Innovative
Winry pulled her heels off her feet and let out a grumble to herself. She'd goofed in her decision to wear this outfit. She should have chosen something much more sensible like pants, a tube top, and boots similar to what her sister wore. Instead, Win had been shuffled out of the house in her dress and high heels. At the very least she had her ribbons in case something happened to the three of them, but still… She'd screwed up.
Laxus and Ajax were ahead of her. The green haired boy still hadn't taken a liking to either Laxus or Winry, but at least he wasn't smarting off right now. The whole time they'd been travelling, he'd been arguing either with her or the blonde dragon slayer. Laxus was right. This mission was difficult on her own.
Although Winry was the best in the guild with children, Ajax was an altogether different kind of specimen. He was hateful. He never thanked anyone. He complained a lot. He hadn't stopped trying to pick a fight with Laxus until the man had struck the boy with lightning.
Now, Ajax walked with his spiked hair extra spiky, and his body came extra fried. As much as Winry thought he deserved it, she still had scolded Laxus for being so hateful. The boy had gone from loving family to orphan in a matter of minutes, and Winry knew how that felt. She had gone from loving family to her parents being sealed away in a castle dungeon. Essentially, she had become an orphan at age twelve. Win and Tori had raised each other when their foster parent, a pirate that had found them washed up on the shore, wasn't around. Only in the past few months did Win and Tori get their parents back, and they were twenty-four years old now.
She looked up at the two men. Laxus had his coat over his shoulder. It hung on two of his fingers. Without the coat on, Winry could see the defined muscles of his traps and shoulders. The man worked out, and he worked out hard. Now, if only she could get him to eat right…
Next, she looked to Ajax. Even though the boy claimed that he hated Winry and Laxus, he had his trench coat off his body. He, too, was holding it with two fingers and over his back. Ajax could say what he wanted, but he respected Laxus Dreyar. All it had taken was a lightning bolt to the body and few punches to the back of the head.
Winry gave them a gentle smile. If only she could win Ajax's heart over…
Laxus gave a pause all of a sudden then glanced back to Winry. Quickly, she straightened up. "If you want to take a rest, we can camp out for the night," he explained. His head tilted forward to gesture to a small creek that ran through the beaten path.
His eyes trailed from the heels in her hands to her bare feet. He seemed to make a decision about something then walked off the trail.
"What about bandits?" Winry wondered when she caught sight of him laying her backpack down alongside his.
"If any bandit's stupid enough to try and bust into our camp, I'd say they'd get what was coming to them," he intoned. His hand ran against the back of his neck, and Winry noted the way sweat glistened there. Her eyes followed a particular bead of sweat as it lazily strolled down from his hairline to underneath a tight shirt.
Oh my. The way his muscles forced the sweat to roll down according to his body... Winry tried not to let her family's deviant traits show when she kept herself from shivering. Polteroms were notorious for their perverted tongues. Sadly, Winry was no different from her brother Bickslow nor her sister Catori. When she saw something hot, she took note.
It was hot outside, too. Winry could use a cold bath and her favorite loofah. As she took the chance to dig a miniaturized tent out from her backpack, Winry mentioned, "It's a shame that there aren't any hot springs nearby. It'd be nice to bathe."
"No kidding. When I'm by myself, I just bathe in the river, but the water's not deep enough here," Laxus intoned. He was about to reach into his bag when he noticed Winry had already set her tent up.
The tent was plenty big enough for the three of them. He had his sleeping bag, but if Winry would let him sleep in there with them, that'd be great. He couldn't even get the words out of his mouth because she already stated, "You'll be staying in our tent, and I'll make a shower."
"Make a shower?"
She dusted off her hands and rose. "Yup. You get pretty handy when you live amongst pirates. Besides, who do you think set up plumbing in our hobbit hole guild? This chick." Both thumbs pointed toward herself.
Ajax sat across from Laxus. As soon as Winry began collecting water in a bucket, he growled, "I don't believe you." Ah. So, he was going to start grumbling again. This kid was hateful as get out.
"What you believe doesn't matter. What's the truth is that I'm going to make us a shower." After she collected the water, she sat the bucket down and retrieved a hammer, nail, tin can, and one of her many ribbons. Practiced, she easily knocked some holes in the lower side and bottom of the tin can. After that, she tied it to her ribbon. Easily, she attached the ribbon to one tree limb then another. Finished with that, she showed off her work by proving herself to Ajax. Winry poured the water into the tin can, and the boy and Laxus both watched in surprise as Win's simple shower head fixture poured out water. Winry spun her hammer in her hands and chimed, "Reduce, reuse, and recycle, boys. Who's nifty? Oh, I think I am."
Ajax snarked out a powerful point. He smarted, "Who's going to pour the water while you shower?" This kid was a perv!
Suddenly, Winry's face got flustered. The thought of Laxus, since he was the only one tall enough of course, pouring water into her shower head to let her bathe had Winry nervously rethinking her nifty comment. He would see her naked… Not unless. Of course! She could wear her bathing suit. It revealed just enough while not showing everything. Wait… but then she wouldn't be able to… Ugh! The problems of being a woman!
Winry tapped her bottom lip for a second then came up with a solution so simple it was stupid. She explained, "I'll just angle the water on a tree limb then shower. Easy enough, pervert." Still, her face stayed scarlet as images of Laxus's all kinds of hotness showering her body with creek water danced in her head. Oh, Holy Ghost, she was the perv here not the kid. Catori must have been around her too much here lately.
"So, what's next? Food?" Winry wondered. "I got the tent and the shower ready, so the homestead is set."
"I could go get-"
"No!" Winry and Laxus barked together. That boy would run off at the earliest opportunity. Neither one of them knew his magic, so they had to keep a close eye on him. There was no telling when he would resort to magic to sneak off.
"Fine! I'll just sit here and be bored then. I could survive better on my own than with you two idiots." Ajax kicked another rock, and before it could hit Winry, the woman snatched it up in her ribbons.
"Excuse me, Ajax, but I believe that sounds like sass," Winry growled back. She was getting more tired of this kid by the second.
He mocked, "Excuse me, Ajax, but I believe that sounds like sass."
Laxus looked at her with the face of a father waiting to discipline his kid, but Winry shook her head. She crossed over to the boy. "Listen up, kid. I'm the only thing keeping you from any Lancet Normans that want to gobble you up like the Boogey Man would, so I suggest you keep your smart mouth shut before I shut it for you."
"You can't do anything to me, woman."
Much like what Laxus did to him before, Winry lifted her fist to bonk Ajax on the top of his head. Right when something smart was about to come out of that sassy mouth, Winry loosed one of her ribbons. "Stay," she commanded to the purple silk. Sure enough when Ajax went to rip the cloth off the mouth it'd wrapped around, it refused to budge.
When her eyes returned to Laxus's smirking form, Winry mentioned, "I really hope that we aren't keeping you from your job in Crocus."
"Nah. Like I said, I'm trying to escape Freed and Catori. It's better to be stuck with a smart brat and the nice twin than the frightened Rune Mage and the scary twin," Laxus mentioned. He stood up and pointed his hand towards the creek. Instantly, lightning shot from his fingertips to launch into the creek. Soon enough, the mages had a bounty of fish already made to crispy perfection. "Freed's the cook in our group, but this works too."
She took a look a Laxus. Her brother, Bix, had a pretty cool friend. Winry was glad he was here to help.
Taking the fish out of the creek, Winry gathered them then laid them out on a piece of cloth. "I hope you didn't scorch them," she teased.
"I held back just a little bit. I'm not half bad at cooking. You know."
She cast Laxus a heartwarming grin then a sudden thought crossed her mind. "Laxus, do you still have the book?" she wondered. He raised a brow before procuring the book from his backpack. "Good. I just wanted to make sure Ajax didn't snatch it from us." Her eyes cut to the angry brat.
He was sitting there glaring at the two of them. If anything, the boy was seething. She had no clue why this kid was still pissed off after Win had been nothing but nice to him, but with that kind of attitude, she didn't trust the boy not to attempt something. Laxus had better be careful with that book. The kid may try to take off with it.
For now, Winry would try to relax, but when it came time to sleep, she knew she had to think of something to make sure Ajax didn't slip off. Winry just hoped his magic wouldn't surpass her trap making skills.
Ah, Winry's pervy side is showing. At last. Bickslow couldn't have a perfectly innocent little sister. You know. I would ruin the Polterom image. I've gotta keep up appearances!
I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Still, I have to come up with a cunning magic for Ajax. I think I have the perfect kind.
Until next time, FanFictioners!
