Title: Cooking
Genre: General/Romance
Pairing: Al x Winry
Summary: Winry's preparing Christmas dinner for the Elric brothers.
Warnings: No real warnings. OOCness, perhaps?
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. I don't own an Al plushie either.
"I do come home at Christmas. We all do, or we all should. We all come home, or ought to come home, for a short holiday - the longer, the better - from the great boarding school where we are forever working at our arithmetical slates, to take, and give a rest."
- Charles Dickens
Cooking
Alphonse at in a corner of the room, watching as Winry focused intently on fixing Edward's automail. Edward hadn't wanted to return to Rizenbul for Christmas. He said that they would be wasting valuable time, but unfortunately for him, he got wounded in a fight just a week before Christmas, and his automail arm was also badly damaged, which meant that he had no choice but to go to Winry for help. Winry had been very angry with him for breaking the automail arm again, but she was also glad he and Al were home for Christmas.
"What's the time, Al?" Winry asked suddenly, looking up from her task.
Al glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's just past six o'clock," he answered.
"Oh no," Winry cried. "We're having dinner at seven o'clock and I still haven't started cooking yet! I was going to prepare a big Christmas dinner! I should have paid more attention to the time..."
"It's okay, Winry," Al said. "It's not too late yet."
Winry put down her tools. Even in her hurry, she was very careful with her beloved tools and arranged them back into the correct places in her toolbox. Then she wiped her hands on a piece of cloth and dashed downstairs into the kitchen to prepare the meal.
Al gazed at the doorway for a long time after her departure. Then he looked around the room for something to do. He noticed a book lying open on the floor and he picked it up. It was an alchemy textbook. He remembered seeing his brother reading it earlier that day. He would give the book back to his brother later. For now, as he was bored and had nothing to do, he began to read the book.
About an hour later, he heard Winry's loud, high-pitched voice ringing through the house, "Dinner's ready!" He walked down the staircase, his bulky armour clanking as he did. He arrived at the dining room, and a feast fit for a king met his eye. Behind him, his brother appeared, his mouth open and drooling, entranced by the sight and smell of the food in front of him. He took a seat and started to eat ravenously.
Winry chuckled at Ed's huge appetite. She flashed a smile up at Al. Al wanted to smile back, but being an armour, he couldn't. She patted the seat next to her, indicating that Al should sit down there. So Al did. Then she picked up her knife and fork and tucked in.
Al watched her and Ed enviously as they ate away. The food looked so delicious. He wished that he could try it. He was sure Winry's cooking would be fantastic. There were times when he hated being an armour more than ever, and this was one of those times.
After the meal, Ed went back to his room to continue his research. Al was about to go with him, when Winry said to him sweetly, "Al, can you please help clear the table with me?" Al obliged. Winry did the washing while Al did the drying. There was an unnerving silence between the two. The only sound was the sloshing of the water in the sink, and occasionally a creak from Al's armour.
Al plucked up and said, "Winry, I wish I could gain my real body back. Then I could taste your cooking. It must be excellent."
"Oh, Al, you don't know. You're lucky you can't eat the food I cook. It's complete rubbish, I tell you." Despite her own words, Winry's cheeks were flushing with pride.
"What you make is always good," Al said softly.
Winry's breath hitched in her throat. She looked up at Al with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Al." She wrapped her arms halfway around Al's waist - it was as much as she could reach - and gave him a sort of a hug.
"My armour must be freezing cold, Winry," Al said, embarrassed.
"Not really." Winry laughed.
Al thought he could just smell Winry's fragrance and, even more ridiculous, taste her cooking...
The End
"If there is no joyous way to give a festive gift, give love away."
- Anonymous
A/N: Fluff! Hehe. I liked writing that. Please read & review!