Something about her…Maes can't put his finger on what, but something about this girl affects Roy in a way he isn't sure he likes.
Maes wouldn't say that Roy is different around Riza, not in the least; the Hawkeye girl is good, damn good, and she'd earned her spot as one of the boys before most of the boys had even met her. But, christ, she's so young. She can't be more than nineteen. And when she's around Roy gets this…sharp way of carrying himself. There's a harder set to his jaw, a jaggedness to everything he says, and Maes can't tell if it's from resentment or an urge to protect her.
He's not sure which he'd prefer. She seems haunted enough herself, and Mustang has enough on his shoulders without him adding the Hawkeye girl's misery to the pile. Her mental state isn't Roy's responsibility, regardless of his having spent half her childhood under her father's roof. Years between them should loosen the ties of the past, and Maes hopes to high heaven she'll either cut them herself or pull them so tight they won't be able to tell which burdens belong to whom.
She's a good kid, and a good soldier. And from what Maes' heard from Roy, she'd been a good friend to him once. But only time will tell if friendship will be thick enough to keep them both alive.
