The Value of Things Like Paperclips

Author: MoonStarDutchess

Part 3: Gifts Are Difficult to Come By

Disclaimer: I claim no ownership whatsoever of Fullmetal Alchemist and gain no monetary profit from this fanfiction. I do own my plot so if I catch anyone copying it, regardless of fandom, I won't be a happy MSD.



Gifts Are Difficult to Come By

Roy was thrilled when the alchemy evaluations were over. The men that he had to judge were all extremely skilled alchemists so his decisions whether to keep them instated were very simple and obvious. They would do be very good for the country.

He walked back to the office in a relaxed mood. He walked into the room and relief washed over him when he saw that his desk was void of any kind of documents. The oak wood was a lovely sight.

He directed his gaze over to Riza's desk, where she was currently sitting, working diligently on her paperwork. Even though she didn't look up from her work, he knew she'd heard him come in. Without glancing up at him she spoke, "Don't get your hopes up. The paperwork office just doesn't have your work organized yet. Evaluations are slowing everything down. They will have it after lunch."

Roy slumped and a deep frown weighed down his lips. He vaguely wondered how she always knew what he was thinking but disappointment was the dominate emotion taking over him, "I should have known that I couldn't be that lucky."

She looked up at him and withheld a laugh at the dramatic expression he'd taken upon his face.

"It's not that bad," she said, "You always act like paperwork is the end of the world. A few signatures and a bit of reading. You can finish off a 1000 page alchemy book in two hours, so you should be able to finish paperwork quickly."

Roy walked over and sat down at his desk. He propped up an elbow on it and rested his cheek against his hand. "Alchemy is actually interesting though."

"Paperwork could be interesting as well," she said.

Roy sat up straight and glanced at her disbelievingly. He couldn't believe that such a stupid comment came from his girlfriend.

Riza laughed awkwardly, "Forget I said that."

"Oh, I will," he said.

"But not everything you do has to be interesting. Paperwork is one of those necessary evils. Like PMS."

"I've not experienced PMS."

Riza sighed heavily, "You know what I meant, Sir."

"Well if PMS is anything like the deadening and verbose, paperwork we get, I feel sorry for womankind and I take back everything bad I've said about a woman during her period."

Riza nodded. "It's worse than paperwork." Roy cringed and Riza laughed aloud. She stood and grabbed her coat off the back of her chair. "You want to go to lunch now?"

Roy looked at the clock to see that it was noon. "Hey, wait a minute," he said, "You are done with your evaluations?"

"I've been sitting here talking to you for the past ten minutes and you've just realized that?"

"But didn't they start at ten? They go in alphabetical order so you should still be there," he said.

"Um…well…" she stammered, not sure how to explain the situation regarding her evaluations.

Roy's lip quirked up at her, he loved seeing Riza flustered. It was such a rare occurrence. "Let me guess. General Carotene signed your papers and let you go, right?"

Riza nodded. "I mean, I was going to protest but the other men and women there insisted I just leave. I was a bit afraid that they'd consider it favoritism but they didn't."

Roy huffed, "Everyone in headquarters knows you don't need to do those stupid things. No one would ever consider it favoritism. Especially considering General Carotene is such a grouch and wouldn't show any such thing no matter who the person was."

Riza didn't voice a response toward his comment but she couldn't keep herself from feeling a surge of pride from Roy's words. She worked hard to keep her skills at their best and it was good to hear that people recognized that, especially Roy.

She slipped on her coat and smiled. "He's not that much of a grouch."

Roy stood, "Riza! He treated that boy scout troop that came here like they were Special Forces!"

"He just wanted to prepare them."

"For what? It was a camping trip, not an undercover mission! I doubt undercover work is necessary in the boy scouts."

"Okay, he was a bit hard on them, but I bet they won the Boy Scout troop competitions last year."

Roy laughed. "Yeah, they took out the other troops with good old fashioned wholesome violence."

"Stop being silly," she said, and walked over to the door. "Let's go to lunch."

Roy walked over to her, "Alri…" he trailed off when he remembered something very important that he had to do during his lunch break. He hated to miss the lunch date with Riza, something that had become habit even before they started dating, but when he got back to the office with a great gift, it would be worth it. "I just remembered that I have something to do, so I can't go."

"What? What do you have to do?" Usually she wasn't curious about Roy's tasks and just took his word on what he needed done, but the tone of voice that he used was odd, carrying a hint of nervousness within its lilt.

"It's nothing you should worry about. Just go on and get a bite to eat," he said.

Riza took a step closer to him and stared into his eye. After a long pause, making him a bit nervous, she spoke, "You aren't cheating on me are you?" Her voice was stern and steady, giving the illusion that she actually considered that a possibility.

"No!" he yelled. "I wouldn't do that!"

Riza grinned. "I know that," she said, and kissed his cheek. "I'll have lunch with Rebecca. Take care of what you need to do."

Roy's bottom lip jutted out slightly, "Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," she said, "I'll see you in an hour then." She started to open the door when Roy grabbed her. He looked around the room, as if looking for someone that may have been watching. Then he kissed her deeply.

"Have a good lunch," Riza said breathlessly when they pulled away.

"You too," he replied and smiled at her, taking in her flushed cheeks.

They both left the office. Riza made her way down the hallway toward where Rebecca worked, while Roy left headquarters.

--

Roy stopped on the sidewalk and grinned when he arrived in the shopping district, as if he had achieved a great goal. He was extremely hopeful that he would be able to find the perfect gift for Riza within the time his lunch break allotted. That would show those women and Riza exactly how much he loved her.

His eyes trailed along both sides of the street, taking in all the various types of shops with their signs displaying sales or new items available. He rarely did any shopping in that district, instead favoring the smaller necessity only shops near his home.

The streets were crowded with people, mostly housewives and maids with the occasional loving couple mixed in with the lot. Everyone was chatting, smiling, and going about their day as if everything was right in the world. Roy couldn't help but carry a bit of bitterness toward them. It was likely that every one of them took their peace for granted.

He heard a familiar voice and looked to the left. Havoc was standing at the flower shop buying a red rose. After handing the shopkeeper a bit of money and taking the rose, he walked over to. . . Rebecca? Holy mother of…Havoc and Rebecca were together? He nearly fell over when Rebecca kissed him on the lips, and they walked toward a small café, their arms intertwined. Riza entered his mind and he hoped she found someone to have lunch with her. Then again, Riza wasn't the type to stress over eating lunch alone. He knew that she didn't mind her solitude. To make up for it, he would take her out to dinner that evening if they didn't have to stay late for work.

For a moment, he wondered if she knew about Havoc and Rebecca going out. If not, it would be quite enjoyable telling her about it. He suddenly shook the thought from his head and got back to business. This was no time to think about Havoc and Rebecca's love life when he had his own to focus on. Once again, he looked at all the stores and his gaze finally rested on a jewelry shop. The signs on the window were displaying beautiful pieces: necklaces, rings, bracelets, and other trinkets that were perfect for any discernment.

He crossed the street and made his way to the doorway of the shop. It was the most logical place to start since all women loved jewelry. He placed one foot upon the doorstep but frozen in his tracks when a problem came to him. Riza wasn't like any other woman he knew. In fact, in most things regarding the other women he dated, she was the complete opposite. Since those women loved little trinkets like necklaces and bracelets, it was only logical that she wouldn't care for such things. He stepped away from the jewelry store and stuck his hands into his pockets. Jewelry was definitely out until it was time to get her an engagement ring.

He began walking down the street, looking at each shop and using his mental reasoning to determine whether it would contain anything that would be of interest to Riza. He managed to weed through every one of them in one way or another, leaving him with only a tuxedo shop and a bookstore. Any idiot would rule out a tuxedo as a gift for the woman he loved but …books. Riza loved to read; she loved books! It was perfect.

He walked inside the small bookstore, the smell of both new and old books hitting his senses as he entered. He recognized the smell of the ink the new books were printed with, and the very familiar smell of the musty pages of old volumes of tomes. Stacks upon stacks of books surrounded him the deeper he ventured into the shop. He read the signs of the various categories, none present that he thought Riza would like. He passed the new alchemy books and scoffed at the ridiculous topics that would never, and could never, be proven. He noticed as he walked toward the back, the books went from being organized into neat rows and well dusted, to being tossed haphazardly on the shelves and covered with layers of dust with not so much as a fingerprint interrupting its blanketing.

He began looking through the older books for anything he thought Riza would enjoy. He saw a section of older alchemy books, many of which he already owned, and instantly vetoed any purchase of those for her. Riza had no interest in alchemy whatsoever, even going as far as saying it nearly bored her to tears. He walked over to a table scattered with dozens of old books on how to bake, broil, and fry various foods. Cookbooks of course were out of the question. What kind of man would buy the woman he loved a cookbook as an expression of his love. This gift had to be amazing, and . . . and … and he wasn't going to find it in a bookshop.

Roy turned and walked back toward the front of the store, vaguely noting that he hadn't run into any employees during his brief look around. He opened the door, the tiny bell ringing above it as he exited.

He squint his eyes as the bright rays of sun hit them. Even the short time in the dim light at the back of the shop had affected his eyesight. He shoved his hands in his pockets and began walking down the street, muttering various obscenities as he trekked upon the sidewalk. People quickly moved out of his way, looking at him oddly, as he passed by, Roy paying no attention to them. He didn't care what they thought; he only cared about his failure to get a gift for Riza.

He began listing places he could go to continue his hunt and the Xingese market popped in his head. Surely, it would be the perfect place to find something. They had plenty of unique and elegant gifts.

When he raised his hand to hail a taxi the huge clock tower's thunderous chiming bell rang out into the air once, echoing throughout the city, telling everyone the time. Roy's eyes widened. Lunch break was over and he didn't have time to go to the Xingese marketplace.

He turned in the direction of headquarters and rushed back to the office, knowing Riza would likely be angry if he wasn't back at the proper time. Just because he was the commanding officer, didn't mean he wanted to anger Riza. Her anger wasn't only bad for his work life, but also for his personal and sex life. As he ran, he dodged the people walking to and from the market, children playing marbles where they shouldn't be, and he leaped across the puddles left behind by the previous day's downpour.

He jogged up the steps of the main headquarters building, then opened the door and entered the lobby. He slowed down to a walking pace so that he wouldn't make a scene in front of the officers in the halls. He made his way to the stairway and then rushed up them, knowing they were likely void of people thanks to the preference for the elevator.

When he finally made it to the door to his office, he stopped and tried to catch his breath, extremely thankful he was in such good physical shape to be able to run the way he had. He lifted his hand up to straighten his collar and took several deep breaths, trying to steady his heartbeat and get more oxygen into his lungs.

"Sir, is there something wrong?" He heard Riza question from behind him, causing him to jump and turn around.