(Untitled)

[machinegeek]

The snow had gone, and Winry wasn't really sorry about that. Especially since it had left her an excellent present in return - a blowtorch just like the one she'd had back home, with fuel and everything. So she'd spent the last few days tinkering with it, but that tinkering was hampered by the fact that she didn't have very much metal with her.

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[equalexchange]

Despite his resolutions, Edward's resolved had always been something that needed to be tempered. After half a decade of moving from place to place, by train and car and foot, he'd developed something of a wanderlust. On this particular evening, he'd decided to go for a walk, in hopes of easing the creeping, crawling sensation in his legs -- yes, even the one that should not have been able to feel anything at all. It had been a bit of a comfort that Al had decided to accompany him this particularly balmy evening. Hands tucked into the pockets of his brightly-colored drawstring shorts, and feet clad in flip-flops, he walked at a leisurly pace, noticing the subtlties around them -- the gentle buzz of bugs wings, the way the sand and rock on the path crunched together under their feet, and even the way their footsteps had synched up.

He breathed in deeply, and exhaled. "Kinda nice out tonight," he murmered, turning to walk backwards, so that he might face his younger brother. In doing so, he completely missed the flickering light up ahead.

[armoredboy]

"Mmn," Al agreed, looking vaguely distracted but also smiling before he focused his attention on his brother.

"It's pretty mild. Feels like-" he stopped suddenly, both walking and speaking and stared at a point up and far past Ed.

"....Brother," he said, very still.

[equalexchange]

Edward stopped, his eyebrows drawing together. "What's the matter?" he asked, turning to follow Al's gaze.

His brow relaxed, and golden eyes widened in surprise. There, a light, winking dimly in the dusk, suspended in the trees. Edward swallowed a lump in his throat.

"...you think...?" he trailed off as he began walking again, his pace quickened.

[machinegeek]

Winry switched off the light and began to step away from the window (which was just a hole in the wall with a curtain over it) when she saw the glint of light off automail. Did they see it? She set the light on the ledge again and switched it on and off, just once, feeling a little bit stupid and wondering if they'd notice.

[armoredboy]

Al let out something of a hiccuping laugh, pace going from a quicken to a run, smiling.

"I think," he said, tone implying the affirmative. "I wouldn't put it past Winry to build one!"

[equalexchange]

Edward couldn't help the crooked smile on his face as he arrived at the base of the tree. He looked up at the familiar structure, gave the rope ladder a firm tug, and began to climb one wrung at a time. He jerked his head, unneccesarily urging Al to follow.

[machinegeek]

"Come on up," said Winry, switching off the light and peering at them through the trapdoor. "I didn't know if you'd seen it or not, but I guess you did." She scuffed one booted foot on the floor, propping the light on her hip. Now that the weather was warm again she was back in her usual clothes - short flippy skirt, tank top, and boots.

[armoredboy]

Al grinned brightly as he pushed up after Ed to crowd the tree house floor.

"We always see it," he said.

[equalexchange]

Edward nodded once, scrammbling out of Al's way, and sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Where'd you get that thing anyway?" he asked, that vague smirk still haunting his features.

[machinegeek]

"I found it in the woodpile," said Winry, nodding to where the fireplace used to be when her treehouse was a tree-cabin. "Dairine came over and we were eating candy and talking, and I went to put another log on the fire and there it was. Weird, huh?" A smile broke out on her face and she added, "But that's not the best thing I found. Look!" She pointed to the blowtorch, lying on the table beside her toolbox. "Even better than the one I had at home, but I don't know where it came from or who it's from. It was all wrapped and had my name on it and everything."

[armoredboy]

Al brightened.

"Everyone got something! That's great that you were given something really useful!" And something that Winry would have coveted anyway, the way most girls were supposed to covet jewelery. But that was normal. It was Winry.

[equalexchange]

"Another one of those weird island things," Edward added. He'd gotten a pile of books, by authors he'd never heard of. All of them were on the topic of alchemy, running the gammit from history of alchemy, to bridging the gaps between alchemy and modern-day science.

Slowly he stood up, and walked over to where Winry had set the lamp. He ran fingers over the metal casing. He paused, mulling over some unshared memory. He pulled his eyes away from the lamp and set his hands on his hips, taking a good look around the treehouse. "S'quite a setup you've got here," he remarked with a smile. "You just keep adding things."

[machinegeek]

"Thanks," said Winry with a grin. She'd worked hard on the treehouse and was really proud of it. "Watch this." Pushing a panel over with her boot, she slid it over the hole in the floor cut for the rope ladder, and pushed down on it. The panel covered up the hole so well that it was hard to tell where the floor stopped and the panel started. Winry looked pretty proud of herself for that. There was also another secret compartment in the floor near one of the corners. There wasn't anything IN it yet, but Winry thought it wouldn't hurt to have one.

"What'd you guys get?" she asked. "Something good, I hope?"

[armoredboy]

Al was ducking his head to look over her handiwork, then looked up to Winry and smiled.

"That's really clever," he said, then sat back. "I got an art kit! It's a wooden case with protractors and rectangles and pastels, colored pencils, even some paints. It also came with paper wrapped to its underside, so i won't have to go begging for it from the compound, where it gets used by people who actually need it," he told her, eyes lighting up a little. Al had never drawn much other than alchemic arrays, but he was excited to learn more.

[equalexchange]

Edward smiled just a little. Considering what Al had given him for his birthday, Ed had thought the set of drawing tools strangely appropriate. Al had always been better at drawing arrays than he was -- probabaly helped that he had to perfect them, while Edward hadn't needed them much past the age of 11.

He cleared his throat, shoving the memories aside, as he realized it was his turn to talk. "I got a stack of books. Most of them seem to be related to science in one way or another. I've only had a chance to skim a few, but one of them is an extensive history of Alchemy, and another was titled something like 'bridging the gaps between alchemy and modern science'," he said, with an odd sort of contemplative look. "I can only guess that it's probabaly from one of those worlds where Alchemy didn't advance in the way it did back home."

[machinegeek]

"I'm glad you both got things you can use," said Winry. "When you get started with that art kit, Al, I'd love to see what you come up with -- oh!!" She didn't know why she hadn't asked him about this before. "Al, whatever happened to that suit of armor you had? It's around here somewhere, isn't it?"