"Alright, where do I start?" Roy murmured, rubbing his temples. The three of them sat on the floor surrounding Ivar's fireplace. The basic layout of the house hadn't seemed to change all that much, although Roy noted an extra door that led to a bathroom and some more modern appliances lying about. Nia Khera hadn't changed all that much either. Roy thought that the town's limits were extended a bit and there were a few newer, bigger, buildings, but it seemed like the town kept its rural air.

The group had gone straight to Ivar's house, and Ed had demanded the explanation Roy promised, over lunch of course.

"Well start with why you changed your name." Ivar suggested. " 'Jude Mathis' to 'Roy Mustang'."

"I remember my own name, Ivar." Roy muttered, rolling his eyes. "You don't need to remind me." He frowned "But yeah, the alias is part of a bigger story too…"

Ed glared daggers into the Mathis-Mustang, who promptly ignored him. Suddenly the man straightened up. "Oh I got it. So" he looked to the white-haired man "Do you remember how I was a researcher?"

Ivar snorted and rolled his eyes "And a doctor, and an ambassador, and the flippin' messiah-"

"No that was Milla." Roy interrupted, voicing the answer he knew would shut him up. Ivar nodded.

"Holy sh-" Ed started to state his wonder before Roy cut him off.

"No swearing." He said. Ed looked annoyed.

"What?" the teen muttered.

"Well now that I have nothing to hide I can finally tell you to stop swearing all the time." Roy rolled his eyes "Seriously, a kid like you has no business even knowing language like that."

Ed opened his mouth to respond with a rather colorful retort when Ivar covered his mouth and shook his head.

"Don't." he whispered, his eyes darting to Roy "He's always been like that, so don't take it personally."

Ed mumbled under his breath and pushed Ivar away. Roy tilted his head.

"You two done?" he asked. The said 'two' nodded and Roy carried on. "Well I was a researcher, trying to find a new way to use energy…" he trailed off, his face clearly betraying his curiosity about something, but he chided himself quietly and went on "I made my fair share of enemies. While what was at the time used as energy was harmful and plain-out murde-" his eyes darted to Ed and he cut himself off "…it was still making people money. Those people didn't quite like my cleaner way of productivity." He paused for a breath "So they, er, went after me…" he stumbled over the sentence, as if he was making the story up on the spot. "I ran for awhile and ended up in Amestris through a series of events you really don't need to know, and Riza" he looked to Ivar and elaborated "Milla, just showed up. The reason for my alias is pretty simple: I was hiding from them."

Ed frowned "But why join the military?"

Roy-Jude shrugged "Well that country was kinda horrible so I'd figured I'd do something to change it."

Ivar rolled his eyes "Sounds like you."

Rude raised a brow "Pardon?"

"Nothing!" Ivar chirped.

Ed frowned, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes. "All right… so why 'Roy Mustang'?"

"Yeah Jude, why call yourself King Horse?" Ivar asked. Ed choked down a laugh. Tears pricked at his eyes as he turned to Ivar with a grin.

"King Horse?" he asked.

Ivar grinned widely, clearly enjoying the attention. "Yep! King Horse! 'Roy' means 'king' and Mustang is a type of horse, so-"

"Ivar, shut up before I make you shut up." Roy growled. His was red with both embarrassment and anger.

"You named yourself King Horse?" Ed laughed.

Roy's face turned a deeper red. He coughed into his fist, clearing his throat. "I panicked."

"How do you manage to panic THAT much?" Ivar said with a chuckle. Ed nodded his agreement with the question.

"I don't know. I mean, Gaius named himself 'He who pulls the world behind him'!" Roy snapped. He lowered his voice and muttered "How vain is that?"

"Not as vain as the King of Horses, apparently." Ed snickered. Roy gave him a golden glare and for once, Ed ducked away from it. Roy took a deep breath and sighed it out.

"Anyway. That's pretty much it." Roy said. "Yes?" he said when Ed (mockingly) raised his hand.

"Who's Gaius?"

"The King of Rieze Maxia." Ivar said with a nod. Ed's eyes widened.

"You know a king?" he asked.

Roy nodded "Yes."

"How?" Ed blinked.

Roy sighed in response, running a hand down his face "That's another very long story, Ed."

Ed stuck his bottom lip out in a pout "Alright fine. Then who's Eddie?" Roy and Ivar stared at him with wide eyes. Ed rolled his own "What? You thought I'd just forget it?"

Roy took a deep breathe, slouching down where he sat. His gazed flicked away "Edward, I don't want to talk about it." Ed opened his mouth to deliver a rather harsh retort but quickly closed it, thinking better of it. And honestly, feeling the slightest bit guilty.

"Alright." He said. Quickly he changed the subject, jabbing a thumb at Ivar "So who's this loser?"

"Hey!" Ivar snapped.

"Just some loser Riza-Milla knows." Roy shrugged.

"JUDE!" Ivar howled. His eyes narrowed and he jumped to his feet, pointing accusingly at Roy as he yelled "AT LEAST I'M NOT A PHONY!"

Ed scooted over to Roy and leaned in close "Why does he keep calling you 'Phony'?"

"Because he's ashamed I'm better than him." Roy whispered back. Ed rolled his eyes.

"I'd be ashamed if you were better than me, too." He muttered. Roy tilted his head to the side, smiling warmly at the comment with the slightest hint of confusion. His eyes shown, glowing in the reflecting light of the setting sun. Ed looked away.

At that moment, Jude was there. But Roy wasn't.

A/N

Sorry for the looooonng update time. I kinda got writer's block for this chapter. So I just cut it short. Uh… So my sister and I headcannon Gaius is actually Jude's dad. I forgot that wasn't cannon and almost wrote it in.

Skit~

" 'Eddie' 2"

Ivar: … "Jude…."

Roy: "What is it?"

Ivar: [box sinks] "The kid was kinda prying there, huh? You okay?"

Roy: [smirk] "Of course I'm okay. I'm not you."

Ivar: [half-eyed look] "Yay for you."