Summary: AU; Roy Mustang, king of the eastern kingdom, apprehends a stray foreigner. Oddly enough, the person isn't fully human. Roy takes interest.

Pairings: Roy/Ed and some others might pop up. (I'll take request pairings if anyone wants something to show up (But the pairing HAS to work. You HAVE to give me evidence it will work!) Otherwise, enjoy the loveliness of Roy/Ed)

Warnings: Shounen-ai/yaoi, swearing (from Ed, of course), and a random guy (cough Hughes cough) running around in a miniskirt (hey, you never know with him...)

Key:

'Blah' – Thoughts

"Blah" – Talking

Recommended listening: Reel Around the Sun performed by the 12 Girls Band

Metal Heart

Chapter Two

Roy let out a small sigh as he lit a candle on his workbench desk, looking over the document he was supposed to sign. Other lands were so demanding nowadays. First the limestone, then the wheat and now acres needed to be given off for new farmers. Roy let out another sigh as he took the pen and put his initials at the bottom. It wasn't too much. But it still didn't seem fair for his people.

Setting aside the document, Roy put his fingers to his temples, massaging them in order to rid himself of his headache that had formed with reading over the small font in the little light. He then entwined his fingers, eyes staring across the room as he began to think again.

"It's Ed... my name is Ed."

'Ed, huh?' the king thought to himself. 'It's odd... and strangely fitting. His eyes say he's older than he looks.'

And it was true. Seeing the teen with the cloak made Roy presume him to be at least fourteen years or age, considering the shortness. Seeing the teen without the cloak made him think again. Much older than fourteen. Perhaps sixteen or seventeen at the very least. Then the eyes. Those harsh, golden eyes. They knew things beyond the teenager's years. They had seen more than their fair share of the reality of life. It was unthinkable and yet not very surprising.

'He didn't put up much of a fight when Hawkeye escorted him out. And I haven't gotten any alarm that says he's run for it. So what holds him back?'

"Hey, Mustaaannnggg!"

'Oh, god no...'

Roy turned around and his eyes widened at who was standing in the doorway. Of course, by voice Roy already knew it was Maes Hughes. But the way he was dressed... Roy didn't know whether to be amused or to be utterly disgusted. Hughes was leaning against the doorway, a grin on his face and he was dressed in the fine white tunic top made of cloth, button down with long sleeves. He wore his normal boots, as he was one of the knights, but between the shoes and the shirt was the tiniest skirt Roy had ever seen in his life. It was barely enough to cover Hughes and that alone was a scary image.

"What the hell are you wearing?!" Roy asked, making a note to never let Hughes come in unannounced ever again. He was sure he was scarred for life.

"Oh, isn't it just great?" Hughes asked, doing a small twirl, one leg propped up off the ground. "Little Elysia made it for me! She's almost a teenager and she can sew like her mom! She made this for me and I feel so happy with it on! It's not normally my thing, but oh, happy day!"

Hughes began to prance around, skipping with his legs high in the air, making Roy turn away with disgust. God, now he knew he was scarred for life. "Will you take that offending piece of clothing off?"

"B-but Elysia made it for me! It's special!"

Roy groaned and smacked his head. How did this ditzy kind of man ever get to be his commanding knight? How? His eyes narrowed almost comically as Hughes set a hand on his head with a grin. Roy felt a vein on his head throb and he put his thumb and forefinger together. "You have three seconds to let go, Hughes."

"Relax, I'm just playing with you," Hughes replied and he sighed as he backed off. "So what's the scoop on the kid staying here?"

Roy glanced back at the knight, looking into the eyes that had once been playful now narrowed in curiosity. Roy shrugged and went back to facing his desk. "Nothing really. Just a traveler. He'll be out by tomorrow."

"Oh, that's too bad. Where's he staying?"

"Why do you want to know? Going to go scar him for life, too?" Roy shot back, slightly irritated.

Hughes held up his hands in his defense. "No, just wanted to talk. See what's so interesting that allowed him to stay in the city, more so in here, the palace itself, a place where anyone in the city would die just to spend a few hours in." Hughes tapped the wall in front of Roy to prove his point, causing Roy to smirk a little.

"He's interesting," Roy finally admitted after a few moments of silence. "His right arm and left leg are made completely of metal."

Hughes dropped his hand. "Automail?"

Roy nodded almost solemnly. "Right. And he flipped Heymans Breda right over his head like it was nothing."

" Breda?! You're kidding, right?"

"Does it look like I'm joking? Anyway, I've allowed him to stay tonight."

"So you've taken interest in him."

"You could say that. It's not every day you come across a superhuman."

"Hmm..."

Hughes leaned against the wall, tapping his chin thoughtfully. All thoughts of his daughter aside and he began concentrating on Roy. Something was weird about this. Roy had been somewhat depressed as of late and now this traveler shows up and Hughes had never seen Roy's eyes so alive.

"Looks like more than mild interest if you ask me," the knight commented, earning him a glare.

"Do you want to be fried shish cabob?" Roy asked in a testy voice, his fingers poised again.

"So it's true, then?" Hughes was grinning, his "I-know-I'm-right-and-you-can't-deny-it" grin that made a gleam reflect in his eyes.

Roy put his hand back down and sighed. He wasn't even bothering trying to deny it. It was something more than interest, but it was too early to think like that. He just wanted to know how Ed got metal limbs. That was all.

"Well, whatever it is, good luck with it," Hughes said, his hand waving the air as he walked back towards the door. "I'll search the place for the kid; see if I can't get a chat with him."

"He's down three doors to the left." Roy didn't turned around, even as Hughes did to give him a stare before grinning again.

The door closed and Roy's room was thrown into silence. He folded his hands and placed his forehead on them, closing his eyes. Why was he suddenly taking interest in this boy?

...Why?

Ed took the cloth and wiped it slowly across his arm. It was beginning to rust a little, so he just used the small packet of metal shiner he had been given before he set out and used the cloth to rub it down. Now it shone in the soft moonlight as nightfall approached quickly, throwing the room he was staying in into almost complete darkness. He stood up and lit a few torch lamps in the room to give off a nice glow. It reminded him somewhat of home, but not as extravagant. Nor did home feel this nice.

The room was nice, a large master room with a king sized mattress to boot. It was covered in dark navy blue silk sheets, but the pillows were purple and had the same flaming horses running across the bottom in the strange, intricate pattern as the one in the great hall two levels down. It was four-poster, of course, and had satin drapery around it colored a rich ruby red, the same color as fire itself. The carpet was a grey-blue color, much softer than the intense blue and red colors. The bed frame was made of oak wood, with trace amounts of polish refinery, a highly supporting wood material. The room also had a nightstand to match the bed, along with a walk-in closet.

The bathroom was just as big as the room itself, with a double shower (the room was obviously made for couples, he noted) and a large bathtub able to support two people. Ed shuddered to think of what people had done in this room, but then realized that the sheets were brand new, as if they hadn't been used in ages; he could tell because they weren't wrinkled at all and their original compound was still in place rather than be rubbed off by people. Even the tile counter of the bathroom was spotless. This room hadn't been used in what looked like ever, if at all.

Last, but not least, there was a balcony behind two glass doors. The balcony was bigger than a stand still slab of wood. There was a good ten feet across in width and five feet up with a railing made of oak. The designs going down the railing support beams were the same red horses, but this time painted, not stitched or drawn.

Ed walked out onto the balcony, crouching down fluidly, his metal and resting on the ground as an extra support beam as his golden eyes grazed over the artistic design. If he stared long enough, his eyes betrayed him and made the horses come alive, their flaming manes roaring up across the wooden carvings, jumping over the green painted vines that got in their way. Each time Ed blinked, the horses froze, as if knowing they were being watched, and then began their dance again across the endless wooden beam.

"Like the art?"

Ed suddenly jumped up and whirled around, shoulders tense and eyes focusing on the where the voice had come from. Someone was leaning against his open door, grinning in the soft glow of the room. Ed relaxed as the person didn't attack him or make a move to hurt him and he put his arms down. "Who're you?"

"Name's Hughes. I take it you like the art?" the person replied, insisting on taking Ed back to the previous question.

Ed blinked a moment before he nodded slightly and glanced back at it. "I've seen it all around this place; in the halls, in the rooms..." He paused for a moment before glancing across the room. "...but oddly enough, not in the bathrooms."

The man, Hughes, laughed from his position by the doorway. He seemed quite amused by the simple thinking. "You can't combine fire and water, now can you? What would that make? Steam!" The man was grinning, a sharp edge to his eyes.

"A conflict," Ed said, despite the fact that Hughes had already answered it simply. Ed turned to the railing again, tracking one of the horses with his finger. "Water is one oxygen molecule and two hydrogen molecules fused together. Fire is an exothermic, self-sustaining, oxidizing chemical that produces energy when met with the right chemical fuel to and oxygen to keep it going. When fire meets water, humidity levels rise and the water becomes gas. It's a conflict that doesn't die out right away."

Hughes whistled. "You sure know your elements. Maybe you can teach me about earth and air sometimes."

Ed cracked a small smile. "That's harder. There's more material to work with and isn't as simple as water and fire."

"Hmm, that's true. Say, what's your name?"

"Ed."

"Ed, huh? Well, Ed, I got a question." The eyes intensified.

Ed stiffened slightly. "What?"

Hughes smirked once before suddenly his smirk turned to a grin and he popped out into the middle of the room, bringing one leg up and doing a small twirl in the full light from the candles and small torch lamps. "Don't you just love what my little daughter made for me? She's only just learned how to sew, but she's already so good!"

Ed was thoroughly shocked by what he was seeing. A man, a serious man who had come to talk to him... was no more than a man with an obsession... and wearing an extremely tight mini-skirt. The obsession alone was freaky, but the mini-skirt... Ed smacked his head with his left hand and covered his eyes. He knew he was scarred for life... god... "Did your master tell you to wear that?"

Hughes almost giggled at that. "No, I was just wore it because my lovely little daughter made it! I'm so proud of her."

"Yeah, well, no offense, but it doesn't suit a man like you," Ed semi-complimented, uncovering his eyes. "Seems too... feminine. Then again, with that prance, I think I might take back what I said..."

Hughes straightened with his normal cheery grin. "Hey, don't get too comfortable here. It's not everyday Mustang lets a traveler stay in the kingdom, much less the palace."

Ed huffed and crossed his arms, metal over flesh. "I know that. I already told him I didn't need his courtesy."

"Ah, but you must be grateful if you told him your name," Hughes commented, tapping Ed's forehead. Ed's right arm immediately snapped out and caught Hughes' wrist. The man whistled again. "Fast reflexes you got there. Automail?"

Ed blinked. "You're not afraid?" Well, this was a first.

"Of course I am, but at the same time, I'm fascinated," was the reply as Hughes retracted his hand through Ed's slackened grip. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your old limbs? By the scars, they weren't the cause of a default birth."

Ed crossed his arms again and turned his head towards the wall of Tsuki-kage, trying to find something else to look at. "It's kind of private."

"Ah, no worries," Hughes chuckled, leaning against the railing, looking out with the teen. It was quiet for a moment, as the world had suddenly stopped turning and the crickets had vanished off the face of the earth. And then time picked up again when Ed broke the silence with a soft sigh.

" Roy's taken interest in you" Hughes commented, trying to liven up the awkward situation.

Unfortunately, he only succeeded in making Ed in blink in confusion as a small blush spread across his cheeks. "Huzzawha? Why?"

Hughes shrugged. "I dunno, but he was thinking quite a bit when I went to talk to him. And I've never seen him act like that before."

Ed turned his head away again, huffing at a stray bang that fell down in front of his eyes before a sarcastic smile pulled at his lips as he began to state the obvious. "Whatever! It doesn't matter to me. I'm outta here in the morning anyway and—"

Ed suddenly stopped. A sharp pain had assaulted his shoulder bade and his neck and was pressing deeper into his skin, with more force than before. His chest constricted and his right hand came up to grip it, the cold metal feel sinking through his thin tank top and hitting his sensitive skin. Ed shut his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth to hold back a gasp of pain that would cost him more breath than he was getting, which wasn't very much at all. 'Not again!'

He felt the cold limestone underneath him for the second time that day. He could hear a voice calling him, worried and aware; panicky.

"Ed? Ed!"

'I can't breathe...'

"ED!"

Darkness fell again.

A/N: Chapter two done. Hee, I hope no one's gonna chew me out for the whole mini-skirt thing. I don't hate Hughes (I actually love him to itty bitty bits) but he just seemed like the guy random enough to do it, so I figured "Eh, why not?"

I hope this chapter was worth the wait (although it might take me a wee bit longer to update. Taking two AP classes this year... murder...) and I also hope nothing was too OOC. Ja ne for now!

Saphira Nakare Ruakara