Sometime in the middle of the night, Roy sat up and coughed, rubbing his forehead softly; he was burning up. He groaned and fell back on the couch, hiding his eyes under his arm, coughing loudly again.
She did not know how much time had passed, but sometime in the middle of the night, Elizabeth snapped awake suddenly. She was certain she had heard something-yes, there it was again, a cough. She threw the blankets off of herself and walked quietly out into the room where her cousin was supposed to be sleeping. "Roy? Are you okay?" She called softly, hoping she had only been imagining it because she was so tired. She really hoped he was still asleep...
Roy was coughing again, shivering slightly under the blankets. "I'm fine, Elizabeth just go back to sle—" He started coughing again, sitting up, still shivering as he did. He knew he was sick; he had a feeling he must have been because of the throbbing headache he had all day. No matter how much he drank the night before, he never had a headache that long because of it. Once he finished coughing he lay back down and pulled the sheet over his head. "…sleep." He finished his sentence, still hiding his face from her. Had he not been, he looked miserable, his head was still throbbing, and his eyes were slightly bloodshot, and she would have seen it. "You need your sleep I'm sure..." He mumbled, pulling the blanket tighter over his head, his hand slowly reached out just to get the glass of water on the table before starting to drink it, shutting his eyes as the cold water traveled down his warm throat. It felt good, but at the same time only made him colder. He hated being sick.
Elizabeth ignored her cousin and hurried across the room, kneeling down beside the couch and holding her arms out towards him. She mostly wanted to be certain he did not fall off the couch or something. When he was finished coughing and finally finished telling her to go back to sleep, she shook her head. "Shut up. I'm fine; you're the one who's sick." She reached under the blanket after he was finished sipping the water and tugged gently on his forearm. "Come on, you need to sleep in your own bed." She knew he was going to be stubborn, so she added: "Under the nice warm blankets. Where you can sweat this out. Come on." She coaxed him, tugging again. There was not a chance she was going to take no for an answer right now, and just let her sick cousin sleep on his couch while she took his bed. She stood up slowly as she gently tugged on his arm again, hoping he would follow her. Then she would help him to his bed so he would not fall over. This was not the first time she had done this, for him or for other members of her family, so she was certain she could bear his weight well enough to help...
Roy groaned. "Elizabeth I'm fine." He said again but still went with her, even if he didn't want to. He was tired, and his whole body ached; he just wanted to stay on his couch and never move again. He could barely walk, but he still barely leaned on Elizabeth.
The raven-haired girl shook her head stubbornly. "No, you're not." She helped him to his bedroom, letting him lean on her as much as he needed to. She was strong enough to hold him, and she did her best to do so even as he tried not to lean on her too much.
He walked into his room where she helped lower him gently onto his bed before running out of the room. Roy shut his eyes tightly; he knew she was right. He had to sweat this out and get better before the morning, but he knew that wouldn't happen. Even so he knew he had to show up, no matter how crappy he felt, so he had to at least hope he would feel slightly better in the few hours left of sleeping he had.
Elizabeth was back in a matter of seconds, carrying his cooled, refilled glass of water. Lizzy sat down on the edge of the bed next to him as she held the cup out to him, waiting for him to open his eyes so he could take it.
Dark blue eyes shifted over to Elizabeth and he smiled slightly. "Thanks…" he whispered. "And also thanks for the congratulations, I may have been half asleep but I could hear you." He said smiling still before putting his arm over his eyes again coughing and groaning once more.
"Don't mention it." She spoke softly in reply. Then her face froze, and though he may or may not have been able to see her in the dark, she was glaring. Elizabeth put his hands around the cold glass, making him take it from her if he had not already done so, and then inched away from him until she was sitting at the end of the bed. She would not look at him for several minutes, either sulking or deeply embarrassed.
Roy sat up slightly and started drinking the water, he blinked a few times looking at her. "Don't worry, I'm not going to make a big deal...I'm too sick to. Besides, I can only come up with crazy stories when I'm drunk." He whispered, smiling some. "But you should sleep." He whispered softly, glancing at the bed before laying back down still holding the glass in his hands. "You need your sleep—I can tell you haven't slept yet, if you had you would not have heard me coughing." He whispered still. Then he gently set the glass on the table before shutting his eyes, stretching, cringing as he did. All of his muscles ached. He shut his eyes and coughed again. "And not buts Elizabeth—go to sleep."
Elizabeth let out a quiet "humph" sound, but still refused to look at him for another moment or two. Finally she rolled her eyes, turning around to look at him again. "That's an understatement." She grumbled, fully aware of his wild story-telling abilities when he was drunk. Then she shook her head, standing and walking over to where she was sitting before, just standing beside his bed. She looked down at him, placing her hands on her hips gently and quirking a brow. "I did, actually. Your coughing just woke me up is all." She said with a tiny smile, gently teasing him. It was true, actually; she had managed to get a few hours of sleep before his coughing had awoken her, though she was okay with that. She wanted to take care of him and help him feel better; he was the only blood-family she had left. But he was being stubborn about wanting her to sleep, and she did not want to cause him any stress. She would likely just return anyway once he was fast asleep. "Yeah, yeah..." She muttered, making her way to the door. "Oh, and you had better sleep in." She said from the door way. "You're not moving from that bed. I'm calling you in first thing in the morning." Then she shut the door behind her without waiting for or allowing an argument from him.
"Wait, what? You ca-" Mustang sighed when she shut the door, but after that he just groaned. "Women…" He mumbled before turning on his side shutting his eyes. He started coughing again, but soon pulled the blankets over his head slowly starting to fall asleep. Once he was out, though, he was dead to the world. He shivered every now and then but nothing too bad. He cuddled into the blankets and sighed softly in his sleep.
Elizabeth spent most of the night curled up in the blanket she had laid over Roy when he was sleeping on the couch. Except she was curled up on his bedroom floor, unwilling to leave his side all night. Come morning, she got up and, making sure he was still asleep, went into the kitchen to make a good, healthy breakfast for him. There was not much to work with, since this was a guy's apartment, but she managed to find enough to make him eggs and toast, plus fresh orange juice from the actual fruit-that she had to take a short walk for. But it was better for him, so it was worth it, she had decided.
The next morning Roy's eyes fluttered open as he felt the sun peeking in his window. He groaned before turning on his other side. He really hoped Lizzy wasn't actually going to call in. He would rather just be late then not go in at all. He sat up, staring forward with a bored or tired expression on his face. He moved and got off his bed, but the second he stood and he became really dizzy. Roy put a hand on his head and pushed past the dizziness, walking toward the kitchen where he leaned against the wall and began coughing once again.
Lizzy was in the process of cooking his meal, almost finished, when she heard the soft thud of her cousin leaning against the wall, and him coughing. She glanced over her shoulder, but kept working with her left hand. "Good morning. Didn't I tell you not to get out of bed?" Her voice was cheerful enough on the surface, but beneath it was icy and threatening. She had had to play the role of a parent before, despite her young age, and she had become rather good at it. Returning her attention to the eggs cooking in front of her, she continued speaking, though a little louder so he would hear her even though she wasn't facing him. "I called Miss Riza a little while ago." Now she was definitely pulling out the big cards. "Now, what did she say again...? Oh, yeah-" She turned around to look at him and her eyes were practically glowing red. "Something along the lines of, 'Tell him to stay home and rest-or else.'" Then Elizabeth resumed her focus on the eggs she was nearly finished cooking, practically humming to herself.
Roy stared at her for a moment before he grumbled, "Women..." He repeated, before turning around and stumbling back into his room. He was more afraid of Riza then Elizabeth, but he knew Elizabeth could be quite frightening when she wanted to. But he also knew how scary Riza could be, so he would rather not find out what the 'or else' meant. He sat on his bed and stared at the floor, coughing again before laying back in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Today was going to be a very, very boring day, he knew that much, but he knew if he did not rest he would end up getting killed by two very frightening women. Or even a third—he knew if he did show up and if Riza and Alina saw him like this, he would never hear the end of showing up to work sick. He would probably end up being shot and drowned in a matter of seconds just to make him lie in a hospital bed and not move, plus whatever Lizzy would do to him. Roy sighed; nope, he definitely was not moving now.
Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder again to be certain Roy was gone, and had gone back to his room and his comfortable bed to rest. Then she actually did begin to hum softly to herself, occasionally singing quietly while she worked. Within moments she was finished cooking, and piled a small portion onto a plate for Roy, and a slightly larger portion for herself. She knew how small a person's appetite could get when they were sick, so she had made enough for both of them, plus more if he wanted another helping, which she could easily reheat. She carried both plates into his room, with only some difficulty, setting hers down on the floor beside his bed before placing Roy's gently on his lap. "Eat up, while it's warm. It should help you regain some of your strength." She left the room for a moment and came back with two glasses of orange juice tucked in her cast around her right arm, which she then set on his bedside table. Then she sat down on the blanket she had slept in and under the night before and began eating her own breakfast. She moved one of the glasses down next to her and chugged a good portion of it in several gulps. Making food always worked up an appetite, but then, what didn't? She always seemed to be hungry, or at least when she was, she ate quite a bit. Turning her head, she looked up at her cousin to see if he was enjoying it and smiled brightly. Lizzy was not exactly seeking approval, but if he thoroughly enjoyed her cooking, that was good enough for her.
Roy glanced at the food in front of him and slowly sat up before starting to eat it. He smiled some, and nodded. "It's...really good Elizabeth, thanks." He wasn't used to home cooked meals. Being well…a guy and in the military he never really had time to cook. He finished the food before grabbing the orange juice and starting to drink it. It would be good if his throat was not completely messed up, but he drank it anyway—he knew he had to.
Elizabeth smiled and nodded, and then finished off her own plate of food. After she had chugged the rest of her orange juice, she waited for her cousin to finish his breakfast and glass of orange juice. Then she carefully stacked their plates and glasses, and took them out to the kitchen. She quickly and temporarily rinsed them off, and then returned to Roy's bedside with another cool glass of water.
Once he finished it, he looked over to his cousin and smiled slightly, before nodding his head. "Thank you…really." He whispered before laying back down shutting his eyes starting to cough again. He hated this; his whole body still ached every time he barely moved. His eyes shut tightly as he groaned, coughing again. "You probably shouldn't be in here; I don't want to get you sick as well."
After setting the glass down on his bedside table, the black-haired girl looked down at him as he spoke. "I'll be fine." She insisted, shaking her head as she spoke. Lizzy had her reasons for being so adamant about not leaving him alone for too long, and taking care of him until he had returned to full health. Though she herself did not realize these reasons; the most important one being her family, and the siblings she had lost prematurely to a fatal illness. She always became terrified now whenever anyone she cared about became at all sick or unhealthy, and could not rest until they were better. Her cousin and only remaining blood relation, Roy Mustang, was no exception.
She did leave for a moment though, getting a wash cloth from the bathroom and drenching it in cold water. Then she wrung it out until it was merely damp and no longer dripping, and came back into his bedroom with it. As she walked, she carefully folded it-as best as she could with the awkward, limited use of her right arm and hand-then, once at his side again, gently laid it across his forehead. "That should help regulate your temperature...but stay under the blankets to sweat this out, okay?" Then she sat down on the edge of his bed, and waited, finally taking a moment to stop flitting about and be quiet.
Roy sighed when she said she'd be fine. "Elizabeth, at least go in the living room. If I need anything I'll be sure to tell you." he smiled some, "Please, I would never forgive myself if you got sick." He said softly, before glancing away shutting his eyes. "And don't come back in here once I fall asleep." He said opening an eye glaring over to her. "Promise?" he said smiling some, he wasn't mad at her at all he just didn't want her to get sick. He started to cough again, shivering slightly pulling the blankets over him as he slowly started to drift asleep.
Elizabeth turned and looked down at him, shaking her head. "I-I'll be fine, really." She insisted, but he continued insisting she leave the room. It may have been for her own good, but she still wanted to stay with him. But finally she bit her lip and nodded. She could not promise him she would not come back after he was asleep, but she would abide by his wishes for now. "Sleep well..." She murmured, closing the door gently behind her. Elizabeth sighed and trudged out into the hall, then across the room to the couch, where she sat down. She stared at the wall across from her for several moments, and then shook her head. She needed to stop worrying so much; she felt afraid, but did not know and refused to acknowledge why. She sighed as she reminded herself he was an adult and perfectly capable of taking care of himself-well, except for the fact he was a man, and this thought made her smile and giggle softly. Scratching her head, she flopped down on the couch, lying down and draping her left arm over her face. She was actually somewhat tired since she had not gotten much sleep the night before...
However, almost right as Mustang fell asleep and his cousin was drifting off, the phone started ring. Roy still didn't move, though, even though he was slightly startled awake but he soon fell back asleep, dead to the world once more.
The phone ringing startled Elizabeth back into being wide awake-a random thought occurred to her out of the blue that she had forgotten to call Edward and tell him she could not meet up with him that morning. Jumping off the couch, she made a mad dash for the phone and snatched it up before it could ring for too long and wake Roy more than she was sure it already had. "Hello?" Elizabeth rubbed the back of her neck gently with her left hand, sighing silently.
"Ah, Steel Wing?" The voice on the other end asked, before sighing slightly. "Is Mustang alright? I noticed he wasn't in his office sleeping, like he always is." Alina mumbled; her feet were on her desk, her eyes closed. "I did notice he didn't look all that well yesterday, I knew it wasn't all a hangover, he usually gets over those pretty quickly." She said glancing up at her ceiling, shutting her eyes, "I also know you and Fullmetal were snooping in my room, and despite the fact that I will continue to believe your little lie, I would eventually like to know the truth." She smirked slightly. "But that is for another time—right now I'm more concerned about the Brigadier General."
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes slightly in concentration, having to think for a moment to realize who was on the other end of the phone. "O-oh, Major General Stryker! Good morning. Yeah, I'm sorry about that, I-" She stopped as the Major General began talking about her awareness of her and Ed's snooping the other day, and she laughed nervously. "Uhh, anyway..." She mumbled under her breath. "-I only had time to call Major Hawkeye this morning." She said apologetically.
On the other end, she soon heard "Ow…Was that really needed?" from a very familiar voice of a blond Alchemist, "I just wanted to be sure she was okay, jeez." Edward muttered.
"Well I am talking to her, dumbass, what the hell do you think?" Alina snapped.
Lizzy fell silent when she heard that familiar voice make an exclamation of pain on the other end of the line, and Elizabeth's whole face flushed red. Trying to hide her embarrassment, she cleared her throat and fairly unsuccessfully tried to pretend she was not aware of Edward listening for the moment. "Brigadier General Mustang isn't feeling well, sir, so I'm making him stay home until he's completely better. I hope that's all right...?" She did not say it out loud, nor would she, but even if it was not okay, she would still not let him out of bed until he had made a full recovery, military be damned. Finally, Lizzy gave in and added. "Sir...would you mind apologizing to Ed-Fullmetal for me? I won't be able to meet with him and compare notes today like I promised." Thinking about her reason why, she unintentionally allowed the worry in her voice to be evident. Elizabeth was not going to be leaving Roy's side anytime soon, and that meant she would not leave his apartment.
Alina was listening to her before she gently nodded. "Yes, yes, I'm sure Major Hawkeye and I will cover for him." She said before leaning back shutting her eyes put her feet on her desk. "Please, be sure he gets well soon, and I'll tell him." She said smiling some. Edward blinked and leaned over. "Tell me what?" Alina soon just put her hand in his face and pushed him back keeping her hand on his face, to which he adamantly protested. "Oh, yes, also, I know Mustang and Hawkeye know of this, and since Fullmetal is in the room with me as well, I figure I might as well tell you both now." She said before opening her eyes. "There's a military ball in one week, it's not required but it's highly suggested. Most people will be there, including the Fuhrer. I really hope you both come."
Elizabeth smiled and sighed with relief when the Major General confirmed that her cousin would not be forced for any reason to go in until he was completely recovered. That took a little pressure off of her, and she could simply focus on helping him feel better. When Alina began to talk of something Riza and Roy already knew of and could now tell her and Edward-this confirmed Ed was in the room and listening, which made her smile again without realizing it-Lizzy blinked. "Yes?" She tilted her head, and then blushed slightly when the Major General said there was a military ball coming up. A "ball" sounded very fancy to her, and she had never been to something so extravagant, that she could recall.
Her mind was suddenly flooded with questions, but she was a little embarrassed to ask with Edward listening. Still, there was no way she could ask Roy since he was male-not that she was more of a tomboy than a lady herself-so she would have to ask either Alina or Riza, and since the Major General was already on the phone... "I-I assume the dress code is...formal, sir?" She had no idea where to get clothing like that since she owned none, and she was not knowledgeable enough to transmute something fashionable. Elizabeth needed to find a woman to take her shopping the moment Mustang was feeling well enough she could leave him. Now she was feeling excited and nervous all at once. The idea that one usually had or took a "date" to something like this did not cross her mind-and perhaps the point was mute since this was for "work" so her obliviousness would not be made too obvious.
Edward was blushing; he wasn't expecting that… He coughed before nodding. "Yes well…I suppose I could go." He whispered softly, still blushing some. Alina nodded slightly. "Good to know Fullmetal, now…get out of my office." She mumbled, Edward blinked and glared. "Fine, but you damn well better believe I'll be back." He promised, grinning as he left.
Alina nodded in response to Steel Wing's question. "It is formal, Is there, something wrong with that? I know I still have to go shopping to get a dress, I don't really own anything formal. Perhaps you'd like to come with me? At least, it sounds like you're a bit confused of the whole…formal thing. Maybe together we can figure out this girly stuff better, hm?" She asked, smiling some before pushing her hair behind her ear, "At least when Mustang is feeling better. If there's anything I can do please let me know." She offered. "So, what do you say about shopping together?"
Elizabeth shook her head profusely, though she knew the Major General could not see her. "N-no, there's nothing wrong with it, sir! I just don't own anything very...nice, so..." She mumbled, scratching the back of her head out of embarrassment. When Alina mentioned the idea of Elizabeth going shopping with her to find something to wear, the raven-haired girl perked right up. "Thank you, Major General, sir! I would really appreciate it." This would likely be her first time willingly doing something as girly as shopping, certainly in a major city like Central. "Shopping together sounds like a good idea. I'll be in with Roy when he's feeling better, and we can...discuss it then?" Again, Elizabeth felt excited, but nervous at the same time. She had had similar experiences with Winry, the Rockbells, and her own mother when she had been much younger, but nothing like this, and not in many years. She was definitely a tomboy, but this should still be a fun experience, if not interesting. Thinking of family again, she glanced down the hall towards Roy's room and her brow knit with worry. "I should go for now, though. Thank you again, sir, and I'll be sure Roy is up and well again soon." Then they said their goodbyes, and hung up their respective phones.
Elizabeth had hardly managed to sleep the whole time her cousin, Roy, was sick. She was worried about him, and spent all of her time taking care of him, or worrying. Sleep occurred every so often when her body could no longer keep her awake any longer, but it would not last long. It had been a few days, and with Roy finally feeling better, Elizabeth had managed to get at least a somewhat decent amount of sleep. The next morning, she rolled off the couch, still tired, but she hid it well enough; and better after she had showered, made breakfast, and eaten something-she had left plenty for Roy, of course. After getting changed she found him up and about in his uniform, looking much better.
It had been a few days, and Roy was finally better. He was up and walking around, and had his uniform on. "Thanks, for taking care of me, Lizzy." He said, smiling, before he opened the door to leave the apartment and jumped seeing Alina there. The dark-haired male quickly saluted his superior. "S—Sir, why are you here?"
"Don't mention it-" Lizzy was about to mention her plans with Alina for the day, as she had not yet had the chance to, but it was too late. She winced and smiled nervously as he opened the door and jumped at the sight of the Major General standing at his door.
Alina waved her hand. "Calm down, should know you don't have to be formal with me when I'm not in my uniform." She said before looking past him and smiling at Lizzy. "You ready?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, before turning to leave, walking towards a waiting car. She opened the driver's side door before getting in.
"Ah, yeah, I'm ready." Lizzy trotted out the door and towards Alina's car, but not before turning and waving to Roy. She was wearing black pants, boots, and her gloves as usual, but this time with a long-sleeve blue shirt which brought out the color of her eyes. "We're going shopping." She called, hoping he would not have a heart attack at the news. "I'll see you later, Roy!" Then she hurried into the car, shut the door, and smiled at Alina, still somewhat bashful but quickly getting over it.
Roy blinked a few times. "Wait…what?" He asked before shaking his head; he was confused by the Major General's casual behavior, and his cousin's sudden "girly" streak. "Never mind." He muttered before walking out the door, shutting and locking it behind him, and then walking toward Central HQ.
Once she knew Elizabeth was in as well, Alina started up the car and drove it to a nearby shopping center. There, she got out and sighed softly before pushing her chestnut-colored hair behind her ear; it was down and she just had on blue jeans and a green shirt. She glanced back at the younger female and smiled. Then she started to walk toward one of the stores, glancing back at her as she did so. "So, what do you think the chances are of us actually finding something, huh?" She asked, laughing some.
"I don't know, I think working together we're bound to find something." Elizabeth said somewhat optimistically.
Alina laughed and nodded. "I should hope so." She said before starting to walk again. Just as she did, she nearly crashed into a short blond in all black, whom just glanced up and blinked at her a few times.
Elizabeth smiled nervously, and then began looking around in all the different stores. "Should we start in-?" She had begun to point to a store that looked promising, but stopped when she and Alina almost literally ran into a familiar blond male.
"M—Major General…!" He exclaimed before slowly looking to her right seeing Lizzy. "Erm…uh…Hi." Edward stuttered, blushing bright red, holding something behind his back. "Hey. Uh, Lizzy, I wasn't expecting you to…show up here, and see you now…here…now." He mumbled before walking over to her.
Elizabeth raised her left hand in a casual, but stiff wave. "Hey." She was as surprised to see him here as he appeared to be to see them, but she was doing a slightly better job at hiding it, and wasn't blushing. She tilted her head slightly to one side as Edward stumbled over his words, waiting and giving him a chance to speak.
Alina laughed softly before turning away and walking into the store Steel Wing had previously been indicating. She thought it best to leave the two young Alchemists alone for a moment.
As the Major General turned and left them alone to go inside, Elizabeth called, "I'll meet you inside!" Before returning her attention back to the Fullmetal Alchemist. She did not want to get left behind, but she was definitely curious as to what Edward was so flustered about, and what he was doing...or what he was up to, as it seemed.
Edward was still bright red and could barely look Elizabeth in the eyes as he pulled out whatever was behind his back, handing the flowers to his childhood friend. "W—Would you…be my date? To…this…ball?" He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head with his other arm. "I just...I think we should…go with each other." He struggled with his words again, still blushing bright red.
About the last thing Lizzy expected was the bouquet of flowers suddenly being handed to her. Her eyes widened, and she was stunned, for a moment in shock. She finally reached out slowly to take the flowers, holding them carefully. When Elizabeth's thinking capability finally came back, her thought-process was a little slow. "You mean like...ride there...together?" She seemed to have missed the part where he specified "date" or was too dense to realize how he meant it. He thought they should go together...did he mean because they were both around the same age, the youngest State Alchemists in the military, and not to mention childhood friends? It made perfect sense to her, actually. But then why did her cheeks feel so warm? "S-sounds good, Ed. Yes, I will." She finally gave him a real answer, nodding as she did so.
Edward was grinning from ear to ear. "Sorry about those. Alphonse told me if I didn't bring you flowers, he'd kill me." He mumbled bashfully, laughing some, looking into her eyes. "And…I—it'll be really fun...I promise." He said smiling, before walking over to her gently kissing her cheek. "I'll see you soon then…right?" He whispered softly.
Elizabeth shook her head profusely as she felt her cheeks grow even warmer and turn a deeper shade of red. "They're-they're really nice!" She looked down at the bouquet, then back up at Edward and gave him one of the happiest, most dazzling smiles she had in years. "They're beautiful, Ed. No one's done something like this for me before. Well, except for that time when we were little, and you and Al gave me the ones you had picked from that field." The memory made her laugh.
They had fought over who would give them to her, and had eventually ended up racing one another to her house, tying, and giving them all to her; but she did not remember it that way. Still, this was a gesture she would never forget. Elizabeth looked down at the bouquet she now held in her arms and smiled, nodding at his promise of a fun evening. When he kissed her on the cheek, she looked up, blinking in surprise and blushing a light shade of pink once again. She nodded, barely able to find words to speak again. "Uh-huh...see you soon." Then she waved and hurried to join the Major General in the store, still cradling the bouquet gently in her arms.
Alina was standing in the dress shop, getting mauled by one of the employees. The girl was throwing dresses at her telling her this would look good, and this and that and Alina wasn't really listening. She just took them before trying them on, with a few tries she had picked out a light blue dress for herself. After paying for it, she stood by the door and waited for the younger alchemist. She knew the incredibly way-too-happy employee would help Lizzy as well as she did Alina, and she hoped it would not take too long-she didn't have today off, she just told everyone she maybe really late…
Inside, Lizzy, too, was mauled by the overly-enthusiastic employee. She took the woman's advice on a few dresses, but blatantly told her "no" to some-particularly some pink ones which the jolly woman tried to insist would look lovely with her hair and eyes. Elizabeth would not have it. Finally, Lizzy chose one she wanted, a midnight blue and black gown, paid for it, and joined Alina. "Thanks for waiting for me, sir...I can't believe we found dresses in the first store we visited." She marveled, still looking a bit frazzled from that overly-enthusiastic encounter; her euphoria and embarrassment-or rather, bashfulness from her conversation with Edward was far from forgotten. The flowers he had given her were now placed gently in the large bag which also held her new dress.
"No need to thank me, Elizabeth." Alina said with a kind smile.
