An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
summary: In which Ed finds that he has a bit of trouble falling asleep, and Winry is there to help, as always. [for @503week day 5 - sun/moon. special thanks to @x-rainflame-x for the encouragement!! <3] tags: fullmetal alchemist: parenthood (woes), that’s it that’s the fic lmao, hurt/comfort, light angst, fluff 2271 words | one-shot
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Edward Elric & Winry Rockbell
Summary:
It's been only two months since they came home, to Resembool, to her. But she already knows, without having a single conversation about it, that Edward still thinks about the Promise Day, about Alphonse's armor, about his alchemy. She wants to talk to him, to hear him, to hold his heart while he speaks, but Edward–he's not good at that.
Or:
Ed and Winry having an emotional talk at dawn.
EXCUSE ME AM I TOO LATE FOR THAT 503 THING? Guys, I literally birthed this one shot between midnight and six a.m (thank you insomnia), so could it be better? Yes. Did I write the Xerxes AU I wanted for 503 Week? No. Did I do my best? Also yes.
I cannot possible love these two less and I really didn't want to miss 503 Day, so here we go!
Edward, an angst-ridden teenage daredevil, has it rough. Practically living on the streets, constantly worrying about his younger brother, and always looking over his shoulder has hardened him, giving him a reputation on the streets of Central City. Though, in truth, his bark is worse than his bite—something Winry finds out when a search for a rare car part lands her in the middle of illegal street racing. One look at the innocent blonde mechanic standing alone among the loud voices, revving engines, and squealing breaks, in a haze of exhaust and cigarette smoke has Ed ready to throw himself at her feet. But his sins are piling up, and he knows better than to try to involve an adorable auto shop princess in his mess. But Winry has secrets of her own, and despite all of his efforts, she’s impossible to resist.
A/N: It's finally here! FMA Big Bang!! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I'm super grateful to @ayanthos for her AMAZING art contribution to this collab! I hope you all enjoy it! Let me know in the comments, and please check out the other works from this event!! @fmabigbangs
ffn || ao3 || tag
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Winry
Glancing at the GPS on my phone, I stop walking and look at the street sign. I lean forward a little, my feet shifting on the sidewalk, and glance down the dark alley. A shiver runs down my spine, but I take a deep breath. I bite my lip and look at the time. Past midnight. This is a reckless idea… but I can’t go home now, not when I’ve come this far.
“Okay,” I concede softly to myself, trying to calm my nerves. “I mean, this is where it says to turn.”
I step off the main road into the shadows, pulling my jacket closer to me. I hear something scurrying to my right, and I start to walk faster. Gripping my phone tight in my pocket, I continue to follow the twists and turns it gives me until I turn left onto Cardinal Street, which actually looks almost habitable, and hear engines revving nearby.
As I get closer, the blind panic starts to dissipate, only to be replaced by a new kind of anxiety.
“Paninya, what have you gotten me into?” I mutter to myself as I turn the last corner and—
Choke.
I’m suddenly lost in a haze of cigarette smoke. Coughing, I stumble to the side, only to find a tall, angry person, who pushes me away.
“Sorry,” I sputter.
Crap. This is not going well. I move away, and wave my hands around my face. The air clears enough to give me a decent view of the stretch of crowded road in the hazy streetlights.
Yep. This is definitely the place. Sinners’ Lane. (That’s not the official name of course, but…it might as well be.)
To my right, loud bass music thumps out of various car speakers. On top of those cars are couples in various positions of…intimacy. I feel a blush spread down my neck, and I turn the other way. To my left are the angry smoking guy and some other guys who are also smoking and look just as angry, though some of them seem to be holding cigarettes while some are holding what I can only assume are joints. Past them are clusters of girls dressed…scantily. Not necessarily distastefully, though, I just don’t think I’d ever be able to pull off a look like that. I squint at them… Is that a shirt or a bra?
The loud sound of an engine revving makes me jerk. I look past the girls to the main attraction.
A street race.
Two rumbling sports cars inch forward until they’re waved at to stop at the makeshift starting line. I see the two drivers throwing up rude hand gestures to each other, and one says something that makes the other one jerk his neck and rev his engine.
“Remember,” a spiky-haired guy wearing a fur-collar vest calls out, as he walks in between the cars. “It’s the first one to the second stop sign. Winner take all. Anything goes.”
He slaps his hands on the hoods of both cars and spins around, facing the drivers.
“You can go when my lady, Lust, gives you the signal. Good luck!”
He walks off to the side, and a lady with hair down to her knees walks out in his place. Her hips sway in ways that shouldn’t even be possible, and the way her chest is contained in that strapless dress defies the laws of gravity and…other physics.
“Play nice, boys,” she calls seductively, and the guys in the surrounding crowd whoop and whistle.
Then she whips out a green flag from…somewhere and the two cars fly past her. I barely have time to turn my head before they’ve roared by, heading for the end of the street. The Dodge wins by a split second. They slow and turn down opposite side streets, and I can only assume they’re driving back around to settle things.
But I didn’t really come here to watch. I’m on a mission.
“So…” I whisper under my breath. “If I were selling car parts to these guys, where would I be…”
I scan the street again, and…honestly, I have no clue. Looking back at the starting line, two new cars are setting up to go. The guy with the leather and fur looks like he’s in charge. I guess maybe he can help me.
Moving through the crowd, I inch past different groups of people, trying not to make eye contact with anyone, until I’m fairly close to where the guy was standing during the last race.
A loud bang! catches me off guard, and I jump. I look toward the sound to see the boss guy holding one of the potential racers by the front of his shirt. He’s got him pulled halfway out of his driver’s side window, and they’re practically nose to nose.
I feel my throat lock up as cold races down my spine.
“Don’t you ever try to short me again, little punk.”
“I’m s-sorry, Mr. Greed, sir,” the driver whimpers. “I swear, it’ll never happen again.”
“Damn right it won’t,” the boss guy snarls, “or you know what’ll happen.”
The driver visibly swallows, and I can almost see his fear like an aura surrounding him.
“Good.” The boss sets him down in his car and pats his shoulder. “Glad we understand each other.”
When he moves away, he turns toward me, and I freeze when his eyes meet mine. Or rather, his circle sunglasses. Who the hell wears circle sunglasses at night? Or at all?
He grins at me, and I take a step back, stumbling into someone.
“Hey! Watch it!”
I turn around and duck my head. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you.”
“Oh really?” a sarcastic voice snaps back. “Is that some sort of short joke!”
“What?” I blink and look up at the guy talking.
He’s a very angry blonde guy wearing a red leather jacket, black leather pants, and black combat boots. The leather gloves are a nice touch. His hair is tied up in a ponytail except for his bangs that fall in his eyes. Honestly, he’d be kind of cute if he weren’t vibrating with rage.
“You trying to say I’m some kind of pipsqueak!?”
“N-no,” I say softly, confusion muddling my brain. I mean, he’s taller than me—only by a few inches, but still. Plus, I don’t even know him. “I j-just…”
“You are a pipsqueak, Elric.” A guy with a dog collar walks up and throws his arm around him.
“WHAT?” Blonde Guy twists violently out of the guy’s embrace, looking murderous. “Get your hands off me, Dolcetto!”
“Give the girl a break, kid. She’s clearly lost.”
Oh no. Is it that obvious I don’t belong here?
“I’m not lost,” I protest, but my voice wavers, and I know I’m blushing.
The blonde guy looks at me again, and his face loses some of its anger. And I was right. He is kind of cute.
“No, seriously, what are you doing here, princess?” he asks, crossing his arms. “Aside from assaulting the locals.”
“Don’t call me ‘princess,” I snarl, “and I wasn’t assaulting–”
“Giving our guest a hard time, Edward?”
I feel a shadow fall over me, and I shiver at the smooth voice behind me.
“What? No. I was just talking to–”
The shadow moves closer, and the blonde guy drops his arms, his hands clenching into fists. I catch his eye, and it’s like I can hear him telling me to run for it. But I can’t move. There’s a moment of deafening noise as the cars behind us take off, and then the voice speaks again.
“Did you need something, Miss?”
Slowly, I turn to face him, the guy with the circle sunglasses, the one who is way scarier than I first realized.
“Um, n-no. I was just… I was just–”
“Are you cold?” he offers gently, his current demeanor nothing like the guy who threatened the driver a few seconds ago. “I can get you something warm to drink. My name is Greed. I’m sort of the boss around here.”
“No.” I shake my head, hugging myself tighter. “No, thank you, Mr.…Greed.”
I might be shivering, but it’s not from the cold.
“Just Greed is fine.”
“Oh, okay. Um. Actually, I was hoping to find someone who sells rare engine parts,” I tell him in a rush before softly adding, “I’m a mechanic.”
“Oh, a mechanic?” He grins broadly and holds out his arm, his other sliding around my shoulder. “Why didn’t you say so?”
He starts pulling me down the street, and I feel panic flood my veins.
“I know just the person to help you with–”
“I can help you.”
I jerk my head toward the voice only to find the blonde guy—Edward, I guess—watching us intently. I plead to him with my eyes to save me. I’m not sure if he’s really any more trustworthy than Greed, but something about him feels…safe.
Or safer, I guess.
“It’s no trouble, Elric,” Greed tells him, his voice thinning slightly. “I can take care of Miss…”
“Rockbell,” I supply without thinking.
I immediately want to rip my tongue out when I see Edward wince. I’m so dumb. Obviously, I shouldn’t tell any of these people my name.
“Miss Rockbell,” Greed finishes, his voice clearly sugar-coated now.
“But aren’t you busy with the races?” Edward cuts in quickly.
“Dolcetto and Martel–”
“I just saw three half-drunk guys with a ‘Vette pull up in the back. They look like the usual trust funders and ripe for the picking.”
“A ‘Vette you say?” Greed’s tune changes sharply. “Hmm. Still…Dolcetto and Martel should be able to handle a few–”
“And you know I know all the best dealers on this block,” Edward jumps in again. “It would make more sense for me to take her.”
Greed releases me slowly and looks between me and Edward before nodding.
“Aha. I think I see what’s going on here.” He grins again and waves me toward the blonde boy. “Go ahead, Elric. Show her the, uh, dealers. Just make sure you wrap up first.”
I blink at him confused before Edward mutters some profanity under his breath and shoves his gloved fingers through his bangs.
Did I say he was cute? Because he’s not. I’m not sure what happened, but all of the sudden, he turned…hot. Like really hot.
Oh my God. I don’t have time to be thinking about that right now.
Greed saunters off wearing a smirk, and I take a step toward my attractive would-be savior.
At least, I hope.
Edward
Shit. How did I end up here?
Not racing, like I want to be, but instead staring at a perfect blonde princess that Greed basically just told me to go fuck in an alley somewhere.
“What was he talking about?” she asks quietly.
“Huh?”
“What he said just now—Greed. What did he mean?”
I blink at her, and glance away in bewilderment, before looking back.
“What exactly are you referring to?” I return slowly, hoping her question doesn’t mean what I think it meant.
“About you ‘wrapping up first?’ What does that have to do with auto part dealers?”
I press my lips together, and reach up to rub the back of my neck. I mean, did she really not get he was referring to use having sex? Fuck. She really wound up in the wrong place tonight.
“Nothing,” I mutter when I realize she’s still waiting on an answer. “Just, um…ignore that.”
“Oh. Okay.” She nods, not quite meeting my eyes. “So, you were going to show me where to get engine parts?”
“Yeah. Follow me.”
I turn around and start down the sidewalk. I figure I’ll start with Donovan. If he doesn’t have what she needs, he’ll know who does. I pause at the corner of the alley and look over my shoulder, only the princess isn’t there.
“What the hell?” I hiss. “Where did she go?”
Weaving back through the crowd, I find her where I left her, shivering and looking around wildly.
“I told you to follow me,” I growl, grabbing her hand.
“What?” she gasps. “Oh!”
I pull her out of the way of some stumbling drunken assholes, pushing her against the wall and shielding her with my body.
“You okay?”
She licks her lips and looks anywhere but at my face.
“I’m fine,” she whispers finally, and it’s hard to ignore her flushed cheeks. “I didn’t see where you went, and I…”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I step back when they’ve moved off down the sidewalk and start to pull her after me again.
“Hey, Edward?” she calls, practically jogging to keep up with me.
“Yeah?”
“Is your hand, um, automail?”
I freeze mid-step and round on her again. “What of it? Is that a problem for you?”
“No,” she glares, and I’m almost surprised. The princess has more guts than I realized. “I was just curious. You don’t have to be a jerk about it.”
I wince, and then shake my head. I don’t have time to feel sorry for hurting some random girl’s feelings.
“Come on. I thought you needed auto parts.”
Without waiting for her to answer, I grab her hand again and take off. We reach Donovan’s without any more interruptions, but his lights are off, so I stop at the bottom of the stairs and tell her to wait while I go knock.
She nods, and I go up slowly, knocking on the cracked doorframe three times, and waiting. I hear the sound of bolts sliding back, and finally, the door cracks a few millimeters.
“Who is it?” a low voice asks.
“Tell Donovan it’s me,” I answer, leaning on the frame.
“Elric? I thought he told you to piss off. He won’t do business with the Devil’s Nesters anymore.”
“I’m not here for them,” I say quickly before the door shuts. “I have a new buyer looking for engine parts.”
“Name?”
“Rockbell.”
I hear the princess gasp, and I wave at her to shut up.
“Wait here.”
I sigh as the door clicks shut. After a few seconds, I jump over the stairs onto the street, landing in a crouch in front of the girl. She flinches in surprise, and I laugh silently.
“Don’t scare me like that,” she hisses. “What did he say?”
“I’m waiting to see. If Donovan will see you, you’ll probably find what you need.”
“Oh. Good.”
“You said your name was Rockbell?” I turn to her, and she tucks her hair behind her ear.
I instantly notice a string of piercings along the delicate curve. I’m tempted to touch them.
“Yes.” She nods.
“Is there a first name to go with that?”
“Well… I mean…”
“You know mine,” I remind her. “And if you don’t tell me, I’m going to have to keep calling you, ‘princess,’ all night.”
“Winry,” she tells me with a huff. “I’m Winry.”
“See, that wasn’t so hard.”
She opens her mouth to say something I can only expect will be sassy when the door opens and Donovan’s huge frame fills the entry.
“Come in, and make it quick.”
I lead us in, and he locks the door immediately. Winry stares at the five deadbolts and two chains with wide eyes, and I bite my lip. She’s fucking adorable.
“Don’t panic,” I say, as she squeezes my automail tighter. “He’s just paranoid.”
“I think you mean cautious,” Donovan booms as he moves past us to his living room. “Come this way.”
Winry sits close to me on the couch while Donovan takes up residence in a large chair. There’s no sign of whoever I spoke to at the door, but that’s not really a concern right now.
“What is it you need, Miss Rockbell?”
“I’m looking for this.”
She reaches into her jacket and pulls out a detailed design drawn on a thinning piece of graph paper.
Donovan takes it, and I watch his eyes squint with a frown.
“This is…hmm.” He studies the image closer. “What did you say you needed this for again?”
“I didn’t,” Winry answers softly. “But that shouldn’t matter, should it?”
She looks over at me, and I shrug one shoulder. I’m not curious about her reasons, and when I contact dealers for parts, they all know better than to ask me what I need them for. That probably has to do more with my relationship with the Devil’s Nest than my street cred, but either way.
“I suppose not,” he mutters gruffly, still scrutinizing the paper.
Eventually, he sets it down and turns to her. “That piece is very rare. Difficult to track down.”
“I know,” she murmurs. “That’s why I came here.”
“I can get it for you, but it’ll be a few days, and it won’t be cheap.”
“I can pay.”
“Edward, will you be running point on this?” Donovan looks at me before turning to Winry. “Or how should I expect to get it to you when I have it?”
“I, um…”
“I’ll take care of it,” I volunteer. “Just let me know when it’s in, and I’ll handle the exchange.”
“Fine.” The large man stands. “In total, the cost is two hundred. I require half now, and half after Ed delivers the part.”
“Two hundred cens?” her musical voice pipes up, and I shoot a look at Donavan, who is frowning deeply.
“Thousand,” I hiss at her.
“What?” she gasps.
“Two hundred thousand cens,” I clarify, hoping she catches on quickly.
“Right, um, okay.” Winry reaches into her jacket again, looking flustered. “I have… I have, um…”
Her hands are shaking as she pulls out a wrinkled envelope. I reach out and put my hand on hers, fully aware of Donovan’s eagle eyes on us.
“Do you have it?” I whisper, trying not to let her hear the dread in my voice.
Her eyes take on a sheen of tears, and I already know the answer.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!
She doesn’t have the money, and Donovan will be pissed we wasted his time. Even more pissed at me because I knew better than to bring in a buyer who couldn’t pay.
Shit.
“Is there a problem?”
“Just give us a second,” I answer without taking my eyes off of her, trying not to let her see my panic. “How much do you need?”
“Thirty thousand,” she ekes out, glancing at Donovan and then back at me. “I get paid tomorrow, and I have the rest at home, I just didn’t know I needed that much at once. I–”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll cover the difference.”
It’ll suck but it’s way worse than the alternative.
She stares at me like I’ve grown a second head, but before I overthink it, I slide three bills out of my wallet and into her envelope.
“Edward–”
“Here you go.” I grab the envelope out of her frozen fingers and stand, handing it to him.
“Excellent.”
I stand there while he counts it, and then turn to collect Winry as he leads us to the door.
“Thank you for your business, Miss Rockbell.” He shakes her small hand in his large one before turning to me. “Edward, I’ll be in touch.”
“Until then.”
We duck out, and the door closes behind us.
“Now what?” Winry asks as we walk down the steps to the abandoned sidewalk. “Do we go back to the race?”
“No. Now, I go back to the race, and you go home to your castle.”
“I don’t live in a castle–”
“You do in comparison to this shithole,” I interrupt her harshly. “But that’s not even my point. You can’t come down here again. Ever.”
“But…then how am I supposed to get the part I need?”
Not by coming to the Lane.
“I’ll bring it to you.”
Somehow. My baby’s sitting on blocks at the Devil’s Nest garage. That thirty thousand I just gave her was supposed to be the last payment I needed to finish her body work. And since I spent tonight leading Winry around, I didn’t get any racing in, so Greed won’t be inclined to give me a cut of the profits. Usually I can make at least a hundred grand on a night like this. Plus, I told Al I’d go to the grocery store this week. We need bread and milk—milk, ew, I might forgo getting any of that—and I think the toilet paper is running low.
“You have a cell phone?”
“Um, of course.”
“Give me your number.”
She freezes, and I tilt my head at her, waiting.
“You want my number? Why?”
I roll my eyes slightly and then back to her. “So I can text you when your part comes in and we can meet somewhere?”
I watch her eyes close and her face turn pink.
“Right. I’m an idiot.” She shakes her head. “Here, give me your phone, and I’ll put it in.”
“Sorry. Battery’s dead.”
She blinks as if that’s an entirely foreign concept to her, which it probably is.
“Okay, then let me write it down.”
She reaches into her jacket again, and I wait.
“Oh. I forgot. I don’t have a pen or anything.” She meets my eyes again. “Um…”
“Just tell it to me,” I say, trying not to grin. She’s too adorable to be real.
“What?”
“Your number. Just tell me. I’ll remember it.”
“Are you sure? I bet I can, um–”
“You’re not going to find a pen around here if that’s what you were about to say. Seriously, just tell me the number.”
She exhales, and I’m temporarily stunned by the way her lips part.
“Okay then.”
She says it slowly, and then repeats it, giving me time to commit each digit to memory. After, I echo it back to her, just to be sure.
“Yeah. That’s it.”
“Excellent. I’ll text you when I have it.”
“Should you give me your number, so I know it’s you?”
“Will you remember it?”
She rolls her eyes, and I bite my cheek, so I won’t smile at her. Fuck, this girl is dangerous to my reputation. If Greed caught me smiling at a girl, he’d own me for life.
“I have my phone right here.” She pulls it out of her pocket and holds it out to me. “You can just save your number right now.”
I could, but…where’s the fun in that?
“That’s okay.” I wave her off. “Trust me, you’ll know it’s me.”
“For some reason, I don’t doubt that,” she mumbles. “Well, I guess this is goodbye then.”
“Do you know how to get home?”
She holds up her fancy cell phone. “It has GPS, so I think I’ll be okay.”
“Right.” I glance over my shoulder and then back at her. “Listen, go straight home. Don’t follow me back toward the race, and don’t wander around. Walk fast and try to stay in better lit areas if you can. This area isn’t safe, especially for pretty girls on their own.”
God, it’s a miracle she even made it here, now that I think about it. Especially with that huge amount of cash in her purse.
“You think I’m pretty?”
“What?” I frown at her. “No.”
She raises her eyebrows, and my hands clench into fists.
“You’re completely missing my point,” I growl. “This area is dangerous.”
“I can take care of myself.”
She tosses her head, and I feel some of my irritation fade. She is just so damn cute. And that’s the problem.
“Somehow, I don’t doubt that,” I confess gently, “but all the same you need to be careful.”
“I could text you when I get home,” she suggests jokingly, “but you’d have to give me your number for that.”
I’m half-tempted to take her up on it, but the last thing my piece-of-shit phone needs are texts from a girl to kill its crappy battery even faster. Fuck, I need to put a new phone on my list of Shit I Need But Can’t Afford.
“That’s okay. As long as you go straight there you should be fine.” I slide my hands into my jacket pockets and start toward the race.
“Okay. Bye.”
I nod at her over my shoulder just in time to see her turn around and start typing into her phone. I shake my head and take a left down the alley. When I make it back to Dolcetto, I feel a surge of guilt.
What if she gets lost? Or mugged? Or worse.
A sickening feeling spreads through my stomach, and I start to turn back.
“Edward, what happened to your pretty new friend?” I groan internally at Greed’s voice. “Did you two get the part she needed?”
“Yes,” I answer flatly, turning to face him.
“And did you get what you needed?”
“I didn’t fuck her, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Ah, but you wanted to.”
My jaw pops, and I tilt my head back to glare at him. He doesn’t need to know he’s a tiny bit right.
“There’s no point in denying it,” Solaris, or Lust, I guess, since we’re in public, sidles up to him, and slides under his arm. “I could practically smell the desire rolling off of you.”
“Leave her alone,” I snap. “Besides, it’s not like she’s coming back anyway.”
“Ouch.” Greed fakes a wince. “You struck out that bad?”
“Aw, let him be, Greed,” Lust smirks at me, resting her cheek against Greed’s fur collar. “Can’t you see he’s trying to be a gentleman?”
“Elric? A gentleman,” he scoffs with laughter. “Please.”
“Look, you made his face all red,” Lust purrs.
“I’m pretty sure I can find something better to be doing right now,” I mutter, turning away.
“Wait, Elric,” Greed calls me back, and I sigh because as much as I’m ready to get out of here, he’s sort of someone I can’t ignore.
“What now?”
“Tomorrow I expect you to actually race something. As short-fused as you are, you’re the best driver I can put behind a wheel. Tomorrow is the start of winter break for Central U, so I expect more of a turnout than tonight. Don’t miss it.”
I open my mouth to tell him I’m supposed to close tomorrow at the butcher shop where I work part time, but then I shut it. If I tell Sig I need to take off early to go to the grocery store, he’ll probably let me, even though he’ll also probably know I’m lying. Still, it should be fine unless his wife is around. I can never get a lie past her.
But I can’t worry about that right now.
“I’ll be here.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Greed grins. “Now, go home to that brother of yours and get some sleep.”
He turns away, and I feel like I can breathe again. Getting mixed up with the Devil’s Nest was never something I planned on doing, but when you grow up on these streets you don’t have a lot of options. Still, I can hold my own better than most, and generally, I just keep my head down and do what I have to.
Someday, I’ll get out of here, and I’ll take Al with me. Until then, I just have to stay focused.
thanks tas 😘 i appreciate the change of pace with this ship!
"What's with all the questions?" Edward asked, his voice rising as his frustration increased too. Why couldn't she just leave him be? "What are you? A detective?" Edward snarked.
He shouldn't have opened his mouth. Winry's mouth narrowed into a thin line and her eyes formed a glare. Edward gulped and felt an overwhelmingly urge to cower away.
His wife could be scary sometimes.
She jerked his automail leg up into the stool. He lost his balance for a second, his arms flailing out to grab the armrests so he could stay upright.
"I am when it comes to your welfare," she snapped.
Edward froze for a second. When he was younger and still in the military he had kept things from Winry, but only so she didn't worry. He'd made good on his promise, that the next time she'd cry because of him, she'd be happy. But now… Was he still doing it?
Looking at the concerned frown on Winry's face as she worked, Edward found his answer.
"I didn't mean to hide it," he stated after a tense, quiet moment. "I didn't even think."
Winry's shoulders relaxed and she paused in her work. When her face turned upwards, there was a small smile on her face, but there was a hint of sadness there too.
"I know," she murmured. Her touch was gentler this time. Her fingers were nimble as they moved around the metal and the wiring.
It fascinated Ed to watch her work. It relaxed him. Ed put it down to her always being a constant in his life. She was home. Always had been, especially when he and Al were out travelling. She was safety and security - provided by her magic hands that had crafted his automail to both literally and figuratively put him back on his feet.
He placed his hands over hers, removing them from his leg.
"What -?"
Ed stood, lifting her to a standing position as well. He hopped on his good leg so he could become steadier. Without prompt, Winry's hands grasped his waist and held him tight.
Who was he kidding? He'd never fall with her by his side.
"I love you. And I'm sorry."
Winry smiled lovingly up at him. "I love you too. Just… be more careful next time."
"I'm always careful."
Winry snorted. "If you were, I wouldn't need to remind you."
Winry, whenever Ed had his "rare" growth spurts, had to measure his biceps and leg anew to adjust his automail.
Cue awkward teenage Edwin moments.
"H-hey, what are you-" Winry stubornly refused to look at the nervous boy, forcing her full attention on correctly measuring the muscle lining his human arm.
"Stop flexing Ed! I can't take your measurements properly if you keep tightening your arm like that!" Winry shot him a dark look and Ed stiffened.
"....I'm not flexing..."
Winry paused, cheeks coloring darkly and before another thought entered Ed's mind, she socked him with her wrench.
Making sure he was knocked out like a light, Winry sighed heavily and wrapped the measuring tape around the impressively tough muscle he'd built up on his travels ever since the last time she saw him a few months ago, "Idiot...just what do they do on their travels? Fight with bears? How did he get this muscle?" Winry muttered quietly under her breath, far too aware of the warmth of his skin and the warmth in her cheeks.
-----------------------
"Okay Ed, I need to take your measurements." Winry already held the measuring tape and notepad in her hands, turning around to face the 18-year old sitting on her bed, eating an apple (wait, was that her apple?)
Ed munched silently on the juicy fruit, "Alright." sinking his teeth into it, Ed held it in his mouth and pulled his long sleeved sweater off so Winry could properly measure him.
Her breath hitched and Winry suddenly felt like her room turned into a hotspring, watching how Edward took off his sweater and revealed his torso, covered by his black undershirt, which couldn't hide the defining muscles beneath.
The mechanic shook her head and kneeled down on the ground in front of him, setting her notepad next to his legs and taking a hold of the measuring tape, waiting until Ed took another bite out of his apple before she moved toward his arm, "You're such a glutton, that was my apple, you know."
He pouted like a child, "I was hungry..." the mechanic sighed before she wrapped the tape around his upper arm.
....When had been his last measuring appointment? She could've sworn the larger numbers on the measuring tape came nowhere near his original measurements. She scrunitized his bulging bicep and Ed paused in his eating to raise an eyebrow, "What? Is it a bug? Is there an ugly scar?" Ed's own eyes strayed to his bare skin, roving over his entire arm but finding nothing wrong.
Winry froze and quickly scribbled down the new number, "N-nothing, just thought I read the numbers wrong." she didn't dare look at his face.
Ed smirked, munching on his half eaten apple, "Heh, maybe you're growing ol-ouch!" He reflexively drew back when the dreaded wrench was within view (and reach) of him without actually feeling the demonic tool on his skin.
Winry rolled her eyes exasperatedly, "You're such a baby."
Ed scoffed, "Hah! As if! This thing used to give me brain damage before!"
Winry smirked, "As if your brain could get damaged anymore than it already is."
She was giggling the entire time Ed went on a rant about how she would grow old and grey and end up a nasty grumpy woman like Pinako.
Title: Looks
Author: theothardus
Pairing: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Rating: T
Summary: Just a little fluffpiece of pre-relationship, post Promised Day Ed and Winry.
(There was Winry, sitting on a couch between two farmer boys. Something about that sight turned his stomach.)
