Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Theme no.: 12. No otherways for pomp and majesty
Pairing: Ed/Winry
Rating: K+ (for Ed's potty mouth)
Summary: Ed has the best intentions, but things never go as he planned.
Notes: More Ed/Winry silliness, but don't try to act surprised. And man, I had to fight with this one to keep it under 1,000 words.
12. No otherways for pomp and majesty
Al accompanied him for the trip down to Risembool's only post office. The two fell into an easy pace as they traveled down the road; it was a beautiful spring day and Al was giddy with excitement over the final arrival of the tiny object wrapped carefully in the parcel waiting for the pair.
Almost reverentially, Ed pulled the paper away from the box and held up the silver band to the sunlight; the diamond glinted promisingly as Al ooh'd and ahh'd appropriately. Ed smiled in relief; it was simple and it was elegant and it was perfect for Winry.
"Do you know how you're going to ask her yet?" Al almost whispered, apparently caught up in Ed's awed atmosphere.
"Mm." Ed nodded. He wanted the occasion to be perfect, something nice and memorable – but not overwhelming. This weekend Winry would find herself pulled away from her workshop and outside into the warm spring sun, away from the house and prying eyes and to a simple picnic lunch that would give him just the right opportunity to get down on one knee and propose without worrying about screwing it up in front of everyone.
It was a theme that ran disturbingly rampant through their relationship: it seemed like Ed always irrevocably screwed up all those "big moments" that so many couples enjoyed.
During their first kiss – in her workshop, in the middle of maintenance – a heavy wrench had slid from Winry's slack fingers and landed on his foot. Ed had yelped like a wounded animal and jumped back, only to set Winry off balance. She'd toppled over her own workbench, showering herself with tools and stray automail pieces. The resulting black eye earned him an aghast stare from Al and had taken over a week to fade.
When they had finally gone on their first date – a real first date, that involved Winry in a dress and Ed in a tie, and theater tickets to Central's latest sensation – Ed had nearly gotten himself arrested when he'd overheard the couple sitting a row behind them talking about him: ("The Fullmetal Alchemist? I met him once. Hope he grew a bit, he was almost sixteen and he still could have passed for twelve."). Winry was mortified and hadn't spoken to him for a week.
And the first time they had slept together – that one was worst of all. It easily went down as one of the more horrifying moments in Ed's memory, and nobody but Winry knew of the events that had transpired that night. She, more for his ego's sake than anything else, avoided mentioning that awful night.
And so Ed was determined, right to the very core of his soul, to make his proposal absolutely perfect – it was no more than Winry deserved, and there was no way he was going to allow himself to ruin it.
When they returned to the house he poked his head into her workroom to see how her afternoon appointments had gone. The whine of the grinder ceased and she lifted her goggles and waved at him.
"Where'd you and Al go? I was looking for you a little while ago."
Ed shrugged nonchalantly. "We ran down to the market for a few groceries."
"Did you get those apples like I asked you to?" she asked absently, still measuring the metal fingers strewn in front of her against each other.
Ed's face flushed. She had asked him to pick those up. "…I forgot."
Her eyes flashed. "E-ed! You know I wanted those so I could make a pie for Al's birthday!"
"I know, I just forgot-"
"You," Winry accused, "are the worst grocery shopper ever!"
"What?!" Apparently her afternoon hadn't gone so smoothly. He recognized every single sign of her wanting to pick a fight.
"You only ever think of yourself when you're shopping! You never remember what anyone else in the house needs!" Her jaw was set stubbornly.
"That is completely untrue!" Ed crossed his arms defensively and frowned at her. "And if you're so worried about the shopping, maybe you should do it once in a while!"
He knew it was no more than a bad mood that had prompted her yelling at him – they'd certainly argued over stupider things than grocery shopping and he was more than used to blowing off steam through them.
Still, it hurt a little when Winry glowered at him and asked harshly, "You can't even get the shopping right! What kind of boyfriend are you? What kind of husband are you going to make?!"
"I'd worry less about what kind of husband I'll be and more about what kind of wife berates her husband for no reason!" They were shouting at this point. He was sure their words were carrying through the house.
"You were just being selfish!" she declared, pointing at him dramatically.
"Selfish?! You – you-" he bellowed, groping wildly for words before blurting out, "I would make a great husband!"
Winry looked unimpressed. "Prove it!"
"I will! You want to get married then?"
"Fine!" The floor under Ed's feet seemed to tremble with the force of her voice.
"Fine!" He barked right back at her, then turned away and slammed the door behind him so hard he thought he heard the hinge crack.
Al was standing in the kitchen threshold across the room, a dazed look of shock on his face. "Brother…" he intoned, shaking his head.
The last few moments of the fight replayed in Ed's head, and he slapped himself in the forehead with his flesh hand. "Shit!" Then, reaching into his pants pocket and fishing out the little box he'd just picked up, he turned right around to go back into the workshop.
"Winry…?"