Disclaimer: No rights to FMA!
Over the last two weeks, she had ate, slept and even dreamed automail, which was evident from the shamefully cluttered appearance of her home. Looking around her very messy table, she picked through screws, wires and tools that were scattered everywhere until she finally found the quarter inch nut that would finish the assembly of the outer plate to the inner panel. For what felt like forever, she had been ceaselessly working on Professor Elric's arm in every spare moment she possessed. Determined to show him exactly how well she knew her chosen profession, she had obsessed over every detail until she was beginning to drive herself crazy. Upon the completion of his new leg, the man had been impressed by the lightweight and perfectly designed metal that she had breathed life into. Each dip specifically crafted to mirror his natural limb, he had hired her to officially be his permanent engineer a week ago that day. That brought her to where she currently was, covered in oil and sweat, cussing loudly when she dropped the nut she had been searching for through parts for at least ten minutes now.
Glancing to her small clock in the kitchen, she realized that he would be there anytime to have his new arm installed. Faintly she felt her heart speed up when she heard a knock of the door, she knew she was being ridiculous but she couldn't help it. Quickly she wiped down the metal, until it gleamed in the light. Running to the door, her stomach flipped anxiously and she let the golden man in. Greeting him with a somewhat embarrassingly breathy voice, she cleared her throat and directed him to the chair at the table. He asked her how everything was going, and she told him that she had just finished, while she reorganized her tools into an order that would make the installation easier. When she finally looked at him, a strange expression clouded his eyes.
"Geez Winry, have you been sleeping at all the last week?" Frowning at him, she responded defensively despite catching the hint of worry in his question.
"I've slept some...I've been busy." Sure she had slept, for a few minutes at a time when her energy gave out, generally with some part of his mail stuck to her face.
"You could've taken more time to get this done for me you know? I wouldn't get rid of you just because you weren't done in a week. Have you eaten? You look skinny. I'm surprised you can even lift my new piece with those sticks you call arms." Glancing self consciously to herself, she rolled her eyes and answered him snippily.
"Ha ha ha, you ass. Yes, I've been eating." His eyebrows lifted in mock offense.
"Wow Ms. Rockbell, real nice way to speak to your customer and your Professor. Did you eat today?" Of course she hadn't today, as soon as she had gotten out of class she had hurried home since she didn't work tonight at The Dark Horse, to put the final touches on his appendage.
"No but-" Not letting her continue her excuse, he spoke over her loudly.
"That's exactly my point, you can't go all day without food. Why don't you grab a snack before we start." She stared down at the floor in defeat, knowing that she didn't have anything but condiments in her fridge.
"I haven't gone grocery shopping yet." Muttering in an exasperated tone, she knew he wasn't going to like that answer either. Why did he care how she was taking care of herself? All week he had seemed to give her the cold shoulder, and now he was picking fights with her over her well being? This man made zero sense to her. Briefly she wondered if he even realized how concerned he sounded. Probably not, she decided, but when he did pick up on it, he would more than likely go back to cool civility with her. Maddening, the Elric was utterly maddening.
"What kind of woman doesn't have groceries?" Asking with a bewildered look on his tanned face, he stared her down intensely while awaiting the answer.
"The kind that builds automail for mouthy clients." Grinning widely at him, she pulled a chair around to his side, so she could delve into her work and begin to ignore him.
"Point taken, why don't you come get dinner with Al and I after we are done?" Slipping off his shirt without warning, Winry was stunned by the smell of his cologne as it filtered through the air with his motion. Although the scent didn't remind her of any store bought fragrance, it was equally enticing. Something like leather, oil and and amber mixed with the sunshine warming his skin, he was intoxicating. That coupled with the sight of him bare chested and muscular in front of her, was enough to clot air in her throat. Though his skin was littered with scars of varying shapes and sizes they didn't detract, if anything, she only found them to heighten the allure to him. Literally having to shake her head to clear her uncontrolled thoughts, her brain caught up with the moment and she realized that he had asked her a question. Unfortunately for both of them, she was still flustered as she picked up her chair to move closer to his side, so she hadn't noticed that he was sitting lazily with his legs extended, until she plunked herself down on his flesh foot. With a surprised yelp, Edward swore creatively.
"Oh shit, Edward! I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention!" All but squealing the words, Winry felt her cheeks redden immediately at her own clumsiness.
"Dammit Rockbell, if you didn't want to go you didn't have to break my foot in answer!" Shouting even though he was making a joke, her teacher himself was red faced, but for an entirely different reason.
"I said I was sorry! I didn't mean to smash your foot. Besides as skinny as you say I am, shouldn't you have not even noticed my miniscule weight?" Even though she knew she had hurt him, she couldn't resist tossing back that reference to her figure at him.
"Very funny." His face was a mix of humor and slight pain, and she figured if had enough energy to be sarcastic, he was probably okay.
"If anything this makes my statement before more valid. Clearly if you are so underfed that you miss a grown man sitting right in front of you, then you need to eat something. In any case, after the pain you have inflicted, I would say you owe me coming along without further argument." Weighing her options and his typical responses to all of said options, she decided the best route was acquiescence. In fairness, she had felt a bit light headed, though she wasn't sure what type of hunger had caused it.
"Fine, but you should let me look at your foot, even with shoes on I could have broken something." Winry stated plainly while watching his warm eyes for any sign of true discomfort.
"I have had far worse, I think I'll make it." What a typical man response.
"Ah, so you are playing up the damage so you can justify dragging me along with you two?" His face became suddenly serious for a moment, and she wondered what she had said to invoke the change.
"Not at all, I just think you should take better care of yourself." Giving her a small smile, Ed tried to reassure her, though really all he had done by smiling was set her off balance. This might've been the first non arrogant one she had ever seen on him, and despite it's brevity, he had looked years younger. Nearly vulnerable even. Cockiness mixed with his overwhelming looks she could handle, but actual friendliness on his face set her heart thudding quickly. Feeling her face flush even brighter, she chose not to respond for fear of what would come out of her mouth and began installing his arm.
Upon entering the small bistro that his brother had picked, Ed searched around for Alphonse while Winry followed close behind him. She had been fairly quiet since she had been working on his automail, probably from the lack of attention she had been giving herself while running herself ragged the past two weeks. Truly she was her grandmother's granddaughter, the woman was a mechanical genius. Not only was his leg back to normal, really both of his limbs were working better than his natural ones now. Seeing how much she must have invested herself into his parts for them to be so in sync with his own, he had felt himself being more open in front of her. This dinner a prime example of such behavior, he had let his worry for her well being stop him from keeping himself separated from her. These were the reactions that were worrisome to him.
After speaking with Mustang the other night, he had been going back over the man's words more frequently than he would have liked to. Would it really be so bad to be her friend? Alphonse was clearly able to handle the emotions that came with the connection, but in reality Al had more of a right to be able to do so. Also unlike he had originally believed, his brother had no physical interest in her beyond that friendship. Unfortunately his thoughts were increasingly less platonic, and that was a big problem. The more he was around her, the more he wanted to continue to be around her. Her personality was light hearted and witty, able to match his own easily, she was never cowed by his clever comments. Clearly given the quality of her profession, she must have been a child prodigy and seeing her results in class, she stood out academically as well. Hearing her laugh was beginning to become his favorite sound. All that was in addition to her appearance, and he was in a world of trouble whenever he caught himself thinking of that. Glimpsing Alphonse at a table in the corner, he led Winry back but was all but pushed aside when she saw his brother.
"Al!" Exclaiming happily, the fair haired woman wrapped an arm casually around Al's shoulders for a quick hug. Geez, you'd think she hadn't seen him in months as excited as she was.
"Winry! I didn't know you were coming with Ed to dinner." Hearing the minute fluctuation in his sibling's tone, that he just knew was directed in question to him, he averted his eyes from the scrutiny in Al's at his clear deviation in action regarding Winry.
"Me either, I hope you don't mind!" Responding to the subtle inflection that she must have also noticed and mistook, Winry answered.
"Not at all, I'm happy to see you! You've been so busy recently I haven't seen you except in class or at the bookstore. Hey Brother!" Al quickly allayed any doubt to her welcome presence, then acknowledged him also.
"Hey Al, how was your day?" He tried to casually distract any further unspoken queries from Alphonse by turning the attention away from her unexpected invitation to dinner. Within a few minutes, the tactic had succeeded and only occasional curious glances accompanied by raised brows were seen. He knew his brother was picking apart every single thing he said and every movement he made around his student, so he did his best to seem decently courteous but distant. After they had finished eating, the conversation moved towards talk of the weekend and their upcoming plans.
"So Winry what are you doing tomorrow night?" Al asked casually. Pausing to consider that for a minute, Winry seemed to be running through her schedule in her mind.
"Well now that I'm done with his work, nothing." Good she wasn't working tomorrow, hopefully she would be able to get a decent night's sleep tonight, the shadow of purple under her eyes a testament to her long week.
"We should all go out tomorrow night." Appearing delighted at the idea, Winry smiled brightly at the suggestion.
"That would be fun, did you already ask Sheska?" As if realizing something, she stopped speaking, only to continue a moment later.
"But Al, how are you going to get into a bar besides The Dark Horse?"
"No I didn't ask her yet and don't worry about that. No one ever seems to hassle me overmuch about ID, and even if they did, the place I'm thinking about allows people 18 and over in, just not to drink." With a wry smirk, his mild tempered brother actually reminded him of himself for a minute.
"Incorrigible." She laughed at his rebellious streak, which brought a smile to his own lips. "I will get ahold of Sheska, unless you want to?" Seeing how the idea flustered him, Ed wondered if Al was interested in the girl. He had already begun to think so, but catching the blush that colored his cheeks currently, that thought was now confirmed.
"That's okay, you go ahead since you're both girls and all." Muffling his mouth with his gloved hand, he snickered quietly until Al's embarrassed eyes met his in a sort of challenge as he spoke his next words. "I'm so excited tomorrow will be so much fun, right Ed?" The look of knowing his little brother gave him as he asked made him wonder just when the hell had he gotten to be so cocky?
"Oh no, I'm not coming with you hoodlums." Taking out his wallet, he laid money on the table since he had already won the argument over paying with both the stubborn Rockbell and Alphonse. Preparing to leave, Ed didn't want to be put on the spot about a situation he shouldn't put himself in.
"Give us a break, you are barely older than us." She reminded him curtly.
"Even still, I will be at home grading papers, you know being responsible." Glancing into the ocean depths in front of him, he noticed that her expression deflated some at his refusal, but he tried not to think about it overlong. Pushing himself away from the table, he stood and they began to follow him as he made his way out the restaurant. He couldn't believe how much better his leg felt while doing so either, anytime he had risen or sat previously, it was like he was one hundred years old and he hadn't moved in half of that time. She really was an incredible mechanic. Once they exited onto the street, he thanked her again for the incredible work and long hours she had put in, while she thanked him for dinner, though in a more subdued tone than she had spoken in just a brief time ago. Telling Al that she would get ahold of him tomorrow to finalize their plans, she told them both goodnight and headed off in the direction of her home. For a moment, he wondered if they should have offered to walk with her, but he already knew that he had been around her too much as it was. After watching her walk away until he could no longer see her, his brother turned to him and begun the argument he had expected.
"You are terrible! A night out once in awhile isn't being irresponsible, if anyone needs one, it's certainly you! Please come with us Ed, it will be fun." Pleading almost like a child does for a toy in the grocery store, Alphonse stared at him hopefully.
"Al, you guys will have more fun without me dragging you down, I have stuff to get done anyways." Edward tried, attempting to pacify him.
"Fine. I just wanted a chance to talk to Sheska a little bit more, one on one in an adult setting." Great, now he was playing a guilt trip, and even though he knew this, he still had trouble outright agreeing just on principle. "It's okay though, Winry will probably have a lot of people who are interested in talking to her, so maybe I'll still have a chance to spend some time with her." Giving Ed a look that plainly read the discomfort that that statement would bring, Al began heading towards their place with a smug satisfaction that he would crumble, anytime now. He wanted to say the thought didn't bother him, he wanted to ignore the outright reality of his brother's words, but he couldn't. Regrettably for him, Alphonse, being too damn perceptive for his own good, knew that as well and was going to use that to his advantage. Sighing loudly, he had a feeling he would regret his decision one way or another later.
"Fine." Mimicking Al's terse answer, Ed just hoped that everything would be that very word.
AN: 3/24/2016 I am currently going through and fixing this story chapter by chapter in an attempt to reconnect to it and improve it along the way. Please review if you notice anything that I have missed or just want to tell me what you like/dislike.