Summary: At the right angle, in a line of sight, one might wonder why he never stopped staring at her for so much as a second.
Theme: 053. Sigh
Dedication: Chris LaFey, thank you and sorry about our little squabble. How very childish of me, you have nothing to apologise for.
Disclaimer: If I owned Full Metal Alchemist, it would be more romantic.
Angles
053. Sigh
Riza snorted.
"Romance is dead." She cackled. Normally, she would simply laugh if she ever came across a sight such as this. This had to be the funniest thing so far that day, but she had to admit he previously had some rather close competition. Apparently, this holiday was yet another thing the Armstrong family had been practicing partaking in for generations and the wrestler-like man had been rather hilarious so far. But even so, she had never expected something like this. The Colonel reading. Not just any novel, either. A romance novel. One she was pretty sure she had a copy of at home. He looked up.
"I beg to differ. There are some men, such as Sir Lawrence, who have done marvellous things for the women they love. He saved her from a dragon, yet you say romance is dead?" He proclaimed, flashing a grin at the woman who had taken a seat across from him. She sipped her tea calmly, noting the caffeine intake from his coffee. She knew that the likelihood of him doing something which could possibly make him more intelligent was unlikely, she thought snidely. How typical. He needed to know there were no sighing damsels, no Princes or wizards. No fairy tale endings. Life was not like that in the slightest.
"Sir Lawrence is a fictional character, Roy. You know dragons do not exist." She said curtly, turning to look outside the window. She noted Havoc had just been turned down again, but the woman who had clearly told him looked rather interested in Roy. Armstrong was astounding many women with his flamboyant nature. Fuery seemed to be attracting many women with his quiet, kind nature, not that he seemed to notice. Breda was stuffing his face with chocolate. Falman looked like a stone through the bookstore window, and he was clearly pretending he did not know any of them. She had just crushed Roy. It was going rather well. This Valentines Day fiasco had to be the best one of the three years they had been in Central.
"Well, I would save you from a dragon. That proves it." Roy mumbled, his words barely coherent as he slammed the book on the table. Riza frowned, raising both eyebrows. She supposed he meant it nicely, but it would not do very much good.
"How could you save me from a dragon when you cannot save yourself from the rain?" She shot, a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. It disappeared when he leaned forward, looking in her eyes softly and parting his lips ever so slightly. Her heart thumped painfully as he leaned very closely forward. Then he stopped. She did not know whether to thank him, or whether to choke him. She did not even know if she had wanted him to carry on or not.
"Will you do me the pleasure of kissing me?" He asked, taking her hand softly. She stared blankly at him a moment, shock registering before he grinned brightly. She could have quite happily died at that moment. How humiliating. He did not really mean it. Romance really was dead, it seemed. Not that she thought he could be in love with her or anything. Not at all.
"That joke was in poor taste." She muttered, trying to contain her anger. Sure, she did not mind him taking a chance at getting back at her, but she had never been so embarrassed. Or hurt, for that matter. It stung to think he would act like that. So flippant, it was like he did not even know how he made her feel when he did things like that. He stared at her.
"What if I was being serious?"
Yes, he really was being serious, but the ending is up to you. Having an ambiguous piece is nice once in a while, though I suppose a few readers might find it annoying. I never write for Valentines Day, so this is quite odd. Also, it is not angsty again. Perhaps this is a good sign.
Preview: "Then can I give my mother a kiss?"
