Theme 36 – Until we meet again
His jacket smells like her.
Ed is sitting half-sprawled in his train seat with his booted feet propped on his suitcase, working his way through a stick of dumplings with syrup. The scent niggles at his senses, first there and then not, and he keeps turning his head to see if he can catch where it's coming from, like someone trying to get a good look at a bug buzzing at the edge of their vision. It takes him a while to realize that it's his red overcoat that's giving off her scent, and he glances down at it with a look of vaguely confused betrayal.
It makes sense, now that he thinks about it. He gave it to Granny to wash, after their latest adventures covered it in sticky who-knows-what from some nutball alchemist's laboratory beakers. He did his best with alchemy, but it still stank something awful, and Pinako said she knew a few tricks for getting out smells. Well, they certainly worked, because now the musty chemical smell has been traded for the smell of girl. She must have thrown it in with Winry's laundry, and Ed is not amused. His clothes have no business smelling like girls. Especially this girl.
Munching his last bite of dumpling, Ed shoots his brother a sidelong look. Al is fully engrossed in a scientific digest they picked up at the station newsstand, which he swiped while Ed was busy buying food from a peddler kid out the window. Ed watches his little brother read for a while, then glances back at his jacket. Now that he's conscious of the scent of her, he can't quite get his mind off of it. It's not a bad smell, kind of sweet but not sugary or fake like most girls. Winry doesn't use perfume. She smells like machine oil and copper wiring and soap, and a little bit like apple blossom shampoo. It will be faded by tomorrow, he supposes. It's probably the last time he'll smell it until they meet again.
Ed gives his brother a last wary look, to make sure he's not paying attention. Then he gives in to the urge, presses his face into the folds of soft red cloth at the bend of his elbow and breathes her in. If he closes his eyes, it's almost like she's there.
"Brother, are you all right?"
Al is giving him an odd look over the digest. Ed drops his arm hurriedly, a slight blush rising in his cheeks. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine!" he exclaims, standing up. "I'm going to go throw this away now. Gimme my digest back," he blusters, snatching the magazine as he edges past Al to carry the empty dumpling stick off to the trash.
A noise of protest escapes Al as the magazine is whipped out of his hands. Then he notices his brother's blushing face, and his eyes brighten slightly in that particular way that means he's smiling knowingly. But he says nothing.