A/N: Hello everyone, I'm so sorry for the sudden dry spell but I had been stumped about RL and needed a break to sort things out. Oh and I had a sudden writing inspiration for another fandom (Miraculous Ladybug lol) so I waited and waited until I finally could write a new chapter and here we are :) I'll edit this chapter and lengthen a few parts so check up on it a day or two later again. Thank you all for being so patient with me.
MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! :) I hope you all had a blast!
ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:
AutomailSucker: Thank you so much for understanding! And I'm really sorry for taking so long, I actually wanted to update 2 weeks ago but I had some trouble writing the…sad scenes at the border ^^
Hirude: Ah, sorry if it was confusing, sometimes I confuse myself lol. Well, I planned to reveal it another time but I already wrote out (…intimate) scenes and moments between Winry and Ed and I hope I get to update quicker so you can all read them ^^ haha I suck at writing romance so I hope I did well on those. ;)
JirachiAtSundown: …T_T I never thought one of my stories would be loved so much as to be favorited and followed and actively searched out! You just made my day, thank you so much (wipes away tears of joy) Aw, who's cutting onions in here again? Damn. Ahem, really? I read up on far better war fics than mine and they deserve all the praise and attention they get haha. I'm surprised so many people like my story, really. I actually wrote a few (…intimate) Edwin scenes ahead, which will be published a bit later in the story as the war progresses and all :P I hope I won't mess that one up haha. Thanks for always reviewing, reviews always make my day :3
Enjoy!
Updated (new content): 07.01.2018
The Sound of War
A turbulent period of great upheaval shall come and bring with it the fruits of despair…
As it turned out, they did discuss it over tea and biscuits, which tasted like shit, if one were to listen to Greed's biased opinion.
For Ed, this whole discussion smelt like shit.
From the moment they've set foot in the office, Rico had been playing a game.
As conniving and tactical as the man was, Edward had no doubt he pursued ulterior motives in accordance to survive this war that was steadily spreading out over other countries. In the declaration of war, it may formally be stated it to be between Drachma and Amestris, but everyone knew this was so much bigger than just these two countries.
Ed frowned, thoughts still occupied by the conversation with Rico.
Conversation with Rico in the Office
"You mentioned deceiving Drachma, exactly how well could this play in both our hands without testing Borya's fury even more and risking losing more of my men?" Roy had been careful with what to say, especially since none of them knew the exact extent of Rico's knowledge or how far his intelligence network reached.
"You're clever to be wary, Mustang, but do remember that despite our lacking military, our spy network is one of the most sought after," the smirk on Rico's face was one Greed wanted to bash in.
"Yeah and don't forget your crime rates top all of the other countries too." Ed had piped in, referencing the rise of age old clans and the mafia gaining on power through the slums and the poorer districts of the country.
Rico seemed displeased at the mention but let it slip, his gaze drawn to Roy, "We're sending a squadron to finish off Drachma's base just a little away from Fort Briggs, with them failing to respond and report back, Borya will undoubtedly think it an attack from Miss Armstrong,"
Roy had taken a sip of his tea, discreetly throwing in three cubes of sugar to pledge mercy on his overly assaulted taste buds at the bitter taste, "And in what way does this benefit us?"
Rico had simply smirked, looking quite comfortable seated at his chair dressed in his usual regalia uniform, "In many ways which time will tell. With that fool's attention shifted to you, we will be able to launch a surprise attack from the shadows,"
Rico had stood up then, what was supposed to be a discussion with great detail and length turned into…this.
The majority of their time took up the fact that Greed had be physically restrained to not lung at the smug prince, who relished in the various ways he could tease the soldier about sending love letters to his girlfriend and eventually courting her once Drachma swooped his ass.
"After all, covertly operations are what Aerugo is best at," the grin on his lips looked almost unnatural for his pretty boy visage, something so sinister and feral that looked like didn't belong on his handsome features, "Don't you think?"
End of discussion
Ed sighed, frustrated at his lack of deciphering skills when it came to the infuriating prince. He had his resources, he had the element of surprise on his side, for whatever purpose, so he knew he shouldn't underestimate him for what was yet to come.
Roy went over the barest minimum of their plans towards confronting Drachma and it seemed like Rico didn't go into too much detail either, after all, while they may have a secret peace treaty, they weren't what people would call 'a close-knit group of friends'. Keeping secrets even from their allies assured more safety for themselves, after all.
The conversation kept replaying in his mind and Roy instinctively fingered the king chess piece he stored in his pants pocket absently, remembering a cryptic lesson he had come to learn from Grumman when they had partaken in their usual chess matches before Roy had been deployed to the front lines.
He remembered the first time he had played on a chess board that had been different from their usual old ones, where the figurines on the board looked all the same, only distinguished by their colors, black and white.
Roy, only an experienced opponent in the old chess boards, had demanded to know why they should play on one of the newer versions.
Grumman had taught him a lesson Roy knew he wouldn't so easily forget. The pieces were neutral looking, shaped like the pawns, all of them with no sure way how to move them. Roy had lost of course, not knowing how to play and when he moved one piece forward, Grumman had stopped him.
"Caution Roy, you're moving your rook wrong," wise old eyes had glanced at him with patience but a certain sternness he hadn't had the pleasure to see often.
"Rook? How do I know what figure it is if they all look the same?" Roy had been frustrated and one hairs breath away from flipping the chess board.
"Allies and enemies can all look the same, the enemy could be deceiving them with appearance alone." His eyes flashed behind the glasses, "However, there is always a way to uncover what lies beneath by carefully looking for the position of the enemy and yourself,"
"The position?" Roy hadn't had a sliver of what the old man could have possibly meant, deducing he might have been suffering from earlier stages of dementia.
And then he saw it. His figure, it was at its original spot on the board, Roy having yet to move any of the pieces yet from the row behind the "pawns". It was exactly on the spot where the rook usually was at.
He understood. And he moved it.
A sudden scrapping sound against the board had caught his attention as he lifted the figure to his face and turned it over, only to find a small, rolled up piece of paper within it. Grumman had only grinned devilishly, "And sometimes, even an enemy may provide you with valuable information once and a while,"
Roy shook his head, finger lazily running along the length of the king figure. Rico, by Bradley's terms, was still an enemy, or at least a person standing on shaky ground with Amestris. He had revealed information to them today.
He had revealed the surprise ambush on one of Drachma's smaller defense units stationed near Briggs, where they usually spied on Olivier and her troop from afar. Another ambush was scheduled in a fortnight, where Roy complied with supplying them with weapons should they need under the condition that they left no survivors to report back to Drachma of their allegiance.
The trek back to the base seemed long, due to the sluggish movements and heated discussions within their group, usually between Roy and Ed, or Ed and Greed. The three men couldn't seem to reach a consensus at all. Not to mention, nightfall and the storm steadily getting worse may have played a role.
"I didn't reveal any sensitive information about our future plans so why are you so stingy, Fullmetal?!" Roy's ire couldn't be more obvious, shaking his wet hair and glaring at his drenched gloves.
Ed's snort only further fueled the crackling fire between them, "You didn't have to tell him anything. We got what we came there for so why did we have to sit there eating dry biscuits and have tea and reveal our plans?!" he blew falling strands of hair away from his face, growling when they continued to fall back on his eyes.
Greed laughed, "Ha! I knew they tasted like shit!" he sent Roy a dry look, "Besides, the runt is right, Bradley is still on the throne and depending on if it's Rico's time of the month, he may change his mind and reveal our meetings,"
Roy sighed, burying his hands deep in his pockets as he walked over a protruding rock, "Whatever the case, Drachma is a common enemy, usually such circumstances are strong enough to win over any other urges to expose temporary truces or packs." He rubbed his chin, grimacing at the slight stubble he felt forming beneath his gloved fingertips, "If what Rico said was true, Drachma may not even know of their missing men at the border if the ambush is successful and Olivier can advance forward with her plan,"
"Her plan? What plan? Why didn't anyone tell me, Mustang?" the blond grit his teeth at his superior, who only rose an eyebrow unimpressively.
"Must have slipped my mind," his gait was faster even through the moist earth and if Ed didn't know any better, his stupid superior really did actually forget to tell him anything.
"You son of a-" Ed stomped forward like a bull, "Wait, so I can beat you up, Colonel Dumbass!"
Greed sighed, walking coolly forward while his two superiors bickered like kids, eyes trailing the lines of trees in disinterest. Rain drenched the better part of his clothes and his hair stuck to his head almost lifelessly.
He was sure he had seen movement from the corner of his eye, he was too suspicious to mistake it as a moving shadow of an animal or blame it as a trick of the light due to the storm.
The shadow had been much bigger than an animal but small in stature, either way it was a small soldier or even something else.
Feigning boredom, Greed neared the line of trees, whistling along the way as he scanned the thick forest for anymore movement.
A crunching of leaves to his right made him throw one of Hughes' kunai he had stolen from him straight in between two trees.
Listening carefully for a moment, Greed's gaze narrowed.
He didn't hear anything, but he also didn't hear the weapon hit the moist earth with a soft thud and squelching noise either.
Taking out his gun, Greed braced himself to step in between the trees before Roy's shout reached his ears, "Greed, come on, let's go!"
Muttering a curse under his breath, Greed shot the trees another suspicious look. He waited for several seconds, listening in for any sounds, before shrugging and strapping his gun back in it's holster at his hip, following after Edward and Roy in the distance.
He cursed him.
He cursed to him fucking hell and back.
He cursed any and all of his future children.
Stifling the barely suppressed cry of pain in his hands, Envy delicately inspected the injury on his foot.
Violently ripping the offending weapon out of his limb, Envy groaned loudly into his arm once he was sure the ragtag group was well out of earshot. Sighing and grabbing the small roll of gauze he kept in his back pocket, Envy carefully undid his boot and wiped away the small amount of blood that began pouring out of the small wound, the rain sloppily washing it away as he started wrapping it quickly and tightly to still the blood flow. At least the stupid rainstorm masked his scent if anything, while Greed had nothing on Gluttony's nose, the serum had enhanced many of their senses.
"Stupid Greed, stupid Lust, dragging me from Central just to follow my shitty brother." Cursing again under his breath when the pain shot up his foot at the pain, he limped away from the forest, nearly slipping on the mud caking his boots, "Stupid lazy Sloth, too big and too lazy to spy on people," he growled in annoyance, using his rifle as a makeshift walking stick to where the small helicopter was, obscured by thick, low hanging tree branches and leaves.
A slow grin stretched over Envy's lips, "Well, at least I got the job done," he cackled quietly, wincing at the pain in his foot, swearing Lust would be the one to do the dirty work next time.
"Care to elaborate what Armstrong said about a plan?" Ed rose an eyebrow, watching the General mumble something under his breath as he rubbed at the stinging redness in his cheek.
Ed absentmindedly rubbed at his own half assed injury, a half-hearted punch to the jaw, before listening when Roy started talking, "She didn't reveal much. Only to stay on our guard for the upcoming weeks, she says the group close to Briggs had been uneasy the last several days, ever since the ambush on us,"
Edward's face took on a pensive expression, "Anxiety over our next move?" he rubbed his chin.
Roy shook his head, "Or perhaps, they can't wait to execute their next one," his face hardened, the cold wind picking up.
They were only a little way away from their base, but Greed halted when a tingling sensation shot up his spine.
Ed and Roy stopped a few steps ahead of him, "What's the hold up now? First you glare at trees and now this?" Ed rounded on him but stopped at the oddly serious look on Greed's face.
"Do you smell that?" the Xingese man shot his two companions questioning looks as he sniffed the air again.
Roy scratched his nose, taking a deep whiff, "Not really…" he sniffed again, nose scrunching up, "Wait...something smells really bad," he looked at Ed.
The blond looked offended, "Don't look at me!" he growled, but nonetheless scented the air, "You're right…maybe it's just remnants of gunpowder and the earth in the rain?"
At the look on Greed's face, Ed knew it was something far worse, "It's a very familiar scent, but one that brings bad memories-"
After a few more steps, Greed froze dead in his tracks, body tingling and eyes wide in disbelief and horror.
Thunder boomed loudly, distantly in their ears and the following lightning showed what was previously hidden by darkness.
In the middle of trees, within the shallower part of the forest, hung figures.
Humans.
Dead humans.
Hanging lifelessly from the trees, wide, horror-stricken eyes trailed over their mutilated bodies to what was beneath them. Pools of blood formed beneath each corpse, on some innards could be found spilled messily and hanging partly from their stomach. Tightly wrapped ropes created blue marks on their necks, some of their eyes were rolled back into their heads, staring lifelessly at the storm above.
Ed quickly fled to a nearby bush, retching violently at the stronger stench of deceased flesh and split apart innards, stomach heaving heavily at the horrified images his mind unwillingly conjured. Hands desperately pressing against his stomach to quell the urge to vomit but it did nothing to calm him down. His whole body was shivering and his knees started to shake and feel wobbly after he nearly emptied out all the contents of his stomach. It hadn't been the first time he had seen dead people or hung people, but this…they…were comrades.
"Mustang…" Greed's voice was uncharacteristically quiet, low, eyes transfixed to the grotesque sight before him, "What….what the hell is this?" thunder roared loudly in the distance, but the noise was tuned out to them.
It took Roy several minutes to respond, whether to recover from the shock of the scene or to collect his thoughts, Greed would never know, "I…" his eyes trailed over the partly terrified, partly impassive faces of the hung soldiers, "I don't know…"
He turned his head to watch Edward wiping his mouth, shakily standing up from his kneeling position by the bushes, he didn't step any further, the sleeve of his uniform covering his mouth and nose, eyes hard, "Who the fuck did this? Who are they?"
Bracing himself, Roy slowly approached a figure whose intestines weren't spilled all over the ground, eyes narrowing to inspect the bloodied and torn uniform.
Amestris.
Drawing back on shaky legs, Roy's voice caught in his throat, muscles working fervently to produce words, "O-Ours…." He covered his eyes, body shaking, teeth grit tightly together.
Ed's face fell, fists shaking at his sides violently.
Greed watched in stunned silence, feeling nauseas. The stench was unbearable, but he couldn't bring himself to look away.
Neither could Edward and when lightning shot through the darkened skies, it destroyed any restraint Edward had upon himself, "Fucking hell!" he sprinted forward in a frenzy, fist colliding with a tree. The tree shook but didn't fall, the deep fist-shaped indent left by Ed's hand noticeable even in the darkness and Greed watched with a mixture of sympathy and sorrow how his superior fell to his knees, fists slamming into the blood-soaked earth.
"Why?! Why did they have to die?! Who the hell are you to decide upon a person's life?!" his voice broke, "How cruel can that bastard be?!" Ed lifted his face from the earth, wide eyes taking in the faces of the hung men.
There was one soldier, Barry, thirty-seven years old, two sons and a loving wife back at home, he used to be a professional boxer a few years ago, until this war destroyed everything. He was sent to the frontlines. He had protected Edward on occasion, saying he reminded him of his eldest son, reckless with a tough exterior but softer heart. And Edward couldn't believe he let him down, he let him get slaughtered like this.
The other one, whose innards littered the ground, was David. Fourty-two, his little daughter diagnosed at the age of seven with every person's worst nightmare: leukemia. He'd joined the military a few years after her death, with a hollow, empty look in his eyes, saying he had nothing left to live for so might as well die while fighting for his country. His time here had not only impacted his fellow soldier buddies, but Ed as well. Seeing a man who had lost everything, joining a war and wanting to die. He showed that even the most damaged people could begin to heal with the right people and David paid the price.
Leyla, throat slit savagely, and a portion of her right arm torn off, tendons and sinewy flesh hanging uselessly down. She was only twenty-three, a rookie, thrust into the harsh reality of war, fresh from the academy. Her months here on the front lines had shaken her to her core and Ed had been sure she would have at least tried to back out, but she hadn't. She had endured, despite her small stature and physical disadvantages and the grotesque sights. She studied medicine to become a field doctor under Al's watchful eye…or had studied…
Roger, thirty-eight, former drug addict, had changed his whole way of living after his mother died from a burglary turned murder. Nobody wanted to employ a former drug addict with no formal education. So, he turned to the military. His addiction bettered, having been clean since three years, he had formed a strong bond with a woman over letters and had planned on proposing to her as soon as this war was done. Edward swallowed thickly, the bile rising in his throat.
He didn't even know whom to send the letter to.
Tiffany, twenty-nine, former art student with an unhealthy knack for messy colors, including the blood of her enemies as she killed them, was supposed to be sent back home after being diagnosed on one of her medicals of having Parkinson. He almost wished the illness would have taken her life, it would have been a more merciful death.
Steve, twenty-six. Military was all he knew and wanted to hear, no relationships, no personal connections, save but for Ling, who was – had been – the only doctor allowed to treat him until now. Until now.
Connor, thirty. Scheduled reassignment: two weeks.
Zack, Joshua, Neil, Patrick…
Everyone.
A bloodcurdling scream drowned out the noise from the storm and Greed's blood froze to ice in his veins as his friend retched over the ground, fingers digging deeply into the blood-soaked earth and in that moment, he never looked more human to him.
Edward Elric, dubbed "Fullmetal" on the field, known for his unique abilities in battle and high killing intent once angered, the same man that could kill a soldier without batting an eyelash, was now grieving in the most humanely way possible for fallen comrades.
No…
They didn't fall.
They had been ambushed.
Slaughtered.
A sudden force slammed into his back and Greed's mind went to autopilot, hand gripping his gun and firing behind him, hearing no pained sound, he clasped his hands together to slam them down on the body behind him when his brother's yell rang loud in his ears, "Fucking WAIT!"
Freezing, Greed's body hit the moist ground, dirt covering both of the brothers and when Greed looked at him he noticed he was partly caked in blood, eyes alert and hands shaking, "Where the fuck were you?!" he turned his furious gaze to Roy, who emptily stared at the corpses hanging from the trees then at Ed, who slowly staggered back to his feet, "We got attacked by Drachma, we needed your help I thought you said you would be back an hour ago!" he grabbed the front of Greed's uniform and lifted him up to stare him in the eyes, furious black met unrelenting violet, "Some psychotic cannibal came and started eating and chewing on our injured soldiers! He ripped their arms off Greed! Do you have any idea who the hell that was?!" he shook his violently and Ling didn't notice he continued to until Greed's hand firmly planted upon his own so his world didn't spin anymore.
He couldn't find his voice and when he thought he did, it was croaked, "G-Gluttony…" his throat was dry, the rain pouring down on them doing nothing to still the sudden dryness at the name.
How did they find him?
How did they know where they were? They had no base, Drachma shouldn't know of their whereabouts, they didn't even tell Rico where they were so how did-
The bushes.
Greed's head whipped toward the general direction where they had come from earlier, his eyes widened, "The bushes…it…I didn't imagine it,"
"Shit," Greed cursed and Ling got off him, not bothering to help his brother up when he staggered to his feet, still trying to process the information, "The bushes…earlier…that had been a spy, they knew we were here, they knew we weren't at the base!"
Mustang's posture was as stiff as a rod, muscles unmoving, eyes downcast and dead, "My men died…because of my incompetence,"
He was roughly shoved to a tree, bark digging harshly against his back as he was met by furious, molten gold, not violet as he had presumed, "Quit feelin' sorry for yourself you bastard! They're dead! We can't bring them back, but we will bring back the ones responsible for this," Ed's knuckles turned white from the force which he was holding Roy to the tree, his other hand shaking at his side violently, "We can't lose focus now, this is war, it happens, we can't stop it but next time we need to…we…we need to plan better! We need to-" his mouth continued moving but he didn't form words, instead he roughly released his superior and turned to Ling.
"Are there anymore injured or…" he swallowed roughly, wiping the remainders of bile from his face.
Ling's shoulders slumped as if a great, invisible weight settled upon them, "No…a bullet hit Al, but it was only a graze on his arm, he's fine. The rest…those…they, they're alive," his eyes unwillingly moved toward the hung bodies, "…They split…Drachma planned for it and one group waited here to surprise them…" his fists clenched and Ed realized his nails dug so deeply in his palms, blood was dripping slowly from them, the rain washing it away, "I wasn't here soon enough,"
Gathering his wits about him and composing himself, Ed laid a heavy hand on Ling's shoulder, squeezing it, his own voice a quiet croak, "You did everything you could, Ling. Get cleaned up, make sure everyone is treated before we move, we can't stay here any longer," he nodded toward Greed and Roy, "Come on, we need to gather our things,"
Mechanically slowly, the men wearily moved across the blood-soaked earth, the darkened sky doing nothing to aid them navigate through the dark as they searched for their things and got ready for travel.
They were too paranoid to turn on the flashlights strapped to their hips, lingering soldiers may still be in the vicinity and spot their location if they weren't careful.
Roy assigned the remaining troops to protect their blind spots as they marched forward steadily, giving Ed a reprieve to gather himself. The tell-tale sound of cloth brushing against the ground sounded alarmingly loud in all of their ears, but they soldiered on, ignoring the wetness that steadily trickled down their faces as they pretended it was the rain.
The dead bodies, wrapped as securely as they could in their haste, dragged along with them on makeshift stretchers made from tightly strung cloth and thick branches from the trees, each soldier dragging behind a dead comrade.
The weight felt unnaturally heavy to Edward, this wasn't the first time he had to carry a dead comrade and he knew it wasn't the last, but something made it gut wrenchingly painful this time, so painful he could barely bear it.
Perhaps it had to do with the knowledge that, if they had been faster, none of this would have happened.
"Ahhh…" Winry let herself fall back on her sofa, nearly spilling the glass of juice on her overalls as she sighed and rubbed at the stiff muscles in her neck, "Finally,"
Lena quirked a brow curiously, "Fell asleep on the chair again?" she shook her head, plucking a cookie from the bowl and crossing her legs, "I swear this is the fourth time Winry, one day you'll just wake up and crawl to work," Mei nodded approvingly, munching on a bar of chocolate as she sighed at the taste.
It's been too long.
The blonde rolled her eyes, "Not that it would be the first time," she smiled playfully when Lena snorted.
"Reckless," she muttered, shaking her head again.
Winry sighed, "So, how was work today?" she looked imploringly at all her friends and Riza was the first one to speak.
Her fingers absentmindedly rubbed across the smooth, warm porcelain of her mug, the warm steam from her hot chocolate warming her face, "Roy's paperwork came over today and I spent the better part of the afternoon filling them out," she took a tentative sip, licking her lips off the sweet liquid, "Bradley is off tomorrow in the afternoon, I was assigned to fill out his paperwork while he is away. I have full access to his office," her gaze shifted, lips drawn into a thin line.
"I still don't understand what you expect to find there, I don't really think he might have something to do with this. Why would he sabotage his own men?" Lan Fan stirred the tea in her hands, momentarily forgetting it to concentrate on her friend, "People need their king and a king is no king without his people. If Bradley really were to try and sabotage his own defense unit, he would stand with no men to support him should Drachma rise to the challenge,"
Riza shook her head softly, "No, of course not. I don't think he would do it openly, covertly and subtly would be beneficial to him. However, I still can't see what he gains from it," she sipped her chocolate quietly, staring into nothingness.
Lena played with her wiggling toes, tone dry, "Maybe he's getting bored and tries to cause some mischief on his chess board,"
Mei giggled, "You almost sound like General Grumman when you talk like that,"
Riza smirked softly, "Or Roy,"
Lena grinned, "Isn't that the same thing?" the women laughed and silence settled over them before Winry spoke next.
"Why don't we watch a movie and get our minds off work for a while, hmm? I need a break from it too and I'm sure you all more so than I do," she smiled and stood up, walking over towards her TV and eyeing her assortment of DVDs critically, "Rom-com, action or thrillers?"
"Action doesn't sound bad,"
"Action, please,"
"Rom-coms for life!"
"Count me in the thriller department, baby!"
Winry rolled her eyes, "Lena…you almost always choose thrillers," she selected a few DVDs and laid them out on the coffee table.
The woman grinned and eagerly scanned over the movies, "That's because I like solving mysteries and fighting the baddies, now who's up for some "Silence of the Lambs"?"
Apprehension dawned on Mei, "Isn't that with the cannibalistic murderer who gets sent to prison and spends his time talking to a detective?"
Lena shrugged innocently, "…Maybe,"
"Alright, explain the plot badly," Winry knew Lena would be up to the challenge and she didn't disappoint.
"Lonely, obsessed female detective interviews mental old guy for his strange eating habits and the trauma behind them," she shrugged, "Ok, ok, not my best work, I confess," she held her hands up, earning giggles and laughter from her friends.
"Alright then, what about 'Stephen King's IT'?" Winry scanned the faces of her friends, all thoughtful.
"I heard it was a good movie," Riza nodded in approval, gaze meeting Mei and Lan Fan's.
The two Xingese girls contemplated the movie choice, "Isn't it about a scary clown that kidnaps children? Or so I've heard," Lan Fan blushed slightly at her poor description and Mei giggled.
Lena snickered, "More like: unpopular kids beat up a homeless, starving clown," she laughed and Riza smiled, chuckling herself.
Winry giggled behind her hand before concentrating on the task at hand, "Alright, any objections to watching a delusional horror clown kidnap kids and drag them into stinky sewers?" when none came, she grinned and popped the DVD in, "Thought so,"
"Where's the popcorn? We can't watch a movie without popcorn!" Lena grumbled from her perch nestled between Lan Fan and Mei.
Riza chuckled, "Well, she certainly has her priorities straight,"
Winry huffed, "Alright, pause the movie when it starts and I'll make some popcorn, little miss Movie Nerd can come and help me," she pointedly looked at Lena, who muttered something about 'mean adults' before dragging herself behind her friend.
"Okay, I deserved that…I think," she shook her head, quickly searching through the cabinets to find popcorn.
Winry took out the butter, "Of course, if Greed isn't here to torment you who else would?"
There was a short pause and Winry tensed, fearing she may have ruined the joyous mood by mentioning her boyfriend deployed at the border, stupid, before Lena laughed, "Ah, you're right. Bet Greed would be real happy once I tell him I found a substitute tormenter in his stead," she paused and Winry thought she finished speaking, until she added, quietly, "…until he comes back at least,"
Guilt spread within her like poison and Winry quickly hugged her friend, rubbing her back and shoulders, "I'm sorry I-"
Lena smiled reassuringly, "It's fine Win, I'm not mad don't worry," she chuckled, "Don't worry, not all soldier wives have a mental breakdown when you mention their husbands or boyfriend soldiers in front of them. I'm a tough cookie," she winked, earning a bob on the nose for that, "Hey!"
Winry rolled her eyes, "I guess, you are,"
Lena smiled, "So…" she grinned at what she was about to say next, evil shining brightly in her eyes, "…how's your soldier hunk doing?"
"LENA!"
It was good to be bad.
Again, I'm very sorry for the delay and the short chapter! Thank you all for your endless patience with me! :)