Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much, preferably more.

Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Roy, Riza, or FMA but I do own the two OC characters that appear in this chapter.

Gossip:

"Didja hear? The Hawkeyes have a young man boarding with them."

"Yeah. And he's really dreamy. He was at Father's store a few days ago."

"Really? What does he look like?"

"Tall, pale, yet slightly muscular with black hair and black eyes. He looks like he has Xing blood in him."

Two of the girls squealed. "Omigod, I wanna meet him!" cried one.

"Me too," giggled another. "Riza's so lucky to be living in the same house as him. If he was staying at my place I'll be begging my parents to put him in the room next to mine."

"Knowing you, Claire, you'll probably 'accidentally' leave your bedroom door open while you're changing so he can look in."

Riza sighed as she passed a group of her gossiping classmates to join her two friends, Amy and Sarah, for lunch. Mr. Mustang had been with them for barely a week yet news of the mysterious boarder had reached every ear in town. She didn't see what all the fuss was. Sure he was good-looking but there was more to a person than looks. It kind of annoyed her sometimes to see girls her age reducing themselves to a bunch of giggling dolls whenever a somewhat handsome guy so much as smiled at them. She spotted Amy and Sarah sitting under their usual spot under a tree and headed towards them.

"Hey," said Riza as she sat down next to Amy.

"Hey, Riza," answered Sarah. "So is that new apprentice of your father's really as hot as all the girls are saying?"

Riza snorted. "Depends on your definition of 'hot'," she replied as she opened up her lunchbox.

"What other definition of 'hot' is there?" Sarah retorted.

"Oh, come on Riza," said Amy. "We're your friends. There aren't any secrets between us." She leaned in closer to her. "So tell us, boxers or briefs?" Riza choked on her sandwich.

"Amy! You know she doesn't know the answer to that…yet," snickered Sarah. "But you could at least tell us his name, Riza."

"It's Roy Mustang," gasped Riza as she took a sip of water to wash down the remaining stray crumbs in her throat.

"Mustang, eh? Like the horse?" mused Sarah.

"Don't even go there, Sarah," Riza warned. "Honestly, sometimes you're worse than the boys."

Sarah giggled. "So, what's he like as a person? Charming? Shy? Arrogant?"

"I don't really know him that well. We've only talked two or three times. He's always too busy studying in the library. Father seems quite impressed with him though. He says Mr. Mustang's got the intelligence and talent to learn the most advanced forms of alchemy."

Sarah grinned. "Hey, how about we go to your place after school to do our homework?"

"Yeah!" agreed Amy. "We might even be able to sneak a peek at that Roy Mustang of yours."

Riza groaned. It was going to be a long day.

"Father, I'm home," shouted Riza as she entered the house with Amy and Sarah following closely behind. Silence greeted them. Frowning, Riza looked into her father's study and found it was empty. "I guess they're not home," she told her friends. Amy and Sarah frowned.

"That's too bad, "sighed Amy. "I was really hoping we could see with our own eyes if the rumors were true."

"Maybe they'll come back while we're still here, Amy," replied Sarah optimistically.

Riza shook her head in disgust. It really was a good thing that they weren't home. She didn't even want to imagine how those two would gush over Mr. Mustang once they saw him. Knowing them, they would probably flirt with him and possibly ask him for a date if they were brave enough. She doubted that she could come up with a good excuse to explain to him why she was friends with a pair of airheads. "Come on," she said, picking up her discarded school bag and heading up the stairs. "We've got lots of homework to finish. The sooner we finish, the better."

"It almost sounds like you want us out of here as soon as possible," commented Sarah as she followed her friend up the stairs. "Afraid we'll embarrass you in front of Mister Mustang?" Amy giggled.

Riza could feel her cheeks turning red. "No, I just want to finish my homework so I can start dinner," she lied as she led them into her room.

The next two hours passed by uneventfully save for the continuous stream of teasing that Amy and Sarah kept directing at her. The jokes started out innocently at the beginning but eventually became more lewd as they competed to see how far they could go before Riza cracked.

"What kind of kisser do you think he is?" mused Amy as she struggled with a math problem. "Think he's one of those really sloppy kissers that leave you feeling like you kissed a dog or one of those really amazing ones that you read about in romance novels where you feel like you're walking on air?"

"If he's got a gorgeous body I wouldn't care about what kind of kisser he is. I just like to see some good eye candy. There's not too many of those in this town. My fantasies can fill in the rest of the blanks," replied Sarah.

"And what kind of fantasies are those?" asked Amy curiously.

"The ones where the guy is lyin-"

Riza slammed her book shut, startling the other two girls. "I'm done," she declared, looking at her watch. "Wow, look at the time. It's almost dinnertime. You two really ought to get home before it gets dark."

"But we haven't seen that Roy Mustang of yours yet," whined Amy.

"Maybe next time." Riza answered as she put her books away.

"Yeah, next time," mumbled Sarah disappointedly. She looked at Amy. "Riza's right though. My dad will probably have a fit if I'm out at night. He thinks it isn't safe for young girls to be out by themselves."

"Fine," sighed Amy as she shoved her remaining homework in her schoolbag and followed her friends back downstairs.

"I'll see you two tomorrow, OK?" said Riza as she opened the door for them, secretly hoping that she wouldn't see her father and Mr. Mustang walking up towards the house.

"Yup," replied Amy and Sarah in unison as they stepped outside.

"Tell Mister Mustang we said hi and it was a shame we couldn't meet him today," added Sarah.

"Alright, good night," answered Riza as she watched her friends make their way down the dirt trodden path. She sighed. I guess I better go get dinner started, she thought.

"Are they gone yet?" asked an unexpected voice behind her. She squeaked and spun around. Roy was standing a few feet behind her.

"Y-yeah," she replied, waiting for her heartbeat to return to normal. "I thought you and Father were out. Where in the world were you hiding all this time?"

He grinned sheepishly. "I was in the study."

"But I looked in and nobody was there."

"That's because I was taking a nap behind the couch." Riza frowned at him. "What?" he exclaimed, "Some of those books are really boring."

"I'm surprised you didn't wake up when I shouted that I was home."

Roy shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a deep sleeper. By the way, your father wanted me to tell you that he'll be a little late for dinner. He had to go across town to see someone. I wanted to tell you that earlier but I noticed you were with your friends and didn't want to break up the girl talk."

Riza blushed at the mention of 'girl talk'. Did he hear what we said about him? "What did you hear?"

"Nothing much. I went back downstairs when I realized you had company. Why? You ladies didn't happen to be talking about me were you?"

"No!" replied Riza a little too quickly. "We…weren't." Roy grinned.

"Anyway," he continued as he turned around and made his way back into the kitchen, "I hope you don't mind but I just started preparing dinner. I didn't know how long you were going to be with your friends and I was starting to get a little hungry."

"You can cook?" Riza blurted out. Realizing how rude her comment sounded, she added, "Sorry, it's just that I don't really know any guys who can cook. Even Father's cooking is just above tolerable."

Roy laughed and turned back to face her. "I'm no chef but I can make a decent meal. Besides, cooking is similar to alchemy. As long as you have the basic ingredients you can make a whole variety of dishes. He waved a hand towards the kitchen. "Interested in trying it? I promise not to send you to the hospital," he joked.

Riza couldn't help but smile. "Sure," she answered, following him back inside the house.

"Here," said Roy as he placed a plate in front of Riza twenty minutes later. "I hope you like it. It's an old family recipe." Riza looked at the dish. It appeared to be rice mixed together with a variety of vegetables and chicken. Well, it smells good at least, she thought. Picking up her fork, she took a small bite.

"Mmm…this is really good!"

"It's not too salty?"

"No, it's perfect. What's it called?"

Roy grinned. "Glad you like it. It's Xing stir fry."

"So gossip saying that you have Xing blood really is true then," commented Riza as she savored the dish. She'll have to ask Mr. Mustang for the recipe later.

Roy laughed. "There's already gossip about me? But yeah, my mother's side is from Xing."

Riza smiled. "This town isn't very exciting so gossip travels fast."

"And what happens when there isn't any gossip?"

"Then people spread rumors."

"Fun," Roy said. "So it's a no win situation."

"Pretty much," Riza answered as she took a sip of water from her glass. She was actually surprised at how easily she and Mr. Mustang were getting along. Her first impression of him that night when he arrived was that he was a bit conceited, however, that notion was quickly dropped as she learned more about him. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Roy spoke up again.

"I was wondering, how many other apprentices has your father had before me?"

"None. You're actually the first. Consider it an honor, Mr. Mustang."

Roy made a face. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

Riza blinked in confusion. "Pardon?"

"Why do you always call me 'Mr. Mustang'? It makes me sound like some middle-aged man. I'm not that much older than you, Riza."

Riza couldn't help but smile at the thought of Roy as a middle-aged man. "I'm sorry if I offended you. I suppose it's a habit. It's just that I was always taught to address any of Father's acquaintances that way though I must admit that they were all at least twice your age."

Roy stifled a laugh. "Think you can break that habit and just call me 'Roy'?"

"I suppose."

"Good," he said, jabbing at a piece of broccoli. "So, what were you girls talking about me upstairs?" he asked, trying to catch her off guard.

"Nothing," she lied, trying not to blush as she recalled some of the comments her friends had made.

"Come on, Riza. Surely I deserve a bit of gossip for making you dinner," joked Roy.

"You said so yourself that it was girl talk, and I'm afraid you're not a girl so you're not entitled to that information," she teased. Roy pouted.

"Not even as a friend?"

"When we become friends, maybe. I think we're still at the acquaintance stage."

"At least tell me why they're interested in what I sleep in," he said.

Riza choked on the water she was drinking. "What?!?" She quickly ran through the conversation she had with her friends earlier today. I don't remember us talking about that. She looked over at Roy. He was grinning.

"Gotcha."

Riza fumed. "What exactly did you hear us talk about?"

"I'll tell you what you want to know when you tell me what I want to know," he teased. "It's called equivalent exchange." He stood up and picked up his empty plate and glass.

"Oh, and you can tell your friends that I'm quite flattered by their opinions of me even though we haven't met yet," he added before disappearing into the kitchen.

Riza sighed. It really is a no win situation, she thought.

A/N: I tried to stick to canon but I'm not particularly fond of how teenage Riza calls Roy "Mr. Mustang" in the manga so I'm getting rid of it. "Mr." makes it sound like Roy's a lot older than Riza and (I feel) puts up an invisible barrier between them.

Thanks once again to Jack Bauer Reborn for editing and suggesting an ending for this chapter.