"Here" he said as he handed her a glass of liquor.
"Thank you" Winry said receiving it as she continued to look sideways at her friend. Almost 20 minutes had passed and Pan seemed to have struck up a more than friendly conversation with him. They were both very engaged in what they were talking about.
"I didn't know she liked him."
"What? Oh yeah, well you know how she is. Today it's him, tomorrow it's someone else..."
"Yeah sure, but I imagine she must have been a little jealous when he was trying to flirt with you" Darik said taking a sip.
"He didn't-" but she fell silent under Darik's gaze. Despite the relative darkness of the place, she could tell from the look on her friend's face, indirectly telling her that he didn't believe her what she was about to say.
"Okay yeah, but I didn't want to go out with him. And you know it, you were the one who lied to him that I was working today."
"That's exactly why, because I knew you didn't want anything with him."
Winry took another sip from her glass as she looked in another direction to where her friend was. It was a little late but people seemed to want to stay. She sensed it was because the spring season was approaching and that was when it was the least busy. It seemed as if everyone wanted to blow off steam from time worked almost all year.
"People don't seem to want to work tomorrow anymore, do they?" she said, changing the subject.
"Why?"
"We're all here and tomorrow is a work day too."
"Win." He said as the mechanics looked at her in disbelief when he mentioned her name. "All shops are going on vacation, in spring there are no customers and you know it, there's no point in staying."
"That's not true! Mrs. Clarice is coming next week with her daughter to have her leg checked out."
"Because she knows you'll be here, she told you herself that she could wait a month because she thought you were going on vacation too, or don't you remember?"
Winry strained her memory and managed to recall when Mrs. Clarice had commented that very thing to her. She had told her that since it was a morning check-up, she could wait for her. But she instantly dismissed it by saying that she would be available for that date. The lady was puzzled at first but then happy about the announcement.
"It's true, but at least she's happy that I'm taking care of her daughter. Plus we charge a client that the others don't. That's good."
Darik set his glass down on the table for her response. The sound of the glass clinking startled the blonde a little. "No, it's not."
She looked at him dumbfounded. "What you are is a workaholic, Mr. Garfiel has repeated countless times that he could give you the full month of vacation but you refused every time. Why? If everyone wants you to rest, why don't you want to?"
The bar music was still playing but she could only hear Darik's voice. She ducked her head trying to find the answer, she knew, but it was so obvious that at this point it wasn't worth saying again.
"Win, please, after you tend to the girl, take a break."
The mechanic simply looked around the environment again, and that's when she spotted someone, one of those auto mail mechanics who lived near the Rush Valley plaza. She recognized him easily because she had already "casually" run into him around the hardware stores, and now he seemed quite a bit bolder since he had been looking at her for a while now.
"Now who?" he said.
She looked back at him, "No, no one." The brunet not believing her turned his face slightly to look at him.
"I don't know him."
"Neither do I, I just passed him by the tool stores."
Darik looked sideways at him again and put his beefy arm on top of the table to interrupt the invader's view a little. "You like that?"
"What?"
"That all the men in town want to get in your panties."
"Darik!" she said red-faced and embarrassed.
The boy laughed at her reaction. "It's just too much don't you think?"
The blonde turned her gaze back to her admirer. "I don't know, I never did anything to make them think anything."
Darik made a sound with his mouth with a tone of annoyance and disbelief. She hearing him asked him if he said something wrong.
"I can tell you don't know this flirting thing. We are the ones who are supposed to hint first, and then you either accept or not."
The mechanic looked at him somewhat incredulously, it was always in her mind that a guy would propose fortuitously, with a bouquet of flowers or a romantic dinner. Not dancing in a bar.
She kept thinking about that. Maybe all the times some guy asked her to go dancing or go on a date around town it wasn't just because they wanted to be friends with her, but because they were really in love with her. She couldn't believe that almost all the men she knew were like that, there must be a mistake.
"You never had a boyfriend, did you?"
"What? Why do you ask?"
"Any girl who has hooked up with a guy would know our double intentions." He said as he drank from his glass.
She fell silent.
"Some act on instinct, others know what they have to do to impress you. But in the end they all pursue the same goal."
She continued with her fingers on her empty glass. "Well no, I haven't had a boyfriend. Is there something wrong with that?"
"Not at all. That's hot."
"Hot?"
"Guy stuff," Darik said. She was about to retort when she realized someone was interrupting their chat. Someone standing at the side of their table, and in the same manner as Liam.
"Winry, I didn't expect to see you around." Greeted the boy who was looking at her.
Yeah sure.
"Hi," she said in the nicest way possible. "Me neither."
She didn't want to go through this again. She was already planning to turn down another offer tonight and leave the bar because she was already tired of this situation.
He thought about it some more. He would tell her no, he was already planning to back out, go to Paninya and tell her in her ear that he was leaving. By this point she must already be obfuscating on Liam, and he too so he wouldn't chase after her. She turned her head to talk to him when something grabbed her hand.
"Sorry buddy, but she's accompanied." Darik said and at the same time had his hand on the blonde's hand. The mechanic instantly blushed looking at the table but didn't dare to say anything.
The boy standing in front of the table showed his stunned face. "Wait what? You guys are..?"
"Yes," he said quickly.
"But that's impossible, you're always with him and we've never seen you interested." Said the boy to Winry, as if he was reprimanding her or demanding something.
"We?" this time Winry snapped out of her embarrassed trance and looked a little indignant. "Why should I explain myself to you guys? If I even know who you guys are."
"B-but you never said so! That's not fair!"
Darik was the one who laughed this time. Winry was about to do it, the whole situation seemed tragicomic and at the same time confusing, but it was a comment that took away all the funny atmosphere.
"Haven't you seen his skin Winry? He's an ishvalan, I'm better for you."
About three seconds passed since he said that and suddenly Darik stood up from his seat and faced him. The previously confident boy froze when he realized the height difference.
He was like a gorilla against an ant.
"Repeat what you said." And that was when with one hand he grabbed the collar of his shirt. The boy got up from the floor and only touched the toes of his feet to the floor because of the grip.
Winry was at first as indignant as he was. But seeing Darik's reaction she got a little scared. She didn't expect a violent reaction from him, he has always been calm in any situation.
"Repeat!" said Darik again, in a thick and frightening voice.
"I-I didn't say anything sorry. Sorry please. I didn't say anything, let me go please." He repeated with his eyes closed.
At that he feels a hand touch his arm. It was the blonde.
"Darik, let him go." Winry said calmly.
He looked at him as she kept grabbing him, closed his eyes and let go. The boy's body fell to the ground like a rag doll and he walked away very fast, but not before looking at him angrily. Surprisingly no one in the bar had noticed the scene. It was emptier than before and the few people were dancing.
Darik sat back down next to Winry as he sighed.
"Are you okay?" she said.
"Yeah don't worry. I'm used to it."
"Used to it? What are you saying?"
"The people of Amestris are not very friendly to foreigners Win. Especially someone who doesn't have blonde hair or blue eyes like most of you."
Winry opened her mouth. "Yes, I know you're not like that. You proved it to me from the moment we met. But unfortunately not everyone is like you."
She took it as a complaint rather than a compliment. "War makes idiots out of us sometimes."
"Uh?" said Darik because the bar song had changed to something more upbeat.
The mechanic snorted, examined the place once more. She noticed that Pan was in the corner making out with that Liam guy. She felt strange at first, being that he had shown interest in her first.
But she didn't think anything of it, she stood up and grabbed Darik's hand to leave the bar.
"Do you want to go already?"
"Yeah, I'm tired," she said as they walked out the door of the bar.
Once outside, and without music buzzing in her ears the whole time, she felt more relieved to have a conversation with him.
"Pan?"
"She'll be fine." Winry said and started walking down the sidewalk back to the shop. Darik followed in her footsteps.
"We could have waited for her." said the worried boy.
"No need to. She doesn't like to be interrupted. Tomorrow you'll find her in the workshop as usual." Said the mechanic as if it were a common routine between them.
He didn't insist anymore and they started walking back. The streets were almost empty, a sign that it was late. That, with the unusual case in which they were both silent made the walk somewhat uncomfortable.
"Are you better now?" she asked.
"I am? Yes, I'm fine."
"It's just that I was worried when you said you were used to this."
"Well, if I'm honest I just said it out of the blue. It's actually happened to me a couple of times before."
"You say it like it's a normal thing!"
"I guess it is, but people don't usually mess with someone as big as me."
She'd never seen anything like that before. At least a scene like that. She was sure that his travels around Amestris had made it easier to run into those kinds of people.
The blonde knew she had to lighten the conversation, make it less awkward so they would forget what happened. That's when he remembered what he told her about his travels around the country, where he had met women with whom he kept them company.
"I guess those women you bragged about dating weren't as much of a jerk as he was, huh?" she said in a slightly mocking tone.
He chuckled. "You still don't believe me about them."
Winry gave him a pouty face. "Sorry for disrespecting a conqueror of females." She said wryly.
Darik laughed again. "Yeah well, I guess girls had no problem with me. I may be ishvalan but I have my attributes."
That time it was the blonde who had to laugh. "Attributes huh? Like what? Getting your mechanics up early?"
"You should thank me, if it wasn't for me you'd fall asleep." He said teasingly.
"I guess you were getting them up early too?" she tried to tease.
"No, they preferred to sleep all day after every night." Darik said in a very calm manner.
Winry's eyes bulged and she blushed again that night. This time not because of a comment towards her.
"Oops, sorry. Your ears aren't ready for something like that." He continued mockingly.
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing Win. You have to get yourself a boyfriend first."
"Haha, very funny." Replied the mechanic knowing he was teasing. "Don't treat me like a fool, I know what you mean."
"Really?" he said with a sarcastic tone.
The blonde with every intention of not falling for his game and not losing answered him without thinking. "Sure, if I saw you doing the favor to one of your girlfriends."
They both stopped. They were lucky that they had just arrived at the workshop and were in front of the door.
"You saw me?" he said in a low tone.
"Forget it" she said with red cheeks as she opened the door as quickly as she could. They both entered the empty workshop. As soon as Darik closed the door behind him, Winry was already with quickening pace climbing the stairs.
She thought she would get off easily when a hand grabbed her arm. It was Darik, who for some reason was faster than her.
"You really saw me with someone?" he said but this time with a tone of intrigue.
She looked at him but didn't want to say anything. She didn't intend to say it because it was too embarrassing.
"Not here Darik" she said in a low voice.
He looked around. "My room." And it was he who went ahead of her leading the way. She followed him shyly and embarrassedly. She wished she hadn't opened her mouth about something that was supposed to be intimate.
Everyone's rooms were on the second floor of the workshop. There were three in all and one bathroom. Mr. Garfield slept in one of them. And as Winry knew, by this time he should be in bed since he usually went to sleep early.
She had never entered his room, she had respected his privacy the whole time he lived there. But Darik didn't seem to mind, he seemed in enough of a hurry to say talk to her.
His room was small, like hers. There wasn't much stuff, except for the odd piece of clothing lying on the floor, a poster of a girl in a bikini, and the peculiar smell of a man not involved with sweat. She was surprised for a moment by the poster, even intimidated, but she supposed it was normal for a man to have something like that.
He closed the door and looked at her. "Now yes, tell me. What did you see?"
The blonde shuddered. "It was in Ishval. Before I went back to my house."
Everything went normally at the camp before she prepared to bid the place farewell. The night before leaving for home, she found herself packing the last things into her suitcase before going to sleep. The bus was leaving early tomorrow morning, so she would barely have time to pack her things first thing in the morning.
She hadn't talked to Darik that last day because they were in different parts of the camp so busy. It struck her as odd since the two of them had shared dialogue for most of the time they were in camp. He guessed that he was busy too.
As he was about to close his backpack, his mind came back to save his life. She remembered certain automail tools she had left in a care tent for war cripples that were vital to her work in the workshop.
She walked alone through the camp under the half-full moon. The volunteers and inhabitants were in their tents. All closed after a hard day's work. A local custom was that everyone went to bed early so they could get up early the next day.
She arrived at the tent where she worked and looked for her work tools. It was usually always messy because she was not the only caretaker of the refugees, but she was the only mechanic. So it wasn't hard for her to find her toolbox on the floor of the tent.
However, it was when she found them that she heard sounds coming from a tent near hers. She froze, thinking for a moment that it was an animal or that something had fallen. But the sounds were repetitive, though not loud but enough for her to hear.
She tried to pay more attention to them and realized it was coming from the tent next door. Putting her ear to the fabric she could hear the sounds more precisely. They were like applause that repeated very fast and each time seemed to increase in speed. It was in that disjunctive when she also became aware of other sounds. They were moans, like those that come out after running a long marathon, but they were deeper and shorter.
Unable to satisfy her curiosity, she left the tent in order to see what was inside the other one. It was closed, but it was only a pair of fabrics that behaved like a door. So she goes over and without intending to make too much noise, she pulls the cloth apart a little and looks at what is inside the tent.
There was him, as she remembers him, standing upright and on his back with his pants down. The first thing she noticed was his exposed black ass. But the next thing she instantly noticed was that he was with a woman, in front of him, leaning on a table and with her ass on his groin. It took less than a second to figure out what was going on.
Winry closed the store immediately. With a very red face she stood there and, with no intention of looking back at the scene going on inside. The sounds seemed to continue, so both people had not noticed her presence, which relieved her a little for half a second. Without a second thought she decided to walk back to her tent.
She didn't know what to think. She never imagined that the sounds were due to someone having sex. She had a hard time processing that it was her friend who she had just met who was there. It wasn't the first image she had imagined of him, she hadn't even imagined him in such a situation.
She noticed in the small moment she saw the scene that the woman with him was one of the camp nurses. She distinguished her by the uniform she was still wearing. She was still in doubt as to who she was. He had not conversed with her and she had not seen him with her at any time.
But stranger was how she felt after seeing what she saw. Since she was a child she had always had the clear idea that something so important should only be reserved for the person you marry. That was what her parents had taught her. Still, she already suspected something when he mentioned having been with many Amestris girls in the past, although she didn't imagine it was something like this.
She arrived at her tent and decided to lock herself in and imagine that nothing happened. It was impossible but at least he would try so that no one would suspect and especially not him. She tried to dull her mind of what happened last night. She convinced herself that to dwell on the subject, or just to think about it, would be judging him for no reason. She put aside her prejudices and, to her surprise, it took her little time to sleep, possibly from the exhaustion of the day's work.
"Really, I didn't mean to see you. I wouldn't even have thought it was you." Winry repeated in an embarrassed voice and looking down at the floor. Telling the story seemed even harder than it was to see her.
Darik at first was staring at Winry as she recounted what she saw. And then when she finished, he changed his face to one that showed discomfort. "Ehm yeah, I guess it was me."
"I'll pretend I never saw that." Said the blonde trying to sound convincing.
The boy, now slightly less nervous looked at her. "Why? It's not like we did anything wrong either." And he walked over to his bed, specifically the bottom of the dresser. From there he pulled out what looked like a half-drunk bottle of beer, and indeed began to drink from it.
Winry didn't mind that, she was more concerned with embarrassment. "I guess not, but I still shouldn't have seen you."
"Liz."
"Ah?"
"The girl, her name was Liz. She was the nurse in my tent."
"Yes, she was a nurse." She said.
"She'd come up to me every chance she got. I played along, but it didn't go any further than that. Then she told me that was her last night in Ishval and said she wanted to do it as a way of saying goodbye."
"She left that day too?"
"Yes. And because she was good-looking I did her the favor. But it was just that one time." He said as he drank from his bottle.
Winry heard what he said but didn't mention another word. She found it too awkward to talk about it, even if it was with a friend. He, however, seemed to care less and less about talking about it, even though he was initially interested.
"I told you Win. There's nothing wrong with it. We just had sex."
"I know! He didn't say it was bad." Winry replied quickly and somewhat angrily. She didn't like it when they showed complacency towards her for anything.
"It's just that you seem so nervous." Said the Ishvalan as he finished off what little liquor was left in his bottle.
"I'm not.."
"That's normal when you have a boyfriend you know?"
"Are you going to make fun of that again?"
"No, of course not." He said half smiling. With his hands behind him propping himself up he watched the blonde stare at the floor. He found the situation funny.
"Haven't you wondered how it feels?" he asked her bluntly.
She looked at him intently. "Feel?"
"Having sex with someone. It's great." Darik said. "You miss out on a lot."
"Yeah, I guess, but-"
"But you want it to be special." he finished her sentence.
Winry looked at him in surprise. "How do you know?"
"It's what everyone wants. It's the ideal."
"It's what my parents told me." Replied the blonde.
Darik looked at her. He knew she meant it not only for her parents, but for a certain person he hadn't mentioned so far.
"We don't always have to believe in our parents."
"What?" she replied almost instantly. Darik knew that making her doubt her parents, or question them, was going to cause an effect on her to pay attention to him. And it worked.
"Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong." She said calmly. "It's not wrong to want to enjoy someone just for pleasure. That's normal."
Winry was surprised by his response. "You didn't?"
"I don't think so. But even if I did I'm fine with it. Picking up a person can be very stressful, and I don't want to stress myself out."
"But it's supposed to be a special time, that you're doing it with someone you love to have kids isn't it?"
Darik laughed almost violently. He didn't make enough noise not to wake Garfiel. "Can you imagine how boring life would be if we could only fuck to have kids. Not me."
She kept looking at him but this time a little more incredulously. "I don't know, I think something like that should be kept."
He changed his gaze to a more serious one. "And you're happy keeping what you feel?"
Winry fell silent again. No, she wasn't happy. That was her debate in her head these past few days. She thought this outing was going to take her away from that question but it only brought her back to it.
"Why are you telling me that?" she said in a sad voice.
"Because it's true."
"It's not true."
"Ok it's not." He said with the intention of not arguing again. "I just wanted to tell you that you don't need to be tied to someone to enjoy and have fun. We're young, we still have time."
She acknowledged that. She was still too young to think that something as important as her happiness depended on what she was doing now. It could be true, but that time was a long way off.
"You've never touch yourself?"
"Darik!"
"I'll take that as a yes. For what you feel when you masturbate is nothing when you do it with someone else. And if she sucks you off, all the better."
"Suck off."
"I think you lack education little girl." He joked as the mechanic made an annoyed and embarrassed face again.
"Oh shut up. I'm going to sleep." Said the blonde as she walked to the door.
"You better. We have work tomorrow, boss."
She looked at him, smiled, and walked out the door without making much noise. She walked a few steps until she reached her bedroom next to Garfiel's room.
All she did was take off the clothes she had on and put on a more comfortable pair of pajamas. She was tired and tomorrow she had to wake up early to attend to some business with her clients. Once she lay down, she turned off the lights, but kept thinking with her eyes open lying down.
The conversation with Darik was strange for her. She always thought that something as taboo as sex was not a topic of conversation. That was the reason she never mentioned the incident to him, Winry thought she had invaded his privacy.
However, he had been very calm when she talked about it. He didn't seem to care what anyone thought about him. She would like to have his reassurance.
It wasn't the first time she had wondered what it felt like to have sex, but she wasn't going to admit that to Darik. The blonde always considered it as the final step to be able to start a family, as a consolidation of a forever love. Or at least that's what her mother told her the first time they talked about it.
In fact it was the only time they talked, and it wasn't exactly explicit. She was still very young, so her mother was careful about talking about it. So it wasn't until she had to read medical books from her dad's library, necessary to be able to do automail surgeries, that she learned about human reproduction and what differentiates boys from girls.
She never mentioned the subject to Granny. With what she had read from the book and what her mother told her, she thought it was enough to know what sex meant. But since she came to Rush Valley and started living alone, she found out from her friends that it wasn't as private or special as she thought.
With Paninya it started, but it was Darik who gave the final push for her to consider what it really meant to get laid.
The mechanic rolled over in bed again and felt it. A sensation below her groin. Winry blushed instantly and put her face into the pillow. She was thankful Paninya wasn't there, because she would have been teased a lot.
The workshop opened at 11 a.m., but Mr. Garfiel usually woke up earlier to have breakfast and be ready for the day's work. He always woke up before Winry, so he wasn't surprised that she was asleep at this hour.
Garfiel was making breakfast at a table in the workshop. Fried eggs and bacon with orange juice. It was nine in the morning when he heard the sound of the stairs.
"Dear, you're awake." Garfiel said as he poured the juice.
The blonde looked at him somewhat disoriented. "Sorry Mr. Garfiel, we got back a little late yesterday."
"I told you, you don't have to apologize. Come eat with me." He said as he sat down at the table. Winry mimicked him and began to help herself to the bacon on her plate.
"And did you have a good time last night?" Asked her boss.
"Yeah I think so. The bar in the square is good."
"And Paninya, don't tell me she went with some of her other newly acquainted friends?" said Garfiel as he ate his egg.
The mechanic laughed with her mouth full. "You know her."
"That's exactly why." he said.
They both continued to eat their breakfast. But this time Garfiel interrupted again.
"Winry dear, I have spoken to Mistress Clarice. I've cancelled her order she had for next week."
The blonde looked at him in surprise. "Why? If we told her yes."
"Because you're going on vacation."
"W-what? Mr. Garfiel I didn't tell you-"
"Winry dear, please. You're going on vacation and I'm not going to discuss that." Garfiel said as earnestly as his tone of voice would allow.
She fell silent. She didn't agree, it was almost like an obligation. She didn't want to stop working, much less now.
"Dear, please, this will do you good. I can't have my mechanics like this. You need it believe me."
"I guess I don't have a choice do I?" she said. Garfiel laughed at the comment. She knew he meant well, but still she didn't want to.
"You didn't say you missed your grandmother. She sure could use a visit from you." Her boss told her. The blonde was about to reply that Granny was planning to visit her at Rush Valley when she was interrupted.
It was the sound of the doorbell ringing. Someone was ringing for them to open up. Sure enough, Winry was the one who got up to answer it.
"That must be Darik, I sent him to buy some groceries."
The blonde went to the door and opened it ready to help Darik with the grocery bags and take them to the kitchen. But it wasn't Darik who was standing in front.
She stunned looked at him for a few seconds, unable to tell if what she saw was true. She stood for a few seconds with her eyes open, before daring to open her mouth.
"Ed.."