Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Expect the Unexpected ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: LadyRiona 
Edward overhears an interesting phone call...
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.15.2005 | Updated On: 11.05.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 293 | Status: Completed
Edward overhears an interesting phone call...
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 10.15.2005 | Updated On: 11.05.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 293 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: Don't own FMA. Now on with the show.Chapter 4
Winry sat back as Ed pulled up at his house a short while after the lunch with her and Alphonse. Quintus had joined them for a while until more customers had come in. Then she’d left to attend them, leaving a comment about the meal being “on the house.” Winry had smiled then. She had seen the connection between the woman and Edward, blatant as it was. There had just been a way that they talked to each other and how they had related to everything the other had said. The way Ed had looked at Quintus had spoken of the strange affection they shared. He didn’t seem like the type who showed too much of his feelings, if any at all. If he ever did show them willingly, Winry figured whoever was receiving the words would have to sift through them to find the meaning.
When she heard him take the keys out of the ignition, Winry looked at Ed. He was giving her a stern look. “Stay,” he told her firmly. Then he climbed out of the car into the cool air. She watched him shiver as he rounded the hood and approached her door. She sighed when he opened it and she slid out.
“You know, I’m fully capable of opening my own door?” she asked, adjusting her sweater on her shoulders. It had stopped raining, but the scent of it was still in the air.
Ed looked at her. “I know. But I can open it, too,” he replied. “This is my house, nothing extravagant. Two men live here, so it isn’t going to be the cleanest place ever.” He started toward the house when Alphonse pulled in.
She started after Edward when she noticed something strange. He was walking with a limp, favoring his left leg. She wondered why.
“Did Ed warn you about the house?” she heard Al ask from behind her. He sounded faintly amused, yet a little nervous at the same time.
Winry turned to look at him, walking backwards. “Yeah, he did. He also told me earlier that we were only here to pick up a few things, and that I had to stay in the living room,” she answered, grinning a little.
She saw Al roll his eyes. “Yeah, well…he’s probably right. The house is a mess, even though I tried cleaning it today. I was up at about six in the morning with nothing better to do after eating breakfast and checking my work downstairs.”
“Oh yeah, you work with armor, right?” Winry asked, smiling at him. She saw Al visibly wince. A laugh escaped on its own accord.
He nodded when they reached the front stoop. “Yeah. It’s fun, but there isn’t much to do right now. There aren’t any fairs I have to make armor for, or repair, so business is slow.”
Winry looked around the living room when they entered the house. She heard Al shut the door behind them, but she was too busy taking in her surroundings to acknowledge anything further. The house may have been messy, yes, but it didn’t take away from the place. The living room looked very homey, with bookshelves lining the wall to the immediate left. And sure enough, those bookshelves were put to good use as there were books taking up every available surface. There was a little spot near the center of the wall left open for the TV to sit against.
To her right was a bare white wall. A couch and recliner were a few feet away from the wall, but not far enough to be in the middle of the room. Further in were countertops enclosing the kitchen with space enough cut away to be the walkway through. There were cabinets hanging from the ceiling above the counters. The same set up was all around the kitchen. In the far corner of the room was a door, which Winry assumed led to a laundry room of some sort.
From what she could see, Edward’s claim of “nothing extravagant” was a very modest statement. If she could have chosen a small house to live in, a place like the one she was in now would be her first choice.
She saw Edward walk out of the door in the far corner, a scowl she found was his usual expression resting on his face. When he looked at her, she offered him a smile. Just because he was a grumpy person didn’t mean she had to be one, too.
“Don’t touch anything,” he told her. “Have a seat, watch TV.” Then he ensconced himself in grabbing whatever he needed.
Winry smiled to herself when she took his offer to sit. He was perhaps the most impossible person she had come across, but he had a nice house. She had to credit him with that.
---------------
Over the next couple days, Edward and Alphonse had been accustoming themselves to living in a house with a female. They were also working on moving in the few belongings they had brought along. Alphonse, since he claimed he wouldn’t be around much in the mornings, had brought a couple books to read. He was a very easy to please person. Edward had packed the case files he’d had lying around his home and very few other miscellaneous items that would keep him occupied when he wasn’t researching. He had found on the second day there that Winry had an enormous library and he was more than happy to hide himself there. Other than the fact that they were now living with a woman, things were great.
Winry kept her house slightly cool for the winter time, so Edward had no problem keeping his prosthetics hidden beneath socks and his custom made glove. It was the color of his skin and had the appearance of skin, but was made of waterproof suede. If anyone ever asked, he would answer that it was a glove to help rebuild strength in his hand because of a previous accident. It was true. But when he was hiding, no one really sought him out. Al knew why he was gone, and Winry just didn’t want his company half of the time.
And at this very moment, Edward was hidden away in the library, studying some case file that Mustang had yet to solve. It made Edward laugh inwardly. But at the same time that he was doing something useful, he was also cheating on his own rules terribly. He was sitting with his right side to the door and his left foot on the floor. He would tap his toe on the floor to some unknown beat in his head. Yes, he had no sock on, either.
It wasn’t his fault he enjoyed the sound of his prosthetic on tile and wood floors.
And if someone decided to burst into the room he could bring his foot up and sit on it until they left, hopefully. His leg wouldn’t go to sleep, but it could become powerfully uncomfortable sometimes when he sat on it too long. He would usually walk with a limp afterwards to show for his stupidity. Al would always ask if he’d fallen asleep at his desk again. Edward could only growl, since that would be the case half of the time.
Suddenly the door opened, startling Ed. Immediately, he pulled his foot up under his right thigh and then gazed back down at his papers importantly. He peeked out of the corner of his eye and saw it was only Al to come in. With a bit of a frustrated look at his brother, Edward lowered his foot again.
“Brother, you know that’s risky,” Al pointed out. “Winry could have been right behind me.”
Ed looked out the door behind Al. “Is she?” Al shook his head. “Then we’re okay. I was feeling a little….” He trailed off, unable to find a decent word to explain how he was feeling.
“Contained? Trapped?” Al supplied.
“Hidden. So I had to escape. Plus, I like the sound my foot makes when I walk.” To prove his point, Ed tapped his foot on the ground, grinning.
Before Al had a chance to respond, the phone rang. Ed reached to the handset and waited until it stopped ringing. When he was sure someone had answered, he turned the phone on and listened. He had been monitoring all phone calls, in and out. The phone had a nifty little device that let him know if someone was on the phone if he hadn’t been paying attention. And until he could get a crew out to wire the lines, he was stuck listening to them and recording them all on his own until then.
The phone conversation Edward began recording was a slightly strange one.
“I told you not to call here unless it was an emergency.” It was Primus talking.
“I know, but I have news for you that couldn’t wait.” Was that…? No, couldn’t be her…
Primus sighed very audibly. “What is it? I have work I need to be doing,” he said in an aggravated manner.
“Wow, that’s a first. Your employer’s bodyguard…what do you know about him?” the female voice asked.
“He works for Central Police in the Criminal Intelligence Division. His younger brother lives with him because their mother died when they were young. They’re alchemists.” Primus sounded more frustrated when there was a noise in the background that sounded like a pan falling to the ground. “Is there anything really important that can’t wait, because I’m supposed to be cooking dinner,” he said. It really didn’t sound how Primus would talk, so Ed thought something was up.
“He’s the one,” the other voice whispered as few moments later, “that I was with four months ago. Be careful with him. If he smells a rat, he’ll find it.”
There was silence. “Is that all?”
“Yes. I thought it would help you, but I guess not. Now I have work to do,” the woman said importantly and hung up.
Edward waiting a moment until he heard Primus hang up, too, before he pushed the off button on the handset. He shook his head in disbelief.
“Who was that?” Al asked, pulling up a chair and sitting in it backwards.
Still shaking his head, Ed looked up at his brother. “Primus, and it sounded like he was talking to–”
“Edward! Alphonse!” Winry shouted, very probably at the top of her opera singer lungs. Accompanying her voice were footsteps.
Ed and Al looked at each other, panicked, but Ed recovered quickly enough to reach over and pull his sock on. Just as the door opened and Winry burst in, Ed had pulled his sock on all the way. She looked at him and how he was sitting a little curiously, but dismissed it. “Who was on the phone?” she asked.
The older man looked at Al hesitantly. “Someone for Primus,” he answered, wondering if he’d just been the one to take the first scoop out of his grave.
“Primus?” Winry looked slightly puzzled.
Ed nodded, to her and to himself. Yes, he had just started his own grave. And he couldn’t help but deepen it. “Maybe his sister or something,” he said, reaching back to rub his neck.
“But I didn’t think he had a sister, or any living family for that matter, poor man,” she mused.
Officially becoming nervous, Ed stammered for words. “I don’t know” he finally managed. “I need to get back to work.” As if it were impertinent to life, he gestured to the table. Then his sleeve dared to creep up his wrist, over his glove. He pulled his arm back in and tugged his sleeve back down in what he hoped was an inconspicuous manner.
Winry looked at him, slightly suspicious, but shook her head. “Dinner is almost ready,” she said before walking out.
Ed let out a breath slowly. Al looked at him pointedly. “You know, if you just tell her that you have prosthetics, you can stop worrying about hiding them from her,” he said easily.
“No.” Edward shook his head. “If I tell her, then she’ll ask questions. And she doesn’t need any answers. Neither do you.” He stood up quickly, dismissing the matter.
“Brother, where are you going?” Al asked, sounding a little frustrated.
Ed didn’t stop to answer. “The bathroom,” he threw over his shoulder as he left the library.
In the hall, he heard Al come after him. The older Elric turned to look at his brother. Al stopped in front of him and dropped a pair of slippers on the floor. “You forgot these,” he said and tromped down the stairs.
Ed sighed and slid his feet into the manly-looking slippers. Then he proceeded to the bathroom, wordlessly.
Just because he was Winry Rockbell’s bodyguard didn’t mean they had to know everything about each other. He just had to know everything about her. That was that.
Winry sat back as Ed pulled up at his house a short while after the lunch with her and Alphonse. Quintus had joined them for a while until more customers had come in. Then she’d left to attend them, leaving a comment about the meal being “on the house.” Winry had smiled then. She had seen the connection between the woman and Edward, blatant as it was. There had just been a way that they talked to each other and how they had related to everything the other had said. The way Ed had looked at Quintus had spoken of the strange affection they shared. He didn’t seem like the type who showed too much of his feelings, if any at all. If he ever did show them willingly, Winry figured whoever was receiving the words would have to sift through them to find the meaning.
When she heard him take the keys out of the ignition, Winry looked at Ed. He was giving her a stern look. “Stay,” he told her firmly. Then he climbed out of the car into the cool air. She watched him shiver as he rounded the hood and approached her door. She sighed when he opened it and she slid out.
“You know, I’m fully capable of opening my own door?” she asked, adjusting her sweater on her shoulders. It had stopped raining, but the scent of it was still in the air.
Ed looked at her. “I know. But I can open it, too,” he replied. “This is my house, nothing extravagant. Two men live here, so it isn’t going to be the cleanest place ever.” He started toward the house when Alphonse pulled in.
She started after Edward when she noticed something strange. He was walking with a limp, favoring his left leg. She wondered why.
“Did Ed warn you about the house?” she heard Al ask from behind her. He sounded faintly amused, yet a little nervous at the same time.
Winry turned to look at him, walking backwards. “Yeah, he did. He also told me earlier that we were only here to pick up a few things, and that I had to stay in the living room,” she answered, grinning a little.
She saw Al roll his eyes. “Yeah, well…he’s probably right. The house is a mess, even though I tried cleaning it today. I was up at about six in the morning with nothing better to do after eating breakfast and checking my work downstairs.”
“Oh yeah, you work with armor, right?” Winry asked, smiling at him. She saw Al visibly wince. A laugh escaped on its own accord.
He nodded when they reached the front stoop. “Yeah. It’s fun, but there isn’t much to do right now. There aren’t any fairs I have to make armor for, or repair, so business is slow.”
Winry looked around the living room when they entered the house. She heard Al shut the door behind them, but she was too busy taking in her surroundings to acknowledge anything further. The house may have been messy, yes, but it didn’t take away from the place. The living room looked very homey, with bookshelves lining the wall to the immediate left. And sure enough, those bookshelves were put to good use as there were books taking up every available surface. There was a little spot near the center of the wall left open for the TV to sit against.
To her right was a bare white wall. A couch and recliner were a few feet away from the wall, but not far enough to be in the middle of the room. Further in were countertops enclosing the kitchen with space enough cut away to be the walkway through. There were cabinets hanging from the ceiling above the counters. The same set up was all around the kitchen. In the far corner of the room was a door, which Winry assumed led to a laundry room of some sort.
From what she could see, Edward’s claim of “nothing extravagant” was a very modest statement. If she could have chosen a small house to live in, a place like the one she was in now would be her first choice.
She saw Edward walk out of the door in the far corner, a scowl she found was his usual expression resting on his face. When he looked at her, she offered him a smile. Just because he was a grumpy person didn’t mean she had to be one, too.
“Don’t touch anything,” he told her. “Have a seat, watch TV.” Then he ensconced himself in grabbing whatever he needed.
Winry smiled to herself when she took his offer to sit. He was perhaps the most impossible person she had come across, but he had a nice house. She had to credit him with that.
---------------
Over the next couple days, Edward and Alphonse had been accustoming themselves to living in a house with a female. They were also working on moving in the few belongings they had brought along. Alphonse, since he claimed he wouldn’t be around much in the mornings, had brought a couple books to read. He was a very easy to please person. Edward had packed the case files he’d had lying around his home and very few other miscellaneous items that would keep him occupied when he wasn’t researching. He had found on the second day there that Winry had an enormous library and he was more than happy to hide himself there. Other than the fact that they were now living with a woman, things were great.
Winry kept her house slightly cool for the winter time, so Edward had no problem keeping his prosthetics hidden beneath socks and his custom made glove. It was the color of his skin and had the appearance of skin, but was made of waterproof suede. If anyone ever asked, he would answer that it was a glove to help rebuild strength in his hand because of a previous accident. It was true. But when he was hiding, no one really sought him out. Al knew why he was gone, and Winry just didn’t want his company half of the time.
And at this very moment, Edward was hidden away in the library, studying some case file that Mustang had yet to solve. It made Edward laugh inwardly. But at the same time that he was doing something useful, he was also cheating on his own rules terribly. He was sitting with his right side to the door and his left foot on the floor. He would tap his toe on the floor to some unknown beat in his head. Yes, he had no sock on, either.
It wasn’t his fault he enjoyed the sound of his prosthetic on tile and wood floors.
And if someone decided to burst into the room he could bring his foot up and sit on it until they left, hopefully. His leg wouldn’t go to sleep, but it could become powerfully uncomfortable sometimes when he sat on it too long. He would usually walk with a limp afterwards to show for his stupidity. Al would always ask if he’d fallen asleep at his desk again. Edward could only growl, since that would be the case half of the time.
Suddenly the door opened, startling Ed. Immediately, he pulled his foot up under his right thigh and then gazed back down at his papers importantly. He peeked out of the corner of his eye and saw it was only Al to come in. With a bit of a frustrated look at his brother, Edward lowered his foot again.
“Brother, you know that’s risky,” Al pointed out. “Winry could have been right behind me.”
Ed looked out the door behind Al. “Is she?” Al shook his head. “Then we’re okay. I was feeling a little….” He trailed off, unable to find a decent word to explain how he was feeling.
“Contained? Trapped?” Al supplied.
“Hidden. So I had to escape. Plus, I like the sound my foot makes when I walk.” To prove his point, Ed tapped his foot on the ground, grinning.
Before Al had a chance to respond, the phone rang. Ed reached to the handset and waited until it stopped ringing. When he was sure someone had answered, he turned the phone on and listened. He had been monitoring all phone calls, in and out. The phone had a nifty little device that let him know if someone was on the phone if he hadn’t been paying attention. And until he could get a crew out to wire the lines, he was stuck listening to them and recording them all on his own until then.
The phone conversation Edward began recording was a slightly strange one.
“I told you not to call here unless it was an emergency.” It was Primus talking.
“I know, but I have news for you that couldn’t wait.” Was that…? No, couldn’t be her…
Primus sighed very audibly. “What is it? I have work I need to be doing,” he said in an aggravated manner.
“Wow, that’s a first. Your employer’s bodyguard…what do you know about him?” the female voice asked.
“He works for Central Police in the Criminal Intelligence Division. His younger brother lives with him because their mother died when they were young. They’re alchemists.” Primus sounded more frustrated when there was a noise in the background that sounded like a pan falling to the ground. “Is there anything really important that can’t wait, because I’m supposed to be cooking dinner,” he said. It really didn’t sound how Primus would talk, so Ed thought something was up.
“He’s the one,” the other voice whispered as few moments later, “that I was with four months ago. Be careful with him. If he smells a rat, he’ll find it.”
There was silence. “Is that all?”
“Yes. I thought it would help you, but I guess not. Now I have work to do,” the woman said importantly and hung up.
Edward waiting a moment until he heard Primus hang up, too, before he pushed the off button on the handset. He shook his head in disbelief.
“Who was that?” Al asked, pulling up a chair and sitting in it backwards.
Still shaking his head, Ed looked up at his brother. “Primus, and it sounded like he was talking to–”
“Edward! Alphonse!” Winry shouted, very probably at the top of her opera singer lungs. Accompanying her voice were footsteps.
Ed and Al looked at each other, panicked, but Ed recovered quickly enough to reach over and pull his sock on. Just as the door opened and Winry burst in, Ed had pulled his sock on all the way. She looked at him and how he was sitting a little curiously, but dismissed it. “Who was on the phone?” she asked.
The older man looked at Al hesitantly. “Someone for Primus,” he answered, wondering if he’d just been the one to take the first scoop out of his grave.
“Primus?” Winry looked slightly puzzled.
Ed nodded, to her and to himself. Yes, he had just started his own grave. And he couldn’t help but deepen it. “Maybe his sister or something,” he said, reaching back to rub his neck.
“But I didn’t think he had a sister, or any living family for that matter, poor man,” she mused.
Officially becoming nervous, Ed stammered for words. “I don’t know” he finally managed. “I need to get back to work.” As if it were impertinent to life, he gestured to the table. Then his sleeve dared to creep up his wrist, over his glove. He pulled his arm back in and tugged his sleeve back down in what he hoped was an inconspicuous manner.
Winry looked at him, slightly suspicious, but shook her head. “Dinner is almost ready,” she said before walking out.
Ed let out a breath slowly. Al looked at him pointedly. “You know, if you just tell her that you have prosthetics, you can stop worrying about hiding them from her,” he said easily.
“No.” Edward shook his head. “If I tell her, then she’ll ask questions. And she doesn’t need any answers. Neither do you.” He stood up quickly, dismissing the matter.
“Brother, where are you going?” Al asked, sounding a little frustrated.
Ed didn’t stop to answer. “The bathroom,” he threw over his shoulder as he left the library.
In the hall, he heard Al come after him. The older Elric turned to look at his brother. Al stopped in front of him and dropped a pair of slippers on the floor. “You forgot these,” he said and tromped down the stairs.
Ed sighed and slid his feet into the manly-looking slippers. Then he proceeded to the bathroom, wordlessly.
Just because he was Winry Rockbell’s bodyguard didn’t mean they had to know everything about each other. He just had to know everything about her. That was that.