81. Jealousy
"I told you, out!" Winry shouted, kicking Ed out the door and slamming it in his face.
"Fine! Who'd wanna hang out with an un-cute machine junkie anyway?" Ed retorted, fully expecting her to open the door and continue their argument. Instead, he heard the familiar clicking of tools and assorted metal.
Ten minutes and several insults later, Winry was clearly tuning the small alchemist out, so he wandered off to terrorize whatever he found first, be it Al or Den. Both, it turned out, were playing outside. Den smelled Ed before Al saw him, and the dog bound over to Ed, knocking him over the minute he stepped off the porch.
"Stupid dog!" Ed sputtered, utterly pinned by the canine.
"Come'ere, Den!" Al called, and threw her toy as far as he could (which was surprisingly far, considering his age). Ed pushed himself up to a sitting position and crossed his arms stiffly.
"What's wrong, brother?" asked Al, crouching in front of Ed. "Why're you sulking again?"
"'m not sulking."
Al sighed and tried again. "Did auntie kick you out of the kitchen?"
"No."
"Make you drink milk?"
"Ew, no!"
"Winry's working again?"
"Why's she always gotta play with tools? She used to play with us!" Ed whined, throwing himself back into the grass.
Al smiled and lied back in the grass with his brother. "Don't worry, brother. She'll be out later," he replied.
"No, she won't, she'll be in that dumb workshop all w-"
"Eeeeee!"
Winry's scream moved both Elrics to their feet, and they'd arrived in the workshop what seemed like a split second later.
"Winry, what's wrong?" they both shouted.
"It broke!" she cried, knelt over something on the floor, project forgotten on the table.
"Huh?"
"My favorite screwdriver! It got stuck in the practice arm and when I yanked it out the head flew out of the handle in my hand and across the room and now Granny's gonna yell at me and I'll never be a good-"
The scratching of chalk finally got her attention. Ed had gathered the pieces and was just finishing the array. He set his palms on the edge and a yellow light briefly lit the room. A moment later, Ed handed Winry the repaired tool. Tentatively, she took it in her hand and examined it; then she launched herself at Ed and gave him a peck on the cheek.
Ed realized he would never again need to be jealous of Winry's tools.