Red has always been a rather garish color for him, while he appreciated shades of yellow-red, he finds that the strong tones of the color always remind him of blood. The shade of the stranger’s hair is near exact that of blood, so much so that it seems as if she had made the decision just last night to drench her locks in a bucket of the stuff.
No, perhaps not. The congealing nature of blood would have left imperfections, darkened and clumped and left her sharp cut of hair ratty rather than the trimmed shape that frames her face. It was as if, she had, instead of strands of hair, replaced it with a waterfall of fresh ruby blood.
He finds himself running his fingertips along the ends, just to prove to himself that it wasn’t so, only to realize he’s very much in a stranger's personal space.
“Oh, forgive me.” Hohenheim says, taking a step back. “I am terribly sorry, I was so entranced by the color, I had forgotten myself.”