Rated T for swearing a mild sexual themes.
The warm air threatened to suffocate Edward as he lay on the bed in the Rockbell infirmary room, head resting on his sweaty arm. He stayed perfectly still, despite feeling restless, and watched a black fly buzz around the ceiling in lazy circles. He was trying hard to pretend it was more interesting to him than the mechanic who was currently working on his automail leg.
Though it was easy enough for Edward to avoid looking at her, it was still impossible to ignore her presence entirely: her long blond hair tickled the bare skin of his flesh leg, and he could hear her muttering various things under her breath as she worked. As he listened, he was surprised to hear that it involved a multitude of colourful swear words. Winry cursing in front of him was nothing new, but doing so while working on his automail was rare.
She was making it really fucking hard for him not to laugh.
For once, Winry Rockbell, Automail Engineer Extraordinaire, was not swearing at him for wrecking her precious automail for the millionth time. Nope. She was angry at herself, because for once it was her fault it was broken and it was taking all of Edward's willpower not to gloat right now. There was no way being a dick about it would end well for him right now. But damn was he tempted.
"Aw shit!" Winry swore again as her hand suddenly slipped and Edward jerked upwards.
"Ow! Watch it, Winry!" he shouted.
"I'm sorry!" She was breathing heavily through her nose, staring down at the automail as though she could barely see it. He saw her hand tremble as she brought her adapter back down to the bolt she had just been working on.
Shaking hands weren't normal for Winry when she worked. Edward had been a patient of hers long enough to know that. He reached forward and grabbed her hand before it could touch his leg again.
"Oh no you don't!" he said, pulling her hand back before it could inflict more pain on him. "Not until you calm down."
Winry didn't look too happy about that. "I am calm, Edward!" she snapped. "And this needs to be fixed now!" she insisted. "I'm almost done – I just need to – "
"Look how badly you're shaking!" Edward exclaimed, letting go of her hand and hoping she wouldn't try to ignore it. She could be stubborn like that.
"I – " Winry's hand faltered as it neared his leg again. Then she dropped the adapter on the bed and bowed her head. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be."
She turned so that she could glare at him. "Don't be stupid! This is the worst thing I've ever done. I can't believe I broke my own work. I should be ashamed to call myself automail mechanic!"
Edward rolled his eyes and slumped over his knees. "Stop being so dramatic."
Winry's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You think this is funny, don't you?!"
"Yes," Edward said truthfully.
"No!"
"It's fucking hilarious, Winry."
She huffed and turned away from him, crossing her arms as she did so. "You were the one who thought it was a good idea to sit on the porch railing."
"Ha! Don't try to pin this on me! You didn't have to join me on it. And you didn't have to push me off of it and break my automail. Hypocrite."
"I – " she faltered and bit her lip. Shit – she wasn't going to cry over this was she!? Edward reached out and grabbed her shoulder hoping he could figure out a way to stop it from happening before it was too late. No tears fell however, and Winry's voice didn't falter when she spoke, though it was quiet.
"You're really not mad?" she asked.
Edward shook his head incredulously. "Of course not! You just popped out a spring. I've been through worse. Geeze, leave it to an automail freak to overreact - "
"Nothing works properly without that spring! If you ever bothered to educate yourself on the intricacies of this leg then you'd know – " and then Winry stopped and sighed. "Forget it. And anyways, I wouldn't expect you to be mad at me breaking my automail," she exhaled again, and her eyes flickered down to the bed beside her. Her fingers rubbed the edge of her wrench nervously.
"Well good, 'cause I'd never be mad at you for that. Stop being stupid."
She still refused to look at him, so Edward sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. He reached over and touched the bottom of her chin, putting the slightest bit of pressure on her so that her head tilted over to him.
"I get why you pushed me off. It's fine."
Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. She snapped her head back down.
"Granny would have seen," she explained to the bed sheets. "It wasn't because of you. I – I heard her voice and I panicked." She took a deep breath. "I just wasn't ready for her to find out, okay? And not like that. And what if - "
Edward could feel his face heating up as she continued to blabber on about the billion things she had been worrying about since they had first kissed. He cut her off.
"I know. Hell, you think I wanted her to find out like that?!" Ed shook her head at her. "Ha! I don't know what would be worse – her kicking me out of the house, or her mercilessly teasing me."
"Now you're being stupid. She'd never kick you out of the house."
"Yeah, I know."
Winry exhaled and then finally turned to look at him. "I didn't mean for you to fall off anyway."
"I know!" Edward said, getting so impatient with her he spouted off his next words without thinking. "So just hurry up and calm down so you finish my damn leg and we can get back to it!"
Fuck. He'd really just said that, didn't he? He needed to be more careful – these embarrassing slip ups were becoming an annoyingly common occurrence lately. He gulped, not quite sure what her reaction would be.
The sight of the growing pink on Winry's cheeks made him feel a bit better, though his stomach still felt like there was a knot in it. Her eyes widened and she gripped the edges of her toolbox, but when she spoke it was all back to business. "Stop being so impatient!" she scolded. "It'll be done when it's done. I need to do the best job I can do!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said as casually as he could, hoping he they could both just brush off the words he'd unthinkingly shouted off. He leaned back down on the bed, arms folded beneath his head. The fly on the ceiling was gone. There was nothing left up there to distract himself with. His mind wandered and he quickly tried to get some chemical formulas into his head before he had a chance to make this situation worse.
Winry resumed the work on his leg without another word. She was considerably calmer, working without a single tremor in her hands and the muttered swearing had ceased entirely. She had told the truth earlier when she said she had almost been finished. Edward barely had enough time to get bored of the ceiling when she reconnected the nerves and gave it a final wipe down.
"All done! See? No need to be impatient! I told you it'd be quick!" Winry said smugly. She leaned back, admiring her work for a second before turning away to clean her oily hands with a cloth.
"Yeah yeah," he said, sitting back up and wiggling his metal toes to make sure everything felt right again although it was more habit than anything. Winry always did the job properly. The way she knew her way around automail never ceased to amaze him. "Thanks," he said sincerely, giving her a smile. His stomach did a back flip when she grinned back at him.
They stared at each other for a few seconds, the room so quiet Edward could hear the soft ticking of the clock in the corner.
Then suddenly Winry pounced. She was on him in a second flat, lips pressed up against his, arms tightly around him.
It was like they had never heard Granny's voice too close for comfort back when they were on the porch, and this time there was no need to worry about balancing on a thin railing. Initially too shocked to do anything, Edward let Winry push him onto his back and straddle him at his waist. Her hands moved everywhere, and his couldn't decide if his wanted to be on her boobs or her butt so they ended moving in a confused fashion up and down her body.
She grinded against him with her hips and he groaned. Her weight felt so good on top of him.
"Winry – " he tried to mumble through her kisses, but she was too busy to hear. He tightened his grip on her butt and sat up suddenly, forcing her back.
She continued kissing him as if they hadn't moved, and Edward struggled to keep up. He felt Winry tugging at the bottom of his shirt and he let her pull it clumsily over his head.
"Hey now that's not fair," he said, kissing her on the lips in between words. "Now I'm almost naked and you're fully dressed?"
He had been half-joking, and had to hold back his surprise when Winry said breathlessly, "What's stopping you?" Edward didn't need much more encouragement than that to remove her oil stained tank top.
She was right - there was nothing stopping him, because the fact that Pinako was still residing inside the house had because such an unimportant detail to him now that it didn't even register in his mind. Winry had clearly forgotten about it as well, because she didn't make any move to stop him when he started to struggle with the hook on her bra.
And so neither of them heard Pinako calling them this time.
They didn't hear the workshop door opening either.
What they did hear was a very recognizable gasp "oh!", and a door slamming shut with enough force to shake the room.
Both of their heads snapped away from each other towards the door in horror. Edward's mouth dropped open, and the realization of what had just happened was enough to bring him back down to earth where his head could think clearly.
"Oh fuck," he said, while Winry buried her face in her hands.
"Oh no," she squeaked. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh –"
"Shut it!" Edward snapped, pushing her away and standing up. His flesh leg wobbled as he straightened, and he tried to ignore it. Reaching over, he snatched up his shirt again and pulled it back over his head. Winry quickly did the same with her tank top. Edward was suddenly very thankful he was still at absolute failure at removing her bra.
"You're going to have to help me pack," he said matter-of-factly. It was the only answer, after all. "I need to get out of here before I get murdered."
"Before you get murdered," Winry snapped back angrily. "You know how frowned upon it is for an automail mechanic be found in that kind of situation with one of their patients?!" She looked mortified, eyes wide while she clutched at her hair.
Edward stared at her incredulously. "What?! That's what you're worried about?!" Jesus, she was more worried about professionalism on the job?! "Do you know how frowned upon it is for me to be found in that kind of situation with the granddaughter of Pinako Rockbell?!" He shoved his foot into a leg of his jeans and almost fell over in his haste. "She trusted me. She let me into her house, fed me, no questions asked, and this is how I repay her?! Hell, I don't even think I have time to pack!"
"Don't you dare run off!" Winry warned. "The solution is simple - we just have to lock ourselves in here and never come out. Granny won't ever want to see our faces again, so I think we can get away with it."
Edward gaped at her with an open mouth, while Winry looked back at him determined, hands on her hips. Silence fell over them for a few seconds and then –
Edward started to snicker, and one look at him was enough to make Winry dissolve into a fit of giggles. They both clutched at their stomachs in mirth, trying to stay quiet. Edward could feel tears leaking out the corner of his eyes. Yup, they had lost their minds.
Edward didn't know how much time had passed before they had gained control back over themselves. But when they sobered up, all temporary amusement was gone. He would have to face Pinako again, whether he liked it or not, and just the thought was making him want to puke.
The two took their time hesitating before leaving the room. Winry fussed over her dishevelled hair in a small pocket mirror that she normally used when she needed another angle to observe when working on automail, while Ed checked and rechecked that his fly was done up and his belt was secured properly.
"Ready?" he asked, when the two had finished making their appearance an innocent as possible. Winry gave him a small nod, though she bit her lip, and Edward placed his hand on the doorknob.
"Ready," she said.
xxx
It definitely qualified for the one of the most awkward dinners Edward had ever had in his life. It turned out the reason Pinako had entered Winry's office in the first place was because she wanted to kindly inform the two of the them that the stew she had made for dinner was ready. It was cold by the time him and Winry made it into the kitchen.
Edward had made it a point to sit as far away from Winry as possible, which meant sitting next to Al and opposite Pinako. He spent the entire dinner with his eyes on the stew, which looked so unappetizing at the moment he couldn't bring himself to do much more than stir it around with his spoon.
Al had noticed the odd tension between the three of them from the start, and had tried to break the awkward silence a few times, bringing up his research into Alkahestry and how Mei was doing back in Xing. Edward normally found the topics pretty interesting, but tonight he didn't seem to be able to add anything more to the conversation than a quick nod and 'oh yeah? Cool' every once in a while. Al gave up long before dessert, and shot Edward a look afterwards that said quite plainly: "you'll tell me what the hell's going on before the night is over so help me god or I will bring home every cute animal I see within five kilometres".
Edward glared back at him, but did not follow his brother out of the kitchen. He stayed behind to do dishes, hoping that maybe a small act of kindness would placate Pinako long enough for him to get a good head start. Winry had hurried off to her office again, muttering something about putting together an elbow joint for a new customer.
Pinako stayed behind in the kitchen to make some tea for herself and for a while the two of them enjoyed the silence. Edward hoped it would stay that way until he could escape into his room, but he had never been that lucky.
"The garbage needs taking out too," Pinako finally said while Edward put the last dried dish away. "And when you're done that I need you to chop some firewood. It's getting cold in here fast."
That old hag. Edward knew exactly what she was doing. So he was going to become her own personal slave from now on, eh? As if doing everything on Winry's chores list wasn't enough for him. Fuck that.
He opened his mouth, creative insults and refusals running through his head, trying to decide which was the best. But then he turned around and saw her face, and he found he could do nothing but stare at her open-mouthed.
There was nothing he could do. He was helpless. And Pinako goddamn knew it.
"Anything else?" he asked irritably, not liking the smug smirk plastered on her wrinkly old face.
Pinako took one last sip of her tea before standing up. She smiled at him before placing it in the sink. "Just one last dish if you don't mind," she said, before walking past him towards the door. She paused just before she reached it. Hand on the doorknob, she turned to look at him one last time before she left.
"Oh, and keep this in mind for the next time you need an automail tune up – the door has a lock on it. I think you'll find we'll all appreciate it if you learn how to use it. Goodnight Edward."
And with that, she left and the door clicked shut behind her. Edward's ears were burning so hot he was surprised his head didn't catch fire.
Fuming, he turned his attention back on the dishes. He scrubbed so hard at the teacup it was a miracle he didn't break it. And it was another miracle the spring didn't pop back out of his automail when he accidentally slammed it into the overflowing garbage can just outside the kitchen. By the time he had come trudging back from the dumpster, Edward was in a terrible mood.
Normally when he was this angry at the world, he would rant to Al about it for a while and then bury himself in a book to try and forget about it. But when he came back inside the house he walked right past the bedroom he shared with his brother, and then past the bookshelf. He stopped when he reached the door to Winry's workshop, and knocked softly on the wood.
"Come in," said a quiet voice from inside.
He entered and saw abandoned automail pieces strewn all over Winry's empty desk. Winry was sitting on the patient bed, arms around her legs, knees under her chin.
"Hey," he said awkwardly, not really sure what to do. He stood in the doorway uncomfortably hoping Winry would tell him.
"Hey," she replied, rolling her cheek onto her knee so that she could see him.
There was a pause.
"I'm still alive," Edward said, hoping he sounded more cheerful than he felt about it.
It got a small laugh out of her, which encouraged him to continue. He leaned back on the door and folded his arms over his chest. "I think she gave me permission. In her own messed up way."
"Oh?" Winry seemed to perk up at that. "What did she say?"
"Oh you know the usual crap – 'do the dishes', 'take out the garbage', 'slave over my every command'," he listed. "She didn't say anything like 'stay away from my granddaughter or I'll cut your balls off' so I think we're good."
That got another giggle out of Winry and that was enough to make him smile back at her. He moved away from the door towards her, and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her feet.
"Well that sounds easy enough," she said. "It's not like she's asking you to fix the roof or anything," she winked.
Edward still smiling, narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah, she's not that bad."
Winry rolled her eyes. ""You know, I was really worried when I left after dinner," she said. "I'm glad to see you made it back safely."
Edward smirked. "Always do."
"And you made it back without breaking your automail too."
"No thanks to you."
"Watch it - mmmph!"
He leaned in and kissed her before she could scold him more. Her lips were hard at first, but softened almost immediately. She was apparently as eager to continue where they left off as he was, despite their major setback. Her hands resumed their position around him and just as Edward was about to lose all sense of rationality again, his brain gave him one last feeble reminder before it was consumed by the thought of boobs.
"Wait – " he gasped, pulling himself away forcefully and stumbling back, almost tripping backwards over Winry's work stool.
"The door! The lock on the door!" he exclaimed when Winry gave him a startled expression. He strode across the room in high-speed and clicked the lock shut. He hurried back to her just as fast as he'd left and jumped back onto the bed so eagerly he bounced on the mattress.
"Ok, now we're good," he said.
Winry grinned. "Oh good. So do you think you can figure out how to remove my bra this time?"