A/N: See, this is what happens when I get social. Mall, gamenight, recital, Twi-nterview... but I'll try to get caught up this week.
This is another of my favorites. Pick a universe, any universe will do.
72. Insect Repellent
"Hey, Ed!" called Winry. The Elrics were halfway down the lane when she came out of her house, holding something and waving them back. Ed groaned, pinched the bridge of his nose, and took a deep breath. He was not, not, not going to fight with her again, not after the doozey they had the night before. He told Al to wait there and ran back to where Winry stood on the porch with a basket.
"You were gonna leave before I could give you this," she said, and held the basket out with both hands.
Ed eyed it like a live bomb, and he tentatively took it with a finger of his automail hand. He took a sniff, and thankfully couldn't smell any explosives, but he also knew Winry was devious when she wanted to be. He and Al may have been the (admittedly alchemic) muscle in grade school, but the playground truly feared Rockbell and her talent for creative payback.
"It's not gonna bite, you idiot," Winry huffed, and she shook her head at him. She opened the basked and began pointing things out to him. "Granny and I thought you two could use a few things. There's some jerky, some dried fruit, a canteen, oil for your arm," she gave him a pointed glare, since their fight had somehow started with maintenance and Ed's lack-thereof, "sun block- that burn on your neck was a lot worse than you think, insect repellant-"
"What?" Ed cocked an eyebrow at her in disbelief. "You sound like an overprotective mother," he groaned, and shut the basket.
Winry crossed her arms stiffly. "I don't know where you've been to get them, but you had bug bites all up your legs. I'm surprised you can wear those pants without the rubbing driving you mad," she explained with the air of a doctor lecturing a patient. "I don't even want to know how they got above the port on your left leg."
"What were you doing above the port?" Ed asked incredulously, his eyes wide and his eyebrows disappearing in his bangs. Winry merely glared. "I take it back, you're more like a nagging wife," Ed groaned, pinching his nose again.
"Nagging wives are the reason reckless husbands come home alive," she countered, hands going to her hips as the fighting words spilled out.
Not to be outdone, Ed fired back, "Maybe reckless husbands come home alive because they know nagging wives would be waiting for them in hell to nag them all the way down the River Styx!" he shouted.
"Reckless husbands wouldn't have their wives nagging them if they'd quit wrecking their limbs in the first place!"Winry shouted.
All the words and implications hung almost palpably in the air between them. Golden eyes as well as blue shrank back in shock and fear for a moment.
A clank on the hill made both their heads snap in Al's direction. He was running in circles, grabbing at something in the air. Apparently, a suit of armor chasing a butterfly was enough to defuse the situation.
"I've gotta go, he's gonna end up covered in pollen and I'll be sneezing all the way to central," mumbled Ed, his flesh hand coming up to scratch the back of his neck. Winry swatted it away.
"Don't, you'll irritate the burn. Put some aloe on it toni-" she lectured, but Ed gave her a tired look, and she slowly pulled her hand back. "Oh fine, have a good trip," she sighed.
"Uh, yeah, see ya," he muttered. "And thanks for this," he added as he turned around and headed back to join Al.