#50000 words… i am actually very proud :)

[15000bugs]

WE DID IT LADS

[ihatecoconut]

Nano2021 Day 30 Exercpt

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to complete it this year, only coming in at 20902 words out of 50000. But! Any progress is progress and I have managed to write a whooping 20902 words so I am proud of myself!

Victoria approaches me at one point, while people are chatting amongst themselves, as people are slowly leaving. She doesn’t say anything, just rests her hand on my shoulder, smiles gently down at me and stand there for a moment, the two of us looking out across the ballroom. I lean into her side, feeling the weight of our skirts pressing together and she moves her hand to gently lay it across my shoulders – a formal hug of sorts.

“Did you enjoy this evening, Chloe?”

“Very much so.”

“And your friend?”

I glance over at Ishya at the same time she looks over at me. She moved away to speak to Elouise, leaving the gap in which Victoria came to stand with me, and Elouise has a pretty string grip on her forearm, as if preventing her from moving away. They don’t seem to be having an argument, so I’m not sure what that’s about.

“She loved it.”

Victoria smiles. I don’t think I’ve actually seen her smile before, it’s calm, peaceful, not at all like the mother that Elouise has described. The memory of Elouise’s face when she revealed those few details about her mother makes me want to pull away. I step back, smiling calmly.

“Thank you for organising this.” I bob a curtsey and step back again before I turn away to join the other two, but I still catch her face. Harder now that I’ve moved away, unsure and yet angry, as if I’m mocking her.

Elouise meets me halfway, Ishya close behind her, and she doesn’t say anything, but there’s tension in her jaw that I don’t know how to fix.

[cecilsstorycorner]

I’ve completed NaNo2020!!

Okay kinda.

I’ve filled up a word document with 50000 words of disjointed scenes and planning across three books. Is it the traditional way to win? Not really. Am I still proud of myself? Absolutely.

What Updates Are Gonna Look Like Now

So, now I’m no longer writing scenes daily, I’ll have far less of that to post. I’ll instead be cracking down on actually plotting the clusterfuck that is book one, though still writing scenes if they’re floating around in my head and I want to keep them. I really don’t know how long this part will take, so for the foreseeable future most content I put out will be art, memes, and whatever’s brought out by ask games. If I’m super proud of a scene I may still post though!

Quick Sappy Hour

I only joined writeblr a few weeks ago but have already met some absolutely lovely people and cried multiple times at all the love I’ve gotten for this dumb fantasy story. I look at the tags people leave whenever I’m feeling bad about my stuff and it always makes me feel leagues better, not just about my writing but in general. I’m just really glad I found this community and thank you for being so kind to this tired college student.

Oh Also Because My Attention Span is No

I’ll probably post the intros to some other wips of mine soon, tbobs is actually my newest and while it’ll still be a large focus, I’d like to get back to some of my old favourites as well. I’m debating one of those being published completely online, perhaps on a wordpress or something, in episodic stories? I’m not very knowledgeable about that area though so we’ll see (if you have any tips I’d really appreciate it though!). I won’t use the tbobs taglist for those as the stories are quite different, even if tropes and themes are similar (I have a type), but naturally if they catch your interest feel free to ask! I can’t beleive I’m brave enough to just say stuff like that now hot damn eat it imposter syndrome

Taglist (as it has the info about future posting): @oceancold @zielenbloesem @henrike-does-writing-sometimes @dramaticvoiceover @andiwriteunderthemoon @feathered-inkling @piyawrites @halfbloodlycan @kalis-scribbles

[littlehouseofkarlacade]

Darkness of Wonderland: NaNoWriMo 2019 Day 2

Word Count: 2079

Total Word Count: 3749/50000

Day 1

~~

When the bus reached Lyssie’s stop, she stood, pulling on the string above her head. She was never sure whether that actually worked to alert the driver or not, since he tended to stop at the stop every day anyway, but she figured it never hurt to do it anyway.

Upon leaving the bus, Lyssie patted herself down to make sure she still had everything she came onto the bus with, and when that was settled — for there were rather distrustful characters on the bus occasionally — she set off on her way home. Yet another twenty or so minutes of walking, since her house was so far off any sort of main roads that it was a bit of a trip to get there. Never mind the additional fact that it required her to walk alongside the highway… Occasionally, she would end up with someone pulling over on the side of the road, asking her if she wanted a ride home. She always refused, however; she was smarter than just to take some offered ride from a stranger who could end up doing God knew what with her once she was in their car.

However, going with music blaring in her ears, the trip home was made rather easily. Nobody pulled over today, nobody sped up to make an attempt to fake-hit her — since people also did that occasionally, and it was something that got old incredibly quickly — and she reached the house faster than she had anticipated she would. After freeing the carabiner keychain that hung off her hip, she unlocked the front door and entered the house.

It was a small house, with a simple living room, a small kitchen, one bedroom, and one bathroom. Most people, Lyssie figured, would be unhappy living in such a cramped dwelling, but it was perfect for someone with a budget like hers. Besides that, she lived alone. She didn’t feel the need for more than one bedroom. It wasn’t as if she could afford to be terribly picky, either: while her mother had contributed some help with furniture and other home furnishings, Lyssie herself paid the rental deposit and other associated fees to move in entirely out of her own pocket. After all, she was old enough to do so, so why wouldn’t she?

After a moment, she sighed and plopped herself on her loveseat, taking her earbuds out and kicking her shoes off. “Thank hell that’s over,” she muttered, running her fingers through her hair.

As if in reply, a sudden meow sounded, and when Lyssie turned to look, her cat jumped from the floor to land on the back of the loveseat. “Oh, hello, Cookie Dough,” said Lyssie, adjusting herself to bring the cat over. Cookie Dough was a rather large cat; when she had received her, Lyssie had been told that her breed was something called an ocicat, though whatever that meant, she had no idea. Regardless, what had caught her attention the most about this cat was the fact that her coat was beautiful, silver, and spotted. Lyssie had fallen for her immediately, and the cat had firmly attached herself to her by the time she had brought her home. Even now, as Lyssie began to pet her, Cookie Dough instantly began to purr like the contented humming of a car, or rather, what Lyssie figured a contented car would sound like. Were cars ever able to be content? Probably not, considering they were inanimate objects, but… if they could be, what would life be like? Would cars simply refuse to run of they were mistreated and angry about it? Would a happy car go as fast as it could, with no input from its driver?

What strange thoughts. Strange thoughts were no stranger to her, however; she had them every so often, whenever she would allow her mind to wander. Perhaps it was her brain’s way of attempting to keep her above water, above the depths of her hidden despair at her life’s circumstances. Or perhaps she was just strange herself. Sure. That was what it was.

Cookie Dough meowed again, pressing her head into Lyssie’s hand before moving upward, climbing onto her chest to push her head into Lyssie’s face. “Oh, what?” Lyssie asked, giving the cat’s head some scratches. “Are you lonely? Is that it, Cookie? Did you miss me all day? Well, that’s no wonder, I’ve been at work all day…” She smiled, continuing to pet Cookie Dough as the cat’s tail flicked around and the purring continued. Oh, what a clingy cat Cookie Dough was. The only true delight in Lyssie’s life, that was Cookie Dough. Oh well, one delight was better than none, wasn’t it?

A stern vibration from Lyssie’s back pocket sounded just then, right before the jolly, staccato sounds of one of her standard ringtones interrupted. With a sigh, Lyssie moved and pulled her phone out of her pocket, with a miniature groan once she saw the word ‘Mom’ on her screen. Oh, no. “Hello?” she asked, picking it up.

“Alyssa!” the jovial voice of her mother sounded, even as Lyssie cringed.

“Mom, I’ve told you,” Lyssie answered. “If you could even pretend to remember, I go by Lyssie. You know this. Or, rather, you should.”

“Oh, Lyssie, I’m so sorry. I was just calling to see how you’re doing! How’s the job? How are you doing financially? Is everything covered?”

Lyssie sighed for a moment, thinking on just how to tell her mother that she despised this job more than any other job she’d ever had in her life without sounding like an absolutely spoiled brat. “The job… is okay, I guess. It could be better. Way better. Then again, I guess that’s all retail, isn’t it?”

Her mother was silent for about an equal moment, and Lyssie could practically see her shrugging, in the way she always did when she wasn’t actually listening. “Yes, unfortunately, that is all retail. Don’t worry, Lyssie. You just have to work here for a few years, and you’ll find another job. It’ll be fine! Or, you could even move up from your current position, then you wouldn’t have to even worry about finding another job!”

Lyssie rolled her eyes. Retail was not her calling, and she knew that. She knew that better than she knew anything else in her life. She was not a people person, and customer service was the worst position for someone like her to be in. “I don’t want to be in retail my whole life, Mom. I’m hoping for something else that’s not that.”

“Lyssie…” Her mother sighed in exasperation. “Life isn’t all about hopes and dreams, dear. It’s fine to have a dream that you’re working towards, but sometimes it just isn’t feasible. In the end, you’re just going to have to settle like everyone else does. Besides, I know you haven’t gone to college yet, and that’s something you’ll need if you want to get out of retail.”

The redhead sighed. Why on earth did she ever talk to her mother? Every time the subject of her job, of her ideal profession came up, she was always saying things like this. It had been this way since Lyssie was a teenager, when she was preparing for life outside her mother’s house. The thought of a dream is nice, but you have to be realistic. You’re going to have to conform and do your fair share of work, Alyssa. You’re going to have to pay bills like the rest of us. It’s much better to do something practical with your life, like social work, or nursing.

Sure, it may have been good advice for some people, but Lyssie had never seen it that way. Then again, her mother had never been the most supportive individual, either. Whenever any of Lyssie’s interests had come up in conversation, her mother had shot all talk of them down, and since they were not something she herself was interested in, apparently they had no worth to her. In Lyssie’s point of view, if her mother would not have bothered with it, then the interest was worth nothing. Quite a stifling way to live as a child, and it had certainly been instrumental in teaching Lyssie how exactly not to talk about her interests.

“I’m aware I haven’t gone to college, Mom,” she answered. “How in the hell do you expect me to pull that off? I’m working part-time because they don’t want to give anyone full-time, I’m barely able to handle the bills alone, and getting a new job isn’t an option because guess what? They’re all hiring for the same hours, they’re all part-time hours, not full-time! And most of them are for less pay, too! I’ve got the best-paying job I could find, and that’s unfortunately not going to change anytime soon, Mom.”

“Oh, Lyssie, I know it’s hard.” Her mother’s tone, while outwardly sympathetic, seemed to also drip with a tinge of annoyance. “I’ve been in your shoes, okay? I understand how hard it is. But, if it was up to me, I would feel like you need to try a bit harder, is all. There’s more to life than just retail, and even if you can’t find it for ten years, that’ll be ten years of experience under your belt that others wouldn’t get in your shoes! Look at you: you’re living alone at age twenty-five, something that not a lot of people do now! Most of them are going on twenty-seven, twenty-eight, and still living with their parents! And the parents aren’t doing anything about it!”

That’s because nobody can afford shit on their own, thought Lyssie in irritation. It’s cheaper to live with your parents or a roommate now, because rent costs and shit are way too expensive…  But, there was no way in hell of getting her mother to understand that, unfortunately. As well-meaning as she was, Lyssie’s mother was still stuck in her very old-fashioned ways.

“Look, I just think you need to step back and appreciate where you are now,” her mother continued. “Not a lot of people can say they’ve gotten here on their own, after all! And before you can say anything to the contrary, I am proud of you, Alyssa. I would just be a bit more proud of you if you applied yourself in your work, and truly ascended to the position that you deserve to be in!”

“It’s not from lack of trying,” she muttered, letting the anger seep into her voice a bit. “It’s a bit more difficult now than it was in your day to get promoted, Mom. It’s not ‘work hard and stay with the company for the large majority of your life anymore. These people don’t care about seniority, Mom. They don’t care how long you’ve worked somewhere. If they decide they don’t like you anymore, they’ll just throw you the hell out, just as soon as if you were someone who only started yesterday, or last week, or something. Just because you haven’t worked in twelve years doesn’t mean you know what’s going on now.”

“Lyssie…”

“No, Mom, I’m done talking about this, okay? I’m not where I want to be, and I’m not where you want me to be, and I know that, okay? I’m doing my best here, and I’d really like it if you could just appreciate that for once in your life.”

There was yet another moment of silence from her mother before a different question arose. “So, how is Cookie Dough? Is she still being my good baby girl?”

Damn, you switched off that topic quick, Lyssie thought. “She’s fine. And she’s my baby, she barely knows you. Last time you saw her, she was a kitten. She’s pretty big now, but I think she’s the biggest she’s going to get. I hope, at least.”

“Oh, that’s good. Oh! That reminds me! What would you like to do for Christmas this year? Would you like me to come out there, or do you think you can come out here again?”

Yet another sigh came from Lyssie. “I don’t know, Mom, okay? I’m running a bit short on money. I had some unexpected expenses these past couple of months. We’ll see.”

“Well, okay. If you change your mind, let me know, alright?”

“Okay, Mom. I have to go.”

“Just think about what I said.

[winryofresembool]

Love Can Melt the Ice, chapter 22

Summary: The morning after

A/N: There wouldn’t be an anniversary without an update, huh? Like I’ve already said 13245 times, it’s been a whole year since I posted the first chapter of this fic, and now this fic has already over 50000 words. And that wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t have such amazing readers ♥ So to each and every one of you who has bothered to read, thank you. The end is not quite here yet, but... it’s near. (Edit: forgot to thank @criis55 and @randomlyopeneddictionary for the help again, you guys are the best)

Previous chapters:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 pt 1, pt 2, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

Next chapter: coming

Companion pieces (note: these are all post Olympics happenings so reading the main fic first is recommended): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Words: 2800+

Genre: too much sugar

The next morning, Ed woke up to his phone ringing. When he registered what the sound was, his first reaction was to throw the phone at the wall and continue sleeping, with his girlfriend still using him as her pillow (the closeness felt surprisingly good in his opinion). But whoever was calling was persistent, forcing Ed to eventually take the phone from the bedside table and check the name on the screen. He carefully moved Winry farther so he could sit down. She stirred too, equally annoyed by the noise.

“What’s up?” she asked. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up. I gotta take this, it’s Al. Hey, little brother,” he finally answered the phone, with some annoyance in his voice.

“Hi to you too, big brother.” Al retorted back. “Your teammates have been asking me where you are because you weren’t at the game, didn’t answer the calls and didn’t return to your hotel room either. So would you please keep your phone on from now on and let them know you are still alive?” His voice turned less scolding, more curious. “Also what happened to you after you left the arena yesterday? Tell me everything.”

“I’m in Winry’s room right now, but I’m supposed to go and pick up my hockey gear from our locker room later this morning. Wanna come help me carry my bags?” It was Ed’s code for ‘I’ll tell you face-to-face’.

“Oh, sure. Shall I meet you in an hour?” Al asked, a wide smirk spreading on his face. What exactly had happened between his brother and his crush last night?

“Sounds fine to me. See ya.” Ed finished the call and sighed a bit, running his hand through his messy hair. “Back to reality, I guess,” he told Winry.

“Nooo, not yet,” she mumbled against her pillow sleepily. “Let me be an Olympic champion with a brand new boyfriend a little bit longer.”

He turned her to face him and said, slightly amused: “Dork, you still have both of those things. It wasn’t a dream.”

Winry’s cheeks got some extra color when she decided to get a bit flirty: “Oh. Then can you remind me what it feels like to get a kiss from your boyfriend?”

Even though Ed pretended to be annoyed, he laid down closer to her and pulled her for a kiss.

“I could get used to this,” Winry noted when they pulled apart, still resting their foreheads against each other.

“Me too.”

Neither was reluctant to move for a good while, but finally Ed said: “I should go back to my room and get some fresh clothes… Don’t want to go to the arena with the suit.”

“I understand. Will you be at my ceremony in the afternoon?” Winry asked. At the previous day’s venue ceremony, she had only gotten some flowers and a plushie, today would be the day she’d get the actual medal.

“Count on it. And I’m pretty sure Al will be there too.”

“That’s very nice of him!” Winry replied happily.

“That’s Al,” Ed noted. “But I still haven’t forgiven him for forgetting to tell you I was going to meet you after the competition yesterday so… he is gonna pay back some way.”

“Ed, be nicer to your brother. I’m sure there was an explanation for his behavior.”

Ed snorted at Winry’s comment. “Such as wooing a certain Xingese figure skater? Not a good enough explanation.”

“Jerk. Are you saying there’s something wrong with ‘wooing’ a figure skater? Because I seem to recall… Someone he’s related to did the same thing.” Winry poked his shoulder lightly.

“Hey, I didn’t woo you,” Ed said dramatically. “As a matter of fact, I don’t know how the hell I managed to catch your interest.”

“It was probably the automail.” Winry said playfully while stroking the metal shoulder.

“Fair enough. But I sure am glad it did that. Even though I put you through a lot.”

“It’s OK.” She gave him one more kiss before he started pulling his clothes on. Once he was done, he turned to look at her one more time. “Be happy that I really like you because I’m not sure how I’m going to survive Captain Bastard’s tormenting today.”

“Dork. Just go. The sooner you’ll get over it, the better.”

Winry threw a pillow at him, and he caught it and threw it back, leaving both of them smiling as he exited the room.

…

It turned out Ed wasn’t worried for nothing. The tormenting started already when he opened the door to his hotel room, revealing the amused Jean Havoc in there, scrolling through his phone casually.

“Well, well, well. Looks like the black sheep has finally returned to his flock. Where were you?”

“With Winry,” Ed answered, “but I don’t see why that information matters to you. I bet you were happy to have the room to yourself.”

“Not complaining, bro,” Havoc said. “It’s just that Mustang was wondering why you weren’t at the game.”

“I was supporting my girlfriend,” Ed emphasized the last word on purpose. “Which I’m pretty sure Al already told you guys.”

“He did, I just wanted to hear it from your mouth.” Havoc shrugged. “Well, I’m glad that girl of yours finally got some sense into you. So… did you guys seal the deal yet?”

“Just because we are a… couple…” Ed stopped to taste the word he hadn’t used earlier. “… Doesn’t mean we need to rush things. I’m not like you, Havoc. Anyway, I saw what happened in yesterday’s game. Do you have any excuses for the loss?”

“Trying to hit me into my weak spot?” Havoc glared at his younger teammate. “Low blow, Elric, low blow.”

“I think you were just missing your best forward,” Ed grinned as widely as only he could.

“Laugh ahead, dude. Once you get over that honeymoon phase, we will make you feel our pain.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Ed laughed before quickly grabbing some clean clothes and withdrawing into bathroom to change before Havoc could bite back.

…

“And that’s what happened,” Ed finished his story to Al who had surprisingly let Ed tell about last night’s events (with light censorship of course. For example Winry’s stunt after the automail measuring wasn’t mentioned) without interrupting him, other than slight snickering at the most amusing parts. They were about to enter Team Amestris’ locker room and Ed was glad he had managed to tell Al the most important events without Captain B… Mustang hearing him.

“Aww, brother, that’s so sweet. I’m so glad you worked things out. I can see she is not just any girl to you. And of course she seems to care about you a lot too.”

Ed was thankful that for once Al didn’t take the opportunity to make fun of him, and he understood it was Al’s way to show he really was happy about the change in Ed’s life. Al if anyone had had to see Ed’s dark side more than enough, and he wished those days were behind now.

“Yeah… It’s… weird. I mean in a good way. How on earth did I manage to snatch the most awesome girl at the Olympics? And let’s be real, in Amestris too.”

“Holy shit, brother, you really are in love.” Al could barely keep his voice calm. “Never have I ever heard you talk like that. Although, I would like to disagree about that most awesome girl at the Olympics part, because I dare to say that I found that one.”

“Oh yeah?” Ed challenged him. “So how are things between you and Ms. Chang exactly? A little bird told me someone forgot to tell someone else something important yesterday because he was gushing over someone else.”

“Whoops. I’m sorry, Ed.” Al genuinely looked ashamed. “It’s just, she sent me a message from the dressing room after the ceremony and told me that she’d like me to join her celebrations and I just… kinda forgot after that.”

“Maybe I’ll let it slip this one time. Don’t let it happen again, though!” Ed warned, although soon he was grinning again. “So, what happened at her party? Are you guys dating now?”

“I’m not quite sure,” Al replied honestly. “Maybe? I mean, we have a lot of fun when we spend time together, but I haven’t forgotten she lives in Xing. How do you maintain a long-distance relationship like that?”

“If it makes you feel any better, it’s not so easy for Winry and I either.” Ed sighed. “We are both traveling to our games and contests all the time. I guess the pro of having a broken leg is that I can’t travel and she can visit me any time wants to or has free time.”

“That’s… good. Oh, hey Mustang!” Al greeted the captain of Ed’s team who had just exited the gym of the locker room.

“Hello, Alphonse. I see you finally found him,” Mustang huffed at Ed’s direction. “Nice of you to decide to show your face here, Fullmetal. Did you end up worshipping the porcelain throne last night?”

“And why exactly would I have done that?” Ed raised his eyebrow threateningly. “In case you didn’t realize, drinking and a broken leg are not a very good combination. You’d think a smart person like you would understand that much.

“Ed ended up worshipping his girlfriend instead,” Al laughed, and Ed threw an angry glare at him. “What? I’m just telling the truth.”

“She’s the best figure skater in the whole freaking world, so of course I’m proud of her! And did you know she can build automails? Because…”

“Wow, wow, you need to cool down a bit. You start to sound like Hughes.” Roy snorted.

“Did someone call me?” a familiar voice could be heard from the gym.

“Nope. I just said Edward has started to sound a lot like you.” Roy gave his friend a self-satisfied smirk. “He’s been praising his girlfriend a lot while he’s been here, which is about two minutes so far.” He tapped his watch.

“Why does everyone use the g-word in a way that makes me never want to use it again?” Ed growled. “Yes, I have one. Yes, she’s great. I’m saying it how I see it. Why is that such a big deal?”

Roy continued to look pleased with himself. “Well, if you want an honest answer, here’s one: I didn’t think we would get to see this day.”

“Somehow, I still managed to get a girlfriend before you did,” Ed threw back. “How’s Riza doing, by the way?”

“It’s not that simple, Elric. Your girlfriend doesn’t have relatives managing our team,” Roy said, finally getting serious.

“Don’t mind him,” Hughes came between them, “Ed, we are actually really happy to see that you are finally starting to get better and found such an awesome significant other. I know a lot about her thanks to Gracia and I can say you could have done a lot worse.”

“Thanks, Hughes,” Ed told him. “So, now that we are finally done with that… About yesterday. It was really tough to follow. I wish I could have been there to help you guys out.”

“Don’t worry, Ed,” Hughes answered, even though he was still wincing a bit at the memory. “Of course it’s never fun to lose, especially such a big game. But it’s still just one loss, and we’ll get over it. It’s still been a fun tournament. Well, for the most part,” he added when he remembered Ed’s cast. “Bummer that your first Olympic tournament ended like that.”

Ed had never liked pity, so he just shrugged. “Could have been worse. I did learn something valuable during this time. About letting people in.”

“That’s the spirit!” Hughes slapped Ed on his back. “Hey, our ladies are battling for bronze this afternoon! What do you say, should we all go cheer them?”

“Sounds like a plan. As long as it’s not at the same time with Winry’s ceremony,” Ed remembered quickly.

“She already has you soo wrapped around her fingers,” Maes laughed. “But don’t worry, the game won’t start until 2 PM so you should be able to see her just fine.”

“Oh. That’s good then,” Ed agreed.

“Can I take Mei with me?” Al asked suddenly.

“Mei, Mei Chang from Xing?” Hughes asked, and Al nodded. “You brothers seem to have a thing for some great figure skaters. I completely understand the feeling, though,” he added and the rest of the time at the locker room he doted on Gracia while the others packed their hockey gear into their bags.

…

A cool wind pinched Winry’s cheeks as she was waiting to get called to the podium. The previous night had been a blur for the most part, but now she finally started to understand it: she had actually won gold. She imagined her Granny watching her at home on TV and smiling proudly, Den wagging her tail next to her. She also imagined how her parents would have reacted to this event. They probably would have hugged her and given a kiss on her cheek, telling her how proud they were. The thought made her emotional, though, so she decided to focus on the now: aside from her friends, she knew there would be one person who would be happy to give her a hug once the ceremony was over. She imagined how his golden eyes would shine happily when she’d show him the medal and maybe he’d even dare to kiss her if there weren’t too many cameras around. That thought made her smile again.

While waiting for the ceremony to begin, Mei started to talk to her. She told her how she had accidentally bumped into Ed and Al, how she and Al (or Mr. Alphonse like she still seemed to prefer to call him) had hit it right off, and ended up having a lot of fun together already two nights in a row. Some of it she had already heard from Ed last night, but seeing how much Mei seemed to like Al made her embarrassed that she had ever been jealous. She decided to confess Mei that she had seen her and Ed outside the arena and thought for a moment that someone was going on, to which the black-haired girl started giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Winry asked.

“It’s just… Mr. Alphonse is much more suitable for me than Mr. Edward. He’s so polite and sweet.”

“Hey, Ed can be sweet too when he wants to! He… may not always give the best first impression but he has a golden heart.”

The debate ended at that moment, because the announcer started speaking in a language that Winry didn’t understand, but she knew that was her, Mei and Lan Fan’s cue to start walking. They stopped behind the podium and finally she was able to see how many people were there to cheer for them. It was nearly overwhelming. To think that their sport could interest so many people… Finally, she thought she was able to spot a sea of green, meaning Ed and several of his teammates had arrived too. A wide smile spread on her face.

A local figure skating legend and the leader of the worldwide figure skating union gave Mei and Lan Fan their medals and presents (a silver watch), and then it was her turn. The watch was beautiful, it had her name and a female figure skater engraved on the back and behind the pointers there was a picture of the Olympic venue. However, she didn’t have a lot of time to admire it, because the national anthem of Amestris started playing, and for some reason it brought all the memories from this Olympic journey into her mind. The falling. Her friends’ support. Everything that had happened with Ed. The phone call with her granny. The final performance. Finding out she had won. And of course the amount of work it had required her to get to that point. It all overwhelmed her and she realized tears had started gathering in the corners of her eyes and she quickly swept them away before the others could see. She started singing along and realized that so did a lot of people in the audience. That made her realize how many people there really were supporting her, and after that she couldn’t stop the happy tears anymore.

…

“You OK? I saw you were crying on the podium.” Of course they were Ed’s first words once he finally reached Winry outside the ceremony venue. Winry wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his coat while Ed tried to awkwardly hug her with one hand while keeping the other on the crutch so he wouldn’t fall.

“Yes, I’m OK, silly. They were happy tears.” She mumbled against the fabric.

He leaned his jaw against her head and wrapped the free arm a bit tighter around her. “Oh… then I’m happy too.”

[shouldiwritetoday]

Nanowrimo Week 4

Days: 24-29

Words: 50027/50000

I did it!!!!! I actually did it!!! This is the first year I didn’t give up and quit. Of course, not having a job or school work helped. I am listing away at home in quarantine, but hey. I wrote words. :)

I am so proud of myself. Really I am.

Excerpt:

Bee ended up having to wait an hour and a half for Elijah to come back. She had been sitting right in front of his door in an empty hallway, twiddling her fingers and tapping her toes. Her phone hadn’t provided much entertainment provided that it was Lyla’s and had bad off brand social media.

Elijah saw her there and immediately began laughing like he had played the best joke on her. She got up as gracefully as she could with barely awake legs. He swaggered over to her, smiling like a tiger honing in on his prey. To her credit, she did not waver and met him in stride.

“Back so soon?” he taunted, unlocking his door and letting her in without much fuss.

Once again she found herself on his couch, watching him cagily. This time though, he didn’t sit across for her. Rather, he continued to putter around his apartment, throwing his jacket off to the side and didn’t give a care as to where it landed. The keys were similarly tossed on the kitchen counter as he opened the fridge and pulled out a snack that he did not offer to share. He stopped behind the counter and stared across the room at her, leaning against it and chewing, waiting for her to make her move.

“You distracted me earlier,” she told him, causing him to raise an eyebrow. “I meant to invite you to Jackson’s birthday party on Sunday.”

“Oh, really,” he said like he didn’t quite believe her. He pushed off the counter, went around it, and sauntered towards her. He came to a stop in front of her, just standing there with his arms crossed, looking down his nose. “What could I have possibly done to receive this honor?”

Bee wanted to snap at him, but couldn’t. Lyla liked to keep a level head. “You’re his brother,” she said, a puzzled tone infusing itself nicely into her voice so as to conceal Bee’s very real agitation. To him, all it would sound like was Lyla being mildly baffled at the idea of not inviting her husband’s brother to his birthday party.

Elijah scoffed, believing her to be naive. He knew of her predilection to give people an endless supply of chances and it was one of the many things he took advantage of, as well as denounce her for. “Why should I go?”

Why indeed when I don’t want you there? There were a million things she wanted to say. She desperately wanted to tell him off, to speak her mind like she had at the jeweler's. Holding it in was so hard and it was getting so tiring. But she had to hold it together, less she completely ruin everything.

“It’ll be nice.” It was meant as an offering of a truce, but it was said through her teeth. He noticed. She tried not to show that that bothered her, doing her best to reign in her very obvious dislike. “And he loves you. He wants you there.”

His eyes turned critical, head cocking to the side. “Does he? He never listens to me, so I wouldn’t know.”

Bee kept her huff to herself by concealing it with a sigh. Petty. As always.

“Since when do little brothers listen to their older brothers?” she asked diplomatically.

His returning wolf-like grin sent a shiver down her spine. “Never,” he purred. He languidly took a seat upon the armrest, leaning over and bracing a hand on the back of the couch. Invading her space seemed to be a talent of his. She tried to not make it too noticeable that she was leaning away from him, but she didn’t think she succeeded by the way his eyes glinted. “I never expected him to. Just sort of… hoped.” 

She huffed and looked away from him, crossing her arms. He was playing with her, intentionally trying to make her blow up. Well, she wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

“But,” he continued in a lighter tone, “if I can’t make him change his mind, I could at least endeavor to help him out.” That caught her attention; she turned back to him, curiosity piqued. He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Less than twenty-four hours until the plane leaves, Lyla.”

Her heart constricted. What was she supposed to do? How was it that she had been presented with this decision! She was truly and terribly at a loss. She didn’t think it could be this easy.

Clearing her throat, she began to say, “I’d have to talk to Jacks—”

“And risk the opportunity?”

His eyes bore heavily into hers and she knew she was fighting a losing battle. No matter what she said, no matter what she tried, he would come out on top. Her mouth felt dry, parched. She couldn’t be bothered to hide how much at a loss for words she was.

That smirk returned. He knew he was winning. “I have your plane ticket all ready to go. Shall I get it for you?”

Bee swallowed. She imagined herself declining politely, facing whatever aftermath that entailed complete with Elijah’s extreme ridicule. She imagined herself accepting and what that would mean in the long run, to deal with Elijah’s disdain and haughtiness. Both situations, she would lose to him. There was really no choice, though. Lyla had to be happy, too.

She opened her mouth to accept and—

And she could see how it all played out in her mind’s eyes, to a T. He would laugh at her expense, make scathing comments about motherhood and destiny and balderdash. She would go to the airport without much word of explanation to Jackson, merely a lie about a job that was taking her away for a while. And he would accept it because what reason had she to lie? But… but she would never make it to China.

How often did people go away in shows when an opportunity so great came their way? And how often did those people come home?

No. No, the plane would never land. Likely, it would explode in magnificent fashion somewhere over the ocean. That was big, that was bold, dramatic and exciting. Abrupt, off screen, and utterly stupid. Just like everything else in this show.

“No,” she said harshly, jerking away from him. That smirk flipped upside down into a cold hard frown. “No, I’m not missing my husband’s birthday for some— some— some whim without even discussing it with him first.” She stood up, becoming eye level with him now as he continued to sit on the armrest. It reminded her just how much taller he was than her, how much power he liked to pretend he had over others just by mere size alone. “Thank you for your help, but it was unneeded. Now, are you coming to the party or not?” 

Elijah’s scowl deepened, clearly upset that his plan and manipulations had not worked. In fact, it appeared that her reprimand had sucked the life and joy out of his wickedness. He fixed her with an even and defiant stare. “I’m bringing Brandon.”

She sighed. She wasn’t too happy with that, but if it meant that he wouldn’t insult her at present and would let her leave without too much more trouble, then fine. It also occurred to her in the back of her mind that it was a little unusual that his immediate thought went to inviting Brandon rather than Olivia. In fact, it seemed to her that Olivia wasn’t on his mind at all. Perhaps they had a fight. She hoped it wouldn’t be an issue at the party.

“The more the merrier,” she said simply and then left.