Riza had worn her full dress uniform more times in the month since the Promised Day, than she had in her entire military career preceding it, which explained why she could now put the slightly more complicated uniform on without a problem, while waiting for her morning coffee to kick in.

If only Colonel Mustang could manage the same thing, she wouldn't have to turn up at his house an hour before either of them were due in the office. Each time they'd had to wear this uniform, instead of their usual one, he'd done it wrong. They were just small things, but she swore that he was doing it on purpose.

This morning, however, she wasn't going to give him the chance to be anything other than perfectly put together. It was an important day, and she didn't want to have to waste energy on fixing his ridiculous uniform mistake.

It didn't take him long to answer the door. When he did, sis dark hair was already slicked back, but he was only half dressed, wearing the crisp white shirt, and sharply pressed trousers. Riza noticed that he smelled faintly of laundry detergent and soap. She also forgot how to speak for a split second.

"Lieutenant, isn't it a bit early?" He asked, but stepped aside to let her in.

"Um." She paused briefly as she entered his house, and closed the door behind her. "I thought you might need help getting ready, considering how many times I've had to correct your uniform recently."

The colonel didn't argue, just smirked and cocked his head, "Nice legs, lieutenant."

"One day you're going to say that in front of the wrong person and end up in front of a tribunal for sexual harassment, you know?" She pointed out wryly. "And when they ask me how many times you make inappropriate comments about me, I'll have to tell them 'every single time he's ever seen me in a skirt, sir'. It won't be pretty."

"I would never say anything like that in front of the wrong people." He looked like he was about to pout at the suggestion, and Riza had to stop herself from laughing. "There's no one here, is there?"

"No. It's just us." Just the two of them, inches apart in his hallway, and Riza was very aware of it. "Why don't you finish getting dressed correctly while I make some coffee?"

She knew her way around his house like it was her own, even with most of his belongings still in boxes from the move. It had only been a month, but she'd spent many late nights here going over their plans for the future. For Ishval. For the Eastern Command that he was about to be placed in charge of. They'd agreed that nothing they could do would ever erase the blood on their hands, but that doing something for the Ishvalan people, and for everyone in the East who had suffered in that war, was better than doing nothing.

She was halfway through her coffee by the time he came into the living room, and she looked him over with a critical eye.

"So, how do I look?"

Honestly, he looked good. The uniform fit him well, and for once nothing was out of place, but that didn't stop her from going over to him and brushing imaginary lint from his jacket. It was an excuse to touch him, and she was close enough to feel the heat pouring off of him. Close enough to kiss him, if she wanted to.

"I'm impressed," She said, her voice was softer than she'd intended, and she cleared her throat. "It turns out you can dress yourself without me."

He chuckled, and reached into his pocket, "I got you something." And before she could protest, he placed the small jewelry box in her hand. "Congratulations on your promotion."

"It's not official yet." Riza protested weakly. Inside the box were a pair of gold pearl stud earrings. They were beautiful. "I - sir - I can't accept this. It's too much."

"No, Lieutenant. It's nowhere near what you deserve." He said, seriously. "But it's a start."

Riza looked him in the eye, eyes that a month ago hadn't been able to see, and were now watching her with an intensity that made her heart skip. She could tell he was thinking about that day, his eyes kept flicking down to her neck, and the willingness to argue left her completely.

"It that case, thank you. They're beautiful." She put them in her jacket pocket before she kissed his cheek. Well. That had been the intention, but the Colonel turned his head and met her lips with his. The kiss was over before it began, but it had sent electricity down to the tips of her toes.

The Colonel looked like he was going to apologise, but she didn't give him the chance to utter a single word. She pressed her lips to his, and if there was any intent to be gentle, or timid, they fled from the second their lips touched. The kiss was ferocious, pent up lust and longing, desires that they'd ignored, and the fear of losing each other that had dogged their movements since the Promised Day, it all came pouring out in that one kiss. It was teeth and tongue, and fire shooting through her veins. Their hands clutched at their uniforms, unsure if they should be pushing their clothes off their bodies, or pulling each other closer.

By the time their lips parted, her knees were weak and she was lightheaded. It had been years since a kiss had done that. "Oh…" She breathed.

"Yeah." He brushed his nose against her cheek, and she laughed.

Actually, it more like an overwhelmed giggle, and she pressed her face against his shoulder to try to calm down. "Riza…?"

It had been so long since he'd used her name, and she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Yes, sir?"

"I hope you know that I'm going to kiss you again."

"I can't wait." She said truthfully. "But, sir, we need to get to work. Today's important, the Fuhrer will be arriving in a couple of hours and the ceremony is this afternoon."

He reluctantly let her slip out of his arms. "Tonight?"

"We have celebration drinks. Havoc's going to be there, we can't miss it," Riza pointed out. "There's after, or there's tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere."