Three: Found

After lugging the heavy piece of machinery three blocks, Ed couldn't take it anymore. He propped the package and himself against the wall of another automail store. Winry looked him over, unimpressed.

"Wow, thought you'd hold out longer than that." she mused. He simple glanced at her, tired. Sighing, she took a seat beside him and poked him playfully in the shoulder, "Just joking, now come on." Content on , Winry tugged Ed into the store by the wrist. This time he didn't complain, just wiped the sweat from his brow and followed her in.

A small bell rang joyously as they entered, and the man sitting at the counter greeted them cheerily, "How may I help you two? You know, we have a lover's sale today. All couples get ten percent off selected items!" Both nodded warily, the words not really sinking in.

"Couple, right..." Winry murmured. Wait, couple? COUPLE!? "Y-you sick bastard!" she screeched. The salesman was caught off guard as she began yelling and thrashing Ed about, who was still attached to her by the wrist.

"What?" Ed murmured, still a bit out of it.

"He thinks we're a-a... couple." Winry seethed, careful to train a glare on the man who was now backing slowly away. "Seriously, do you really think I would ever date THIS shorty!? Come on, I'm three inches taller than him!"

"Two and three fourths!" yelled Edward, recovering from his bout of haziness, "Do we LOOK like a couple!? Because...we AREN'T!" Okay, maybe not fully recovered.

"I-I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me. I--- well, I was just announcing today's special!" exclaimed the salesman, shielding his head with his arms in self defense.

"Yeah you better be!" Winry continued before catching on, "Oh...um... sorry?"

Both stared blankly at each other before straightening themselves out and making their way over to the screws section as the store clerk was starting to creep them out. There was an entire floor devoted to screws, which, honestly, seemed kind of obsessive to him. The shop even had a list of the available screw sizes, colors, and... designs available. Edward took notice of this and started reading:

SIZES

Xxxxxxxxxx large, Xxxxxxxxx large, Xxxxxxxx large, Xxxxxxx large, Xxxxxx large, Xxxxx large, Xxx large, Xx large, X large, Large, Large/Medium, Medium, Small/Medium, Small, X small, Xx small, Xxx small, Xxxx small, Xxxxx small, Xxxxxx small, Xxxxxxx small, Xxxxxxxx smal, lXxxxxxxxx small, Xxxxxxxxxx small...

Maybe colors would be shorter...

COLORS

Red, Red/orange, Dark orange, Orange, Light orange, Orange/yellow, Dark yellow, Yellow, Light yellow, Yellow/green, Light green, Green, Dark green, Aqua, Light aqua, Light blue, Cerulean, Blue, Dark blue, Navy, Indigo, Dark purple, Dark violet, Violet, Light violet, Lavender, Light pink, Bubblegum, Pink, Dark pink, Salmon, Peach, Cream, White, Ivory, Light gray, Gray, Wolf, Dark gray, Black, Ink, Charcoal, Dark brown, Brown, Light brown, Toasted marshmallow...

Forget that... well there was still designs. I mean, you couldn't come up with that many designs...

DESIGNS…

Lime green swirls with red pigs, Lime green swirls with red/orange pigs...

After one look at the 4 poster long list for designs, Ed admittedly gave up. And at that they rushed out the door, this time him pulling her along. However, luck was not on their side and they found themselves repeating this action several more times as the selection and prices increased with every new store.

"Winry..." he huffed as they exited their 29th store that day, "What. the. HELL. is. WRONG. with. all. these. DAMN. STORES!?"

She groaned, frustrated, "No idea, but this was a disaster, thanks to YOU."

"What th—"

"I'm Edward Elric, I can't wait in line for ten minutes. Wahwahwah. If you hadn't been such a baby at the first shop we might have been finished HOURS ago!"

He scoffed, "YOU'RE the one that pulled me out of that line! Stop putting all the blame on me!"

"Well, I am. Thanks to you, my legs are sore, my back is sore, and I can't lift my head up any longer!"

"What are you, an old lady?" he simpered.

She glared at him, "No, this thing in my pocket has been digging into me all day!" In a bout of anger, she pulled the object from her pocket and...

"Pinako's missing screws..." Ed said, in amazement, "Wait, that means you had them all this time!"

"Nah," she pouted, then seamlessly stretched her lips into a mysterious smile Edward couldn't quite place, "Impossilbe."

-The End-