Chapter Three
"I am fully aware of how it works, thank you very much." Riza growled at her captor, he nodded slightly in acknowledgement.
Roy replied, "You are a highly intelligent woman, so how didn't you notice the drugs in your drink?" He leant back in his chair and put his hands behind his head as he watched Riza's face as it tried to remain expressionless, to his utmost amusement.
"Well, to be honest, I didn't think that the man I loved would try and kidnap me on our date." She spat at him, trying not to cry out of anger from her naivety.
Finally, Riza had left to go to the bathroom, now was his chance.
"Can I have two Martinis with lemonade, please?" Roy smiled cheerily at the bartender, he reached into his jacket pocket and produced a small white envelope. The bartender looked at it with confusion as he put the drinks on the bar, the envelope was about an inch thick.
Roy leant toward the tender and said, in a whispered snarl, "Say anything to anyone about what I am about to do and I will send you and this establishment under, got it?" The man behind the bar mouthed a very shocked "yes".
With two fingers Roy pushed the envelope across the counter toward the man, "Here, there is 5000 Cenz in this envelope to guarantee your silence, I do hope it is sufficient." The man nodded and tucked the envelope into his waistcoat.
Roy smiled, he opened his suit jacket and produced a small clear packet, which had a white substance in it, from a pocket in the lining. The bartender watched the Colonel out the corner of his eye as he served another customer. He ripped the top off the packet and poured its powdered contents into one of the Martini glasses. He stirred it briskly, the powder quickly disappeared, as if it was never there and winked at the horrified barman.
"She'll be back in a minute so wipe that expression off your face, or I can burn it off for you, if you'd prefer?" Roy pulled one of his ignition gloves out his trouser pocket to show he was being serious. The barman gulped and turned away as fast as he could, which was quite slow since he took up most of the space being the counter.
Roy glanced behind him to see if Riza had come out of the restroom yet, she hadn't. However, as he shoved the white glove back into his pocket he heard footsteps come toward him, he knew the sound of Riza trying to walk in heels quite well, it was a sound you would never forget.
She approached the bar and her face fell when she saw the alcohol. Shit. Roy had forgotten that Riza barely ever drank in his haste to find a way to conceal the drugs. He smiled at her and he noticed that her face seemed to loosen up a bit, so he decided to reassure her, to make sure his plan would run smoothly. And since he knew she was infatuated by him, he knew she would always do as he asked sooner or later.
"Please, just the one? It's only a Martini and lemonade, I promise." She gave in to him at this point and took a sip from the salt crusted glass. Roy prayed that the salt on the edge of the glass would hide the subtle taste of the powder in her drink. She smiled. He had done it, she hadn't noticed. He smiled back, but for a different reason.
"You are smarter then you look, aren't you? Eh, Colonel?" Roy let out a short over exaggerated laugh at this remark.
"Back to using honorifics are we now, Lieutenant? Anyway, be quiet, I am about to answer the question you have been asking for the past ten minutes." Roy got comfortable as Riza became more uncomfortably interested.
Roy had forgotten how quickly Riza got drunk, after two and a half Martinis she was basically there. They hadn't even been seated yet, Yoki was seeming to take his time. Roy pulled his jacket sleeve up to check the time on his watch; it read, 8:07pm. Roy sighed, they were at least meant to be eating by now, his plan was going all wrong.
Roy sighed again, more audibly this time to make sure Riza heard him, and she did. She turned her head to face him and cocked it to one side in concern. He thought her jumbled drunk mind was probably trying to work out what was wrong with him.
"W-what's wrong, Roy? I mean Colonel, I mean..." He was shocked by how slurred her voice sounded. He smiled to stop her looking like that at him, it was making him feel uncomfortable. The smile worked, her face relaxed and she smiled sloppily back. When she was content that nothing was wrong she turned back toward the bar and finished off her drink.
Roy had a plan."Hey, Riza," She replied with a 'hm' and Roy carried on, "How about we go back home? Grab something to eat on the way, what do you think?" His nervously drummed his fingers on the counter whilst he waited for her response.
"Yeah, that sounds good, Roy." Riza put down her empty glass and nodded to reinforce her answer to him. He nodded in return and stood up.
"Alright then, your carriage awaits!" She giggled at this in the most unRiza-like fashion. Allowing himself a small chuckle, Roy stuck his elbow out for Riza to take, she wobbled to her feet and did so.
Whilst they were making their way out of the restaurant Riza tripped and fell over far too many times for Roy to count, so it was a relief when they reached the stained glass front doors. Roy heard a voice behind them just as he was about to push the handle to open the door.
"Excuse me, Sir?" A familiar voice reached his ears, Yoki, the waiter from before. Roy turned slowly around with Riza still clinging onto his arm for her life, or so it seemed.
"Your table is ready now, if you'd like to follow me, please." Roy snorted in amusement.
"It's a bit late for that now, isn't it?" Riza looked up at Roy as he gave the waiter a cold dark stare. Yoki gulped with unease and hurried away to clear a table.
Roy smiled at the confused woman at his side and opened the doors that lead out of the restaurant. As they walked out the building the pair could hear Yoki complaining about 'officers thinking that they could do what they like, when they like.' And that 'he'd show them who was really in charge around here.' Riza giggled drunkenly again, a little less controllably this time, as Roy guided her toward his car.
Still with Riza in arm, Roy opened the front passenger door and helped her in, which was quite a difficult task. On the way in she hit her head on the top of the car and shouted a slurred obscenity that surprised Roy. On the next attempt she managed to get in, still rubbing her head and whispering some very foul language under her breath. 'She is completely different when she is drunk, I'm not sure if I like it.' Roy thought to himself, he shook his head, He couldn't be having these thoughts now. He walked around to his side of the car and managed to get in a whole load easier than Riza had done and turned on the engine. Just as he was about to put his foot on the acceleration, he felt Riza's head fall quite heavily onto his shoulder. He looked down confused at her. Her face smiling at him, staring at him in awe.
"Riza, what's up?" He asked cautiously. Her finger flew up to his face and she attempted to put it against his lips but she missed. Roy rubbed his nose where she had hit him and allowed her to try put it on his mouth, a lot more gently this time.
Her eyebrows knitted together, her sparkling brown eyes studied his face intently, making him feel supremely uncomfortable.
"We've known each other for nearly fifteen years now, I think..." Her face seemed to try to work it out before you went any further, she nodded when she knew she was correct. She carried on her drunken ramble. "And we have always been with each other, joined by the hip, some have said. But ever since the day I met you I knew you were something special, not just another of father's apprentices." Roy had no idea where all of this was coming from, he knew Riza wasn't one for sappiness. His heart started beating ten to the dozen, he had no idea what was going on. He started blushing, he hoped she couldn't hear his heartbeat. 'Oh no. This cannot be happening. Not now. This is the last thing I need.'
He could hear the thudding of his heart in his ears, so he barely heard what she said next. "And through those years I've spent with you I realized why you were so special. You are my soulmate, Roy, and I love you." Roy was completely dumbfounded, how did he reply to that?
"Riza, I..." Her finger slipped from his face and she shook her head. "Don't worry Roy, I already know you feel the same."
He exhaled slowly, relieved that he didn't have to say anything to her outburst. "You read me like a book! There's no fooling you, eh Hawkeye?" He laughed, she chuckled too and buried her head into his shoulder. He stroked her head until she fell asleep. Face still burning, he put the acceleration on and sped off into the night.
"So you do love me? And they say women are complicated." Riza snorted, causing Roy to humph out of distaste.
"Well, I didn't decide to change clothes and do chores at 9pm. But yes, I agree, we can be just as complicated as you." He said this as if he was a child, trying to one up his friend in a game of 'I'm better than you'.
Riza's face flooded with understanding, "That would explain my change of clothes and why my apartment is so clean!" She laughed "I probably thought you'd be staying the night, but not in the way you did." She smirked and winked, making Roy uncomfortable, to her pleasure.
Riza's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, "There is one thing I don't quite understand though. How did you manage to tie me to a chair without me pulling a gun on you." Now it was Roy's turn to be smug.
"You remember the drugs? Well they can make you quite drowsy on top of the alcohol so when you fell asleep on the sofa, not even a bomb would've woken you." He gave her a sideways glance after that jibe. Riza felt her heart jump at the mention of a 'bomb', he was referring to when they were in Ishval and she would wake, shaking, at every explosion.
"That's not funny, Roy." Her face had gone red, she was trying to keep herself calm. She twisted in her ropes, she could feel the scratching fibres against her skin, she focused on that to keep her mind off his low blow.
Riza lowered her head, not wanting to look up at his sneering face, she lowered her voice, "What happened to you Roy?"