I do not own FMA. Includes fem!ed (Edith) and male!winry (Winter). winXed. Might be a bit OOC. Rated for swearing and such. Sorry if it sucks, I'm still new to writing


Edith sat on the ground waiting for the rest of the group to finish their duties around camp so they could eat dinner. Al and Winter were pitching the camps, while the chimeras got firewood, and Hohenhiem was gathering food. Ling, however, had finished whatever job he had and sat down next to Ed.

"Hey Princess" he smirked to her.

"Prince. Ess? Ed asked in contempt.

"Yeah. I am the prince of Xing, and I consider you to be of equivalent rank of me, so you are a princess. Definitely got the looks too" he winked.

"Uh-huh" replied Ed, who was far more interested in a little bug crawling about in the grass around her.

"Yup! Although, I must say your looks are a bit different than that we might see in Xing… it's good though. Much more…exotic."

Winter and Al, who had finished pitching their tents by now, started watching their, er, exchange, if you could call it that.

"Especially that hair of yours." Ling started stroking her braided blonde locks. "Golden. Like pure gold you know? So pretty…" By now his hand had moved to the nape of her neck.

Edith flinched and tried to scoot away from him. Winter had seen it through his suspicious, narrowed eyes, and felt a hot surge of anger rush through him.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!" he yelled out. Ling froze and turned to face him.

"Why, I think I am complementing your, ah, friend."This made Winter even angrier. What right did this bastard have to go and harass his best friend? And to top it off, the bastard was undermining him. He had known Edith longer than the other man had. He had made Edith her auto-mail, and fixed it every time she broke it. He had worried his ass off everyday when Ed was off on a mission. He had taken it upon himself to keep Ed in line, and to support her in every way he could. And he had made it his goal to confess his feelings for her one day. It didn't even matter if she didn't return the feelings, as long as she was happy. But she did not look happy at the idea of Ling being overly close to her.

"Well, my friend doesn't look like she's appreciating your compliments to her, and it's my duty- as a friend- to help her out when she needs it. So, back. Off."

If Ed did return his feelings, then it would be an added bonus that he would forever cherish, but right now he had to face first things first.

"If Ed doesn't like it, she'll say it" Ling snapped back. "Right Ed?" Ed opened her mouth to reply but was quickly cut off. "She is her own person and is perfectly capable of defending herself."

Winter growled, a feral noise in the back of his throat.

"Sound like someone's jealous" Ling chuckled at Winter. That did it. Winter snapped. He stepped forward (squishing the bug Ed had been staring at) and drew his fist back to punch Ling right in his ugly, prince face.

But before he could do any of that Ed had grabbed his arm, drew it back, and stepped between the bastard and him. The bastard smirked. Winter seethed.

"What the fuck? Are you both trying to kill each other. We've got WAY better things to do than stand here and argue about the stupidest things! Are you even listening to me?" Ed exclaimed, exasperated. Winter had taken to glaring daggers at Ling, who was sighing, because all he had been doing was teasing Ed, when the jealous little bugger had come along to pick a fight with him (not that Ling couldn't handle him, he just tended to bi a bit lazy at times). Seriously, if he had known that Winter would've reacted this way, he would have left Ed alone.

"Jesus. I'm leaving..." Edith stomped off.

"Ah hell." Ling muttered.

Winter growled, but just opted for a "lay off her" before also stomping off.


Hohenhiem chuckled quietly to himself. He had cunningly (in his opinion) hid himself in between some trees and bushes so that he was out of sight. This way he could witness the scene that had unfolded before him without being disturbed (and screamed at by his daughter, who would accuse him of being a creepy stalker). He knew that Ling was just teasing Ed, but apparently Winter didn't get that. He, as a father, approved of Winter as a potential husband for his daughter (assuming that she is getting married). That might be a little hard to hope for though, and he'd play matchmaker if he needed too...


Reviews are welcome!