spotlight and glitter

Characters: Roy Mustang, Jade Mustang [OC], Riza Hawkeye

Pairing: Royai

Summary: Blisters or ripped dresses, the show must go on

She had never been anything but graceful and so he was surprised as she moved clumsily down the stairs to stop in front of him. Her black hair was styled neatly – Madame Christmas had done one hell of a job once more – and the emerald corsage of her silken dress glittered with every awkward step she took. This was not the way it had been supposed to be.

At his side, Riza flinched as she bit her lip in sympathy, quickly filling him in. "She limps slightly, my guess would be that she got a blister … the shoes seem to be quite new…"

"The next time you need me to get you into some upperclass-society-whatever-event, Roy, make sure that it is a party where I can wear flats," the lady in emerald and black said as she crossed her arms. "I scanned the area twice … nothing suspicious so far."

"There got to be something you haven't seen," he replied, holding out his arm to stabilise her as she swayed. "And I am sorry for asking you again. Then again, you are the only one who can get me into this sort of setting … Miss I-got-friends-in-all-the-right-places."

She smirked the typical Mustang-grin as she looked around. "It wasn't even my influence that got you two into this … interesting party," she explained. "The host is a friend of a friend and I asked whether I could come too and bring two friends of mine."

Riza nodded as she fetched two glasses of champagne from a tray, handing them to her superior and their 'friend'. "It's strange how easy it is to get into those events when you know someone," she stated. "We asked the infiltration office to get us in but … they couldn't do anything."

"Lucky me, I got friends everywhere," Jade Mustang, the colonel's cousin said with a shrug. "But if you ever ask me for this kind of thing again, Roy, I will make you regret this – dearly."

"Ah, Jade," he grinned. "Don't worry – we will work very neatly. And you know Riza over here, right? I think you once considered her the only person in the entire army who gets her job done."

"Sounds like something I would say, yes," she smirked as she looked around. "Alright, Roy, I'll leave you for a moment. Lieutenant General Grumman asked me for a dance…" She snapped the fan in her hand close as she turned to leave. "But, Roy, you owe me one as well."

"Of course, princess," he said ironically as he rolled his eyes. "No matter how much time passes, she never changes … still the same old stone in my shoe. She will rub it into my face for years."

"She won't go overboard," Riza said as she looked around. The surroundings were nothing short to perfect. A bunch of rich people hanging out in a luxurious mansion, jewels glittered everywhere and silk rustled when the women moved. This was not her kind of setting. She did not feel comfortable but she could always act. If Jade Mustang could dance like everything was alright with blisters on her feet, she could smile like a professional actress as well.

"She always does," he said as he held out his hand. "Well, Miss Hawkeye, can I have this dance?"

"You can," she replied as she gracefully took his hand. "These people … is your cousin like them?"

"Jade, truth no," he exclaimed. "Basically, she hates ninety percent of them with burning passion. She's mostly to find on those events because of the food, the gossip and the dances. She isn't one of those snobbish high-society-girls who only care about make-up and jewellery. She got her ideals firmly set in place and she will uphold them."

"It was nice of her to sneak us in," she said as she fiddled with her black dress.

"It's Jade … ever since she got nothing better to do, she has been working for me behind the scenes. High society gossip contains many interesting information … information I can use," he said as he mentioned at one of the young man who lounged by the buffet. "That's the nephew of General Raven … he has an affair with Colonel Brands wife … plus, he's engaged. She asked me whether she could let it slip and so she did. Brands and Raven aren't talking anymore plus, the man's career is ruined for the next twenty years."

"That's … cruel," Riza said after a moment. "Words are as destroying as bullets."

"And that's why she deserves her title as most cruel heiress after Major General Armstrong who thankfully never considered driving her enemies into the social ruin," he shrugged. "That young man was considered a potential successor for Lieutenant General Grumman when Bradley wanted to send him into retirement a few years back. One little sentence killed this ambition and let Grumman keep his position as commander of the Eastern Area. Jade is careful, keeps her influence mostly low-key but every once in a while, she destroys career within the blink of an eye." He smirked. "The Madame is very proud of her even though she'd never admit it. Jade is a lot like her – minus the questionable social standing."

"She seems … very nice," his aide stated.

"She likes you – that's why she isn't acting like a complete bitch," he shrugged. "My aunt always says about her that no matter how good I do my stuff, Jade will always be a tad better. It was like this since we were kids. When I got an A, she brought home an A+. She is dangerously smart – that's why she gets along with the lieutenant general so damn good."

Riza cursed under her breath as she entered the restroom to consider the damage of her dress. A young lady had tripped and stepped onto the hem of her long dress, causing a large rip.

"Let me check this out," the smooth voice of the colonel's cousin rang out as the young woman appeared behind her in the mirror. "That looks nasty. There, I'll see what I can do."

"You have a sewing kit with you?" the soldier asked confused.

"Half of the girls here are awfully bad at taking revenge – and messing up another's dress seems to be the only way they can stand up for themselves," the black-haired woman said as she bit her lip while she manoeuvred the yarn through the needle's thin hole. "They are jealous since you came with Roy. To them, you are a threat, Riza – I can call you Riza, right?"

"Of course, Miss Mustang."

"Jade's enough … I am not one of them," the woman said as she kneeled down to fix the rip. "They are jealous little witches … you just messed up their chances to score a date with Roy…" She snorted. "Maybe I should write a book about the way he snores … maybe they would leave him alone than … damn him to hell for being so damn handsome … I will murder someone the next time I have to hear how 'handsome' and 'charming' the boy is."

"You are funny, Jade," Riza said.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to be his cousin? Since we were teenagers, I was constantly asked to deliver countless love letters to him," she said as she rolled her eyes. "Now that he started to drag you along whenever he shows his ugly face somewhere, things are looking up. Maybe there will be a day when people will stop asking me whether he's in a relationship…"

"But aren't you some sort of the high-society's golden child?"

"You seriously think that I'm special? I am no second Elizabeth Grumman who had everyone wrapped around her fingers," Jade said amused as she slipped out of her shoes, feet blistered and throbbing with pain. "I am not here because I am nice or because I am the sort of person who shines bright enough to fill an entire ballroom with light. I am ordinary neither particularly wealthy nor extremely beautiful. But what I am is cunning and sly, Roy once called me a snake and a fox in a butterfly's body – and he is right."

"You are technically dictating the fashion trends of the entire country."

"I am a product of hard work and deceiving appearance – if you want to see the real me, stop by at five o'clock on a Sunday morning once. You will find me in the library, spin webs in my hair and dust all over my clothes," the woman said as she grabbed a pair of glasses from her bag. "There is a huge difference between the ways I am seen. Roy is secretly laughing right now. He knows too well that I am not at home in this setting either."

"But you seem to be completely at ease…"

"Years of practicing," she said amused. "The only thing I ever wanted is recognition. I am unimportant and unknown compared to Roy when it comes to alchemy. But … I could never stand it when he was seen while I was invisible. I got the name to play with those rich people … but it is too boring for me. Yet, it is the only thing I can do not to fade away into the crowd."

"I can only admire your sheer honesty," Riza said as she watched how the rip in her dress disappeared. "And you seem to have so much insight. You really know everything about them, right?"

"There isn't much to know," Jade replied with a shrug. "They are boring … the same old stories. I envy you and Roy … the people in the military are far more interesting." She shrugged. "In the end it's always the same old story: the way they see me, it is the anti-me, the person I could never be unless I betray myself. I wished that I could be like you … to be genuine instead of just another faked high-society girl…"

Roy leaned on the wall, watching the laughing and dancing crowd. It was strange to imagine that there were people who lived only for this life, for the glitter and the spotlight. He also wondered how Jade who had been such a wild child when they had been younger could stand all of this. This did not seem to fit her. Then again, she had always been one to try out many different things, various states of despair, various shades of love…

Maybe this was just another mask she chose to live life in all its different versions.

"Did you see something yet, Roy?" the woman asked as she dragged Riza behind her.

Roy was no fool. He noticed that a part of her scarf was missing and that Riza's dress had an emerald rose on her dress that had not been there before but he chose not to ask as he approached the duo. "No, maybe in the outer ballroom," he said as he marvelled at his aide's beauty for a moment, trying very hard not to be caught staring. But then again, this was a huge difference from the Riza Hawkeye he normally knew. This was a smiling and beautiful woman and not the stern lieutenant he had known for such a long time.

"Of course," the blonde said. "We should investigate it."

"I am in as well," Jade said as she looked around. "I think there's one of the men who asked me for a dance earlier … it should be unsuspicious enough…"

"You shouldn't involve yourself," Roy said with a sigh.

"You keep saying this and yet, you keep asking me for favours," she said as her smirk mirrored his. "And anyway, six eyes see more than four."

"You are nearly blind without your glasses."

"Contacts, Roy, are a really amazing thing," she said as she brushed past him. "C'mon now."

"You okay, Riza?" he asked as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

She nodded. "Your cousin is truly a force of nature," she said with a sigh.

"Yeah," he agreed. "But she's right: it's time to face the music."