Disclaimer/Warning: I don't own FMA, and there are slight spoilers for manga chapters 58-60/61
"Friendship" by Dailenna
There are some people who you need to make an effort to get to know. You can be acquaintances for years, and never so much as take a step forwards in your relationship. If you wish to befriend them, you should invite them out for drinks, and chat for hours just to catch a glimpse of what they are like and of all of the years you never knew them for.
Roy Mustang never really knew Havoc until they had spent some time together. At the office they were always busy working, and there was no time to sit around and talk. And if they did have the time, they would have had better people to sit around and talk to, anyway. Oh sure, it wasn't like the two had never spoken before, but they just hadn't managed to have that conversation that finally made them interested in being friends.
When they got around to it, it was like a revelation of the men behind the uniforms. There was finally something more than just a personality in that body. All of a sudden, there was a mind – or some level of intelligence – pushing that host around; there were memories, motives, urges, ideas. There was suddenly a reason behind actions.
The two weren't simply tools to be used by the other any more – they were individual beings whose needs had to be catered for.
There are some people you know and understand almost upon meeting. Effort in gaining the friendship? None required. Effort in maintaining it? More than likely none required, depending on how deep you get pulled in. It's easy to fall into a friendship with them, because things just click.
Maes Hughes had to be one of the most immediately likeable people Roy knew. He smiled and laughed, and made a point to include every person in the conversation when it was public, and to not bring up private news around others. Not important private news, anyway. It was hard to resist his outgoing nature.
From the way that Maes talked and chatted, and made sure to fill Roy in on every detail of his life up until now – just in case it was important – Roy knew that he would have been invited over for dinner in a flash. That was, if they had met in circumstances other than before Maes had someone who could cook without killing living with – married to – him, and if they hadn't been kilometres from home, fighting in a war.
It took no effort for Maes and Roy to become friends. It would have taken no effort in maintaining it if Maes hadn't called most days after the war and snickered at Roy's seemingly permanent unmarried status.
There are some people who you come to know over time. Whether you try to understand them or not, the longer you're around them, the closer together you are. Arguments are short-lived – if they surface in the first place – and more often than not, just a slight misunderstanding. It's hard to remain angry with someone who despite the situation, will always be by your side.
When Roy first met Riza Hawkeye she wasn't a key part of his life – she was just there. They didn't speak often, especially in the first three or four years, but each knew the other's presence to be a fact. It wasn't a question of whether or not they were friends with one another, rather whether or not they were there for each other.
After her father's death, when she had no one else to turn to, he was there. She saved his life, more than once, and he often returned the favour. There was no talk of "I owe you one," but rather the casual acceptance that each had the other's back, no matter how many times it happened. She almost allowed herself to die once, convinced that he had left the earth before her – unacceptable behaviour. His initial outrage was enough to wake the entire hospital, but it evaporated before long, and they spoke no more of the incident.
Roy and Riza may not have been the best of friends at first meeting – or second, or third – but after having known each other for twelve years, neither could imagine life without the other. After having known each other for sixteen years, they didn't have to, because the concept itself was preposterous.