AN: back with another one! these two dorks and making me drop all my uwus

"Hey, Riza," a voice greeted from behind her. Turning, she couldn't stop her smile as she spotted Roy walking towards her. She straightened from petting Hayate then stood from the bench she'd rested on momentarily.

"Hey, Roy," she greeted, feeling shy all of a sudden. He had sunglasses and a baseball cap on so she couldn't see his eyes, but the expression on his face as he looked at her with a smile so wide it made her stomach flip pleasantly. Hayate spotted his new friend and begun wagging his tail excitedly, walking forward to greet Roy. He sniffed at Roy's shoes, barking happily.

"Hey, Hayate," he chuckled, kneeling down to greet her pup. She couldn't help but smile at his actions, pleased that he was getting along with him. "How are you?" He craned his neck up, facing her while he still stroked Hayate's fur.

"I'm good, thank you," she smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm good, too. Better now after seeing this little guy," he winked.

"So, just him, yeah? Not me?" she asked with a smirk, unable to resist the urge for a little teasing.

"Oh, don't worry, my day is better after seeing him, but my day is infinitely better after seeing you," he grinned, laughing quietly at her reaction. The answer unexpected, she blushed and looked away from his eyes that were twinkling with amusement.

It had been a few weeks since they'd last seen each other. The music slots had been filled when Riza was off work and she'd picked up later shifts at the coffee shop because someone was off sick. They'd conversed mainly over text and every time her phone buzzed Riza felt her heart leap in her chest, excited to speak to him.

Things were going so well and so smoothly between them that it felt too good to be true. In her life things were never this easy and rewarding. There was always a catch. A part of her was just waiting for it to happen, while another was telling to stop fighting it and just give in, allow herself to be happy.

Riza liked him. Really liked him. He was intelligent, a good person to talk to, and he could make her laugh and blush like no one else could. She could really see this going somewhere however she had no idea how to breach the subject. She was too shy when it came to relationships like this that she would probably just wait until he made the first move.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Roy asked, rising from his crouch. It was early – only about eight am – but Riza didn't particularly mind. She woke around six am most days anyway, that routine burned into her after working so many early shifts. They began to walk towards the ponds in Central Park and Riza noticed that he walked close by her side. She hid her pleased smile.

"Hayate needs a walk and a break from driving. When he's in the car for too long he gets a little travel sick, so I don't want to drive him anywhere too soon."

"No problem. Where about do you live, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, it's… On the outskirts of Central."

"That's some distance away."

Riza shrugged. "About an hour's drive."

Roy went quiet and Riza turned her attention to observe Hayate closely, anticipating the upcoming questions.

"And you do that drive every day?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"No… I work… near my apartment." She bit her lip, hiding her face from Roy as she bent to swipe some invisible lint off Hayate's fur. This was moving into slightly dangerous territory. Her stomach sunk as she remembered once again that they were from two different worlds. She was – or, had been – working twelve-hour shifts, seven days a week, just to cover her rent. His clothes told Riza instantly that he had money and a lot of it. He owned a bar, for goodness sake. A very successful one. He was clearly making a mint, the complete opposite to her.

Riza wasn't ashamed. Far from it. She was proud of all she'd managed to achieve on her own after her father kicked her out. But… This was going so well, and she really didn't want to give him any reason to run away. Not that Riza thought Roy was that kind of person, but the worry still wriggled in the back of her mind.

"Oh, that's good then," he replied. "I was worried for a second there that you had to trail into the city every day to work. You don't mind driving that distance?"

Risking a glance up at his face he saw no judgement or distaste, just curiosity. He looked slightly concerned…

"No, I don't mind it," she replied truthfully. "I love driving too. Long distance road trips are my favourite, but it's harder to do it now with this little guy," she admitted, but still smiled down at her pup. "Poor thing gets sick so easily in the car. It's a miracle we made it here with no incident," she chuckled.

"I can imagine," Roy agreed.

"Do you have any pets?" she asked, desperately taking the option to steer the conversation away from where she lived and what she did for a living.

Roy shook his head. "I wish. I want a dog but with my work I'm away from home a lot, so it would be fair."

"I understand."

"One day, it will happen. When I'm not so busy," he turned and grinned at her.

"Do you do anything else other than manage the bar?" she asked, curious.

"Yeah," he replied after a sight pause. "I do, yeah. I'm involved in music."

"You're a musician?" she asked, surprised.

Roy nodded. "Yeah. I'm a singer, and I can play piano."

"Anything I would have herd you in?" Riza doubted it, she didn't really listen to music nowadays except from the recommendations Rebecca sent her way, but she asked to be polite.

"Maybe…" His answer struck her as strange. He was holding back, she could tell that much, but Riza didn't know why. After he sighed heavily, he beckoned her over to a nearby empty bench, removing his sunglasses but keeping his gaze on his knees.

"Riza, I like you. I really do." Her stomach tensed and flipped, eyes widening at his confession. "And, I don't know about you, but I could see this going somewhere. I know it's extremely early, but I really enjoy your company and talking to you."

"Uh, thank you." She could offer him no more than that, too surprised to formulate the words she wanted to. Her heart was thudding loudly in her chest. "I… I do too," she admitted quietly.

Roy gave her a smile. "I'm glad. But… Okay, I'm going to admit something to you, and I'll tell you the reason why I didn't tell you earlier after it, if that's okay?"

"Roy, what is it?" Instead of flipping, her stomach tensed as she began to suspect the worst.

"I don't know a better was to say this but, I am a singer. A successful one at that." He pulled out his phone and handed it to her, showing her his Wikipedia page. For a second Riza sat there, eyes skimming over it but her brain unable to comprehend that the person in the photo on the screen smirking at her was the same man across from her on this bench, anxiously awaiting her reaction.

So, that's what Rebecca had been muttering about on the way home from the bar the first night she'd performed there.

Roy Mustang…

"Wait," Riza realised abruptly. She fished out her iPod from her jacket pocket. She flicked through the albums and stopped at one, the only album of Roy's that she owned and adored listening to. "Is this you?"

Roy sighed then nodded. "Yeah, that's me," he replied, sounding rather sullen. He must have gotten the wrong idea about her reaction – obviously he was used to people freaking out when they saw him but… Riza saw the sadness in his eyes.

"That's… Wow. I've followed your stuff for years. You're really good."

Riza was surprised by the revelation. This was not how she expected to be spending her morning – walking her dog with a world-famous singer. What was even more bizarre was that she found herself falling for him.

With a jolt she remembered how she'd handed over her EP. Her recorded-in-her-home, wrought-with-car-horns-and-passing-trains, EP. Riza gulped. Embarrassment begun to fill her at the thought of him listening to it. He was world famous and he'd listened to her shitty EP. What must he have thought when he listened to her poor attempt at recording her music? She wanted to groan aloud. He hadn't mentioned anything further about it, so Riza momentarily assumed it was so bad that he wasn't bringing it up just to be polite because he'd already thrown it away.

Roy huffed again, expression still slightly sullen, as his reaction to her praise drew Riza from her spiralling thoughts. She noticed how his brow was furrowed, his mouth turned down slightly as he stared at the ground. Riza found herself helpless, not knowing how to make things better for him. There was a part of her that thought "holy shit this is the Roy Mustang" while another larger part noticed the mood of the conversation. "I guess," he agreed.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Riza asked out of curiosity.

"I don't know," he shrugged helplessly, running a hand through his hair. He was anxious, Riza could tell. Not the behaviour she would expect from an award winning and extremely famous artist, but Riza counted herself lucky because this was the real Roy. Not the man with the confident smirk that people like Rebecca pretty much drooled over. "Can… Can I be perfectly honest with you?" he asked, expression earnest.

Riza placed a hand on his forearm. "Of course, you can, Roy."

"It… It was nice," he mumbled.

"What?"

"It was nice to be treated like a human being," he admitted, resting his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands in front of him. "Whenever I meet people for the first time it's all screaming and crying. You didn't." His eyes rose to meet hers suddenly, burning into her. "You didn't freak out. You treated me like a person. I…" He huffed a laugh, but he didn't seem to find anything funny. "I didn't want to break the illusion."

Riza was surprised. So that was the reason for the sadness in his eyes. He was lonely.

She knew exactly how that felt.

"To be honest, I've never been the screaming and crying type," Riza told him, pocketing her iPod. She lifted Hayate into her arms, depositing him gently on the bench between them. He whined, picking up on Roy's mood, and padded across to sniff at his face. Riza smiled as Roy swatted him away playfully, laughing as Hayate tickled his face. Her pup stepped into his lap and curled into a ball while Roy absentmindedly stared into the distance, petting her dog. Her smile grew. He didn't seem to realise he was doing it. "But I do admire the hell out of you. You've created some really brilliant songs."

"Thanks." Although he'd seemed down while talking about his music before, his thanks was genuine.

"I mean it. You've been a big inspiration to me over the years." Roy's gaze found hers and he looked so hopeful that her expression softened. Although it was slightly embarrassing to admit, Riza didn't mind, because she discovered she didn't mind admitting things like that to Roy. "Well, except that last album," she teased. "That crashed and burned hard with me."

His expression perked up and a slow smile spread across his face. He chuckled. "Yeah, I didn't like it either."

"Then why make it?"

Roy shrugged. "It sounded all right when I first composed the music. Then it hit the producers and they changed things here and there. I was busy working on drafts for the bar, so I was really busy and just agreed with what they said, too focussed and excited to get the bar off the ground and moving to actually review the changes." He grimaced. "I wished I had. It was my most popular one yet, but I hated it." He exhaled through his nose. "Funny how the world works, isn't it?"

Riza nodded, turning her gaze towards the ponds. "That's why I'm so hesitant about playing professionally," she admitted quietly. "I don't want to lose the soul of my music, you know? I don't want someone to take what I love and twist it, so it fits the mould of whichever focus group their trying to work."

"Yes," Roy agreed enthusiastically, turning to face her. "That's exactly how I feel, and that's what happened with the last one. I was so disappointed that I took a break from music and I haven't written anything in over a year."

"You should," Riza urged. "I always found the melodies you created to be extremely beautiful." Roy's eyes bored into her while she wasn't paying attention and placing Hayate back on the grass so he could explore for a while. She'd placed him on the bench because her pup was an expert at picking up the mood of the room and providing comfort to those who needed it. "I drew a lot of inspiration from that while I was writing. The way you work the instruments and your voice… They are works of art."

She lifted her head gasped quietly, surprised to see the intensity of his stare. Like a deer caught in the headlights, she was trapped, but Riza didn't mind it one bit.

Ever so slowly, Roy inched forward and Riza waited in anticipation. His hand was placed on the back of her neck, gentle enough that she could move back should she desire, but Riza wanted nothing of the sort. She wanted the opposite. His thumb caressed her cheekbone and Riza felt gooseflesh break out everywhere over her skin.

He hovered over her lips, stopping to give her one last chance to pull away. Taking charge, Riza grasped the front of his jacket and pulled him towards her, meeting his lips with her own. It was brief, but it was a release that both needed after the flirty texts and emotionally charge morning.

"Thank you," Roy whispered against her lips after they broke apart, his breath caressing her skin and making Riza shiver. She responded by placing a hand on the back of his neck and bringing him closer for another kiss.

When Roy found out how far away Riza lived he initially felt bad about asking her to meet him in Central Park that morning so they could walk Hayate together. Although, he reasoned with himself that if she did mind it, she would let him know, right? The only reason he'd picked so early in the morning was because there were less people about and so less risk of him being discovered. The only people they saw were joggers who had their headphones in and heads down as they ran.

Then he'd admitted his little secret to her and half expected her to freak out like her friend had done the first night they'd been at the bar. That was why he hadn't told her. In a way, he didn't want to lose her to the fame like he had with so many other people who were supposedly his "friends". He'd had people try to strike up a friendship for his money. He'd had partners try it too. No one stuck around for him, they just wanted the fame and the title that came along with dating him.

But Riza… She had no idea who he was. Initially Roy had been curious as to how she had no idea. For years he'd been in the spotlight – much to his chagrin sometimes.

When she'd shown him her iPod and revealed how she loved his earlier music he found himself growing fonder of this woman by the minute. She didn't scream in excitement or disbelief at the prospect of sharing the same oxygen of someone famous. There were no tears. Just admiration from a fellow artist. What he appreciated the most was she'd slated his newest album and Roy had been amazed because it was how he felt about it too and, even after learning who he was, she wasn't afraid to tell him how it was. She openly admitted that his latest album was terrible. He found himself staring at her in wonder while a small voice in his head told him not to let go of this woman.

And then he'd kissed her. He'd been so overwhelmed by her show of support and level-headedness even after finding out how he was that he couldn't help himself. He didn't trap her, he gave her ample opportunity to get away, but she reciprocated the gesture eagerly and Roy felt a thrill go through him.

"Sorry, I don't know what –" he found himself apologising even though he wasn't sorry in the slightest.

Riza had just smiled, bringing her hands around to his chest after they broke apart. "Please don't apologise for that," she murmured.

Roy watched her, waiting for anything further, before smiling softly, nodding and agreeing. "Okay. I wasn't sorry at all, but I don't know what came over me either. It just… felt right." His stomach tensed as the nerves set in after his revelation. Would she feel similar? He didn't want to overstep anything and ruin what they'd built so far.

He needn't have worried. Riza met his eyes with her own, the skin at the corner of her eyes crinkling as she smiled broadly at him. "It felt right to me too," she whispered. Roy kissed her again.

Hayate still needed a walk, so regretfully they'd pulled away from each other and continued their walk, both with more of a spring in their step. They chatted about music and Roy was honestly blown away when Riza revealed that she had an album of his that he'd made before he'd been signed by Central Records.

"No way!" he exclaimed, taking the iPod from her carefully and staring at the words written on the screen. There was the first album he'd ever recorded. It had happened in his aunt's house and he'd waited until she was on holiday to record it. At three am when it was quietest in his neighbourhood, that was when Roy recorded his first ever EP.

It was so different from his mainstream stuff and it gained a hundred or so hits a month back in the day. It wasn't well known but it had been his pride and joy. A framed copy of it hung next to the deed for the bar in his apartment. Even to this day it was so important to him because that was where it had all started.

Also, back then on his website he had a forum where twenty or so people would chat about anything and everything, and Roy would get involved himself. Most of them were guys, but there were only a few women. Had Riza been one of them?

"Wait, are you HawkGirl11?" he asked suddenly, remembering about the website when Riza mentioned that she'd been on it. He grinned then laughed when he saw her cheeks turn pink. "Oh my god! You really did used to follow my stuff back in the day!"

"Listen, we all make pen names when we're a kid that we live to regret," she mumbled as he cackled away in the background.

"I… I can't believe it. You've been my biggest supporter from day one." His tone softened as he smiled at Riza, grasping her hand in his and giving it a squeeze. "This is so surreal."

"Think how I must feel," she joked, but he noticed an underlying emotion in there. He couldn't tell what it was. Then, realisation dawned on him. He was a world-famous singer and she wasn't. She wasn't used to fame like he was. But when they were together Roy felt like that was disregarded entirely. They were just Roy and Riza. No additional titles, just two people enjoying spending time together.

"Riza?" he asked after a moment's contemplation.

"Yes?"

"I do like you, and you said you liked me too. Would you… like to give us a shot? I don't want to rush you," he added quickly. "It's still early, I know that, but as you said, it must be a little surreal for you, and I understand if you don't want to."

Riza turned her head away from him, but not before he saw her pink cheeks. "I, um, y – yes. I would like too." Roy grinned. "It… will take some time to get used to things," she admitted, and Roy nodded in agreement. "But… I do like you, Roy. I really enjoy spending time with you." Her face turned to face his, expression determined. "And I wouldn't like to waste this opportunity because I feel like we've just clicked right away, and we get on very well."

Roy reached for her hand and grasped it, giving it a squeeze as he looked down into her eyes. "I feel the same way too."

"All right then," she exhaled, a smile breaking out across her face. "Let's give this a go."

Roy beamed at her, excitement coursing through him. He nodded, opening his arms tentatively to ask if he could give her a hug. Riza stepped into them and wrapped her arms around his waist, placing her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you," he whispered. "And thank you for being genuine with me. It means a lot."

"Don't mention it, and don't expect it to change," she teased, a chuckle escaping her.

"Believe me, Riza, that would make me the happiest man on the planet."

eeee it's happening! :D