Chapter Eight: His affection
"Ed where are we going?" I asked as we walked through the silent streets of Lior. The city was so quite that I didn't want to raise my voice over a few decibels, due to the fact my own footsteps felt like they were raising the dead. Ed also didn't feel like talking and observed the war struck city quietly.
"To a hotel, it's too late to walk around, there is nothing I can look at tonight." Ed replied with equal caution, suddenly stopping in his tracks and unsettling the dirt around his feet. I stupidly bumped into him since I wasn't really paying attention where I was going. I rested my head on his shoulder to take a look at what he was so itent on looking at.
"This was a place we could stay but it…" Ed trailed of with slight sadness in his voice. I placed my hands on his shoulders to comfort him. He sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "Colonel said there was part of the city rebuilt, we just have to find that." Ed groaned, turning his head to make eye contact with me. He instantly glared at me and I laughed nervously releasing his shoulders from my grip. He straightened up and continued to walk forward, while I followed silently behind.
Not only was I happy, but Ed seemed to be as well once the first signs of life began to appear. The houses were not much, but they were brightly lit with people celebrating. What could you possible celebrate at a time like this? Then again, humans were amazing like that.
Ed asked around for a while until we found the best inn we could, most likley the only one mind you. We were warned it wasn't finished yet, and told it only had five rooms which were generally booked ahead. Edward sighed with frustration and started to walk in the direction of the inn. The way he was just ignoring my presence was starting to annoy me. He wasn't travelling alone here! Where was my say?
"Have you possibly got two rooms?" Ed asked with a worried glance over his shoulder in my direction after he had asked the question. I was also worried. We were told each room only had a single bed, and neither of us really wanted to sleep on the floor after that train trip. On top of that, having separate rooms was the way Ed had always wanted it. Maybe he needed his privacy and thought that I needed mine.
"No of course not, but someone is checking out in a few minutes, you can have that room if you want, it's expensive." The woman said overly sweet, swinging the room key around in her hand.
"We'll take it!" Edward yelled instantly, slamming his hand down on the bench before snatching the keys from the woman's hand.
After having an argument over the money, Ed and I sat together and waited for the person to check out. "Rose?" Ed questioned, once the hooded figure emerged with a child. I watched as his eyes grew wide. She walked straight past him out the door. Even walked straight past me, which was weird considering how much her and I had been through together.
He sat there for a few seconds, staring at nothing while he thought on what happened. I finally stood up and took his hand in mine with a small smile. He slowly moved his eyes up to my face and raised himself.
"We can go see Rose tomorrow okay?" I whispered with a hint of jealously in my voice that I was lucky Ed didn't pick up.
He took his hand back gently and smiled. "No, I don't have any business with her." Ed replied, heading towards our room. My frustration was evident as I walked behind him muttering to myself.
"You know you want to see her!" I mumbled, fidgeting with my hair as he opened the door and walked inside. "Such a gentleman!" I said a little louder, closing the door behind me. Ed glanced at me strangely while taking off his coat. He hung it over the bed pole and placed his hand over it with a slight sigh.
"So…" Ed began to roll his eyes around the room. "I'm sorry we had to share a room." Ed fidgeted, while also taking off his small black coat. He was left in his black singlet shirt. I shuddered from the sudden desire and want that ran through my body and rubbed my elbows.
"No I really would rather share a room…" I said much too quickly, causing me to jerk a little when I saw Edward's awkward reaction. "Because I feel safe with you." I grinned changing the weight on my feet.
Edward then relaxed a little and sat on the bed, clapping his hands together as he looked at anything but me.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" I asked lifting my head a little.
"Going to the place Mustang told me they are keeping the object which can apparently aerodynamically fly." He replied, leaning back a little.
"I'm coming with you." I said quickly, not liking the thought of being alone all day.
"Don't get in my way then." He said stubbornly, shutting his eyes with force. I found that whenever he said something that was going to hurt my feelings he shut his eyes. It meant that he was either a coward, or couldn't stand seeing the hurt in my eyes. I liked to think it was the latter. "We both want to sleep in the bed right?" Ed asked crossing his arms over his chest.
"Can't we just sleep in it together?" I asked instantly, thinking aloud again. I tried not to show that I was embarrassed after being so forward, and maintained my stance as if the question was perfectly normal.
"Are you insane? Look at the size of it." Ed yelled defensively.
I examined the size and grinned inwardly. "I could sleep on-top of you." "I could sleep next to you squashed up against you, is there a problem?" That's what I felt like saying, but instead I grunted with dissatisfaction and grabbed a few sheets and pillows from the cupboard. "I'll sleep on the floor."
"But Winry you're tired and after the train trip… It's not very manly of me to let a woman sleep on the floor." He said with shock as he watched me set up my bed.
"Edward you have stuff to do tomorrow and I'm not some delicate pretty flower, I can sleep on the floor." I said with anger, kicking off my boots.
"Still…" Edward replied. He stood up to get out of my way as I made the bed up, watching me slightly guiltily.
"Look… how bout you tuck me in? Then we're even okay?" I asked, getting down under the covers slowly.
"Tuck you in?" Edward questioned with disapproval. He blushed and looked away. "What do you mean by that?" Edward inquired, shielding his face from me.
"Like you used to every night when I was little, well what do you think I mean? Going to or not?" I said with annoyance. I finally heard him exhale, and watched as he turned to face me. My body started to tingle as he bent down next to me and hovered over my body for a few seconds. I closed my eyes as he grabbed the covers and pulled them up over my body to my chest, where his hands lingered on the sheets for a few seconds. He then brought his hands down to my stomach and patted it.
"There you go." He said with a grunt.
I instantly coughed. "My kiss?" I asked opening my eyes drowsily.
"Live without it." He yelled angrily kicking his shoes off. I tried not to watch as he stripped down to his boxers and frowned at why I had been restraining myself so much lately.
"Ed…" I whispered after he got into bed and turned the lights off. I heard him mumble what seemed like a "Yeah?" and continued. "Goodnight." He breathed the same to me quietly and fell silent not long after.
I had laid there quietly, just listening to the sound of his breathing as he slowly fell to sleep. The night had been rough for us both, travelling on the train, then walking through a disaster struck city. It had devastated me to see blood stained patches all throughout the city, and the situation was no more appealing to Edward.
Despite all the trauma around us Edward had not once let his emotions through. He just stared numbly ahead. Women crying with their dead husbands in their hands, women with a crying child no-where to go, children homeless and lost without parents. It was enough to make me cringe inside. I could call myself unlucky, having lost almost everything in my life. But looking around only made me feel guilty for ever thinking like that, because I did have something… something which I now regarded much more precious. I think Ed had also noticed that he had something left as well, and we were selfish to ever feel sorry for ourselves.
Edward turned in his sleep with a slight moan. Telling me he was having one of his nightmares again. With all the sin he carried on his shoulders, and everything that had happened it was no wonder his sleep was filled with turmoil at night. Edward always looked so tired… despite his energy when he went into battle, every other time he just stared lifelessly off into the distance. It seemed the only time he was alive was when he was fighting, or using alchemy. This filled me with anger and guilt. I wanted to punch him so many times for acting like a big tough human weapon, when he was really just short little Ed trying desperately to keep the pieces of his shield in-tact. The fact that he was not at all used to human touch didn't surprise me. He hadn't had any physical contact with hardly anyone since his mother died. Because after that Al had been in armour and Ed was left with a brother who couldn't enjoy any of the simple pleasures of life, and it bogged him down with so much guilt it was evident in his eyes every second of the day.
Was that the reason why he shied away from my touch? Did he not feel he deserved to live a happy life when his brother was ridded of that opportunity? No matter what he felt, I was going to do my best to bring life back to every part of his body that wasn't steel, every part that didn't remind him of the guilt, the suffering or the pain.
"Winry… Winry…"
I rolled onto my stomach, scratching it sleepily and holding my wrench in the opposite hand. Some-ones voice had been calling to me, but it wasn't enough to wake me. Just when I was about to roll over in my sleepiness I felt two strong hands grip my arms, one surprisingly cold and smooth. Edward… I sat up instantly with a gasp crashing our heads together in the process. It was hard to say that it didn't hurt me extremely, but it looked worse for Edward who was lying on the floor with a twitching leg. "I'm so sorry." I yelled with surprise running to his side instantly.
"It's okay…" He muttered through gritted teeth. He held his head defensively, as if he thought I was going to hurt him again. I looked down at the wrench and smiled, I think that somehow I had traumatized him when he was little and he now had a huge phobia of wrenches, or so it would seem. But I loved my wrench! It was the most useful thing in the world.
"What's wrong? Why did you wake me up?" I asked sleepily, leaning back a little to allow him room to sit up.
"BEACAUSE IT'S LATE AND I NEED TO GO NOW! THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO BRING YOU! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP EARLIER BECAUSE I DON'T WANT YOU TO SMASH ME IN THE HEAD EVERY MORNING!" He yelled in a rage. Once again I state that its funny watching something so small get into a furious rage and try to scream your head off. Oh Edward could scream alright, and he could probably kill me if he wanted to, I never forgot this fact.
"You done whining yet?" I asked with a sigh. Edward finished his tantrum with a shocked expression and became slightly annoyed. He was about to open his mouth again when I placed my wrench to it. He looked down with fear and shook a little before I started to speak. "Just shut-up Edward, this problem can be fixed easily I'll just buy an alarm clock… or you could buy one for me…" I said sweetly pressing the wrench against his lips harder. He nodded frantically with agreement so I smiled a little, pulling the wrench away. "YOU'RE SO CUTE!" I exclaimed my eyes shining brightly. He sat against the bedpost with an almost a helpless look on his face. I seriously want to hold him. I held myself together and gave him a small smile in my sexual frustration, if that's what you could call it. He sighed with relief when I didn't make any physical contact with him after observing how incredibly cute he was, and rose to his feet.
"Try not to bother me today." He said in his toneless voice. Times like these really annoyed me. Like Edward thought I wasn't worthy to travel beside him because I was just a stupid woman, an obstacle. He had to hold back in front of me and didn't like me being around him. I stood up angrily and tensed fist with the wrench in my hand.
"You better not get in my way!" I yelled stubbornly, placing my feet into my shoes delicately. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked at me with an amused expression. But I knew I wasn't mistaken, I had almost seen his eyes sparkle with admiration for a second before he was back to watching me do things in a temper with an amused sparkle to his eye. He grabbed his coat while I stood at the door waiting, and slung it over his arm. I held out my hand stubbornly.
"What now?" Edward said with a sigh.
"You're auto-mail let me check it before we go out." I said, waiting for him to give me his arm. He did slowly and I observed it carefully, checking all of its functions. I was so engrossed in what I was doing, I almost didn't notice Edward start to speak.
"You know…" Edward started to say. His voice caused me to raise my head and urge him to go on. "You complain a lot, but you put a lot of effort into the jobs you do, Al once told me that." Edward smiled weakly, pulling his arm away slowly since I was satisfied with its condition. I looked at him with mixed emotions. I could almost feel the tears well in my eyes over his compliment. This had to be one of the nicest things he had ever said to me. I blushed slightly under his strong gaze and looked away.
"Well I care bout you…" I said softly. "All I can do for you is make you're auto-mail better… I'm completely useless to you I know that." I looked up at him with a forced smile. "But I'll continue to work hard so you won't have to be inconvenienced by auto-mail, I'll try really hard!"
"Really?" Edward said cocking his head to the side. I nodded frantically and watched him smile genuinely. "Thanks for that."
I nodded my head with happiness and gasped as I felt his cold metal hand come into contact with my flesh. He held my small delicate arm in his large metal one before I glanced at him in confusion. This was the first time Edward had initiated any sort of contact with me since we were children. Despite the fact he was using his metal arm; the thought still sent me on a high slightly.
"Come on let's go." Edward said, pulling me out the door. He paid for the hotel fee still grasping my hand tightly. I was so overwhelmed with happiness I couldn't say anything. Edward is holding my hand in public, in public! I grinned as he dragged me through the streets. Ed is still holding my hand! People glanced at us suspiciously on the street as Edward dragged me behind him, I tried desperately to keep up with him but I knew he didn't want me to stand next to him while holding my hand, that would be to comfortable for his liking. I understood this and played along with him.
"Do you know where we are going Ed?" I asked, after a little while of zig zagging through the unfamiliar streets.
"To the crash site." Edward said with haste.
We finally reached the place. It was sealed of with tape and the military was all gathered around the object which had crashed, no I'll correct that. The military was gathered around the largest object I had ever seen. Edward walked up to the tape slowly, gripping my hand tightly. I watched as his eyes widened with shock, as mine did with amazement.
"WHAT IS THIS?" I yelled with wonder. I turned to Riza who was standing close by watching Edward and I with curiosity. "This is amazing I have never seen anything like it!" I grinned, jumping up and down on the spot. I shook Edward's hand with excitement and glanced at the machine with wonder. Ed continued to stare, eyes wide with shock at the object as I thought about breaking it apart and analysing it.
"Winry… you're even more beautiful." Riza said with a grin looking down to see my fingers linked with Edward's mechanical ones. I knew what she was thinking but I wasn't going to bother correcting her if she didn't say anything, because secretly I wished it was so. I had fallen desperately in-love with Edward since we were children right to today. But I had become so good at hiding the feeling I almost hid it from myself. Every-time our skin accidentally brushed against one another's, or every time he so much as looked at me… I was reminded of the constant ache for him inside. I forgot about the wondrous flying machine that was right before my eyes and looked down at our linked hands for a few seconds sadly.
"Zeppelins." Edward said softly with shock. "How did they end up here?" He turned to Riza as if he was directing the question right at her, while ignoring all the whistles coming from the other team members. Edward was holding my hand in the company of the military. I smiled with happiness as Riza looked between the two of us confused. "How did they get here?" Edward stated again, annoyed over the fact everyone was paying more attention to us then the task at hand. Despite all the assumptions being made about us at that very second Edward tightened his grip on my hand, too stubborn to let go and let else everyone win. Although this slightly upset me, it also gave me great pleasure.
After blinking a few more times Riza sighed. "We don't know it just crashed here, we have no idea how it go here, do you?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
"London…" Edward mumbled looking back over his shoulder to the machine.
"London what's that?" I asked with confusion, watching as Ed wiped the dazed expression from his face.
"Winry can you analyse this for me?" Edward asked, letting go of my hand. He placed his hands on my shoulders and shook my roughly a couple of times with desperation in his eyes. I glanced back at him for a few seconds slightly dazed from being this close to his face and watched the disappointment start to surface on his face with lack of my response.
"Are you kidding?" I shrieked, freeing myself from his grasp to run up to the line. "I REALLY REALLY WANT TO BREAK THIS APART!" I yelled, while admiring the brilliant shape of the object. "This is the work of a professional its unique shape would make it perfectly aerodynamic! It would float through the air, its fine workmanship, its pure genius!" I said with admiration. I glanced over my shoulder to Edward who seemed a little worn out from my enthusiasm.
Riza smiled a little and crossed her arms over her chest. "You two are quite the odd pair." Riza told us, but we weren't listening, to busy arguing.
"Well do you want me to do this or not you alchemy freak?" I yelled angrily.
"But do you have to act like a complete machine nerd around everyone!" He yelled back to me, raising his fist in the air as if telling me not to mess with him.
"HA-HA" I laughed viciously. "Do you have to act like a complete science/alchemy freak anywhere you mad idiot!" I retorted, raising my wrenchwith equal warning.
"SHUT THE HELL UP WINRY!" Edward growled punching his hands together.
"YOU SHUT THE HELL UP YOU MIDGET!" I replied kicking the dirt up into his face.
We continued to fight in the background while the military completely stopped all movement to observe us battle. I raised my wrench over Edwards head after he had just said what he did. He was getting awfully close to tasting my wrath. Edward also looked equally frustrated his face becoming deadly red.
Riza just shook her head with a sigh and watched with amusement as we continued trying to kill each other.
Saturn Stars