video;

[getwrenched]

( Winry taps on her tablet screen, waiting for some sign of feedback. When it plays, it shows her frowning, bandana in hair, apron on. That also appears to be the ceiling. )

No, send the message already, don't do whatever you're doing now --

( Ah, but the tapping pays off, the video feed ending and a text message posting to the network soon after. )

Imports -

I'm looking for some kind of foam molding to outfit a leg I'm working on now that my customers have all reappeared. I don't know if any of you have worked with prosthetic limbs before, but I've heard rumors of some kind of shape-retaining foam that used to be used for them? Has anyone seen some kind of material that would work similarly?

Let me know if you have, or if there's any good scrap metal or hardware stores you've run into off the main part of the city.

Thank you,
Winry Rockbell
Automail Mechanic and Prosthetics Consultant

Comments

[getwrenched]

( The wrong automail, the gaps in what they were both saying? This is not what Winry ws expecting. If anything, it sounds like one of the theories that Ed might wrap his head around while debating on what kind of exchanges made sense (was there equivalency across universes?), the kind of theories Winry heard and tucked away and figured she wouldn't have much need for. )

You don't remember?

( Disconcerting, but... )

What about Briggs?

[imperfect]

Briggs... [There isn't so much as a spark of recollection in his eyes - though that might not be easy to tell, since he isn't looking straight at her any more.

Whether or not she was done looking at his arm, he starts to pull his shirt sleeve back down.]

Listen, I should get going. There's still a few things I wanted to look up about this place. If what you said is true, and something else could happen any moment... [He lets that hang in the air.]

[getwrenched]

Then it's going to happen, and we'll deal with it when it does.

( She doesn't entirely mean it as it sounds. Winry prefers things be handled and prepared for when you can, but adaptability and dealing with the immediates in life is part of what happens.

Having Ed try to run this many times in under an hour is on some level amusing - what are you running away from - but more disheartening. Actively looking for the way back, getting in trouble because he doesn't live sly except when necessary, all of that makes sense. But..

No recognition for Briggs? No idea what she was talking about. Winry doesn't let go of his arm, sighing with only partially feigned heaviness. )

Not even giving me a chance to properly admire my own work. Sit down, Ed. Everything you'll want to find by rushing out there right now will still be there in half an hour.

( Confident in that, since the solution to their problem is theorized as being partly in the mechanical work -- which she's involved in.

Though she does let go then, watching him. )

I'd like to hear about the place you're from.

[imperfect]

[He mumbles something that vaguely resembles "machine freak" as he reluctantly sits down, although it doesn't sound much like his heart is in it.

He doesn't appear to be surprised by the question, either - he tries to inject something to that effect into his tone anyway, but his body language isn't even tense.] What do you mean, Winry? You know where I'm from.

[What did he want to run away from? Questions to which he's already damn sure he won't like the answers. But it's a little late for that.]

[getwrenched]

( Once he's sitting, she watches him, starting to narrow her eyes. )

Come on!

( She sits down on the coffee table to better look at him face on. )

What kind of attitude is this? Okay, so neither of us know what the other person's talking about. We probably aren't from the same world. What does that matter! You're still an alchemy geek, and I'm still your mechanic!

( Ant thus her hands come down to rest on her knees with some kind of energetic slap. She's not okay with most of this, but sitting there and worrying over it won't solve a thing, so she isn't going to bother. )

If you want to tell me what's going on for you, then I'm here. I'm always going to be here. And if you don't... then Al better show up soon. So! What's your plan out of Exsilium, Ed?

( She's not going to smile -- it's all far too serious -- but she's not going to bother beating around the bush. When she's off base, Ed gets back to her with how.

If she's not, then better to get on with it and know where they're operating out of. )

[imperfect]

[Reluctantly, he has to admit... she's right. Just because she might be from some other world doesn't make her any less here, or real. He's learned his lesson about thinking otherwise - learned the hell out of it.]

Well, if even you think that's the most likely explanation, how am I supposed to argue? [And yes, it's serious, but he can't help smiling a little. It's a surprising amount of weight off his mind to hear her bring the idea up first.] Yeah, I didn't think we were either. Kind of scary to think there's more than two of you running around.

The plan... right now, the plan's just to get hold of the tech they use to bring people here, try to reverse-engineer it somehow. And keep my head down in the meantime. [...he says, with a fairly straight face.] That's all I have so far. It's just a hunch, but I don't think alchemy is gonna cut it this time.

[He looks down at the floor.]

...I didn't think I'd ever get to see you again. [He sounds unusually plaintive there.]

[getwrenched]

( Ed. Keep his head down? Winry can't help but laugh. Ed might try, but it doesn't usually go his way. Or his efforts fall short of what he actually needs to do. (Scary as that could be.)

It's when he looks down, and says what he says last, that Winry finds herself moving forward and pulling him into a hug. She doesn't want him looking like that. She doesn't like him sounding like that. )

Idiot. Of course you would.

[imperfect]

[The hug comes as a surprise. It happens too quickly for him to pull away. Not that he wants to, exactly - but it reminds him of the last time, when time was pressing and Central was burning and he'd taken off down that crumbling cobbled street without even telling her "thanks", never mind "goodbye".

He's not sure when he's going to stop feeling guilty about that.

Instead of hugging back, he seems to slump a little more, leaning on her, his hair falling over his eyes.]

Well... looks like that's all in the past for now. I'm glad. [He hesitates.] I just wish Al was around to see it too.

[He brushes aside the thought of what he'd do if Al did somehow follow him here and he wound up with a choice of where to go. There's such a thing as thinking too far ahead.]

[getwrenched]

( Leaning on her -- she guesses it's all part of literally and metaphorically being there for Ed and Al. UP close, it's another startling moment of realizing again how much he's grown. Maybe it's an illusion, but he seems even more here than the last time she saw him.

Maybe he was. Especially if this convoluted mess of multiple worlds was as real as it sounds. Regardless, it's not something to think about right now. Keep it simple, and keep it practical. )

What're the chances of one brother showing up, and the other being that far behind?

( Said with firm belief -- they were the Elrics, and up to now, they've almost always traveled together, even with the occasional detour when they had two objectives to simultaneously fulfill. )

He might end up here with us sooner than you think.