The longest chapter so far! CreativebutLazy suggested this scenario, and I had to use it. Thanks so much!

I watched episode 64 and I think it was excellent. It was different from the manga, but not enough that it takes away from it. Elric brothers in waistcoats made my day! Al's scene with the chimeras was hilarious ("You're not really going to follow me, are you?"). Falman having kids was surprising, though I'm glad he got it. I'm still not sure what was up with Mustang's mustache… It looks horrible, though I've heard the theory that Ed drew it on the photograph, which is plausible. From the changes to the family portrait, I'm guessing Ed and Winry move to Rush Valley.

Anyway, sorry for the long author's note. But you get a nice long chapter as a thank you :)

36. Glasswork

"How far in you want this, Ed?"

Edward frowned and shifted. "As far in as you can get it without messing up my wires. I don't need it falling out," he replied.

Julius frowned and pushed his thumb further into Ed's automail shoulder. "Alright, how about here?"

Ed grunted and swiveled his arm. "I think it's in now. Thanks."

"No problem. Glad you're finally going to do it, Ed." Julius smirked as Ed flushed and looked away.

"Shut up and put my arm back together before Winry finds us and kills us both for destroying my automail."

Julius let out a snort and grabbed one of the arm plates and a screwdriver. "Yeah, that's a death I'd rather avoid."

It had been a busy day down at the shop, and Winry really just couldn't wait to get back to Garfiel's place and take a nice long bath.

But, of course, that didn't happen.

The second she walked through the door, Ed besieged her, his automail arm thrust in her face.

"Hey, Win! I need you to look at something."

Winry scowled and dropped her toolkit on the ground. "Does it have to be now, Ed? It was a long day, I just want to take a bath and relax," she asked, a hint of a whine creeping into her voice.

Ed looked slightly alarmed and grabbed her wrist as she walked by him. "Wait, wait. I think I popped a support bar in my shoulder this afternoon." Winry arched an eyebrow, and Ed hastily continued to avoid Death by Wrench. "Julius and I were wrestling earlier in the day."

The mechanic moaned. With Al gone, Ed's energy had no outlet, so he ended up messing around with some of the other guys around Rush Valley. Julius was currently his favorite "playmate" (as Winry liked to call him) and the two were always beating each other up.

Ed tried again. "C'mon, Win, can you take a look a look at it? It keeps messing up with my nerve receptors and it's been bothering me all day."

Something wasn't adding up here… Winry put her hands on her hips. "If it was bothering you all day, why didn't you come down to the shop?" Ed had been stuck in the house due to his automail rehab, but he was well past that stage now.

Ed froze, mouth open to retort, but nothing came out. His eye twitched, and he looked around the room, as if his answer was hanging on the wall. "Uh…"

Winry rolled her eyes and walked past him, heading towards the bathroom.

She could hear Ed's feet clanking loudly on the floor as he chased after her and flung himself across the doorway to the washroom. Winry scowled, now thoroughly pissed that Ed was denying her the ability to get clean, and Ed pouted back.

Clearly, Ed had not learned that standing between a girl and her bathroom was a very dangerous, and stupid, thing to do.

"Edward. Move."

He tensed and looked worried for a moment before shaking it off. "No."

"Yes."

"No."

They stared each other down before Winry's hand shot into the pocket of her overalls and pulled out her wrench. "Move before I hit something that isn't automail."

Ed's eyes widened and he crossed his legs as well as he could while still blocking the door. He licked his lips. "Win, can you just fix my shoulder? It won't take long." Winry still looked unconvinced. "…Please?"

Winry's grip tightened on the wrench before she huffed out a sigh and pointed down the hall to her workshop. "Fine. Now get in there and take your shirt off."

Ed blinked at her, obviously surprised that she had relented.

"Edward, NOW!" Winry screeched, her patience thinning.

The alchemist bolted down the hall and into the room.

Winry stalked after him and found Ed shirtless and in the chair, right arm spread out for examination. "You said it was in your shoulder?" she asked, grabbing the necessary tools from the shelves and sitting down next to Ed.

He shifted and tapped what would have been his armpit. "It feels off in there."

Winry picked up her screwdriver. "I'll take the plates off and see what it is," she said, hoisting the arm up with one hand to get a better view.

She unscrewed several of the outer plates and began to poke around the internal wiring. She would occasionally hit a receptor and Ed would flinch, but other than that, he was as still as a statue.

And that should have been Winry's first clue that something was off. Ed was never still or quiet during exams, especially when the two of them were in such close proximity to one another.

Clank.

Winry paused. Her screwdriver had hit something, snagged in the wires. She gave the wires a shake and something fell out of the wires and clattered to the bench.

The two looked down at the object and Winry tensed.

A ring.

A diamond ring.

She carefully picked it up and examined it. She recognized the design almost immediately- the ring had been in the display case at Wiltz's, the most expensive jewelry store in Rush Valley.

"Edward."

"…Y-Yes?" he squeaked out. His eyes were wide and he looked like he was on the verge of collapsing in a dead faint.

"Explain this," she ordered, thrusting the ring in his face.

Ed squirmed for a minute. "It's for you," he finally said.

Winry frowned down at the ring and brought it closer to his eyes. Ed still bought her jewelry every now and then, but this… "This is rather expensive for a gift."

The alchemist scowled. "It's not just a regular gift!" he exclaimed and sat up straighter. "It's an engagement ring!"

Winry jerked her gaze from the ring to Edward's face, which had gone a startling shade of red at his announcement. "What?"

Ed swallowed heavily. "You heard me."

There was a minute of silence as they sat there, Edward half naked and Winry covered in grease. It was quite the unromantic moment.

Then Winry jumped to her feet with a screech and flung herself at Edward, who was knocked off-balance; the two ended up in a heap on the floor.

"Is this a yes, Winry?" Ed asked, his face smothered by Winry's arm.

The mechanic let out a rather girly squeal and nodded. "Yes!" she exclaimed. Then she sat up, eyes wide. "Oh! I have to call Granny! And then I have to go tell Paninya and-" Winry slipped the ring on her finger and bolted for the hallway and the telephone.

Ed scrambled to his feet and chased after her. "Winry! Wait!" he called. She already had the receiver in her hand and the two tussled for a moment before Ed managed to get the phone away from her. "You can't tell anyone!"

Winry gaped and made a grab for the phone. "What do you mean I can't tell anyone? Granny needs to know!"

Edward licked his lips. "Because I was planning for us to elope!"

Winry did a double-take. "Elope? To where?"

"Xing. I plan on making Ling pay up for all the food he put on my tab."

Winry frowned, obviously knocked off-balance by Ed's plans. "But why do we have to elope?"

Ed was silent for a moment. "Well… it's, you know… bad ass!" he exclaimed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"…You did not just refer to our marriage as 'bad ass,'" Winry replied, her voice dangerously low.

Ed looked like he was seriously starting to doubt his word choice. "Um, no?"

Winry rubbed her temples. Despite how nervous Ed was about the whole thing, and how roughly it had been carried out, the thought of going to Xing to get married, was romantic. "You've got this all planned out, don't you?" she asked.

He nodded once.

They stood for a moment before Winry started to giggle.

Ed looked indignant. "What? There's nothing funny about this!"

Winry started to laugh harder.

"Win!" Ed whined.

She stopped and grinned. "Sorry, I can't help it. But yes, Ed, I'll do it."

He blinked. "You sure?"

"Yes. Now shut up and kiss me."

Ed obeyed and then lifted Winry up off the ground, smirking. "Y'know, Winry, you sure could use a bath. You smell like grease."

Yes! The proposal! And we'll be seeing Al and Ling soon, too.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!