A Lady and a Dragon

I just saw a gif of a scene that has always bothered me, and it’s a really minor thing but still.  It’s when Winry is adjusting Ed’s automail, and it comes to the point where she tightens the bolts and he yelps in pain.  He says that the moment when the machinery connects with the nerves is the only really painful part of the process; I don’t remember the quote exactly but that’s the gist of it.

And Winry, as I recall, calls him a big baby or something to that effect.

This bugs the hell out of me.

1. Winry is an automail surgeon.  She is very aware of just when her patients are likely to experience pain.  Ed’s reaction doesn’t seem to surprise her, but would she have said that to anyone else whose automail she was tending?

2. Winry does not, herself, live with automail body parts.  So while she has an academic understanding of how it must feel to have them, she has no personal experience with the pain.

Now, maybe I’m a little overly sensitive because I actually live my life with metal accoutrements fused to part of my body, and pain is my old friend.  But it just seems like the otherwise compassionate and tenderhearted Winry is being a little callous here - and especially to Ed, since (unless I’m mistaken) this scene takes place after she’s admitted to herself that she’s in love with him.  Can someone weigh in and explain why she would act this way?

Colonel Hawkeye escorts Ed to the phones, where he gets an outside line and lets Winry know that he’s arrived safely in Ishval. It makes her smile; he has learned a few points of courtesy in the last few years.

Once he finishes his call, she shows him to the residential section of the headquarters building. “Resembool’s too far for you to rush back right away,” she tells him. “Besides, it’s been so long since we’ve seen you. Take some rest, and once you’ve had breakfast tomorrow, we’ll give you a tour of what’s being done.”

“Thanks, Colonel.” He sets the old suitcase on the bed and sits beside it. “It feels weird to call you that, no offense.”

“None taken. It took me a while to get used to it - in my mind, ‘Colonel’ still means General Mustang.”

“Yeah, I bet.” He tilts his head, studying her for a second. “Oh, that’s what’s different!”

“Different?”

“Your hair - you didn’t cut it! It’s still long!”

Riza smiles, puzzled. “You thought I cut my hair?”

“Yeah, Mrs. Hughes sent us a picture of you and General Showoff at some parade in Central - the Fuhrer’s inauguration, I guess. The angle made it look like your hair was cut short.”

She thinks for a minute. “Oh, now I remember. I was wearing it braided down my back for the occasion. Sort of the way you used to wear yours, actually.”

Ed nods. “Your hair is sort of like Winry’s, you should keep it long.”

She knows a compliment when she hears one. “Thanks, Edward.”

(Because bayalexison told me to.) Herein are links to all of my existing fan fictions, categorized by fandom.

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1. I got asked to come in to work.  This probably seems like it should be a less than good thing, but (a) monies and (b) I actually love my job.
2. I put on my MacGyver hat and fixed a few things at the store, including a crystal salt lamp, which always makes me feel like Winry Rockbell.  (In fact, my magnifying headgear is called “The Rockbell” for that reason.)
3. After work I wandered into the bookstore and found a copy of an otaku magazine with a cover story about Sacred Star of Milos, so I got to enjoy the thrill of “Ed and Roy!  *yoink*  Mine!”
4. I finally, finally, finally got some clear visuals on a very important confrontation scene from my novel, which means I’m finally going to be able to write it.
5. I have a brownie.