Disclaimer: Don't own it.
If Sunday hadn't already been Roy's favourite day of the week, it certainly would have been now. Over the past month, it had become routine to meet Riza for coffee at the small shop where they had met up the day Roy had been beaten by the old lady. Sometimes they would talk, their subjects ranging from the weather to their pasts to the future, everything but their work. Roy found himself thinking of Riza more and more as a person rather than as his lieutenant, though he has always thought of her as more of a person than the rest of the people in the military office.
Today, though, they sat in comfortable silence, as they had done other times. They were seated in the far corner of the patio, the corner that happened to be getting the most sun. Roy glanced at Riza, wondering how she could stand it. The heat was absolutely horrid and the light must have been glaring madly off the white page of the new book she was reading. When he asked her as much, she smiled wryly and looked up at him, placing two fingers on the page to mark her place.
"It's not bothering me in the least, Roy."
"How is that possible? I'm the Flame Alchemist, so I'm used to heat, and it's bothering me!"
"Because," she replied, "I'm not the one who was crazy enough to wear a long-sleeved black shirt in the middle of summer."
He looked down at himself and noticed that she was right. He had been so worried about being late to meet her that he hadn't given a second thought to his clothing. Though the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and the top two buttons were undone, leaving his neck and a small bit of his chest exposed, it really made no difference if the colour kept attracting the sunlight. He noticed that Riza had been much more practical in her dress, opting to wear a light blue shirt and tan pants. "But it's cotton," he whined in response. "Isn't cotton supposed to breathe or something?"
"Our uniforms are cotton-based."
He shuddered, reminded of the unbearable heat one felt while wearing full military uniform in the summer. "I see your point."
Riza turned back to her book, her eyes moving back and forth across the page. As she turned the page with her left hand, her right hand reached for her mint iced tea. She wiped her hand on the napkin beside her after replacing the glass, getting rid of the water on her palm and fingers from the sweating glass. Roy, having nothing better to do, idly watched her do this, noticing how her pinky finger stuck out slightly when she drank and how he knew she had reached an interesting part in her book because she was barely blinking, despite the harsh sunlight. Riza bit her lip, drawing his wandering attention to her mouth. For a moment he wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips, whether or not they would taste like the mint iced tea she seemed to love so much. After that moment he wondered where that thought had come from. Eye still on her, Roy searched for an answer, though some part of him already knew what it was. He thought of her as a person, that much he knew, but he hadn't realized until now that sometime during their growing friendship he had begun to think of Riza as a woman. He thought of her in the same manner as he had thought of his girlfriends in the past, though perhaps a bit deeper, since they had something of a past together and common ground. After all, she had sworn once that she would protect him until her own death, and had kept that promise ever since. The idea that he thought of this woman as just that, a woman, both intrigued and frightened him. He would have to be careful, though; he would be treading dangerous ground if he decided to act.
"Did you want something?" Riza's voice broke his train of thought, startling him nearly out of his chair.
"Sorry, what?"
"You were staring at me. Did you want something?"
"The sun and the heat are affecting my head," he replied.
"You could always join Black Hayate under the table. I'm sure it's cooler there."
"That's extremely undignified!"
"So is a whining, supposedly grown-up military official, but that doesn't seem to have stopped you yet."
"Riza!" was all he could say in response, since she was absolutely right. Instead of trying to justify himself, which he knew was next to impossible, Roy stood up. "Come on. Let's go."
"Go where?" she asked, placing the small brown piece of paper she used as a bookmark between the pages and closing her book.
"To find some shade so we can get out of this blasted heat. A park, maybe." To completely convince her, he added, "Black Hayate would probably enjoy it more, anyway."
Riza untied the plain cloth leash from the back of her chair and wound it once around the palm and back of her right hand as Roy dug in his wallet for the change to pay for their drinks, since it was his turn to pay. When he had placed enough for the drinks and tip on the hot metal table, he saw that Riza was already standing on the other side of the short white patio fence and waiting for him, the dog sitting patiently at her heels. He moved to join them, and they set off toward the nearest park.
Within ten minutes of walking, Roy spotted the park and groaned. It seemed as though the entire population of the city had the same brilliant idea as he did, and had decided to all use the same park. They had to walk for a while longer once they actually got inside the park, but Roy didn't mind as much here. The large, leafy trees cast long shadows on the ground and sent a cool breeze across his face, which was a particular relief because his sweat had been making his eye patch rather uncomfortable. The breeze brought with it the smells of grass, freshly turned earth, and flowers that Roy couldn't name. They finally found a vacant spot up against a gigantic oak tree at the top of a small rise in the ground. Riza let Black Hayate off his leash, giving him strict orders not to wander away or bother any people. Roy knew that the pup would listen to her, and was amazed, as he always was, at how thoroughly she had trained him, particularly since he wasn't sure Black Hayate understood the dangers of being near Riza when she was within ten feet of any sort of firearms. Once she was sure that the dog had understood her, Riza moved to the tree where Roy had already settled himself down, sat gracefully beside him with her legs tucked to her left and reopened her book.
"What are you reading, anyway?" She quickly marked her place again and handed him the small hardbound book. "Alchemic Theory and Practice? Planning on becoming an alchemist, Riza?"
"Of course not. I just don't like being ignorant on the subject, especially when I work so closely with a State Alchemist. I wouldn't give up my guns so easily."
"You know, though," he said with a smirk, "there are some fights in which guns are useless."
"And there are some alchemists," she replied instantly, matching his smirk, which she had become very good at in the past month, "who are useless in the rain, aren't there?"
Once again, he had no response for her quick wit, and so he settled for merely scowling and turning away to rest his head back on the tree. He closed his eye and enjoyed the break from the monstrous heat. He heard her return to her book, which he had handed back to her after reading the title. For a while Roy sat like that, legs bent, head tilted back, hearing the occasional page turning in Riza's book and Black Hayate barking happily at whatever small creatures happened to cross his path. Then, he heard Riza shift uncomfortably, settle for a moment, and then shift again. After she had done this a few times, Roy decided to say something about it, though he knew that he might be forced to regret it sometime in the future.
"If you'd like, you can use my legs." He heard the sudden halt in her restless movements and turned his head so he could look at her with his good eye. He noticed that she was blushing faintly and biting her lip again, but quickly got herself under control.
"Are you sure you wouldn't mind?
He straightened his legs out to prove his point. "Of course not. I wouldn't have offered if it was going to bother me."
She smiled at him, making him smile back genuinely rather than smirking as he usually did. "Thank you," she said as she shifted a little bit so that she could lay on the grass. Hesitantly, she laid her head on his thigh, just above his knee, and glanced at him. He smiled again before closing his right eye and replacing his head on the tree. The weight of her head on his leg brought him back to his thoughts from the coffee shop. He decided that he needed to sort out exactly what Riza Hawkeye meant to him. She had supported him through every stupid thing he had ever done, she kept him on track when he began to stray, and she was fiercely loyal to him. He enjoyed her company more than anyone else's he could think of, and she had a biting wit that matched, and sometimes bested his own. She was simple, and because of that she was beautiful. He had never known her to worry about her appearance, nor had he ever seen the necessity. She had a natural radiance that years of preparation and products couldn't match. She meant more to him, he realized, than anyone ever had. He refused to think the word 'love,' he wasn't ready to dive that deep yet, but he knew that he felt more deeply about Riza Hawkeye than all of his previous girlfriends combined.
Black Hayate brought Roy back to the real world from his mind with a bark, and he noticed that he hadn't heard a page turn in quite a while. He opened his eye and looked down to see Riza's eyes closed, her open book resting face-down on her stomach. Her lips were parted slightly as she slowly breathed in and out as she slept. He gave in to temptation, shifting slowly and carefully so as not to move his left leg. He leaned over and hesitated only for a moment before brushing his lips against hers so lightly that they barely even touched. Riza shifted, but didn't wake, which made Roy glad. He didn't want to deal with her feelings quite yet. Settling back against the tree for the third time, he moved his right hand to that his fingertips gently touched Riza's head as he drifted off to sleep, a small smile at the corner of his lips.
A/N: Well, that was unoriginal. I'm not terribly happy with it. I'll probably rewrite it once the fic is done. Except that last part. I like that last part. It satisfies the fluff addict within me (or that is me, considering there is only a small part of me that isn't a fluff addict, but whatever). It just doesn't flow, you know? I think it's the first couple paragraphs that need it the most. Sorry it took so long, but I had an exam that I had to (not) study for, and then I had to pack up and move out of residence, and then I had to unpack and find places for everything once I got back home. That last part took the longest. I only finished unpacking last night, and as of today I've been home for a week. Not to mention that the claustrophobia-inducing factor of my room (I've got STUFF. You wouldn't believe what I've got squirreled away in here) also seems to have done a number on my creative juices. I had no idea what was going to happen in this chapter. No plans whatsoever. I just kinda picked up the pen, and this is what came out the end of it (incidentally, this is the longest chapter so far, running a full page longer than the previous ones). I couldn't hit Roy with anything in this one, so I just decided to make him extremely uncomfortable. The policy has now been changed from "Roy will be hit on the head at the beginning of every chapter" to "Roy will have some form of extreme misfortune at the beginning of every chapter." I know Roy seemed to have a lot of realizations very quickly, but it's not exactly that unrealistic. Haven't you ever had one of those days where you realize something, just one tiny thing, and then that spawns five billion other observations from it? Maybe it's just me… whatever.
Up next: Plot! Gasp Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? But yes, there will actually be plot in the next chapter, not to mention the return of a wonderful device known as OTHER CHARACTERS. The latter seems to have been sorely lacking in the last three chapters.
In typical Aindel style, I will now commence with the not-so-relevant things going on over on this end of the server, AKA the part that many of you probably skip (because who really cares about what's going on with me, anyway?). So, we had interviews a couple weeks ago for streaming (see pointless rant in Chapter 2), and the results were posted last Tuesday after our big exam. I GOT IN! I'm going to be a real, bona fide, honest-to-goodness costume designer! I'm so happy! It really sucks, though, because my one friend (and the reason I am able to eat real food during the school year) didn't get in at all, and our res hobo (our friend who kipped out at our place at least once a week) is on the waiting list. But we'll still have most of our classes together, along with our other friend who (heaven help her) wanted to be an actor, so it's not the end of the world.
I'm now moved back home, where I will be for the next four months, and looking for employment. This is not going so well, but that's what happens when you live in a very small city with almost no real places that would hire students, except maybe the Tillsonburg tobacco fields (yeah, the place from the extremely horrible Stompin' Tom Connors song, if any of you know it), but those are still a bit of a drive for me, and I lack transportation. So I'm bummed about that.
Thanks to my reviewers:
Loyalsoul – Thanks!
Shadow Dreamer 27 – Thanks a lot! I apologize for the lack of originality here.
Cles – Yeah, old lady. I had to. It was just too perfect.
Kmi-san – Thank you!
UltimateProcrastinator – I actually considered dumping cold water on his head at one point. The idea is still swimming (no pun intended) around in my head. If I haven't read your story yet, I'll probably be doing it very soon. So seriously cannot keep track of what she's read
YourViolentStalker – Thank you! It means a lot to me that you didn't join the hit-count club (which seems to be freakishly well-populated).
KTRose – Thanks. And I now officially love your grandmother, violence or no. Though violence is always fun when it comes in old packages!
flOofymikO – Apple turnovers are indeed awesome, and I so don't understand the whole not-loving-chocolate thing either.
Brickwall847 – You can have an apple turnover if you stick with me to the end of this thing. And thank you for reviewing, even though you were sick and your head was spinning. I hope you're better now!
Kabashka – Very true. Which is why I opted for the discomfort policy. It allows for humor, but without total redundancy. Was contemplating external HD, but then forgot about it when I was out shopping. I'm good for that.
Sull89 – I know what you mean about the detail thing. My teachers were on my case about that all through high school (no, that's a lie… we had zero creative writing opportunity in Grades 11 and 12. Stupid essays). For some reason, though, I just can't seem to get it right. I think that's the reason I get stuck every time I try to write a novel. And you're right about the last sentence in the last chapter. I'm going to fix it when the fic is done, before I rewrite this chapter.
Sable Sword – The plot is coming, I promise. I just had to get up to it. Believe me, it would have seemed silly to go right into it without this stuff first. You'll understand what I mean when we get there.
Okay, so that was a really long author's note. Hopefully all you sane readers skipped it completely, and those of you who are insane had a bit of fun.
Review, and receive virtual Pocky of your own flavour choosing!
Aindel S. Druida
PS. A thank-you to all of you in the hit-count club, too. The mere fact that people have clicked on my story over 1300 times makes me a very happy critter!
