How it all Began

Chapter 11

"You're being anal"

"Im a perfectionist, there's a difference"

"There is a difference, and you're being anal"

"Something's wrong with it!" Joe cried and stamped his foot on the ground like a two year old. They had been looking at this dress for an hour; he had already made three adjustments to problems only he could see. Once again, she stood on the platform in front of a floor length mirror, a tight cocktail dress painted onto her, and Joe circling her for hours.

"Nothing is wrong with it!" Riza growled.

Joe traced his finger around her waistline, setting one from his other hand on his lower lip trying to come up with a flaw in the fabric. "You can't breath in it," He declared his voice high pitched giving Riza a headache.

"Since when have I worn a dress of yours I could breath in?" Riza asked setting her hand down at her side.

"Hold that hair up, if you get lake water on my dress Ill have a bitch fit." He threatened. Riza groaned and twisted her hair with her fingers, lifting it onto her head and off the dress.

"Joe, it's perfect! I love it she looks gorgeous!" Roy said happily as he walked back into the room. "You do?" Joe said excitedly. "Ohh yeah, she's defiantly going to turn heads at this thing, in fact I don't think I can let her go in that dress at all." He said setting his hands on his hips in mock stubbornness.

Riza stared at him; this wasn't like him at all. "You really think it'll turn heads?" Joe asked in a high-pitched voice. "Ohh yeah, she could look like a wash bored and still capture people's breath in that exquisite design!" He embellished. Joe's eyes sparkled.

"In fact, she should keep wearing it, if she does she'll end up ripping it or spilling something on it so she cant wear it at all tomorrow!" He said nodding his head as he turned and walked over to the bed.

"Take it off now!" Joe half yelled. "What?" Riza asked. "Off! Hurry! Before you do something to my perfect creation!" Joe squealed. Riza looked from the frantic Joe to Roy, who was now lying on the bed. He winked at her and she smiled.

"Right…" She muttered and stepped down from the block she stood on in front of the mirror, and walked into her closet.

0000

Riza waved to Joe as he pulled out of the driveway. She watched the car disappear in the distance before she turned and looked up at Roy who stood at her side.

"You're a genius" She smiled. "He was so sure something was wrong, telling him other wise, and embellishing it, made him realize it was perfect just the way it was." He muttered. She leaned up and kissed him lovingly.

"Thank you" she muttered. He smiled. "No problem gorgeous." He smirked and wrapped his arm around her waist, walking with her back into the house.

"So, what do you want to do?" She asked. He smirked and closed his eyes tilting his head upwards. She let out a deep breath. "Do I want to know what that means?" She asked. He smirked even wider.

"I'm going to take that as a 'No!' " She muttered. "Take it" he replied. She rolled her eyes and he winked down at her.

"So, what's down here?" He asked as they passed a door in the hallway.

"That's the wine cellar," She said. He smirked and turned the handle. "Ohh, wine hu…anything else?" He asked as he opened the door and flipped the switch. "What is it your looking for?" she asked. He smirked as he followed her down the stairs. "Maybe some one hundred year old scotch" He questioned.

She motioned for him to follow with her finger and he couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. "You come down here a lot?" He asked. She turned and walked backwards smiling "Once in a blue moon" She muttered.

"This is quite a collection," Roy said as he passed another shelf of wines. They made up the entire walls surrounding them, and what seemed like hundreds of wine racks between. The seller must have spanned the entire size of the house itself.

Riza turned the corner and stopped. "This is the really good stuff over here, and over here, this is the stuff that's so old you could make enough money selling it to buy a human being." She said, each time pointing to a different section. Then she smirked and walked over to a different rack,

"Now this stuff, this is what we can break into. It doesn't have as many years on it, since I first broke into it when I was fourteen" She muttered.

"Riza Hawkeye, I wouldn't have guessed!" He said shocked she drank at such an early age. "Yes I know, but that was the month he was gone. My grandfather wasn't home from work, and the maids were driving me crazy. I snuck down here after they had fussed with me trying to put me in a ruffled night gown, not my taste at all, and I popped open this…one" she said as she picked out an old long empty bottle.

"Very nice…" he muttered reading the brand. "Yeah, I drank the entire thing in one night." She muttered. "What a naughty girl you are" he muttered as he popped open a bottle taking down what would amount to a double shot in one gulp.

"Then I moved on to this, which was the first booze I threw up from" she smirked picking out another, yet again, empty bottle. He handed her the bottle he opened and watched her take a large sip.

"Riza Hawkeye, conservative on the outside, Bad on the inside…I like it" He smirked and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, still holding the bottle as her wrists crossed. His hands slid down her sides and bottom, and gripped her thighs, lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around his hips and he set her down on the table, sweeping one arm across really fast to remove any bottles. One rolled from the table, falling to the ground with a loud crack as the glass shattered.

Roy glanced down but didn't remove his mouth from hers for a second. His tongue slid threw her lips and she could taste the faint alcohol on both of their breaths. He slid his hand up her shirt and pushed her bra up above her chest. Cupping and kneading her breasts, she moaned and leaned her head back. His mouth moved to her neck and began sucking on it stopping just short from leaving a red mark.

Riza picked up the bottle he had set down and sipped more of it, wincing as it burned her throat some, but Roy's ministrations soothed any pain she felt. In fact they were both obviously feeling 'no pain' as the bottle slowly dwindled down to nothing,

Riza wrapped her legs around his waist as he pulled back. In attempt to keep him with her she locked her ankles around and in between his legs. He stumbled forward hitting the table and smirking as he attacked her mouth again.

All care was gone in the wind, that is until there was a loud thud from up stairs. They broke apart and looking up at the ceiling of the cellar. There were footsteps. "Riza!" an elderly voice called.

Riza's eyes bugged out of her head. "That's my grandfather!" She hissed and pushed him back. She jumped down from the table, immediately falling to the floor. She cursed as she lifted her hand, which was now covered in blood. She winced as the left over alcohol in the bottle that had rolled from the table entered the deep cut.

Roy dropped to her side. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Yes come on!" she said as she stood. "Shake it off he'll want to talk to you" She grumbled as she lead him back threw the maze of wines. "We only had one bottle it won't affect me to badly, what about you, I don't want you to get into trouble" He said worriedly. She smiled, "Don't worry, like you said conventional on the outside, bad on the inside. I've gone to governmental parties drunk and they thought I was just being a cute hyper kid." She muttered.

"Yeah but something tells me your grandfather won't think you're just being a hyper or cute kid," He muttered as they climbed the stairs. "No, he wont, and he wont for you either." She muttered as she shut the door from behind them.

"There you are, what were you doing in the cellar?" The older man asked. His hair was graying, with leathery wrinkling skin and glasses that sat at the bridge of his nose.

"We heard a crash downstairs, Roy went down with me and it turned out of be a mouse. It knocked over a couple of empty bottles and I ended up cutting my hand." Riza lied.

Her grandfather looked from Riza to Roy, who stood for a moment surprised she could lie so fluently and easily to her grandfather.

"Is this true? We have a rat?" He asked. Roy nodded. "I'm sorry sir, once Riza injured her hand I thought it best we go fix it. It's still down there somewhere along with a mess of glass." He said.

"Well don't worry about that, continue." He said. Riza took his hand with her good one. "Come this way, Ill show you to the first aid kit" She said and quickly led him to the kitchen.

"So Roy right; how has training been going?" Her grandfather asked as he stopped at Roy's side. They stood in between the carbonates on the large kitchen, and yet the space seemed so small as Roy turned and leaned against the counter to get some distance between them. "Yes, And very well If I do say so myself. I'm learning things I never would have been able to without this opportunity," He said, leaning backwards. Roy just prayed he couldn't smell the alcohol on his breath from this distance.

"I'm very glad you're learning. Do you still want to join the military after you finish?" He asked. Roy nodded. "Yes sir, I want to help this country, to become a state alchemist!" He said seriously.

The General smiled. "I'm glad your persistence hasn't wavered." He joked. "Absolutely not Sir, One day we'll be working along side each other Sir." He said looking the man directly in the eyes.

He chuckled. "Well I would be happy to work with you young man." He smiled. "Thank you sir" Roy said. Riza walked past him and handed him a mug.

"Coffee?" She said bluntly and quietly. He took it with a quick and quiet "Please" and took a large gulp. Riza walked right past her grandfather. Roy glanced down, his eyes catching Riza's bleeding hand.

He reached out and took her other hand. "Come on Ill fix your hand." He said and walked with her. She removed her hand from his.

"Naw it's fine." She said and turned around. His eyes narrowed and he grabbed her wrist. She took a sharp breath as he looked over her gushing hand.

"That's not fine," he said. She whimpered as he brought her to the sink and rinsed off the blood. "I don't think there's any glass in it…but I'm guessing you already got alcohol in it." He muttered. She elbowed him in the side causing him to cough and smirk as he pulled the first aid kit Riza had gotten out to him.

He turned and watched her waiting for a moment where she wasn't paying attention to what he was doing. He tried hard to make sure his gestures weren't wobbly as he worked on her cut. Last thing they needed was for him to look drunk.

Riza guzzled her coffee as he glanced up. He took this time to splash hydrochloric peroxide over her hand, making her gasp, her wrist jerked, flinging her coffee all over him. "Riza!" Her grandfather gasped. Roy gasped himself, but from the searing hot coffee, his teeth grinding together. He took in a sharp breath from between clenched teeth. She in the mean time, held her hand to her chest like he had shot her.

"What the hell was that?" She half yelled. He shook his hands, drops of coffee flying off of them. He looked down at himself, his brown stained shirt and pants, and ignoring the burning feeling, he looked to her. "Give me your hand" he sighed. "No!" She squeaked. He held out his hand and waited. Staring her down with a displeased she was fighting against him look. She stared at him, her eyebrows knotted together. She looked from him to his hand and back before sighing and setting her hand back in his.

The General stood in shock. Not just from the coffee throwing, which now sat as a mess on the floor and of course Roy, but at the trust he saw in Riza's eyes. It was stubborn, reluctant trust at best, but it was trust.

He watched as Roy bandaged her hand, Riza's eyes glued to his movements this time. As he finished she pulled it back to her chest. "That hurt!" She muttered.

"Im sorry." He said quietly as he turned and ran his hands under cold water. He squeezed his shirt over the sink hoping to get whatever coffee was left out, and not on the floor.

He sighed and threw a towel on the floor, He moved to clean the mess, but Riza got on her knees and began to wipe it up herself.

"Are you alright?" She asked standing up. "I'll be fine." He said and took the towel from her. "I'm going to put this in the wash, then make good use of a cold shower." He said gently bowing to her grandfather in goodbye.

"Please, Will you be alright?" He asked. "Oh I'll be fine," he smiled reassuringly as he walked out of the room and towards the laundry room.

"Riza!" her grandfather muttered in a scolding tone. "I didn't mean to!" She muttered. "That boy is taking care of you!" He growled. "I know, in fact, I'm going to make sure he's okay. Do you want me to show you out?" She asked.

"No, wait till he's out of the shower. I'm going to stay till dark, make sure you kids have a proper dinner." He said. She sighed and nodded, looking towards the empty doorway.

0000

Roy bit his lip as he lifted the shirt from his body. He let it fall to the white tile floor with a damp clap. He set his hand on his chest, the skin red and burning. He put his shirt in with another load of Riza's things, and made his way to the stairs.

He made his way into his room, pulling out some new clothes before walking into the bathroom. He sighed and turned on the shower setting his hand under the cool streaming water. He couldn't help but worry, his chest didn't hurt unless he touched it, but well his biggest fear was he couldn't feel his lap at all.

Roy had never been a very religious man. Few times had he called to god in hopes of anything, and yet as he closed the door and locked it, he couldn't help closing his eyes and saying a silent prayer before unbuttoning his jeans and letting them fall to the floor.

He glanced down and then let out a relieved sigh. "Thank god." He glanced up mouthing many 'thank yous' before gathering up the courage to step under the powerful showerhead.

0000

Twenty minutes later he opened the door to the shower and gave a loud sigh. Usually he spent five minutes in the shower but the cold water, after it seemed to burn his skin even more, became soothing. He pulled on new jeans, and winced as he pulled a new shirt over his head, lifting his arms stretched the skin on his chest, making him wince.

He could hear Riza downstairs, talking with her grandfather about the huge rat. He couldn't help but chuckle. He brushed his teeth, hoping to get rid of the rest of the smell of alcohol, not that you could smell much but coffee on him anyway.

"Yeah, It ran right across the gin table and knocked over some bottles, that's how I ended up cutting my hand." She explained. Roy joined her side and she turned and smiled. "Hey are you ok? I am so sorry I didn't mean to…" She began in apology. He only smiled. "Hey Im fine. There's nothing to worry about." He smiled.

"Ok…I'm going to get some coffee, you want any grandfather?" She asked turning to the old man. He smiled and nodded. "Yes some coffee would be wonderful," he said. She nodded, "How about you Roy?" She asked turning her head to look at him.

"Really Really Not" He answered a dreadful and scared look on his face. She shook her head. "Right…yeah…" she muttered and quickly turned and left for the kitchen. They stood somewhat awkwardly in the room alone. Roy

"You play chess Roy?" Her grandfather asked.

0000

Riza sighed as she poured two mugs off coffee. She had to wait for a new pot to fill, since she had guzzled all the coffee in hopes to take away any chance of getting caught on her breath. Well that and a lot had gone on the floor. Though she felt incredibly bad about what happened, she couldn't help it when her fingertips immediately fell on her bottom lip, thinking about the kiss she would give him in order to make it up to him.

She giggled, and picked up the pot filling two cups. She set the cups on small plates, and carried them back into the living room, where she found the two guys playing a heated game of chess.

She set the cup down next to her grandfather, and gasped as Roy flinched as she walked past him with hers.

She pouted. "So are you never going to trust me again?" She asked in a whimper.

"With hot beverages in your clumsy little fingers I think not" he muttered as he stared at the board, trying to figure out what her grandfather was planning with the elegantly carved figures.

Riza sighed and walked over to the couch, curling up with a blanket. "Has Joe already stopped by?" Her grandfather asked. Riza nodded, "Roy was able to make him calm down about my dress after a half an hour freak out where his voice rivaled a howler monkeys." She answered. He laughed, "That sounds like Joe, but I'm amazed you were able to calm him down" He laughed.

Riza set her elbow on the arm of the chair and propped her head against it so she could look up at them. She smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, It seems that Joe has taken quite a fancy to Roy here" She said in a teasing voice.

"Is that so, I'll pray for you my boy." He laughed. "I'll need it. How long have you known Joe?" Roy asked.

"Forever. His father was a real prick. Didn't agree with him about his sexuality and kicked him out. He lived here with us for a year or two until he went to college for design. Ever since he's been fixing our tuxes, making Riza's dresses for every function we drag her to and so on. He's a great guy, he's just a little, over the top." He explained.

"Ill say." Roy muttered rolling his eyes. "So what is this function about tomorrow?" Roy asked.

"Oh it's just a small meeting, Riza's just there for show really. It'll be quick and we'll return her to you as soon as it's over and one of us can pull away" He said. "That's fine." Roy muttered. "I'll just finish reading the books your father told me to read while I'm waiting." He muttered.

"Great, and if you see that rat!" Her grandfather began only to trail off, Roy nodded at him then turned and looked at Riza who was shaking her head side to side and rolling her eyes. "Checkmate." He added. Roy then glanced blankly back to the chess game and gapped.

"How?" He muttered looking over the pieces. He ran his fingers threw is long bangs and sighed, "You're good I admit it" He muttered. He chuckled. "Maybe one day you'll beat me," He laughed out loud. "What did you kids plan for dinner?" He asked.

"Nothing really, the cooks still working so we can just give him a call and he'll make whatever we want I guess" Roy said. "Great Ill go give him a call." He said with a smile and disappeared into the kitchen.

Roy watched as he turned the corner, and then he glanced at Riza. "He's staying for dinner? Tell me he's not sleeping here?!" He gasped quietly. She sighed, "I offered to show him out but he wanted to stay. It's obvious my father told him about you and I, so there's no telling what he might say or do about staying over." She muttered.

Roy gapped, "It's obvious! It wasn't obvious to me! He knows? Aww he's going to kill me. This is just great!" He whined. "Oh quiet. That's why he's bonding with you. Playing chess with you and getting to know you. Lets just try to get threw dinner without him putting us in some really awkward talk ok?" She suggested standing.

He stood and sighed, "Do you think he thinks we're having sex?" He asked. She shrugged her shoulders. "How can you be so calm?" He asked. "You're not my first boyfriend, a lot of guys get intimidated by the men in my family," She muttered as she led him into the kitchen. "Hey I'm not intimidated." He muttered, then stepped behind her nervously as her grandfather passed them, sitting at the head of the table. "Sit" he said.

Riza glanced over her shoulder and sighed, "Right, no intimidation whatsoever" she breathed and took her seat on the other side of the table. Roy took a deep breath, and sat down, trying his best not to gag as a plate was set before him of yet another unpronounceable food.

Maddie Brown

3,744 words smaller than last but oh well