A/N: Favorite chapter! Right here! Read and review:D :D :D


Chapter Four: The Bed

Riza had driven Roy home that night, Roy drunkenly muttering directions under his breath and getting them lost more than once. Riza then had taken the late city bus home, collapsing into her doorway, yawning. She had had a terrific night, and Roy had even admitted that he loved her. Riza took off her shoes and spun around on the carpet, hands pressed to her chest with glee. She had never been happier in all her life.

The following Monday Roy had called her again and set up another date for a bar. It was a different bar, this one in the next town over. He said that this one was a karaoke bar, and he ended his phone call with the lighthearted warning, "Don't lose that pretty voice of yours" before hanging up.

Riza smiled, setting her phone down. Earlier that morning, she had received a small gift from Roy, delivered by one of Roy's "servants", a tall blonde man named Jean Havoc who seemed pissed off at having to be the vice president's delivery boy. He'd dropped the thin, heart-shaped box on Riza's desk and grumbled, "For you from Roy with love," as if reciting an obnoxious speech then left.

Smiling warmly, she untied the ribbon on the box and opened it up to find a dozen chocolate-covered cherries and a note. Not before popping one of the delicious cherries in her mouth, she scanned the note and saw, in Roy's small, slanted handwriting "You are as sweet as a cherry. Love you. Roy Mustang." Riza laughed. Sweet as a cherry? He couldn't have come up with that line by himself…

"Thank you!" she called out the door, hoping the messenger, Havoc, heard her. He probably didn't, she decided, and she went back to enjoying the cherries, shoving them in her top desk drawer her friend Maes came in to take her to lunch again. Maes was a good friend, but not good enough to share-chocolate covered cherries with!

Over the week, Riza kept receiving small little gifts from Roy. Havoc the delivery boy seemed to be getting more and more agitated and disgruntled by the day, making the gifts – especially the bigger ones – all the more amusing to receive. By Friday she had received the chocolate-covered cherries, a pen in the shape of a heart, a medium-sized teddy bear that started singing as soon as Havoc plopped it on her desk, and a painted ceramic vase with beautiful roses.

Maes was admiring the roses she had received on Thursday when he came into her office that Friday morning to hang out before lunch. Prodding the thick stems, he said, "Guess Mustang's not that big of a jerk after all, huh?" Riza smiled and allowed a few chuckles. "No, I suppose not," she said, lifting one of the roses and smelling it; it still smelled wonderful like the day she got it, and plus, it was tinged with the heavenly scent of Roy's cologne. The smell of his cologne nearly drove Riza crazy; every free second she had, she was inhaling the flowers just to smell the cologne.

Havoc came into the office right about then, this time carrying a medium-sized box. It was wrapped in a red ribbon and matching bow, looking like a very classy Christmas present. Havoc's face was covered by the gigantic bow, but Riza could see his eyebrows twitching. She laughed and relieved him of the package, slipping a dollar into his pocket and murmuring, "That's for all your hard work. Thank you."

Havoc took the dollar and frowned. That's all I get as compensation for delivering these stupid packages? he thought. Sheesh, cheapskate… Still, I haven't gotten anything from Mustang… He left her office, leaving her and Maes to open the new present.

Grinning, Riza took off the ribbon and bow and lifted the lid off the package. Maes leaned over her shoulder and peered in.

Inside was a miniskirt. It was a nice one - dark denim with frayed ends – obviously very expensive. Riza smiled awkwardly and blushed as Maes gave her a look. She carefully lifted the skirt from its nest of tissue paper and checked the tag.

Size ten.

Riza dropped the skirt, and her cheeks grew steadily redder – this time from anger, not embarrassment. Maes gave her another look, then checked the tag himself. He had to bite his hand to keep from laughing. Meanwhile, Riza kept fuming, finally recovering herself long enough to viciously grab a pen and shift her business documents to find some blank paper. Angrily, she scribbled a note and handed it to Maes, telling him to return the box and the note to Roy's office.

Maes nodded, eager to get out of her office so he could finally erupt into very loud, obnoxious laughter without getting a death glare from Riza. Riza repackaged the box and thrust it roughly into Maes's arms, sending him off.

Once out of her office, Maes unfolded Riza's note and read it. She had scribbled down the words "I wear a 6, you jerk!" with the number 6 underlined three times. Maes smiled, then ran up the stairs to Roy's office, unable to contain his laughter.


Roy was busy waving a pencil in front of his face when Maes Hughes burst into his office, red in the face from laughing and panting slightly. He was carrying a box that looked suspiciously like the one he had given to Riza just minutes ago… Putting the pencil down, Roy turned to Maes and gave him a questioning look.

Still slightly chuckling, Maes smirked and said, "Nice try, Mustang." He planted the half-wrapped box and the note on Roy's desk. Roy read the note and turned red. Maes relished in the moment of watching one of the company's most annoying, uppity bastards color himself in shame and embarrassment. He looked like a tomato!

Roy slammed his head down on his desk, not bothering to dismiss Maes, who stood there watching. Stupid, stupid, stupid, I knew I should've gotten her a smaller size! Stupid, stupid, stupid… Now she's going to hate me!

Maes couldn't resist. He had to tease the vice president a little bit before leaving. "Who did you think you were dating, Mustang?" he taunted. "Me? Even I wouldn't have fit into that, and Riza definitely wouldn't either. What were you thinking?"

Roy moaned, half out of pain from his head hitting the desk and half out of his own misery. "Go away, Hughes," he said, trying to regain a sense of control in his voice. He didn't look very demanding with his face bright red and his head pressed against the desk, and Maes didn't leave. "I said go away, Hughes," Roy growled.

Maes grinned idiotically and bowed himself out the door, leaving Roy to wallow in his stupidity by himself. He nearly skipped down the stairs as he made his way back to Riza's office. Riza had calmed down some and was ready to go to lunch. As Maes walked in her door, she told him, "I hope you brought extra money, Maes, because I wouldn't mind you buying me a sandwich this time. Get it with extra mayonnaise, too."


Saturday night, Roy was nervous. His hands were sweating inside the pockets of his jeans as he stood somewhat in the dark of the karaoke bar. He hoped that Riza wouldn't stand him up for their date that night. She had never said anything about canceling, and he could only hope that she wasn't too mad about what happened on Friday to ditch him…

It was five after eight, their designated meeting time. Five minutes wasn't much to worry about; perhaps Riza just got lost. He'd wait a while before giving up on her.

But when the time sidled closer and closer to eight-thirty, Roy was starting to get worried. In his anxiety, he had ordered three beers already and was contemplating on something heavier when Riza finally walked in the door.

She was dressed nicely still, but Roy noticed with dismay that she was wearing pants. They were nice pants, blue jeans with a hole in the knee, but they were no miniskirt. He cringed at the memories of the word "miniskirt" and made his way over to her.

"Hi," he said, hoping he didn't sound too embarrassed. Riza brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and didn't answer him. She had been late on purpose, circling the bar in her Ford Escape for twenty minutes before finally walking in. She had also worn jeans on purpose, although she didn't really have much of a choice. The miniskirt she wore last time on a date was the only one she had, and Riza didn't want to wear the same thing on two different dates. That might be considered "tacky" by Roy's standards…

Roy tried to put his entire face in Riza's line of vision, but Riza kept turning around and blocking him out. It was a rather childish display, Riza acting the part of the snobby brat giving Roy the cold shoulder and Roy acting like a desperate puppy, begging for her attention. Finally, he just spoke to her back. "You're not still mad about the miniskirt thing, are you?" he asked, exasperated that it had taken all this work just to get her to talk.

Finally, Riza turned around and faced Roy, a sort of twisted smile on her face. Her pretty amber eyes exuded warmth, and she answered softly, "No, I'm not still mad. Normally, I would be, but there's just something about you that makes me unable to stay angry for an extended period of time." She wrapped her arm across Roy's back and invited him to embrace her, which he did, gratefully. Roy audibly sighed in relief and replied, "Oh, good. Because I have something for you back at my place, if you're willing to come home with me."

Riza looked at Roy awkwardly, wondering what exactly he had in mind that would require her to come home with him. She decided it was better not to think about it and instead teased, "It better not be lingerie."

Roy smiled and shook his head, choppy ebony hair fanning out with each shake. "Nah," he said. "It's not lingerie." In the back of his mind, a nervous little voice was weakly chuckling "Good thing I didn't buy those lacy panties then…" Mentally, he slapped himself for even allowing himself to even think about buying them. Bad Roy! Bad, bad, bad Roy!

Yet he couldn't help drooling over the thought of what Riza would look like in them.

But tonight he would be happy with their bar date and what he had gotten her instead. The two of them had another great time at the bar, singing karaoke – and even receiving a standing ovation from the drunken crowd for their excellent duet rendition of Elton John's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" – and dancing to other good karaoke singers. There were a few bad songs, mostly done by the bartender himself, and he was booed offstage. It was after midnight when Roy and Riza finally went home.

Riza followed Roy in her Escape, thundering down the highway at top speed just to keep up with him. He seemed to have no regard for laws of the road and went through just about every red light imaginable. Riza, however, stopped and waited for the light to turn green, having to squint far into the distance to find Roy's black Audi in the moonlight.

At last, they had reached Roy's home. Riza had never seen his house before and was overwhelmed by its hugeness. Of course, she should've expected such an extravagant house for Roy; he was after all the wealthy VP of WorldSpin International, Central Branch, Department of Human Resources. Roy grinned as he led the way up the steps to the foyer where the two of them took off their shoes and looked up at the rest of the house. Riza's breath was taken away. She had never set foot in a… a palace!

"Wow," she breathed. "It's enormous…"

"Wait 'till you see the bedroom," said Roy with a smile, leading her up the stairs. Riza didn't even catch his suggestiveness as she was too busy looking at all of the elegant decorations that adorned the walls and floors.

After ascending the beautifully carpeted staircase to the second story, Roy motioned for Riza to follow him to the first door on the right. Upon entering, Riza felt her breath completely leave her. The bedroom was huge! There was a gigantic king bed in the middle resting atop an ornate Persian rug. Red satin and lace graced the bed's pillows and sheets while a puffy and cushiony comforter with medieval design lay atop it all. There was a large, forty-seven inch television resting in a niche in a cabinet, surrounded by stacks of DVDs and CDs for the stereo system underneath it. Roy picked up a remote from his nightstand and clicked on the stereo. Soft, romantic Chris Isaak music floated out of the speakers, pleasant to Riza's ears. She secretly loved Chris Isaak.

Roy grabbed Riza around the waist and they danced for a while, enjoying each others' touch and always leaning in close, as if about to kiss, but pulling away at the last second. They were teasing each other, playing around until the early hours of the morning.

Roy finally abandoned the dance once a couple of songs were done and he walked over to his closet, opening the sliding doors to a vast collection of identical suits and polished shoes. Riza bit her lip to keep from laughing when she saw how haphazardly all of the clothes had been thrown in. Her meager closet was much neater than this!

After a few minutes of digging and tripping over stray shoes, Roy finally found what he was looking for and handed it to Riza. It was another box, much like the one she had received on Friday. She glanced at it, giving Roy a raised eyebrow. "Go on, open it," he encouraged, hoping that Riza would approve of this gift.

It was another miniskirt, this one pitch black with a stitched-on flame design on the right side. There were cargo-style pockets and wide belt loops with D-rings for chains. No chains were included, but Riza smiled, noticing that the size on the tag was the correct one, and threw her arms around Roy.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear. Roy reached down across Riza's back, breathing in her scent and tracing down the curve of her spine. Firmly, yet gently, he placed his hand over Riza's butt and gave it a lighthearted squeeze. Riza didn't seem to mind.


The night passed in a blur. Riza remembered almost everything about it – the kisses, the touches, the whispers and murmurs of "I love you" in her ear and Roy's smile…

She did wonder, though, why she had woken up on a bed of satin sheets. Her sheets at home were cotton and grey; this was silky, cherry red. She moved about a bit in the sheets and noticed with a growing sense of apprehension that she was naked also. Usually, she wore a baggy T-shirt and a pair of shorts to bed; what was all this?

She turned all the way around in the bed, scared of what she might see when she opened her eyes. Slowly, she forced them open, her heart pounding. She almost screamed out loud when she saw the man next to her, snuggled deep into the pillows and smiling as his brown eyes twinkled with a sleepy happiness.

"Good morning, beautiful," said Roy Mustang.


Reviewer Responses!

Tsunade-chan: I'm sorry, the immature part of me has got to ask. When you said that Roy "can fit most of the Cock, Coy, Sly, personas", I'm sure you meant "cocky", right:laughs: I'm sorry, I'm way too immature… :slaps self: But yes, Roy is the funnest character to play with. I love Roy. XDDD Yay for Roy! And yay for you for giving me a review! (rhymes!)

Safferon: Thank you for the review! n.n

gundams forever: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I had a hard time picking between that one and this one as my favorite chapter (in the end, I went for this one, only because I LOVE the ending of it… XD) I'm glad you like the story! Thanks for the review!

Cashmeritan: Well, good, I'm glad! I try to be original. Sometimes it doesn't work so well, but I guess this time it did! I actually haven't read too many Royai stories, so I don't know what the "norm" is, but I've read enough Inuyasha ones with Inu x Kag, so I can kinda make inferences… ha ha. Thanks for the review!

KiloLuna: Glad you like it! I like fluff… :-P Riza's guns:points to Roy: Just kidding! XD Um… they… aren't… around. They're under her bed, to protect her from burglars! I have no idea where they went… The AU-ness killed them. O.O Thanks for the review!

Ayuka-chan: Well, he IS God's gift to these women… :points to self and Riza: XP Thanks for the review!

Otaku: Thanks for the review!

guest: Really? Well, hey, I'm glad you enjoy "less conservative" Riza… It makes me giggle… n.n Thanks for the review!

Lady Mirror: Isn't that convenient? Just randomly finding a miniskirt in your closet…? Lol, actually, I'm not sure if it's mentioned or not, but she bought it when she was younger on a whim (she was probably drunk XP) and then just never wore it… until the previous chapter. o.o Although I wouldn't put it past Roy to sneak clothes into peoples' closets… That's a funny thought! Thanks for the review!

Alchemy-Fan: Of course I'll write more! I still have one more chapter to go after this. Thanks for the review!

fullmetal 4eva: Aww, thank you. I'm glad you like it!

Captain Starseeker: Thank you very much! This is personally one of my favorite fics that I've ever written, so the compliments mean a lot to me. Thanks, General Spoon and Captain Starseeker for the review!

Sniper Hawkeye: Well, I'm really glad that you like it! It makes me smile to know you're smiling at my writing. Yay! AU's are fun. n.n Thanks for the review!

Mint Pizza Queen: Well, when you put it that way, it is sort of odd to see Riza wearing a mini of her own free will… hmmm… My excuse here is that it's an AU… hee hee… Yeah, and watch the roads too, MPQ, there's fluff flooding the streets! Thanks for the review!

HiGh Pri3st: Yes, there is one more chapter after this one. Thanks for the review! Glad you like it!


--crazykitsune17--