Draped in Wires
by. Poisoned Scarlet

Theme 031: Dirty Boys

She vigorously scrubbed the floor with the mop. The floor behind her was a streak of shine; a complete dust-free and clean expanse of hardwood floor that held scratches and scuffs from the past.

She didn't pay attention to anything else but the task at hand.

Her mind was racing to finish as she wanted to get back to her automail prints. But her grandmother had asked her to clean the house and when her granny asked her to do something, she did it. No questions asked. After all, the old woman was the main reason she was such a success within the field of automail and it was the least she could do for all the long nights her granny had invested in her.

Damn, she thought, wiping a sheen of sweat from her forehead. I've been at it since the morning! And I'm barely getting done! She wrung the mop quickly and expertly, wiping some more sweat off her forehead.

She was sweaty, grouchy, and wanted nothing more than to be finished so she could go back to her prints in peace!

"Hey! Al! Catch!"

Winry froze.

"Brother! Be more careful! You know what granny said about roughhousing inside the house!"

"She's not here right now is she, so what do I care? Toss it back, Al!"

"Fine... heads up!"

Winry's grip on the mop became vice-like; rage making her skin crawl. With the mop clenched tightly between snowy-white knuckles, Winry made her way into the living room and nearly fainted at what she saw.

Their muddy footsteps dominated the main hall; their grass-stained, dirt ridden, shirts tossed on the top of the couch carelessly. She could see their toned bodies, sweat-slicked and hard, as they laughed and continued to toss the ball back and forth but it didn't get any type of reaction from her.

She was too furious to swoon over Ed's lean body.

Edward caught sight of her, her hair up and face strangely blank, and grinned. "Hey, Win, you wanna' play football with us?"

"Yeah, come play with us, Winry! You've been stuck in the house all day long!" Al chirped after his brother, grabbing the ball as Ed backed up; very nearly bumping into the wooden pedestal and making the vase crash on the floor.

"What..." she began, tightly, "the hell do you guys think you're doing!" She finished shrilly, paling when Ed wiped his forehead and let drops of sweat hit the floor.

The floor she broke her back trying to clean for the last 4 hours...

"Um, playing football..?" Al nervously replied, noticing the steady build of anger that crackled in her blue eyes.

"So, do you wanna' play or not?" Ed asked, impatient; not noticing her fuming glare. "C'mon, we're burning daylight!"

"You're asking me if I want to play football?" She repeated, not giving him enough time to continue: "Are you stupid? No, don't answer that! You are stupid! I just spent the ENTIRE damn morning cleaning up the house AND YOU RUINED IT! NOW I HAVE TO START ALL OVER AGAIN BECAUSE YOU TWO DUMBASSES WERE TOO DAMN STUPID TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE FACT THAT I CLEAN UP AFTER YOU PIGS!"

"Whoa, Win, calm down—!"

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, ED!"

"Winry, we're—!"

"SHUT UP, AL!"

The two boys gulped, allowing their eyes to trail down the floor, the dirt paths they left behind, and then to themselves, the grass and mud and sweat that gathered around them...

"W-we're sorry, Win—!"

"Just get out." Winry growled.

"We could help—!" Ed began.

"GET OUT!" She thundered, causing both men to scramble out of the house.

"We were only trying to help!" Ed shouted angrily over his shoulder, squeaking when he caught sight of Winry's enraged blue eyes.

"Ed, please, shut up!" Al snapped, running faster.

"You don't have to tell me twice..." He muttered, tucking the ball under his arm as he and his brother headed to the wide-open plains to continue playing their game; hoping Winry would somehow forget their trespass and not beat them up with her wrench when they returned a few hours later.

A/N: Bam. This is how my mother gets when she cleans up the house and I strut in with my ragged Emerica's and step all over the shiny floor like I own place XD

Oh, and I just noticed... I reached 400 reviews already? Holy crap. That caught me by surprise.

Scarlett.