Winry blinked, surprised but already smiling as he held the gift out — ,
“… For me .ᐣ ” She wiped her hands on a rag before taking it, turning the box over carefully, “You know you don’t have to bring me things. Just, maybe stop destroying your automail every other week.”
shouldn’t have’ territory.”
She finally glanced up at him, expression softening just a fraction at the guilt on his face — ,
“Apology accepted.. But you’re still telling me exactly how this happened.”
Winry let out a long, slow exhale. She scooted her stool closer, fingers already sweeping his sleeve up and over the ruined limb, eyes narrowing ,
“Good. Sitting is a start,” she said, tone clipped but not crude.
Her hands were gentle despite the way her brows knit tighter 𖤉
—
He dropped into the nearest chair so fast the legs scraped loudly against the floor.
“See? Sat. Totally still. Not going anywhere. …Please don’t throw the wrench.”
He hunched his shoulders slightly, gaze lowered, voice small with guilt:
“…Sorry, Winry. Really.”
with every new problem she spotted.
She angled the arm, testing a connection with her thumb. The click it made was not a healthy one.
A small sigh slipped out of her — ,
“…Ed, what did you do to this .ᐣ This isn’t wear and tear, this is ‘you definitely did something you 𖤉
Winry’s eye twitched so sharply it might’ve counted as a seismic event.
She stared at the dangling bolt on the floor, then at the disaster masquerading as his arm, then back at Edward with the slow, a realization dawning.
She severely underestimated how stupid one human 𖤉
planted her hands on her hips once more ─── ,
“BARELY WORTH YELLING ABOUT- .ᐟ.ᐣ.ᐟ.ᐣ”
She gave him a look of utter disbelief,
“Edward Elric, if that automail were a person, it would be filing a restraining order from YOU.ᐟ”
She let out a breath through her nose, 𖤉
She planted her hands on her hips, leaning in with that deadly, too sweet smile he knew spelled doom ── ,
“Go on. Show me what you did to it this time.”
“You won’t regret it. I’ll make sure every soldier that comes back from the field walks again, fights again, lives again.”
Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, unable to contain the sheer energy bubbling up inside her,
“You’ll see .ᐟ .ᐟ”
Winry’s eyes widened, the words taking a second to sink in, then her whole face lit up. For a heartbeat, she just stood there, mouth open in surprise—then a grin broke through, bright and unrestrained,
“You mean it──.ᐣ ” she blurted, stepping forward before she could stop 𖤉
He added, smirk returning in full force,
“You’ll be working with the military, not tearing it apart, and if you can manage to keep our less fortunate men in one piece, and my desk free of wrench marks, I might even call this the best decision I’ve made all week.”
herself, “You’re really letting me do this .ᐟ .ᐣ ”
There was a spark in her eyes that was equal parts relief and excitement that could probably power half of Central’s generators, 𖤉
of my warranty service .ᐣ”
She raised her free hand to pat at his shoulder ,
“You can drag your brother next time. I’ll even help you.” She chimed, her smile pulling wide,
“Really Ed, I don’t bite. Not all the time at least.”
She shook her head.
“Guess so.ᐣ”
She said it lightly, though there was something warm in her tone. Her chin came to rest in her palm as she watched the landscape roll by, her eyes rolling as well at the expression on his face ,
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this is almost a chore 𖤉
for you .ᐟ”
She turned toward him, an amused spark in her eyes, “You look like someone sentenced to hard labor instead of a guy getting to take a trip across the desert without a single death threat. Should I start charging for emotional maintenance too── or is that part 𖤉