A Cup of Tea Solves...

[hands4healing]

WHO: Manolo Luis Sanchez Rivera (matadorable) and Winry Rockbell (hands4healing) [Closed]
WHERE: Winry's house
WHEN: Prior to the whole kidnapping thing with Russia
WHAT: Tea, Pie, and Talks on Death (and Dogs and...)
WARNINGS: Shouldn't be any?

Winry prepared for Manolo's visit by baking an apple pie, tidying up the house, and putting on a pot of tea to be ready at his arrival. She'd looked up a recipe for Boba Tea but decided against trying to make that. It didn't seem like something that would go with apple pie, either. She still wanted to try it, and made a note to check for it when she was out. But that would happen later. Sometime after Manolo's visit.

Hearing someone at the door, Winy pointed the dogs to their accustomed beds and opened the door. With a bright smile, she welcomed Manolo to her home.

"Hello! I'm so glad you could make it."

Comments

[matadorable]

It was always kind of fun getting to meet someone from the network in person, even if Manolo was usually a tad nervous beforehand. Having spent his whole life in the same small town, he really didn't have much opportunity to introduce himself to someone who was basically a stranger. But his time in Heropa was starting to change that, and Manolo believed it was a good way to keep himself open to all these new experiences he wouldn't have been able to enjoy otherwise.

"Yeah!" he greeted with a smile, a small tin of cookies resting in his hands. "Me too. Thank you for inviting me. You are very kind."

[hands4healing]

Winry grew up in a small sheepherding village, so she would understand Manolo's jitters. As it was, she opened the door wider, stepping back to let him in.

"Thank you." Though she smiled, she bobbed her head solemnly. "Please, come in. I'll introduce you to the dogs and show you around, if you want!" She loved her house that she and Ed picked out together, even if she wished Ed was still here in the house, too.

The dogs, a pair of Border Collies, lay on their beds, at the ready to jump up at Winry's word. "The black and white one is Zoey and the...other one is Boba." Boba, being younger, raised his hindquarters a bit, in preparation to charging. "Boba, stay!" Winry said, holding up her hand to emphasize her order.

[matadorable]

Manolo stepped through the door with a small bow of his head. Back home, it would probably be pretty inappropriate for a single man to visit the home of a young, single woman when her parents weren't around, but he's already learned that social mores here are very different. More freedom and less judgement were both things he could get behind, though, to the extent that he was pretty sure he'd handled that particular part of their transition a bit easier than Joaquin.

When Winry introduced him to the dogs, Manolo's face brightened. "Wow, they're gorgeous dogs. And well-behaved too! You must take really good care of them."

[hands4healing]

Winry was used to people showing up at all hours of the day or night back home - customers looking for automail or medical services. The idea of being alone with a man never actually crossed her mind, since she and Ed had moved into this house together.

She smiled at the praise of her dogs. "Thank you! Boba's not really mine, he belongs to my roommate, but she works a lot, so I take care of him, too." She released the dogs from their sit and Boba charged over, sniffing Manolo's legs. Zoey was more circumspect, waiting politely until the puppy was done, then offering a paw like she'd been trained.

[matadorable]

Manolo reached down to give Zoey an affection pat before finding himself delighted by Zoey's manners. "Well, hello to you too!" he said with a laugh, gently returning the shake.

Come to think of it, Winry had already mentioned that Boba didn't actually belong to her. Curious, he looked back at his host. "Really? Who's your roommate?"