I am the red in the rose,
The flowers on the blankets on your bedroom floor.
It was just one of those days. One of those almost unbearably hot summer days that turned your whole body into a lazy mass of practically melting flesh and bone. it had to be Winry Rockbell's least favourite part of the entire summer. She forgot about the days down by the river, the comfort of the soft mountain breeze—everything that made summer enjoyable. All she could think about right now was the heat trapped inside her baking flesh.
She'd normally be busying herself down in the nice, cold basement, but a certain short, blonde individual currently occupied her favourite summer hideout. All because he was too hot to be on the upper floors of the house. Winry chuckled dryly and reached up to wipe the sweat off her brow. She could honestly say that the automail made him cooler, but he insisted that the metal limbs trapped the heat and was gonna bake him to metallic crisp.
'What a pain in the butt…' Winry thought to herself as she sat up, her pale blonde tresses sticking to her forehead and any other exposed skin. It was almost suffocating. She sighed through her nose, deciding it wasn't worth the effort to pull her hair out of her face. Her orange bandanna was in a pile of clothing on the other side of the room and she didn't want to get up. She groaned loudly and plopped herself down on another part of the floor. It was nice and cool…for now at least. She grumbled when the rug underneath of her body soon heated up to match her body temperature. She really, really wanted her basement right now. Damn it, it was her basement! Not her ungrateful, childhood friend's basement! Her basement. It belonged to her.
She groaned again and slammed her fist against the floor with a dull THUD! She groaned again and shook her head. She knew she could never stay mad at him for long… Sure, she always pretended to be mad at him whenever he came back without calling or so much as letter back, but her anger would quickly diminish when she saw the state of the two boys. No matter how many times he tried to hide the bruises along his arms or the cuts on his legs, she still saw the marks of their hard lives and her heart would throb. But, no matter how many times she asked how it all happened, he'd always give her the same, roundabout answer as always:
"We're alright and we're alive."
Winry sighed heavily, tracing patterns on the red rug on her floor. It had been here since she was a little girl and her grandmother had told her that it used to be hers. But, when her one and only grandchild, Winry, was born, they moved it into her room. It had been here for as long as she could remember.
She starred as her finger traced along the swirls to the roses which were the tiniest shade lighter than their backdrop. She sighed softly, her eyes dropping halfway. If she squinted, the carpet was almost the same shade of red as his coat. That same obnoxious, bright red he seemed to love so very much. It seemed like she always saw the back of that bright red coat rather than the front of it.
She sighed softly and closed her eyes. That was because they were always walking away from her. Off to go on some sort of mission or a quest for the stone that matched his bright red coat. Her heart always ached when she saw them off. She wanted to see the front of his coat rather than the back…
She wanted to see him coming home…Back to normal…back to her and back to the place where they belonged.
She squinted her eyes shut and her hands clenched into tight fists. Damn it, she hated it when they wouldn't stay. When he wouldn't stay…She always, always tried her best to make them feel happy and welcomed, but then why did he never smile at her? Why did he always give her that same scowl or that forced smile? Sure, the smile was on his face, but it was never in his eyes.
She wanted that bright and shinning smile that looked so incredibly amazing on his lips...and in his eyes. She wanted him to look at her and give her a smile that would only ever belong to her…
She wanted him to smile at her…like…he loved her as much as she loved him.