80. Paradox

A week. Ed and Al had finally arrived after the promised mess as Winry had been about to give up on them. In a decided uncharacteristic move, Ed and Al both divulged detailed accounts of the final battle. Equally uncharacteristically, Winry had outright cancelled most of her appointments. Most of her customers showed up anyway, and Al regaled them with some of their lighter adventures. Winry and Ed occasionally supplied an aside or added anecdote, but they usually let Al have center stage. He enjoyed it, and Ed was tired of talking.

One of Winry's usual customers had been listening to Al go on about some of their childhood adventures for the better part of the afternoon. Al had just started one of Ed's least favorite (and least flattering) stories, and Winry couldn't help adding her two (or ten) cents.

"Oh don't forget the mud, that's the best part!" she said, giggling at the memories of the filthiest blond child she'd ever seen.

"But the falling-in-the-river part was pretty good, too!" Al replied, slumping onto the table in his own laughter.

"Down the hill-"

"Out of the tree-"

"And Den wasn't even up the tree-"

"She was asleep under your bed the whole time!" They both collapsed on each other, positively shaking with guffaws.

The customer, Ed noticed as he ignored his brother and Winry, wasn't amused. The young man, whom Winry had introduced as "Guy," was raking his eyes over Winry, lingering wherever her body made contact with Al's. Ed bit down hard on his tongue to keep himself from launching across the table when he saw Guy trying to steal a peek down Winry's shirt. Judging by how she laid a calming hand on Ed's thigh, Guy ogling her was nothing new. This fact only incited Ed more.

"So, Al," Guy said at last in a sort of croaking voice. "How long have you-" he gestured to Winry and Al "-been together?"

Winry, Al, and Ed all paused and stared at Guy. They looked at each other, and all three broke out laughing even harder.

"Winry and me?" Al choked out. He opened his mouth to say more, but couldn't seem to catch his breath to form the words.

"But… you're… she…" Guy sputtered.

"What kinda paradox world are you living in?" asked Ed, reaching his metal arm around Winry's waist, as his laughter died down and his protective instincts kicked back in.

Guy shrank into his chair a little. "Well, she was so glad whenever you came to town, but she said you weren't… and so I thought maybe…"

"Well, we've all known each other from birth, so it's an easy mistake to make," Winry cut in, saving Guy the further embarrassment. Ed, however, had always thought she was too kind. In an overly showy manner, he pulled the pocket watch out and flipped it open. Winry rested her head on Ed's metal shoulder as she glanced at the time. He made sure Guy saw his metal hand resting just beneath a breast. Ed couldn't stop his grin from widening as Guy seethed.

"What time did you say the reservations were for?" he asked Winry, punctuating his question with a light kiss on her forehead.

"About an hour, I should go get ready," she replied and started to get up. Before she could stand all the way up, Ed took her face in his hands and pulled her in for a much deeper kiss on the lips. He could never get enough of her lips, and her tongue (now that he knew she wouldn't wrench him for it… at least not in a painful way; she could euphemistically wrench him into next Tuesday if she wanted to), and pissing Guy off seemed to be an added bonus for both of them.

"I've, um, gotta… well bye," he said, and practically raced out the door.