Chapter Text
Ed was feeling sorry for himself again.
Well, more properly, he was feeling guilty, but that basically translated into the same thing for Ed. Winry did the only sensible thing she could think of, and kicked him.
“Ow!” Ed whined, rubbing his shin. “What did you do that for?”
Winry narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you going to spend the whole night moping?” she asked. “It doesn’t do Al any good, you know.” Which was true. Al was going to howl in his cage in the basement no matter what any of them did. Ed always acted like he could sit vigil and it would make it better somehow, but that was stupid. There was no point to it, and Al wouldn’t even want Ed to suffer.
Ed’s face went stormy. “Leave me alone,” he snarled.
Winry went right up into his face. “You can’t make me,” she said, grinning. It would piss him off, but pissed-off Ed was better than self-pitying Ed any day.
She expected him to push her away, or complain, or argue. She didn’t expect the way he froze. He leaned his head in, breathing her in. When she looked up, his yellow eyes were bright and dangerous. She was suddenly aware that he was taller than her; larger and stronger than her. Her heart beat fast in her chest. She had never been afraid of Ed, not ever. But there was something in his eyes tonight...
Then he pulled himself back so hard he slammed into the wall and slumped onto his bed. He covered his face with his arms. “Sorry...” he mumbled. “You smell- shit- I’m sorry-”
“Ed,” she said, gently, pulling one of his arms away. “What was that about? Why are you being so weird tonight?”
“Winry,” he groaned, and there was an animal whine in the depths of his voice. “Just leave me alone. You shouldn’t be around me right now.” More self-pity- but something else, too.
“You’re not going to shift, are you?” Winry said, stubbornly. Ed shook his head mutely. “Then you can behave yourself.” She plopped herself down on the bed next to him.
“Winry,” he groaned, again. “Why are you doing this?”
Because I remember you when your eyes were blue, she thought. She reached out and ran her fingers through his bangs. He shivered at her touch. His skin, when her fingers brushed over it, was warmer than it should have been. “You need someone to expect you to be human,” she told him. She thumped him on the forehead. “Don’t be a jerk. Are you hungry? I could fix something to eat. We have plenty of meat in the icebox; Granny always stocks up around this time.”
Ed let his breath out, and suddenly, he seemed a little more like the boy she’d grown up with. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m pretty hungry.”