The Same Coin

Wild Card

"Izumi won't teach you," Winry warned as she boarded the train ahead of Hisoka, scowling back over her shoulder at him.

The magician gave a blasé shrug then advanced to stand on the same step as her, invading her space entirely and forcing her to continue forward onto the train to get away from him. Winry felt more like a hostage than a traveling companion.

Garfiel had been reluctant to let her leave again, and understandably so. Hisoka, however, had simply drawn Garfiel aside. Their conversation had been quiet. Winry's heart raced with pure, undiluted panic that Hisoka might try to hurt Garfiel if Garfiel refused, but it didn't come to that. Eventually the two shook hands and Garfiel had simply waved her away. More money for her time, she was sure.

He didn't initiate conversation with her, and that was more than fine for the first hour and some. It was curious, however, to watch him staring out the window at her country. She wondered if it was as foreign feeling to him as his country had been to her. It was only a matter of time before her curiosity got the better of her mutual silence.

"Where were you born?"

Hisoka raised an eyebrow at her sudden question. "I have no interest in my past."

"I didn't ask that. I asked where you were born."

"Saherta."

"Near Yorknew City?"

His head tilted to one side and he leaned his cheek against his fist, eyeing her with what she could only interpret as annoyance. "I have no interest in my past. Neither should you."

"If you don't care, then there shouldn't be any reason not to tell me."

He sighed. This apparently wasn't the hill he wanted to die on, as he continued, "I lived near Glam Gas Land. There was originally a gas deposit there, and after it depleted hotels and casinos were built instead. The best entertainers in the world work there." Hisoka drew out his cards and shuffled them through his fingers with ease before they disappeared from his hands. "And the best magicians."

"Were your parents performers?"

"I don't remember what they did, and I don't care to."

"What do you remember?"

He narrowed his eyes at her then looked at the seat directly in front of him. His features slowly relaxed. "Bungee Gum."

She knew she paid too much attention for her own good, but she could tell that his guard was still up. Looking back, she had realized she'd never seen him let it down, not even for so much as a second. Even in the moments earlier when she had briefly wondered if he'd been asleep, it hadn't taken her long to realize it was unlikely. She wondered if he truly slept, or if he merely dozed. If even that.

"Do you trust me?" she asked abruptly.

"Hmh." Hisoka didn't say anything at first, instead reaching in his pocket and withdrawing her gun to show her. Winry felt her face tighten with rage, and her hand snapped out to snatch it back, but he moved it just out of reach before tucking it away again. "No, mink. I do not."

"Why?" Winry demanded.

"You are a onesome little thing. A wild card — difficult to predict. I have yet to decide whether that is a quality I enjoy about you. So no, I do not trust you. I likely never will." His eyes rolled before meeting hers. "And it's best if you don't trust me in return."

She wasn't certain what she disliked about his response. She did not trust him either, and had no intention of doing so. It would be naive and foolish of her to expect him to feel any differently, though she supposed that by virtue of him being so much more powerful than her that whether he needed to trust her wouldn't matter much.

Winry shifted slightly to reach in her pocket, then held out her closed fist to him. He watched her for a moment, then frowned and put his hand beneath hers, palm up. She didn't dare look away or blink as she watched for his reaction.

His brows raised high and Hisoka's lips parted into a small 'O' of surprise, pinching it between his middle finger and thumb to evaluate in the light before he closed his eyes and smiled.

"Where did you find this?"

"In a gift shop after I left Heavens Arena."

"A gift shop," he repeated quietly, closing his fist around the pink and white pack of Bungee Gum. "I don't remember the last time I even thought to look for it."

Winry waited, lips pursed, half expecting him to thank her but also aware it was unlikely that saying thank you would even occur to him. He met her halfway instead.

"You are a wild card," was what he whispered again as he reclined back into the seat, taking her gun from wherever he'd hidden it, and set it in her lap.

As she returned her gun to where it belonged, she decided she preferred that more than a 'thank you' anyway.