Brief Commentary:
Well, here's for chapter thirty-two...I'm hoping to speed time up a bit and start towards the climax more. Graah, this is so frustrating. Eight more plot points to go until I can scream "I'm DONE!" How long will this take...? Maybe if I'm lucky I can finish it by the end of the summer...although extremely soon I will be utterly computer-less, as I'm using my mom's laptop, mainly, and it actually is the property of the company she used to work for, so we have to return it...WHEN ARE WE GETTING THE WINDOWS XP!? DEAR GOD, TELL MEEEEEE!!
And this is how it looks when
I'm standing on the edge
And this is how I break apart
when I finally hit the ground
Reasons Not For Your Ears
Chapter Thirty-Two
The period of silence continued even after the end of the school year, which promptly finished without much celebration on the school's part. The majority of the teen population begged to differ, although the select group of adolescents (namely Winry, Alphonse, Paninya, and Mei Chan) could not care less.
Mei had been reluctant to return to her country with Ling and Ranfan, as she (to her utter humiliation) took little part in the assassination of Scar. Remaining in the small apartment she rented, Mei was often spotted alongside Alphonse; this took a long period of reluctant acceptance from the Alphonse Fan Girls. Winry had honestly not noticed too much.
Paninya had stayed anti-social and stand off-ish, completely out of character from her usual sunny personality. This was cause for concern for, unfortunately, very few people, as most of her companions had either sunk into their own sort of depression or had given up on any return of her former outlook.
The situation had become grim and stressful, and no one was willing or able to address it. It was something to be very worried about, especially for those involved in it, but those who were had decidedly pushed the issue to the back of their minds, allowing it to grow steadily worse and cause for further isolation.
Foremost in Winry's mind was the issue of her job; she worked as a waitress at a diner located within a strip mall; a fairly busy place that kept her on her toes.
Alphonse spent most of his time with Mei, and vise versa, each able to find a pleasant sort of distraction in the other.
Paninya chose to remain holed up in her house, ignoring her mothers pleas for her to please eat something, and refusing to speak with anyone who would so request.
Edward, who knew little of anything, kept unusually quiet, and his insults or smart remarks were less and less frequent.
Pinako, in the same rut as he was, kept to herself, did not bark as much, and only intervened in his and Winry's lives to remind them of dinner, or to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
It was a Sunday, and Winry had been able to get off of work a little earlier than usual. Disappointed to find that she had nothing else to do, she reluctantly made her way home. Her waitress uniform was stuffed in a little plastic bag as she walked home in a simple t-shirt and shorts, flip-flops clapping against the cement. The uniform was a bit on the skimpy side, but Winry found she couldn't honestly care.
Slowly making her way up the apartment building stairs, she took her time in arriving at their door, staring at the numbers there without really seeing them. She stood on the door mat for a while, before reminding herself to actually go inside. Opening the door, she pushed it open and stepped into the small foyer, eyes immediately locking on a new presence in the kitchen/living room.
To her shock, it was Alphonse, for once unaccompanied by Mei, and sitting directly across from Edward. Neither was looking at the other, and they both seemed extremely irritated. She was faintly surprised they weren't beating each other bloody yet, or that they hadn't done so already. Both slowly turned their heads to glare up at her, one balefully and the other with much irritation.
"Winry," Alphonse murmured softly, tearing his gaze from her to look at his hands, dropped in his lap. "My...brother and I would like to speak with you, if you don't mind..."
She nodded slowly, placing her uniform on the kitchen table before shuffling over to an empty chair. Quietly sitting, she glanced over at the younger Elric, waiting for him to emphasize what he had addressed. He cleared his throat, and opened his mouth to speak, before Winry interrupted with something she had only just remembered.
"Where...where is my grandmother?"
Alphonse glanced at Edward, who gave him a look that read Don't ask me, asshole, before shrugging helplessly,
"She went out, something about groceries...?"
Winry lowered her gaze and nodded again, signaling with her hand for him to continue.
"Oh, well...I had been thinking about this for a while...but, my Nii-san and I decided this would be a better arrangement..." he emphasized "Nii-san" with a bitter, cold tone, "We believe it would be more convenient if...he moved back in with me. After his complete return to good health, of course."
He ended his short dialogue with a half-hearted sneer. Edward allowed a warning growl to rumble in the back of his throat as he gave his younger brother a deadly glare. Winry stared blankly at them, eyes slowly shifting back and forth from each brother before she gave another nod.
"...that's fine..." she said softly. "Is that all?"
Their faces showed some shock, as if they had expected a vehement protest from her. She continued to disappoint them as she calmly stood again and moved towards the more kitchen-like area.
"I know Edward didn't offer you anything, Al, but would you like something to drink...? Are you hungry at all?" Winry's voice remained quiet as she ducked down to open the refrigerator and look inside.
"Ah, um, that would be great, Winry..." Alphonse took on a careful, weary tone, as if he were treading on eggshells.
"We have tea, coffee, orange juice, some soda, milk," she said blandly, "Are you sure you're not hungry?"
"Uh, no, I'm not, but thank you," it was obvious he was scrambling for words. Edward glanced at him briefly before rolling his eyes. Alphonse ignored him. "Could I have a mug of coffee, Winry?"
"Sure," came the dull reply.
"Get me some tea," was the blunt add-on from Edward.
"M'kay."
The older Elric ignored the heated glare from Alphonse, instead yawning and leaning back against the couch. Crossing his arms and his legs, he allowed his head to slump over. It was apparent that he was feeling nonchalant about this, although a bit irritated and reluctant from the way he kept glancing from Alphonse to Winry out of the corner of his eye.
She returned shortly, the coffee and tea in hand as she set them down on the side tables by the recipients. The room launched into further silence as the brothers took quiet sips, all eyes traveling around the room in some vain way to escape the awkward predicament. The insistent ticking of the clock seemed to mock them, telling them that time was passing - had passed - and nothing was happening, no one was doing anything.
Finally, Alphonse stood, setting down the mug of coffee and clearing his throat to attract the other two's attention. He hadn't needed to, really; as soon as he had risen out of his chair their eyes had snapped to him.
"Well, I'll be leaving. Please, Winry, do call when he's," here he grimaced, turning to glare at Edward, "completely healthy. I imagine he won't take long to get his things together, seeing as all of his belongings are still at the house."
His lip briefly curled, before he sighed and straightened himself.
"Good bye, Winry...Nii-san."
"Good bye, Al," she said softly, already starting towards the coffee mug to dump the remaining contents into the kitchen sink. "Take care."
Edward said nothing, closing his eyes to smother an angry glare at his younger brother. Instead, a few of his fingers twitched, and his toes curled ever so slightly.
"You, too," the younger Elric replied, and then he was gone, shutting the door quietly behind him.
"Thank god," Edward exhaled, sitting up from his lazy position on the couch to prop his elbows on his thighs. "I was wondering if that goddamn prick would never leave."
Winry chose to say nothing, gesturing towards the tea in a silent question. Are you done with that?
"Eh? Uh, yeah," he shrugged, leaning his head onto one of his palms as he glanced out the window; Alphonse's car was already pulling away. "Damn brat..."
She pretended not to hear him as she poured the remaining tea down the drain, rinsing out the cup then placing it in the sink to wash later. Wiping her slightly wet hands on a dish towel, she turned her attention back to Edward and, thankfully, the few bandages he still retained. She pointed to one on his shoulder, and he quickly realized what she meant.
"Oh, yeah, the old hag changed it before she left," he told her nonchalantly, "it's gonna be fine for another five hours, she said."
Winry nodded.
"I'm going to go read, if that's okay," she muttered. He shrugged, a sign that he didn't really care.
"Go ahead."
As she made her way into her room, locking the door behind her, Winry allowed herself to slump down onto her bed, vaguely wondering what she would read. It felt like she had read everything already...she lifted her head to glance around the room, eyes spotting a small pile of library books that she had forgotten to look at. They would likely be due soon.
Reaching for the one on top, Winry was just about to open up the cover when she realized she was probably going to miss Edward when he left. She flinched at the almost foreign prick of sadness at her stomach. There would be a gap once he left, she knew; an empty void where the cursing, rude distraction should have been. Winry had to admit, it was nice how much time she could take up, checking and changing his bandages, making meals for him on the occasion that Pinako wasn't around to do so. Even listening to him grumble about something under his breath while she pretended to do something else helped pass the time, and she became even more distracted when, on a rare chance, she would see Edward from an angle that made him look handsome, god-like, even, when the sun lit up his golden hair and his eyes flashed at her.
But then it would be ruined when he snapped at her, asking what the hell she thought she was looking at and that she should mind her own business.
Yes, she would miss him. The prick in her stomach grew a little more painful.
She began to read so that she could forget about it.
But the dam had a crack now.
I. COULD. NOT. THINK. OF. ANYTHING. TO. WRITE. FOR. THIS. DAMN. CHAPTER. D: Sorry.
