Behind the scenes
Ed was simply sitting there at the work desk near the window, eating his sandwich and minding his own business when he heard the door to the dark room open and an all too familiar blonde girl enter without switching on the lights.
The boy had to ask himself if she even knew he was there, seeing as there wasn't so much as a glance in his direction, but he really was by no means trying to be sneaky or anything. He was sitting there in clear view, staring at her with a surprised expression edged into his face, his sandwich still hanging from his mouth, yet he was not really making any sound either in his shocked state.
Oh god, what was she doing now…?!
"Ugh… It's gotten so dusty in here…!"
He had no idea if what he saw the girl do would qualify as something good or bad, but strangely all thoughts had completely fled his hormonal mind as he was unable to focus on anything but the girl slowly getting rid of her clothing articles one by one.
It was only thanks to her apparently somewhat paranoid mind (he couldn't really blame after what she had been through the last couple of weeks) that she finally took notice of his presence, just before showing him her completely bare torso.
"KYAAAAHHHH~!"
Oh, his poor ears…!
Yep, that scream was quite deafening.
"Hey, what's the matter in here?!" Two men came running up the stairs and into the room, pointing their guns at him, while he frantically stammered out noises, trying to get them to understand that he meant no threat. Unfortunately, nobody could really understand what he was trying to say, it seemed.
"What is Edward Elric doing here?!"
And then all hell broke loose. Guns were pointed at the heads of the men in the door, Den came running up to one of them and biting him in the behind, shouting and a lot of confusion ensued. Amidst all this they didn't even notice Winry sneaking beside a still speechless Ed.
"Okay, Ed. You wanna tell me what's going on here?!" She demanded in a hushed tone, even though it wouldn't have made a difference if she had screamed; the other men were that busy trying to rip each other's head off of their respective shoulders.
"Looks like a cautionary tale about guns…" Stalling seemed like the only thing he could do, given that he was this close to blushing as red a tomato and stuttering like an idiot.
"Don't be a smartass. Tell me why you're in my room!" The girl insisted, poking his arm and distracting him even more from the train of thought he should be having right about now, instead of the still very vivid image of her without all that much clothing covering her torso.
"Eh… I just…" Thus he had no idea what he was supposed to say.
"CUT!"
They all sighed, loosening their postures at the voice of the director; all except for Ed that is. Damn it, why couldn't he ever get this one line right?!
"Edward, even if you haven't had that much screen time the last couple of weeks, it's not like you to have this much of a problem just remembering your text!"
"I know… I'm sorry…" His gaze stayed on the floor, as if the dark planks of 'Winry's bedroom' suddenly became very interesting.
"Okay, everyone, we'll take five and then try again! Edward, come here for a second…!" He beckoned him over with a serious, but not necessarily angry expression. Ed could only hope it would stay that way…
"So tell me, what seems to be the problem? Usually you wouldn't have this much trouble, even if it was a 'Winry scene'…!" The director began once he had sauntered over as slowly as possible. And yes, it was pretty common knowledge for the entire set that scenes with both teenagers normally took a few more takes than usual, but this was getting ridiculous!
"I-I just-…! I'm sorry, really, but it's-"
"-not that easy? Yeah, I know. I was a teenager once too, even though not an actor at the same time. I get that a pretty girl dressed -or not- like that right in front of you isn't really comfortable territory for you- much less in front of a camera-" Ed really had started turning into a tomato at this point. "But you have to find a way to get over that, for the sake of your career if nothing else…! You two are supposed to have a purely platonic relationship…!" You know, Ed actually kind of liked the director. He was a decent enough man, very talented in his line of career and easy to talk to. But right now, he was kind of missing the point…!
"Well, what if I think that any guy would react like that, no matter what kind of feelings they have for the girl in front of them?" The teenager scoffed, trying to not sound too defensive lest everyone catch on to his true reasons for acting the way he did.
"Listen, let's not get caught up in details like that. Point is that we need a less nervous Ed and you somehow have to give us one. I don't mind if he is stuttering or what for now, but at least get the text right, okay? I'd hate to have to replace you at this point, and I know that your fans would hate me as well, if I did." Well, yeah, he had fans (and not just a few) but Ed didn't think that was the reason the director didn't want to replace him. More like he doesn't have the time to redo the past 45 episodes with another actor…!
"I know, I know already! Just- Just give me a minute and I'll get this right!" And with that Ed stomped away, in search of something to drink to get this lump out of his throat.
Why couldn't he ever remember that one line when it came to it?! It wasn't that difficult! I mean, 'I just wanted to eat my sandwich' isn't really the most intellectual phrase of Edward Elric! To forget something that trivial… well, he certainly had to have a talent for forgetting things, if nothing else…! But really, why could he explain a process complex enough for a professor to get a head ache from to a metal armor, but when it came to a certain blonde-headed girl, he could barely express his natural instinct to eat?!
He felt kinda stupid…
"Hey… Edward?" He suddenly heard a soft voice behind him, ripping him out of his thoughts about his newly-discovered talent of forgetfulness. As the teenager turned around, he realized that it was Winry speaking to him.
"Huh? Oh, what is it, Winry?" Ed asked as politely as he could bring himself to. He didn't know her all that much, after all she had just recently been discovered, but she was still very talented in his eyes. He never believed that someone could actually fake-swing around a wrench like that (and still make the hits hurt… No, his expressions shouldn't really be called acting…!), all the while displaying Winry Rockbell's innocent mind perfectly.
"Erm… I wanted to ask you something. Do you mind?" Despite the fact that she had already asked him something, he nodded, smiling at her a little crookedly.
"Shoot."
It was silent for a few seconds, as the girl seemed to force herself to say what she wanted to say.
"… Is it my fault? That you're having problems with this scene, I mean!" That kind of surprised him.
"What…? Where did that come from?" Ed asked instead, after having gotten over the initial shock of her question. He really was curious though, as to how she had come up with an idea like that. Lacking self-esteem can cost you your career in this line of work if you're not very good about it. And he really didn't want a talented young actress like her to be lost to the world, just because of his stupid forgetfulness! He wanted to continue watching her, wanted to see her go places… wanted to continue working with her…!
"W-Well, I just thought that since I'm so inexperienced in acting, I might not be good enough to play this role… I heard once that a good actor can make his partner act well too… Not that you're not a good actor! But… maybe I'm just not cut out for acting…" The blond boy really had to ask himself, if the girl always trusted others so easily or if this was just caused by their mutual dilemma. But even so, he had to do something to stop thoughts like that.
Thoughts like that had once almost succeeded in getting him from acting as well, until his good (read: bastard of a) friend Roy made him listen to reason. He hoped he could do the same for Winry now.
"Listen, you better stop saying stuff like that right now! Whether you want to believe it or not, I think you're the best Winry I have seen during the auditions. This has nothing to do with experience on your part. You've got talent!" Okay… That felt really awkward…! After all, he wasn't one to pep-talk anyone, much less an amateur actress who's supposedly having less problems than himself with a scene where she's seen half-naked. "I just-… have a slight problem with the way the director wants me to play my role…" He merely told her, hoping she would leave it at that.
… She didn't.
"Really…? How so?" What should he say, what the hell was he supposed to tell her now?! Surely she'd think he was weird if he told her that… No, he didn't even want to think about it!
"Well, I just think that usually a guy can't be as nonchalant as Ed is supposed to be in the script…!" He told her as coolly as possible before he could overthink this. Let her interpret his words however she wanted to.
"You think so too?!" Apparently, it was the right thing to say. "I knew I wasn't the only one that felt the romance between Ed and Winry – in the script of course! Even if it's only hinted at, there is still something about them, right?" Erm… that wasn't really what he meant, but he was going to go with it. At the very least, he wouldn't complain.
"Right… I mean, it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Ed caught himself out of his thoughts. He'd feel bad about lying to her like this if he actually had a choice in the matter. Right now, though, he didn't. So he shoved the sentiment to the back of his mind for the time being. "But the director wants to see a platonic relationship…! If he'd just let me play my role the way I think it's good, I'd get it done…!"
"You spoke with him just now, right? Did he agree?" Winry asked eagerly, gazing at him with a certain glimmer to her eyes. It made his heart speed up just a little as Ed continued to be entranced by her smiling beauty. It was only when the girl in front of him tilted her head confusedly that he realized that he had been staring at her openly for just a little while too long. Clearing his throat to divert her attention and actually get a second to recall her original question, he forced himself to concentrate on the conversation at hand.
"… W-well, at least he gave me a chance. I just hope he'll accept my interpretation…" Edward stuttered out a little awkwardly, his face held a slightly nervous expression, he knew. The teenager could only pray that the blonde in front of him would take it as anxiety about being able to play the role well.
"I'm sure he will!" Just as she was smiling at him light-heartedly again and he was desperately trying to think of a way to keep the conversation going, they both took notice of a familiar call.
"Alright everyone, let's try again!" As the director's shout was heard from the set, the two teenagers were heading back to the set in a comfortable silence.
This time, he was going to have to get this right.
… If only because he didn't want to look like some swashbuckler in front of her…!
…
"Okay, Ed. You wanna tell me what's going on here?!" Winry demanded in a hushed tone, even though it wouldn't have made a difference if she had screamed; the other men were that busy trying to rip each other's head off of their respective shoulders.
"L-Looks like a c-cautionary tale about guns…" Stalling seemed like the only thing he could do, given that he was this close to blushing as red a tomato.
"Don't be a smartass. Tell me why you're in my room!" The girl insisted, poking his arm and distracting him even more from the train of thought he should be having right about now, instead of the still very vivid image of her without all that much clothing covering her torso.
"Eh… I-I just… I just wanted to e-eat my s-sandwich!" He stammered out, now blushing (not really) lightly and averting his gaze from her as well as he could.
"EVERYONE GET OUT!"
…
Nobody – much less her – needed to know that he was blushing because of the real – dressed – Winry (who was far too close for comfort in his opinion), not the half-naked Rockbell. (Or that the offending color wouldn't leave his face until much later either…)
Okay, so much for another EdWin AU! Thank you very much for enduring my craziness while reading this one-shot!
The scene the two are supposed to play was directly taken from the english dubbed Brotherhood episode and honestly, I'm not sure about the "cautionary tale about guns" on Edward's part... I always have problems understanding that one line... If anyone knows what he's actually saying (because I'm sure that's not it...!) please tell me!
On another hand, the idea of a good actor making his partner act well too came from the manga/anime "Skip Beat" (which my sis forced me to read last year and that part somehow stuck in mind...) I actually don't know if that's true, but I'm willing to believe it with my more than lacking acting experience! XD
If there are opinions or any other suggestions to this fic or any other for that matter, please tell me in a review or PM or whatever!
Last but not least: I don't own anything! Seriously, even the ideas belong to the plot bunnies hiding under my bed!