FIC: The City Over the Mountain (5/9 - (PG-13) - Fullmetal Alchemist
Title: The City Over the Mountain (5/9)
Author: Zippit
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Timeline: Post Manga/Brotherhood
Character(s)/Pairing(s): established Roy Mustang/Edward Elric, OCs
Rating: PG-13
Content Notes: N/A
Word Count: 1,866 / 25,070
Completed: March 15, 2013
Challenge: 2012 round of fmabigbang
Prompt: Wonderful picture by bob_fish found here.
Disclaimer: The characters portrayed within are not mine. This is merely a loving response to the original work.
Author’s Notes: The picture I received from bob_fish was utterly gorgeous and I'm just pleased I could write something to accompany it. Hope you enjoy!
Summary: When a clandestine mission to Aerugo doesn't go as planned, Roy and Ed stumble upon an unknown civilization with unexpected ties to their past and designs on their future that may not allow them to return to Amestris.
The single room they’re led to is well put together and furnished without seeming over the top. It’s fitting for respected guests, but it’s even further into the compound than the dining room. It makes Roy uneasy. They have no opportunity to slip outside undetected and venture into the city on their own. Too many doors and too many twists and turns prevented easy navigation to the outside. It feels rather deliberate.
They thanked their guide then both of them waited until he was gone before they ventured further into the room. Ed smirks at Roy and saunters over to the bed to sprawl across it. “Pretty fancy place they have here.”
“They’ve figured out what we are to each other.” Ed gives him a “well duh” look, but Roy ignores it as he moves around the periphery of the room. Tasteful wall hangings depict historical events while books line the shelves, most probably filled with the history of the city. Yes, this room has been specifically set aside for outsiders. There’s not a hint of dust despite the lack of use the room receives. Sculpture and art pieces that reflect certain scenes from the wall hangings also line the shelves around the room.
“How long do you think they were watching us? Think they’re still watching us here?”
“They knew about my abilities so a safe estimate would probably be as soon as we stepped onto the wooden trail.” Roy continues to move around the room, eying the sculptures and wall hangings, and occasionally examining a few more closely. After he sets down what looks like a lion, he looks back at Ed. “I wouldn’t see the reason for it. We couldn’t do much that they wouldn’t be able to counteract almost immediately.”
Ed’s gaze roves the room and the lazy way he’s spread out on the bed doesn’t fool Roy. “So opposing schools of thought.”
Roy nods. “An unwise choice by Margaret to bring that to light in front of foreigners.”
“Not particularly, but at least we know. She didn’t seem to want to hide it. Thinking the opposing sides might be involved in their issues with the protections or whatever they are?”
“It’s not outside the realm of possibility. Shall you cozy up to Margaret and I’ll glean as much from Edith as I can?” Ed makes a sound of agreement and Roy notices their packs have been neatly set against one of the walls. There’s a door to the back of the large room that probably leads to a bathroom and Roy’s now curious about the inner workings of this city.
“Go clean up before you start breaking down how this city works from its foundations up.” Roy arches an eyebrow at him and gets a hand waved in his direction. “You’re like me. Can’t resist figuring out how things work, but we’ve got bigger problems to deal with. Now, move your ass into the bathroom before I make you.”
“If you forget, Edward, you’re not my commanding officer.”
“Haven’t forgotten at all, bastard,” Ed says far too cheerfully. “You’re really gonna make me get off this bed to drag you into the bathroom?” At Roy’s bland look, Ed scowls and sits up to swing his feet over the bed’s edge.
He’s not particularly looking forward to automail shoved in unpleasant places so he moves to grab his pack from the wall and heads into the bathroom. He doesn’t look back at Ed because there’s going to be a self-satisfied smirk on his face.
The bathroom is as opulent as the surrounding room. Sand colored tiles give a warm glow to reflected light while dust red ones provide a contrast. In some ways he’s disappointed at not seeing a greater difference between Amestris and this long hidden city. Much is the same between this place and the outside world. He’s curious to know more about its founding.
Roy draws the cloth curtain back from the shower cubicle to turn on the water and watches it cascade into the sparkling white tub. The shower head’s simple and unadorned, and the knobs for temperature control are simple too but graced with a dragon on the hot water side and a whale on the other. Curious. How disparate had the initial populations been for a water creature to be featured in a landlocked city?
Roy strips out of his clothes and eyes the dust that arises from them with surprise. They have traveled quite a distance. The distractions of a new civilization, sentient mists, and odd colored foxes made him forget. Will they be offered robes in the native style when they’re shown the internal workings of whatever’s failing? He suspects the council would prefer to keep their actual presence a secret from as many people as possible.
It might be a lost cause with the daughter, Margaret, more than likely telling her fellow movement members about the meeting they just had. Roy tests the water with his fingers and once it’s hot enough he showers quickly. He dresses in a relatively clean set of clothes then emerges into the main room to find Ed nearly asleep on the bed. He’d half expected to come out and find him scribbling madly on the pages of the report file about this city they’ve found and possible alchemical theories for how the mist worked.
He sets his pack against the wall again then moves over to the bed to gently shake Ed awake. He gets a low grumble and Ed curling in on himself in response. Roy smiles slightly and shakes him again. “Edward, wake up. You wouldn’t want to sleep in those dusty clothes, now would you?”
That earns him another low grumble. “Wouldn’t be the first time.” Gold eyes open to look at him. “You leave me any hot water?”
“I think you’ll be fine.” Roy trails his fingers over Ed’s cheek then moves back. “Now go before you make the bed any dirtier than you already have.” He gets a tongue stuck out at him, but Ed rolls out of bed and stretches before making his way to the bathroom.
~*~*~*~
For once the bastard isn’t up at some obscene hour of the morning if the spread of warmth against his back is anything to go by. Ed nudges him with the toes of his automail leg and Mustang tries to move away, but Ed’s persistent. “What time is it?”
Roy swats at him and Ed’s tempted to push him out of the bed completely. He’s too comfortable, nearly buried, under the covers to want to emerge from their warmth. “Actually, did we even see how they kept time?”
No response from Roy. Typical. Ed shoves at him with his automail toes again then pulls the covers off and rolls out of bed. They’re no windows for him to look at ‘cause, oh yeah, they’re in the middle of the compound thing. He rolls his shoulders then pulls his hair back into a loose ponytail. He doesn’t remember seeing any clocks or anything at any point last night either. There’s no way they don’t have something though.
A knock at the door has Ed padding over to pull it open slowly. It’s the same guy that showed them to the dining room last night and in his hands are a set of folded robes like everyone else was wearing last night. “These are for you to wear today, Mr. Elric. Our day begins at the top of the next water hour. Please be ready by then.”
Ed takes the robes carefully. How can they be the right size? They weren’t exactly fitted for clothing last night. He nods at the man’s words. “Uh, about that. How do we tell the time around here?”
The man looks startled then motions for Ed to step back as he enters the room and walks over to a wheel with waves and numbers on them and a larger dolphin superimposed on them both embedded into the wall. Ed had thought that was nothing more than a confusing piece of art. “The top here, repeats a full hour. Each indication after is a measure of five minutes. At the end of each set of five minutes, a dolphin will rise up from the waves indicating the time has passed. The numbers on the wave faces indicate which point of the hour you’re in. The larger dolphin indicates which hour it is.”
Nothing too different from what he’s used to. He just didn’t recognize it as a clock. Ed nods. “Thank you. We’ll be ready.” The man smiles and Ed closes the door after him when he leaves. He stares at the door then shakes his head.
He unfolds the first set of robes and it’s accented in yellow while the other is a dark blue. Obviously the yellow one is his. They couldn’t have made it all in one day, could they? But then they’re in the middle of a hidden city with sentient mist and foxes. “Hey Mustang, get your lazy ass up. They brought us robes for the day.”
“If you thought I was sleeping, then you don’t know me as well as you presume.” Ed rolls his eyes and throws the other robe over his shoulder at the sound of Mustang’s voice. “It’s rather fetching and might even be to my measurements.”
There’s a stretch of silence as Ed pulls on his robe and he assumes Mustang’s doing the same. Ed stretches his arms out in front of him and twists from side to side. It’s a surprisingly good fit, not too tight or too loose. “Not bad,” he says looking down at himself and the intricate markings that twist and spiral their way along his body.
“Why am I not surprised.” Ed looks up to find Roy looking at him in amusement.
“What? I think it’s fine. You shouldn’t be the one talking. You’ve got red twining through everything like fire.”
“You’re yellow and flashy.” Ed scowls as he moves closer to inspect Mustang’s. It does fit him well, draping in the right places and not too tight or loose like his own. He points at the wave wheel he was shown earlier.
“Oh, that’s the clock. We’ve got until the big dolphin nose points at the top wave to get ready.”
Roy walks over to it and inspects it far more closely than Ed expects. “They obviously don’t want us to stand out too much from the populace. A contrast with how distinguishing these robes they’ve given are.”
“They can’t hide us completely. People outside of that group last night probably already know we’re here.” Ed shrugs out of his robe and holds it up to look at it. Varying bands of yellow seem to float through the material. It’s beautifully worked and he wants to know how it was done.
“It’s unlikely we’ll be allowed anywhere unescorted.”
Ed lowers the robe then grins at Roy. “Which means we’ll just need to make the most of our time out in the city. That shouldn’t be too hard.” Between the two of them, they should be more than able to uncover the workings of this place.
Previous | Index | Next
Author: Zippit
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Timeline: Post Manga/Brotherhood
Character(s)/Pairing(s): established Roy Mustang/Edward Elric, OCs
Rating: PG-13
Content Notes: N/A
Word Count: 1,866 / 25,070
Completed: March 15, 2013
Challenge: 2012 round of fmabigbang
Prompt: Wonderful picture by bob_fish found here.
Disclaimer: The characters portrayed within are not mine. This is merely a loving response to the original work.
Author’s Notes: The picture I received from bob_fish was utterly gorgeous and I'm just pleased I could write something to accompany it. Hope you enjoy!
Summary: When a clandestine mission to Aerugo doesn't go as planned, Roy and Ed stumble upon an unknown civilization with unexpected ties to their past and designs on their future that may not allow them to return to Amestris.
The single room they’re led to is well put together and furnished without seeming over the top. It’s fitting for respected guests, but it’s even further into the compound than the dining room. It makes Roy uneasy. They have no opportunity to slip outside undetected and venture into the city on their own. Too many doors and too many twists and turns prevented easy navigation to the outside. It feels rather deliberate.
They thanked their guide then both of them waited until he was gone before they ventured further into the room. Ed smirks at Roy and saunters over to the bed to sprawl across it. “Pretty fancy place they have here.”
“They’ve figured out what we are to each other.” Ed gives him a “well duh” look, but Roy ignores it as he moves around the periphery of the room. Tasteful wall hangings depict historical events while books line the shelves, most probably filled with the history of the city. Yes, this room has been specifically set aside for outsiders. There’s not a hint of dust despite the lack of use the room receives. Sculpture and art pieces that reflect certain scenes from the wall hangings also line the shelves around the room.
“How long do you think they were watching us? Think they’re still watching us here?”
“They knew about my abilities so a safe estimate would probably be as soon as we stepped onto the wooden trail.” Roy continues to move around the room, eying the sculptures and wall hangings, and occasionally examining a few more closely. After he sets down what looks like a lion, he looks back at Ed. “I wouldn’t see the reason for it. We couldn’t do much that they wouldn’t be able to counteract almost immediately.”
Ed’s gaze roves the room and the lazy way he’s spread out on the bed doesn’t fool Roy. “So opposing schools of thought.”
Roy nods. “An unwise choice by Margaret to bring that to light in front of foreigners.”
“Not particularly, but at least we know. She didn’t seem to want to hide it. Thinking the opposing sides might be involved in their issues with the protections or whatever they are?”
“It’s not outside the realm of possibility. Shall you cozy up to Margaret and I’ll glean as much from Edith as I can?” Ed makes a sound of agreement and Roy notices their packs have been neatly set against one of the walls. There’s a door to the back of the large room that probably leads to a bathroom and Roy’s now curious about the inner workings of this city.
“Go clean up before you start breaking down how this city works from its foundations up.” Roy arches an eyebrow at him and gets a hand waved in his direction. “You’re like me. Can’t resist figuring out how things work, but we’ve got bigger problems to deal with. Now, move your ass into the bathroom before I make you.”
“If you forget, Edward, you’re not my commanding officer.”
“Haven’t forgotten at all, bastard,” Ed says far too cheerfully. “You’re really gonna make me get off this bed to drag you into the bathroom?” At Roy’s bland look, Ed scowls and sits up to swing his feet over the bed’s edge.
He’s not particularly looking forward to automail shoved in unpleasant places so he moves to grab his pack from the wall and heads into the bathroom. He doesn’t look back at Ed because there’s going to be a self-satisfied smirk on his face.
The bathroom is as opulent as the surrounding room. Sand colored tiles give a warm glow to reflected light while dust red ones provide a contrast. In some ways he’s disappointed at not seeing a greater difference between Amestris and this long hidden city. Much is the same between this place and the outside world. He’s curious to know more about its founding.
Roy draws the cloth curtain back from the shower cubicle to turn on the water and watches it cascade into the sparkling white tub. The shower head’s simple and unadorned, and the knobs for temperature control are simple too but graced with a dragon on the hot water side and a whale on the other. Curious. How disparate had the initial populations been for a water creature to be featured in a landlocked city?
Roy strips out of his clothes and eyes the dust that arises from them with surprise. They have traveled quite a distance. The distractions of a new civilization, sentient mists, and odd colored foxes made him forget. Will they be offered robes in the native style when they’re shown the internal workings of whatever’s failing? He suspects the council would prefer to keep their actual presence a secret from as many people as possible.
It might be a lost cause with the daughter, Margaret, more than likely telling her fellow movement members about the meeting they just had. Roy tests the water with his fingers and once it’s hot enough he showers quickly. He dresses in a relatively clean set of clothes then emerges into the main room to find Ed nearly asleep on the bed. He’d half expected to come out and find him scribbling madly on the pages of the report file about this city they’ve found and possible alchemical theories for how the mist worked.
He sets his pack against the wall again then moves over to the bed to gently shake Ed awake. He gets a low grumble and Ed curling in on himself in response. Roy smiles slightly and shakes him again. “Edward, wake up. You wouldn’t want to sleep in those dusty clothes, now would you?”
That earns him another low grumble. “Wouldn’t be the first time.” Gold eyes open to look at him. “You leave me any hot water?”
“I think you’ll be fine.” Roy trails his fingers over Ed’s cheek then moves back. “Now go before you make the bed any dirtier than you already have.” He gets a tongue stuck out at him, but Ed rolls out of bed and stretches before making his way to the bathroom.
~*~*~*~
For once the bastard isn’t up at some obscene hour of the morning if the spread of warmth against his back is anything to go by. Ed nudges him with the toes of his automail leg and Mustang tries to move away, but Ed’s persistent. “What time is it?”
Roy swats at him and Ed’s tempted to push him out of the bed completely. He’s too comfortable, nearly buried, under the covers to want to emerge from their warmth. “Actually, did we even see how they kept time?”
No response from Roy. Typical. Ed shoves at him with his automail toes again then pulls the covers off and rolls out of bed. They’re no windows for him to look at ‘cause, oh yeah, they’re in the middle of the compound thing. He rolls his shoulders then pulls his hair back into a loose ponytail. He doesn’t remember seeing any clocks or anything at any point last night either. There’s no way they don’t have something though.
A knock at the door has Ed padding over to pull it open slowly. It’s the same guy that showed them to the dining room last night and in his hands are a set of folded robes like everyone else was wearing last night. “These are for you to wear today, Mr. Elric. Our day begins at the top of the next water hour. Please be ready by then.”
Ed takes the robes carefully. How can they be the right size? They weren’t exactly fitted for clothing last night. He nods at the man’s words. “Uh, about that. How do we tell the time around here?”
The man looks startled then motions for Ed to step back as he enters the room and walks over to a wheel with waves and numbers on them and a larger dolphin superimposed on them both embedded into the wall. Ed had thought that was nothing more than a confusing piece of art. “The top here, repeats a full hour. Each indication after is a measure of five minutes. At the end of each set of five minutes, a dolphin will rise up from the waves indicating the time has passed. The numbers on the wave faces indicate which point of the hour you’re in. The larger dolphin indicates which hour it is.”
Nothing too different from what he’s used to. He just didn’t recognize it as a clock. Ed nods. “Thank you. We’ll be ready.” The man smiles and Ed closes the door after him when he leaves. He stares at the door then shakes his head.
He unfolds the first set of robes and it’s accented in yellow while the other is a dark blue. Obviously the yellow one is his. They couldn’t have made it all in one day, could they? But then they’re in the middle of a hidden city with sentient mist and foxes. “Hey Mustang, get your lazy ass up. They brought us robes for the day.”
“If you thought I was sleeping, then you don’t know me as well as you presume.” Ed rolls his eyes and throws the other robe over his shoulder at the sound of Mustang’s voice. “It’s rather fetching and might even be to my measurements.”
There’s a stretch of silence as Ed pulls on his robe and he assumes Mustang’s doing the same. Ed stretches his arms out in front of him and twists from side to side. It’s a surprisingly good fit, not too tight or too loose. “Not bad,” he says looking down at himself and the intricate markings that twist and spiral their way along his body.
“Why am I not surprised.” Ed looks up to find Roy looking at him in amusement.
“What? I think it’s fine. You shouldn’t be the one talking. You’ve got red twining through everything like fire.”
“You’re yellow and flashy.” Ed scowls as he moves closer to inspect Mustang’s. It does fit him well, draping in the right places and not too tight or loose like his own. He points at the wave wheel he was shown earlier.
“Oh, that’s the clock. We’ve got until the big dolphin nose points at the top wave to get ready.”
Roy walks over to it and inspects it far more closely than Ed expects. “They obviously don’t want us to stand out too much from the populace. A contrast with how distinguishing these robes they’ve given are.”
“They can’t hide us completely. People outside of that group last night probably already know we’re here.” Ed shrugs out of his robe and holds it up to look at it. Varying bands of yellow seem to float through the material. It’s beautifully worked and he wants to know how it was done.
“It’s unlikely we’ll be allowed anywhere unescorted.”
Ed lowers the robe then grins at Roy. “Which means we’ll just need to make the most of our time out in the city. That shouldn’t be too hard.” Between the two of them, they should be more than able to uncover the workings of this place.
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