Draped in Wires
by. Poisoned Scarlet

Theme 038: 80%

"Next years Sheep Festival is sure to be a bummer." Nelly commented, as her childhood friend Winry perused through the rack of fruits and vegetables displayed in the heart of Resembool; the grocery stores filled and bustling with buyers. "This years was canceled due to that stupid earthquake!"

"It was a big one, huh?" Winry spared her a glance. The military had done a spectacular job of covering up the obscure events that made up the Promised Day, and Winry was less than willing to correct her friend from thinking otherwise as she tossed a few sticks of celery into her basket.

"So how's Edward been?" Nelly asked, conversationally. "I heard he left again, not too long ago. Honestly, that boy should really consider settling down like the rest of us!"

"Nah." Winry softly smiled. "A guy who sits around all day isn't fun at all."

Nelly scrutinized her for a second. "You must love him a lot if you're willing to wait for him so much."

Her hand tensed around an orange at her words. "Y-yeah, I do." She hastily shoved a few oranges into the basket. That was something she felt uncomfortable talking about. Despite their five month relationship, they had yet to ever utter those three words. She had been content with simply basking in his rare affection but the pressure from those three words was more than she had anticipated it would be.

"Pitt and I used to be like you guys!" Nelly continued, overlooking her discomfort. "We got along so great! We still do!"

"Oh, Ed and I are a far cry from you two." Winry snorted. "We fight every single day! If it isn't because I'm bothering him with my cooking then its because he's being a pig and leaving his things all over the place!"

"Really?" Nelly asked, curiously. "You two seem to get along fine!"

"We do." Winry agreed. "I'm just saying it hasn't been a field of daisy's for us. If I remember, you and Pitt had your first fight half-way through your marriage...?"

"Oh, yes." Nelly sighed, heavily. "It was such a terrible thing! Strained our marriage for at least a month before we settled everything! Oh, that reminds me, the girls and I were wondering if you and Ed are ready to, you know," she giggled, "tie the knot!"

Her hold on a head of lettuce snapped and it toppled to the floor, barely being saved by her knee, which propelled the lettuce in the air enough for her to make a hasty save. She knew Nelly was critically watching her and she just hoped she didn't look as troubled as she felt.

"Ed and I...we haven't really thought about that yet." She carefully worded. "It's just been us, you know?"

"So you're not planning on getting married?" Nelly frowned. "Why not? You two love each other! It's all set and done!"

"It isn't that easy, Nelly." Winry quietly said, placing the lettuce into her basket. "He's not just going to get on one knee and pop the question one day. There's more to it than just that and Edward is just a...really difficult person to talk to about that, anyway!"

"If I were you, I'd have already coerced him into putting a ring on me!" Nelly huffed.

Winry felt a flash of annoyance at her friends flawed view in life. "I might be ready but he might not be. I'm not going to force him into doing something he'll regret later on!" She sharply replied. "I want him to be willing to marry me, not just do it because this old town says its tradition to marry when you're sixteen and have kids by the time you're seventeen!"

"Well, what's so wrong with that?" Nelly argued. "I think it's a wonderful thing, to marry a man and be able to give him kids—!"

"You might think so but I don't." Winry shook her head. "Nelly, you've never traveled before. You've never left Resembool except for a few times to Central! When you travel, you learn that life isn't just about hooking up with a guy and having kids! There's more to the world than that, there's—!" Alphonse's words came back to her in that instant, spilling from her lips: "The world is too vast to spend it sitting back doing nothing!"

Nelly contemplated her words quietly. "I guess...if you're raised that way. My momma' taught me to get a good man and live a good life like the good lord intended us to."

"I guess it all depends on our upbringing, huh?" Winry secured her groceries in her hand and turned away to pay. "All I know is that Ed and I swore eighty percent of our lives to each other and that'll do for now."

"Eighty percent?" Nelly blinked, owlishly. "What in the world does that mean?"

Winry smiled, secretively. "It's just our way of tying the knot, Nelly!"

"Wait, so you are getting married?"

"Some day." Winry said over her shoulder, noncommittally. "Maybe someday, when we're both done seeing how vast the world is."

A.N: I really liked this one...

Scarlet.