Aaaaaaaand... Chapter four! We're getting a lot of ideas that.. have nothing to do with BSoA. Therefore, Gloom'll probably end up being a collection. But maybe not all RoyEd, so We'll have to make a new story just for that.. -shrug- Doesn't matter.

Woah, more reviews than We expected. We might have to up the number of reviews per update to 10 if this keeps up. xD

Kat: Thankies, Envy!

Acesha: You're right. We went back and saw that. Sorry, We'll try to keep from doing that. Thanks for the compliment, though!

vampirelf: You're a loyal reviewer, aren't you? Thankies! Winry would make automail to match, yes. Bahaha, Winry isn't too happy.

Fang: You've reviewed before, too! Thanks! xD We're glad you liked it.

Rokona: Why would Winry hug him? xD He's Ed. Besides, We don't like Winry coming in contact with him. At all. -can't stand EdWin- Automail's fine. But other than that... KEEP YER GRUBBY PAWS OFF HIM, ROCKBELL.

Kairi: xD Another Winry review -- O.O We don't like the sound of that carrot...

Merkitten: xD So many reviews about Winry! Heh, Roy probably won't mention it to him. Ed's prone to throwing things, you know.

Disclaimer: We don't own... FMA, nor do We own any of the lyrics to Boa's "Duvet". What We do own is... this fic, which, BTW, is not to be put onto any sites without Our consent. PM on the off chance you'd like to use it for something. The off, very low chance.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't that he was really scared. Oh, no. it was the simple fact that Winry Rockbell could scare you peeless when she was angry, no matter who you were. And as soon as she spotted Edward, huddled up on the couch between his brother's armor and the armrest, all hell broke loose.

Imagine, now. Winry was being held back by Aruphonse, who was muttering instructions to his keen-eared brother as the blonde girl struggled in the armor's massive arms. (The instructions were mostly things like "Move -- now!" as a wrench was flung toward Edward.)

Finally Winry managed to calm herself. Aru let her down, and she stood, fists at her sides. "What the fuck happened to your automail, Edward!" she demanded venomously.

Ed eyeballed her for a moment. Of course she wouldn't care, she was Winry. But still, some friend she was. "This happened," was the response, as the catboy indicated himself.

Winry gaped, mouth opening and closing much like a beached fish. This gave the soldiers sitting around the office a chance to let out sniggers. Ed gonked at them while the occupants of the room awaited a reply from the blue-eyed girl.

When she finally spoke, Winry wasn't mad anymore. Or, at least, seemed not to be. "Ed," she said slowly, "what have you been doing?" Uh oh. Not such a good question. This always meant trouble for Edward.

The catboy gulped audibly. "Well," he started, but Winry didn't let him finish.

"See! I knew something like this was going to happen! You keep going on those fucking escapades, and then you always come back with your arm and leg all busted, and now it's your whole body!"

Ed covered his ears. She'd always been loud, but this was ridiculous. Aru decided to take it upon himself to save Edward from having busted eardrums. "Winry," said the armor quietly, "you're hurting his ears..."

Winry didn't stop yelling. All she did was turn to Aru, smile, say "Good!" and continue screaming.

/And you don't seem to understand../

A new voice joined the conversation, this one deeper and with more authority. "Miss Rockbell."

More yelling.

"Miss Rockbell," said Roy again, a little louder.

Still, no acknowledgement that Winry had heard him over her own yells.

Roy sighed. "Miss Rockbell!" he roared finally.

Winry quieted, then turned to Roy. "Yes?"

"Aren't you supposed to be... fixing his automail instead of screaming at him about it?" prodded Roy.

Winry paused, then smiled sheepishly. (Ed took this for a leer.) "Oh, right. Ed, c'mere. And get these people out of the room too."

Ed looked at her like she was crazy. Really, he thought she was, and he had good reason. She'd just (or so Ed thought) busted his eardrums. Both of them. Which would make it impossible for him to hear her, but Ed felt like sulking. "I am not coming near you after what you just tried to do to me."

The girl scoffed. "I'm not going to do anything."

"Fine.."

/A shame, you seemed an honest man/

After a slight debacle involving inserting claws into automail (while she was theorizing it on a sheet of paper that was quickly becoming covered in scribbles), Winry figured it out. With a rather hard tug on Ed's shoulder, she pulled the arm out of the socket, taking it into her lap to fiddle with the design. Ed sat back, wiggling his mismatched toes. He drummed his fingers on the armrest, flicked his ears around. In other words, fidgeting. Winry simply glared. "Don't fidget," she barked, going back to her work.

Roy had to stifle a snigger, but even through his hand, Ed heard it, and shot him the sort of look that said "Laugh, and I will rip your head off."

/And all the fears you hold so dear/

Finally, Winry was done. She was beaming, which was -- for most people anyway -- a good sign. To Ed, it was usually a death sentence. "I did it!" she said breathlessly, as if she hadn't believed she could. "Look, it looks exactly like that paw!"

Ed rolled his eyes, peering at the arm. She was right. "Does it have claws?"

The blonde girl nodded, still grinning uncontrollably. "Here, put it back on!"

As if Ed was about to do it by himself. That shit hurt. But he sighed, taking the arm in his left hand, and with a groan of "Fine.." shoved it back in the socket.

Not even a peep.

That surprised Roy. He'd remained after the rest of the soldiers had trooped out. He'd heard that Edward would never make a sound while getting his automail done. Now, he'd witnessed it.

What broke him out of his daze, of course, was -- "C'mon, Ed, we gotta do your leg now."

Edward groaned as Winry latched on again.

/Will turn to whisper in your ear/

Finally, Ed had both limbs fixed. He'd gotten up and was waving both hands at Winry to make her hurry up while she put her tools back in the large box, making his ears twitch every time one of the tools clinked against another. Finally she had them all organized once more, the scraps of metal on the bottom, tools in labeled sections ("SCREWDRIVERS", "WRENCHES", the works) above the scrap pile, and she closed the toolbox up. Winry wasn't too happy that Edward was hurrying her, however. "What's the matter?" she asked, glaring at him.

Ed instinctively took a step back. "Nothing," he said, a little too quickly.

Winry paid no attention and stood, toolbox at her side. "I'll be going, then, if there's nothing else for me to do," she explained, biffing a tub of something or other at Aru.

He blinked, catching it as it bounced off the side of his horned head. "What's this?" asked the softspoken boy in confusion.

"Polish," replied Winry. "It helps prevent scratches. Remember, I told you I'd get you some."

The armor seemed to glow slightly, nodding gratefully. "Thanks, Winry," he said, getting up to close the door behind her, though one of the soldiers would have if he hadn't.

Ed found this quite amusing, though he deigned not to show it. He knew Aru liked Winry. Pinako owed him big now.

/And you know I don't mean to hurt you/

The three had sat in silence for a few minutes, Aru fidgeting with the tub of polish, Ed flicking his tail idly, and Roy tapping a pen on a small stack of papers. "So," said Ed, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "What now?"

"Now," spoke up the colonel, "we either go back to my house or you live in the office."

Ed just stared.

/But you know that it means so much.. and you don't even feel a thing./

----------------------------------------------------------

... Uncomfortably short. Unfortunately, We had uber-writer's block and wanted to get it out a little quicker. We apologize for crapshake-quality