Note: You might have read an eariler version of this on LJ but I'm chnaging it a bit and might be adding more. There will be at least 3 chapters though. Also, Someone offered to be my proof reader was back when butI lost their contact info when mycomputer was being evil. Since i had a few offers, I'm not sure who it was. E-mail me /write reviewif you're still willing and let me know if the offer was for all my FMA stories or just for 'Pass it on'.
Apples and Carrots
It was a little known fact that Riza Hawkeye was a farm girl. She had grown up in a small rural community where she had tended livestock for the first sixteen years of her life.
Farm life was far from glorious, but it was the only life she had ever imagine. It was random chance that a recruiter had noticed the pretty little blond girl's skill with a rifle. Within a month, she had been packed and on her way to the city in hope to better her life rather than being stuck as some house wife, bare-foot and pregnant out in the country.
She was happy with her new career in the military, yet Riza would never consider her past a waste of time. She had learned many things while out in those fields, and even though there were no livestock to care for in the city, the primary lessons she had learned from such activities could easily be subjected to other things as well.
For example: An untamed horse could be a difficult beast, but with the right kind of motivation, the animal could be trained and made into a good, productive farm animal.
Of course there are no wild horse in Central... but there was a certain troublesome Mustang she had to deal with.
Riza had tried for years to turn the man into proper military material and for years she had failed with him only succeeding from rank to rank with luck and smooth talk.
While annoying, his laziness hadn't been much of a problem as long as he did get the promotions, but now that he had complete his dream and held the power, that bad habit of goofing-off rather than working was becoming a very serious issue.
Piles of unsigned documents - important information, treaties, and laws that had to be review in order to keep the country moving smoothly- sat on his deck doing nothing more than gathering dust as chaos swept though the streets with panicked citizens unsure of their new government.
Something had to be done or that lazy bastard would soon be assassinated – most likely by her.
It was during one of her long lectures (which Roy oh so politely ignored) that she finally decided to finally give in and put to use some of her old teachings. She was going to offer this old, stubborn horse a carrot... metaphorically speaking, of course.
The look on the man's face had been priceless. If she had been anyone else, she probably would have burst out laughing after the stuttering confusion that came as his reply, but, being who she was, she just stood proud and confirmed: "Yes, I do know what I am offering, and I am serious. Sir."
Needless to say, his work habits improved immensely -one could even call him a workaholic- and his popularity soared as much needed leadership began to make normal life a little better for the common man with each passing day.
Everything was good... for awhile.