wet if you walk over here. I'll put them in, I kept my shoes on."

She smiled. "Thanks Al." He nodded. "Could you make sure you put them in a spot where nothing will get put on top of them." She politely requested.

"No problem." He stood in front of the big freezer and lifted the lid. Inside were many frozen goods, including fruits, vegetables, meat and a few different kinds of fish. It was being stored in case of emergencies, though some of the things that were in there probably were freezer burnt by then. He looked for a suitable spot and placed the paper bag down where it would be safe. "There." Just as Al dropped the lid of the freezer, he heard a fizz, then a smal clink and then, there was darkness.

"What just happened?" Aria questioned.

Al looked around in the darkness. "I think I broke a fuse...maybe." He lifted the lid of the freezer, he could hear it humming. "No, the engine is still going. I think the light just died."

Aria smiled. "This is the second time today we've been stuck in a dark room. We're on role."

"Really though." Al laughed a little and took a step in the opposite direction the freezer was in. He held his hands out in front of him a little, not wanting to run into that beam, he felt his way in the dark. Aria held onto the beam to keep a land mark of where she was. "Except this time, it's a bigger room and I can't see a darn thing. Can you?" He really couldn't see a thing.

Aria shook her head. "No, nothing." She then felt a hand brush up against her chest. "Ah!" She jumped back a little. "I thought you said you couldn't see!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I really didn't meant to do that." He waved his hands frantically. He blushed deeply; if his cheeks could glow, they would have been able to light the way to the stairs. He actually really didn't mean to do it.

"Are you sure?" Aria was a little skeptical.

"Yes, I'm sure." Al felt a something brush up against his hand. "I'm really sorry about that."

"It's ok...just..." She took hold of his hand and stepped toward him. Upon ensuring that she was close enough to him, she took her arms up around his neck and hugged him tightly. Aria, without Al knowing, allowed a few silent tears to run down her face. 'I'm so sorry Al...I should have never gotten you involved with Felix...you're so innocent and sweet...' She felt it best not to say it out loud, but she figured her tight hug was more than enough to express her feelings.

(1) - To this day...four years into my relationship with Dave...he has NEVER went and bought a box of condoms for us...I have always had to do it. (Sorry if I'm being a little too personal right now, but the truth must be told) Now, I'm not sure what kind of taboo or shame is attached to pucrchasing such things...but for some reason, it's there. My friends who are in relationships ALL have the same problem. I really don't know what it is.

See, Ed's just full of surprises. Ah, the long awaited "first time" is soon at hand!