pairing: ed/winry
themes: au, idk if this is fluffy or funny but it might be
rating: k+ for language
inspiration: "gets into a cab only to find someone else already inside AU"
a/n: wow this was fun and interesting and my first time writing a 'true' modern au. i'm not completely sure how i feel about it still, but here it is!
a/n2: probably a lot of mistakes, so i apologize in advance.
enjoy!~
Winry grunts, shifting her umbrella in her hand and holding out her other arm, which was growing stiff.
It had been a rough night, to say the very least. Well, a rough couple of days, really, and she's kept putting her best foot forward, trying to look for the bright side as always but, damn, she was just not in the mood. She allows herself a moment's sympathy as she replays the events in her head.
First off, her rent had been raised an amount substantial enough that she'd had to request even more hours at Garfiel's, which meant later nights and less sleep and to top it all off, her car had decided to stop working almost altogether; sputtering out horrendous squeaks and shudders and smoking if she even tried to start the engine. It ordinarily wouldn't be an issue, that is if she even had time to look at the damn thing. But she found she barely had a moment to breathe.
So here she stands in almost frigid temperatures, braving the freezing pelts of rain, struggling to keep her blood circulating as her arm extends outside of her umbrella's shield in order to hail a cab. Because the buses don't even run this late, for chrissake.
The streets are almost barren; or so she assumes, because the veil of rain won't let her speculate otherwise. She hears the occasional footstep or two pass behind her, which might make her body tense given she be in a less shitty mood. But she finds herself not really giving a damn, quite frankly. Plus, she has her trusty wrench sitting pretty and accessible in her purse, if need be.
Her eyes blink wearily and her arm begins to weigh down on her entire being and she's wondering if she should just bite the bullet and call someone before she gets hypothermia until she sees the miraculous glow of headlights pulling close to her; a wonderful fluorescent yellow beaming off the cab's hood.
Her mood lifts, however slightly, as the cab pulls next to her and she eagerly and impatiently crawls into the backseat, shaking her umbrella out. She slams the door and whips her body around to give her address to the driver but instead comes face-to-face with a pair of bright golden eyes belonging to a man in sopping wet clothes right next to her.
Not the driver, but another passenger.
Who just had to go for the same cab at the same damn time as her.
No no no.
This cannot be happening.
She seizes him up; dripping hair tied back in a ponytail the matches the warm hue of his irises. His jaw is squared, his lips set in a relaxed line, eyebrows tilted slightly up in surprise but eyes unwavering and almost unreadable. She takes it he isn't the least bit pleased about the situation, as is she. His trenchcoat is soaked, and she can see him shivering. At least he has the good sense to wear gloves in this weather.
She keeps on staring at him, and she decides that if she weren't so pissed, he might be very, very attractive.
Finally, she breaks the silence, fed up with his stupid gaze. She raises her blonde eyebrows and shoots him an accusing glare. "Well?" She says, bitterness evident in her tone.
He looks unamused, frowning at her. "What?" He retorts idiotically; voice lower than she expected.
Annoyance flares within her; she just wants to be home, in her bed, warm and not freezing her ass off. She doesn't have time to be meddling with this aggravating stranger! "Aren't you going to get out?" She demands, brashly.
His look switches to an offended one and he scowls at her. "Hell no! I was in here first; you get out!"
She scoffs; blue eyes widening and anger flaring. How absolutely rude! She's aware she isn't really acting any better, but still!
"You were not!"
"Yeah, I was!" He spits back, turning to the cab driver for support. The man just raises his hands as a sign of indifference and taps the taximeter impatiently. Smart man.
"Get out," she hisses; her tone leaving little room for argument. But he is unrelenting and matches her voice.
"Make me." He responds in a warning tone; leaning comfortably into the leather seat and it becomes clear to her that this is some kind of game to him, now. To see who'll give in first.
What an infuriating man! Winry has half a mind to smack him upside the head with her wrench and kick him to the curb, quite literally, but she rather not be escorted home in a cop car.
She stars at him unbelievingly and, again, the driver raps his fingers on the meter. She glances to the clock and practically scowls at it; she doesn't have time to be playing this childish game with this pigheaded, admittedly attractive stranger.
She huffs irately and grabs her umbrella, opening the car door and slamming it just as quickly as she stomps furiously through the puddles. The cold biets at her skin and every cell in her body screams at her to get back in the damn taxi but she refuses to sit with that antagonizing man another second.
She treads through the rain for a good ten steps before another car door slam makes her jump. She refuses to acknowledge it until she hears a voice yell out at her.
"Where the hell are you going?" It's a yell, and it sounds exasperated and alarmed and not nearly as irate as before.
She pauses, spinning on her heel to face the golden-haired man walking in front of the cab and staring at her, bewildered. Like she was some sort of time bomb about to detonate.
Well, she sure as hell felt like one.
She tightens her grip on her umbrella.
"I'm going home, obviously," she growls; aggravated with his pestering. Why couldn't he just leave her alone?
He raises a mocking brow. "And you're going to walk? In this weather?"
She scoffs. "Well, it doesn't look like you're going to give me any other choice!"
He takes a step or two closer, and it occurs to her that this meathead doesn't even have an umbrella of his own. What the hell is he trying to do?
"Just get back in the damn cab, will ya?"
"And what, argue with you about who gets to stay? No thanks," she responds venomously.
"You know you aren't gonna make it home when it's practically freezing rain out."
"You don't know anything about me! And you sure as hell didn't seem to care a minute ago!"
"Well, that's because I didn't think you were gonna jump out of the car like a fucking crazy person!"
She pauses, pursing her lips and glaring at him skeptically. "Why do you even give a damnwhat happens to me?"
His cheeks redden slightly and for a second, his eyes flicker away from hers. "I just don't want to have you on my conscious if I wake up tomorrow morning and see your iced over corpse on the news just because I was a dick who wouldn't let you have a stupid cab ride."
She blinks at him, unmoving. He sighs, extending his palm and jerking his head to the taxi.
"Would you just drop your damn pride and just get in the fucking taxi with me, already? I'm starting to lose feeling in my toes."
The subzero temps are beginning to numb her, too, and she can't assure him - or herself - that she'll be able to make it halfway across town by herself. She takes a sharp inhale and takes his hand with hers, quickly shuffling over and huddling them both under the umbrella as they walk back to the cab.
He opens the door for her, waiting patiently until she safely enters before he closes it for her, too, and races back to the opposite side. She watches him with a ponderous gaze; how could someone like kim go from complete jackass to total gentleman in two minutes?
He slides next to her quickly, rubbing his palms together to create friction and restore heat to his body. She stifles a smile as she examines him.
The driver turns around. "Where to?" He asks in a grimy voice.
The stranger nods in her direction and she tears her gaze away, reciting her address to the cabbie as he takes off.
The golden-haired man chuckles into his palm, settling into the seat. "And you were gonna walk there? You sure as hell woulda freezed."
"Oh, shut up," she mutters, but she offers him a small smile. After a minute of silence she turns to him again. "What's your name, anyway?"
"Huh?" He looks up from his own train of thought.
"Your name?"
He blinks. "Oh, right, sorry. Yeah, it's Edward Elric, but Ed's fine, too," he responds.
She nods, reciting the name in her mind, testing it on her mouth.
"And yours?"
"Winry Rockbell," she replies, and for a moment she wonders if she should even be telling him this; he already knows where he lives, and now her name? But she shrugs it off; he doesn't seem like a creep, and she asked his name first.
The ride goes by quite painlessly; Edward - Ed - asks why the hell she was out so late, and she explains her job shifts and the car situation and remembers it isn't polite to complain to strangers but he doesn't feel like a total stranger anymore. Even still, she switches the question onto him and he launches into an excited explanation of how he was staying late at a library, researching a new chemical theorem of his. He lost track of time and decided to head home before his brother woke up and realized he hadn't come home, at which point he would turn the whole town upside down.
She smiles and nods as he listens to his enthusiastic voice; most of the sciencey stuff flies over her head - mechanics have always been her strong suit - but she's genuinely intrigued by his ethic and motivation. With the scowl and attitude out of the picture, she concludes Edward Elric, is, in fact, very attractive after all.
They've switched onto another topic, and it's no time at all until they reach Winry's apartment building. The rain is still pouring outside but Ed insists on walking her up, to which she does not protest.
The huddle under the sweet salvation of the umbrella until the reach they're both covered by the concrete protection the building offers. They face each other and she shakes out the water from her umbrella and digs through her purse.
Ed sticks his hands into his pockets and rocks on his heels, eyeing the blonde until she grabs out her wallet. "So, how much was the fare?"
He shakes his head. "Nah, don't worry about it. It's on me."
She frowns; hasn't he caused her enough grief for one night? "Oh, come one Ed, please."
He holds his hands in front of him defensively. "No really, it's fine!" A blush creeps onto his face and his lips turn upward a little. "Just let me take you out to dinner sometime this week and we'll call it even, 'kay?"
She pauses. "Did you just ask me out?"
He shrugs nonchalantly. "It's not like you can really say no. I mean, I know where you work, and where you live, so you might as well just save us both the trouble."
She smirks, crossing her arms over her chest. "Was that a threat?" She asks in a teasing voice.
"Whaddya say?"
She pauses, tapping her finger on her chin and letting him sweat it out. "I'd like that, Ed." She offers him a genuine smile, which he gladly returns two times brighter.
"Cool. I'll pick you up, Wednesday night, say around 7?"
"Sounds good. As long as you don't try to kick me out of a cab again," she pokes him in the shoulder.
He starts back down the steps and into the rain. "Hey, I make no promises!"
She rolls her eyes. "Of course you don't!"
He smirks back at her, waving a hand as he enters the taxi. "Night, Winry."
She grabs her key out of her back, turning it into the lock an opening the door as she tosses a smile behind her shoulder. "Night, Ed."
She feels warmer as she enters her apartment, and not just because she's in an actual insulated room. No, she feels warmer because of a certain jackass turned gentleman who she thought she'd end up punching but actually would end up dating.