And it hits you so much harder than you thought [complete]

[once_whole]

Characters: Edward Elric, Winry
Time: Late afternoon
Location: Lima bean structure
Content: Fullmetal Alchemist, checking in.
Format: Prose
Warnings: Ed's personality. Uh. Some blood. And likely some spoilers.

Comments

[nowhere_winry]

Millenium Park was beyond the Blackstone Hotel, but Winry felt like she needed a walk to clear her head after her encounter...or whatever it was...with Lara. The ring felt strange on her finger. She wasn't accustomed to wearing jewelry on her hands, not and work the machines necessary for crafting automail. Rings could get caught and tear off fingers.

She caught sight of something under the Bean, hesitating. It looked like...her breath caught in her throat.

Winry was running before she even realized she wanted her feet to move. "Ed. Ed!"

[nowhere_winry]

"They tell me we're in a place almost exactly but not completely like Chicago." It is kind of interesting, having information Ed didn't, but she wants to get him back to the hotel. Not just because he's a bloody mess, but also because she's wondering about the ring Lara gave her. Harry might be around to explain what it is, exactly, that she was given.

Giving Ed another clinical look, Winry still isn't sure he should be walking. He's a complete mess. Has he grown since she'd last seen him in Rezembool? Did his leg need lengthening? "We need to get to the Blackstone." She wrinkles her nose. "Before it gets dark. Think you can walk? It's a ways but maybe we could get a taxi at the park entrance."

[once_whole]

Chicago? He'd never heard of it, but he would get more information about it another time.

What he really wanted was a new jacket. It was brisk here. Even a new shirt would do.

"Don't worry about it, I can walk. Just lead the way."

[nowhere_winry]

"You're a wreck." Winry shakes her head, sliding her arm around his waist. "Come on. You can lean on me. Don't argue, Ed," she adds, before he can open his mouth. "You don't have to be a hero right now."

[once_whole]

He has a short, awkward, internal moment to himself, but he is tired and the adrenaline that had kept him fighting is ebbing away. He sags against her in compliance, putting in arm over her shoulders while trying to support himself as much as he could.

"I've been through worse," he reminds her. And it could have been worse. For one, he could be without more than one limb. And, well, not to mention he nearly got made into a Philosopher's Stone.

[nowhere_winry]

"Yes. I know. You always show up on my doorstep when you're in bad shape. How does that happen?" Winry is relieved Ed's actually letting her help him. She figures he would've put up more of a fuss.

[once_whole]

That actually earns a chuckle from Edward. On a normal day, back home, he would purposely show up for repairs. And yet here he was, in some unknown place with a busted arm, and there she was, right nearby. He continues to let his amusement show, surfacing over his guilt of disappearing from the battle.

[nowhere_winry]

Winry doesn't allow her relief to show as she half-carries Ed out of Millennium Park. Instead, she scolds him for getting into more trouble. "What would you have done if I hadn't been here to haul you home?" she asks.

annnnnd exhausted spish is exhausted... so off to sleep x.x

[once_whole]

"Probably embark on a rampage," he admits. If anyone else had shown up... if anyone hadn't shown up... it would have all ended the same, for him, for them, and for this Chicago place. By no means was Ed happy to have been ripped from Central and deposited here.

He'd never tell her, but he was glad that it was Winry who found him.

D'awww. XD

[nowhere_winry]

Winry feels as if a heavy weight has been lifted from her shoulders, now that Ed is here. She'll take him home - take care of him. And they'll figure out a way to get back to Amestris. Al would be trying to find them, Winry knew that. And Ed wouldn't rest 'til he found his way back to his brother. But for now - he'd have to.