Of Wolves and Metal

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The train stopped at the next station before Rasambool, with a slight shudder. As it was early morning and the conductor knew that the train crew could use the rest he announced that the train would be there for a few hours.

Howard's soul eyes flickered to life and he yawned, mostly out of habit at this point. The great jaws of the wolf armor opened revealing the intricate designs of the metal, the attention to detail displayed that the wolf was as exact as could be. The teeth were perfect to fit the scale of the body and even a tongue was created out of thin mettal, but served no purpose. He closed his jaw with a dull snap at the end of the yawn and looked over at the two human companions across from himself and Alphonse. What he saw warmed his non-existent heart as he chuckled and nudged Al's gloved hand gently to stir the larger armor. Al's eyes came to life as well and he looked down and Howard who dipped his nose to the left causing Al to turn and see what he saw. His large gloved hands came together and he rested his head on them. They look soo cute! He thought.

During the night Beth had shifted positions and had ended up snuggling against Edward's leg and using it as a pillow. Even though most of his leg was auto-mail, his thigh was still flesh and warm to the girl's cold cheek. After that she had shifted again, resting her head on Ed's chest, pulling her legs up and covering both of them with the red coat. Ed's head had fallen and rested on top of Beth's, her soft hair and scent lulled him into a deeper sleep than he had ever been in, his left arm around the girl's shoulders unconsciously keeping the chill off the girl.

They looked so cute that Howard turned and reached into his leg bag and retrieved a camera that he and Beth used when they reached a new place. Al caught on and held out his hand for the device and snapped 3 pictures quickly and handed it back so no one would know.

Edward stirred first, his tired eyes blinking rapidly trying to banish the heavy sleep. He started to yawn but stopped when he finally registered the weight on his chest and looked down in surprise. A sleeping face was on his chest, tilted just slightly so her messy bangs only covered her right eye. She had her arms around his waist and she hugged him a bit tighter when he twitched, nervously looking at her older brother in the menacing wolf armor. Said armor just chuckled and laid his head on his large clawed paws to wait out his little sister.

Alphonse was holding in his laughter, only letting a few giggles slip as his elder brother blushed deeply and looked between all 3 of them, at a loss of what to do next.

"She doesn't sleep well." Whispered the wolf armor. "Always scared of being attacked if she sleeps. There must be something about you that makes her feel safe kid."

Ed looked at Howard and then back at the girl. He now saw the dark circles under her left eye and the faint worry lines on her forehead. She must have had a rough time. He thought as he scooted over to rest his back in the corner.

"May as well let her sleep til we get to where we're going." The blond muttered, shifting a bit more to get comfortable before closing his eyes again with his left arm still around the girl snuggled into his chest. He smiled to himself and how warm he felt at that moment, and briefly wondered why before sleep claimed him again as he rested his head on Beth's again.