It was one of those slow days of Indian summer. Children played in the streets, adults lounged and chatted with others on their porches and a young Riza Hawkeye watched from the shade of a tree. She had been asked by the other children if she wanted to play with them more than once but she declined every time. She preferred to watch people from the shadows. Eventually, they stopped asking her and she was left to watch by herself.
That is, until Roy came. Roy Mustang was a young, ambitious boy who was learning alchemy from Riza's dad. He had lived with them for only a short time but Riza still felt she knew him better than anyone else. He was orphaned at a young age and was taken in by his aunt, Madame Christmas. Since he hated living with her, he decided to pursue his interest in alchemy by becoming an apprentice and assistant to Master Hawkeye. He wanted to be the Fuhrer someday and dreamed of a peaceful country where everyone was free. His favorite color was blue, he didn't like butter on his potatoes, he was actually
Someone sat next to Riza which made her jump. Most people knew better than to bother her while she was people watching. She turned to see who had disrupted her concentration and found Roy.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," she answered softly. For a while, all Riza could hear was the breeze in the trees and the laughter of the children in the street.
"Don't you get bored?' Roy asked, breaking the silence.
Riza shook her head. "Not really,"
Roy looked at her a moment before putting his hands behind his head and leaning against the tree. They sat there in silence. Riza sort of liked it. There was no pressure to make conversation and she didn't have to people watch alone. It was like Roy was there but not, at the same time.
Riza turned to Roy. "Aren't you bored by this?"
"Not really. I'm thinking," he answered without moving.
"Thinking?" Riza asked.
"Yeah," Roy answered. It was silent for a few moments while Riza gathered the courage to ask what had always been on her mind.
"About what?"
Roy turned to her. "Uh, well, I don't know. Stuff," He was obviously flustered which made Riza smile a little. How unlike him.
"Really?" Her question came out more like a statement.
Roy suddenly became fascinated with the grass. "Well, if you really want to know, I'm thinking about that battle over in Western,"
"Oh," Riza said. There had been a awful battle in West City a few days prior that took many lives. "Why do you worry about that?"
Roy shook his head. "I don't know," He looked up towards the sky. "Well, I guess I do. It's just..." He trailed off. Riza looked at him expectantly and he took a deep breath before continuing.
"It's just, it's scary. I mean, all these people, military or not, are being killed. That could be me in a couple years,"
"So, you're afraid to die?" Riza asked. Roy paused before answering.
"No, I'm not. I'm just more afraid that people I care about will die,"
Riza felt her heart beat a little faster. It was strange, considering she hadn't been running around or anything.
"Riza?" Roy said timidly. She turned to him and felt blood rush to her cheeks.
"Yeah?" It had come out a little higher than she intended.
"I heard something really cool the other day," He said.
"What was it?" Riza asked.
"Some person in the military was friends with one of the people from the enemy army and they had a code. He told the other guy to leave because they were going to attack,"
Riza was confused. "Isn't that a bad thing?"
"I guess," Roy said. "But he was able to save his friend,"
"Yeah, I guess that's a good thing," Riza said, leaning back against the tree.
"I think we should have a code," Roy said.
Riza sat straight up. "Huh?"
"Well, if anything happened to you or the Master, we could communicate with each other," he said, blushing slightly.
Riza nodded her head as if she was considering, though she already knew what her answer would be. "Yeah, I think that would be a good idea,"
"Okay, so what should it be?" Roy asked.
"Something that's not too complicated. Maybe we could do something with spelling it out?" Riza suggested.
"That sounds good," Roy said. "Now what should we use to spell it out?"
"Hm," Riza said. It was silent as they thought. The only sound they could hear was the children playing and the gossiping of the ladies on the porch next door.
"How about names?" Roy said almost inaudibly.
"Yeah, that would work," Riza said. "But wouldn't we sound sorta weird?"
"Just put in a sentence," Roy said. "Like, Helen and Ida walked down the street,"
"Hi?" Riza asked. Roy nodded.
"But then when do I know if you're using the code or not?" Riza asked.
"How about we tap twice before talking but neither of us really gossip much, especially you which is sort of strange," Roy said.
"What do you mean?" Riza asked.
"Well, it seems like the only thing girls do is gossip," He said.
"Are you saying I'm not a girl?" She asked, sharply.
"No, that was meant to be a compliment," Roy said. She felt herself blush.
"Oh," she said, softly. "Um, thanks,"
Roy tapped the ground twice. "Haley and Ethan saw Yasmin yesterday,"
Riza smiled. "Really? I heard Hannah, Eddie and Yvonne saw her too,"