Chapter thirty-two

Roy had been practically glued to Riza's lips for over half an hour, sitting on the bed like a couple of horny teenagers.

A couple of horny teenagers where Roy had been stripped of his singlet by Riza like she didn't even see the scars. And Roy was sitting there with his arms around her, she having shed her outer layers to only sit there in her singlet.

Snoggy-time indeed...

Of course, they hadn't been doing anything more and the door was partially open so as to be able to at least keep an ear on the boys while also telling them that they weren't engaging in any bangy-stuff, even if they were strictly speaking in the most conspicuous room in the house.

And, besides, Roy may be flooded with hormones and the likes, but neither of them felt a particular urge to go all the way at the moment. Starting out their relationship almost as a one-night stand was stupid. Love and passion could be two very different things and Roy didn't feel right about seeming like passion was all he wanted from her.

Which was why Roy suddenly decided to pull her sideways onto the bed before turning over on his back, pulling her on top of him, their lips disengaging as Riza looked down at him in a kind of loving confusion.

Roy smiled up at her, his left hand on her back, his right cupping her left cheek and gently stroking it with his thumb, marvelling in the soft perfection it presented. It fitted so perfectly in his hand. And he loved it. "Damn, you're beautiful, you know that, right?" he said, looking right into her eyes.

"I would sound pretty narcissistic if I said yes, wouldn't I?" she teased. "But other than that, you're pretty handsome yourself."

Roy chuckled. "It's been said, but not when I'm shirtless." He sighed. "Thank you, Riza."

Because fact was, Riza was currently lying with her hands on the most scarred part of his chest, and she didn't even seem to register it.

...And that meant a lot to him.

She just smiled playfully and pulled away slightly to sit on her knees next to him, before poking his abs. "Well, you have a six-pack," she then moved her hand up slowly and gently to his upper chest, still not giving a damn about the rough surface of the scarring. "There is nothing wrong with these either," she commented on his chest muscles, before gently proceeding to squeeze his upper right arm. "And your biceps aren't lacking." She then leaned back over him, sitting down on his waist sideways and cupping his cheeks as she leaned her right elbow on his chest, smiling warmly and fondly. "And paired with a face to die for, and I'd say that you're a very fine-looking specimen." Then she kissed his forehead and lay down sideways on top of him, resting her right cheek on his left shoulder, gently running the fingers of her left hand through his hair. "And then there's the sparkling personality, your good sense of humour, your intelligence, your way of being with the boys and so on and so on... So you tell me, Detective Chief Inspector Roy Mustang: what evidence is there to suggest that you're not a handsome man?"

Roy was about to shower her with compliments in gratitude and awe like the love-struck fool he was, only for her to interrupt him. "Thank you for telling us, Roy." Her voice was soft.

He hugged her tightly. "Of course. I trust you and the boys and things would have become rather awkward if I didn't let you know until I was standing there in only my singlet." Then he sighed. "And especially when I get the day off on my birthday so as to follow Nan to the yearly memorial service because she isn't exactly comfortable with having anyone else translate to her about something so personal."

"Still, Roy, it's obvious that you haven't been treated like you should by those around you because of your scars. I'm thankful that you trust us like this. And for whatever it was you said to Ed. There was another spring in his step after he talked to you. You've earned their trust and their love, although Ed will furiously deny that last part."

Roy sighed. "Riza, there is something else that you should know... I don't know if you've heard the rumours yet, but I'm known to be a bit of a womaniser... One who steals other people's girlfriends even... But they mostly just say that because they are too blinded by their hormones to see that their girlfriends weren't actually interested in much more than a one-night stand, maybe a week at most. Those girls aren't up for the commitment that is involved in dating a police officer. They think it's exciting that they are officers, but it's a shallow sort of attraction, which is proven by the way they throw themselves at the best man they can find as quickly as possible. Yes, I enjoy the occasional one-night stand, but the..." Roy trailed off, but then began chuckling. "But the real snoggy-time and bangy-stuff is reserved for someone special." Roy began gently caressing her left cheek, knowing how soppy he was sounding, and yet he continued. "Someone special whom I wouldn't swap for any supermodel in the world because she's prettier than all of them put together. And I have never seen more than one woman at a time. I have never swapped someone out in favour of someone else. I've only ever had a total of four women who could have been considered to actually be girlfriends, but the scars are usually the thing that drives them away in the end. Also, those girlfriends I "stole" were the ones I immediately turned down because strangely enough, I don't find breaking my colleagues' hearts to be a particularly attractive quality in a woman."

Roy was a bit afraid as to what that revelation would bring when he looked at her.

But then he earned a chuckle. "I can't believe that "snoggy-time" and "bangy-stuff" have become a part of the terminology for the serious parts of a relationship." She then leaned back up again, looking down at him, staring into his eyes, and Roy knew that she was waiting for him to confirm his statement. She was a detective and could read people well, after all.

And so Roy reached up and cupped her cheeks. "I swear, Riza, I won't ever discard you or disrespect you. You're too important for anything like that."

Tears began to form in her eyes and he wiped them away, right before the snoggy-time recommenced.

It was about an hour later that Roy was lying with Riza snuggled up to him, her head resting on his right shoulder, her right hand lying across him as she hugged his left side, and Roy had his right arm around her, his left hand gently combing through her hair. It was peaceful. It was peaceful and had a rightness to it that was hard to describe.

"There's not much to tell you about myself," Riza began softly. "My mother died in an accident when I was still a toddler, so I don't remember her. And so my father found himself faced with two options as a single parent and a widower: transfer the love you had for your wife and shower your child with unconditional love... Or bury yourself in your work as a way to escape your grief. My father did the latter and dedicated himself to his job as a professor teaching natural history at Central University. He became ill and died in '05, and so my grandfather offered me to come live with him as my only living relative because I was only sixteen at the time. However, I had just been accepted at a boarding school in Central, and I had a couple of friends who would be attending there too whom I wanted to keep. It's a bit odd to think about now... Had I chosen to move in with him..."

"...Then we'd have met five years ago," Roy finished, bending his head forwards slightly to kiss the top of her hers. "That would have been nice, but I can't help but think that I would have been a bit too scared to make a move for years because I wouldn't have wanted to risk to complicate the way that your grandfather was my partner. But you wouldn't have met Will..." Roy felt his stomach clench, because as nice as it sounded to have been dating Riza for at least the past three years, it meant that...

"...But I wouldn't have had the boys if so. I wouldn't have been a foster home, we wouldn't have been..."

There was a very awkward thought that it would quite possibly have been because they would have had a child or children of their own by now if things had gone the way it seemed to be going at the moment. Roy had wanted children, Riza had too, and the reason she had become a foster parent was because her then husband wasn't able to have them himself. Of course, they might have waited because of their job. Roy had been working his butt off in order to get where he was now, which meant that before now, he would have been so buried in work that he'd have been neglecting any child he might have he realised how odd it really was to consider having children with a woman he had only known for three weeks.

But then gain, they already had children, didn't they?

Riza leaned back up over him slightly to look down at him. "...Then I guess it all turned out for the better, even if there were a lot of things I'd rather have avoided happening in between then and now." Then she kissed him and laid back down, back to resting against his side.

Roy didn't know exactly when it was that they fell asleep, but all he knew was that the phone on his nightstand suddenly started ringing, startling them both, and Roy reached out and grabbed it. He glanced over at the alarm clock and realised that it was already eleven at night, meaning that he really should have driven Riza and the boys back to the flat by now. What was most concerning about the lateness of the hour was that it could mean that there had been another murder or a very important break in their case. "DCI Mustang, who am I talking to?"

"Hello, sir, this is Rebecca Catalina, Riza's friend from Central. I've been trying to phone her for hours now, but there's no-one answering, so I rang her grandfather and he told me to phone you because you might be working late on a case. Is she there?" the stranger said quickly, her voice irritated and slightly demanding.

Riza had told him about how Rebecca had been the one to give her somewhere to stay the very day that she had found her husband cheating on her, but he wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to tell her that Riza was currently resting on his chest, looking like she too was concerned that there had been another murder.

"She is very much so," came Ed's voice through the phone suddenly.

Roy froze. The phone in his library was obviously turning into a very big liability very fast.

"Who is this?" Rebecca asked.

"This is Edward Elric speaking to inform you that your friend is currently in her boyfriend's bedroom and they have been having snoggy-time for the past four hours straight."

"Edward, get off the phone, this is a private conversation," Roy said urgently.

"Snoggy-time?" came Rebecca's voice.

"For a detective, you're pretty slow, Old Fart. There is NEVER anything private about a landline. Besides, I'm just helping out this charming young lady who is worried about our foster mother," Ed told him. "It's our duty to answer the phone for her when she is unavailable."

"What does he mean, "snoggy-time"?! Are you dating Riza, Mustang?!" came Rebecca's outraged voice.

Roy groaned. Riza could obviously hear the entire conversation and was giggling silently at Roy's predicament. However, he did have one major concern. "Edward, you shouldn't be using the phone with your arm broken like that."

"I only used it to pick the phone up, and said phone is now resting between my ear and my stump, so don't worry about me straining my arm. And, if you're wondering, we've taken care of the painkillers too, we found them in Riza's bag in the living room, and finding a glass and a sink isn't too hard when you know where the kitchen is," Ed said in a way so that his smirk was practically audible. "Also, Al's in the bathroom if you're worried about him not stopping me at the moment. So hello, Miss...? I didn't catch your name."

"It's Rebecca. Now are you serious about Riza snogging her boss?"

Obviously, Roy was being completely ignored in favour of finding answers from a much more willing source.

"Very much so. He's been her boyfriend since this morning."

"Thank you, Edward, I hope I'll get to meet you two at some point." Then her voice turned stern. "Now, Mustang: Are you taking advantage of Riza?"

Roy sighed. "No, definitely not."

"Yeah, he's actually not lying. He got the blessings of the future foster Pegasi," came Ed's voice.

Roy had a strong feeling that he knew what Edward meant. He was too good at drawing conclusions from clues. And part of him was actually touched that Ed would call him and his brother that.

"Pegasi?" came Rebecca's confused voice.

"You've figured it out, haven't you, Old Fart?" Ed asked teasingly.

"Yes. Being the foster kids of a hawk and a mustang, aka: a bird and a horse, and so you get a Pegasus."

"Exactly," Ed said, snickering. "Now have fun with the rest of your conversation, Al's back and looking nervous."

It was fifteen minutes later that Ed arrived inside the room, laughing, causing Riza to make a hasty goodbye as she had taken over the phone. Al was following Ed, looking very awkward and slightly scared.

Roy sighed once again, Riza was lying on her side to his right. "Thank you, Edward, that was appreciated greatly," Roy said with a definite hint of sarcasm. "Other than that, you should never do that again, it could might as well have been some confidential information concerning a case that you have no business listening to."

Ed looked awkward at that, realising his mistake. "Oh, sorry..." Then he suddenly ran over, plopped himself down on the bed right next to Roy, placing his arm over Roy's chest.

Roy was surprised at the sudden display of affection, but turned around to hug him. "What's wrong, Ed?"

"I'm sleepy, your bed's soft, it's late, I don't mind a hug after the journal and I can't lie on my left side, which means you. So you're the designated pillow for tonight."

And with that, Edward promptly fell asleep with his head on Roy's shoulder to its owner's bewilderment.

Then he noticed the little tear at the corner of Ed's eye, and he knew why Ed had taken the phone like that.

...He had wanted something to distract him from the immense wave of pain and sorrow and grief that came with writing the journal.

Roy hugged him tighter. "Alphonse, Riza, there's a spare bedroom down the hall if you want, I have been claimed for the night, it seems..."

Instead there were the sounds of young footsteps, then the bed shifted behind him and he suddenly had Alphonse lean over him, the boy planting a quick kiss on his cheek, his eyes too shining slightly with barely repressed tears. "Thank you, Roy. For the journal and the rest of it."

Roy didn't have time to answer before Riza turned the light off and practically jumped onto the bed, pulling Alphonse to her. "Well, Al, it looks like I'll just have to be Bob tonight."

It didn't take them long to fall asleep after that.

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