Draped in Wires
by. Poisoned Scarlet
Theme 049: Growing Up
Edward gazed up at the familiar Meat sign that hung in the front of the building. The Dublith streets were bare of anyone, given the time of the morning, but he knew that his former alchemy master would be up and about inside; cooking breakfast for her beloved husband and enjoying life as it came and went as she always did.
He knocked on the door and Winry shifted unsurely behind him.
"Are you sure she's awake, Ed?" She asked, hands clasped in front of her nervously. Her stomach gave a small rumble and she touched it gently. "It's really early..."
"Trust me, she's been awake for a while," he told her, nonchalant. "She's been awake since four am! It's only six right no—" A punch to his face cut him off and Edward stumbled back with a cry of surprise.
"Ed!" Winry squeaked, wide eyed.
"Son of a bitch!" Ed screeched, holding his aching cheek. "What's the big idea, Teacher, that hurt!"
"That was the entire point, you moron!" Izumi Curtis snapped, hands set on her hips authoritatively. She eyed his clothing, the loose black slacks and cleanly pressed button-up shirt, and wondered where the years had gone as she last remembered him wearing those ridiculously tight leather jeans and muscle top. "What the hell brings you to my house, huh? I thought I told you you were no longer welcomed here as my student!"
"It's a force of habit! Sorry, Izumi!" Ed grumbled back, rubbing his cheek as he glared at her.
"That's Mrs. Curtis to you, brat!" Izumi corrected, although Ed saw the twinkle of amusement in her black eyes. That was enough to alert him that all had been forgiven, at least for the moment.
"Alright, Mrs. Curtis," Ed smirked, gesturing to a barely showing Winry with his chin. "I'd like you to meet Mrs. Elric!"
Izumi's eyes grew wide and she turned to the girl who stood a few steps off, a hand over her slightly swollen belly from sheer habit. The older women gazed at her sharply, making Winry shift uncomfortably before she noticed that there was a curious sparkle in her eyes.
"Hello there." Izumi smiled, the expression breaking the mask of rage that had previously dominated. "I suppose you must this so-called 'Mrs. Elric'?"
"Yep! You must be Ed's amazing alchemy teacher, Izumi Curtis, right?" Winry began as well, with a friendly smile. "I'm Winry Rockbell, Ed's automail mechanic!"
"Don't you mean Elric?" Ed corrected, moodily.
Winry quirked a brow. "Just because I married you doesn't mean I have to tell EVERYONE my new surname. Besides, no one knows the name Elric! Rockbell is much more famous," she smirked, causing him to glare.
"You liar! Anyone who's anyone knows that Elric's kick ass!"
"Does not!"
"Does to!"
"I said," Winry growled, eyes flashing dangerously. Izumi grinned when she saw the pale tone Ed's face had taken. "Is...NOT!"
"Okay! Okay! It's not, it's not!" He hastily amended.
The dangerous glint was replaced with a content smile and Ed breathed easy for the moment.
"Wonderful!" Izumi trilled cheerfully, earning a brooding look from Ed. "You must the girl Ed and Al spoke about when they first trained under me! Although, I distinctly remember Ed making a comment regarding your lack of femininity..." She mischievously added.
"I was NINE!" Ed defended, fiercely. "And it's not like you taught me otherwise! I've always been surrounding by women who take sick pleasure in torturing me—PAY ATTENTION TO ME DAMN IT!" He screeched when he noticed both women had hit it off fantastically and were leaving him outside to talk to thin air.
"Hurry up, Ed, my backs killing me!" Winry snapped, rubbing her back for emphasis. She had spent a lot of time bent down to fix a stubborn, tangled and shorted out, wire in the foot automail of a customer.
"Why are you standing there like a moron in the first place?" Izumi demanded, with a risen brow as she led Winry inside her humble home.
"I was talking!"
"To who?"
"Oh, just the wind because we all know how interested air is in listening to mourning complaints." Ed scathingly replied.
Izumi only smirked. "Well, then, finish up and come inside already!"
Ed heaved a sigh but followed her inside, muttering to himself about how much of a bad idea this had actually been when he saw just how splendidly they both got along; if their laughter and recounting of rather embarrassing childhood memories said anything.
"I never knew Edward had gotten married in the first place!" Izumi commented, making Ed stiffen. "I never got a single note or letter from him notifying me of this..." She gave him a penetrating stare that he nervously avoided.
"Oh, no, we're not married yet!" Winry laughed. Ed breathed out in relief. "We just want to get everyone used to the idea of us married! We actually came here to formally invite you to our wedding in two weeks!"
"Two weeks?" Izumi repeated, brows up in surprise. "Well, that's certainly quick, isn't it?"
"Ah, yes, but we have to hurry it up," Winry laughed nervously. She patted her stomach and Izumi hummed in understandingly. "It was a little abrupt and the townsfolk don't take well news of children out of wedlock..."
"So you decided to get it over with now, huh?" Izumi nodded, handing her a glass of juice. "Well, I always knew Edward was irresponsible but I can honestly say I never imagined him knocking some girl up!"
"What? Why the hell not!" Ed snapped.
Izumi glared at him. "Firstly, because I taught you better than that!" Ed quieted and avoided her scowling look. "And, secondly, let's be real here: you're about as smooth as sandpaper. I'm still trying to piece together how you managed to grab such a good one with actual brains!"
Winry grinned. "We're childhood friends, remember?"
Izumi threw her hands up in the air. "I rest my case!"
Edward tapped annoyed fingers on the table, glowering at his teachers low view on his charm. "You know, it wouldn't take me very long to hook a girl around my finger. They don't leave me alone until I tell them I'm engaged or have a kid!"
Winry became strangely still. "...Really?"
"Yeah, like that annoying girl who works the register in the Resembool grocery store." Ed snorted derisively. "She won't shut up about herself! Sometimes I like to send Al to pay because he's the only one who can slip out of her conversation without getting pissed and saying something stupid!"
"Why, because you would?" Izumi sarcastically shot back.
"I lived with you for two years, didn't I?" Ed shrugged. "You should know by now."
Izumi nodded in silent agreement.
"So that's why she was making such a big deal out of you!" Winry gasped in realization. "You called her a motor-mouth bitch, Ed!" Winry accused, while the man merely shrugged his shoulders innocently.
"Technically, I called her a motor-mouth woman with an attention deficiency but of course she'd miss that last part and replace it with her own derogatory term!" Ed scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
Izumi sipped her own juice calmly."Yeah, that sounds right about what he'd say."
"Honey?" A deep voice rumbled from the backdoor. Winry watched Izumi, whom she had believed was as strict and foreboding like her grandmother, transform into a completely different person right before her very eyes. She leaped from her seat, squealing out "Teddy!" at the top of her lungs with such girlish glee it made Winry smile and flush away in embarrassment.
She noticed Ed only rolled his eyes at their antics.
He must be used to her sudden mood changes.
"Oh, Sig!" Izumi began, gesturing to Winry. "This is Winry Rockbell, Edward's fiancee! Winry, meet my precious husband Sig!"
"Wife," Ed muttered from the sidelines.
"Not until that priest pronounces you man and wife she's not." Izumi smugly replied.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Rockbell." Sig smiled, the intimating appearance he had previously set forth shattering.
"Elric," Ed muttered yet again from the sidelines.
"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Curtis!" Winry beamed, shaking the bigger man's hand and noticing, with wide eyes, that his hand seemed to nearly swallow hers whole. "I've heard so many great things about you from Edward!"
"Have you?" Izumi curiously asked when Edward buried his face in his arms to hide his heavy scowl.
"Yep! It might sound bad to outsiders but usually when Ed criticizes someone, it's because he really cares about them!" Winry smiled, kicking Ed under the table when he snorted an unsightly rebuttal. "Isn't that right, Ed?"
"No—yes it is," he quickly corrected himself, upon catching her frigid stare. "She's absolutely right...as always." He rolled his eyes.
"Right!"
Izumi smiled warmly at their interaction, knowing fairly well that if they bickered as much as they had shown her, she could only guess how well they must have gotten long before they initiated a relationship. "Where's Alphonse?" She asked, noticing the absence of the boy until now.
"Oh, he stayed behind in Resembool!" Winry supplied. "He'll be coming over tomorrow by noon or so! He and Mei have to take care of a few things at the house before they could come with us!"
"Mei?" Izumi asked, with a purr. "Mei...the name sounds familiar..."
"It should be." Ed spoke up. "Do you remember that short Xingese girl that hung around Scar during the Promise Day?"
"The one in the braids and qipao?"
"That's the one."
Izumi's brows shot up. "No, Alphonse is really...?"
"Yep!" Winry grinned, a giggle escaping her. "You guessed it!"
"Well, I'll be!" Izumi laughed softly. Sig hummed strongly beside her in approval. "You two have sure done a lot of growing up while you've been away!"
Ed and Winry exchanged covert looks of amusement. "You could say that!"