Disclaimer: Do not own FMA.


Chapter 9: Talking

Winry was slightly shocked. Only a moment before, she'd been planning to make coffee for Ed. And now she was in his arms. Not only that, her lips were beneath his. She didn't know if it was convenient or not. She didn't really want to stand there and find out. What she wanted to do was just stand there, without a thought in her head. But, being who she was, she was ever thinking and she just so happened to be analyzing the reason why she was being kissed by such a handsome young man her age that didn't have a girlfriend she knew about and who was supposed to be keeping her safe. What better way to keep her safe than to have her in arm's reach at all times? That seemed like what he had been doing since she'd let him inside. Had that been a mistake?

At this point in time, the only mistake she'd made so far was not being able to stop thinking, because Edward was pulling away from her, laughing.

"What?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"Would you stop thinking for like…five minutes? It's impossible to make you just stay where you're supposed to when your mind is off on some other subject. You keep turning your head like you do when you're writing lyrics." He smirked at her, pulling her closer again.

Had he been watching her? That was the only reason why he'd know that she looked around absently when thinking. That deserved some further speculation. But in the meantime, she had an argument to settle. "It isn't my fault that you just kissed me so suddenly," she returned hotly. "If you at least gave me a little warning, I'd know when to focus on—"

And without such warning she'd only begun her lecture on, Edward kissed her again, full on the mouth. She would have yelled at him more if she'd only possessed the clarity of mind to do such. But it seemed a little beyond her to do that. Otherwise, he'd be halfway to being deaf.

"Winry," Ed suddenly murmured against her mouth. "Stop thinking."

She had the insane desire to laugh suddenly, and she wasn't one do deny herself those feelings. So she laughed against him and let herself go. She found her arms were around his neck suddenly and she felt rather warm like she was drunk off too much wine of some sort. It was a strange feeling, strange but welcome. And welcome it she did as her mind cleared of any thoughts but the diminutively challenged man holding her.

Neither of them knew how much time had passed before they heard a slightly embarrassed, "Oh. Well…I…" from the doorway. The two immediately pulled apart from each other, both looking a little more than dazed. "Sorry for interrupting," Al mumbled, taking a few steps away.

"Nonsense," Edward said first. In some part of her, Winry found herself thrilled at the hoarseness in his voice. It made her smirk. "We were just about to make coffee. Weren't we, Winry?" He looked at her.

She immediately tried to wipe away her grin but found herself unable to. "Right. I'll start on that now," she said, trying not to laugh at their situation. How embarrassing! "Al, would you like some coffee?" Being caught kissing in the kitchen by her bodyguard's brother. That would be something to laugh about in the future.

On Winry's way past Edward, she trailed her fingers along his metal arm. Though he couldn't feel it physically, she knew he'd realize what she was doing. And that brought an insolent grin to her face. She didn't know where this giddy feeling was coming from, but she figured it would last only a small amount of time before she and Edward were in a yelling contest again over something stupid. Then, she'd be feeling nothing but anger at him for about five minutes before he drew her into his arms like he'd done twice that day and—

"Winry!"

Edward's voice brought her out of her thoughts. She turned to look at him, an expression that could only be described as 'mushy' on her face. He looked at her funnily for a moment. "Yes?" she asked dreamily.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"No." She smiled still and shook her head before continuing the coffee. Oh, fall, when a young lass's fancy turned to romance. It widened the smile on her face considerably.

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Edward sighed very loudly to himself. The door to his room was locked, for good reason. Was it so much that he wanted to work and eat his dinner in peace? Taking advantage of the amazing flexibility he had in his right leg and sitting half-Indian style, leaning back on his hands. He was looking fixedly at the papers spread out in front of him. Actually, he was staring at a notebook with the intent that a starving man might stare at a piece of bread inches away from his fingers when he could move no more. That's how he felt right now.

Those kisses earlier with Winry? Yeah. Big mistake. Big mistake. Edward found himself wanting more out of his job than just the satisfaction of keeping someone alive. Which, that was nice and all. But it had been about six months since his last girlfriend, Quintus, and the male species were often reminded of their low tolerance for lack of feminine relations. Al had told him numerous times that the relationship had been very pathetic since they'd "needed" each other so much during that time. Edward gagged at the memory and reached for the trashcan.

Actually, he was gagging and spitting up some substance he didn't want to know more about because he was rather sick with something now, more than just a cold. Winry had made dinner for him especially. He knew that because she hadn't used any dairy products. He would know. Ed had watched her like a hawk, halfway talking to his brother about the 'spider' entrails. Why he was sick was beyond anyone. The only things Edward had eaten today were some orange juice, coffee, and a pastry thing at the café with Izumi. Then, he'd come home only to be locked outside. Yeah, he knew he could have slammed the door in, but he didn't want to have to use his alchemy or call a repairman. Once he'd been inside and interrupted—Edward considered that divine intervention now—Winry had made dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread, all non-dairy. Maybe some bad garlic or something?

Or those spider entrails tidings…that was enough to make someone with a stronger constitution sick, even. It had been a camera with a strange insignia on it…the only way he could have described it was a snake eating itself with a six-pointed star in the middle. It was unlike any symbol Edward had seen before…except for once. When he had been dating Quintus, there had been a lot about the older woman Ed hadn't known. He hadn't really cared to find out because she was so uptight about her past. Edward understood and respected her closed-mouth habits. He was the same way. But one thing he had asked her about was the tattoo on the middle of her chest, just below her neck. It had been the same symbol as the camera. She hadn't said much about it except it was her family's crest mark. He'd understood that. Edward and Alphonse had known Izumi before the incident so they'd been learning alchemy before all of the mess. They'd inherited her family crest since she had no children of her own. It was a cross with a snake wrapped around it. And that robe Ed had, the one full of holes, his actual mother had commissioned it to be customized with the seal on the back.

But the camera would probably be believable if Edward wasn't suffering from a fever and the chills. Winry and Al had told him it was just the flu, but Ed doubted for some reason. He just didn't see the probability of it. Also because he didn't want to think that he'd potentially spread it to Winry by kissing her earlier.

Which brought his mind back all the way to where it had started. He was staring at her notebook. He hadn't opened it and only touched it to put it on the bed. That, he'd discovered, had been a very, very unwise decision. He'd been tempted to read it earlier. Now that it was within reaching distance, the temptation simply overwhelming. It was killing him not to read it. Though Ed knew that it would probably quite literally kill him to read it anyway, if Winry found out. Oh, and the fact that he was curious about what she thought of him? Learning the answer to that would probably kill him, as well.

So, with his mind made up, he reached out and took the notebook into his hands. It figuratively weighed a ton! Ed figured it was the notebook's appeal that weighed so much. And that was enough to throw any other doubt out of his mind. He stepped off the bed and started toward the door to his room. Fumbling with the key, he racked his brain for any reason why he would have it. Maybe if he went up the stairs as quietly as he could and then ran down them like the hounds of Hades were after him then presented it to Winry would be convincing. Because, hadn't he sworn he had no idea what she was talking about earlier? Exactly. So, he could try his luck on that idea.

And as Edward opened the door, his idea came crashing down before him in a great ball of failed flame. Standing in front of him, her hand raised to knock on the door, was none other than Winry. And Edward had her notebook in his hands, able for everyone to see. And just how was he supposed to manage this? Edward didn't pray a lot, but he did now with more fervor than he had ever used in his past. He was quite sure Winry would kill him.

Then a stroke of pure genius hit him. "Here," he said, shoving the pad of paper at her. Then he went to slam the door in her face, but she was reacting as quickly as he because she put her hand out to keep the door open.

"Wait a second," she said firmly.

"Haven't got the time," he told her easily and leaned his entire weight against the door.

"Edward!" She started beating her fists on the door as he locked the barrier keeping him alive. "This isn't fair! You are so mean!"

He nodded to himself and started towards his personal bathroom, hearing her yells still from the other side of the door.

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Winry Rockbell had a stifling amount of patience if you caught her in a good mood. That was usually the case. But when she lost her temper, which contradicted her patience in being unusually short, you had better be ready to cover your ears and run for a place to hide. She was rather violent, she'd been told, when she was mad. And she wouldn't be the last to admit it was true. She could recall many times she'd thrown a wrench or something at her family members because they'd frustrated her. Of course, she'd always aimed to miss and if they had jumped into her line of fire, it had been their fault. They all believed her quite thoroughly from her meticulous explanation of just where the wrench would have landed.

Well, if she'd had at least some type of tool now, Winry would have found a way into Edward's room. She had been yelling at him for at least ten minutes before realizing that he wasn't there. The steam coming from under the door had alerted her to just exactly what he was doing. She felt horribly insulted. It was tempting to put milk in something and see what happened.

But he wasn't really lactose intolerant. She'd seen him, on many occasions, eat or drink something with milk in it and be perfectly fine. He just didn't like milk. So maybe that wasn't the best way to obtain more revenge on him. Then what would be?

Currently, Winry was sitting on the floor beside his doorway. He'd have to come out eventually. For what and when it would be, she had no clue, but it would be sometime. She'd set up camp if she had to. In fact, that was a great idea…

She started to stand up to retrieve blankets and a pillow, but a noise stopped her. It was from further down the hall in Al's room. Curious, Winry crept towards his room and listened intently. He was talking on his cell phone, so it must have been his phone ringing she'd heard at first. She strained to hear him.

"What? Why are you—Oh. Okay." There was a pause. "No, I think she's in her room. Why do you—" Another pause. Winry felt her ears beginning to burn. "No, last I checked she was sitting outside your door, but I heard her walking around earlier, so she might have gone to her room. No. Why do you care?" Another long pause, like Al was being yelled at. "Edward…. Fine, I'll go check. Hold—Hold on a second."

Winry felt like she needed to hide, so she ran over to the stairs, which were rather close by now, and hid behind the wall. She peeked over the corner when she heard Al's door open. He poked his head out and looked both ways before stepping into the hallway. She held her breath when he went to her room and knocked three times. Please God, she thought, let him think I'm asleep! She checked her watch and saw it was kind of late, so maybe it would be plausible.

It seemed like hours before Alphonse went back to his room. Only a few minutes later did Edward step out into the hallway, clad only in a pair of pajama pants and socks. Winry made a double take and shivered, but not from the cold. The sight of Edward…without his shirt on…oh, man. A very, very wry grin took its place on her mouth and she didn't even keep herself from staring. She did, however, make a very conscious effort to keep from drooling and staying hidden. Because if he found her, that would be quite a fun situation to talk her way out of.

When he started towards the stairs to go down, Winry crouched in the shadows, praying that he wouldn't find her. It seemed like forever as he descended the stairs. Every creak in them was amplified to her and felt like an eternity of torture on her ears. She watched him go down slowly, as if he was trying not to make too much noise. When he was finally out of sight, Winry stood up.

And came almost nose to nose with Alphonse Elric.

She cleared her throat innocently and said the first thing that came to mind. "I was upstairs."

"Then why were you hiding?" he asked her.

Good question. "I…didn't want him to see me," she tried. Al looked unconvinced. "Come on, he doesn't have a shirt on! I don't think he'd want me to see him walking around like that!" She clenched her fists at her side then realized she still had her notebook. Had he read it?

"Let's go to the library; we need to talk."

Without given a chance to reply, Winry was being dragged off towards the library by her elbow, gently but still with the urgency Al had. Before she knew it, she was sitting before the fire in Edward's favorite room, staring at Al. Just a few weeks ago, he had been bumbling and stuttering in front of her. Now, he ordered her around like a part of the family, not giving a second thought to her star power. It was tempting to smile at the notion, but the look the man was giving her was enough to keep it at bay.

"About earlier," he began. Oh, Lord, the cavalry had come. "When you were kissing my brother."

"He was kissing me," she interjected, raising her finger. He scowled at her. "Oh, sorry." She sank back down into her chair.

Al cleared his throat. "Anyway. You probably already realized that my brother had a relationship with Quintus, from the diner." There was a pause. "And you already know about his…"

"Uniqueness?" she supplied when he trailed off.

"I was going to say interesting situation, but unique works, too, because if my brother isn't unique, he's nothing." Another pause Winry found rather uncomfortable.

"Yes?" she pressed when it seemed like Al had thought better of his reason for talking.

He shook his head, bringing himself back. "I don't know the entire ordeal of what happened three years ago. And I'm not going to tell you the few things I do know. Those, you need to hear from him. But one thing I will tell you is that Edward's been through a lot. And he may not seem like it, but he can be hurt easily. He doesn't trust people without a lot of difficulty, since his trust has been abused in the past." He paused. "Yeah, he sounds like one of those people everyone feels sorry for because he had a bad home life.

"But he didn't," Al said, looking into the fire. "My brother and I grew up just fine. Even though our father left when we were young, our mother took the best care for us she could until…"

"Until?"

"Nothing. Then Izumi took us in, and she cared for us as her own. So yeah, we've had it tough growing up for a while, but that hasn't kept us from being the best we could be. Ed's rough around the edges, and it'll take a lot to smooth him out. I don't think that'll ever happen, really." Then Al blushed, like he just realized he'd gotten carried away. "Anyway, what I'm getting at is…have a care with my brother, all right? I know he really likes you. He's just stubborn and doesn't like to admit how he feels a lot. But when he does actually say something about how he feels, he means it. So…just be careful and look at what you're getting yourself into, all right?" Al looked at her seriously before leaving. He didn't wait for an answer again.

Winry sat back all the way in her chair and stared into the fire. So Al was worried about his brother. She supposed he had a right to be, if what he'd said was true. Maybe she should spend some time getting to know Edward better than just the now. Hearing Al's mini-lecture made her want to know Ed's past. The few things she'd found out from Al just now, and the even fewer facts she'd heard from the horse's mouth were intriguing. She wanted to know how he'd gotten his metal limbs. Not many people had metal prosthetics.

Winry sighed suddenly. Ed probably wouldn't tell her. It would likely take a hot iron poker and much more to pry it out of him. She knew he was tightlipped, and from the few experiences she'd had, it was enough to let her know that he would never talk unless he wanted to. But how would she get him to want to talk? Was she supposed to? Or was she supposed to wait for him to want to tell her? It was confusing.

But another thing Al said caught her. Ed liked her? He didn't think she was some stuck up, famous person like half of the other people she met did? Al liked her because he'd been star struck at first and found out a lot about her in one day. But not a lot of people took the time to get to know her. It made Winry kind of sad to think about that. But why would he like her, honestly? Sure, she was the pristine vision of what a guy wanted in a girl from the exterior. She had the long blond hair and icy blue eyes. She didn't need to rely on a man to tell her what a measuring tape could about her figure. And sure, she wasn't the skinniest piece of chopstick around, but she was well proportioned, and that was what counted if one looked skin deep. And if Edward only liked how she looked, he would have made a move a long time ago. But he didn't seem that shallow, fortunately.

Winry didn't spend a lot of time assessing her own personality, but she figured herself a pretty decent woman with an even temperament. Okay, maybe "even" was pushing it a little. But she knew she was nice when she wanted to be. Could Ed really like her for that? Or was it just their situation that brought on these feelings?

She shrugged and sighed again. So many thoughts, and so little time to digest them. Perhaps there were a few sleepless nights in which to write her songs now, to filter her feelings.

"Hey."

Winry started so badly, she almost fell out of her chair. She put her hand over her heart and took a very deep breath before looking up at Edward. "You scared me," she told him.

He smirked a little. "I realized that." Ed leaned against the door frame and looked at her.

That made her a little uncomfortable, but she tried to ignore it. "So," she murmured. She chewed her lip nervously, wondering how she was to go about the thoughts in her head.

"About earlier," she began as Edward said, "Hey, listen." They both stopped after their short phrases, blushing. "Go ahead," Winry said, smiling slightly.

"No, you," he insisted.

Winry nodded. "About earlier…sorry. I was being kind of…well, I can't think of a polite word to put how I was acting, but I'm sorry." He remained in the doorway through her apology, and Winry wished he'd come sit down. It also made her wonder what he'd been going to say.

And as if he could read her mind, Edward came and sat down in the chair Alphonse had recently vacated. "Listen," Ed mumbled, leaning forward and clasping his hands together. "Ah, I didn't read anything in your notebook. I shouldn't have taken it this morning." He paused and sat back. "It's just, you'd left it upstairs, and I didn't think that you'd want to go back up again after, you know." Ed looked around, not wanting to bring back too many memories of that morning. "So, I grabbed it and curiosity got the better of me, so I leafed through and saw your journal entries. I figured I'd scan it to see if you'd left anything out the other day, but…that'd be an invasion of your privacy."

"And living with me isn't?" she asked and before she could stop them, the harsh sounding words were out of her mouth. Winry immediately sat back and tried to pull her foot out of her mouth with grace.

He chuckled a little. "There's that. But that's necessary. I doubt you'd want to live in my house for an indeterminate amount of time. Then I have nosy neighbors. You have…plant life."

"The grape vine," she reminded.

A startled expression came over his face. "You don't have any, do you? Grape vines," he clarified.

"No. I don't live in Italia," she smiled. "Anyway, apology accepted."

"Wha—"

"Just next time, return my book with a little more grace than shoving it at me then leaving me yelling for ten minutes while you're in the shower." She grinned now.

Edward looked a little guilty, but smirked all the same. "You would have killed me, then," he pointed out, reaching back and running his fingers through his hair.

"Your hair is down," she pointed out suddenly. "I just noticed that." Then another blush crept over her cheeks.

He nodded. "I'm waiting for it to dry before I braid it," he told her.

A thought struck her. Most guys would have commented on the fact that it'd taken her a good few minutes to realize his hair wasn't braided, but Edward didn't. True, his hair was blond as well, but didn't it mean something that he hadn't said anything smart like that? It made her wonder.

"—would be kinda girly, huh?"

She zoned in two sentences too late. "What?" Winry shook her head. "Sorry, I kind of…"

He laughed at her. The sound made her shiver with some unknown feeling. "That's all right. I was just saying that if I braided my hair while it was wet—I let my hair out sometimes during the day—it'd be crimped. And that would be kinda girly. A twenty-one year old man with crimped hair." A dry smirk crossed his features.

"I've never seen you with your hair down," she commented. "Well, once, but that was the day we met. You were just putting it back up when I came in." Then the thought crossed her mind if blushing was going to be a recurring occasion for her around Edward, because her cheeks were coloring for the third time that night.

"Yeah. Well, you're usually in the kitchen or someplace while I'm here. I take my hair out sometimes to keep from getting a headache later." He pulled his hair back like he was going to put it in a ponytail then let it fall back on his shoulders.

"How old were you when you started to grow your hair out?" she asked softly, rested her elbow on the chair arm and placing her chin in her palm. She gazed at him admiringly and not so surprisingly found it easy to conjure the appreciation.

He smiled and leaned his head back. "Eighteen, after these." He tapped his finger on his metal arm. Winry realized he'd put on a sleeveless shirt, but wasn't going to comment on that.

"Oh." Maybe she should avoid the topic, but found herself asking, "Why?"

A startled look came over his face again, but Ed recovered quickly. "I don't know. I guess at first, I was too angry to get it cut for the first few months after. Then, when things finally calmed down a while after, it was to my shoulders and I kinda liked it." He shrugged. "I guess, in a cheesy sort of reference, you could say it was a new beginning or something."

Winry smiled. "How short was it at first?"

He thought. "A little bit longer than Al's. Probably around this length." Ed put his hand on his hair to show it'd been around his ears before.

She nodded. "You've never wanted to cut it again?" she asked softly, fingering her own locks.

"No," Ed responded quickly. "I'm too attached to my hair." Just to prove it, and to lighten the suddenly warm mood, he tugged on a bit of his hair. "And since no one has ever questioned me on it, I figured why not keep it long? How often can you see a straight guy with hair long enough to reach his shoulder blades?" He laughed a little.

Winry laughed too, but it turned into a yawn. And as she was yawning, the grandfather clock in the back of the library chimed for midnight. "Oh," she said when it finished chiming. "It's pretty late."

He nodded and stood up. "And I have a few things I need to do tomorrow. Izumi wants to see Al."

"Izumi?"

"Foster mom."

"Oh, right." Winry made to stand up, but found Edward's hand being offered to her. She smiled a little sheepishly and placed her hand in his. It was a little awkward, since she was right handed and he was left-handed. But, she supposed everyone had to adjust every now and then. Faintly, Winry wondered how it would feel to touch his metal hand. It gave her a chill just thinking about it.

"Cold?" he asked, smiling at her as they went down the hall.

She smiled shyly. "A little." When they reached her door, she looked at him like she'd been shoved a present yet had no clue what do to with it. And she started poking at the first thing that came to mind. "I need to go shopping," she said suddenly. And where that had come from, she had no idea, whatsoever.

"You do? For what?" Ed folded his arms across his chest and wrinkled the black shirt a little.

That was a really good question. Why was everyone asking her questions like that lately? "Umm…groceries. We're almost out of milk," she said, though there was a brand new gallon in the fridge.

"That's fine. Milk is gross." He chuckled a little. "And Al came home with eggs and bread earlier. There's plenty of toilet paper in all the bathrooms, too," he added.

Winry looked at him suspiciously. "Did you figure that I would say I needed to go somewhere?" she asked.

"Well, you've been in this house for how long? I would have been going stir crazy after two days," he told her.

"Okay, well maybe I am stir crazy." She yawned. "And tired. If we want to get to town early, we both need to be going to sleep."

"Oh, and that's that? You're automatically going now?" Ed ran his hand through his hair. Winry faintly wished she could do the like.

"Exactly," she said distractedly, watching his hair.

Edward laughed at her finally. Before she could even question what he was laughing about, he'd pulled her to him and kissed her forehead. "Go to sleep. I'll wake you up before I leave and see if you still want to go," he told her and gave her a little shove towards her door.

Winry blinked a little. "Fine." She scowled at what seemed nothing until she realized she was watching Edward's feet. She looked up at him and saw him pulling the tank top off before walking into his room. Obviously, he'd forgotten about her already. Or, she mused with a wry smile, he was being a very flirtatious male. Or something along those lines.

Whatever. She was tired. Winry went into her room, shut her door, and collapsed onto her bed. She had barely registered that it was snowing before she was off in dreamland.