Ok...now I know this is a touchy subject for some, but it get's over and done with quickly. (two chapters worth) Ed being ooc is not an easy thing to work with, but like I said, it's not without reason. So bare with me and sit tight, it'll all be over soon enough.

Chapter 5 - To Numb the Pain

It was the sound of her crying that tore right into his mind. Had she have just told him, he would have been upset, but not this bad. Even though they were a couple, he couldn't help but feel that it was all his fault. Being confused as he was a the moment, he decided against better judgment, and went out.

Edward stood in front of the door, a bit of a scowel on his face. He had been resorted to putting his glasses back on to see the numbers on the houses. He really hated it. Not so much for the fact that he looked an incredibly large amount like his father, rather because it showed a visible weakness. Not that he thought people with glasses were weak, but it made him feel a little vunerable. If he needed to fight with them on, and lost them, there was no of him telling if he would be able to defend himself properly.

Glasses still on his face, he raised his hand, but before he could land a knock on the door, it swung ajar and in it's opening, a girl, who looked like she was rather flirtatious, appeared. She oggled him all over, a sultry look in her eyes. "Hey there." She greeted him. "Are you coming in, or are you going to complain about the noise?"

Ed was very tempted to say that he was complaining about the noise and just leave. If there were more people in the house like her, there was no telling how uncomfortable he was going to get. "Actually I..."

"Hey Ed! I didn't think you'd show." Russell waved at him from down the hallway.

Ed feigned a smile and walked past the girl, she had shoulder length brown hair, swept up into a bun; he could tell it was shoulder length, small pieces stuck out from where the bun had been tied. As he walked past, she checked him out, not saying anything, he kept going. He never really knew that he could be rendered so uncomfortable by just being looked at, but apparently he was wrong.

There wasn't a whole lot of people there, enough to make him weave through the halls to get to Russell, but not packed. "Glad you came. My cousin opened the liquor cabnit for us, so there's practically an endless supply."

Ed looked around. It seemed to him that, aside from the girl who just went out front, they were the only ones underage. "What kind of party is this anyway?" He said, glancing around. There were no decorations, no signs that said 'welcome home' or 'congratulations' or anything of the sort.

"Nothing special." He spoke over the music that was playing. Nothing too loud, sounded like it was a catchy swing beat, but enough that you had to raise your voice a little. "Just a party my cousin is holding, he's in college, so this kind of thing is normal for him."

A patron of the party, wearing a military uniform, and slightly intoxicated, stagered on over. He took one look at Edward. "What's a kid doing here?"

Ed immedatly became frustrated. "Kid?" Even though Ed knew he was still a kid, he knew that the guy was judging him based on his height, something that Edward detested.

"Yeah! No kids are allowed to drink. Scoot home pee-wee." He said with a wave of his hand.

Ed stood up and got in his face. "You'd better salute me there private."

"Huh?" The older boy was confused. "Why the hell should I salu--" His sentence was stopped short by Edward pulling out his pocket watch.

He smirked deviously. "Being a state alchemist automatically gives me the rank of major, so unless you what to get peanlized for insubordination, I suggest you stand at attention and salute. Show some respect." Ed was getting quite good at the silver tongue, it was rather impressive.

He was dumbfounded. "Yes sir." With that said, he straightened his stance and held his right hand up to his forhead. "Sir!...can I stop now." He asked with a slight teeter.

Ed snickered a little. "Go ahead, I'm just messing with you." The guy laughed and gave Ed a playful shot in the shoulder then went on his merry way.

"Coats!" A scatterbrained voice came into the kitchen. "I saw someone come in here with a coat on!" She spoke agian. A girl with short cut brown hair and glasses pushed through the crowd of people in search of the long trench coat that had passed by without being removed and hung up neatly.

"I think that means you Ed." Russell said pointing to the girl making her way past a few people.

The short blond boy turned around to be face to face with none other than Sheska. "Edward? What are you doing here? You aren't old enough to drink."

Ed panicked and quickly covered her mouth. "Shut up, you're going to get me in trouble. I had a stressful day, just leave me be."

She removed his hand from her mouth. "Or right, the evaluation was today." She stood up straight. Even though it wasn't the evaluation that was stressful for him, he went along with that explanation anyway. "I don't approve, but I'l at least take your coat for you Ed." She continued.

Though he was wearing a short sleeve shirt, he dicided on giving her the coat anyway. "Sure." Figuring that the automail would make him look a little more menescing, he revealed it to the crowd.

"Have fun Ed. But don't over do it, Mustang want's you in his office tomorrow at eleven. Don't forget." She took his coat and headed off to the closet. Before exiting the kitchen she turned around. "By the way, those glasses make you look good on you, they make you look really smart."

"Thanks." Ed said as he fixed them on his face. Figuring that they weren't all that bad, he decided to keep them on for the rest of the night.

"I guess that calls for a drink." Russell said aloud, holding a sealed beer can in Edward's direction.

His eyes widened momentarily at the sight of the alcohol in front of him. "I guess." Russell and Ed both popped the tabs at the same time. Ed took enough time to examine the beverage and get a ground for what he was about to put into his system. "Do you drink often?"

Russell had already took a swig from the can. Coming back up for some air, he shook his head. "Nah, this is my first drink ever...you?"

Ed shrugged. "No...I drank a couple times before...nothing serious." He lied. The first time was when he, Winry and Al snuck some wine at the military banquette and the second time he drank was on the boat trip he took with his father's girlfriend, Gertrude. He was sick as a dog both times the following day, he was going to have to make a point to watch what he was doing, he needed to be somewhere in the morning. But he also needed to get his mind off of other things; needless to say, Ed was torn.

Not wanting to put it off any longer, he tilted the can to his mouth and ingested the chilled, dark amber liquid. Upon finishing the first drink, he looked at the can once again, it read 'Holsten – Festbock'(1) right on the side fo the large green can in black lettering. "That's actually really good...Since 1879? They've only been around for a short while then?"

Russell shrugged. "Yeah, my cousine hates this stuff. He thinks the company is going to go under eventually. You never know."

The night progressed and so did the number of drinks that Ed managed to pound into his system. Four full can's of Festbock and he was in the mood to talk, but not well. With a newly raised spirit, he sat there on the coach, his fourth can only holding a little left in the bottom, preeching to the collage students about ecconmy and how the military is keeping everyone in the dark.

"I'm dead searious." He over exadurated. "The country's budget is totally in the hands of the military. They're so afraid of getting attacked by Drachma, that they're hoarding a metric ton of weapons just for the occasion. And! Because of all the extra money they're taking out of the yearly budget, the school systems are suffering. The precentage of people in this country who are illeterate is staggering. I think there should be some way to know just where all the money is going. I mean, the military is doing good enough, we're not in a constant state of war, why is it that the schools in the smaller regions haven't been embelished with some of this glorious fortune?! I'll tell ya why." He took a swig from his can, thus, emptiying it.

"It's because...we're too afraid to extend a hand to other under developed countries. If we made peace with Drachma, all would be well. But all the higher ups are too old fashion and set in their ways to even think about changing. That, my friends, is why we can't progress as a nation of equals." It was obvious that he was drunkenly ranting, but everyone went along with it anyway, it at least sounded good and was entertaining.

"Why are you so passionate about this?" Russell rested his chin on his fist, his cheeks slightly reddened.

Ed stood up and began to head toward the kitchen for another drink. "Because." He turned around, somewhat wobbly. "I only got to finish up to grade six. Resembool didn't have anything beyond that. So I had to give up on school at an early age and learn things on my own."

"Wow...that's amazing...so compelling...so inspiring." One of the other guests was moved by Edward's words, he didn't sound like he was drunk, but it sounded like he was on something or other.

Ed, being confused, turned and faced the gushing yougn man. "Wha...?"

"Yeah!" He nodded. "You didn't finish school, yet you're the Full Metal Alchemist! You kick ass! It just shows that you don't need the system holding your hand every step of the way."

Ed smiled, the color red had long since taken over his cheeks. "Don't be afraid to use the system to your advantage though. Just because I hate the system, doesn't mean I don't exploit it for my own gain. It's eat or be eaten, simple as that." Ed had just then completly negated his argunment about 'equality', but no one seemed to pick up on it. And neither did he. He was getting a drink, that was all that mattered.

The kitchen was empty, except for that girl that gave him that strange awkward feeling as she passed by him at the front door. "Empty again?" She said, a sly smile on her face.

Ed eyed her suspicoiusly. "Yeah..." Holding the empty over the garbage can, he let it fall in with it's brothers.

She reached into the cupboard and pulled out two wine glasses. "Have a drink with me then."

Ed looked over his shoulder. "But I'm talking to the people in there. It would be rude of me to leave--" She got uncomfortably close to him. "--right in the middle of a con...versation."

She got really close to his lips as she spoke. "I'm lonely, have just one drink with me." She backed off and poured some wine into the two glasses and extended one to him.

Knowing full well that he shouldn't drink with her, he took the glass merely out of good faith in his own constitution. "Thanks...what is it?"

She looked at the bottle. "Icewine and Brandy. It's really good."

He took a sip. At that point, anything he drank tasted like water anyway, so it didn't matter if it tasted like the bottom of a dirty ashtray, he tasted nothing. "It's pretty good." He lied. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

"I see you've got a nice piece of automail there. When did you decided to get that put in?" She asked, a casual air loomed around her.

He looked hazily down at his arm through the thin frames of his glasses and then back up to the girl. "I actually lost my arm and my left leg in an accident when I was nine. I've had them ever since."

"Really?" She sounded bored to say the least, but still trying to stay intrested. "Who's your mechanic, anyone famous?"

He nodded. "Yeah. The Rockbell family made it for me. My mechanic is actually my girlfriend, so it works out well in my favour." He couldn't tell if she was hitting on him or not, he was too far gone, but just clearing up the fact he was already in a relationship seemed to give him a more comfortable edge. But then again, that's what the beer was for.

"Girlfriend? Is she here tonight?" The brown haired girl looked for some jealous broad standing in a door way, waiting to jump her.

"Neaaah." He said, slurring slightly after taking a big mouthfull of wine. "She's back in Resembool right now."

"Well then." She hopped off the counter she was sitting on, leaving her full glass of wine behind, and approached Edward, getting very close yet again. "If she's not here, then what am I waiting for?" She touched the collar of his shirt and then proceeded to wrap her arms around his shoulders.

"Woah. What are you--?" He was stunned. Normally he would have reacted quicker, but the alcohol slowed him down, a lot.

"Listen..." She looked around to see if anyone was listening. "I got some rubbers...do you want to get out of here and have some real fun?" She pressed her body against his.

For a lack of better judgment, he placed his hand on her hip. "But I have--"

She didn't allow him to finish. "Ah-ah-ah...shh. Your girlfirend isn't here with you, it's obvoius she's useless to you right now and can't cater to your needs. But I can." She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, only for a second, not enough time for Edward to push her away. "Come on Ed. Finish your drink, and we'll get out of here."

He swallowed a lump in his throat. It felt as though his mind was going to break. He did have to admit, at the moment, he could have gone for some action, but nothing that coldn't be fixed once he got home to Winry. But that was all the way back in Resembool.

Ed looked down at the girl, he didn't even know her name. She continued to bombard his fragile sixteen year old mind with ideas of sexual favors as she pinned him against the unused stove. She was pretty, but from what Ed could tell, that was about it. She wore a bright yellow tank top, form fitting, that frilled at the hem where it led into a scandally clad short skirt with matching color and frills at the bottom. She filled her outfit quite well, no lack of curves. Not to mention she showed more clevage than most berleske dancers; even a little mor leg than them too. She had on black leather strap heels that screamed 'pay attention to me'!

Ed loved Winry, he would have hated to betray her trust; espically with a floozy like this, though it was tempting. The booze did seem to cloud his judgment just a wee bit too much for his own good. Finally he made up his mind, he had this feeling building inside of him, and he needed to release it. He held on tightly to his wine glass, still half filled with the purple liquor.

(1) Holsten – Festbock is my favorite beer :P

(braces herself against rocks and sticks that will soon be thrown at her) Review and tell me what you think. (cringes)