To, co tygryski lubią najbardziej...

Villka

Cytując powszechnie znanego filozofa-optymistę Wink

, bohatera powieści A. A. Milne'a "To, co tygryski lubią najbardziej", czyli fanficki reprezentujące poziom taki, że robi nam się przyjemnie czytając o alternatywnych losach ulubionych bohaterów.

Wstawiajmy linki, albo przyklejajmy całe opowiadania (o ile nie narusza to praw) i dzielmy się tym, co nam się spodobało Smile

Dyskutujmy o tym, co nas urzekło. Smile

mroczna88

Ja od roku jestem kompletnie zakochana w fanfikach potterowskich i praktycznie z nich nie wychodzę. Głównie czytam po angielsku i jest mnóstwo perełek, ale wrzucę tutaj dwie.
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
Tekst, który niezmiennie kładzie mnie na łopatki i powoduje gigantyczny ból brzucha. Śmiechu co niemiara.

A drugi wrzucę w całości, bo jest krótki, ale piękny. Wrzucę jak tylko znajdę, najwyżej edytuję xD

Villka

A ja - jak wspominałam Razz

- ogarnięta szałem i fascynacją, przeżywając ponownie dawną miłość do Fullmetal Achemista szukałam czegoś fanowskiego, co nie zakrawało o pojęcie "żenada", ale co by zaspokoiło mój apetyt na to, "co byłoby gdyby". Wink

Udało mi się odkopać Draped in Wires - nie mam pojęcia jak to logiczne przełożyć na polski. "Okryte kablami", a może "Okablowane"? Razz

W każdym razie Draped in Wires pisze pewna Kalifornijka, Scarlett, używająca pseudonimu "Zatruty Szkarłat" [ang. Poisoned Scarlet].
Styl ma ciekawy, lekki, przyjemny, niezobowiązujący, a jednak nie jest to czymś do bólu amatorskim. Słowa przychodzą jej bardzo łatwo i równie łatwo potrafi opisać delikatne niuanse, uczucia - czego często brakuje młodocianym autorom. Razz

Potrafi zachować oryginalne charaktery i nie wciska w usta postaci słów, które w oryginale by z nich nie padły. Razz

Niektóre rozdzialiki są infantylne tak, że aż zęby bolą, ale nie można się od nich oderwać. Very Happy

Jej opowieści to zawsze romanse, które skupiają się właśnie na romantyczności, zawstydzeniu, niedopowiedzeniu, na uroczych, ciepłych gestach, a prawie nigdy (jeszcze nie... ) nie pojawiła się pikantna scena, która pchnęła bohaterów do sypialni. Myślę, że nawet tą sypialnie mogłaby opisać ładnie, bez "pornografii", ale zobaczymy, zobaczymy... Razz

Ciekawe czego ona sama od takie ewentualnej sceny oczekuje...

Draped in Wires rozgrywa się po zakończeniu mangi/anime Fullmetal Achemist:Brotherhood.
Ostrzegam, że w dalszej części tekstu mogą się pojawić SPOILERY!

Po Dniu Obiecanym bracia się rozjeżdżają- Ed na zachód (w ostatniej chwili przed odjazdem bardzo pokrętnie prosząc Winry o rękę), a Al na wschód (a na wschodzie mieszka taka jedna, kurduplowata księżniczka Razz

khem khem). Wracają umówionego dnia, po dłuuugim okresie czasu (chyba 2 lata) do domu, a tam wszystko jest takie samo, ale jednak inne Razz

Jest dojrzalszy emocjonalnie Al, nie ukrywający, że podejmuje pewne decyzje, które mają wpływ na jego przyszłość Razz

, jest Ed, mający talent do tworzenia niezręcznych sytuacji i nie radzący sobie ze swoimi uczuciami, jest Winry - której charakter nie został spłaszczony czy zmieniony. Wsio jest fajne. Razz

Niektóre rozdziały mnie drażnią rozwojem akcji, ale to głównie dlatego, że myśląc o Edwardzie Elricku zawsze w sercu będę miała tego chłopca, który dawno, dawno temu wywarł na mnie taaaaaakie wrażenie. Tym czasem w Draped in Wires autorka opisuje losy tego drugiego Edwarda, z Brotherhooda - szlachetnego, ale takiego... innego, takiego "twardziela" Razz

Właśnie ta "twardzielowatość" mnie drażni, ale poza tym - miodzio.
Zobaczymy jak to Scarlett zakończy. Ostatnio myślałam, że poziom spada, po czym napisała bardzo sensualny rozdział "Kostki Lodu/Ice Cubes" i kurcze... nie dość, że pomysł fajny (nie wykminiłabym żeby tak wykorzystać kostki lodu jako oś fabuły Razz

), to jeszcze podkręciła taaaak temperaturę Wink

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Draped in Wires
by Poisened Scarlet

***

Theme 001: Long Haul

A shot glass was slammed in front of him and Edward looked up to see the bartender grin down at him.

"You're lookin' a little down there, partner," the man good-naturedly said, popping a liquor bottle from the row before him and expertly serving a glass and sliding it to a patron a few seats away from Ed. Said man merely leaned back in his chair, the comedians jokes going in one ear and out the other as the tavern exploded in laughter.

"You think?" he replied, idly grabbing the glass and downing it. He sighed, resting his palm against his cheek.

"What's got you so low, hmm? Maybe I could help!" he offered.

Ed cocked a brow. "You listen to other people's sob stores often?"

"More often than I'd like," he shrugged. "But hey! I like helping people so it doesn't really bother me. Well, you gonna' spill the beans or do I have'ta persuade you some more?" He motioned to the whiskey bottle with a waggle of his brows.

Ed snorted a laugh. "Good to know at least someone cares."

"So what's bugging ya'?"

Edward tapped his finger against the rim of the glass. In retrospect, it would seem like a very bad idea to simply spill your problems to a person whom you knew nothing of. Edward was quite aware that it'd take more than a couple of drinks for him to blab his own tragic past so he wasn't quite worried about that as much as he was a certain blue-eyed, blonde-haired, girl back home...

But this was an issue he could not resolve on his own...

The bartender hummed to himself, dragging a rag across the shined mahogany wood.

His resting right hand gripped his left leg reflexively. Winry would often grab a rag, slather it in polish, and drag it across his automail leg to give it that brand-new shine; where he could see his own reflection in the steel and all the scrapes and scratches were unnoticeable for a while.

He took a deep breath. It had been far too long; his thoughts were in shambles against her bright face. Everything he did, he would somehow drag Winry into it. He was getting frustrated of having her in his thoughts nearly everyday. Not even pacing was enough to kick her memory out of his head... "I give up," he sighed.

"Aw, shit, don't tell me I gotta' give another suicide—!"

"No!" Ed cut quickly, scowling. "What, do I come off as the type to go jump off a bridge or something?"

"Eh, point taken."

Ed rolled his eyes. "What I meant was that I give up trying to learn western alchemy." He never thought he'd say it, but he did. He just couldn't concentrate when he wondered what the country girl was doing, if she was safe, if she was happy, if was cooking up a delicious apple pie...

The bartender rose his brows. "Ya' no, no one blames you. I mean, I heard alchemy is some—!"

"You don't understand," Ed mumbled. "I used to be Amestris' best alchemist. I got my state certification when I was twelve."

The bartender whistled lowly, impressed. "Oh, wait, you're that kid everyone was talkin' about a couple of years back!" he suddenly said.

"Heard of me?" Ed allowed a smirk. "Most have." His smirk fell off. "But now...I sort of—can't."

"Can't what? Preform alchemy?"

"...Yeah, basically."

The bartender gave him a long stare, as if he were contemplating something, before he shook his head and asked: "So why're you giving up on alchemy then?"

Ed was silently glad for the man's respect at his privacy and he said, almost inaudible: "...'cause it's taking too long..."

The man heard him regardless. "Well, hate to break it to you kid, but studying western alchemy usually takes a long while, ya' know? 'Cause that's what you're doin' right?"

"Yeah," Ed nodded, a little disgruntled. "I've been here two whole years and I've learned a lot more than I bargained for but there is still so much more out there. The world is too vast," he murmured, bitterly amused. "I wouldn't be able to appreciate all of it with the time limit I set myself..."

"Time limit, eh?" The bartender mused, dishing out a few drinks when a patron shouted for him. He handed the bottles to the waitress. "There's only one reason a guy would set a time limit on himself when he could be out there, enjoying the world to his own hearts content...you got a girl waiting somewhere?"

Ed heaved a sigh. Bingo. "Yeah, you could say that..."

"What'sa matter? She don't like you or something?"

"No!" he scowled, cheeks flushing pink. She liked him...right? "It's not that...it's just...kind of weird right now..."

"Weird how?"

He sunk deeper into his seat, scowl falling into epic proportions. "I—I guess we sort of confessed our feelings at the train station around two years ago but..."

The bartender suddenly nodded. "Ah, I think I know what's wrong with you: you still don't know whether you've got somethin' with her or not, eh?"

Ed only continued to scowl. This guy was like a mind-reader; it kind of pissed him off...

The bartender chuckled. "Don't worry, kid, I come across a whole lot of you all the time here in this joint! The best way to figure out where you stand in this special ladies life is to go for it."

"Go for it?" Ed asked, confused.

"Yeah, just go for it," the man smiled, encouragingly. "Holding yourself back won't do you any good, trust me. And waiting for something to happen ain't going to benefit you in any way; that's takin' the cowards way out. The best way to get your life back on track is to dive right in there and get everything straightened out," he wisely stated. "You also know she likes you to some extent so that helps."

"I still think she likes me because I'm twenty five percent metal," Ed muttered a little bitterly. He had lost his metallic arm in exchange for his real one...technically, he had lost around twenty five percent of his charm around her...

"Metal?"

"Automail."

"Ah, well, I guess that means you've got a seventy five percent chance of not getting rejected, neh?" The man grinned cheekily.

Ed downed another glass. "Seventy percent chance?" He frowned. "That's not reassuring."

"But if you put in other components, the percentage will lower and lower until you've only got so much percent of failure. And by that time, you'd have mustered the guts to properly do something about your current relationship."

Ed eyed the man. "You sure know a lot about this."

The bartender boomed in laughter. "What can I say? I'm an expert!"

Edward slid off the stool, placing a few bucks on the table. "Thanks, I guess that was just what I needed," he thanked sincerely, with a half-smile. "I'll figure out a way to solve this issue...later," he shrugged, readying to go back to his hotel room and pack up his stuff as he was leaving for Resembool in a few short days.

Before he left, however, the bartender hollered: "You want a sure-fire way to get her to be yours?"

Ed paused, glancing over his shoulder expectantly. "How?"

"Kiss her the instant you see her! Girls dig forward guys!" The man laughed at the beet red of his face and incoherent spluttering, going back to dishing out drinks as the young man scrambled out of the tavern with a new deal of problems laid out in his head.

It was going to be a long haul to get where he wanted to get to, he was sure of it.

***

Theme 002: Break Away

He dropped his suitcase on the floor on the porch, inhaling the countryside air with a beaming smile. Beside him, the Xingese woman mumbled to herself; trying to tie a stubborn button of fabric through the loop on her neck.

"You need any help with that, Mei?" Alphonse asked wryly, as she tried but failed to button the collar of her oriental shirt.

"If you would be so kind," she grumbled, giving up and looking up at him frustratingly. Alphonse laughed, turning to her and grabbing her collar, fixing it and buttoning in the fabric properly; overlooking the sudden pink hue that had taken over her cheeks at his close contact.

"There!" he chirped.

"Well, if it isn't Alphonse," a raspy voice came, startling the two young adults from their comfortable silence. "We've been expecting you and your trouble making brother!" she smiled. "And just who might this be?" Pinako eyed Mei Chang, who stiffed under her scrutinizing gaze and bowed, respectfully saying: "It is nice to meet you. I am Mei of the Chang clan!"

Al scratched the back of his head sheepishly at the suggestive grin he received from Pinako. "Granny, this is Mei. She helped us during the Promised Day and she's currently teaching me Alkahestry. Mei, this is Pinako Rockbell – technically my grandmother," he added cheekily, earning a wagging pipe in his direction.

"Technically?" Pinako snorted. "I am your grandmother, you little snot! I practically raised the three of you! I should be considered your mother," she huffed out, turning on her heel and tossing over her shoulder: "Come inside, make yourselves at home while I go get Winry!"

"It is so peaceful here," Mei commented, gazing at the interior of the house curiously. The house was nothing like her own, which had been severely upgraded due to her sudden rise in status in Xing. Her half-brother had made sure to attain the best silks and best furniture for his younger half-sister and she was eternally grateful but she did not mind the simplistic lifestyle – in fact, she'd say she liked it better than the hectic, dizzying, days spent in Xing.

The countryside seemed to suit her just fine as Alphonse motioned her upstairs, explaining a few things to her such as where she would sleep for the summer and stressing that if she felt uncomfortable at any given time, she should come talk it over with him as he did not want to make her feel like a stranger.

"I think I will fit in here just fine, Alphonse-sama," Mei smiled happily, causing the boy to go pink around the cheeks.

"That's great," he smiled right back, letting his bags fall on the floor. "Brother should be on his way by now so I'll bunk with him like we used to do when we were younger."

Mei shifted uncomfortably.

"You'll sleep in the guest room next door to us!" Al informed, taking her own luggage next door. "Winry's room is right across the hall from you and the bathroom is next to her room – you can't miss it, the door's always open when no ones inside," he assured when he noticed the nervous glint in her eyes.

"Mmhmm," she mumbled. Her eyes caught a picture frame hung on the wall and she neared it quietly, while Al dropped her bags beside the guest bed. "Was that you when you were a child, Alphonse-sama?"

"Huh?" Al came up beside her, looking at the frame she was gazing at. "Oh, yeah, that's me, Ed, and Winry and granny."

"You were so little," she giggled, then looked at a six year old Ed. "And he was so small!"

"Don't let him hear you say that, Mei," Alphonse warned playfully. "He'll pick a fight with you!"

"It does not really matter to me," Mei cheekily said, saying coyly: "You'll be there to protect me, will you not, Alphonse-sama?"

Al seemed to have grown up, unlike his embarrassment-prone older brother, as he allowed a smirk to tug his face. Winry grinned as she stood by the staircase and watched the two flirt none-too-subtly.

"So this is where the two love-birds have been!" Winry beamed at Al's scowl, so similar to his brothers yet holding a more softened edge. "How have you two been? It's been nearly a whole year since I last saw you, Al, and it's been much too long, Mei!" Winry strode forward, enveloping them into tight hugs and laughing when the heat on Al's face had yet to recede from her teasing.

"How have you been, Miss Winry?" Mei asked politely.

"Call me Winry, Mei, no need to be so stiff!" she grinned, adding slyly: "We're practically family!"

Mei took the comment lightly but Alphonse narrowed his eyes, sending Winry a look that spoke volumes of the revenge he would extract upon his older brothers arrival.

Winry just rolled her eyes at him, walking them back downstairs where the trio spoke of fond memories and laughed at others.

***

Theme 003: Memory

He allowed the fresh scents of the south soothe him. The wind tousled his hair, making his choppy bangs fly over his tan face as he hefted his heavy suitcase on his shoulder. He was greeted by many of the townspeople, waved at by some old childhood friends and drenched in the bright sunlight of Resembool as he made his way up that dirt path.

It was early, he guessed around seven in the morning as he had taken the dawn train from the Sans Rosa station that bordered on the edge of Aerugo, a country he had also taken a few days to explore in the beginning of his journey before heading off deeper west.

Being in the west had proved to be a magnificent choice. He had been more willing to go to the east but he figured his brother would have more luck there as he still had his own alchemy. The west's alchemy was more covert and secret, something he needed to dig up on his own as it was not as wide-spread nor used as in Amestris due to religious matters who qualified the art as witchcraft and trickery.

I can't wait to tell Al I'm a devil in their eyes, Ed mused, remembering he had been called a devil incarnate when he had explained his views on alchemy to a rather ignorant civilian during his first few days in the wild, wild west. He'll crack up.

The house sat atop the hill, unchanged and unmoving. There was nothing that could have tipped him off that the house had been tampered with or changed. It was as his memory told him it was and he was more than relieved to see that during his absence there had not been any major changes.

He hadn't really been in contact with his new family ever since he had left, two years ago. He rarely sent Al letters and he had only seen the Rockbell's once a year and a half ago, when he came back to Winry after being away for six months and hauling a half-working automail leg in the process.

Ed cringed at that memory.

Winry had been so furious with him and it had been partial reason he was hesitant to even think they were together or had some sort of thing going on.

The goodbye at the train station had been cold and tense as well, so he had left the countryside feeling emptier than how he had come.

A whole year and a half, huh? Edward thought, as he stood before the quiet house with a tugging sense of nostalgia in his chest. I wonder what I missed out on... He strode forward, walking up the porch steps and to the screen door; knocking a few times before poking his head in.

He could smell breakfast.

He could hear light chatter come from the kitchen.

He wondered why he felt so damn nervous as he entered and closed the door behind him quietly, setting his heavy suitcase down by the entrance and shaking his long brown trench coat from any dust as his dress shoes thumped against the rough wood of the floor loudly.

Fuckin' shoes, he glared at them. He preferred his boots when it came to stealth and the dress shoes when it came to comfort.

"I think I heard someone at the door," he heard Al say. "I'll go check! Maybe it's brother!"

Edward smirked when his brother came out of the kitchen, stopping still at the sight of his older brother. Alphonse gazed at his brother in shock, at the mature yet haughty aura that hovered over his strong build; unchanged and familiar.

"Brother!" Al greeted laughingly, rushing forward and grabbing him in a headlock, making Ed laugh with him as he grabbed his arm and twisted out of the lock, instead bringing his little brother into a squishing embrace that had Al wheezing for air and Ed crackling evilly.

"What have you been up to, Al?" Ed grinned, looking up just in time to see Mei come out of the kitchen with a ladle in her hand. His grin transformed into a frown. "What's the bean-sprout girl doing here?"

"She came with me!" Al coughed, finally freed from his brothers crushing hug. "I decided to take her along since, well, she'd be really bored all by herself in Xing and, er—!"

"Oh, I get it," Ed interrupted, with a cunning grin: "You like her."

"NO I DON'T!" Al shouted, much too loud and face too red.

Edward grinned, slyly adding: "Oh? So what, you brought her along as your personal cook? Gee, Mei, never knew you'd lower you standards so much—OUCH! WHAT THE HELL?" Edward grabbed his head against the dizzying spell as the spoon clattered on the floor.

"Edward! Stop being so mean to Mei!" Winry's voice barked from beside the girl. "Apologize to her right now!"

"Why should I?" he mumbled, dodging another projectile thrown by the annoyed blonde. "Alright! Fine! Sorry! Geez, I was just joking..." Ed groused. "I see you still can't take my jokes," he looked up, momentarily stunned by her appearance.

She seemed to have matured more during his absence as well, to his pleasant surprise. She still had the childish innocence in her big blue eyes but there was also an air of modest superiority in her every movement. Her hair was still long, tied into a lazy ponytail, and the pink apron made the arrival back home feel more...awkward.

He didn't know why but he liked seeing her in an apron – a domestic attribute she had adopted a while back...

"You are in so much trouble!" she snapped, eyes flashing. "We haven't heard a peep from you for nearly two years! Two years, Edward!"

"Not two years, you liar! A year and a half!" Upon her murderous look, he haistly took it back: "Okay! I know! I know! I should've written or something but it's damn expensive to send letters all the way down here and I never got time anyway... I was too busy with other stuff," he grumbled.

Winry narrowed her eyes. He could tell she was restraining herself because of Mei's presence. In that instant, he was glad for the younger Xingese girl as he had been saved from Winry's full wrath as his brother bombard him with questions and Winry huffed and stormed back into the kitchen; leaving Ed with a whirlwind of thoughts that revolved around:

"Kiss her when you see her!"

So much for that.

He wanted to live, thank you very much.

****

Theme 004: Love

He admitted he wasn't the most romantic bud in the bouquet but could anyone really blame him? All his life he had been surrounded by innumerable amounts of danger and all his life he had been plagued with insecurities and tragedies and angst he really did not want to experience again if he could help it.

He laid on his back on the couch, feet hanging off the edge and making his pride swell a bit. He remembered when he fit snugly into the couch and even left enough space for another person to sit, usually Winry.

That brought him back to the current dilemma: the woman was giving him the cold shoulder and it had been two days already and he was getting sick and tired of seeing her irritated mood ruin his own.

A book laid flat over his face and he pretended to sleep when he heard Al and Mei cross the living room; talking about going to the store to buy a few things Winry needed to prepare lunch. Once the door closed, he allowed a sigh to escape him.

He didn't know what to do.

He was at a loss.

He kind of wished that guy at the tavern was around the corner so he could help him out with this, lame as it might sound, girl problem. He had a feeling that if he tried his first option, which was going right up to her and demanding what the hell had her so damn pissy, it'd only earn him a few violent smacks across the face and perhaps a deck in the stomach or two.

He could try to talk it out as his brother had often said: civilly. But that was a two-way deal and Winry was fond of resolving her issues with a casual swing of her precious wrench – just like he had no problem knocking your lights out if it shut you up for a few minutes.

But with Winry that option had to be thrown out the window. He had to figure out another way to solve his current issue...

"Just dive right in!"

Dive right in, huh?

"Go for it!"

Go for it, huh?

He wished for his blistering red coat in that moment. The color red always had a sort of pump-up effect on him. It got him all fired up; ready for all or nothing and brought out a confidence he usual exuded in excess but did not really have most of the time.

But he had lost his red coat somewhere and he didn't have his alchemy anymore so he couldn't make another one. He did not want to ask Alphonse to make it for him, as creating the original coat was something personal to him, so without it he supposed he'd just need to find another thing that brought up those energized emotions.

He heard dishes clanking in the kitchen, roughly, angerly, and he sighed.

Screw it.

He tossed the book to the side, intent on solving this issue before it escalated into anything bigger. He would know: he had let their fights sometimes reach epic proportions and he would tell you that trying to fix those problems caused more harm than good – especially when it came down to his skull and other bodily parts.

"Go for it!"

What else did he have to lose but a couple of excess neurons?

"Just dive right in!"

He stood by the kitchen threshold, Winry's bustling filling the vast silence of the house, and felt his confident plummet to the floor the instant he caught sight of her brash, jerky moves; a sign of her anger.

Oh, crap, what was I thinking? he thought in horror, about to pivot on his heel and just dart right out of her sight when the girl caught him standing by the archway and asked, rather irked: "Did you want something?"

Think of something! Now! "Uh, yeah, just a cup of water." He stiffly walked to the cabinet and grabbed a cup from the upper shelve, pouring some water into it from the faucet. He would swear he felt Winry's eyes burn into his back overpoweringly as he gulped down the water and served himself another glass nervously.

Okay, do it now, he thought, taking a slow breath to steady his heart. The most she could do to him was hit him on the head right? And he'd had a lot of those and recovered well enough... "Winry, I—!"

"Let me guess," Winry began bitingly, as she stored the lettuce back into the fridge. "You're really, really sorry that you couldn't write because you were just too busy to bother with a letter or too tired to even try?" she finished flatly, shutting the fridge door and leaning against it knowingly.

Ed frowned. "That wasn't what I was going to say," he replied, annoyed.

"Oh, really? Then what were you going to say, I'd love to hear it!" she taunted.

"When'd you get so snippy?" Ed scowled, not liking her smart attitude. "I don't remember you being such a—wait, nevermind," he smirked at her thinned lips.

"You better watch your mouth, Ed, or you'll get it," she warned, tone dark, somehow rousing something rather daring inside of him.

"Or I'll get what?" he risked, crossing his arms with a cocky smirk. This was what he meant about the confidence he so-often exuded but did not have – he certainly felt as if he were letting the blade sink into his stomach and it frankly terrified him. "A wrench stuck in my skull? That ain't anything new," he shrugged, hiding his nervous swallow by cracking his knuckles. "I'll just sleep it off like I always do."

"How about a spoon then?" she growled. "Or a fork? Or a goddamn spatula!" She rose the utensil, making whatever confident buzz he had been on crash and burn.

"...That-that looks like it'll hurt a lot," he gulped, eying the spatula apprehensively. His crossed arms dropped and he sighed, scratching his right arm; a nervous habit he had acquired ever since he restored his the limb. "Look, can we just—fix this?"

"Fix what?"

"Don't play dumb, Winry," he said, annoyed. "I know you've been ignoring me."

"Well, it shouldn't make much of a difference since apparently I'm not important enough to even send one goddamn letter to just to know if you were alive or not!" she exploded, slamming the spatula on the counter and making several pans jump.

Ed felt his jaw slack.

So that had been what was bothering her? It wasn't because he had totally dissed a princess whom happened to have a crush on his little brother?

Oh, don't I feel stupid, he groaned inwardly, rolling his eyes upward as the reason for her anger seemed so obvious now. "Winry, you know that's not true!"

"Really? Well, you're not showing it very well, are you?" she sneered, sapphire eyes boiling with rage. Then they lapsed into a vulnerable glaze. "When you came back to me with that trashed automail I was really worried about what you were getting yourself into," she confessed, concern creasing her brows. "How do you think it makes me feel when you go nearly two years without a single word? Not even to your own brother?" she shouted, feeling tears brim her eyes. "I thought something horrible had happened to you...I was so worried...you don't know how worried I was..."

Whatever anger he had previously felt drained away at the sight of her watering blue eyes and shaking shoulders. He had forgotten what other way she could hurt him: her tears. He hated it when she cried and he felt horrible for putting her under such stress when he could've sent a simple letter every few months just to keep her alerted that he was still alive and kicking.

She blinked and a few tears flaked down her cheeks.

His stomach twisted.

"Don't cry," he sighed, stepping closer to her. "Okay, so maybe it was all my fault but you seriously shouldn't worry so much." He hesitantly wiped the droplets away from her cheek with his hand. "Some retarded criminal isn't going to make me bite the dust, even if I don't have alchemy to back me up this time around." His hand trembled on her cheek. He could feel tension wind his body, make him break out in cold sweat. "So don't cry just because I was a jackass...You don't deserve it."

She wiped her eyes out and looked back up at him. He could see the forgiveness in her eyes and that made the load on his chest fall off. Just looking down at her, into the warm pools of blue, made his heartbeat pick up and made another emotion begin to simmer in his chest.

The same fear was back and pressing; pressuring him into doing something he now felt ready for, the longer he gazed into her pretty blue eyes. His hand was still on her cheek, he was close enough to lean down. It would take no time at all to close the distance between them—!

"I guess you're right," she giggled, giving him a quick hug that made him as stiff as a board. "You're too stupid to die right!" She let go, laughing; feeling happier than before.

The moment was shattered and he solely blamed himself for over-thinking it so damn much.

Edward felt his anger spike, annoyed she had ruined the mind-blowing kiss he had been about to deliver, and nastily said: "Oh, so you want me to go ahead and kick the bucket? Thanks for your concern but it's not welcomed!"

"You can't, you're too dumb, remember?" she smugly shot back.

"Ngh!" Ed threw his hands up in the air. "You're impossible! You start cryin' 'cause you thought I went out and got myself killed and now you're saying I can't even die right? I'll never understand women!"

Winry just resumed her task, this time with a cheerful made-up tune and content smile as Edward grumbled back to the couch.

***

Theme 005: Insanity

"Brother! Watch out for the—!"

"Wh-whoa!"

"BROTHER!"

"W—I'm okay!"

Alphonse watched his brother teeter precariously on the edge of the roof, a hammer and nails in his hand. Pinako had asked them both to fix the shingles on the rooftop as rainy season would drop by sooner than either would like and it would be an even bigger pain to fix the roof with rain pouring down their backs.

However, Edward had stubbornly insisted that he should fix the roof since he needed to learn how to fix things the old fashioned way, anyway.

"I'm out of practice," he'd stated. "I might as well brush up on my hammering skills or else I'll never be able to hold my own against Winry!"

But now Alphonse was starting to feel this was a bad idea, the more his brother wobbled on the edge of the roof. His hands were already up and ready, mind working at full-capacity in case his brother fell. He nervously waited for anything, any sign, that would tip him off that his brother would fall off the roof but none came.

"Alphonse-sama!" Mei chirped, walking out of the backdoor with a glass of fresh lemon aid in her hand. "I made you a refreshment! It's so hot out here!" She fanned herself and he noticed she had unbuttoned her usually primly kept oriental shirt at her neck to allow some air-flow down her shirt.

Mei had grown, in a quite short time as well.

It turned out she was only two years younger than him.

While he was now twenty she was only eighteen and boy did she grow into a woman in the two years spent at Resembool before their leave to the east and west respectively. When he had arrived in Xing, after gazing at the rich cultural activity for a few hours, he had been shocked to see such a beautiful, older, Mei Chang than the cute little girl he had last seen.

He remembered not being able to speak properly, his tongue strangely tied, and his eyes straying to the subtle curves her heavy robes allowed teasing glimpses of. He remembered writing to Ed in that time, saying Mei had sure grown and she was no longer the 'bean-sprout girl' he so-frequently liked to call her.

'...she'll always be the bean-sprout girl to me!' he had written back before his letters had stopped altogether and he didn't see his brother until now, in their return to the town they grew up in; the house that would always be home to them.

"Thank you, Mei!" he beamed back, taking the glass from her.

"Has Edward-kun finished fixing the roof? Winry-chan wishes to speak to him about something," Mei informed, looking up at the older brother who calmly fixed the roof by himself; not hitting his thumb with the hammer once, which he was secretly smug about.

"He's almost done," Al assured. "Are you almost done, brother?" he shouted, for extra measure.

"Hold up! This takes time, you know!" Ed snapped back.

"Yeah, he's almost done," Al laughed, causing Mei to smile back brightly. This was another thing he had grown fond of: her smile. It was always so vibrant and bright – a smile so blinding he sometimes saw blotches in his vision, however dramatic that may sound.

"Neh, Alphonse-sama, I believe Edward-kun and Winry-chan have finally reconciled," Mei commented, allowing Al's attention to drift to the pretty Xingese girl beside him.

"Yeah, I bet Ed finally mustered up enough guts to talk to her. Honestly, he can be so dense sometimes. I can only imagine how it'll be once they're together," he sighed heavily. "It'll be like they're married...and just think how that'll pan out once it happens."

"Together?" Mei blinked. "What makes you think that?"

"Don't tell me you can't see it," Al chuckled, leaning down so his words wouldn't be heard by unwanted ears – like Winry, who'd no faster upper cut him than she would yell. "Anyone who knows them is just waiting for one or the other to make a move!"

"Hey, Al, I'm done!" Ed grinned down at his brother, scowling when he noticed he was too captivated by Mei to pay attention to him. He stepped back a few, finding that being steady on a slope was hard when you had an automail leg.

"Really?" Mei replied, hushed. She leaned up closer, lips curving into a smile. "I thought it was just me..."

"Nope," Alphonse grinned, leaning down even closer. "Everyone knows."

"How the fuck am I gonna' get off here..." came Edward's distant voice. "Can I—whoa—uh—crap!"

"Then I can't wait until they do become one!" she laughed joyously, too close to his face, making Al dreamily think she had a wonderful laugh...

"ALPHONSE!"

"AH! BROTHER—!"

CRASH

"EDWARD-KUN!"

Edward cracked one eye open, eyes flashing to the bulging bone that rose abnormally from his arm. He hadn't hit his thumb with the hammer – he instead fell off the roof and broke his damn arm.

Great.

He didn't feel pain—now he felt pain. "...I think I broke my arm," he stated bluntly, a little entranced by the splintered bone. It would look cool if it didn't hurt so much.

"What's all the racket—EDWARD!" Winry shrieked in panic, face draining white when she saw the object of her affection laying uncomfortably on the ground, rolling on his back and holding a disjointed arm in his left hand; eyes tightly screwed shut as the sharp pain from his broken arm registered in his addled brain.

The trio crowded around him, calamity ensuing as they all became very aware of how close Edward had come to gravely hurting himself or worse - although his broken arm could count as a grave injury. Winry barked orders out to Al, who was looking too anxious for his own good at his brothers broken limb, and Mei had her hands over her mouth; eyes wide in fear at the gruesome sight of Edward's broken arm.

Edward scowled heavily, annoyed by the cacophony of voices all asking if he was okay. If he was okay, he'd have dusted it off and rushed inside already! "EVERONE SHUT UP!" he screamed.

Winry stopped fussing.

Mei blinked.

Alphonse stopped apologizing.

"Al, you went to Xing to – ngh – study Alkahestry, right?" Ed forced out, the terrible stabbing in his arm nearly as bad as automail installation. But this was worse, three times worse, as he shifted just a inch and he felt the splintered bone rub against chipped bone under his skin. "So unless you spent it fooling around and not learning anything... fix me, you moron!" he snapped.

"R-right!" Alphonse stammered, kneeling before his brother and grabbing his arm gently. "I...um...you have to extend it."

"Then do it!" Ed barked.

"But—brother, it'll hurt a lot—!"

"Do it!" he growled. "It'll hurt either way so just do it, Al! Gah, you guys are all so damn useless; I'll do it myself!"

"E-Ed," Winry whimpered, eyes drowned in anxiety. She helped him sit up, allowing him to rest against her. She watched him, with a sort of admiration, grab his arm and promptly stretch it out, his head tossing back and his eyes screwing shut against the terrible wave of anguish his broken arm shot up into his stomach; nearly making him heave out his breakfast.

"O...kay..." he wheezed, swallowing hard. "That was harder...than I thought...it'd be..."

Alphonse crossed his hands, placing them over his brothers arm and concentrating. It wasn't long before an Alkahestry array appeared in a flash of bright blue and Edward felt the bone begin to mend itself. It seemed as if the bone-mending process hurt more than the break itself, though, as he resisted a cry of pain as the bone cracked back into place; his brother no doubt using the excess bone marrow in order to properly reattach it.

"Done!" Al alerted, a few minutes later.

Edward didn't know he had leaned so heavily into Winry's chest until he noticed his head was resting on her shoulder and she most likely saw the pain flash on his face during those few excruciating minutes. He avoided her worried gaze and flexed his right arm, cracking his fingers and finding no pain whatsoever.

"Huh," Ed murmured, clenching his hand. Nice and new. "Not bad, little bro."

Alphonse looked immensely relieved. "Thank goodness you're alright! Edward, why didn't you wait until I helped you down?" he snapped, as his relief drained into anger. "This would have never happened if you had been patient!"

"Tch," Ed scoffed. He helped himself back on his feet, dusting himself off and lending Winry a hand. "'Cause I'm starving, that's why! Hey, Win, is lunch ready?"

"Y-yes—!"

"Sweet!" Edward bounced into the kitchen like an excited pup, already having forgotten the intense pain of breaking a bone so callously.

Winry and Al stood in stunned awe at Edward's resiliency.

"Well," Mei interrupted, wondrous. "That was... rather strange."

"You're telling me," Alphonse muttered with a shake of his head, smiling as he followed his brother inside; Winry and Mei in tow.

***

Theme 006: Breathe Again

She always knew that loving him would be hard.

He wasn't an easy person to love as it was with his reclusive attitude and aloof way of handling the most emotionally charged of situations. He often panicked, unsure of what to do, and exploded in a raving rage because of the insecurity of not knowing what to do. Or worse – he simply walked away and ignored it altogether.

It sometimes amazed her how much time she spent analyzing his every move to be able to figure him out as well as she did. It took a lot of time and a lot of mulling over certain actions of his but once she knew how he thought, things became much easier.

She didn't blow many things out of proportion and she didn't hit him on the head with her wrench too much – although she would admit there were just times when his 'Holier-than-Thou' attitude became too much handle and he needed a little ego-depressing.

She had been so terribly worried when he stopped contacting them for such a long time. She knew Edward would have no problem going two to three years without contact and then dropping by unexpectedly, no doubt anticipating everything to be unchanged and just as he had left it.

Sometimes his conceit and arrogance got on her nerves but she supposed that was what allured her so much to him – that spark of defiance, that glimmer of mischief, that grin of confidence. It was somewhat of a turn on, she would admit to only herself, whenever things went his way and he allowed that haughty smirk to crawl on his handsome face.

She placed the washed dish on the rack and looked over her should quietly. It was silent in the house, as Mei and Al had been going out far more frequently than Edward would like – if his snooty comments about the Xingese girl stealing Al away from him said anything...

Another thing she had been hesitate about was asking just how long he would stay. It was a common fear she'd grown used to experiencing when it came down to Edward: when would he embark in another wild-ride adventure?

It was only a matter of time.

He was like a ticking time-bomb.

She was just waiting for him to go off and disappear for another few years, leaving her in the countryside – furious and sorrowful and, most of all, waiting.

I checked his automail yesterday, she thought, curiously. But he didn't say anything about leaving and he did say he'd stay a while... After the incident with Edward's broken arm, which he now waved off as unimportant, she had done a complete check up on him just in case; she had been so scared when she had seen him on the ground, groaning, with bone popping out awkwardly in his right limb.

She had been frightened enough to conduct a full check up to assure her – and him, why not? – that he was as healthy as a horse and he would continue to be by her side – however brief those moments were.

She exhaled a weary sigh. She honestly didn't know how to bring that subject up. She guessed bluntly asking would suffice but then that would end in both of them pissed off at each other...

Okay, you have to plan this out well, Winry, she told herself firmly, wiping her hands across her apron. Just...drag him into conversation! Yeah! You do it all the time so it's nothing weird, right? She smiled suddenly, the plan seeming better and better with every ticking second. She walked into the living room, bent on asking if he had seen her wrench (which would surely begin a conversation she could easily steer into her desired topic) only to stop short.

He was lying on the couch again, stretched out like a lazy cat, a book tossed over his face and a hand limp off the edge of the couch. She watched him for a few moments, observing the quiet rise and fall of his chest and the calm atmosphere he produced from simply lying there; asleep.

There was none of the haughtiness; the arrogance and sheer cockiness that often made the most patient people want to pull their hair out of their roots before they even spoke to him. It was just a trait Edward carried – being able to annoy you with a simple sly glance of his cunning gold eyes. Or at least it was to her, as she stepped forward and picked up a few stray books leftover around him.

She piled them up nicely and felt his hand brush her thigh.

She jumped, snapping her head down and sighing in relief when she saw the limp hand. Perhaps she had just brushed up against it. She was wearing loose pants but his fingers had come close to touching her bottom, something which made heat rise to her face at the sheer thought of it.

She shook herself of those thoughts and continued to pile the books, bending down to reach for a book she had seen peeking from under the thick oak coffee table. There was another brush, this time actually managing to touch her butt and she snapped straight up.

He better be asleep. She nervously looked at his hand, limp as before, and then eyed Edward, who's chest rose and fell rhythmically. There seemed nothing wrong with him...he seemed to be asleep. Perhaps she was just moving around too much...

She nodded and moved away from his hand, continuing to pile up the books in orderly piles and flipping through some that caught her interest. After that, she glanced back at his hand, knowing the elbow joint would hurt once he woke up.

She grabbed his hand and bent it inward, letting it rest on his chest.

She would have let go and gone about her daily routine had it not been for his sudden squeeze of her hand. She momentarily froze, embarrassment flooding through her at the thought of him actually being awake when she rubbed her butt against his hand?

However, his groggy: "What'd'ya want, Win?" alerted her that he hadn't been awake.

That was close, she inwardly sighed in relief. The idea of Ed touching her like that left her too bothered to function properly for a while.

"Go back to sleep," she said simply, tugging her hand out of his grasp. "I was just adjusting your arm – you'll have a bad kink in it if you sleep like that for too long." She tried to pull her hand out but he refused to budge. "Ed?"

His other hand plucked the book off his face, revealing drowsy gold-yellow eyes and a rare type of weakness in the form of a small smile and softened features – nothing like the usual bored or annoyed expression she'd grown used to seeing everyday.

"Aren't you sleepy?" he mumbled. "How can you not get sleepy...it's so boring here..."

She rolled her eyes. "If you're so bored then go find something to do like the rest of us!"

"What're you doing right now, anyway?"

"I have to clean my room," she shrugged, conscious at the fact that his hand was like a brand against her skin the longer he held it. "I've got nothing better to do and I've been meaning to do it for a while now..."

There was something in his eyes. A deliberation of sorts she was apprehensive at deciphering. Usually when Edward deliberated something, he deliberated it with an accuracy that sometimes frightened her. She did not want to know what he was mulling over but it turned out she didn't need to as his other hand grabbed her shoulder and he yanked her on top of him.

If she could get redder than she'd gotten there, she'd probably tell you she was capable of turning redder. "E-Edward!" she squeaked, too aware of his nose in her neck and the way he inhaled her scent deeply. "What the hell are you doing!" she growled, annoyance further fueled by the heat on her face; the harsh hammering of her heart in her ears. "Ed!"

"Just shut up," he murmured, his hand dragging across her back and forcing her to lean down lower, to rest her upper body on his chest as her lower half stuck out awkwardly; making her pray that no one would step in through the door and ruin the rather embarrassing but exciting moment. "And go to sleep!" he ended drowsily, his hand stopping on her lower back; going no farther.

Her breath hitched when his left arm wrapped around her neck, bringing her in closer to him. She didn't know who the hell this Edward was, being so bold all of a sudden, but in that instant all of the securities she had placed shattered. Suddenly, the predictability she had comforted herself blew up in smoke and suddenly she became aware that she honestly did not know Ed as much as had thought she did.

Because the awkward boy of sixteen bordering on seventeen would never even dare bringing her in so close, openly breathing her in and sighing in content with his arm wrapped around her neck loosely. That easily angered teenager wouldn't even think about such things as that easily angered teenager was much too busy with his own things to consider girly thoughts like holding her or hugging her or – or kissing her or anything of the sort!

Her hand clutched the rough fabric of the couch, her knees growing weak. She eventually fell on them, slumping forward and resting her cheek against his shoulder. She didn't dare look at him – not confident enough to see what type of expression he wore when she knew her own was beet red and nervous – but if she had looked, she would have seen that Edward's eyes were tight and wide; his own cheeks a pleasant shade of red as he breathed easy at Step One finally accomplished.

***

Theme 007: Family

"So, pipsqueak, what's the big deal?" Pinako asked, as she cut into the juicy steak her granddaughter had prepared for her. Edward was gobbling up his own dinner rapidly, wanting to get back to his book as soon as possible.

"Big deal on wha', hag?" he asked through a mouth full, causing Al to wrinkle his nose.

"Ew! Ed, that's disgusting! Don't talk with your mouth full!"

Ed glared briefly, swallowing the food and drinking some juice when he felt a little choked up. "Big deal on what?" he repeated.

Winry came back and handed Mei her own plate of food, which she thanked for politely.

"We know Al and Mei are going to stay for around three months?" she glanced at Al for confirmation, who nodded in return. "But you just dropped by after sending an unexpected letter to Alphonse...so are you going to leave in a few days or stay? We gotta' make sure to clear out the bottom room if you're gonna' stay since we use your room as a patient room," she explained, making sure he knew she wasn't asking because her granddaughter had a coward moment and couldn't ask herself but because she would be conducting a minor surgery in a few days and she needed to make sure the patient had a room to rest in.

Edward slowed his eating, aware that the sudden ruckus in the kitchen had gone silent. "I'm staying for a while," he shrugged. "Maybe a year or so. Dunno' yet." He shoveled another spoonful of food into his mouth to refrain from answering Al's immediate question of:

"But why?"

He swallowed, not meeting his eyes. "Because."

Al frowned. "Because of what?"

"Because I got tired," he shrugged, knowing his brother didn't believe him at all by the way he was looking at him with that press of his lips and the slight narrow of his eyes. However, Mei and Pinako seemed to be a little convinced by his statement. He decided to keep going. "I'm running around back and forth out in the west and it's a huge pain to have to follow leads in order to prove one theory or disprove another," he sighed, telling the truth this time. "It's a pain in the ass and I'm don't like mystery even though Al and I spent our whole damn childhood chasing after the Philosopher's Stone! And then got sucked into a damn conspiracy plot!" he added as an afterthought, grumbling into his drink as he chugged the remaining juice down.

Another cup was handed to him and he drank that one down, too, giving Winry a thumbs up as he did.

"So you're staying then?" Winry asked, a little hopeful.

He looked at her over the rim of his cup. His face felt hot again and he quickly flashed his eyes to something else – like the vase of flowers sitting in the middle of the dining table to offer some decoration. "Yeah, I'm staying," he mumbled into the glass, unable to keep a smile off his face when he caught a glimpse of her joyous beam.

It all clicked to Alphonse in that moment.

"Hey, brother, you want to know something neat?" Al suddenly spoke up, tone edging on mischievous as Winry paused by the threshold and snapped her head to him; eyes narrowed in warning.

"What is it?" Ed asked, curious at the sudden tension between his brother and Winry. If it included Winry, he wanted to know.

Now.

"Well..." Al snickered at the look of death on Winry's face. "Ah, sorry, brother, but Winry's giving me such a mean look! I don't think I'd be able to take it if I told you and then got my head cracked open by her hand!" Al dramatically sighed, only widening his smirk at his brothers impatient grunt.

He frowned, looking between them suspiciously. Just what, exactly, had he missed? "Just tell me, Al."

"Nope."

"Al..."

"Winry'll get mad!"

"Forget about her – what is it?"

"Hey! I'm right here you know!"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Then get in there!" he pointed to the kitchen dismissively, "and then you won't be here."

She set her hands on her hips and glared. "Edward!"

"Alphonse?" he raised a brow, leaning in as his brother grinned covertly and also leaned in to tell him just what he found so 'neat' – which was really nothing as he simply wanted a little payback for Winry's teasing a few days back.

He still hadn't forgotten the love-birds comment...

Winry felt panic well in her stomach at the younger siblings cunning grin. She had absolutely no clue what the younger Elric was planning but she felt her gut wrench at the thought of him releasing classified data no one – much less Ed – was suppose to know!

Like how she sometimes inhaled his shirts when she cleaned up his room.

Or how she kept a picture of him on her dresser, framed next to a picture of Alphonse and Paninya to dissuade suspicion.

Or how she sometimes awoke at night in a sweaty fever although she was pretty sure even Al wouldn't be able to figure that one out...

"Al," she began warningly, "I've got some dirt on you, too, that I wouldn't mind telling Mei here." She was pleased by the look of horror on his face. She smiled, skipping to a puzzled Mei and resting two hands firmly on her shoulders from behind. "Wouldn't you just love to hear a couple of nice baby stories from Al, Mei?"

Mei's eyes lit up like fireworks. "Alphonse-sama when he was a baby?" she asked, eagerly.

"Yup. Chubby, cute, and such a hand-full," she smirked at the younger Elric's pale face.

"Okay! Okay! I won't tell him!" Alphonse pleaded, hand outstretched to stop her from spilling out things from his childhood – from when he knew he was seriously a goody-two-shoe and frightened of everything bad unlike Ed or Winry. "I was just playing around, Winry, no need to get so pushy..."

Winry patted Mei on her shoulder. "When he's ready he'll tell you," Winry sincerely told her, satisfied by her win as she walked back into the kitchen with a smug stretch of her hands over her head.

Ed, meanwhile, only scowled heavier.

"What the hell were you gonna' tell me?" Ed demanded, up to his head with the whole none-too-subtle mystery crap they were pulling on him. Didn't he just say he detested mystery?

"Sorry, brother, maybe she'll tell you when she's ready."

"AL! That's not funny!"

"It wasn't meant to be funny..." the boy mumbled back, earning a growl of impatience from Ed.

Pinako puffed out rings of smoke, fondly saying: "Ah, it's great to have the family back together," while Edward tried to shake the answers out of Alphonse and Al just calmly tried to continue eating with his brother breathing down his neck.

***

Theme 008: Danger Ahead

He was heading into uncharted territory.

He knew he was diving into something he had absolutely no clue about when he had brought her into his arms that fateful afternoon when no one was home. It didn't make matters any better when his brother had laughingly told him he was such a wuss when it came to trying to talk to the girl he liked.

"Shuddup, you become a condensing puddle of liquid whenever you try to talk to the bean-sprout girl so I wouldn't be talking if I were you!" he had shot back, effectively making the younger brother huff away.

But Al had a point, damn it.

He lost his macho bravado whenever it came down his childhood friend, Winry Rockbell. He didn't know why, either, which further pissed him off whenever he tried to think about. His hands became uncoordinated and his brain chose those very moments to say untactful things. His heart beat would skyrocket and his skin would feel hot and sweaty.

It was annoying.

He wanted it to go away.

And he knew the only way he'd be comfortable in his skin around her is if he followed that bartender's advice and just...went for it.

But it wasn't that easy, he had been proven so one early morning a few days after his arrival.

"What are you doing down here so early, Ed?" Winry yawned, duvet tossed over her shoulders while she drug herself to the counter, grabbing the pot of coffee Ed had made previously. Edward stared at her, the mess of blond hair and drowsy blue eyes that made her look like before; when she was five, when everything was a field of tossed flowers and going outside to play was the primary objective in their lives...

"Starting the new day, what do you think?" he retorted, sipping his hot mug of coffee. "You?"

"I've got another appointment in an hour," she yawned again, contently. "I have to get ready soon or else Drake will be mad."

"...Drake?" he felt his mouth curve downward in distaste.

"Yeah," Winry replied, adding some milk and sugar to her cup; not noticing the irked look on his face. "You remember him, don't you? His father used to be a farmer when we were kids. Well, he took up the family job and his hand got caught in a tractor a while back."

"Drake? You mean Drake Roberts?" Edward was shocked. He had been in an accident that robbed him of his hand?

"Yep," Winry confirmed. "He needs a replacement soon...but we were friends long before the accident! Sometimes he came over to keep me company!"

"I didn't know you still spoke to him," he grumbled, unable to help that flare of annoyance at the thought of another guy talking to Winry. Or at the thought of another guy coming over to keep her company...

"He's not so bad," she smiled. "A little on the weird side but he's okay."

"Weird?" Ed scowled, eyes narrowed.

"Well, yeah," she giggled. He didn't like that – why was she giggling? He didn't like that at all. "He has this strange way of showing his affection to his daughter! He lets her run around free a lot too..."

"D-daughter?" Ed spluttered, suddenly feeling very stupid for even being threatened by him. "He's married?"

"Married a long time ago, when he was sixteen," she revealed. Ed rose his brows, dropping his gaze contemplatively. "Most of our old friends are already married and with kids, Ed, it's just the way its always been here in Resembool."

"All except us," he humored, eyes rounding at his words. He snapped his head to Winry, panic draining into concern when he noticed the drawn in and rather subdued blue eyes that gazed into the beige of her coffee.

"Yeah...all except us," she murmured, lost in thought. "Um, I better go change!" she suddenly said, avoiding his concerned gaze. "If someone knocks, it's probably Drake so let him in if I'm not back in time! And, Ed, please be nice – I'll know if you were being a jerk!" her distant voice warned, footfalls climbing up the stairs and disappearing on the second floor.

Edward, meanwhile, flashed his eyes to his own black coffee.

That was...weird, he thought. Everyone's married? He was twenty two and he wasn't even thinking about marriage. In fact, he was just trying to get something out of he and Winry's shaky friendship and it edged more to simple, naughty, fun than the everlasting commitment of marriage.

We're both twenty two, he thought back to the train station two years ago, the stammering confessions from both of them; the promise to give one another a portion of their life.

That was...technically a proposal, right? He had been just meaning to tell her to wait for him a little longer because, well, he obviously liked her but now...what? What was he going to do? He had a gut feeling he knew why she had looked so sad and it had nothing to do with the fact that Drake had lost his hand in a farming accident.

Marriage.

The word looked more intimidating than it should have.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Villka

Theme 009: Young Lord

His definite return was the first of many opportunities to learn about each other.

Winry was mistaken when she believed she knew everything there was to know about Edward Elric: she had only scratched the surface of the elusive former-alchemist. A few things that were obvious to strangers was the way Ed acted: like he owned the place and he needed to be bowed to and respected, even if he called you a shit-faced lunatic with the IQ of a bird.

It was his 'Holier Than Thou' complex that everyone knew about but made no effort to beat it down.

She always set him right with one flash of her tool-of-choice.

Another thing would be his intelligence. It radiated off of him like snow during a blizzard and it was terribly difficult not to stand up and punch his lights out when he began his 'I'm-right-you're-wrong-and-this-is-why' speech which always ended with a smug smirk of satisfaction. Even though, by then, you were probably aware, given his strong build, he'd dodge the sock and retaliate with a fancy kick of his own that'd leave you aching and sore for a few days.

But those were only the many facades Edward Elric often preferred to push forward.

There were other facets to him she'd never even believed he had.

Like how he took care of the minor things without attracting any attention, for once – placing her tools back in the toolbox, pouring her a cup of water when she was parched and tired, opening the door for her when needed, or making her laugh whenever she looked gloomy or annoyed.

Or how he was a package of insecurity and anxiety when things didn't go as planned or that he was brow-raising vain about his thick locks of golden hair and admittedly good facial structure – proven when she caught him striking poses in the mirror one morning.

She pretended she never saw that although she spent the entire morning smirking like a thief as he ate his breakfast, weirded out by her smug mood but making nothing of it.

She also never knew Edward to have a single romantic bone in his not-so-scrawny, not-so-short-anymore, body.

She was proven wrong when she was carrying a box of heavy scrap metal from the workshop to the furnace and she tripped over the threshold of the front door, nearly barging down the porch steps had it not been for his quick reflexes, which caught the back of her tube top and sling shot her into his chest, a hand lashing out to grab the unsteady box filled to the brim with iron.

Her face had flushed red at the contact but he didn't seem to notice, instead smiling out "Watch your step – I can't be there to save your butt every time you know" and adding, pleasantly "But I'll try to for as long as I can."

He probably meant those words seriously and didn't think much of them but the words made her heart melt. He might be awful with words but when it came down to it he was actually a master at expressing what he wanted people to know – be it by words or actions, which she preferred the most even though the first of his many 'actions' had taken her by surprise in the most delightful ways possible.

***

Theme 010: Some Luck

He would swear he totally forgot and it wasn't his fault.

No mater how insulting or eye-rolling it sounded, he swore he had completely forgotten Winry was a girl for a split second.

It wasn't that she lacked feminine attributes – far from it, she had too many – but that still didn't mean some things slipped his mind when he was immersed in a biographical overview of the most prominent alchemical geniuses from the seventeen hundreds.

He would blame Al.

He had been the one who had bought the book and handed it to him after he had read it himself. Alphonse knew how focused and dazed he became when he read a book, especially one as interesting as that one, and he should have known better than to give it to him just as Winry had stepped into the shower to commence her daily bath.

He had read over a few parts and decided it would be best to highlight a few things for further investigation so he had stood up, nose still in book, and walked up the stairs without any trouble. The first thing that should have tipped him off to turn around while he had the chance was the creak of faucets turning and the rustle of clothing as he reached upstairs and paused for a moment, reading a paragraph before continuing to his room.

He had gotten out some highlighters and a bookmark from his drawer, stumbling back out into the hall with his eyes racing across the pages. But he had dropped a highlighter in his daze, causing him to briefly detach his eyes from the black text below and to the floor, where the highlighter rolled underneath some furniture.

He'd scowled, kneeling to retrieve the fallen highlighter and continue his life when the door clicked open. He looked up, expecting to see Winry wielding some death-trap of a tool, and instead got something much better.

She had been grabbing her lush locks of sunny blonde hair in one hand, holding the towel to her curvacious body with the other. She looked tired, from the faint hints of bags under her eyes, but relaxed and at ease. He was still on all fours on the ground, staring at her as she let her hair fall down her back.

Now, it wasn't that he wasn't used to seeing Winry in a towel. Despite common thought, it was normal for them to see each other in towels briefly. He had grown up with her and she him so it wasn't anything new nor anything that really caught his interest unless he was looking for some stimulation and he stared at her legs or something.

But this time had been different.

When she had let go of her hair, some of the tresses had stuck to her face and she had frowned in annoyance; trying push the matted hair off her face. In those moments, the towel had hinged to the side, exposing...herself to him.

He never felt more embarrassed or lucky than in those brief seconds he stared at the wonderful body of Winry Rockbell.

She'd covered herself up quickly, of course, but it was too late; he was Edward Elric, boy genius who could memorize a whole page of information with a single glance at it. Needless to say, he was eternally grateful for his amazing memory because he remembered every single curve, every single slope, every single perfection that began from around the top of her perked breasts to the shapely legs that made him drool if he wasn't careful.

It was a shame he had his hand on the cylindrical highlighter and he rolled forward, hitting his chin against the hardwood floor and eliciting a horrified gasp from Winry, who flashed wide eyes to Ed and tightened her hold in the towel.

"E-ED!" she had squeaked. "What the—how long have you been there?"

Crap..caught in the act, he swore inwardly, mind racing to make up an excuse. "U-uh, I-I, uh, just got here actually!" He rose his highlighter, nervous grin growing more anxious with every second her sharp blue eyes glared him down. "I swear I didn't see anything!" he blurted.

Under such pressurized circumstances, he would admit he sucked at lying.

Her eyes became wider. "Y-you—you SAW?" she screeched, holding the towel closer to her tempting body. "Edward!"

"NO!"

She glared.

"...Maybe."

He didn't knew where she got it from but he assumed she had been holding that damn thing all along but he had been too entranced by her body to notice. Book forgotten and highlighter both a lucky charm and a death warrant, Edward had dodged a swing of her preferred tool-of-punishment and scrambled past her, leaping over the banister and making a mad dash for the front door, feeling like both the luckiest and unluckiest man on the face of the earth because the instant he got back from the safety of outside, he had been ambushed by a torque wrench in hopes of getting amnesia, from what she had told Al when he screamed for his fallen and bleeding sibling.

And he'd personally tell you that hurt more than her normal wrench.

***

Akurat tego ozdziału nie lubię, bo wydaje mi się zbyt wydumany.. moim zdaniem Ed z Brotherhooda nie miałby takich rozterek, jak te opisane ~ dop. Villka --->

Theme 011: Fear

"Ugh," Ed grunted, standing in the sidelines as he watched the guests mingle in the living room. The entire first floor was flooded with guests due to a surprise visit from Winry's former automail mechanic, Garfiel, who brought along the barrage of mechanics she knew from Rush Valley. Personally, Ed didn't want to be there. He would much rather be upstairs in the sanction of his bedroom, immersed in another novel rather than pasting up fake smiles and pretending he actually gave a damn about what they were talking about.

"Edward-kun!" Mei sang, bouncing next to him. She handed him a note, which made his frown deepen.

"What is it?" he asked, opening the note.

"Winry-chan told me to give it to you," Mei glanced around him. "Have you seen Alphonse-sama?"

"Out by the back," Ed jerked a thumb absently, reading the note quickly. He let his hand fall to his side, eyes shifting to the far right, where he saw Winry laugh with a bunch of her friends; in a perfectly good mood although the note she had subtly sent him spoke other stories.

Be nice, Ed, or else! I mean it!

Love, Winry.

"Love, huh?" he groused, crumpling the note in his hand and sticking it in his pocket. He supposed he was being a terrible host, off to the side brooding and all, but what the hell was he supposed to do? He wasn't good with this type of stuff and she knew that damn well!

"Ah, you must be Edward Elric! A State Alchemist, right?" a fellow mechanic addressed, causing a wave of murmurs to commence. He swallowed, sweat breaking out on his forehead when he noticed the too-interested looks he was receiving from the other mechanics nearby.

"Yeah, that's me," he confirmed, causing another ripple of interest through the crowd. "Although I'm no longer in the military. I quit."

"I hear you have the most marvelous arm automail!" the woman ignored his last statement, walking forward. "It's your right arm, correct? Of course it is! I saw it the last time you came down to Rush Valley! Simply a wonderful design! You are so incredibly fortunate to own such a model!"

"Actually, ma'am, I don't have automail—!"

"Of course you do," she cut off briskly. "Everyone knows!" Agreements spread through the room, as a couple of mechanics cornered him and grabbed him, making him struggle as politely as possible (Winry's threat still stood) but everything was starting to seem rather suffocating. He had never been the one to like it when people butted into his personal space and in that moment, surrounded by the flurry of mechanics, he was beginning to feel the symptoms of claustrophobia in the shape of shaky breathing and darting eyes.

The feelings of suffocation were greater now than ever before and he supposed he had gotten that fear from being swallowed up by Envy and being touched and howled and screamed at by the seemingly endless pit of souls he carried inside. It was an experience he still had trouble getting over. And with the rough shoves and intermingling chatter he heard from all around him, he had no trouble picturing those lost masses of energy begging him for release.

His breathing became too shallow, heart rate too fast.

"U-uh, I don't have my automail arm anymore! I never had it in the first place!" he shouted, voice growing louder as they kept pushing and shoving; trying to pull his shirt off to gander at the mechanical limb he no longer had; having been left behind in the battle with Father, where his brother restored his arm successfully at the expense of his own metal body. "Let go – I don't have it – I said, let go!" he shouted, voice edging dangerous but they didn't seem to care. "Hey, I said don't touch me!"

The claustrophobic sensation grew with every grabbing hand. He could feel it bottle up in his chest; a pressure that made it hard to breathe or even think right. He had another flash of the mourning faces within Envy's body; the despaired cries that had threatened to deafen him.

Someone managed to grab his shirt, rip off a button in an attempt to take it off so they could look at the genius work of Winry's automail and that was when he had it; the pressure that had been building in his chest, suffocating and terrifying, bursting at the seams.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" he roared, gold iris shrinking to form a dangerous glare that shushed the entire room. His heavy, shaky, breathing was the only sound he could hear aside from his insanely beating heart. His eyes widened, shame overcoming the previous fear when he flashed his eyes to Winry, who had stopped trying to push through the crowd and worriedly stared at him.

He looked away, fear dissolving into weariness. "I-I'll be outside if anyone needs me. Excuse me," he cleared his throat, an unsteady hand gripping his collar and closing it within his fist as he shoved through the silent crowd and out the door; making sure to slam it before he breathed the free air of Resembool.

He felt better now, outside; alone.

He felt better than inside; surrounded.

He ran a hand down his face, noticing it was shaking and hating the fact that a couple of Rush Valley hicks got to him the way they did.

"Edward?" Winry's soft voice came from behind him a few minutes later. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, voice tight. "Just go back inside and keep talking to those fuckin' freaks...I'll be fine out here for a while."

She was quiet, then he felt a hand touch his arm and he looked down to see her concerned blue eyes. "You don't look so fine," she whispered. Her other hand rose, touching his cheek before touching his sweat-shined forehead. "What happened in there? One moment you were all alone in the corner and the next you're being swarmed..."

"Someone recognized me and they made a big deal out of it," was his short reply. "That's it. It wasn't anything that wouldn't have happened to me if I'd gone to Rush Valley..."

"But before you didn't completely freak out like you did today," she bluntly pointed out.

"I didn't freak out!" he shouted, defensively. "What would you have done if a bunch of random strangers tried to tear your clothes off so they could touch your fake arm?" he scathingly asked, flashing embittered eyes to her. "I'd bet you'd cry."

Winry pursed her lips. "I would not!"

"Right."

It was silent. Then she said, voice softer: "You don't have to worry about that anymore – I think they got the idea that you don't have your arm anymore. I convinced them that you never had it in the first place although some didn't really believe it..."

"Who gives a damn what they think?" Ed scoffed. "They wouldn't understand, anyway. Automail might look cool to those who have all four limbs but to those who don't it's nothing but a goddamn stigmata for others to mock!" He abruptly shut up, snapping his head to Winry, who had her head bowed in guilt.

"W-Winry, wait, I didn't—!"

"I...never you knew you felt that way about automail," she whispered, voice laden with shame. "I wouldn't have made such a big deal out of it...if I had known how you really felt."

"No, that came out wrong..." he whispered, urgently. He turned, grabbing her by her shoulders. "What I meant was that a lot of people like to make a big fuss about automail, okay? I'm not speaking to you directly...I pretty much know you have your heart in the right place...it's just—people like them! Who make a huge deal out of some arm you've explained over and over again but they just don't seem to understand it," he smiled encouragingly when she looked up, eyes watery. "Automail does have it perks – it's saved my ass more times than I could count when I got into fights with the Homunculi!" he threw out there recklessly, anything to ease the tears that were brimming in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter!" she cried, tone morose. "I always made a huge deal out of automail...I never considered your feelings about it! I'm sorry!" She bit her quivering lip. "I'm really, really sorry..."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, stupid," he breathed a chuckle, raising a hand to gently pat her head. "You gave me an arm to work with and a leg to stand on – that's good enough to brag about, isn't it?" he smiled softly, her eyes searching his own.

She sniffled, wiping away the few tears that managed to escape her eyes. "I-I guess..." she mumbled.

"Right. So, go back in there before one of those grease-heads decides to raid your workshop and steal your prints or something," he joked, lightening the atmosphere.

Winry went still. She looked up, horrified. "I forgot to lock the basement! Oh, no!" She darted back inside, Ed's bewildered eyes following her until she disappeared into the throng of people; confusion draining to amused exasperation when he heard her fuming screech come from inside her broken-in workshop.

***

Theme 012: Whoa-oa

She entered the bedroom quietly, peeking her head inside and finding it silent as the boy slept in his bed. The morning was bright and shining, another sweltering summer day in Resembool as Edward slept in.

Alphonse was due to leave in a month and Edward had personally asked her to wake him up early so he could snatch his brother up from Mei's "evil, bean-sprout, hands" to spend some nice quality time with his beloved younger sibling.

Needless to say, she wasn't surprised to find him snoring away the morning like nothing.

She neared him, taking one look at his face, which was shrouded by his choppy bangs, and felt a smile light her face. She drew the curtains back, allowing the white sunlight to leak through the window. She also opened the window, the suffocating scent of male overpowering from everything being shut in for so long.

She walked toward Edward, watching him for a moment; the calm breaths, the easy rise and fall of his chest. She leaned forward, hand tentatively brushing away his hair from his eyes. She noticed the crease between his brows, the twitches of emotion that flashed his face; too fast for her to properly dissect.

"Ed," she called softly, so not to startle him. "Edward? Wake up!" She grabbed his shoulder and shook him a little, gasping when his eyes shot open. His hand grabbed her own tightly, painfully, and he twisted her arm up, making her teeter forward. "Ouch! Ed! Wake up! It's me, Winry!" she winced, his fingers digging into her wrist.

"W-Winry?" he blinked, clearing his eyes of the nightmare he had gotten stuck in. Horrified, he let her go, sitting up hastily. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" he asked, tense, having caught the mild pain on her face due to his manhandling.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, rubbing her wrist. "What were you dreaming about? You nearly killed me there!"

He lowered his eyes. "S-sorry. Just a bad dream."

She pursed her lips, pushing him back a little with her hand so she could sit on the edge. She heaved a sigh, asking: "You wanna' talk about it or do you wanna' get your lazy butt out of bed so you could spend some time with your little brother," she smiled, comfortingly.

Edward managed a smile. "Option two sounds nice."

She sighed in response. She had long-since learned from Alphonse that Edward's nightmares usually revolved around the guilt he carried due to the failed transmutation of their mother and the degradation of his brother from human to object. It was still a rather sore topic to touch and she did not want to start his day with dark feelings. "Okay, then, hurry up, sleepy head!" she smiled at him, stretching her arms over her head to relieve some strain. "Al still hasn't woken up so you have some time to get ready! You better not fall asleep again or else!"

Ed sat on the edge of his mattress, nervously looking at her. She didn't notice it, too busy gazing out at the splash of colors the horizon painted as the sun rose. She liked watching the sun rise rather than watching it set; there was a different beauty to a rising sun than there was to a setting one. "Hurry up, before he—!"

She hadn't expected it.

All of a sudden she was engulfed in his musky scent, back pressed against a warm chest with arms strapping around her stomach. Her face colored scarlet, eyes widely staring ahead as she froze up. She could feel his lips by her ear, breath sending shivers down her spine.

He hadn't been this spontaneous since the incident on the couch...

And they had been alone that time, too...

So...Alone, hmm? Despite the sudden shyness, an evil idea conjured in her head. Edward was never too forward or even showed hints of interests in her when they were in public; in front of granny or Alphonse or Mei or even Den!

But when we're alone...he seems willing, a slow smirk briefed her face. She grabbed his arm, loosening it up a bit with her fingers so she could properly turn around to face him. She wiggled her arm out from the side so she could wrap it around his neck, ignoring the gulping stammer of "wh-what're you doing?" when she fully turned and wrapped her other arm around his neck; face too close to his.

"A-about...your wrist," he muttered, shifting his eyes away from hers. "Sorry."

Their mouths were only inches apart and only because he was taller than her, to her minor chagrin. But their bodies were pressed together tightly, leaving no room for air, and she knew all she had to do was get on her tip-toes and lean up and finish what she started in that short lapse of time...

But instead, purposely avoiding his apprehensive gold eyes, she smiled and brought her hand back; pinching his cheek with a teasing grin. "You didn't grab me that hard!" laughing when his eyes lost their anticipation and he glared at her. He tried to shake his cheek from her clutches, failing as she only pinched harder.

"Winry! Let go!" he complained, pulling back and wincing when she only gripped tighter. "That hurts!"

"You're really weird when we're alone," she murmured, leaning up; cheeks a pleasant pink as she went right in for the kill. His heart spluttered, eyes rounding at their proximity. Her sweet breath tickled his lips, making him swallow reflexively in anticipation. "You should do this more often, I don't mind," she pulled on a suggestive smirk, causing his cheeks to flood red at the implications; his heart leaping in his chest as the thrill that coursed through his veins became overwhelming.

She kissed his cheek.

He blinked.

She stepped back, that secretive twinkle still in her eyes, and stated, flatly: "Al's probably awake now. You really should get dressed – once Al wakes up, Mei wakes up a couple of minutes later!" She walked back to the door, giving him one last smiling look before closing the door.

He fell back on the bed, unable to calm his racing heart. He could still feel her lips on his cheek and he rose his hand to rub away the tingling sensation. He didn't know what that had been, what prompted her to act so damn provocative, but he liked it a lot. The sentiment could be seen in the slightly mystified smile and stained cheeks.

There was only one word that came to mind, one word that he could use to describe to the sly curve of her lips and seductive droop of her eyelids.

"Whoa."

Whoa, indeed.

****

Theme 013: Oh, Brother!

"Ed, for the last time, Mei isn't stealing me away from you!" Al rolled his eyes upward, the argument his brother presented ridiculous to his ears. But, his brother continued persistently; grumbling rather petulantly as they both trekked down the familiar dirt path that would lead to their old elementary school.

"Do you remember when we used to play around here?" Al asked, breaking the nostalgic silence.

Edward strayed his eyes to the bridge they were approaching. He allowed a small smile. "Yeah, we used to race up and down this strip everyday after school..."

Al grinned. "Race you!" He dashed off down the path, leaving Ed a little bewildered. However, it wasn't long for the older of the two managed to catch up; his automail leg giving him mild advantage as he caught up with his brother and passed him just as easily – his hand slapping against the familiar oak tree they had marked with an X for the finish line when they were children.

"I won!" he exclaimed, smugly. "Again."

Alphonse came to a slow stop, panting. "No fair!" he breathed. "You have automail!"

"I've always been faster than you, Al," Ed smirked, adding: "But you've always been the smart fighter."

Al straightened, elated by his brothers words. "You're just too brash. If you took time to really analyze the situation, you'd be better at fighting, too, you know!"

"Nah," Ed chuckled. "I kind of like throwing caution to the wind." He walked over to the bridge, leaping up on it and steadying himself on the slabs of stone. "It makes life interesting..." He took a few steps, wobbling to the side precariously but ultimately keeping his balance. "And unpredictable."

"Funny," Al began, slyly. "You say that now but when it comes down to Winry..."

Ed nearly toppled into the riverbed. "What's this gotta' do with Winry?" he scowled, shooting a look over his shoulder at his amused brother.

"Obviously everything!" he laughed. "You say you like throwing caution to the wind and barging into danger like nothing yet you can't even properly tell Winry she's got nice hair!"

"She does not have nice hair!" Ed denied, nose upturned loftily. "Not with all the crap she puts on it." He was very aware of his soft, perfect, locks of hair kept neatly in a pony tail at that very moment...

"Ed, that's the not the point," he shok his head. "The point is: you're a hypocrite."

Edward let his arms fall to his sides abruptly. He pivoted on his foot, crossing his arms over his chest and asking, threateningly: "You've gotten pretty smart these past few years," he growled. "Damn that bean-sprout! I bet this is all her doing..."

"Ugh! Ed! Quit it, already!" Al shouted, exasperated. "Mei isn't a bad influence for me! In fact, I think you're a worst influence on me than she is!"

"How so?" Ed challenged. "I think I've been a great influence on you! I've definitely given you a back bone, haven't I?"

"This coming from the man who once told me teddy bears were monstrous creatures who would eat me at night if I didn't give you my lunch money," Al replied dryly. "Yes, you've been a great influence on me, brother."

Ed's cheeks pinked. "What's your point again?"

Al breathed a laugh. His brother would never change. "You have to make a move," he answered bluntly. "You're going to stay here in Resembool after Mei and I leave, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And I know it's because you finally realized you can't be without her for extended periods of time," Al ignored his brothers spluttering to deny the accusation. "So you have to do something! Wait, has anything happened between you two at all? It's been a month and half already!"

Edward stuck his hands into his pockets. He felt his face go hot. He shifted his eyes away, avoiding the eager look on his brothers face as he recalled the instances: when he had hugged her to him on the couch, when she had teased him so badly in the bedroom – sapphire eyes flaming with a provocative spark of emotion he never knew she even owned...

"Ed...?"

"Yeah, and?" he snapped.

"Great!" Al cheered. His voice became troubled. "But...if some things have happened...then why aren't you with her right now?"

"Look," Ed began, exhaling a sigh. "Just because we've had a couple of moments doesn't mean we're – together or anything. It isn't that easy..."

"It is," Al insisted. "You're just making it out to be some big deal!"

"Am not!" he scowled.

"Are to!"

"Am not!"

"Are to!" Alphonse sighed in exasperation. "Ed, really look at the situation. You've liked her for how long now? Since we were kids or something, right? So you can guess she's also harbored some feelings for one of us – us being you, of course – so I really see no problem just going for it and getting it over with if you know she likes you, too," Al finished simply, his reasons making Ed annoyed.

Why did his brother always have to have his head screwed on right?

He scuffed his boot against the stone of the bridge, broodingly.

"It still isn't that easy!" he huffed, hopping off the bridge and stalking away. "C'mon, lets go prank Mrs. Burlington! I still haven't forgotten the day that old hag made me stand in the corner for proving her wrong with my hypothesis!"

Al sighed. "Oh, brother."

***

Theme 014: Train of Thought

Winry stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped tightly around her, making sure to cover herself fully before exiting the bathroom. She peeked out suspiciously, nodding when she saw no Edward Elric crouched stealthy on the ground to get an x-rated glance at her.

She quickly entered her room and shut the door, swiveling around and sighing in relief when she saw no trace of the gold blond sitting on her chair, a sandwich in his hand and gaping at her like before when she had come back from Briggs.

She walked to the window, looked through it to see two figures on the ground throwing hits and kicks.

She giggled when she saw Al lift Ed off the ground, throwing him across. He rolled, quickly springing up on his feet and darting to the younger Elric once more. He no longer had his automail arm nor his alchemy so there was only so much damage he could do to himself and most of it was in his mechanical left leg, which, she saw with a cringe, he had now grown fond of using as he blocked a punch from Al with the calf plate she had custom-built to suit his needs.

As long as he doesn't break it, she thought, wincing when Al sprung back to avoid a blow from Ed's foot. It's okay...who am I kidding? I bet its broken already! She rested her forehead against the glass, groaning at the thought of having to yet again fix a glitch or dent due to Ed's rough handling.

I should use my torque wrench, she mused darkly. That'll keep him in line! But constant use of her precious torque wrench on his thick skull would only prove to kill him so that was out: she didn't want to kill him, just knock some sense into the often irrational man.

She opened her eyes, surprised to see him looking up at her. Her eyes flashed to Al, who was with Mei and chugging down some water, and then back to Ed, who had a white towel hanging over his neck.

He was still looking at her.

She wondered why.

She shifted and froze.

Her towel!

She hastily backed away from the window, tightening her grip on the towel and feeling her whole face flood red. A brief flash of Ed's wondrous but embarrassed face appeared in her mind and she plopped down on her bed, shaking her head of the image.

She had been shocked when she saw Ed kneeling on the ground, openly staring at her like she was the most interesting alchemy book he had ever read. She wanted to be stared at by him like that more often but not because she had accidentally flashed him!

Ugh, I wonder how much he really saw? She groused inwardly, rather vengeful and feeling thoroughly cheated. He saw her naked but what about her? All she got were him in boxer shorts and that was nothing new! Idiot, she huffed, resting a cheek in a palm as she slumped forward. But he does have nice abs... But she was more interested in his ass, personally.

He had the best ass she had ever seen.

Too bad it was always covered up with loose slacks or shorts. When he had worn those leather pants, she used to love just standing behind him for the sole reason of being able to stare without looking too suspicious. It was even better when he walked and it was those times that she allowed herself to thank his energetic and 'unable-to-stand-still-for-longer-than-five-minutes' personality.

If only she could touch it or better yet grope it then she would be able to die without any regrets.

There was a knock on her door. "Hey! You decent?"

Winry bolted up, face red from her naughty thoughts. "I – er – don't come in! I'm not done changing yet!" She rushed to her drawers, taking out a few garments and quickly slipping them on; pulling on an oversized pink shirt and securing some sweatpants on her waist. Her hair was still wet, dripping at the ends, and she decided combing it would only make it worse so she threw a towel over her head. "Okay! You can come in now..." She furiously towel-dried her hair, nervously listening to his dissimilar steps enter her room.

"Granny went to the market to buy some food and Mei and Al are making gooey faces at one another," he whined. "Are you going to make something to eat?"

"I thought you said granny was getting some food?" Winry rose a brow, wrapping the towel over her head. If she took it off, Ed would never let her see another day without him teasing her about her wild hair. "Just be patient!"

"But I'm hungry!" he groaned. "You saw me down there – I haven't worked out like that in weeks so I'm hungrier than usual!"

"What do you want me to do about it?" she snapped, shutting the drawer with her hip. "You have two working hands, go make your own food!"

"Win!" Ed whined. "I'm dying here! C'mon!"

She rolled her eyes. "You're so lazy! I can't believe you'd come all the way up here just so I could cook you something!" She pushed past him, Ed following close behind.

"But everything tastes better when you do it!"

She paused for a moment. "Of course it does!" she grinned, knowing fairly well he was only praising because he was starving. "That's what you get for buying take-out all the time! You're lucky you've got a fast metabolism or else you'd be really fat right now!"

"WINRY!"

She laughed, opening the fridge to browse what she could use to cook. "I see you still can't take my jokes," she grinned, earning a roll of the eyes from Edward.

"I can. They're just not funny," he scoffed at her.

"Hmm, maybe I was wrong..." Winry took out some lettuce. "Maybe a salad will do for your lunch today!"

His eyes rounded in horror. "I was kidding! You're hilarious!"

She grinned, smugly. "That's what I thought!" and she grabbed a package of ham and turkey and watched him sigh in relief.

***

Theme 015: Technically It's...

"Give it!"

"Brother – just let me – !"

"No way!"

"ED!"

"Give me those damn scissors or so help me I'll – !"

"HEY!" Winry snapped loudly, turning glaring eyes to the brothers out in the porch from her place on the sofa. They were scuffling over a pair of scissors, apparently. "What're you two yelling about?"

Alphonse peeked his head into the house, grumbling: "Edward asked me to cut his hair but now he doesn't want to!"

"I never asked you!" Ed shouted from behind his brother. "It was a suggestion, you idiot! Learn how to tell the difference!"

"Then stop suggesting things you don't want!" Al retorted with an exasperated sigh, ignoring the annoyed look his brother sent him. "Either I cut it or I don't! Make up your mind! When you do, come get me – I'll be in the back helping Mei meditate!" He entered the house and left Ed out in the front, glaring at the pair of scissors that began the entire argument in the first place.

"How can you help someone meditate?" Ed grumbled to himself, slumping back on the porch swing to watch the sun slowly die out ahead. His hair was beginning to annoy him with the length and he had not had time to take a trip to the hairdresser so they could properly trim it. His hair was getting to be longer than Winry's and frankly that was when he knew he had been neglecting it; no matter how soft or managable his fellow family members, mainly Winry and Mei, commented it was.

"Why do you want to cut it?" Winry's voice floated from above him. He felt her hand touch his wet hair, as he had just showered, and he swatted her hand away. "It's so pretty."

"That's why," he grunted. "It's not suppose to be pretty. Pretty is for girls."

He felt her sit beside him, fingers still touching his hair. "Well, I can't argue with that," she laughed at his glare. "How about I cut it for you?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"I used to do it for you when we were little kids, you know," she told him, matter-of-factly. "I was the one who taught you how to braid your hair in the first place, remember?"

Ed pinked a bit, remembering how long it took him to be able to properly braid his hair. She had been patient throughout the learning process – correcting him a couple of times before beaming once he finally got the hang of it. He remembered blushing back then, too. "I guess," he vaguely answered.

"Great!" She snatched the scissors from him. "Turn around!"

"U-uh," Ed eyed the scissors nervously. "You're not going to cut it all off, are you? I mean, I just want it trimmed a bit!"

"Duh," Winry rolled her eyes, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn his back to her. "I'll only cut it a little bit. Stop worrying so much!" She tapped his upper back, between the space of his shoulders. "It'll be like before." She combed her fingers through his moist hair before he could answer, taking the scissors and, after measuring quickly, snipped a piece off.

In the beginning, he nervously waited. He expected her to chop off a whole chunk of his precious hair but he knew it was ridiculous to think so: Winry would never do that, no matter how much he complained about her evil ways. A few more minutes of hearing the distinct snip and feeling a few more inches of hair pool below gave him enough time to finally relax. He remembered his mother would always do the same, especially when Winry began to hum a made up tune under her breath. His shoulders unwound, slouching, and her soft humming made him drowsy.

"Oops..."

Ed's eyes flew open. He whipped his head back, gritting out dangerously: "What did you do?" and expecting the worst.

Instead, he was met with giggling. She poked his nose, causing him to go pink again. "Got ya'!" she smiled. "I was just kidding – you're all done! Do you want me to braid it for you, too?"

He reached behind him, touching his trimmed hair speculatively. He suspiciously looked at her, as she gathered the hair she had cut into a small pile. His eyes widened at the amount that had collected.

"Hey! You said you'd only cut a little bit!" he shouted, indignantly.

"I did!" she replied, annoyed. "Stop freaking out already – you look fine!"

"I am not freaking out!" His fingers touched his trimmed hair again, worriedly thinking that perhaps she had cut it all wrong and now he was going to have to look like a freak for a few days until he went to a hairdresser and let the professionals handle it.

"Yes, you are!" She snorted in laughter. "Ed, it's just hair! It'll grow back eventually!"

"Not soon enough, it won't!"

"Anyway, you look better now," she smiled, adding a little fondly: "You look cute."

His face grew pinker if possible, bordering on red. He scowled and looked away, scoffing: "Guys aren't cute, Winry! Don't be ridiculous!"

Winry laughed at his immaturity, thinking that as long as he did not lose that charming trait, she would not mind putting up with his sometimes insufferable ways. She corrected herself, a little coyly: "Since you're so technical about these things, then you're very handsome!" She wiped the flat side of the scissors on her pants and went back inside to dump the hair in the trashbin, giggling when she heard Ed groan and sink further into the swing; a small smile on his face regardless.

***

Theme 016: Egoism

Winry tapped her foot impatiently as she stood outside the door of the bathroom, waiting for Edward to come out so she could take her shower as she had missed yesterday due to staying up all night to construct a foot for a young girl and an arm for a fellow farmer.

It had been an hour already, however, and Winry was more than a little grouchy.

"ED!" She pounded on the door with her fist. "What the heck are you doing in there? Hurry it up!"

"Give me a moment!" she heard him snap back faintly.

Winry sighed frustratedly and waited a few more minutes. But after the initial five, she became fed up and threw the door open to check just what the hell he was doing in there! A burst of steam made her flinch back a bit but she had gotten an eyeful of just what he had been doing inside for the past half hour...

"Winry! Get the hell out!" Ed shouted, cheeks rather flushed due to the steam, and slammed the door in her face. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking? I could be naked, you know!"

Winry growled, not awake enough to properly react to his suggestive comment: "GRANNY!" Winry shouted as loud as she could. "ED IS POSING IN THE MIRROR AGAIN!"

"I AM NOT, YOU LIAR!" came Ed's angry shout from within the bathroom.

"I SAW YOU!"

"YOU SAW WRONG!"

Winry banged on the door again. "Then do us all a favour and get out so that I could take my shower in peace! You can stare at yourself all you want in your room, Ed!"

"I told you!" The door opened to reveal a seething Ed. "That I was not posing in the mirror, damn it!"

Winry mocked one of his infamous poses, tilting her head to the side and standing straight as she pasted on her own sweet smile. "Uh huh, sure!"

"You're so nosy!" Ed complained, not taking the bait as he knew it would only end in failure.

Winry rose her hand blew a kiss at him.

"I DO NOT do that!"

Winry snorted derisively. "Just what the hell do you find so damn fascinating about yourself!" Winry shouted at him, up to her head with his conceitedness although she might've been more amused had she gotten her eight hours of sleep. "I swear, we could build monuments with the size of your ego!" she sneered at him, earning a nasty look in reply.

"Piss off," he sneered right back, bringing up his trump card: "You wouldn't know a straight guy from a gay guy, so I wouldn't be talking if I were you!"

Winry's jaw fell open and she turned, glaring holes at his retreating backside. "Just because I thought Mr. Garfiel was heterosexual once doesn't make me blind, you idiot!"

"Of course it doesn't! It just makes you gullible!" he shouted back, smugly.

"SHUT UP! IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE HOT ENOUGH TO STARE AT, YOU FREAK!"

"TAKE THAT BACK!"

"MAKE ME!" she screeched, cheeks red of anger. "You've got nothing I haven't seen on other guys!"

"Tch, it obviously looks better on me, of course!" he scoffed at her, standing by the threshold of his door.

"Does not!"

"Does to!"

"You're unbelievable!" Winry yelled. "How can you have such a huge ego? Whoever's been saying you're something special has obviously seen better days!"

Ed huffed, tying his hair back into a ponytail. "You're just jealous because you can't look nearly half as good at I can!"

"Me? Jealous of you?" Winry scoffed. She gestured to her generous chest, her thin waist, and, finally, her filled out bottom with a disbelieving face. Edward only flushed red. "I've had my fair share of flattering comments but you don't see me staring at myself in the mirror!"

Ed smirked. "You do so, you do it everyday after you shower!"

"...How do you even know that?" Winry sighed in exasperation, fed up with him.

"It's not my fault you leave your door open," he replied innocently before shutting his door and leaving her outside to steam.

"UGH!" She slammed the bathroom door closed.

Downstairs, Al sighed into his cup of coffee.

"Are they always like this?" Mei asked, sipping her own drink.

"In the mornings they usually keep it down but since Winry hasn't had any sleep, it's only bound to get worse," Al predicted, knowing that his brother's constant antagonism will only land him in an even deeper hole than he was now.

"Does Edward honestly pose in the mirror?" Mei asked after a few seconds of silence, curiously.

"Sometimes," Al shrugged. "He only does it once and that's after he's fixed his antennae." He flicked his own limp bangs for emphasis. "I bet he only took longer today to make Winry angry."

"Sometimes I do think Edward-kun does it because he likes to see Winry upset," Mei shook her head in disapproval.

Al smirked into his cup, knowing her statement to be true. "He probably does, Mei, but that's really not our business."

Because both he and Pinako knew Edward got a thrill from watching Winry huff and puff like a beast, for some unfathomable reason.

Al personally blamed it on the fact that their adolescence was full of danger and mortal fights.

Ed still hadn't gotten rid of his need for the adrenaline rush.

***

Theme 017: Broom Closet

They leaned closer into the door, almost pressing their ears against the wood and were relieved to hear nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, there was absolutely no sound coming from within the room. Winry leaned off of the door, whispering: "Do you think they fell asleep?"

"Possibly," Ed shrugged, stepping back. "Al isn't the type to break rules so I doubt they're doing anything that can infringe on that old bats Golden Rule!" He rolled his eyes at the thought of the pathetic rule. As if a midget hag like her would be able to incapacitate someone like him if he did happen to break her rule...

"Granny's just worried, Ed," Winry mumbled, irately. "Al is still a guy and they've been in Mei's room for an hour already!"

"So? What can he do in an hour, Winry, seriously?" Ed snorted. "Al might be a guy but he's the most respectful guy I know. He borders on gay sometimes!"

"ED!"

"What? He knows it!" Ed snickered. Winry's glare grew harsher. "I was kidding! It's a running gag we have going on, Winry, jeez!"

"It's still not funny!" she hissed. "Alphonse is really sensitive to that type of mockery, Ed! He spent nearly half his life in a suit of armor, that comes with it's own set of self-esteem issues!"

Ed's eyes hardened. "I know that. It's a joke for a reason, you know."

"That's such a heavy joke to lay on someone like Al!"

"He started it first!" Ed cried incredulously. "If he doesn't like the joke then he should've never said it in the first place!"

"You should know better than to—!"

"Brother?" a sleep-clouded voice called from the other side of the bedroom door. "Is that you?"

Winry's eyes grew wide. "He can't know we were checking up on him! He'll get mad!" she whispered frantically. It would not be the first time they had been caught eavesdropping on the boy's lighthearted conversations with the Xingese girl and the last time they did it, they had gotten caught by one annoyed Alphonse Elric.

"Quick—your room!" Ed pointed to the door, about to grab her wrist to stash her inside.

"No! The hinges squeak! He'll know!"

"But—!"

"Ed...?" Al's voice was closer this time. He was nearing the door now.

"The closet!" Winry whispered in a rush, grabbing Edward by his forearm and shoving open the closet door. She shoved him inside and closed the door behind her, just barely glimpsing the yawning face of Al before she enclosed them in darkness.

"Is something wrong?" They heard Mei yawn. "Alphonse-sama?"

"I thought I heard Ed out here..."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah...but I guess I was hearing things. There's no one here."

They heard the door close with a soft click, hearing the pairs light chatter as they discussed how funny it was that they had fallen asleep while studying a few Alkahestry tomes Mei had brought over from Xing. Needless to say, Winry would probably not check on the boy a third time as she was convinced that, if anyone would break the rules around the house, it would most likely be Edward.

The broom closet they had locked themselves inside of was not as small as she had first anticipated it would be. It was large enough that they had a good foot of space between them and she could stand straight without bumping into a top shelf and spread her feet without hitting a bucket or box. It was dark but she was sure there was a light switch dangling somewhere...

Waving those thoughts off, Winry reached for the door, wrapping her hand around the knob when she heard no more noise from outside. "I think they're gone now," she sighed in relief. "Hey, Ed, you alright?" The man had gone strangely silent. "Sorry for shoving you in a closet. I didn't hurt you did I?"

"Uh, no," was his subdued reply.

"Good, then let's get out of here!"

Edward reached forward and gripped her hand, preventing her from opening the closet as she had intended. In that instant, her heart leaped to her throat. She suddenly became aware that she had unintentionally pushed them into the exact wrong place to push two hormonal adults in. The closet suddenly seemed as intimidating as it did thrilling and Winry didn't know how to discern those two sensations from each other when Ed's hand merely tightened around her own on the knob, body far too close to her own.

"E-Ed?" she whispered, swallowing down her nerves.

"Not yet. Can't you hear them? They're about to leave in a few seconds!" Ed whispered, his breath brushing the shell of her ear.

"They..are?" she asked, confused that he was able to hear so clearly. Then again, her heart was pounding in her ears so that might justify why she had difficulty hearing...

"Yeah, listen!"

Winry stiffly leaned closer into the door, listening to some shuffling before, finally, she heard the door creak open and she heard Mei and Alphonse walk into the hallway.

"Are you sure it was Ed-kun and Winry-chan?"

"Yeah, I'm positive but they're not here.."

"Perhaps they locked themselves in the closet!" Mei giggled.

They both stiffened.

Al just laughed with her. "They'd never do that! Nothing good comes from being trapped in a closet with the person you like!"

"But it would a way for them to admit it to themselves, right?" Mei deviously suggested.

"Yeah, you're right. But how will we ever get them into a closet? We'd have to knock them out or something!"

"Yes, but then they'd be happy together! It's so cute! Winry-chan has been waiting for Ed-kun to admit his feelings for such a long time.." They heard Mei sigh dreamily as she imagined a cliche and romantic scene between the two.

"No kidding! Brother has liked her since we were five! I really hope one of the two mans up.."

Mei spoke up, confidently: "I think Winry-chan will!"

"I think Ed will!" Al said, firmly; not giving up his faith in his older brother.

"It has been years – he will obviously not be the first to do it!"

"Just give it time, Mei! I know my brother and I know he's just biding his time for...whatever."

The bickering young adults made their way down the staircase and Winry secretly wanted to thrust Mei into a laundry chute for saying something so private out in open. She ignored the fact that both young adults were oblivious to their presence in the closet as she wrapped a shaky hand around the doorknob again, face hot.

"I-I think we should get going," Winry cleared her throat of it's hoarseness. "Granny's probably wondering what we're doing by now..."

His hand stopped her once again and Winry shut her eyes in an attempt to calm her racing heart. "What is...it?" she asked, tentatively, as his hand removed her own from the knob. The closet seemed to close in on her, grow smaller, the longer they stood in the silence of it. His hand was still holding hers as it fell by her side and she briefly thought that perhaps putting off oiling the hinges was a wise choice after all.

"Win..ry, I just.." he began slowly, unsure of how this would pan out in the end. He had no plan, no protocol to follow this time around, and that was when he realized just how military-oriented his life actually was. He always had some sort of plan, no matter how much he abandoned them for his own 'in the moment' ideas, a schedule of sorts even if things took a turn for the worst, but now as he stood behind Winry, his hand still clutching her own, he was at a loss with how to admit the feelings that teetered at the tip of his tongue

Plan, he thought to himself. I need...do I even need a plan? I thought I was just going to go out and say it! The bar tenders words came rushing back to him in those few seconds of silence. He was in a closet with the girl from his childhood, the girl he liked for longer than one would believe, holding her hand and standing behind her. Somehow, this had all came to be with a simple old grandmother's concerns for leaving a young boy and a young girl stuck in a room upstairs, unattended. But now that he thought about it...

She should have been more concerned about us, he found himself thinking. Al would never...do something THIS weird...

"Edward?" Winry whispered, dragging him out of his reverie. He noticed the tremor in her words, the thick emotion of uncertainty and, he was sure, hopefulness in her tone. His brother had told him time and time again that there was nothing to be worried about, nothing to fear, but the sheer thought of being looked down upon by her, of staring into pitying, uncomfortable, eyes due to his confession, was enough to allow him to silence his emotions; stifle them until they began to brim and overflow, just as he felt they were doing in that moment when her hand tightened around his own in assurance.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you," he mumbled, words a jumble of vowels and syllables. He felt his cheeks heat. Even he didn't understand what he had just said! "I mean, I just wanted to tell you..." He sighed sharply when the words wouldn't come out. "That...I-I..."

Her hand tightened on his and she began to turn—

"No! Don't!" he quickly stopped her, turning her backside to him again. "It's harder...when you're looking at me..." he admitted softly, dropping his gaze to the floor. He could see nothing, nothing but the light coming from the crack of the door, and he saw that it was just that small crack of light that made it all the harder on him.

Things were easier to spit out and say under the cover of darkness, he realized, and he shut his eyes and counted to ten in his head. The darkness helped calm his racing heart, helped ease the heat on his face, and he whispered, very softly, almost too low for Winry to catch: "I've—liked you for a long time now, Winry..."

It was easier, with his eyes closed and stuck in a closet that offered minimal light, but it was still nerve wracking and he could still feel his nerves threaten to fry when she did nothing but stand there in front of him.

"Ed?" Her voice made him flinch, stand stiff, and his hand pulled away from hers. She grabbed it before it could get any farther and he opened his eyes slowly to look into sparkling sky blue. He quickly flashed his eyes away from them, her silence killing him, but he found that silence wasn't so bad when he felt her suddenly lunge toward him and envelop him in a tight hug.

So tight, in fact, that he had some trouble breathing with the way her arms viced around him. "W-Winry?" he wheezed. "This is..nice and all..but could you loosen up a bit?" He heard a soft giggle and he sighed in relief when he felt air properly flow into his lungs. "So..."

"What took you so long?" she murmured instead, making him flush pink. Everyone seemed to be telling him that, or some derivative of that, lately... "If I knew that the dark helped you sort out your feelings then I would've shoved us in a closet a long time ago!"

"Hey, this isn't as easy as it looks, alright?" Ed huffed, muttering: "And you still haven't really given me the OK, you know..."

"Okay for what?" she asked, innocently.

"You know what!"

"Nope!" Winry sang. "I really have no clue what you're talking about! Some of us aren't geniuses like you!"

Ed ignored the comment. "You're making this really hard, you know that?"

Winry laughed, nuzzling her cheek into his shoulder blade. "I hugged you, don't you think that says it all?"

"For all I know, this could be some weird girl tactic to let a guy down easy!" Ed replied snappishly, aware that his arms had somehow become nonexistent between the time of his confession and now, as they refused to lift and properly wrap around the girl who was snuggling to him in a way that made him dangerously hopeful.

"It's not," she softly said, listening to his heart pound in his chest. "I..." The way he had phrased his feelings did not settle well with her. He hadn't said love, he had said like and she wondered if throwing out the first L word would be too soon for him. Edward had always been rather austere and detached, someone who did not easily fit in with the rest of society, so she decided to take it easy for now and say: "I really, really like you too."

Perhaps the two adverbs would tip him off.

Unsurprisingly, they didn't, but she did feel his arms magically regain mobility and wrap around her. One arm wound around her waist and his hand cradled her head to his chest, his rehabilitated right arm crushing her to him and making her sigh contently.

She could honestly say it was about time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Villka

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Theme 018: Good ol' Times

He was starting to suspect someone was conspiring against him because this was the fourth time he had been interrupted from trying something on Winry. If it wasn't Al who bounced in at the moment he created, it was Mei – if it wasn't Mei, it was Pinako and if it wasn't Pinako, it was goddamn Den!

She had left him in that bedroom a few weeks ago hot and bothered and he would swear on the alchemy he so dearly loved that he was intent on taking her up on that offer and losing it already. He already had her permission to pursue her, he had already confessed, so all that was left was the sweet procreation process, right?

Right?

He was, what, twenty one already and he was still a virgin?

Fuck, he cursed inwardly. That's so lame!

He wouldn't be surprised if his little brother wasn't a virgin anymore – that kid was celebrating the new sensations of his restored body with a little too much enthusiasm. He vaguely remembered a time a few years ago, when they had gotten home two months after the Promised Day, that Al had bolted up awake in his bed and woke him up in concern.

"Brother! Ed! Wake up! It's important!"

"What is it?"

"..Um...I..."

"What is it, Alphonse?"

"How do you...get rid of it?"

He had shot his gaze to his bed, to the scrunched up sheets that didn't manage to hide his brothers first morning wood in his human body. Of course, he had burst out laughing – further embarrassing the boy who wasn't used to such bodily reactions. He had barely begun getting used to smelling the clean linen sheets and feeling them rub against his skin but now this? The bulge he often saw his brother get when he was sleeping, when the both of them were still on their quest for the Philosopher's Stone?

"You whack it off," Ed replied flatly.

"What is that?" Al frowned, honestly curious. "I always hear people say that but I don't know what it is! Edward?"

"Wh-what do'ya want me to do about it?" Ed stuttered, still trying to stifle laughter. "It was your wet dream...pfft..."

"EDWARD!"

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" He sat up, scratching his head at how this was going to play out. He always knew Al would need The Talk again, which they had both gotten from Izumi at the tender age of nine and had been thoroughly scarred for life, but this was a little different than The Talk. This was a guy problem Sig had only told HIM about since he was the eldest and as the eldest, he would be the one to teach his younger sibling the rights and wrongs. "First, let me change!"

"What? Why?" Al replied, confused. "It's seven in the morning! You don't function til nine!"

Ed sighed dramatically. "Al...remember the first time you asked me about that?"

That had been embarrassing, he remembered. Al had laughed at him back then, too, so he justified his own laughter as pay back. Alphonse had known what it was – an erection – but he never did know, or bother to ask, really, how to get rid of it.

Ed had found out it was both weird but relaxing and he remembered thinking that now his little brother would know that private pleasure.

But like hell was he going to give a demonstration or even explain how to do it.

His little brother was on his own on that one.

"Yeah... and you told me it was a hormonal bodily reaction that was normal for adolescences from the ages of thirteen and forward," he replied mechanically. He frowned. "What about it?"

"Remember how I went to the bathroom and I didn't come out for around an hour and you got worried that I was sick or something?"

"Yes..."

"Well, this is a problem only your hand can take care of for around an hour," Ed explained flatly. "You get in that bathroom and FIGURE IT OUT!" He yanked his pants on and threw on a shirt. "Think of it as an alchemy equation you must solve but have little instruction on how to solve it. I'll give you a hint: you use your hand in an upward/downwards motion. Let's see how far you get!" He slammed the door behind him as he left the room, leaving Alphonse to dwell at his words with a lost expression.

He had figured it out quickly enough, of course, and glared at him the entire day for his abandonment when he needed his guidance the most. Not that Ed really cared – he was too busy shooting his brother smirks and busting into random laughter; throwing in a few innuendos that made Al sigh and rub his temples at his immaturity while leaving Winry plain confused.

Those were the good ol' times, he sighed wistfully, slumping back on the couch. He and Al would tease each other mercilessly and they would simply enjoy the luxury of living a happy, normal, unexciting, for-once-not-filled-with-danger, life...

But now he had a new danger to face: himself.

Or, to be specific, his interloping family members who wouldn't let him be a man already!

He tapped his fingers against his knees in impatience.

She was right there, in the kitchen, in that pink apron of hers, happily humming to herself, begging to be taken already and he was too busy mourning his losses on the couch because Al and Mei were in the kitchen talking with her as well and Pinako was Truth-knew-where doing something-he-didn't-care-about...

He remembered when it was all easy before.

He wondered if it would get easier soon as he fell to the side and groaned loudly.

Meanwhile, Al quietly laughed to himself in the other room – completely aware of his brothers frustrations and justifying his intervening actions as pay back for laughing at him when he didn't know how to take care of a certain morning problem.

As his brother so often put: payback was a bitch.

***

Mój ulubiony rozdział Razz

- "Sprawca kłopotów"
he he he Very Happy

~ dop. Villka

Theme 019: Trouble Maker

Ed tried to catch his breath, flattened against the east wall of the the Rockbell Household and trying desperately hard to keep his breathing at a minimum least she hear and stalk him. He could hear Winry's shrieks from the inside and the back door get thrown open in a rage.

She's faster than she was before! He found himself thinking. I gotta' be smart about this!

He sprinted to the front, leaping over the porch steps and throwing the front door open. He ran into the living room, intent on finding a place to hide for around four hours, when Winry appeared from the kitchen – wrench in hand and wearing a furious expression.

DAMN! She predicted my movements!

Unbeknownst to him, he always did the same thing when he was in trouble...

"ED! YOU'RE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!"

"SHIT—!"

Edward bolted back the way he came from, Winry's footsteps close behind. He felt a gust of air brush his head and he increased his pace, knowing he had just barely managed to dodge a wrench blow. He jerked to the right, allowing her to stumble forward, and booked it back into the house, up the stairs and slammed his door open; locking it securely behind him and backing up to his bed, where he fell back into it and crawled under the sheets.

He was in trouble he couldn't even begin to comprehend! He had, one, eaten the entire pan of apple pie she had made for everyone and he had, two, managed to break a cup in the process due to Den's snout startling him when the dog sniffed the hem of his pants. Winry had caught him breaking the cup, too, which made her scream, "Not again! Ugh, you're about as elegant as a bull in a glass shop!" and became enraged when she noticed the licked-clean pie pan where a once-scrumptious pie had been left to cool on the windowsill.

Needless to say, Edward responded to her furious look with the exact wrong thing to say:

"...I thought it could've used more cinnamon..."

That was what found him under his covers, cowering like a beaten dog, and groaning – the manly word for whimpering – when he heard her bang on the door furiously.

In all technicality, once the fear and dread subsided, he always found himself thinking how beautiful she looked when she was livid. It was all wrong, and kind of sick now that he thought about it, but it was only when she was furious that expressed such a passionate emotion on her face.

That, and when she spoke of automail – but he ignored that fact in those few crucial seconds.

"ED! OPEN UP NOW!"

"MAKE ME!"

"EDWARD ELRIC YOU OPEN THE DOOR THIS INSTANT!"

He chose not to reply, opting instead to throwing a pillow over his ears to block out her incensed growling. He had forgotten, in his musing, that she was an ace mechanic and the fact only struck when he heard the door knob wiggle as she picked the lock open.

Shit.

His heart plummeting, stomach twisting with dread, Edward watched in horror as the door knob stopped twitching and it all went silence for a moment. With baited breath, he waited for her to show her beautifully enraged face, and he gulped when the door silently swung open to reveal a deranged grinning Winry.

At least in his eyes.

In any other persons eyes, she was smirking like she had won a shopping spree to a hardware store.

"You," she hissed, menacingly, "are in so much trouble!" She stalked forward, raising her hand to deliver the finishing blow, when he shot up; his hand grabbing her wrist to prevent the knock out. Her eyes flashed in annoyance and she jerked back, intent on making him see stars, when his other hand shot up to grab her left.

His anxious gold eyes flickered to hers.

Think fast, think fast, think fast! He thought, queasily. What would make her rage dissipate? What could make her forget about her anger? Praising automail, saying my legs acting up? What, damn it, WHAT?

She narrowed her own, making sure to inject as much ire into her stare as possible.

I...I can... Against his will, as she began her threatening again, his eyes flickered to her lips. Would it even WORK? It would probably make her more angry, he deduced, but, he decided logically, it would definitely stun her enough for him to escape the household and head over to the river for a few hours!

It was perfect!

But did he have enough guts to do it right?

I've faced dangerous alchemists, seven annoying but homicidal Homunculi, one stuck-up Colonel, and an old bearded guy who wanted eternal life, Ed fired himself up, steeling his eyes. I can DO this! It's just Winry...with a wrench... crap...

"Let me go! I'm gonna' give you hell, Edward, that pie was everyone and you ate it! Ugh! You're such a pig!" she continued her tirade, trying to wrench her wrist from his grasp, and oblivious to the battling ideas that ran amok in his head. "It was a whole pan, too! How could you eat a whole pan of pie in half an hour?

Do it, he convinced himself. She'll be pissed as fuck but it'll be enough to save myself a hospital fee for a few hours!

She saw him nod, saw his eyes go hard and, before she knew it, his mouth crashed on hers and her once furious eyes widened in frozen shock.

The fury melted into bafflement.

Her death-grip on her wrench was reduced to jello and the tool fell to the ground with a loud clatter. His hands, which gripped her wrists, moved to grasp her hands instead, pulling them down as he screwed his eyes shut and continued to move his mouth against her unresponsive one.

Wh-what is this? She thought, thoroughly dumbfounded. She had always imagined their first kiss to be something heady and full of passion. But here he was, mouth against hers like she had dreamed about, and she was more pissed than anything in the world.

And now he was moving away, too!

Alarmed, she crushed her mouth against his again – making her own kiss unintentionally bruising.

"Wait, no—mfft—Win—!" Ed struggled away, not at all expecting this. He expected her to just stay stunned for a moment so he could properly maneuver around her and flee. But now she was forcing him still and his fighting will was slowly shearing away with every smack of their lips.

What...what was I gonna' do again? He thought, dazed, but regained enough of the lost IQ points from her eager response to grab her by the waist, responding with a fervor that made her dizzy and forget why she had come into the room in the first place. She twisted her hands out of his and lost her footing, causing him to fall sideways on his bed.

She pushed him on his back without breaking contact and straddled him, vaguely aware that he had finally stopped struggling against her.

The flurry of sensations and emotions stunned both of them for a moment. Her fury was reduced to wonder and his own dread transformed into desire. One had been waiting forever for the moment and the other was just looking for a manner of escape but now that he had her captive, hands gripping the curve of her waist, he was a little lost as to where he would take this.

His first plan had been to, well, run away although he couldn't recall why as now he wanted nothing more than to stay with her.

He hadn't really thought about what he would do after he had hit this stage since he was quite sure ripping her clothes off and getting rid of the maddening frustrations happened after he did something else, which he was still clueless to.

He had been too focused on the last stage to plot out the in-between one...

He allowed her a few seconds to catch her breath, which were coming quick and shallow, before he caught her lips again. She groaned, not having gotten enough breath, and moved her mouth away from his when she couldn't take it any longer. She discovered, in those few seconds of labored breathing, that air was such a pest in these types of situations.

He tasted sweet, a mixture of tenderized apples and cinnamon wrapped into one enticing package...

Suddenly, the reason for her being caught in the situation came back.

"Don't you think...that just because of this...you're not in trouble anymore!" She inhaled deeply, her forehead resting against his own as a small smile curved her lips.

Oh, right, I was supposed to run away! Now I remember! His eyes flickered from a rusted gold to a light yellow, as she caught her breath above him.

"Are you still going to hit me with that wrench?" he ventured, their breathing going back to normal.

"If you keep reminding me why I chased you around the house then you'll get something worse than my wrench in my skull!" she snapped, some of her previous anger filling into her eyes.

"Geez, sorry for thinking that after that you wouldn't want to murder me!" he huffed, mouth tugging into a scowl.

She watched him for a moment before lifting her hand and forcing the corner of his lip up.

He narrowed his eyes.

"You look better when you're smiling," was all she said, her own smile causing his flushed cheeks to grow darker as she hopped off him and picked up the tool from the floor. He propped himself up on his elbows, rather bewildered at the turn of events.

"That's...it?"

Her brows shot up, cheeks growing steadily pinker. "Um..."

His face grew scarlet. "NO! I didn't mean about-about that! I meant if you were going to hit me or...knock me out or something!" he hastily corrected himself, unable to meet her amused gaze. "You're not pissed anymore...right?"

She kept her disappointment at bay, reminding herself that this was Ed and he would not voluntarily be smooth until he was sure she wasn't just messing with him. Or if he could be smooth at all!

Her grandmother was right: it seemed that she would be the guide in their progressing relationship.

At least he told me how he feels, she told herself. That has to be worth something! "I've got better things to do than hit you with my wrench right now!" she loftily said, regaining her composure with a cross of her arms.

"Then why chase me around the house if you weren't gonna' do anything to me?" he asked, scathingly.

She grinned. "It's fun to watch you run around like a headless chicken!"

He scowled. "You—!"

"Hey," she lifted the corner of her own lips. "Smile or else I really will hit you over the head!" She rolled her eyes when he only grimaced and headed toward the ajar door of his bedroom. "And open up the window! It stinks in here!"

"At least my room doesn't smell like a motor!"

A vein popped on her temple. She spun on her heel and, without giving him a chance to realize what had just happened, thew her wrench and nailed him right on the forehead, throwing him back on the bed as her tool bounced on the bed.

She exhaled sharply. "Idiot!"

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WEREN'T GOING TO HIT ME! ARGHH!" Ed clutched his head, rolling on his side and curling inward. That hurt.

"When you stop saying stupid stuff then I'll stop hitting you!" she snapped back, stalking to grab her wrench and wasting no time in slamming the door behind her. She saw Al and Mei stand in the hall awkwardly, unsure of what had just happened.

"The pie will be delayed today," she smiled apologetically, tone significantly less volatile. "I'll have to bake another one because your idiot brother ate it all!"

Al frowned, concerned. "Is he okay in there...?" His brothers pained groaning was really beginning to worry him.

"He'll be fine once he sleeps it off!" she waved dismissively. "Mei, would you like to help me? You can come too, Al!"

Mei smiled, taking her word for it and waving off her own concerns. "Of course!"

"But...brother is..." Al frowned and, after a moment of quick deliberation, followed the two women downstairs; hoping his brother was alright as they began to prepare the doe.

***

Theme 020: Frozen Grapes

"Haha! Den! Quit it!" Alphonse laughed, as the family dog nipped at his heels.

Edward sank back on the tree he was using as shade and smiled when Den tackled Al to the ground, making the younger sibling smile when the dog began to lick off the dirt that had smudged on his face.

The day was sunny, rather cool under the rustling branches of the oak tree, and Edward could not have asked for a better day to leisurely watch his brother enjoy his life than in that very moment. He placed the book he had brought along on the floor beside him and basked in the peacefulness of this current chapter in his life.

There had been no emergency calls from Mustang (although he highly doubted he was a valuable asset to the military; with what his alchemy literally nonexistant) requesting his assistance; no troubling news from the bustling city of Central City or any other town they had previously visited. There was nothing other than long summer days and equally long nights spent under the comforting wing of his new family and frankly Edward hoped it would just stay like this. It was definately a change for the better from the dangerous and often nervewracking life he had led since he reached the age of twelve.

"Hey, Al, I brought your favourite!" Winry's cheerful voice brought him back from his doze. He cracked an eye open just in time to see Winry pull out a plate of frozen grapes, making Al grin before he bounced over to her side and took a few.

He noticed, belatedly, that Mei was also there, sitting on a blanket they had spread out somewhere during his light snoozing, munching on a ham sandwich as his brother feasted on his favourite treat during humid summer days such as those.

"Is Ed awake?" he heard Winry ask, voice notably softer, and he quickly shut his eye.

"Nope, he fell asleep half an hour ago!" he heard his brother respond. "I think he stayed up late again..."

"He's always staying up late," Winry chuckled. "He should really break out of that habit if he know's what's good for him!"

"Yeah, but it's a little hard to do," Al laughed sheepishly. "It took me months to get my sleep all sorted out, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, and Ed always had to force you to stay in bed and turn off all the lights until you fell asleep!" Winry giggled.

"Yep, and I'd always be grouchy in the morning because of it!" Al laughed, remembering the days all too clearly.

Edward felt a small smile tug on his lips as he, too, recalled the instances where he'd have to shove his brother under the covers and monitor him until he was sure the younger Elric was asleep before he would hit the sack as well. It had messed his own circadian cycle for a few weeks before they both managed to regulate their sleep in the end, thankfully.

"Hey, Mei, you wanna' play Frisbee with Den and me?"

"Frisbee?"

"It's an Amestrian game – c'mon, I'll show you how to play! It's really simple!"

He heard their rapid footsteps grow distant as they headed over, he was sure, to the open hillside where they used to roughhouse when they were kids. The plains were a gorgeous green at the moment but Ed knew it would only be a matter of time before the sun finally burned off the top layer of grass and the fields transformed into a golden yellow that looked equally gorgeous from afar but just plain ugly up close.

"Phew," he heard Winry sigh and heard her crawl over closer to him. He could feel her sitting next to him, resting against the same tree. He was tempted to open his eyes to see just what she was doing but decided against it in the end.

He was content just having her beside him.

After a few minutes of pleasant silence, Edward curiously opened one eye and turned his head a bit to find Winry also dozing off beside him. Her hand laid out to support her while her other lay on her lap, where he saw there was a small plate of half-finished grapes. He flashed his eyes back up to her, who was nodding off as she struggled against the final strings of consciousness.

A small smile climbed to his face and he reached over to the plate, taking it off her lap carefully so as not to wake her. He popped a grape in his mouth, turning back to Al and Mei and noticing that the Xingese girl could not, for the life in her, throw a Frisbee correctly.

It was humorous to watch the usually apt woman fail at throwing a Frisbee, shrieking gleefully when the wind threw it back to her and Den pounced her, Alphonse laughing at both of them good naturedly.

He felt Winry lean against him and he looked down to find her quietly sleeping, finally having given up resisting the allure of a midday nap under the tree. He contemplated moving and laying her down but instead he leaned back, leveling them, and his smile grew bigger when he heard her exhale contently and briefly nuzzle his shoulder.

Doesn't get any better than this, Ed thought to himself, laughing when Mei and Den both tackled Al to the ground when he caught the Frisbee.

***

Theme 021: Ice Cubes

He was convinced she was doing it on purpose but then again it was a very hot day.

Resembool was infamous for its heat waves and, at the moment, one of the worst had rolled its way into the peaceful countryside. The outside was burning and the inside was boiling. He could vaguely hear Mei sigh heavily as she let the hose water pour over her head continuously, a squeak alerting him that the water had no doubt become scalding and no longer cool.

He was sitting on the chair in the dinning room, cheek resting against the damp wood of the table as Winry tossed an ice-cube around in her mouth. She was sitting adjacent to him, slumped back in the seat donning the black tube top she hadn't worn in a year and a decent pair of shorts. Her hair was messily clipped up, sweat dripping down the curve of her neck and falling down the slope that led to her breasts.

But he wasn't very interested in that – not at the moment, anyway – he was more intrigued by the way her tongue wrapped around that piece of ice. She had been playing it with for a few minutes now before she crunched it to bits with her teeth. He became annoyed, entrainment having been torn away, but she popped another one into her mouth and the interest was instantly renewed.

His own cup of freshly squeezed lemonade sat next to his forehead; the condensing droplets that stuck to the outside of the cup allowing his head to cool as he slowly roasted from the sheer heat. His shirt had been lost somewhere between waking up to a burning sun and climbing downstairs to suffocate on the heat. His automail was mildly killing him – the leg hot to the touch – but it was better than nothing.

At least he didn't have his automail arm.

"It's hot," Ed whined again.

"I know!" Winry sighed for the umpteenth time that day, crunching the ice between her teeth. "This is the tenth time you've told me! Trust me, Ed, I know!"

"I want it to go away," he grumbled. "It was never so damn hot in the west! The most it got was around eighty and that was on a bad day!"

"Well, I hate to break to it to you but this isn't the west!" she snapped, tossing another ice into her mouth. His eyes automatically strayed to it, to the tongue that toyed with it and temped him more than he would admit to himself.

She noticed the stare and frowned, the cold piece of ice melting far too quickly in her mouth for her liking. "What?"

"What?"

"What are you staring at?" Her cheeks became a deeper pink but she was confident she could blame that on the intense heat that concentrated within the house. "Well?"

"Nothin'," Ed muttered, flashing his eyes away from her. "Where's Al again?"

"He's keeping Mei company, remember?" Winry mumbled, sighing and sitting straight when she felt the wood of the chair stick to her back. Her shorts felt moist and her tube top felt moister. She discreetly tried to adjust the slipping top but it was a move that was sharply caught by Ed, who further stared when he noticed just how low her top had gotten. "I think they're outside playing in the sun..."

"Who the hell would want to go play outside in the sun?" Ed asked, incredulous. "It's one hundred and four out there!"

"You ask them," Winry sighed. "They're using the hose so I guess that helps. The water bill is going to be high this month, though..."

"You make enough," he responded flatly.

"That's not the point, Ed." She frowned, popping in another piece of ice into her mouth. Edward was once again drawn to her mouth, imagining just how great it would feel against his own hot mouth. He drowsily wondered if steam would erupt, as she ran her tongue across her bottom lip.

His hand gripped his cup and he lifted himself straight, downing the glass and not minding when a stream of the drink escaped and leaked down his neck and over his bare chest. He honestly didn't care – he had half a mind not to drink the lemonade and simply dump it over his head in an effort to cool himself down. But the drink was sweet and he didn't want to be a sticky mess...although he was drenched in sweat, so it wouldn't really matter in the end.

This time Winry's eyes couldn't stray from him. Her eyes traced the stream of liquid that freely flowed down his sculpted chest. She was used to seeing him walk around half naked but it was severely different when he was walking around half naked and wet – his hair tied into a high pony tail, giving her a good view of his clean facial features – and looking absolutely irresistible just sitting there for the taking.

She stood up as well, mumbling something about getting more ice, and headed into the kitchen. She grimaced at the blow of hot air that came from the open backyard door. She could glimpse Al and Mei playing in the yard with Den barking at their heels – the hose spraying them with water that staved the heat off enough to partake in such actions.

They're so lucky, Winry sighed, the heat making her lethargic. I'll probably join them once I can't take the heat in here anymore! She barely caught her grandmother's peeking hair in the yard, stationed under a tree and fanning herself with a piece of cardboard.

She reached into the fridge and took out two ice cubes, groaning when the ice began to melt in her hand already. She barely took them out, they were melting already? She stuck them in her mouth stubbornly, hoping the ice would help her cool off some more, and shut the door, coming face to face with Ed's chest.

He was staring at her again.

"What do you want?" Winry groused, not really in the mood for anything but lazing around until the heat cooled. "If you want some ice, you can get some but don't stuff your face! We don't have that many! Maybe I should make more just in case..." she muttered, knowing that if Ed got a hold of the ice cubes he would surely finish them before the hour was over.

There was a slight pause. "Yeah, I want some ice..."

"Be my guest," she pointed at the fridge irately. However, instead of hearing the door open and sighing at Edward finishing off the only thing that kept her sane in the sweltering weather, she felt his hands grip her arms. "What're you—mmfhh!"

He got ice alright.

She froze up, face growing very hot, when he pulled back and licked the side of his lip.

Had he just done what she thought she did? He just stole her ice! Right out of her mouth, too! "Y...you..." She didn't know if she should be furious or swooning. She supposed doing a little of both would be fine.

"No steam.." he muttered, sounding disappointed for some reason.

"Wh-what?" she squeaked.

"Nothing!" He switched the two pieces of ice to the side of his mouth, smug at the unnatural red of her face. "Just came in to get some ice!"

"You stole my ice!" she stuttered out, forgetting her embarrassment for the sake of regaining a little of her dignity back. It was rare to really catch her off guard but Edward seemed to be doing it far more than she would admit. "Give it back!"

"No way! Go get your own ice!" he shot back. "I earned mine fair and square," he smirked.

She frowned and, grabbing shoulder, yanked him down to her level. She sometimes hated how tall he had gotten. She crushed her mouth against his and it wasn't long before she was battling to retrieve her stolen ice and he was fending her off to keep the treasure. But it also wasn't long before, the heat from both their mouths burning, the two pieces of ice melted, leaving behind a cold trail that quickly boiled at the touch of their own tongues.

She felt the melted ice water trail down her chin and trickle off, landing on her feverish flesh as she grabbed his ponytail and pulled back to catch a breath, grunting when Ed slammed her against the counter and dipped her head lower back.

His hands slipped off her moist waist and eventually he settled on just gripping the edge of the counter while she pressed up against his chest, her own tube top feeling dangerously low.

She rose a hand, trying to pull it up without freeing her lips from his, and felt his own hand pause her fingers. A finger hooked around the edge of the top, sliding it down too low to be considered decent. The moisture building on her skin helped to further his advances and she squeaked when the top managed to slip all the way down her stomach

She gasped into his mouth and pulled up the top over her breasts immediately, biting his lip bruisingly when she heard him laugh against her mouth at her modesty, his hand brushing the swell rather daringly.

She bit harder.

"Ouch—Win!"

"Quit it," she murmured against his mouth, running her tongue over the shallow wound she had inflicted on his bottom lip.

She was seemingly forgiven when he eagerly responded.

They parted, breathless, and she saw that the place she had grabbed him was already sweating. In fact, she felt as if she had just worked out – with the flush of her face and the sweat dripping down her temples. His breath was hot; no longer a cold brand against her own as the ice had melted.

"...Wanna' get another?"

"Go back to the dinning room, Ed."

"Aw, c'mon! It's hot!"

"I know it's hot! Quit pointing out the obvious already!"

"Didn't mean it that way.." he muttered under his breath.

She rose a brow at him, not catching his comment. "What was that?"

"Is there anymore ice left? It's seriously hot..." He whined instead, fanning himself to prove his point.

Perhaps during another heat wave, she'd allow him to steal her ice again, as she retrieved a small bucket full of ice from the freezer and handed it to him, trudging out the back door and into the intense sunlight; not sure she would be able to hold herself back if they continued their activities. She noticed they were breaking the rules more and more now. She also noticed how she wasn't really adverse to breaking them unlike before.

But Pinako's Golden Rule still stood strong and Winry wasn't about to put herself on the line for a few minutes of pleasure. No matter how much Edward tempted her otherwise...

"Hey, Alphonse!" Winry called, a little strangled. She cleared her throat. "Mind spraying some water on me?"

Al beamed back. "About time you joined us! It's like an oven in there!"

"No kidding," she muttered, flinching when the tepid water splashed her head on. At least this way she'd be abel to distract herself from the keen gold eyes that watched her from the screen door.

***

Theme 022: Bittersweet

He heard the gravel crunch under shoes behind him and he stood from his kneel. He turned, knowing who stood a few feet away, no doubt with a scowl marring his face, and was not surprised when he saw Edward standing with his hands shoved into his overcoats pockets.

"You're late for dinner so Winry told me to come and get you," he grumbled. The younger sibling noticed he avoided looking at the grave behind him. "Hurry up or it'll get cold."

"Thanks," Al murmured, taking one last glance at the tombstone. "...You should say goodbye." He quietly suggested, not breaking his gaze off the stone but knowing his brother had just sent him a look of outrage. "I know he wasn't the best...but he really tried to be in the end."

"Yeah, well, he didn't try hard enough!" Ed spat, mood embittered. "Let's just go! I'm starving so—!"

Alphonse moved forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, stating: "You have to let it go. You can't harbor the hate forever, you know – it'll only hurt you in the end. Just a couple of minutes, Ed, that's all I'm asking." Al walked out of the cemetery, leaving his brother to deliberate his words with a furious scowl that melted into apathy after he was sure Al had left him alone.

Hate? Ed thought, with a clench of his hand. His eyes finally landed on the stone, where the words Van Hohenheim were carved in neatly. There was a bouquet of white lilies resting beside the stone and Ed had the minor muse to kick it because he didn't deserve the flowers. However, he didn't when his eyes landed on the stone beside his – his mother's grave.

Trisha Elric.

An old pain came back. It was a familiar ache that had only been washed out due to age and experience. It wasn't as bad as before, not as a painful or heartbreaking, but it was still an ache he knew he'd carry for all his life.

Van Hohenheim.

Another ache, stronger and fiercer, sprouted in his chest beside the ache for his mother. The pain of his fathers premature leave was always fresh, always as if it had happened days before, and he supposed that he did not hate his father in the end. There was some mild compassion for the old man that just couldn't be erased, he knew this. He had thought he hated his old man with a passion but it wasn't so when he explained his reasons and confessed to being a human Philosopher's Stone.

"I am a monster with a wish to become human" – he supposed those words were what brought the sludge of guilt to knock him down a few centimeters that night. He hadn't been what he was expecting – a rude, disrespecting, piece of shit with a bad attitude – and that only proved to further the flush of confusion and sudden vulnerability within him.

He left on a quest to return back to normal because he wanted to grow old with us. Edward thought, annoyed by his fathers flawed logic. Stupid bastard didn't have to go and leave us! He did it all wrong – he could have just taken us with him...then it wouldn't have hurt so bad and maybe mom would've lived longer!

He kneeled before her grave, absently tracing the small cracks that lined the weathered stone with a single finger. "I can't believe you fell in love with this bastard." He sighed in resignation, turning reluctantly to his father's grave. "But I guess you weren't so bad if mom liked you... stupid, but not bad." He muttered, kneeling and clonking his fist against the grave stone in silent forgiveness. "You were a shitty father... but I guess you pulled through in the end." He softly smiled, letting his hand slide down the stone with something close to affection.

"See you later... dad."

He stood up and dusted his knees and hands off, giving both their stones one last look before heading out of the cemetery – a weight he did not know he even carried lifted from his shoulders.
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I narazie tyle... Razz

Średnio raz w tygodniu pojawia się nowy rozdzialik.
Jak widać niektóre są dłuższe, niektóre dłuższe, ale wszystkie urocze i sprawiają, że jakoś takciepło na sercu się robi.
Padają słowa, których brakowało w serii Fullmetal Alchemis, które, chociaż się czuło, to jednak nigdy nie zostały wyklarowane.