14. Affection
It had been a month since they passed the survival test. Right now he was looking at a phone in deep thought. Should he or shouldn't he? This was a matter that would take some serious consideration and couldn't be rushed.
He felt a strong hand grip his shoulder. Looking up he saw his teacher's husband, Sig. The burly man had just finished some work in the kitchen and looked as assured as always. "What's the matter Edward, you've been glaring holes at the phone for an hour now."
"There's nothing wrong, why do you think something's wrong. You're the one with the problem", Ed said this defensively.
If anything, Sig looked amused. "Your brother told me you have a dear friend back home. I'm sure you miss her a lot, so why don't you call her?"
Ed shook his head rapidly, "I don't miss her, it's just that she's helpless without me. I can't imagine all the trouble she's gotten into." He crossed his arms and huffed at the sheer thought that he would be missing her.
"That's no way to talk about your precious friend, is it? Do you dislike her that much?" Sig questioned.
"Well, she's not all that bad. She pretty smart, not as much as me, but still that's pretty neat." The eldest Elric child admitted as he remembered some of her tinkering before he had left to get an Alchemy teacher. And she had gotten much more tolerable in time. Though it bothered him, her memory did comfort him a bit on the island. He could feel himself get flushed and shook his head.
"I have been gone for a pretty long time, I'll call her so she doesn't feel too lonely. Winry is so high maintenance, well what can you do?" Ed stated graciously.
"What indeed?" Sig hummed genially.