A/N First off, I would like to thank tumblr user caprxgers for letting me use her wonderful AU idea that can be found here: post/124356820718/some-oddly-specific-aus-that-no-one-asked-for . Everything on this list was fantastic.
Also, Happy Valentines Day to everyone! Today, you guys are getting this, and the next chapter of Voracity! Enjoy, and per usual, reviews are always welcome!
"So Roy, are you coming to eat with us tonight?" Hughes' head appeared in the doorway, startling Roy, who was in the middle of wiping down the bar counter.
"No. I'm working right now," Roy replied, trying to focus on the sudsy rag he was rubbing in circles all over the countertop.
"You might be working now, but this is later. Come on, Roy. I know the bar's closed tonight, so you can't use that as an excuse," Hughes crossed his arms and sat down on the barstool in front of Roy, obviously not willing to be ignored.
"I have other things to do around here than bartending you know. There's always inventory, counting the register money, cleaning…" As Roy began to rattle off a long list of the cons of owning a bar, Hughes swiftly took his wallet out of his pocket and flipped it open.
"Look at how beautiful she is, Roy! Ever since we found out she's pregnant, we've been dying to go out to dinner and announce it to the rest of our friends! You have to be there! Look at Gracia's smile in this one! If you come, she'll be smiling like this all night!" Roy rolled his eyes as his best friend pointed at the multiple pictures of his wife he kept in his wallet and on his phone. Hughes was bad about not shutting up now, so Roy felt like downing another shot every time he thought about Hughes with a baby.
"Well maybe I don't want to hear you repeat the same sappy 'My baby will be the cutest baby' phrase all night until I feel like lighting myself on fire," Roy cut Hughes off from talking and smirked. Tonight, he was annoyed enough as it was.
"I know you don't understand now, Roy, but when you have a wife and baby, you'll feel the exact same way. The right woman for you is out there somewhere," Hughes replied, shoving his phone into Roy's face after having set it to show a slideshow of Gracia pictures.
"Why do you need me there? If this is some huge announcement about Gracia's pregnancy to everyone else, I should be the one person not invited," Roy stepped to the left, and put his hand in front of the phone screen.
"Roy, you've been my best friend since college. This is going to be a huge night for the both of us so you need to be there," Hughes lowered his pictures, and looked Roy in the eyes, "I mean it, Roy. Just try and come, okay. If you're not there, I'll have to fill you in in excruciating detail about everything everyone says about the baby," Hughes winked, and Roy knew that his friend wasn't going to give up until the both of them were definitely going to dinner.
"Fine."
"Great! See you at 7 then! And don't forget to dress somewhat nice!" Hughes' face lit up like the sun, and he grinned as he gathered his things and exited, all while gushing about how adorable his baby would be. Before he made it completely out the door though, he added, "It's fine if you bring a date, Roy. I saw how you and Jessica were looking at each other yesterday."
"Get out before another one of your stupid comments changes my mind, Maes." Hughes laughed, and finally left, muttering something about finding Roy a wife.
Roy poured himself a glass of whiskey and sighed.
Roy grumbled as he checked his phone again for notifications. Still nothing. He was all ready to go, he even got a small gift for the baby (a card and a gift card to Babies R Us), and had been waiting at him and Hughes' favorite restaurant for 10 minutes. Then he remembered that Hughes had never told him what restaurant this was supposed to be at. Any attempts at calling his friend or Gracia were futile, as they both made it a rule to turn their phones off at any parties they went to.
That hadn't stopped Roy from leaving about 10 voicemails. Hopefully Hughes would eventually turn his phone on to show everyone some cute pictures of him and his wife. It was highly doubtful, considering the fact that Hughes had at least 20 printed pictures replacing credit cards in the credit card slots of his wallet.
"Excuse me, sir," A member of the wait staff stood behind Roy, "Unless you would like a table, we would kindly ask you to exit the restaurant," The waiter straightened his bowtie, and gestured toward the open door. Roy thought about leaving for a brief moment, but then sighed in resignation. He had no clue where Hughes was, and he was getting hungry, so he may as well just get a table.
"I'll have a table, then, please," Roy grumbled, and the waiter led him to a small tale with two seats near the front window. No restaurants really had single-person tables, so Roy would have to face the judging gaze of everyone else in the restaurant as he ate his isolated meal.
"Any drinks or appetizers?" The waiter asked as he set the menu down in front of Roy.
"What do you have on tap?" A beer (or five) would help Roy get into a better mood for the rest of the evening. Alcohol was usually the thing that made Roy feel better in the evenings, actually. As Roy listened to the waiter's list of beers, he decided on getting a local draft and a glass of water, and foregoing any appetizers.
Sipping his drink, Roy checked his phone again, still without news of his friend. He went on Facebook, something he rarely did unless it was the bar's page, and looked for anything pertaining to the dinner. Again, no luck. "God fucking damn it, Hughes." He muttered. Despite trying to make the best of the situation, Roy was still extremely irritated.
Roy continued to make progress on his beer, and more time passed as Roy waited for the waiter to return and take his order. It took the guy maybe 30 seconds to bring Roy his beer, but he was taking his sweet time to get back now. Just as Roy was about to stand up and look for the waiter, a woman's face appeared at his table.
"Um, excuse me. My name is Riza and I think you're supposed to be my blind date. Sorry but Rebecca didn't tell me your name," Roy blinked, and he was about to tell the woman she had the wrong guy, but then he looked at her face.
This woman- Riza- was a lot prettier than Roy had thought. Her somewhat awkward introduction and formal sounding voice had made him think she was older, but she looked about the same age as him. She had short strawberry blonde hair and deep mahogany eyes. As she looked into Roy's obsidian ones, he noticed flecks of amber in them, brought out by the plum colored dress she wore. In fact, the longer Roy stared at Riza, the more beautiful details he noticed about the woman in front of him. The longer he stared- crap. Roy needed to say something.
"Uh, my name is Roy, Roy Mustang," He said, accidentally leading her on. He internally cursed himself for not telling her she had the wrong guy. He attempted to open his mouth and say something, but Riza spoke first.
"Nice to meet you, Roy. I'm Riza Hawkeye," She smiled, and sat down across from him, smiling. Shit. Now he couldn't just tell her to go away. That would be too rude. She set her purse down, and picked up Roy's glass of water.
"So, uh, I was just about to order. Here's the menu," Roy almost stuttered, not quite sure of how to handle this situation. Roy had definitely been on blind dates before, but he had never stolen someone's blind date. Likewise, Roy had been with plenty of beautiful women, but he had never been with one who was beautiful in a way like this. And he still wasn't sure if he would hear from Hughes or at least somebody about that stupid baby party.
Riza's eyes scanned the menu, and the waiter finally returned to Roy's table. "I see you've been joined, sir. Are the two of you ready to order?" The waiter asked, looking at Riza drinking the glass of water, "Miss, would you like anything else to drink?"
"Could I have a Chardonnay, please?" She replied. Roy then proceeded to order his meal, followed by Riza, as the waiter jotted down notes and finally took the menu away from the table. Roy took another sip, and Riza watched the waiter as he went to get her wine.
"So, Roy, what do you do?" She asked, trying to get the conversation started.
"I own a bar downtown that used to be my aunt's. What about you?"
"I uh… I'm one of the dog trainers at PetSmart," She replied, looking down into her glass as if it were embarrassing. Roy noticed how when she blushed, she let her long bangs fall over one eye. It was kind of cute. But she hadn't been sitting with him for even a minute and she was already uncomfortable. Roy tried quickly to reply with something that would appease her embarrassment.
"Really? I've always loved dogs. Do you have one?" Roy grinned, then mentally cursed himself again for blurting out the first thing that came to his mind. Nothing screams romantic like, 'I've always loved dogs.'
"Yeah, Roy. I have a Shiba puppy, but I can't really take care of any more because I live in a fairly small apartment," She replied, looking back up at Roy's smiling face.
"Ah, that's obnoxious. But at least you have the one. My landlord doesn't allow pets in the building. Otherwise I'd probably have a dog too," Riza smiled at this, and picked up the glass of chardonnay that had been delivered to the table as they were talking.
"I'm sorry about that. But dogs are a huge investment. If your bar job takes up days and nights, I wouldn't recommend getting one anyways. You need to be able to walk them and spend time with them," Riza replied, then at the end began blushing again, "Sorry, I guess I'm still in trainer mode."
"No, it's actually really nice to see that you care so much about something. I'm not nearly as invested in some aspects of running a bar," Roy laughed, and Riza smiled again. Despite her looking to be in her mid-twenties like Roy, whenever she blushed, she looked adorable.
"You must have some fun in your fine establishment though. I would imagine you get some interesting people coming through your place," Riza returned, smirking at her 'date'.
"Well, Riza. Half the people who come through just come to flirt with everyone else in the room. Only rarely do I get someone who wants to have an honest conversation with me."
"At least you can make up for it on dates like these where the whole point is to strike up a conversation," Riza's smirk stayed on her face as she sipped her wine. Where Riza had been slightly awkward before, she was fully in control of her words now. Riza's beauty had also seemed to multiply tenfold, with her smirk and low-hanging bangs that half-hid one of her eyes.
"For the rest of the night, just remember that I have to make up for lost time with you," Roy smirked back, and for the first time felt like Riza was settling into a comfortable place with him. A comfortable place with her fake date.
"So Roy, where are you from?" Riza asked, changing the topic to something with less flirting.
"Are you asking where my parents came from, or where I grew up?" He should have realized that she would comment on his East Asian features. Roy hated the 'where are you from' question. He honestly didn't think she was trying to be rude, but he was tired of explaining his heritage to people.
"Oh my god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I wasn't commenting on your appearance, I promise, Roy," Riza's eyes widened, and she gestured with her hands as she spoke. "I honestly wasn't trying to be racist, I ask everyone this question." It seemed that every other thing Roy said had made Riza uncomfortable in some way. But judging by the look on Riza's face, she wasn't lying about being sorry.
"No, don't be sorry. That was kind of rude on my part." He sighed, "I'm just sick of that question from bigots, especially since I can't answer it," Roy ran his fingers through his hair, and tried to make Riza feel better. The woman came out to have a good time, and he shouldn't ruin her night.
"You can't answer it?"
"I was adopted, so I know I grew up in the city, but not much about my real parents. Obviously one of them was an immigrant, but any specifics are beyond me."
"Oh, Roy, I'm sorry I asked if this is a touchy topic for you."
"No, I'm fine with it. I just won't be able to really have a long conversation about it," Roy shrugged, and added, "So where are you from? Hopefully that question won't make anyone uncomfortable."
"Don't worry, it doesn't," Riza chuckled, "My father and I used to live a few miles outside the city, in a smaller town. He was actually pretty pissed off when I left to come here."
"Really? Wouldn't you have an easier time going to school and getting a job here though?"
"Exactly! But anyways, I left for college to come here, and that's where I've lived ever since." Her eyes were becoming brighter as she became more enthusiastic about her words.
"I was right. Your life is much more interesting than mine, Riza."
"I don't know about that. Yours is a giant mystery, wouldn't it be fun to solve?"
"In your dreams. I was literally just dropped on the doorstep of some adoption agency," Roy rolled his eyes.
"And growing up in the city is a lot more exciting than in a small town."
"It's just noisy. And bright."
"Roy, the most exciting thing I did there was go to school, and the high point of that was whenever we took field trips; away from the town. Nothing ever happened."
"But you at least got sleep back then. This entire time, I've had to cover my windows and hope that the cars would be quiet at night."
"I live in the city now, so it's not like I'm completely clueless about it," Riza rolled her eyes, "At least every day here has some kind of new surprise."
"If you want surprise, visit me at closing time when I have to kick the drunks out."
"I'll stick to puppies, thank you." Riza was grinning along with Roy at this point, her mahogany eyes now shining. Roy noticed flecks of lighter brown, and amber in them. Riza was just one of those women who just kept getting more beautiful the longer she spoke.
"Drunks and puppies are pretty similar, Riza. Both are crazy, out of control, creatures who stumble around, getting themselves into sticky situations."
"Don't insult dogs by comparing them to the drunk weirdoes you have to deal with all the time," Riza laughed, scrunching her nose up.
"I told you, I like dogs. I'm just admitting that they're not perfect. You're still in denial," Roy smirked, finishing off the last of his drink.
"I never said they were perfect. I can't tell you how many times Hayate has gone crazy at night, or refused to take baths and visit the vet. But I still stand by my former statement," Riza sat back, and sipped the last of her wine, eyeing Roy.
"Hayate?" Roy raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I guess I didn't mention that was my shiba's name. Black Hayate," Riza replied.
"You named your dog 'black hurricane'? And why is the 'black' part in English?"
"So now you've moved all from insulting all dogs, to targeting mine in particular." Riza smirked.
"I'm not insulting your dog," Roy replied, wishing he still had some beer left.
"Oh, so you're insulting me, for naming my dog."
"I'm not insulting anyone. I'm just curious as to why you chose the name 'Black Hayate' for your oh-so-precious dog," Roy leaned back in his seat, the lively banter making him forget the awkwardness near the beginning of the date. The date. Despite Roy coming out to the restaurant expecting a baby announcement party, he was now engaged in a conversation with a beautiful woman; and still wasn't sure what to call his situation.
"The dog breed is from Japan, he's a Shiba as I may have mentioned, so I decided to name him something fitting of his heritage. Also, he was a crazy puppy, and always ran around in circles chasing his tail and running into things. He was like a little hurricane," Riza smiled while talking about her dog. She obviously loved the thing, seeing as how she looked off whenever she was thinking about him.
"That's actually kind of cool," Roy smirked.
"Shut up. Your last name is Mustang."
"And yours is Hawkeye. I honestly can't tell which is tackier." Riza rolled her eyes again at that.
"I'm going to pretend I never heard you say that."
"I said my last name was tacky too. Honestly, do you think every word coming out of my mouth is a direct attack pointed at you?" Roy kept smirking, and saw a smirk creep onto Riza's face as well.
"I wouldn't if you didn't make it so easy for me."
Roy was about to reply, when the waiter came back with their food. Both had decided to order pasta; Riza opting with a lobster carbonara, and Roy with Italian sausage gnocchi. As soon as the dishes were placed on the table, Roy's mouth started watering. There was a definite reason this was Hughes and his favorite restaurant.
Without saying anything, Riza picked her utensils up and began twirling some spaghetti onto her fork. The waited grabbed both of their empty glasses, and went to refill them.
"Oh god, this is wonderful," Riza exclaimed, "How have I never eaten here before?"
"This is really your first time here? This is one of my favorite places to eat."
"I don't eat out very much," Riza replied, and turned back to eating her carbonara.
"Tell you what, I can show you some of the best places in town. I know the city like the back of my hand," Roy smiled, and immediately regretted talking when Riza looked up at him with a surprised expression. He soon became surprised as well, realizing that he asked his fake date out on a real date. Or maybe she had stopped being his fake date a while ago when they were conversing. He didn't know. All he knew was that he had fallen for her- hard.
"You'd do that?" She asked, pushing her blonde bangs out of her eyes. God, she was pretty when she did that. Roy definitely wanted to go out with her for real.
"Absolutely. I also love good food, and in fact, I know a great ice cream parlor we could visit for dessert," Roy suggested, checking the time on his phone. The night was still young, and Hughes had sent him no word on the whereabouts of the baby party.
"I think I'd like that, Roy," Riza smiled, and began eating her meal again. Roy looked at her for a few more seconds before turning back to eat his own. He had asked her out for real this time, this would be an actual date.
The conversation between the two over the next while was sparse; both parties were busy eating their dinners. Riza finished first, her carbonara running out about the same time as her wine. Roy was next, finishing his gnocchi after his beer, and sitting back, almost completely full.
"So how was your first experience at one of the best restaurants in the city?" Roy asked, as his date fiddled with the ends of her bangs.
"I definitely see why it gets that reputation," Riza replied, grinning back, "I can't wait to see what else you have in store."
The waiter came back around to pick up the empty dishes, "Can I interest the two of you in any dessert?"
"Check, please," Roy said, eager to continue his evening with Riza. The waiter left, and soon returned with the combined check for their meals. Riza reached for the slip of paper, but was stopped by Roy, "I can pay."
"Roy, I'm fully capable of paying for my own dinner," Was her reply, "I don't make you want to have to spend too much extra money on me."
"Riza, while I think that you are fully capable of paying for your meal, I want to handle this check."
"You don't need to adhere to that outdated chivalrous rule, Roy. I'll be fine," She was insistent. To tell the truth, chivalry was only part of the reason Roy wanted to handle the bill. The other was the fact that he still felt guilty about stealing her blind date. Even though he felt Riza could handle everything, he wanted to do so himself.
"Riza, I'm trying to do this as a nice gesture, not a condescending one. I suggested this place, I should pay," He tried to give an explanation to the predicament that wouldn't alert her to his real guilt.
"Are you sure?" She sighed, instead of trying to argue back. Riza really was amazing. Despite it being against Roy's plans, her insistence to pay her part of the meal somehow made her more attractive. Roy was dying to continue his evening with her.
"Absolutely. I think everyone should get a gift every now and then," Roy smiled at her, leaving his credit card on the check.
"Can I at least leave the tip?" Riza looked up at him again. He thought about arguing, but looking into her eyes, realized that would be a bad idea.
"Go ahead." Riza tipped for the both of them, leaving a crisp bill on top of Roy's card. The waiter was back before either of them could say anything, picking up the card and the money, and making the transaction at the table, with a mobile card reader.
"Thank you for dining with us tonight, have a nice day."
"You too," Riza smiled as she picked her jacket up and stood next to Roy. They waved the waiter goodbye, and exited the restaurant, facing a chilly breeze coming through the doorway.
"Are you sure you still want to get ice cream?" Roy asked, fastening the buttons on his own coat.
"Absolutely. This is supposedly the best place in the city that we're going to," Riza smirked, and blew her bangs out of her eyes before taking a few steps. Roy had succeeded in getting Riza on a real date with him. When Roy first saw her in the restaurant, he though she was pretty, but now that he had talked with her, the cold had brought a blush to her cheeks, and she was laughing, she was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen.
"This place is called Rozsa, and it has the best gelato you've ever tasted," Roy started, walking next to Riza, "The flavors there are fantastic, and the way they shape the ice cream in the cone in the shape of a flower has given me a new admiration for people who work in food service."
"Roy, you work in food service- kind of" Riza was still smirking, as she looked up at Roy and walked closer to him than any friend would.
"Yeah, well mixing drinks is a lot different than making art out of ice cream," He fired back, smirking at the beautiful woman beside him, "You'll see when we get there."
"I can't wait," Riza looked like she was starting to say something else, but was cut off by a loud yelling from their left side, on the patio of the nearest café.
" YO! ROOOOOY!" Roy's eyes scanned the scene to see who was yelling his name, and finally found the source- Hughes vaulting over the small fence that surrounded the café patio from the walkway, "Where the hell have you been?" He caught up to the couple, "I told you, you could bring a date to my dinner, not go on a separate date!"
Riza stepped back, confused. Hughes was pointing at Roy and narrowing his eyes.
"Well had you told me the name of the place you wanted to meet at, I might have come here," Roy fired back, his hand now on his hips, "And leave your phone on, I must have left you about 10 voicemails asking where you were." Roy was pissed now, focusing his attention entirely on his best friend.
"This is Gracia's favorite café, and you know we always turn our phones off during dinner. That's why I have so many printed pictures of her and I in my wallet," Hughes was also starting to get snappy.
"How was I supposed to know you wanted to meet here? But I did try to find you guys," Roy dug through his pockets, "I even got you guys a card," He held it out toward his friend, momentarily forgetting who was standing behind him.
"Roy, what's going on?" Riza asked, looking at Hughes, "Who is this?" Roy stammered. Shit. There was absolutely no chance of coming up with a valid enough excuse to placate either of them. How would Riza react once she found out that Roy wasn't actually her blind date?
"Well, Riza-" Hughes cut Roy off.
"Wait, she doesn't know about my dinner?" Hughes asked Roy, he then turned to Riza after Roy's slight head shake indication 'no', "The man you're walking with was supposed to be at this dinner here, and he told me he didn't have a date tonight," back to Roy, "What did you do?"
Now he was really screwed. Roy once again tried to say something, but was once again cut off by Riza, "Roy said he was my blind date, we just ate dinner. My friend Rebecca Catalina set the dinner up." Riza was eyeing her 'date', not quite sure what to say.
"Roy couldn't have been your date. He already had plans tonight, which he apparently ended up at the wrong restaurant for," Hughes turned, "I'm with her, Roy. What's going on?" Roy felt his face grow hot, as he searched for an explanation that would somehow fix everything. But his brain was a broken record, repeating only the words, 'I'm screwed. I'm so screwed.'
"Riza," He looked at her, and she looked back, her brows furrowed in an expression of suspicion, "I'm so sorry. I-"
"Oh my god," Her eyes widened and she looked down, "I ate dinner with some crazy stranger tonight," She looked up at Roy, now angry, "Why didn't you tell me you weren't my date? There's some guy in that restaurant now who had to eat alone, wondering why I blew him off. And Rebecca- shit," Riza pulled her phones out, eyes widening at the sight of all her new messages, "You were right about not turning your phones off during dinner," She looked back down at the screen in her hand, then put it away slowly.
"You complete asshole!" Roy's cheek stung where she had just slapped him. Even her eyes widened once she realized what she did, but she soon narrowed them again, "Just stay away from me, you lunatic," Riza stood up straighter, and turned to walk away.
"Wait, Riza!" No! She wasn't turning around. No, no, no. Roy had just completely ruined his chances with a completely beautiful woman, who he had actually become very interested in trying to get to know better. "RIZA!" She quickened her pace, and soon disappeared into a crowd of passersby, leaving Roy to stand with his friend.
"Roy, what the hell?" Hughes' expression was almost unreadable- a mix of shock, confusion, and disdain. 'What the hell' indeed. Roy had eaten one dinner with Riza, but now she was all that was on his mind. He had completely fallen for her… and completely blown it. How was he going to deal with this?
"Hughes, I need a drink."