A Quiet Dinner
by Bridgitkiido

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. Not me.

For Unclouded. Happy Holidays!

Once every year, on the anniversary of when many of them had been assigned him as their commanding officer, Roy would take all of his subordinates out to dinner. It was never an extraordinarily fancy place, but it generally served better quality food than the cafeteria at headquarters. That, coupled with their natural loyalty to their commanding officer (and, of course, their, albeit irrational, fear of burning in a bright inferno should they refuse), provided enough incentive for nearly all who were asked to accept his invitation.

The Fullmetal Alchemist, of course, never accepted. Although his younger brother would always make up this excuse and that excuse about why they were unable to make it but very sorry for not being able to, Roy never believed the living suit of armor, instead believing it to be more likely that Edward just did not want to be in the same room with him for more time than necessary (and that was editing out all of the cussing).

This particular year, however, there was another, unexpected absentee: First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, who had accepted Roy's invitation immediately upon receiving it, was nowhere to be found.

Confused and worried, Roy paced across the floor of the restaurant for several minutes before he finally felt a hand on his shoulder. Said hand belonged to Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes – invited not because he was Roy's subordinate per say, but because they were best friends (and because Maes had photo albums and knew how to use them to get his way) – who told the Colonel, "Hey, Roy, you're not waiting for Hawkeye, are you? I thought you heard the news."

"What news?" Roy asked, attempting to remain monotone but unable to hide at least part of the worry that had developed.

Maes sighed. "Hawkeye isn't coming, Roy. She came down with a sudden illness, probably one of those twenty-four hour bugs. She told me over the phone that she isn't contagious, just exhausted, and that she should be fine tomorrow with sleep, but she asked me to apologize for her inability to attend."

"She's only sick because she caught whatever it is from Elysia," Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda muttered in the corner, only to be confronted with a very angry Maes Hughes who would not stand for anyone blaming his own perfect angel of a daughter for the illness of a fully-grown adult. Oh, and was it mentioned that the aforementioned Lieutenant Colonel had taken it upon himself to arm himself with 'entertainment' in the form of the aforementioned photo albums?

Roy sat down at a table, grief-stricken. Riza was unable to attend (when he had specifically chosen her favorite restaurant) due to an unexpected illness? There had to be something that he could do to make up for this…

That night, Riza had fallen asleep quite early, on the sofa no less, partially due to the depressingly rainy weather outside, but mostly due to exhaustion; her illness had taken a lot out of her to fight. The good news, however, was that her fever had subsided, which meant that she was almost better, although that did not stop Black Hayate from continuing to lick her hand.

She was so exhausted that she did not hear her doorbell ring once… twice… finally, on third ring, she noticed it and called out weakly, "Just a minute, I'll be right there."

When she finally worked up the energy to unlock and open the door, Riza gasped at who was on the other side. There stood Roy Mustang, dressed in a suit and tie despite the heavy rain, carrying what appeared to be a large bowl.

"Colonel!" Riza exclaimed in surprise. "Why are you… why did you…"

Roy interrupted, "Riza, I'm sorry you were unable to attend the dinner tonight. To make up for it, I brought you something." Handing the bowl to the stunned First Lieutenant, he stammered, "I… I wasn't able to bring any leftovers from the restaurant, and I know… I know my cooking is pretty bad, but I managed to get the recipe, and I know it's one of your favorite foods…"

Riza looked inside the bowl and found chicken slices (many slightly burnt) and long noodles, all of which was covered in some sort of creamy white sauce. She then said, "Oh, you really shouldn't have." Then, formally, "Please, come in and stay a while."

"I wouldn't want to impose or anything…"

"Colonel, if you stand out in the rain for too long, you'll catch a cold. Besides, there is no possible way I would be able to eat all of this by myself."

Roy, feeling defeated, accepted the offer, stepping inside Riza's warm house nervously as opposed to his usually calm persona. Black Hayate walked up to him and sniffed him slightly before accepting him as a friend and trotting away.

As they walked to Riza's dining room, Riza said, "Colonel…"

Roy interrupted again, "Please, Riza. We aren't on duty right now; please, call me Roy. That is, of course… unless you feel uncomfortable…"

"Roy?"

"Yes, Riza?"

"Thank you for everything." And after placing the noodles on the table, she reached up and hugged him. Roy, although slightly shocked by this action, did not fight the embrace; instead, he returned it, and there they stood for what seemed like an eternity that neither hoped would ever end.