Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

A nice hot shower was just what the first lieutenant needed. She stayed in there for nearly a half an hour scrubbing away the sweat, paint and dirt until she at last felt she was clean as she could possibly get. With that she turned off the water and dried off. Slipping into a good length skirt that didn't reveal too much she continued dressing herself until she was ready for the day.

Well, almost ready.

Her naturally amber colored eyes glared menacingly at the green contacts that were staring at her in the most innocent way. She was really learning to dislike them. They were just further proof of her deceit. Riza shook her head. She was reading way too much into this. When this was all over she was heading over to the shooting range, maybe go for a run with Black Hayate. She just needed to do something that was part of her normal routine. Something familiar.

"Ava!"

She was startled out of her thoughts by a sudden knock on the door.

Riza let out a small sigh that the man on the other side couldn't hear. Back to the masquerade, in which she starred in. "What is it?"

"Are you almost done in there?" Roy called through the bathroom door. "I want to get into some clean clothes and wash up before Hughes gets back. I could only imagine what he would say if he caught me in his shower and you out here."

The blond let out a small groan and rubbed her temples with her hand. She knew exactly what he would say. She could almost hear him now. 'Well, it's about time! I knew you two would end up together if given the right circumstances! And you said it wouldn't work... ah, sometimes I'm just too darn clever for my own good. So when can I expect the wedding invitation? Or maybe a birth announcement? Hey if it's a boy will you name him Maes?'

She would never hear the end of it.

"Almost." Riza put in her dreaded contacts and then dug through a drawer until she found her brush. Finally ready she opened the door and stepped outside.

Only to almost run right into Roy, who was standing in front of the door with clothes and towel in hand. The in disguise sniper blinked a couple of times as she found herself staring at the dirty white shirt that covered his chest. She had to tilt her head up so that she could look him in the eye. "Any reason as to why you're practically hugging the door?"

He just gave a sheepish smirk. "No reason. You done?"

"All yours." She stepped out of the way so he could get through. "Now go. You don't exactly smell like a bed of roses."

With that last comment she headed for the kitchen and since she had her back turned she failed to see him take a quick sniff of his underarm before shrugging to himself and stepping into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Riza grumbled under her breath as she slowly worked through the various knots in her hair with a comb. Keeping her strokes slow and gentle she made gradual progress. It was times like these that she missed her short boy cut hairstyle and remembered why she had it cut in the first place. It was much easier to handle. A few strokes with a brush and she was ready to go. Now she had to work through all the knots and tangles.

Roy Mustang walked in a clean and content to find the blond woman working on a particularly frustrating patch. He stood leaning against the doorway with a towel draped around his neck. She had her back turned towards him and he watched her, amusement apparent in his eyes.

"Are you planning on staring at me all day? You're starting to creep me out."

The flame alchemist startled slightly but smiled took a seat in front of her. "Sorry. I'm just not used to seeing such a domestic scene. I guess I just kinda got lost in the moment."

She gave him a look that obviously displayed the fact that she thought he was crazy. "Roy?"

"Yeah?" He rubbed the towel against his head and dried the inside of his ears.

"You're weird."

He just chuckled as he watched her put down the brush and start working on a difficult tangle with her bare hands. Her fingers carefully pulled at the strands of hair but her efforts proved to be in vain. Just as she was about to reach the point of getting up and looking for a pair of scissors to take care of the annoying knot an very simple yet entirely intimate event occurred.

All of a sudden her own small hands were replaced with a pair of bigger hands. Though slightly clumsy the fingers diligently worked on the patch of hair, slowly making progress. She watched him with both confusion and a warm relaxed feeling. Before too long he had gotten through the knot and was gently smoothing out the strands. With his fingers still threaded in the golden strands he lifted his face so that they were looking each other in the eye.

It was one of those magical moments that only occurred in movies and fairytales.

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and both pairs of eyes widened like deers in the headlights.