DISCLAIMER: -in a very bored like tone- I do not own FMA or any of the related characters...
A/N: Okay, so here's chapter 6. I had a really hard time with this one, because I wanted to bring back some of the romantic aspects I had first based this story on (and have long since been lost), but the circumstances made that difficult. It has a little action in it, some romance and a teeny-tiny bit of horror-like stuff toward the end. Ish...sorta...-pauses- Just read it.
Chapter 6: The Dinner Date. G.
Riza bustled around her kitchen, trying to find something to throw together for dinner. Black Hayate followed her as she moved back and forth.
While stirring some vegetables, she caught sight of her dog watching her. She smiled and chuckled lightly.
"It's just us two again tonight, Braha..." she said to him.
Black Hayate whimpered and Riza sighed.
"Don't give me that," she said. "It's not my fault, you know. If he wasn't so goddamned stubborn-"
Before she could finish, Black Hayate raced into the other room. She shook her head slowly and continued making what was going to have to suffice as dinner for the two of them.
Black Hayate began to bark and whine at the door a moment later.
"Black Hayate!" she yelled. "You've already been for your walk!"
As he continued to bark and whine, Riza wiped her hands and started toward the door to see what he was barking at.
"Black Hayate, what-?"
Then she heard it. There was a sharp knock at the door. Hesitantly, she opened it and Black Hayate shot out into the hall.
Riza froze as she spotted who had knocked on her door. If her heart hadn't been pounding hard enough to break her chest, she would have been convinced it had stopped.
"C-Colonel," she said, stunned. "What are you doing here?"
Roy stood before her, wearing a pair of black pants, a white button up shirt and a loose black tie. It had been ages since she'd last seen him dressed like that. Part of her preferred it more than his usual uniform.
"I...uh..." he started hesitantly, clearing his throat. "I was in the neighborhood and wanted to know if maybe you...maybe you wanted to have dinner with me...tonight...?"
Riza stared at him, hardly aware of the dog who was happily running through and around their legs. Black Hayate yelped and Riza picked him up.
"Well, actually," Riza said. "I was planning on-"
"Oh, well if you're busy, then that's fine," Roy cut her off. "Maybe some other time..."
Before he could walk away, Riza spoke. "What I was saying, sir," she said. "Was that I was planning on it being just Black Hyate and I tonight, but I would love to have dinner with you."
His eyes lit up. "Really? Well, that's good."
Riza nodded, agreeing with him. Black Hyate barked happily, which told Riza that she had his approval as well.
"I just need to change," Riza told him. "Come on in..."
He entered her small apartment and looked around. There were several photographs on the walls and stands. Riza disappeared into her bedroom, while Roy looked them over.
A photo on a stand near the doorway caught his eye. It was of a younger Riza and an older man. He recognized the man immediately as Riza's Father. Roy had known him quite personally.
"What am I going to wear?" Riza muttered to herself as she tore through her closet. Nothing seemed to look right.
Roy laughed as he heard her talking to herself as she struggled to find something to wear. The fact that she was so nervous about the whole thing made him a bit more relaxed. It meant that it really did mean something to her.
Black Hayate sat on Riza's bed as she finally pulled on her final outfit. He barked and she nodded.
"I have to agree with you," she said. "This is nice."
She turned to her dog and sat down next to him on the bed. He rested his head on her lap.
"Listen, my Braha...'" she said quietly. "I've been waiting for this for a long time. You understand, don't you? Mommy has to leave you just for tonight. I'll be back though, I promise."
Roy stood by her door, which was slightly open, and listened in. He smiled faintly as he heard her talking to her dog. He was always relieved to see her softer side.
Black Hayate looked up at her and hopped down off of the be, scampering off into the kitchen. Riza followed him. As she entered the living room, Roy, who had made a beeline for the next room when he'd heard her move, turned to look at her. He stared at her, wide-eyed.
"You look..." he said. "Great!"
Riza looked down. She was wearing a short black dress. It was simple and a bit more tight fitting than she had hoped. She wore matching heels and held a black purse in her hand. Her hair was pulled back as usual.
"Really?" she asked. "You think so?"
He nodded, moving toward her. "Yes."
As he grew closer her to her, Black Hayate barked and growled. Riza turned to him quickly, glaring at him. She looked back at Roy, smiling forcefully.
"Give me one minute, sir..."
She turned and grabbed Black Hayate by his collar and dragged him into the kitchen. She put the plate of vegetables on the floor in front of him.
"What was that all about?" she hissed. "No more of that, okay? Just eat!"
She returned to the living room as Black Hayate began to eat the food she gave him. Roy was waiting for her patiently. She apologized and told him that Black Hayate was probably hungry.
"You're not going to be like this all night, are you?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" she asked, fearing she had done something wrong.
He laughed. "You can stop calling me 'sir' or 'colonel'..." he told her. "Just call me Roy, okay?"
Riza smiled and nodded. "But, the same goes for you. None of that 'Lieutenant' or 'Hawkeye' stuff..."
"Okay," he agreed. "Riza..."
At the restaurant, they were shown to their table quickly. Roy pulled out Riza's chair for her and she sat down, watching him as he moved to sit opposite from her. It became awkwardly silent between them as they read the menus.
Every few seconds, Roy would look up at her. After roughly the twelfth time, Riza caught him.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing," he replied innocently, smiling and looking back at his menu.
Riza stared at him for a moment, but looked back at her own menu when the waitress appeared at their table.
Coversation picked back up as they waited for their dinner to arrive. Roy's hands rested on the table, while Riza's were in her lap. At one point, Riza reached over and touched his hand lightly.
"Roy, why do you wear these all the time?" she asked, of course, referring to the white gloves he wore 24/7.
He frowned, but didn't move his hand. "I don't, but it's usually a safety precaution. You can never be too careful. And besides, it's habit by now."
She nodded and traced the outline of the transmutation circle with her nail. His eyes watched the movement of her fingers.
"Can I ask you something, now?" he asked.
"Yes..." she answered softly, still playing with his glove.
"Why don't you wear your hair down more often?" he asked, finally looking up at her. "You look very nice with your hair down."
Riza's fingers stopped moving and she looked at him. "I don't know," she answered, smirking a little. "It's habit, I guess."
He laughed and she reached up to pull her hair down. Her golden locks danced about her shoulders in a very elegant way. Roy smiled, pleased. Riza eyed his hands, hinting that he should take off his gloves.
Noticing this, he gave in. Very slowly, he removed his gloves and placed them on the table, beside her purse. It was Riza's turn to smile.
"Can you believe all those murders?" a man's voice drifted from the bar. "And that damned military not doing anything. They show up, clean up the mess and insist that everything is under control. Then, what happens next? BAM! Another dead body lying on the side of the street!"
Roy looked at the man, whose back was turned to him, narrowing his eyes slightly. Riza felt herself grow uncomfortable. Roy couldn't give in to what the man was saying.
He mustn't lose his temper!
Being gloveless, Roy wasn't as dangerous, but that wouldn't stop him if he was provoked in the right way.
"Dogs..." another man at the bar said. "All of them. Dirty, stinkin' mutts..."
Riza didn't know how long their food would be, but didn't want to risk Roy losing his temper. He was used to being called a 'dog of the military', but the murders seemed to be a sensitive subject with him.
"Roy," Riza said hesitantly. "Do you want to dance?"
Roy snapped out of his reverie and gaped at her. She stood up and he shook his head furiously.
"No, no, no..." he answered. "I-I don't dance..."
"Aw, come on, Colonel..." she insisted, tugging playfully at his sleeve.
He resisted the urge to stand and continued to shake his head. Riza let go of his sleeve and stared at him, trying to look serious.
"Roy Mustang, get over here right now!"
Publicly humiliated, he stood up and followed her to the small dance floor. She turned to face him, smiling humorously.
"I think I liked you better when you were quiet..." he told her.
She continued to smirk as she placed his hand on her hop and the other in her own hand. Roy took a deep breath.
"I have to warn you," he muttered. "I don't know how..."
Riza began to move them to the beat of the music. As they turned slowly, one of the men from the bar turned to watch them. He was certain he had heard the girl say 'Colonel'. Roy, for 'not knowing how', proved to be very skilled at dancing.
Riza loved the feeling of his hand in hers. She had never felt the bare skin of his fingers before and it gave her chills.
As the dances continued, they grew closer, finally dancing cheek to cheek. Riza's eyes closed as Roy held her close to him. One hand relaxed on his shoulder while the other was laced with his and rested on his chest. All the while, the man at the bar never once took his eyes off of them.
They danced and danced until their dinner had already arrived and was well on it's way to becoming cold. Finally, they sat down to eat, not noticing the pair of eyes following them.
When Roy did look up, the man turned around suddenly, but not before Roy could get a good look at his face. It was deeply scarred.
"One of them had a tattoo across his forehead, and another had a pretty scarred up face..."
Roy swallowed hard and breathed deeply. "Riza..." he said quietly. "We have an audience..."
"Hmm?" Riza mumbled, trying to swallow the food she had in her mouth quickly.
"There is a man at the bar..." Roy was sure to keep his voice low. "He keeps looking over at us..."
Riza slowly glanced over her shoulder and sure enough, the man had begun to look at them again. She turned quickly back to Roy.
"Do you think he heard me earlier?" she asked.
Roy shook his head, "I don't know, but something's telling me we should get out of here."
She nodded and grabbed her purse. Roy hurried to fish the money out of his pocket. Riza offered to pay him back, but he wouldn't hear of it at the moment. He left it on the table for the waitress.
Along with something else...
They were barely out the door when Roy froze and turned back. Riza reached for him, but he was out of her range.
"My gloves!" he said.
She followed him back into the restaurant, where Roy was impatiently trying to find their table. He stopped when he noticed the man standing next to where Riza had been sitting only moments before. In his hands were the white pair of gloves. When the man spotted Roy, he grinned widely.
"Flame Alchemist..." the man growled.
Without thinking, Roy punched the man, catching him off guard. He stumbled backward and dropped the gloves on the ground. Picking them up, Roy didn't bother to stick around. There were too many people around to perform Alchemy. Someone would get hurt.
"Riza, GO!" he pushed her toward the door and the two of them raced down the street.
"Who was that?" Riza asked breathily as he told her to run down a deserted alleyway.
Roy came to a stop and looked back down the alley. He couldn't hear anyone following them, but knew the man wouldn't be too far behind. Riza pressed herself against the wall and Roy stood in front of her, with his hand rested on the wall over her shoulder, trying to catch his breath.
"I'm not sure..." he answered. "But something tells me, he's involved in those murders..."
Riza moved to go past him. "Then we have to go back!"
"No!" Roy said forcefully, blocking her path. "You're unarmed and there are too many people around. We can't risk it."
"So we're going to just let him go?" Riza asked, horrified.
"For now..." Roy said grimly.
Riza tried to get away, but he held her in place.
"Riza, you know how much I want to get him! You know how badly I want to stop all this from happening, but we just can't." he said. "Not right now. It's not worth a whole bunch of people getting killed over."
"But others will die, Roy!" Riza argued. "Others...other alchemists."
"We put our lives on the line everyday, Riza. That is our job." Roy said, looking into her eyes. "You, for one, should know that."
Riza stopped her struggle and frowned. She hated to admit it, but he was right. There was nothing they could do. Slowly, she nodded and he led her down the rest of the alleyway. They were going to take the back route to her apartment.
Arriving in front of her door, Roy looked embarrassed.
"I'm sorry about everything tonight..." he said. "It didn't quite go like I had hoped."
She smiled reassuringly. "No. It was fantastic. I really had a great time."
"Really?" he asked, not believing her.
"Yes..." she nodded. "Being ambushed, included."
Roy laughed bitterly and they both fell silent. There was a moment when his eyes caught hers and he drew her closer to him. Their faces were millimeters apart when-
PLOP!
Her purse fell to the ground and they both leaned down quickly to retrieve it. Roy reached it first. Riza laughed nervously and stood up. He handed it back to her and she moved back against her door. She was convinced that that had been fate telling her to take things slow.
"Good night, Roy..." she said, putting her hand on the doorknob.
Roy opened his mouth to say something, but closed it quickly and nodded. "Good night, Riza..."
She disappeared into her apartment and Roy rubbed the back of his neck, uneasily. She did seem to have a good time, up until the end. Maybe...Maybe it just wasn't meant to be...
Walking back down the hallway, his mind raced with thoughts about the nights events.
I guess we're just going to have to wait and see what happens...
XXXXX
"The Flame Alchemist?" the drawling voice was back. "And his Lieutenant?"
"Yes..." the scarred man, kneeled before the stone throne. "Together."
"And you didn't kill them?" the leader hissed.
"I was caught off guard!" the man insisted. "I didn't expect them to come back and when they did, he...well, he caught me off guard."
The room fell silent as the leader took this information in. "Vere there any other officers vith them?"
The man shook his head. "They were alone. It almost looked like they were on a date."
"A date? Hmmm..." the leader sounded interested to hear this. "So that's it, is it? The Flame Alchemist has a veakness..."
The man looked up, curiously. His leader seemed to be pleased with what they had just heard.
"Very vell, my friend, you're information has proved to be helpful after all," they said. "I vas planning on killing you for letting them escape, but this has allowed you a few more days to live."
"Thank you, my liege..." the man said, bowing his head once again. "You are a high and mighty, forgiving leader after all..."
Kissing the base of the throne, the man moved to leave.
"Do not get used to it..." the leader spoke a final time. "It does not happen very often..."
A/N: Okay, well...that's the end of Chapter 6. I'll be posting Chapter 7 as soon as I can. As I said before, this is getting increasingly harder to post every day, because I have more work to do now and am growing busier by the second. Please be patient with me. The next chapter will start to give you more answers...I hope. Oh and REVIEW PLEASE! Thanks!
