I woke up rather early that Sunday, well for me anyway. Even though I didn't set an alarm my body knew I wanted to be up to check on her. She had insisted on sleeping on the couch last night with that animal, I told her that was crazy but she wouldn't listen. I rolled out of bed and tiptoed to the living room before going to shower. She was still asleep, as was the panther. I felt a little more confidant when I saw that it had even curled up to her a little. I started heading back to my room when the phone rang. I practically ran to the nearest phone and yanked it off its spot before the second ring. I didn't want to wake her, or worse, startle the beast on my couch.
"Hello?" I answered quietly.
"That was fast. Waiting for someone else to call perhaps?" the voice teased.
"Fuhrer Grumman Sir," I said a little surprised.
"Yes, I just wanted to call to tell you nice job on Friday. The Generals as a whole are much more in your favor now and I know a few have already said that they might like you for Fuhrer. But be careful, this paints a rather large target on your back," he explained.
"I understand sir, I'll keep an eye out," I replied.
"I have no doubt that you can handle yourself… but it might be a good idea to have a guard of sorts near at all times until this is settled." My mind flashed to an image of Inora taking out those three men like it was the easiest thing in the world.
"I'll look into that sir," I said. "I have yet to inform my men and I'm sure they'd agree with you."
"Good. Also tomorrow I need you to report straight here. I have some other ideas that might help us," he said.
"Of course sir. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Enjoy the rest of your weekend Mustang," he said mischievously and hung up. I sighed and hung up my end.
"So I take it Friday went well?" I jumped and turned to find Inora standing right behind me.
"You scared me," I chuckled.
"Sorry," she smiled.
"But yes it did, it was a giant leap forward," I said. I was about to offer some breakfast when I saw the animal slink out of the living room and move towards Inora. I grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to me.
"What are you… oh Bagheera. You're awake," she said happily.
"I can't believe I left my gloves in my room," I growled.
"You are not setting my kitty on fire," she scolded.
"That's not a cat it's a panther!" I almost yelled, but I kept my voice down so I wouldn't anger it. "And how do you know about my Alchemy anyway?"
"Maes told me," she answered quickly. The animal was about a foot away from us now and I held my breath as I waited to see what would happen. Inora offered him her hand and he sniffed at it before nudging it with his nose. She laughed and dropped to her knees next to him and pet him affectionately.
"I don't believe it," I muttered. This animal seemed to adore Inora already, I guess it realized that she had saved its life.
"Roy, come here," she said and held out her hand for me to take. I placed my hand in hers and she pulled me closer. I was distracted by the feel of her warm hand on mine that I got down beside them without a fight. She brought my hand slowly to the beast and I tensed as it sniffed at my hand. She guided my hand into its fur and soon I was in wonder as we both pet the animal while it… purred. I didn't know panthers purred.
"See? Kitty," she chuckled.
"We're going to have to find it something to eat though," I muttered. Don't want the thing getting hungry and deciding to not be so nice.
"Bagheera," she cooed. "Do you like your name? Bagheera."
"Inora… I really don't think you can keep him," I said softly.
"Are there laws against it?" she asked. She looked directly in my eyes with her big blue eyes and my heart melted.
"I'll look into it ok? Just… don't get your hopes up too much," I said and she grinned before throwing her arms around me almost sending me to the ground.
"Thank you!" she said. I felt something nudge against our sides and we both looked to the side to see Bagheera trying to break into our hug. She giggled and let go of me with one hand to wrap around the animal as well. I mentally shrugged and pulled him closer as well.
"I can't believe I'm in a group hug involving a panther," I said and we both laughed. The door chose that moment to swing open leaving Maes standing there looking at us with shock.
"Is that a panther?" he asked loudly.
"His name's Bagheera. We found him yesterday," Inora explained as though it was nothing. I reluctantly stood from my place in Inora's arm and went over to tell him the whole story.
"Ah… well you'll have to get a permit but with your status it shouldn't be too hard. I'll help you with it tomorrow," he said.
"Come here Maes, I'll introduce you," she said. I watched and saw that it wasn't the same as what she did for me. She wrapped her arms around the animal and just let Maes approach him slowly. I wondered if there was a reason for that but I decided against it.
"That's great Roy. Keep this up and the Fuhrer will be able to announce his retirement by the end of the month," Maes chuckled. We had sat down in the living room so I could tell them everything the old man had said. Inora was on the couch happily petting Bagheera on her lap. Her lap. This was really going to take some getting used to.
"If you need me for anymore parties just let me know," she said.
"I'm glad to hear it. You really were a huge help… I probably owe you more than just the one dinner," I hinted, I wanted to take her out again.
"All I did was drink some and smoke a cigar. It really wasn't that big a deal," she smiled kindly. Ok so did she not get my hint or is she avoiding going out with me again? Though she did just offer to go to another party… for my career. Right. My mind flashed back to her flirting with me as a joke. She's probably not interested. There was a bit of an awkward silence, at least on my end, until Maes decided to step in.
"Well Sweetie, as much as I enjoy having you at my house…" Maes trailed off.
"Of course you don't want Bagheera around Elicia," she said kindly.
"Though I'm not sure how I feel about you living with Roy either," he muttered.
"What the hell do you think I'm going to do to her?" I yelled.
"Maybe I'm more worried about what she would do to you," he grinned.
"That's what I said," Inora laughed.
"Anyways… I have a spare bedroom so she can stay there," I offered.
"I can cook," Inora said randomly.
"Huh?" I asked.
"So I'm not such a freeloader or whatever. I'll cook for you," she smiled at me. "I should warn you though it wont be food like your used to, but it usually tastes good."
"That sounds like a good deal Roy, you have too much space anyway. And we all know you get most of your meals from the local restaurants," Maes put in.
"Ok. That will be nice," I said. "We'll go food shopping today then."
"And get my clothes from his house," Inora gestured to Maes and I nodded. "By the way do you have some clothes I can run in?"
"I'm sure I can find something… you run?" I asked.
"Well I… have a felling like I should. You know what I mean?" she asked slowly.
"No, not really," I chuckled and she laughed. After a second Maes cleared his throat, reminding us that he was still there.
"I came over to see if you two wanted to go out for breakfast… but we spent longer than I thought talking so I should get going," he said and gave me a smirk that Inora couldn't see.
"Oh well I'll see you whenever I see you then," Inora said cheerfully and went back to petting Bagheera. I walked him to the door and he put a hand on my shoulder and leaned forward so Inora couldn't hear.
"Roy… I saw those looks you were giving her. You like her don't you," he said softly.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I said stubbornly.
"I know it must feel like she's blocking you sometimes but I don't think that's her intention. I say ignore the signals you get, what's the worst that could happen?" he grinned.
"I think you're insane," I said simply. He shrugged and walked out the door.
"At least think about it Roy," he called before I closed the door.
"So what do you want to do for breakfast?" Inora asked when I went back to the living room.
"Well we could go out or… well I don't think there's much in the kitchen right now," I admitted.
"I'll be the judge of that," she said and prodded Bagheera off of her legs and practically bounced into the kitchen. I followed her through the swinging door and she was already digging through my freezer. I stood there and watched her silently until I felt something brush against my legs.
"Holy shit!" I yelled when I looked down. Bagheera had followed us in here and was now rubbing on my leg. I'm man enough to admit that it was a little frightening. Ok, it was scary as hell.
"Awww, he likes you Roy," she said. I looked at her encouraging smile and took a breath before reaching down to scratch his head. He closed his eyes and leaned heavily against me.
"I wonder why," I muttered.
"I've got it!" she said triumphantly and pulled a bag of hash browns from the freezer then pulled eggs out of the refrigerator. She threw the potatoes in a skillet and started frying them before cracking three eggs into it.
"Interesting," I said and she laughed.
"I told you I wouldn't make things the way you're used to. Plus I'm trying to hurry," she said as she stirred the contents of the pan. I got some plates down and poured us some drinks while we chatted idly. This felt… kind of nice. I never spend my mornings with people, until the last few days anyway. I could get used to this. When she deemed the food done she scraped half onto each plate and we sat at the table.
"Now it may not look pretty but try some and I think you'll be happy," she said and dug into her own food with gusto. I took a bite and found that it was good even if it was a little plain.
After we finished eating we cleaned up and got ready to leave. Before we left Inora had the idea that Bagheera might have to go outside. I snuck to my bedroom to grab a glove before she opened the back door for him. I figured I should be ready if he tries to make a run for it. Apparently I worried for nothing. The animal simply went outside and relieved itself in what should have been a flower bed and walked back to Inora's side after burying it. It really was like a big cat, weird.
We finally left for the store and I held the basket while she walked down the aisles inspecting the food. We bought a lot of steak for Bagheera on my request. We talked easily the whole time and checked out with armfuls of bags. When we went to the Hughes house Inora randomly hugged Maes again before going to get her clothes. We didn't even really notice, funny how fast we got used to that. When we got home she enjoyed giving Bagheera a steak before putting on some of my clothes to go for a run. While she was gone I was left alone to think about how seeing her in my clothes made me feel. I wasn't really sure except for one thing, it was a way bigger deal than it should be. Before I could stop myself I pictured her in one of my work shirts which sent heat right to my groin.
By the time I had fixed that problem, a little guiltily, she came back. She took a shower and changed while I read. She came back and grabbed a book off the shelf before sitting next to me on the couch. We read quietly for some time before I glanced over at the book she was reading. I did a double take.
"Are you interested in alchemy?" I asked. She was reading The Basics of Alchemy.
"It seems really interesting actually. I don't think I could ever do it though," she said as she turned the page.
"Why not?" I asked and she smiled at me.
"I can't draw worth shit dude. One of the things this book says over and over is that the circle has to be pretty much flawless," she explained.
"Well you could still learn with someone else drawing them for you. You could still be a good alchemist if you have the mind for it. Actually I don't even remember the last time I drew a circle. Same for Ed probably," I said.
"Yeah but you and Ed don't need circles. You just clap," she said and clapped her hands together.
"How did you know that?" I asked slowly.
"Ed told me," she said and buried her nose in the book again, I shrugged it off.
"Do you want to learn?" I asked. She looked at me with huge eyes for a few seconds before nodding enthusiastically.
"Yes!" she almost squealed and I smiled at her attitude. I'll have to find time to show her, and there are a lot of other alchemists around that could help. With her personality they'll probably be begging to. I chuckled when I thought about all of the state alchemists lining up for a chance to teach her. I looked into her happily shinning eyes and decided I wouldn't be surprised if that did happen… and if it did I knew it would be hard to restrain myself from snapping.
"I'll be happy to teach you," I said and she threw her arms around me. I returned the hug softly, enjoying the moment while I could. I think I'm in trouble.
