A/N: Don't worry, I'm definitely still working on Phoenix (for those of you following that story), I just felt like doing this short, ultra-sugary short fic too. It's also a present for ThousandSunnyLyon, who seems like she could do with some cheering up right now. 3 Hope you like it!
"Okay… what about this one?"
Roy groaned, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. He leant back, planting his hands on the threadbare rug and tilting his head back to the ceiling. Riza swallowed, her eyes darting back to the stack of paper in her hands as his unbuttoned shirt collar fell open, exposing his neck and the fine line of his collarbone. Ever since Roy had come back in early May, five inches taller and his hair grown long over his eyes, Riza had felt there was something different about him, in ways she couldn't describe. They had always been close, ever since that summer five years ago when he had first turned up on her doorstep, an impish ten year old with shined black shoes and a Central accent so clipped and proper that she couldn't help but laugh at it. She had taught him to swim in the lake behind the house and he had chased her through the barley fields and brambles in the garden and their closeness had felt as simple as breathing but now it seemed she could hardly look his way without blushing.
"What about it?" His voice cut through her thoughts and she snapped her head up to see him gazing at her, a grin on his face. "You need to be more specific, Ri."
Oh, he could be so annoying sometimes… "fine," she growled, in mock irritation. "tell me which two of the four classical elements are embedded in this array and which of the twelve primary processes is central to the array's purpose. And while you're at it, tell me which two lines you would remove to completely change that purpose."
"Hmmm…" Roy inched closer, taking the sheet of paper from her hands. His fingers brushed hers for the briefest moment and she felt sure he'd noticed the catch in her breath. But he said nothing. He glanced at the array for a few seconds, biting his lip while he traced the lines, before handing it back to her, grinning once more.
"Was that meant to be challenging? The two classical elements are air and earth, shown by the opposing double-lined triangles in the inner ring," he leant over the paper in her hands to point at the array, his forehead almost touching hers. "and the process is sublimation, as seen by the sign for libra at the top of the array. But not literal sublimation, as the modifying ring shows… more like separation and dispersal. This circle is for breaking rock up into its component elements, and it can be changed by removing the double lines in the earth and air symbols to make the symbols for fire and water, which would turn this transmutation circle into an array for making giant clouds of steam."
He finished the sentence slightly out of breath and looking far too pleased with himself. Riza scowled, but there was no real heat to it, and she knew he could tell.
"Hey," he tapped her on the wrist and she almost dropped the sheath of papers she held. "We've been doing this for nearly two hours now. Why don't we go outside?"
She glanced behind her to where the last light of day was pouring through the library window, staining the book spines red and gold. The sky above the setting sun was deep blue, the first stars beginning to break through the darkness.
"It's almost ten o' clock…" Riza found herself saying. "It'll be dark out soon…"
"Aw, come on, Ri!" Roy sprung to his feet, pulling her up with him. "Your dad's away so he's never going to know, and it's not like there's anything dangerous out there… you're not scared, are you?"
She blushed, her face twisting into a scowl before she could stop it. "I am not scared! Come on then!"
Riza grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the library. She was sure she was playing into exactly what he wanted, but she didn't really care. Roy had been back for nearly two weeks now but it felt like she'd hardly seen him in all that time. He was always shut away in his room reading his books or studying with her father. Her own schoolwork was far less challenging and she'd finished all the summer's assignments and required reading in only a few days, leaving her alone in the house, bored and restless, wishing, not for the first time, that she'd inherited some of her father's alchemical talent. Her father had been eager to share his knowledge with her and the theory had come easily, but she'd never been able to activate an array. Some people never developed the touch, she knew that, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt. But then, if she'd shown any alchemical promise he might never have taken Roy on as his apprentice…
She lifted the latch on the back door, shutting it behind them with a near-silent click before realising how unnecessary such behaviour was. Her father was away, and wouldn't be back for another day or so- not that he would have noticed even if he wasn't. Roy smiled at her cautiousness but said nothing, simply laced his fingers with hers again and set off towards the lake. The night air was still warm, the soft hum of crickets and the crunch of dry grass beneath their feet breaking the silence as they walked, the full moon lighting the way almost as well as daylight. Roy found a stick and beat a path through the long grass at the edge of the garden, almost dropping it when a moth landed in his hair. Riza laughed and picked it off for him. She held it in her hand for a moment, feeling its legs tickle her palm and its wings flutter against her fingertips, before letting it go. She forgot sometimes just how much of a city boy Roy was.
"It's your hair," she told him. "the moonlight shines right off it, all the insects think you're a lamp or something."
"Well, they're stupid then." he grumbled. "That's the one bad thing about the countryside… too many insects."
"Don't you alchemists always go on about balance in nature? Insects are part of that, you know. Food webs and diversity and all that."
He turned around and stuck out his tongue at her, almost tripping over a log as he did so. He stumbled over it, somehow managing to maintain his balance. Riza hopped over the log and grabbed his arm to help steady him, giggling at the frown on his face.
"The wind will change, and you'll get stuck like that…"
Free from the tall grasses and weeds of the garden, she ran down the slope towards the lake, Roy chasing after her. He caught her just as she reached the water's edge, grabbing her around her waist and tackling her to the grass.
"Stop it!" She gasped between bouts of breathless laughter. "Stop tickling me! Roy!"
"Only if you stop laughing at me first!" he grinned down at her. He ruffled her hair when she scowled at him but let her go anyway, rolling over so they were lying side by side on the grass, gazing up at the stars. The sound of the tiny waves at the lake's shore washed over her, the stars reflected in the water's surface as far as she could see. The happiness bubbling up inside her was almost more than she knew what to do with, as if she should hold her breath to keep it from escaping.
"Hey, look" Roy pointed up at the sky and Riza followed his hand, picking out the diamond-shaped array of stars suspended in the ever-darkening sky. "it's libra, like from the circle we were just looking at."
"Eridanus was always my favourite constellation," She told him. She kicked off her shoes, feeling the soft grass beneath her feet. "but you can't see it at this time of year."
"Remember when your father made us both stay out all night looking at the stars because he insisted that true mastery of alchemy could only come from a decent understanding of astronomy?
"Urgh, that was awful! It was so cold…"
"You kept falling asleep the entire night." Roy laughed. "To be fair, you were only nine, it was a bit unfair to expect you to stay up so late."
"Like you were oh so grown up, at the grand old age of eleven…"
"Riza, that's only two years older than you are now, you can't really make fun of eleven year olds…"
"Hey… I'm nearly fourteen! And your aunt says I'm more mature than you, anyway."
As she spoke, a trail of blazing light sped through the sky, disappearing into the darkness of the lake at the horizon almost as soon as it appeared. Roy gasped, grabbing her hand. "Was that a shooting star?!"
She tried to ignore how soft his palm was, and how warm his fingertips felt against the side of her wrist. She was sure he could feel her heart speed up at the sudden contact.
"Yeah, haven't you ever seen one before?" She turned her head to look at him, smiling at the wonder still painted across his face.
"No… it's pretty much always too bright to see many stars back in Central… and I don't really make a habit of staring up at the night's sky much, either. Perhaps I should."
"They say that if you see a shooting star, you get to make a wish, you know." Riza told him. He tore his eyes away from the sky, a strand of hair falling into his eyes as he turned to face her. She wanted to brush it away but didn't dare.
"Really? I don't know what I'd wish for… what about you?"
She was glad for the darkness so he couldn't see her blushing.
"Oh… I don't know, either." She lied, praying for her voice to remain steady as she spoke. But she did. She had known ever since that first summer, when they had ran through the barley fields together, when she had shown him how to skip stones on the lake and he had made her paper flowers with alchemy when she'd shouted at him for picking the wildflowers in the garden. Wherever you go, I want to go to. Whatever life brings us, I wish to always be at your side.