Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ The Right Fit ❯ Chapter 1

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist and its attendant characters and settings were created by Hiromu Arakawa and are distributed by Funimation, Square-Enix and Viz.

Notes: This takes place in the manga universe. There are no major spoilers and this is fully understandable to those only following the American release of the manga.

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The Right Fit

(A Fullmetal Alchemist Story)

by Anne Packrat
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The sun drenched Rush Valley in orange light with a final big hurrah before it disappeared behind the horizon. It was a pretty sight, but not one many people of the town were taking in. Most of the residents were inside eating dinner with their loved ones, or finishing up the final business of the day before they headed home. One person, however, was thoroughly enjoying the sights before her, and she concluded that the rest of town didn't know what they were missing.

Paninya, one time thief turned law abiding citizen, still enjoyed skulking about on rooftops. However, now she generally did so in order to repair leaks or torn shingles or occasionally to sit back and admire the view. Today she quietly did this admiring on the roof of the old somewhat rundown house that her friend Winry shared with the Elric brothers.

She jumped as a light flashed and a small opening appeared in the middle of the roof. A tawny blonde head appeared through the hole, looked around, then smiled as it noticed her. Paninya relaxed as she recognized the now human form of Alphonse Elric. Then her chest tightened again, and her heart sped up because it was in fact *Alphonse Elric*.

"Hey, Paninya!" Al said brightly waving, "I was hoping you were still up here." He pulled himself up on the roof, then reached down and grabbed two bottles of water. Carefully he climbed up to where she sat leaning against the chimney and held out one of the bottles to her.

"Hi, Al," she said taking the bottle from him, "Thanks." She carefully kept her eyes on the horizon, knowing that if she gazed at the boy before her she wouldn't be able to stop staring.

When Paninya first met Al his armor body didn't bother her much. Living in Rush Valley meant you got used to odd looking people with one or more automail limbs pretty quickly. Hell, her own legs were made of metal. A whole boy made of metal was a bit unusual, but nothing she couldn't get used to.

Now, of course, she knew the truth about the boys' failed attempt to bring back their mother, and the toll enacted on their own flesh. Al lost all of his body and was reduced to nothing but a bare soul animating a suit of armor, and his older brother Ed had lost an arm and leg in the alchemical rebound. From then on Ed sported his own automail limbs and set off on a quest with his brother to restore their bodies.

And almost a year ago that they succeeded, at least in part. Al now was back in his own eighteen-year-old body. Ed, however, was the one who was responsible for that and the elder Elric now had a third automail limb freely given as payment for Al's body. Both Winry and Al thought that there was more to the payment, but the former Fullmetal Alchemist became tight lipped when they broached the subject.

Yes, Paninya knew all this, and had no problems believing the story even if it did sometimes sound farfetched. No, what the ex-thief had trouble coming to terms with was just how incredibly *cute* the new Al was. It almost seemed that she couldn't look at him without getting excited. God, how she wished to undress the man and sample every square inch of his new skin.

"Uh, Ninya," Al asked, using the shortened form of her name Winry came up with and the Elrics had subsequently adopted, "What are you doing up here?"

She fidgeted and ran a hand down her leg, the metal feeling cool on her fingertips. "I- uh...." she took a deep breath. Al was just a boy. Well, okay, just a devastatingly handsome boy who she was attracted to and really liked. Right... No reason at all to be nervous.

Now if only she could get the butterflies in her stomach to believe that.

"You okay?" Al asked, his olive eyes filled with concern.

Paninya gulped and quickly looked away. She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I- I was just enjoying the view." And mentally she added, "Both of them."

"Oh," Al said looking over at the horizon for the first time since he came up, "You really can see pretty far, huh?"

Nodding again, Paninya uncapped her water bottle and drank from it. The teens fell into an awkward silence. Al fidgeted and played with his untouched water and shot covert glances at the girl next to him.

Paninya was not a normal girl, of course, neither was Winry, and that was probably one of the reasons the two girls had become such close friends. No "Ninya" wasn't typical, and not just because of her metal legs. She was very much her own person, and was determined to live her life the way she wanted it, other people and their notions of what was proper be damned. That was one of the reasons Al found himself drawn to the handy-woman.

It wasn't that she was incredibly good looking either. Oh, she was pretty enough, yes, but someone seeing her for the first time would have a hard time calling her stunning. No, what made her beautiful in Al's eyes was her attitude. Through all the adversity in her life: the train crash that killed her parents and crushed her legs, living on the street, and the incredible rigors of automail surgery, she faced it all with a smile and a cheerful attitude.

But what really attracted Al to the girl was her sense of loyalty toward the man who had been like her father, Dominic, the automail engineer who had given her new legs. She did whatever she could to repay him, including pawning things she stole. Even now she was still determined to pay back the man despite the fact it would likely take years at the rate she was going. Al appreciated her sense of loyalty and duty; it was the same thing he felt toward his brother.

Yes, Al liked Paninya for her spirit and mind, but his new hormone-driven body responded to her physical attributes the most . His newly awoken libido particularly liked the attributes that were shown off by the tight tank tops she often wore.

Al did worry that Paninya was put off by his own physical change. After all, it was a big adjustment seeing someone you knew only as a suit of armor suddenly show up as a flesh and blood boy. Al wondered if this was why Paninya always seemed to be anxious whenever he was around.

He was broken out of his reverie by a metallic tapping sound. Al looked over to find Paninya drumming her fingers in a slow staccato on her leg. She was anxious again, and this time Al was determined to get to the bottom of it.

"Hey, Paninya..." he said carefully, "Can I ask you something?"

Her fingers stopped abruptly, but her gaze stayed focused on her feet. She bit her lip and nodded.

The youngest Elric took a deep breath and plowed ahead. "Do- do you have a problem with me?" he asked, "I mean with my change and all." Surprised, she looked up at him incredulously. He waved his hands in a warding gesture. "I mean it's okay if you do," he continued quickly. Her stare was beginning to make him feel uncomfortable. "It's understandable given how drastic it was. I mean, I'd be weirded out by it too..."

She carefully licked her lips (which made Al's pulse spike) and then said, "What makes you think I have a problem with you?"

"Well, you're always so tense around me and only me," he replied. "And you always seem even more nervous and antsy when we're alone. I just thought it was because you were creeped out by my body and-" he trailed off as he saw her silent laughter. His eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement. "Uh, did I say something funny?"

Paninya took a moment to calm herself. She smiled at the confused boy. "You're partly right, Al, I do have a problem with your body, but not in the way you think." Her smile was replaced by a blush. She looked away. "I just think you're really handsome." Her blush deepened, and after a deep breath she continued. "I really kind of like you..." She gave him a shy smile. "In a more than friends way I mean."

Al's mouth dropped open at this revelation. Paninya liked *him*? But... how could she? He wasn't the flashy, famous alchemist his brother was, and he didn't have the charisma or machismo of Colonel Mustang. He was just Alphonse, he didn't have a fancy title or rank, and most girls just treated him as background scenery.

When he didn't reply, Paninya took it as a refusal. She looked away and her smile faded. "I'm sorry, Al. I didn't mean to embarrass you," she said softly, "I know you don't want some stupid half girl..." She moved to get up. "I'll leave now."

Al's arm shot out and closed around her wrist. With a questioning look, she resettled herself back on the roof. Al let go of her wrist. He blushed and looked down at his hands. "Uh..." he hesitated and tried again, "Uh...." Finally he steeled himself enough to continue, "I like you too, Paninya." He gazed up at her from under his bangs, his eyes holding a hint of amusement. "In a more than friends way I mean."

The girl's eyes widened as she stared at him in shock. "Are- Are you serious? You like me?"

Smiling, but still with a hint of red on his cheeks, Al took Paninya's hand. "Yeah, I do. And, please don't ever think of yourself as only half a girl. You're more than twice the girl I'll ever be!"

Paninya looked down at their joined hands, then back up at Al...

...and burst out laughing. "God, Al," she said once she finally stopped, "I hope I'm *twice* the girl you are!" She grinned. "Or did you get some extra parts I don't know about with that new body of yours?"

Al ducked his head in embarrassment and scratched his nose. "No, no, I assure I've got all the right parts." He took in Paninya's raised eyebrow. "All the right parts for a man I mean!"

"That's good to know," the handy-woman replied with a wry smile, "I guess I won't have to look for myself now. Unless you wanted to show me that is." A fierce blush was storming her cheeks, matched only by the one invading Al's face.

God, did she really just say that? She hadn't been lying; she really did want to take Al's new body for a test drive.... And then maybe kick the tires a bit and check under the hood...

She particularly wanted to see under his hood.

Yet again, Al stared at the girl next to him in shock. Did she really just say she wanted to see him naked? Another part of his mind reminded him that it was only fair since he wanted to see her naked too. "Well, yeah I do, but..." he thought to himself, only realizing too late that he said that out loud. Paninya's eyes widened and he quickly spoke to defuse the situation, "I-I didn't mean it like that!"

Laughing at his nervousness, Paninya squeezed his hand. "It's okay, Al, I think I got the gist of what you're trying to say." She bit her lip and rested her free hand on the cool metal of her knee. "I guess I just have a bit of an inferiority complex about these, you know?" she sighed, "The only guys who look past the automail are engineers, and they're not interested in me, only my legs."

Al slid closer to her, his thigh touching her side. "Well, then they're idiots. Automail is just a tool, two small parts of you that make up the whole. It doesn't change who you are inside, or how good of a person you are!"

"That's sweet of you to say, Al," Paninya replied. She looked up at him and was startled by just how close he'd gotten. On a sudden impulse she put her arm behind his neck and pulled him toward her until his lips met hers.

His eyes widening, and his body stiff, Al soon relaxed into the kiss, snaking his arms around her waist. Despite her inexperience Paninya turned out to be a rather good kisser, and the embrace was enjoyable to say the least.

When they pulled apart Paninya licked her lips and grinned. "You taste sweet too."

He matched her grin. "I'm not quite sure how you taste yet. I think I need to do some more experiments before I have the answer."

Paninya's grin widened. "Well, I've always been one to help the cause of science."

"Good," Al replied and pulled her closer against him and lowered his lips to hers.

No more words were spoken for a good long while after that.

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Winry entered the house and put down her grocery bags on the kitchen counter. Behind her Ed entered carrying the rest of the bags. "I still don't know why I had to come with you," he grumbled.

With her hands on her hips, Winry rounded on him. "You expect me to be able to carry all this stuff back here by myself?" She took the bags from him and put them on the counter. "Besides, you went and did some shopping for yourself too."

Ed snorted. "If you'd stop buying so much food you'd have no problems carrying it."

She threw a bag of noodles at him, hitting him squarely in the forehead. "I only buy so much because you have the appetite of an elephant!"

He frowned and bent to pick up the noodles. After a few minutes of putting away the food, Winry said, "Ed, what did you buy while I was at the market?"

Ed paused in unpacking the apples. Winry could swear she heard a hint of amusement in his voice. "You want to know what I bought?"

His tone making her curious, Winry answered, "Well, yeah, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know."

A shadow of a smile graced Ed's lips. "I'll show you after we're done here okay?"

Now more curious then ever, Winry nodded. She looked up at the ceiling. "You think Al's back yet?"

The elder Elric thought for a moment then nodded. "Yeah, but he's probably asleep. He's been up late the past few nights studying."

Winry smiled. "You know he's going to make a great veterinarian, right?"

The elder Elric snorted. "Judging from the amount of strays he brings home to nurse back to health, he's going to be a busy one." He stooped to grab a carrot that had escaped the bag. "Still, very little research has been done about combining animal medicine and alchemy. He's going to be pioneering a whole new field."

Putting away her last item, Winry came over and hugged him from behind. "It's thanks to you that he can do all this now you know."

Sighing, he put away another carrot and stood. He turned and snaked his arms around the mechanic's waist and pulled her toward him. "I was only correcting my own mistake. If it had required me to give up my life, I would have gladly done it to give Al his body back." He noticed Winry's frown and gave her quick peck on the cheek. "But every day I thank whatever power or being allowed me to restore Al and still remain here with you."

The mechanic ducked her head and looked away. "I know Al is important to you. He's important to me to, but...."

"Win," Ed said, rubbing her cheek with his thumb, "I spent most of my life consumed by guilt and the need to fix my mistakes. There wasn't much room in my head for anything else, but thoughts of you did manage to sneak in. I greatly regret that I didn't pay more attention to you, okay?" He sighed. "But now Al is whole and well, and the only thing in my head right now is you. You are my world."

His face fell as Winry giggled, "Leave the cheesy romantic drivel to Colonel Mustang." She flicked his nose and slipped out of his arms. "You done putting the vegetables away?"

"Almost," Ed replied, pouting. He put away the lettuce and slid the last of the carrots into the crisper. "I'm done now."

Winry nodded. "So tell me about this big secret purchase of yours."

Smiling, the alchemist took her hand and led her out to the backyard. "I think I'd rather show you."

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The realtor thought he was swindling the kids who bought the old rundown house on the outskirts of town. While it did have an expansive backyard, five bedrooms and no neighbors nearby (thus ensuring lots of privacy) those things were *all* it had going for it. The backyard was overgrown and choked with weeds, the bedrooms were musty with paint peeling on the walls, and neighbors didn't come around much anyway because the building was such an eyesore. Oh and the foundation was sagging, the roof was leaking, and several generations of rats had lived and died in the basement.

The realtor had been trying to unload the property for close to two years now, and was overjoyed when a bunch of green teenagers approached him about buying it. He'd even managed to get double the initial asking price for it.

Later he reflected that he should feel bad about scamming kids, but it was their own fault really for being so gullible, right? Hell, if anything they should thank him for teaching them a lesson about how the real world works. Buyer beware; if you don't pay attention you end up buying crap.

And you can't polish a turd.

Unless you happen to be alchemical geniuses like the Elric brothers that is.

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After advising Winry to close her eyes, and to "keep 'em closed or else," Ed led the girl about a hundred feet from the back of the house. About a minute later he told her to open her eyes.

Upon doing so, Winry stared in confusion at the sight before her. There were several large rocks, several barrels of water and a few other things she couldn't identify piled in the middle of a large chalk-drawn alchemical array. "Ed, what are you-?"

Putting his finger on her lips to silence her, the elder Elric then stepped back. "Just watch, Win." He took a deep breath, then suddenly clapped his hands together and slapped the edge of the circle. The array flared into life, light pouring out of the lines on the ground until with a flash it momentarily blinded the mechanic. When her vision was again clear, Winry gasped.

Before her was a large pond, with rock ledges and wooden benches all around it. There was even a small waterfall at the far end. The sight was topped off by a grinning Edward Elric standing in front.

"So, what do you think?"

Her eyes scanned the length of the pond then finally settled on the proud alchemist. "It's beautiful, Ed," she said wonderingly, "But why did you do this?"

Rubbing the nape of his neck with his metal hand, Ed blushed lightly. "Well, you remember when you told me a few weeks ago that the one of biggest things you missed about Risembol was the lake and feeding the fish?" Winry nodded.

"Well..." he continued, suddenly embarrassed, "This isn't a lake, but I think it's the best you're going to get out here." His eyes suddenly darted behind him and he turned. He beckoned her over and she saw what he had bought that day clearly for the first time. There were two transparent bags, and in them was a generous amount of water. Darting around inside the bags were several small gold colored fish.

Winry gasped, and took one of the bags from him. Holding it in front of her face she watched the swimming gold flashes for a moment before staring at him in wonder. "These are..."

Ed smiled, relieved she recognized them. "Yeah, they're the same kind of carp in the lake back home, though these particular fish are babies. It cost a lot of money to get them out here," he watched the young carp dart about in front of Winry's water-distorted face. "But I think these guys were worth the money, don't you?"

Wordlessly, Winry nodded. Taking her hand, the alchemist led her to the edge of the pond. He knelt and motioned for her to do the same. Following his lead, the mechanic slowly dropped to her knees and untied her bag, dropping the carp into the pond. "Enjoy your new home, little guys," she told them.

"Home, huh?" Ed asked quietly as he looked out over the pond, an odd expression drawn on his features.

Puzzled, Winry frowned and glanced over at him. "You okay?"

The eldest Elric brother looked from the girl beside him to the pond and back again. Abruptly he smiled and shook his head. "Yeah I'm fine." He stood and held out his hand to the mechanic. "Come on. Let's go home."

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Al yawned and pulled the small desk-light closer to the textbook he was reading. He was pulling another late night. Much as he loved Winry and his brother they were *noisy* people, and their antics were not conducive to someone seeking a quiet place to study. Late at night was one of the few times he could be assured some measure of peace so he could focus on his work.

Except tonight that is. He couldn't seem to concentrate no matter how quiet it was. "I told Paninya I liked her, and then.... I kissed her!" he said softly, still marveling at it. His fingers strayed up to his lips involuntarily. Her lips had been so soft against his own.

When he had pulled her up against him, it had just felt, well.... *right.* Like that was where she should always be, in his arms. He'd spent a lot of time just holding her, enjoying the feeling of her lips on his, her hands stroking his back, her soft breasts rubbing against his chest...

He groaned and slammed the book closed. He buried his head in his hands. He should not be thinking about Paninya in this way! It just wasn't right, she was a wonderful person whom he cared about deeply, not just a pair of breasts and a vagina.

However, those were the parts he kept thinking about lately, and despite the wrongness of it he desperately wished to see her naked, and to, well, do inappropriate things to her. Al took a moment to indulge in fantasy and realized with a groan that he was becoming hard.

Much as he loved having his body back, he hated how sometimes the damn thing could be downright disobedient.

Finally he decided to just go with it. He stood and retrieved some items from the night stand. These were the ever so helpful items his brother had wordlessly given him at his sputtering vague inquiries into the subject of "self-help." He lay on his bed and pulled down the worn pajama pants he wore as nightclothes.

With a deep breath, he finally gave into temptation.

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Paninya walked along the hallway toward Al's room carrying a tray of food. She was spending the night so she could get an early start on fixing the roof in the morning.

She smiled and shook her head as she remembered Winry's reaction to Al's impromptu rooftop exit from the attic. The roof was one of the few things about the house the mechanic would not let the alchemist brothers work on. Paninya never knew exactly why her friend felt this way, and when asked Winry would only make vague comments about not trusting something so important to an idiot who couldn't even keep his automail intact for more than a day.

After borrowing a nightgown from the mechanic, Paninya had settled down and tried to sleep, only to be woken up by moans coming from the next room, Winry's room. She tried to ignore them and had just started drifting off, but next the rhythmic squeaking of the bedsprings started. That was harder to ignore, but she still made a valiant effort to do so.

Then the dirty talk started.

That was too much, even for her. At that point she decided to take a walk until the the noise from next door had died down. Or at least until Winry ran out of euphemisms.

As she passed by Al's door she noticed light coming from under it. Remembering Ed mentioning his brother often stayed up late studying, she decided to bring him a midnight snack as thank you for the water from earlier. And if a bit of a make-out session occurred after that, well, she had no objections to that.

Carefully balancing the tray against her body, she lightly knocked on Al's door.

No reply.

She knocked again a little louder.

Still, no reply.

Frowning, she wondered if he'd fallen asleep already. Well, she might as well leave him the tray. She quietly pushed open the door and stopped dead at the sight before her.

Alphonse Elric, the boy she liked and dreamed about almost every night, had his pants around his knees and his hands around his cock. As she watched he ran his hand up and down his shaft at varying speeds, finally settling on a rhythm that seemed to satisfy him.

She shouldn't have been watching him. She should just quietly go back and shut the door and forget that she saw anything.

Part of her didn't want to move; it wanted to stay and watch. Another part of her desperately wanted to go join him. Torn by indecision she stood poised on the balls of her feet ready to make a move either way. It was then she heard it.

He was moaning *her* name.

And just like that the decision was made for her.

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Al began to suspect that something was wrong. One hand was currently engaged in stroking his manhood, okay, and his other one was resting behind his head.

So where did the one that was stroking his chest come from?

His eyes snapped open and met the grey ones of Paninya. His gasped in surprise and simultaneously scooted backwards on the bed and tried to cover himself with the sheet. The ex-thief watched his flailing limbs with a small measure of amusement.

"Paninya, what do you think you're doing?" he asked, his voice rough and low from his earlier arousal.

She looked at him and smiled shyly, her face radiating a cautious optimism. "Helping?"

Al frowned and picked at the sheet in front of him. "You shouldn't be here."

Paninya moved closer to the youngest Elric. Al squeaked and backed up until he was stopped by the headboard. "Al," she said softly. "I really like you and frankly, I'm really attracted to you." She blushed and looked down, "And judging by how you were moaning my name just now, you seem to be attracted to me too."

His face reddening, the boy looked down at his lap. He couldn't deny what she was saying, but still.... "Don't you think this is moving too fast?"

She looked up at him and smiled ruefully. "I've never really been the type to take things slow, Al. Life's too short, and I'm just too impatient."

Al scrunched the sheets in his fingers. God, how he wished to just take her up on her offer! "But-" he whispered, "What if you get pregnant?"

She gave him an odd look, and then giggled. "Al," she replied, "I wasn't suggesting we go that far." Taking his hand in hers, she rubbed his palm with her thumb. "There are other things you can do that feel just as good."

He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. "What- What kind of things?"

The handy-woman blushed and looked down at their joined hands. "Well, there's oral stuff, or dry-humping, or there's always touching..."

Al licked his lips. "Touching is good. I think I can handle touching."

Paninya nodded. She moved next to him, and wrapped her arms around his chest. She was careful to keep her heavy metal legs from laying on top of his flesh ones. "Do you think you can handle kissing too?" she asked playfully.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Al's face. "I believe I can." He dipped his head and took her lips with his.

They spent a good deal of time kissing. Al relaxed in small measures and eventually allowed his hands to roam down her sides, and front. Paninya moaned appreciatively and returned the favor by running her hands down his stomach and thighs. She squeezed Al's rear, inordinately pleased at the surprised squeak he made when she did so.

Soon Paninya felt something poking her in the stomach. Her hand hovered over the edge of the sheet that preserved the alchemist's modesty. She looked up at him for confirmation. He took a deep breath and slowly nodded. The girl rested her hand on the sheet for a moment more, but then gave a quick flick downward, leaving him exposed.

The younger Elric hissed at the sudden draft on his manhood. Looking up at the girl beside him, he found her staring at his bare cock. She had an odd look on her face.

Al's body stiffened as he pondered what that look meant. There wasn't something wrong with him was there? Did she think it was horrid looking? What if she didn't want anything else to do with him?

After a few seconds she met his eyes. "It's beautiful!" she whispered wonderingly.

Feeling the tension in his shoulders release, Al chuckled. Beautiful, huh? It was not a word he would have used to describe his penis, but if she wanted to use it he wasn't going to stop her. "Have you ever seen a man naked before?"

A grimace passed over her features. She sighed. "Once before I have. It was when I walked in on Mr. Garfiel and his boyfriend." The look of horror on Al's face told her he understood. "Yeah, it's not really a pleasant memory." She smiled then. "But I'll make sure tonight is going to be a very pleasant memory. For both of us."

She looked down at his cock again. Al was startled by what he read in her eyes. It almost seemed like... hunger? A surge of heat rushed through him at that thought, and a second soon followed as he felt a feather light touch run down his shaft.

Taking a chance, she wrapped her hand around him and gave a tentative stroke. He moaned and thrust his hips up into her hand. "This is okay then?" she asked.

Oh, it was okay all right. Very VERY okay. Al nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment.

Pleased with his mute response, she sped up her attentions, eventually finding a steady rhythm he seemed to like. With her other hand she explored the surrounding area, sometimes rubbing the penis head with her thumb (which he greatly enjoyed), fondling his balls (which he found ticklish), or sometimes teasing around his rear (which drove him to make fun surprised noises).

It didn't take long before Al felt the familiar thread of fire coil tighter and tighter in the pit of his stomach. "I'm going to...." he groaned out his voice shaky.

Paninya smirked. "Good."

She switched her grip and now drug her nails lightly down his shaft with each downward stroke. That was too much for the youngest Elric. He moaned her name as he came, his release splattering against her stomach and the borrowed nightgown.

He slid down the headboard into a reclining position. He gave Paninya the most satisfied smile she'd ever seen. "Thank you," he said wearily, but happily, "That was incredible."

Delighted by her apparent success she answered, "I'm glad. I enjoyed it too."

She frowned as she looked down at the sticky mess on her clothes. "Though I could do without the mess. Hey, can I borrow one of your...." She trailed off when she noticed that Al's breathing had evened out and he had drifted off to sleep. Sighing she reached out and stroked his cheek. "You need to work on that stamina, buddy."

Finding nothing else to use and realizing it was dirty anyway, Paninya stripped off the nightgown and used it to wipe off Al's softening member. After that she wadded it up and threw it in the corner. She'd wash it tomorrow so Winry wouldn't have to deal with their mess.

Spotting the shirt he had worn earlier that day, she put it on. Somehow it just felt right to be wearing Al's clothes. She said farewell to Al's penis and assuring it she would see it again soon, she tucked it back in his pants. Then she turned out the desk light and cuddled up against Al pulling the sheet up over both of them.

The youngest Elric murmured something incoherent and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her up against him. She marveled at how well they fit together, and as a handy-woman, she knew quite a bit about how things went together.

Paninya snuggled deeper into her new boyfriend's chest, and soon fell into a contented sleep.

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The next morning, Winry huffed angrily to herself as she climbed the stairs to check into the absences of her friends. Ed had still not shown himself, and she was certain that if she checked she'd find that he'd fallen asleep again. He'd briefly woken up when she had, and had agreed to help with breakfast. However, she'd seen hide nor hair of the Fullmetal Alchemist since then.

Al hadn't put in an appearance either, but that wasn't too unusual. Many times Winry had come to wake him, only to find the younger Elric up and studying or tending to whatever injured animal he had found most recently.

No, what really concerned Winry at the moment was the fact that Paninya wasn't up. Her friend had always been an early riser, even more so then Winry herself. Often, Winry would wake up to the sound of the handy-woman's hammering off in some part of the house. But today, when she had counted on the sound of pounding nails and footsteps on the roof to wake her up, none was to be heard.

She briefly debated going and shaking Ed awake again, but decided to be merciful and wake Al up first instead. After all Ed should be tired; he had given quite the performance the night before. Winry quickly tried to suppress the blush that formed at that thought. Al certainly knew of his brother's and her, er, activities, but she still liked to keep up the pretense of modesty.

Pausing at Al's door she knocked on it softly, dislodging some of the peeling paint with her actions. After waiting a minute more she finally decided the younger Elric had had enough time to pull on some clothes if he was indecent.

"Al, breakfast will be ready in about a half an hour," she said, opening the door. "Oh and have you seen Paninya? I thought she'd be working on the roof, but..."

She was interrupted by the sight of two people fast asleep in the bed. There was the Al, yes, but he was on his side and spooning with the very girl Winry had been looking for. Winry's eyes widened, then her face softened into a smile. She knew Paninya liked Al, but she hadn't been sure if he felt the same, but apparently he did. As she watched, the tawny-haired boy nestled his nose deeper into the nape of Paninya's neck and pulled her closer to him as he did so.

The mechanic's smile widened into a smirk as she realized her friend wasn't wearing the nightgown she'd gone to bed in. In its place, the black-haired girl was clad in one of Al's shirts. Quietly Winry backed out of the room and closed the door. She padded down the hallway, lost in her own thoughts, until said thoughts were intruded upon by her newly awakened boyfriend waving his hand in front of her face.

"Hey, Win!" Ed said sarcastically, "You still asleep?"

Miffed at being interrupted, she batted away his hand. "Oh, very funny, Ed. Need I remind you that you're the one who fell asleep when you promised to help me?"

Ed laughed nervously and looked at his feet. "Uh, yeah, sorry about that."

Winry mock sighed and swatted him on the head playfully. "Yeah right. Lucky for you I haven't even started yet."

"Oh good..." the blond alchemist replied in a tone that suggested that, on the contrary, he didn't feel very lucky.

Rolling her eyes, Winry said, "You know, just for that I'm leaving you to deal with all the dairy products."

Ed groaned. "You just like torturing me don't you?" Frowning at Winry's enthusiastic nod, he decided to let it go. He'd learned early on in his life that fighting with the mechanic brought nothing but pain. Pain that usually came in the form of a wrench to the noggin. "Anyway, is Al up yet? Oh, and I went by the guest room and saw that it's empty. Is Ninya out buying supplies or something?"

The sudden smirk that appeared on her face scared Ed. Girls, and particularly Winry, didn't smirk like that without a reason. "The answer to both questions would be no," she looked back toward his brother's room, "Al's not up, and Ninya's still in the house."

Now confused and scared (never a good combination to be around Winry), Ed frowned. "What exactly do you mean?"

Winry's mouth continued to show that secretive smile. "Remember how you were worried that you'd have to have clue Al in on certain things about sex?"

Curiosity now overtaking all the other emotions, Ed nodded.

She put her hand on Ed's shoulder and steered him away from his brother's room. "Let's just say that Al found his own teacher."

Annoyed by her antics, the elder Elric took her hand off his shoulder and turned her around to face him. "Just be straight with me. What do you mean Al found his own teacher? He-" He trailed off as realization dawned. His eyes widened. "You mean.... Al and Paninya?"

The mechanic nodded happily. "Yep! I found them sleeping together in Al's bed."

Ed shook his head. "Just because they share a bed doesn't mean they-"

She cut him off mid-sentence. "She was wearing his shirt, Ed."

The former Fullmetal Alchemist was speechless. His naive baby brother would not just spend the night with a woman! "There is no way that Al would do that kind of thing though," Ed said, anger rising in his voice, "That... hussy! It must have been all her idea! She took advantage of my baby brother!"

Staring at her boyfriend in disbelief, Winry smacked him hard on the head. "Shut up, Edward!" she told him angrily, "You know Ninya would in no way press Al into doing something he didn't want to do."

"But, Al wouldn't-" he tried to protest but was again stopped by his girlfriend.

She took his hands in hers, and her voice softened, "Ed, you have to accept the fact that Al is not a child anymore. He's eighteen and he can make his own decisions now."

Ed glared at her a moment more, then relaxed and sighed. "I guess you're right. Al's an adult now. I guess part of me still thinks of him as that little kid who used to beg to share my bed the night after we saw scary movies."

Winry smiled. "Well, he has someone else to share his bed with now. As do you, I might add."

Eyebrow quirking, and amusement entering his voice, he asked, "Are you suggesting we go back to bed, Win?"

She shook her head. "No, I have a better idea." Her face lit up in a mischievous grin. "Do you think those benches around the pond you transmuted yesterday could hold our combined weight?"

A slow smile spread across Ed's face. "I'm not quite sure, but I can think of a great way to find out."

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This was written for the fma_fuh_q August challenge. I'm not entirely happy with this, but it is better then the first draft put up in that community. It would be even worse if not for my beta snakecharmerfoxx. Thanks!

This is the full version of the fic with the Ed x Winry scenes cut from the first draft. Winry is harder to write then I thought, I think I have got her down right though. She's difficult to keep separate from Hawkeye sometimes, but hopefully she has her own distinct personality in this story.

I am not forgetting one of Paninya's limbs. In the manga she only has two automail limbs (her legs) as opposed to the three in the anime.

Also, movies do exist in the manga canon. In one scene, a young Ed and Al are discussing a movie they saw (which sounds suspiciously like "The Fly") and movies are also mentioned in the Official Manga Profiles book. There are no theatres in Rizembol, however. Instead a man with a projecter comes along every so often.

A note on eye color - I went with what I could figure out from screenshots of the anime for Paninya and Al's eye colors despite the fact that this is a mangaverse story. Please excuse any inaccuracies that result because of this.

Thanks to the creators and crew of the anime and manga.
Thanks to my husband who is thankfully more understanding this time around.
Thanks to my beta reader snakecharmerfoxx.
Thanks to those who leave feedback or review.

And thanks to you for reading.

-- Anne Packrat (September 6, 2006)