garfiel was the first to notice a difference in how Winry worked.
“Good morning, Winry. Wait, don’t tell me you stayed up all night again?!”
Garfiel, who had woken up at his usual time, blinked in surprise when he saw the atelier’s workbench.
Normally, the bench was set up first thing in the morning with the automail they would work on and the polished tools they would need that day. However, the usually tidy work area was strewn with swapped-out parts, screws, and grease-stained tools.
“Good morning! I’m finishing up, so I’ll open the shutters right after!” Winry gave him a smile and returned his greeting in the middle of repairing some automail. She went right back to screwing in the final bolt.
“Did we receive an overnight job yesterday evening?” Garfiel said, cocking his head to the side in puzzlement, before realizing Winry was working on automail that a client had brought in the day before. Dubious, he asked, “Weren’t we just changing out the screw in the joint for this one?”
Winry replied breezily as though nothing were amiss, “That’s what I’d been planning, but the customer was concerned one of the internals was warped and apparently he’s coming back at around noon, so I thought I’d get it done before we open.”
“You don’t have to accept work with tight time constraints and tough conditions. Just the other day, you ended up with another complex job and had to pull an all-nighter then, too.” Garfiel seemed half-exasperated.
In front of him but not looking up, Winry finally finished her work and put down her screwdriver.
“Whew, I’m done. Okay, time to get ready to open shop!”
She wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. Without even stopping for a break, she drew water into a bucket. She had already finished doing routine maintenance on the devices and tools late the night before, so all she had left was cleaning the floors.
“My stars,” Garfiel shrugged when she didn’t show any hint of fatigue and diligently went to work sweeping the floors with a broom. “First, take a shower. I don’t approve of you being filthy before we even open up.”
“Huh?”
Winry blinked and looked down at herself. She hadn’t realized until that moment that she was covered in sweat and oil from head to toe.
“I’m sorry! I’ll get cleaned up right away!” she said. She couldn’t meet customers while looking like that—it would be rude. Winry rushed up the stairs and dashed into the bathroom.
As the lukewarm water washed over her, she scrubbed at her skin with soap. Metal shavings and blackened bubbles flowed down the drain.
“Whoa, I really was filthy! I’m so glad I finished in time!” she exclaimed as she scrubbed herself clean, loudly splashing water as she celebrated that she’d finished the earlier maintenance without issue.
Winry was firmly committed to hearing out each and every client she met. Since she knew now that she’d been inconsiderate of Darish’s feelings, she had reflected on her work and decided to prioritize her client’s feelings going forward.
After showering and changing, Winry gazed out the window as she ate breakfast. The smoke puffing out of smokestacks all over the city signaled the start of what would be a hectic day.
“Hope my work will satisfy the clients!” she said in order to remind herself of what she’d resolved to do. She slapped her cheeks to fire herself up.
immediately after the shop opened, the owner of the automail she had barely finished servicing stopped by.
“Morning. I’m sorry for coming in early. Could you reattach the leg I brought to you yesterday, by any chance? I found out that I have a last-minute trip I need to make for work. Have you finished the repairs?”
“Yes, and I looked at all the internal mechanisms. There weren’t any problems at all. I’ll reattach it now, so if you could please come this way.”
Winry nodded and offered a chair as the suit-wearing man’s eyes went wide. Though he had come in the day before, it had been right at closing time. Despite his request, the man was aware that dismantling an automail’s internal components would have taken time.
“The internal mechanisms?” the man said with an apologetic look in his eyes as Winry set about pulling off the prosthetic leg he’d worn in place of his automail. “You don’t mean you looked at all of them, do you? But it’s only been a day. You must have stayed up all night. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Winry said. After she finished pulling off the leg with a clunk, Winry brought over the automail. “Okay, shall I reattach it now?”
She leaned over his legs, put a wrench to the bolt of the joint and held it firmly.
“Are you ready? One, two, three!”
“Guh!” When he felt the pain and jolt from his nerves connecting, the man groaned a little. “Ha ha, I just can’t ever seem to get used to that, no matter how long it’s been.”
He smiled sheepishly, seeming embarrassed for crying out unintentionally at his age.
“How is it? None of it feels sluggish when you move it, right?”
“No, the exterior screw is perfectly fit in there, so it’s not making that strange noise. There’s no problem with it.”
He stood up and stretched his leg, then took a few steps and smiled in satisfaction.
“I have a big business negotiation in another town, but because you took such a good look at my leg, it won’t be distracting me and I’ll be able to focus on my work. I’m grateful, truly.”
After he settled the bill, as he left to go to work, Winry saw him out, calling, “Thank you so much!” The morning sunlight stung her sleep-deprived eyes so much it hurt, but Winry didn’t mind it at all.
Kaas came by that afternoon.
“Hello, Winry. I came to see your schematics.”
“Welcome, Mr. Kaas. Please take a seat over here. Umm, your schematics are …”
Winry searched for the two blueprints in a box filled with rolled-up papers, then spread only one of them over the table initially.