Since I missed Royai day (and I've kind of been neglecting this little project of mine), I decided to upload two different stories for the same theme. The first one focuses on one of Riza's reasons for joining the military (although she has many, to be sure). Also, I was assuming that at this point in time, she did not yet have knowledge of her grandfather. The second one contains some UST, but I'm not sure how well it came out. It wasn't fluff, so I wasn't sure how to write it! XD In any case, enjoy. Disclaimer applies.

Thunder, Take 1

Ever since Roy had left the Hawkeye household after her father's funeral, the secrets of flame alchemy now carved freshly into his mind, the old manor had felt rather lonely. Creepy, even. Riza knew there was nothing to be afraid of, but sometimes the way the shadows moved in the empty hallways reminded her of the ghost stories she used to read when she was little. As she lay in her bed, she heard a distant rumble of thunder. It echoed throughout the too-big house, reminding her that she was utterly alone. All the family she knew of was dead. At this moment, there was only one person in the world that knew anything of importance about her, and that person had just left her house to quite possibly die on the side of the road as a piece of trash (he could be taken from her as quickly and as suddenly as lightning appears, scouring the sky and bringing after it a wail of pain and misery which echoes throughout the heavens).

That couldn't happen. Riza sat straight up in bed as the realization hit her. If she lost Roy, she lost everything. She lost all her friends, her companions, and her family (after all the years Roy had lived in her house, he had begun to feel like family to her). She swore to herself that she would not let anything take him from this world if she had anything to say about it.

That night, she made a promise to herself: she would protect the only person who cared about her, no matter the cost—and she knew what this meant she had to do. The next day, she would take a trip down to the local recruiting office, and she would let them know that she planned to attend the military academy. And she was not going to take "no" for an answer.

Thunder, Take 2

It had been storming for two hours already, and Roy was getting rather sick of it.

It seemed like every time he had begun to focus on his documents, another pound of thunder broke through his concentration. He had barely looked through ten documents since the storm started, growing more and more annoyed as time wore on that, for one reason or another, he just couldn't block out the excess noise today.

He supposed it might have something to do with the fact that his Lieutenant soldiered on through the storm, hardly even noticing the rumbles that shook the floor or the streaks of bright light that could make even the darkest man appear to be a lifeless specter. In fact, the more he studied the Lieutenant's behavior, the more fascinated he became. How could it be that she didn't even jump in the slightest at the loudest crashes of thunder? How did her writing hand remain steady, even when the storm raged around her, threatening to throw her perfect penmanship into crazy spirals out of sheer surprise?

They were alone in the office at the moment. If only she showed even a little bit of shock or fear at the elements, he would too gladly place himself next to her and offer his comfort. If only she noticed the storm at all, he could start a conversation with her, their flirting (as always) remaining in code. Perhaps, since they were alone, he would be bold enough to flirt with her outright. He could bask in her presence, maybe even lay a hand on her shoulder or her arm, and, if he played his cards right, be rewarded with a smile. A kiss, even. Maybe more. Despite his knowledge that this could never happen at work, that it was far too dangerous to pursue even outside of work, he nonetheless let his thoughts roam as he imagined being given the opportunity to explore her body with his hands (her hair, so soft and smooth, forever bound in that clip), his lips (her lips, her cheeks, her forehead, her nose, her chin, her neck, and down, down, down, farther and farther down, down to the places that no one but him should ever see), his tongue…

Feeling his gaze weighing heavily upon her, Riza raised her head to look at her commanding officer across the room, one glance at his face confirming her suspicions. She hated to admit that as annoyed as she was that he was getting distracted at work, she could not deny that she also wanted the opportunity to become very distracted about him…with him. After all, how many times had she imagined it and the release it would bring? Despite the fact that she knew that the laws were strict and that there were many more important things to chase after than their unspoken feelings for each other, she could not help but notice that they were alone (and probably would be for the next couple of hours), the office doors were locked as a security precaution, no one would see into the windows, no one would hear over the noise of the storm, and what was one little tryst anyway…

As their eyes locked, the thunder outside boomed much too loudly.