Disclaimer: I own nothing...
Screws, Bolts and Ben
I worked at an auto shop; Go figure. Although this side of the gate was way behind our time, I taught the men I worked with everything I knew. They were all so old, and were so surprised of how much I already knew. They were all too old for me to have a conversation with though, most of them in there early forties and older. All they were interested in was their families, and making enough money for their kid's birthday next week. However, I would spark a conversation with Ben every so often. Ben was about 30, only 12 years older then me, and that wasn't bad considering everyone else. He liked to listen to me talk about my stories back in Risembool, but didn't believe a thing. He always took all the advice I could give about auto mail- I mean auto; Just plain screws and bolts. Although he was a sweet, and a quite handsome guy, he had been married twice already with two kids, and I wasn't attracted to the man at all. He never made me blush, or cause my heart to skip a few beats like it used to in Risembool. In fact, almost no guys in this world did.
Only last week, I had been working on a broken car motor, when Ben had come over and sat next to me to see what I was doing. Or so I thought.
"Hey Win." Even if it was just a simple 'Hello', he had started to creep me out. He wasn't aloud to call me Win. Who gave him the right to call me Win? It was Winry to him. Only that, nothing else...
"Whatcha working on?" I looked up to him quickly, then back to my work trying to concentrate.
"Nothing, just this motor. Someone had dropped it in the shop a few days ago."
"Oh, need some help?" He asked sliding closer. It was then I could smell his smell. Kinda smelled like oil and corn. I hated it.
"Nah, thanks though." I said, not looking up trying to be as nice as possible. I just wasn't in the mood for him, and sometimes he wouldn't give me space. He liked me, almost too much.
"Oh, I think that you need a tad bit bigger screw there." He stopped me from my work, as he pointed to a scrap of metal, reaching his arm over my lap.
"No, I think it's just fine." He scooted closer, almost close enough for his dirty, brown hair to touch my shoulder.
"But don't you think, this size would screw in a lot easier, Win? Not to mention it's stronger-" Did he just call me Win again?!
"No! It's fine, but thanks." I barked at him. I stood up, grabbing the motor from his hands, as he looked up at me confused, and possibly a bit hurt. I took a deep breath, and tried to calm down.
"Ahh, sorry. I just think this screw is fine. It must be that time again." I said cheerfully.
"Yeah, alright." Ben looked away, and I was quite happy he did. I walked out of the room, to the bathroom holding the motor as a tear slipped down my cheek. It was then I had decided I liked Risembool a lot better then Germany. But I think I knew that even before I came to this place.
xxx
Edit 12/9