It couldn't exactly be called a routine - Ed and Al never stopped moving around long enough for it to be that – but well, it had happened enough times for it to be something almost like it. The sight of Ed elbows deep in dishwater, scowling down at a plate that refused to be scrubbed completely clean is a familiar one at any rate. Familiar enough to inspire a fond eye roll but still unlikely enough that she can't help but treasure it as something special. Anyone else might have taken such an ordinary, mundane thing for granted but Winry isn't most people. She has experienced enough loss in her life to know that sometimes the seemingly insignificant things are what you end up missing the most.

Most importantly it's nice. The two of them, side by side; him washing and her drying. It's quiet but a comfortable sort of quiet, one that is full in its own way. Winry doesn't feel pressured to break it, content with the only sounds between them being the water rushing from the faucet and the clinking of the plates. She watches Ed out of the corner of her eye though and he's scrubbing furiously, as determined about washing the dishes as he is as about anything. She turns away under the pretense of putting the now clean glass in one of the cabinets but it's really so she can hide her smile.

When Winry turns back Ed has taken his arm out of the sink and is in the middle of dragging his palm across his forehead. There's now a trail of soap suds there but Ed's so caught up in washing the dishes that he doesn't even notice. He just sticks his arm back in and washes with renewed fervor and the sound of her laughter, sudden and loud, is what finally breaks the silence between them.

Ed's head jerks up, eyes narrowing in confusion. "What's so funny?"

She's laughing too hard to get words out so she gestures helplessly at his forehead. She's not entirely sure why the sight of Ed with soap suds all over his forehead is doing her in like this but well, that's a sudden case of the giggles for you. It's just the funniest thing in the world right now, especially when Ed's eyes narrow further and his lips twist into a scowl. Ed hates being laughed at.

"Your forehead, Ed," she manages to get out after her fifteenth attempt. She only succeeds in making Ed's scowl deepen.

"Yeah?" he says, looking increasingly wary. "What about it?"

Winry rolls her eyes at him. "You've got soap suds all over your forehead, doofus."

Her mouth is twitching up at the corners though and she wipes them off for him with her dish towel before he has time to snark back. Ed turns away with a huff but she sees how flushed his cheeks are before he does and Winry can't resist the idea of teasing him some more. She leans down to press her lips against the now dry skin of his forehead and smiles against it when Ed starts spluttering incoherently, wide-eyed and blushing.

She pulls away, giggling all over again because Ed just looks so hilariously lost. She pointedly ignores the blush she can feel heating her own cheeks in favor of snapping at him with her towel.

"Well? Are you gonna stand there blushing all day or are you gonna finish those dishes?" Winry asks with a smirk.

Ed grumbles under his breath about the irrational behavior of certain gearheads but Winry just grins because he doesn't stop blushing once.