A/N: So, I'm sitting here, typing this… like right before I leave for night school, which I'm totally not looking forward to since I feel like I'm the only one who's voluntarily going… D:
Anyway, yes, I know, fast update… within… 3 days of each other! :O SHOCKER!!!
Well, that's because I was bored during class and I felt like writing this… so, why not move on to the lame disclaimer and then the story… while I go get my next pint of cake batter ice cream? :D
And IMPORTANT: In case you haven't realized, but if Pipsqueak leaves the office, he quite obviously has a disguise. It's common sense. :/ And he's somewhat disguised at work… He just wears a suit instead of that usual black and red outfit. :3
And To xXxHouranxXx: …. -.- Did, you really have to…? D: … And to think that you wouldn't have noticed this… for another… year… or 10…D; I'll get you back!!!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ED OR WINRY OR RIZA OR ROY…. BUT! I do own Alchemy works publishing, their apartment complex, and that unnamed restaurant… :D
*=:.3: New Home.:=*
At home, I quickly confronted Den. I scratched behind his ears as I sat down beside him. "Hey Den…" I started, not sure of how to finish.
His brown eyes stared up me before he barked for me to continue.
"W-W have to move…" I was finally able to say.
He didn't show it, but I could tell that he didn't like the news I told him. He slowly walked away, leaving me alone.
I let out a sigh before I stood up and began to decide on what I'd take and what I'd leave.
The next day, I was up bright and early and caught the first train to Central. After arriving, it took about an hour or two until I had finally found my destination.
In front of me stood a huge stone building with large and shiny glass doors. Located to the left of the door was a golden plate that read "Alchemyworks Apartments". From the looks of it, I came to the conclusion that anyone who worked at the office would most logically live here. I reached for the handle on the shiny glass door but pulled it away after realizing that it was locked. A second or two later, I noticed a golden button next to the plate. I pressed it reluctantly.
"Name?" The voice said from an undisclosed location.
"W-Winry Rockbell…" I said. I received no reply. I glanced around to make sure no one was around or paying attention before I pressed the button, and held it down as I tried again. "Winry R-Rockbell…"
I heard a gasp from the other side before the glass doors slowly opened. Inside stood a maid. She had pale skin and bright brown eyes. Her long dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a bun. Her uniform was black and white and went down 3 inches above the knee.
"We were expecting you Lady Rockbell…" The maid said as she waited for me to walk in.
"P-Please, just call me Winry…" I managed to say. I glanced down at Den who was trailing closely behind before looking back at the path ahead.
We passed through a series of halls and went up a few floors by elevator before we reached our destination.
The golden plate next to the door read "1899". Apparently, this was my room. I glanced back at the elevator doors before ruling out that this was the last floor in the complex.
The maid opened the door and led us inside. From the looks of it, the apartment was fully furnished and gave off the feel as if someone was already living in it.
I couldn't stare for long since the maid spoke up again. "This way please." She led me around the corner and towards an… elevator!? Wasn't this supposed to be the last floor? We went up about two more floors before we got off, even though there were at least 3 other levels left to explore. In front of us were two doors. I was taken to the one on the right, leaving me to assume that the one on the left was a guest room of some sort.
Inside was a king sized bed with pink sheets that had lace trim, and what had seemed to be the most expensive linins on the market. Next to the bed was a night stand that had a phone and a cute lamp on top. Near the foot of the bed was a large dog bed, perfect for Den. Towards the far left was a workstation, perfect for working on automail whenever I had the chance, and on the opposite side was a sitting area with a TV.
I stood in the doorway in awe, not noticing when the maid took my things and started to unpack them. Never in my life had I seen a room filled with so many expensive items. I looked down at Den and smiled. "Den… This is our new home… How do you like it?"
He barked in approval and that was all I needed to feel at ease.
Late at night, Den started to bark. I heard the door open and someone trying to get him to stop. I only assumed it was the maid from before and went back to sleep.
The next morning, I was awaken from my surprisingly peaceful slumber by the maid from yesterday.
"Lady Rockbell… It's time to get up." She said, opening the blinds and letting the natural light flood in.
I groaned. "Gimmie five more minutes…" I rolled over and brought a pillow over my head to block the light.
"No can do." She said as she pulled the sheets away from me.
In about 3 minutes, the maid had gotten me out of bed, dressed me in an expensive looking suit and put my hair in a nice, yet somewhat messy bun.
As she led Den and I downstairs to the kitchen, I saw the front door close out of the corner of my eye. I ignored it, thinking that it must've been another maid. Though, it didn't necessarily explain the empty bowl on the table…
I took a seat across from the bowl and in front of a large stack of pancakes drenched in maple syrup, just how I liked it. I glanced down at Den who was happy munching away on a nice succulent piece of steak before I decided to dig in myself.
When I arrived at the office, I was ambushed by Amber and Anna. They dragged me into the exquisite looking bathroom before they bombarded me with questions.
"So, what is it like working with Pipsqueak!?" Amber started out, barely able to contain her excitement.
"Isn't he like the most adorablest and shortest little thing?" Anna chimed in.
At the sound of short, I felt like reciting one of Ed's short retorts, but I had to stop myself. Instead, I forced a smile on my face and attempted to reply to their questions. "It's great working with him… and uh… yeah…" I nodded slightly. "Well, um. I need to get going so that I'm not late on my first day." I waved goodbye and ran up the stairs to Edward's office. Just as I stepped in the door, he spoke.
"You're late." He kept his eyes on the papers he was working on. "Arrange a reservation at the restaurant across down the street. Request the private room for Pipsqueak!" He scribbled something on the paper he was working on before he crumpled it up and tossed it in the trashcan. "Make it in an hour."
At the restaurant, on the way to the private room, we passed someone who looked familiar.
"W-Winry…?" The voice said from behind me, causing me to stop. "Is that you…?"
I turned around and failed to hide my surprise when I saw who it was. "Riza!" I exclaimed.
"So it is you!" Riza said with a smile. She slowly got up and attempted to give me a hug. It was a bit awkward seeing as though her stomach was of quite a considerable size.
I glanced down and looked back up again. "Who…?"
"Roy." She replied. I couldn't help but smile. They really did seem like the least likely pair to get together.
"How many months?"
"8. She's due in about… 3 more weeks." She replied quite happily. She glanced behind me quickly. "But why are you here anyway?"
"Oh! I'm here with Ed--!" I stopped short realized that no one knew that Ed was still alive.
"Hmm…?" I let out a barely noticeable sigh of relief when I realized she didn't hear.
"Edwardo! He's a client of mine… He wanted some high end automail, so were just here to go over some of the details…" I said, trying to make it sound believable.
"Oh… Well, I shouldn't keep you." Riza said, sitting back down. "Be sure to visit sometime though." She smiled and I waved as I slowly left to go catch up with my boss.
I sat n the office alone. Ed had already left, leaving orders for me to clean things up. It was already 9PM and I still had 3/4th left to do.
After a few minutes of mindlessly tossing crumpled up pieces of paper over my shoulder (and hopefully into the trashcan), I somehow found myself at his desk. I ran my hand along the smooth exterior before I slowly moved it to the first drawer on the right. I let my hand sit for a moment before I pulled it open. Inside was a stack of paper, a bottle of ink, and a few pens. I pushed it shut before I moved on to the one underneath it. A stack of papers, about 2-3 piled on top of each other, each bounded together with a paperclip. I pulled the top one out and began to read.
Somehow, I had found myself in a place called Germany. It was just like Central, but more rural in a sense. Here I came across a man named Alfons Heiderich.
He had the same name as my brother. The same look as him before the terrible accident occurred.
I set the paper down. What was this "Germany" place he spoke of? I scratched my head before I moved on to the next stack.
We were still kids then, Al and I. Our mother was still alive, but our father was gone.
Our father was an Alchemist, so he had a room filled with books based on Alchemy. After some time, our mother granted us access to the room.
This was where we began studying Alchemy.
I set the stack down. This was from the first book he wrote "Alchemy". There was a difference though… The names were different. The town was different. It still had the same timeline of events, but it overall just had a different feel to it.
I was about to reach for the third one, but decided against it, seeing as though it could spoil what was to come in the next book. I restacked the papers and put them back in the drawer.
In the top left drawer was a picture of the three of us when we were both on our way to school. Ed had the biggest smile on his face as he raced ahead with my backpack in tow. Al and I were in full pursuit, though, we couldn't catch him. I smiled as I took one last glance at the picture before I put it back in its rightful spot. Just seeing it made me wonder… What had happened to those fun times? Not when we were kids, but those times before Ed was assumed to be dead?
Pushing the thoughts aside, I moved on to the biggest drawer. I pulled, but it wouldn't budge. I searched around for a key, but none of the keys I found seemed to be for that drawer in particular.
I gave up after a while when I noticed the time, 11:30PM.
I quickly finished cleaning up the rest of the office but as I left, I couldn't help but wonder what was in that drawer…
I finally made it home around 12:15AM. After about 3 tries with the intercom outside of the apartment, it took me another 10 with the elevator and another 20 with the keys leading to the penthouse. All of which didn't work for the latter.
I ended up ringing the doorbell, hoping the maid from before was inside. Not long after, I could hear Den barking and a pair of footsteps shuffling across the floor.
The door slowly opened and Den came leaping out.
"Hey Den!" I said, petting him. "How was your day?"
"Quite good actually." A voice said from above. I glanced up and came face to face with a slightly annoyed, yet smiling Ed. "Though, I never knew it'd take you three hours to clean such a small office."
A/N:
I finished! And it's longer than the previous one! Happy now?
And before you even start Houran, I'll have you know I really don't care about how the sentences look or if I over used this or that. xD So, just take that!
Anyway, I finished this during night school… and I'm already halfway through chapter 5. All of which I worked on… during night school. Proves how much free time I have (that quite obviously could've been spent playing Assassin's Creed II and thinking of a Fic for it. D; )
Oh, and Chapter 4 is like… SHORT!!! Not like the first chapter of my Forbidden Love fic (Persona 4, check it out! :D) short, but… short. :/ Like, a little longer than the chapters in that series are. :/
But, oh well. I mean, I admit, I really wanted to add more to it, but something was just telling me I should just stop, and make a new chapter. D;
Uh… extra stuff that should be noted…
No, it wasn't Den who spoke. If you thought it was Den… well… I laugh at you. xD Since, we aren't even dealing with Alchemy in this one much…. So, don't expect any talking dogs… yet. :O
Ugh. Those papers, with the stories. LAME. D; They totally suck. And, like the way he wrote it was he wrote the actual event, but changed the names of things and revised it to make it seem as if it wasn't the people that had actually been there (and done that), though, it'd be enough to give them a vague feeling of it reminding them of something they just can't put their finger… or metal suit… on. :/
Descriptions suck. I know. Don't pester me about it. I wrote that part in a rush during homeroom. :/
And ohhh boyy! Are there lots of surprises in this thing too! xD … Just to have you know.
One you might not know… until like LATER. Like, I think during the supposed "Resolution"… if there ever is one…
In the meantime, anyone have a good possible idea that I could use as the "Climax" that might just not appear at all? :D
Oh, and person who leaves the best review ('sides Houran, since she's a meanie. :P), will get mentioned in the next… if not next next… chapter of this… thing here. :D
Anyway, this thing has exceeded like half a page I think, so I'm just gonna shut up. R&R. Baiz. :3
