Shout out to BuggyNess because she inspired me with her great stories.
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Edward pushed on the worn double doors to the saloon, just as he did every night around eight in the evening. Eight o'clock was the perfect time to have a drink, he thought. The sun was still up but it soon would handle the reigns to the Mistress of the Night, as the locals call the moon.
Edward hadn't received a warm welcome in that far part of Creta when he first arrived about four months ago but he had earned some respect of said locals when he adopted the "cowboy" look. Edward was sure that he looked ridiculous in that strange getup but at least the attire itself was a conversation starter. Blue jeans, snake-skin boots, white-embroidered black shirt and a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat that complimented his braided hair proved to be easy on the eyes… Gladys certainly approved of his clothes.
Even with the approval of the townspeople, it took Edward almost three months to get used to the Western style. The belt was a completely different thing. He loved the ornamental workEd into metal, and he payed good money to Ramón so he could work his Teacher's flamel into the large silver buckle.
At least it wasn't a ghastly skull or a gaudy dragon, as he explained to the curious locals… the belt sure was his favorite conversation starter.
His mismatched steps always made the patrons of the establishment stop whatever the hell they were doing to look at the Amestrian.
"Howdy!" Edward always greeted behind a wide and goofy grin, making sure to use the local dialect as much as he could.
He made his way to one of the worn wooden stools crowding the long bar.
"The usual 'honey eyes'?" Gladys asked in her most sultry voice regardless that the sounds leaving her thick neck were as graceful as the caw of crows he had seen terrorizing the neighboring farms.
But the compliment always brought a smile to his face.
"Gladys, my dear, you know I'm a one woman man." He quipped as he sat on the stool that was across the middle aged woman.
"Today feels more like a tequila night, don't you think?" He added in a somber tone.
Gladys leaned on the table —her ample bosom perfectly hugging the polished surface— so she could take a good look at Edward's face.
"Missing, Winny, hon?" She asked with a cocked eyebrow and a sympathetic smile.
Edward snorted at the brash comment.
"It's Winry, Gladys." He retorted, just before his thoughts crossed half a continent only meet with the young woman who owned that name.
His golden eyes became wistfully distant.
Oh, how he missed her—
"That boy looks as pitiful as a three-legged dog, don't ya think Gladys?"
Both Edward and Gladys looked to the saloon entrance and laid their eyes on an old man —probably in his sixties— who had just walked in.
"Well, well well! Look what the cat dragged in."
Apparently, Gladys new who the impudent man was, still, that didn't change the fact that he had rubbed Edward the wrong way.
He trained his golden eyes on the old man as he made his way to the bar.
"Howdy." The man sat next to Edward and greeted the blond while tipping an imaginary hat.
Edward stared, only offering the man a stiff nod in return. He wasn't completely sure, but it seemed like the old man sat next to him just to spite him.
The hefty bartender diffused Edward's escalating anger when she handed the ex-alchemist what he had ordered. Edward picked the shot glass —filled with tequila to the brim— in his right hand and took a small sip. He kept sipping the strong liquor while inconspicuously studying the stranger sitting next to him.
"I'll have what he's having, beautiful." The old man ordered as he wiggled his caterpillar brows at Gladys.
Gladys offered the stranger a candid smile. She probably was used to all sorts of weird characters walking into the bar. Edward on the other hand, squared his shoulders, getting his muscles ready to jump into action if the odd man decided to get fresh with her.
The bartender slid a shot glass towards the old man which he quickly picked up and downed its contents in one sit.
"Another." He pushed the glass back to Gladys and winked at her.
The bartender silently poured more of the pale liquid, glancing at the young blond as she did so.
"What brings you to this Godforsaken dust bowl?" The impudent man asked.
He wasn't looking at Edward when he asked the question tough, because he was too preoccupied with the tequila on hand.
"That's none of your business, pal." Edward warned, glaring at the man as he spat the words.
"Are you Amestrian, boy?" A smile grew on the man's face.
The blond scowled.
Edward slowly pushed himself away from the table, making the stool screech against the tiled floor as it moved backwards. Edward cracked his neck, readying himself for an impending physical confrontation.
"Now don't be getting your panties in a wad." The stranger looked at Edward from head to toe as he pulled on his unkempt beard. "You stick up like a sore thumb with that getup, son, that's all."
Edward's white-hot temperament was more than kindled. It looked like the old man wanted Edward's fist to connect with his mouth and he would gladly grant the old man his wish if he continued with the damn questions. It would be a piece of cake for him too, after all, he graced his own father with a solid punch to the jaw a few years back. Edward was about to take step towards the old man when the callous hand of the bartender grab him by the arm. The blond's eyes connected with Gladys's. Turquoise orbs pleaded for him to get back on the stool. Edward's incandescent gaze shifted back and forth —from Gladys to the insufferable stranger— before deciding to sit back on the stool. The bartender saw mortification etched on the young man's features, still, her eyes offered him a silent "thank you", to which Edward snorted in a wordless response.
Seconds later Gladys handed the ex-alchemist another shot and told him that this one was "on the house". Edward took the new drink in hand, and eyed the impudent man before drinking the tequila in one gulp.
There was a welcoming peace surrounding the bar area in which both men decided to keep to themselves while Gladys tended to incoming customers.
The old man ordered another tequila when the bartender became available, and downed the alcohol fairy quick. This time around, his bristly mustache was drenched with the liquor and he dried the facial hair using the sleeve of his worn shirt. He cleared his throat when he was done and returned his attention to the taciturn blond sitting to his right.
"I ain't surprised that a kid like you is out here looking for an adventure." The old man said, persisting into striking a conversation with the blond man.
Edward huffed before looking at the stranger square in the eye. Immediately, he noticed that the deep creases in the old man's wrinkled face became more subtle as a rueful smile softened his features.
"I was just like you, many years ago." He confessed, the stench of alcohol painting his words blue.
The sadness in the stranger's dull eyes made Edward lower his guard and decided to hear what the man had to say.
"I'm originally from Pendleton." The old man mentioned, "A backwards town at the time… One day, I left that Godforsaken place to explore the vast world around me."
A bittersweet laugh rumbled through the man's weary frame.
"I left everything and didn't look back… I even left my darling Marjorie behind."
Edward cringed. The words spoken reminded him of his mother and his absentee father—
"Was she your wife?" Edward couldn't help but to ask.
"No, son. She was my betrothed… the most beautiful and sweetest girl in all of West Amestris." The stranger's eyes flickered at the memory.
The blond's chest pained. The old man's words made him think of Winry.
"You have a girl too, don't you?"
The words snapped Edward out of his wistful musings.
He absently clutched the pocket where his old State Alchemist watch was tucked in. He had placed inside the watch a small picture of Winry which he cut out from one of the many pictures pinned on Pinako's bulletin board. It was something he did days before embarking on the great adventure to the West in search for a better way for people to use alchemy.
"Did you find what you were searching for?" The old man asked intuitively yet Edward was surprised by the simple question.
It only took six months for his research to come to a screeching halt, of course, he had only started to explore the far West but his motivation dwindled the farther away he moved from Amestris…
…the farther away he moved from her.
"Not yet." Edward mused.
"Well, I hope you do, son, I hope you do." The man stated before letting out a heavy sigh.
"I came back home to Pendleton after five long years of pointless questing." The old man continued, "I got off that train with a renowned purpose. I was determined to find Marjorie and make her my wife. I wanted to start a family with her, to have lots of children with her… but…"
Edward remained silent and with an expectant look marked in his golden eyes.
"When I got off the train, and when I was walking through Main Street, I crashed into a woman and her children as they themselves stepped out of the Post Office. I immediately apologize to her as I picked up the package she dropped to the ground…"
The man swallowed the lump forming in his throat.
"I realized too late that it was Marjorie who I was helping out."
Edward felt a shiver run across his spine and suddenly the alcohol that had warmed his stomach begun making him feel queasy.
"I later found out that sweet Marge got tired of waiting for me and she ended up marrying one of my childhood friends." There was pure bitterness in the stranger's words.
The blond was speechless and as pale as a ghost.
In between the queasiness and loss of pallor, his mind was reeling, thinking about the day he left Winry behind on the platform of Resembool Train Station. He vividly remembered how he had promised half of his life to Winry in Equivalent Exchange. Thankfully —and luckily— Winry had accepted his pathetic excuse for an engagement, but now that he thought about it, his words had been more of a promise than a formal affair.
Edward broke into a cold sweat.
He never gave her proof of formality. There hadn't been a ring, not even a damn kiss! In reality, Winry didn't need to hold on to his lame promise— god, he was an idiot!
Winry was in all her right to live her life as she pleased…
…in Rush Valley…
…among all those lonely men…
…men who were absolutely thrilled that a gorgeous automail engineer was available for servicing.
The stool in which the blond was sitting crashed into the floor when Edward jumped out of it. His eyes were wide as plates while his pupils had contracted to the size of pins. A shaky hand clumsily fished for his wallet inside one of the back pockets of his blue jeans. He cursed obscenities until he finally managed to pry the wallet from the unforgiving canvas material.
Edward pulled some Cretan bills from the wallet as he said his thanks to Gladys, "for everything".
The blond glanced at the old man before darting out of the saloon.
Edward calculated as he ran back to the motel, that if he managed to pack everything fast, he would be able to make the red eye to Table City.
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"Marjorie? Really, dad? Wait 'til I tell mom that you were thinking about that woman." Gladys reprimanded the old man who offered her a toothy grin in return.
"But Marge is such a hot babe." Gladys's father teased his daughter. "And what are you complaining about? You were the one who asked me to do you a favor."
"I told you to spook him a little, not to give him a damn heart attack." The bartender chastised.
"Yeah, yeah…" The man disregarded the comment. "You said that he always came here looking like a 'kicked puppy' and that 'he was in the wrong place'."
Gladys hummed at that.
"The look of sheer terror on that boy's face was priceless!" The old man cackled.
"That is true…" Gladys consented. "Anyway, what's done is done."
Gladys did feel bad for scaring Edward but someone had to straighten out that foolish boy.
"Best of luck, Edward Elric." She wished him a safe trip.
Her thoughts didn't linger on the young blond for long because the saloon would soon become packed and there was still lots of prepping to be done.
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End note: I finally was able to push through the funk I was in. This little story was written as a warm up exercise and as a token of apology. Sorry guys for making you wait longer on my stories. I'm going on vacation (2 weeks) starting Monday so I will finish the next chapter of Convergence when I return, then I'll concentrate on Insidious and see if I can finally end part 2 of that horror fic.
When I think of the West I think of the Old West. Ed would surely look good in a cowboy getup… kind of like Viggo Mortensen in Hidalgo. XD
BTW, do you want to read Edward's plan of action as he returns home to Winry? I can write a part 2 to this one shot, but I need to know first if you're interested.
As always, thank you for reading. XD