Edward Elric and the Goblet of Fire Chapter 1
Edward Elric looked grumpily out the misty window of the Central-bound train he was currently on.He hated the rain. He absent-mindedly ran a hand over his prosthetic knee and heard a clink as his brother turned to follow the path of his hand with his eyes.
"Nii-san. . ." Ed made an inquiring sound, halting in what he was doing. "Does your automail hurt?"
"Yeah, a little," he mumbled, "I wish the damn rain would stop, it's really depressing."
"I hope so, too." Al agreed quietly. Ed sighed deeply.
"I'm sorry, Al."
"Hm?"
"The fake lead. . .?" He prompted.
"Oh, right. It's okay, Nii-san, I don't mind."
"Al. . ." Ed's eyes softened.
"Yes?" He sighed again.
"Never mind."
As Ed turned away and rested his chin on his hand to resume staring out the window and pouting, Al heard him mumble, "Damn depressing rain. . ." and almost chuckled.
--
Ed tromped loudly up the stairs to the Colonel's office, shaking the water out of his hair on the way. Al walked timidly behind him, clanking loudly with every step. Not bothering to knock, Ed shoved the office door open and strode in, causing Roy to look up and smirk.
"Well, Fullmetal, finally decided to grace us with your presence?" Ed's face formed a frown.
"Shut up, bastard." He handed his report off to Roy, waiting while he looked over it quickly.
"Well, looks like you didn't have much luck." the blond's frown deepened, "I have a new lead for you, at least."
He handed Ed a file and watched as his eyes skimmed over the paper quickly. He looked up, looked down at the file again, and shoved it into his customary red coat.
"I'll be going, then." He said, raising a hand in a sort of half-wave as he turned to leave.
"Come on, Al," He mumbled as he passed his brother.
"Right."
Roy picked up his pen and turned back to his paperwork, but his head whipped up again as he heard a series of large thumps and a crash, accompanied by a metallic "Nii-san!", and he got up. Poking his head around the door, he saw Al, but no Ed.
"You alright, Fullmetal?" He called.
A faint "Fuck!" from the bottom of the stairs was all he got. He walked over to see, finding Ed just getting to his feet at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing the back of his head and cursing under his breath. Al ran down the stairs, and when Ed took a step towards him, he paused and gave a wary look at his left leg.
"My automail feels funny. . ." he glanced up at Al, "It feels dislocated."
"Fullmetal," the Colonel spoke from the top of the stairs, "You should probably go back to Resembool to get that checked."
"Yeah, yeah," the blond said irritably, hating to be told what to do, even if that was what he was about to suggest anyways. "I'll do that."
He turned and stomped out into the rain as best he could, Al in in tow, and bought tickets for the next train back to Resembool, which was the next morning, on the way to the dorms.
--
As he stepped off the train onto the sunny platform, Ed stifled a yawn and looked around, waiting for Al to get off as well.
"Let's go." Al nodded and they marched out into the street, Ed slightly limping.
As they walked, they discussed cloud shapes and when Ed tripped over a rock in the road, Al reprimanded him for yelling insults at a sheep who happened to be looking in their direction.
When they arrived at the Rockbells' residence, Ed was glad for a break from the hot August sunshine, limping up the front steps and knocking. Pinako answered and looked up at him for a moment before asking, "Whaddya you want, runt?" and causing the blond to flip out and start a yelling match. Winry heard the commotion and came to the door, peering around her grandmother and greeting Al.
"What brings you two out here?" She shouted over Ed and Pinako.
"Nii-san wants his automail looked at."
"Oh. . ." She glanced over at the two fighting and a vein popped out on her head.
"WILL YOU SHUT UP? YOU'RE BOTH MIDGETS, IT'S A SAD FACT OF LIFE, GET OVER IT!"
Pinako looked at her grudgingly, while Ed's face flushed.
"Hey! I'll-" Winry quickly pulled her omnipresent wrench out of nowhere and smacked him over the head with it. Al gasped and she dragged Ed into the house by the back of his coat. He quickly got to his feet and glared at Winry.
"You said your automail needed work?" Ed glared a her for another moment before letting it go.
"Yeah, my leg feels a little funny. . ."
Winry immeditely switched into SUPAH-GEARHEAD MODE! and started chattering away and tinkering with Ed's leg once he got his pants leg rolled up.
"This should be easy to fix," Winry concluded, "A few things were knocked loose, is all. What were you doing to it, anyways?"
"I. . . Well-ah. . ." Ed had a slight blush.
"Nii-san fell down a whole flight of stairs!" Al piped up excitedly.
"Just how did you do that?" Winry cocked a brow and put her hands on her hips.
"It was rainy, okay?" Ed mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest, "My boots were wet, and I was walking fast. . ."
Winry just blinked.
"Right then. . ." She pulled over a chair. "Sit down," She pointed at said chair, "And stick your leg out."
Ed did as instructed and Winry disconnected the leg, pulling it out of the socket.
"And you'll be needing a spare. . ." she mumbled, shoving a slightly off-color spare leg into the socket instead.
"I'll be back in an hour or so. . ." the girl said, getting to her feet, "Find something to entertain yourselves with." She then tromped up the stairs with the metal limb thrown over her shoulder.
Ed and Al watched her leave, looked at each other, and sighed in turn.
"Don't you dare make a mess in my house!" Pinako called from the kitchen.
"Know any good card games?" Al asked quietly.
--
"I'm fiiiiiiniiished!" Winry sang joyously as she tumbled haphazardly down the stairs, causing both Ed and Al to jump, scattering all their playing cards all over the room.
"Damn, Winry," Ed dramatically placed his hand on his chest, "You practically scared me to death!"
"Shaddup, Shrimp."
"HEY! WHO DID YOU JUST CALL SO SMALL THAT-" Winry strode over and grabbed Ed's leg, pulling out the spare and roughly shoving in the adjusted automail, connecting the nerves and smirking as Ed writhed in pain.
"Yeah, yeah. . . How's it feel?"
Ed stood up, muttering something under his breath about "stupid bitches" and their "sadistic temperaments". He stamped his foot a few times and kicked the air to test it out.
"Works well!"
"Al!" Pinako called from the kitchen.
"Yes?"
Could you split some firewood for me? Ed, Winry! I need you two to get me some stuff for dinner!"
Both blonds simultaneously groaned.
Pinako handed Ed some money and Winry a list of groceries, and sent them off to town.
"Man," Ed groaned, "Why'd she have to send both of us, anyways?"
"Get over it, Ed," Winry retorted, "You're just being a baby!"
Ed scowled.
Then Winry spotted someone further up the path, someone in a flowing cloak.
"Huh," she began, pointing to direct Ed's attention, "Who wears clothes like that in the summer?" Even Ed, who was usually reluctant to part with his precious coat, had taken it off and was only wearing his customary black tank top.
"Hey!" She yelled, waving her arms, "Excuse me, are you lost, sir?" Winry started to run towards him, and grabbing Ed's arm, pulled him with her. As they neared the person, they saw it was a man, with gray hair and a wrinkled face, his mustache in a ridiculous style.
"Oh, no, quite fine, really. . ." The old man said, accidentally dropping a book out of his cloak. Of course, both Winry and Ed bent down to pick it up for him at the same time, and as they both touched it, it looked as if they had just. . . disappeared, along with the book.
The man just chuckled, pulling out a small stick and swishing it around, before disappearing, himself.
--
Ed and Winry appeared in a large, low-lit room with a large crack, both screaming as they were flung to the floor. Ed hit the ground first and Winry landed on top of him, earning him a pained "Oomph!".
"Geddoff me, you fatass!" he yelled, shoving Winry away roughly. Suddenly, the book they had both tried to pick up fell from the sky and landed squarely on Ed's head, launching him off onto a whole new string of curses. He and Winry stood up, dusting themselves off and looking around, finally noticing they weren't alone. About ten or twenty people were scattered about the room, sitting at tables or around the bar, and all of them were now staring at the two teenagers.
"Ah. . ." Ed began, raising a hand in greeting. "Hi."
--
This was posted ages ago on my FFnet, but I've only recently decided to start keeping up with my LJ, as well. The pairing is going to end up Ed/Hermione. There is also a poll on my FFnet, for 'Who should Winry be paired with?' because I realized I had thrown her in there, but Ed was already going to be taken. The options are Ron, Harry, Neville, or Other [specify].