"Reservations for Hawkeye."
"Welcome Miss Hawkeye," the hotel receptionist said with a quaint smile. "I see we have you down for two nights in our corner suite."
"Yes that's correct," Riza replied.
"Perfect. How many keys will you be needing? The room has two queen beds and sleeps up to four," the receptionist asked.
"Just two for now," Riza answered.
"Wonderful. Here are your keys. You'll be in room 32A just up the stairs and down the hall to the left." The receptionist held out two room keys for Riza to take. "Enjoy your stay in Mebbo."
"Thank you, we will," Riza replied politely. She turned and walked over to where her companion was standing with their luggage, a large frown consuming his face. "All checked in. Let's go freshen up."
Thankfully, Roy waited until they were inside their hotel room before he began to air his grievances.
"Seriously, Riza? Two beds?"
The hotel was quaint, as upscale as upscale could get this far north without being in a major city. The room had a spectacular view, an oversized bathtub and, to Roy's utter dismay, two queen beds, covered in pillows and large down blankets to soothe each guest from the cold.
"Oh hush. You know as well as I do that I'll be sleeping right beside you all weekend. It's merely for appearances," Riza answered as she opened the closet. Ever the organized soldier, she found two luggage racks and neatly placed both of their suitcases on one before closing the closet door.
"Still," Roy complained. "Two beds mean each bed is smaller. And a smaller bed means less room for activities." He reached out and grabbed Riza's wrist, yanking her into his lap. "Adult activities, Riza. Fun, naked activities."
To her credit, Riza remained unphased, raising a single eyebrow in response.
"Come on, Ri. This is our first leave together where one of us is not recovering from a crippling injury. We have a legitimate story for why we are up North. No one here recognizes us, especially in our civilian clothes. We could have gone with one bed."
"No we couldn't. We are here to meet Edward and Alphonse. I don't need them seeing anything improper."
"Improper? We're not going to be fucking in front of them Riza. They won't even be walking into this hotel room! Besides, they're not little kids anymore." Roy said as he wrapped his arms tighter around Riza's frame.
Riza did not react to Roy's insistent embrace. Instead, she said, "they're not quite adults either. Edward's only 17. I'm not changing my mind. Besides, now if we need to invite them into the hotel room, we can."
Roy frowned for a moment longer before relenting. "Fine. But next time, I'll make the reservations. Speaking of which, did you book the Elric's a room?"
Riza nodded. "Edward wasn't sure if they would make it today or tomorrow, so I paid for tomorrow night in advance. I figured if they showed up today, we could just submit the hotel room with the next expense report."
"Okay, maybe there is a reason you handle the reservations," Roy said softly as his chin rested on Riza's shoulder. "I'm still not okay with the two beds, though."
Riza ran a loving hand through his hair and down his face, capturing his chin and forcing his gaze in her directions. Planting a deep kiss on his lips, she smiled softly. "We will still enjoy the weekend. Edward highly anticipated not arriving until tomorrow, which means we have all night to ourselves."
"I like the sound of that," Roy said with a grin. He laid back onto the bed, pulling Riza with him, as he captured her mouth. She groaned into him and slowly began to unbutton the top buttons of his shirt. Roy, quickly mirrored the gesture.
Suddenly, a deep grumble interrupted the pair.
"Someone's starving," Riza said, sitting up without a moment's hesitation. "Come on, let's go get dinner. We have plenty of time for fun later and hangry is not a good mood for you."
/-/-/
"It's so nice of the General and Captain to meet us here," Alphonse said merrily.
Beside him, Edward merely shrugged. "They know you're headed to Drachma. Going to Central would add another two days to our journey, and frankly, it's the least the bastard could do for us. Do you see the hotel anywhere?"
Edward and Alphonse were walking down the cobblestone road of the small city, fresh from the train station.
"It was so nice of the Captain to arrange for our hotel rooms," Al said with a smile. "And we made such great travel time! Look, I see the hotel up ahead, brother!"
The two brothers entered the hotel lobby, grateful for the reprieve from the cold. Edward approached the reservation desk first.
"Reservation for Elric."
The front desk agent scanned her books, eyebrows furrowed together. "I'm sorry. I don't have anything on the books for tonight under Elric."
"Oh," Ed said, before remembering who had made the reservation. "It may be under Hawkeye. Riza Hawkeye."
"Ah, yes," the woman said with a smile. "They have already checked in. Let me get you the last room keys." The woman stepped away from the front desk for a moment, returning with two kets. "You have a corner suite with two queen beds. 32A just up the stairs and to your left."
Ed and Al thanked the woman before heading towards the hotel stairs.
"How thoughtful, the Captain reserved a bed for each of us," Alphonse said as they reached their hotel room. It was empty, the bed sheets still freshly made up from the earlier maid service.
The two entered and each boy quickly plopped down on one of the beds, tired from a long day's travel. Their suitcases were haphazardly thrown into the far corner of the room.
"I wonder where the General and the Captain are," Edward said. He was laying spread eagle across the bed closest to the window, relishing the elevated comfort of the mattress. For all his flaws, Mustang sure did know how to travel in style. This was much nicer than any hotel Ed had stayed at during his recent travels, especially after losing his research grant from the government when he had to turn in his state alchemist watch. "The receptionist said that they had already checked in."
"Why don't we order some room service and ask the concierge about them once we've eaten?" Alphonse suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," Edward said as he eagerly opened up the room service menu sitting on the nightstand between the two beds. "Dinner's on Mustang! Let's order one of everything."
/-/-/
"Dinner was lovely," Riza sighed as she and Roy exited the small cafe down the street from their hotel. "Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me every time I buy you dinner, Riza," Roy said with a smile. "Frankly, I don't have the chance to do it as often as I'd like."
"I know," Riza said. "I'm still grateful. And now we can go back to the hotel and have some… fun." Her voice shifted tones, growing smooth and seductive at the last word. If they weren't in the middle of the street, she would have reached out and grabbed him by the collar to pull him close.
"That's my kind of dessert," Roy said, looking at Riza and licking his lips.
"I hope you packed plenty of condoms," Riza said as she affectionately tapped Roy on the nose. "You'll need them for what I have planned."
Roy's face fell.
"Roy! How could you forget! Seriously, do I have to do everything around here? I gave you that responsibility because I figured that if you would remember anything, condoms would be it!"
"Yeah, yeah," Roy sighed, clearly embarrassed. "Look, I'll just stop at the pharmacy. I saw one on my way here."
"I probably shouldn't go with you," Riza reasoned. "We may have more freedom here to be out in the open, but openly buying condoms with my commanding officer is where I draw the line. I'll meet you back at the hotel."
Roy rolled his eyes, but accepted Riza's decision, knowing he had messed up.
"Fine."
"Besides," Riza whispered into Roy's ear as she pulled him in for a quick hug. "Now I can go and get all dressed up, so take your time. I brought a little surprise."
"God, I love you," Roy said, a clear smirk on his face as he pulled out of their embrace. "I'll see you in twenty minutes."
Riza stood on the sidewalk for a moment as she watched Roy enter the pharmacy before turning to carry on down the road and to the hotel. Enjoying the atmosphere of the sleepy, winter town, Riza took her time strolling down the cobblestone. She made it less than a block when a certain shop caught her eye- an antique book shop, larger and more welcoming than any she knew in East City. If she were a less reserved woman, she would have jumped with joy.
Sex was great, but it was nothing like the discovery of a first-edition classic. Roy would understand if she was a little late, Riza reasoned as she entered the store. A quick look around never hurt anyone.
/-/-/
If Alphonse hadn't been there to act as a voice of reason, Edward would have ordered everything on the room service menu. After much debate, they settled on sharing five entrees and, once the food had arrived, began to devour it as though they hadn't eaten in months.
The door creaked open and Al and Ed turned, startled at the unexpected visitor.
"Hey Riza! They only had the condoms with the little grooves on them. I hope that's al-" Roy froze instantly.
Across from him, Ed and Al sat as still as stone, food still half-chewed in their mouths and faces burning bright red.
"I mean, I-" Roy could feel the sweat beads rolling down his face. "That Captain isn't here?"
Frozen, Ed was unable to react. Beside him, Al shook his head violently.
"Oh wow, this is awkward."
"You- you-" Edward finally stammered, his face red. "And the Lieutenant-"
"It's Captain." All three men turned to find Riza standing in the doorway, a small pile of books in her arms. Her gaze traveled from Roy's to the two boys, their extravagant dinner sprawled along both beds. She turned to Roy, eyes narrowed. "Why do they look traumatized? What did you do?"
"I- I-" If Roy was any more embarrassed, he would have spontaneously combusted. A fitting end, he thought to himself before taking a deep breath. "Oh, you know. I walked in and announced the only condoms available were ribbed."
Riza simply nodded, absorbing his words. She then turned to Edward. "Who gave you the key to this hotel room?"
"Um… the receptionist?" Ed answered as though it was a trick question.
"I see what happened here. This room sleeps four and I forgot to specify it was only for two. She must have assumed you were staying with us," Riza reasoned.
"See, this is why we should have gotten a single bed," Roy answered.
"Really, you're really bringing that up now?" Riza spat. "One more word and I'll leave you here to do all the explaining by yourself."
Roy's lips snapped shut instantly.
"Well, this is unfortunate," Riza said after a while. "I can't come up with a decent excuse if I wanted too and you boys have proven to be trustworthy. The General and I have been secretly seeing each other for a while now."
Ed's eyes bugged at Riza's confirmation. "What? Why him? What could someone like you have to do with him!"
"Hey!" Roy yelled before Riza shut him up with a glare.
"I love him, Edward. That should be enough of an explanation."
"But- but- he's an asshole!"
"Yes, but he's my asshole."
It then occurred to Edward that Alphonse had not spoken a word since Riza's arrival. He turned to find his brother calmly sitting on the bed, eye's full of acknowledgement.
"You knew!" Edward screeched, pointing an accusing finger at Al.
Al shrugged. "I suspected. I've suspected for a while, actually since that day down in the-"
"Fifth laboratory-" Riza finished for him. "You have always been an observant one, Alphonse."
"To be fair, Captain, you made it obvious. People don't just give up on their will to live like that unless they are in love."
Riza's silence was enough of a confirmation.
"Then why do you follow him?" Ed asked, his sense of reason returning. "You can't openly be together if you are in the military."
"We still have goals to accomplish," Roy answered.
"Goals that I am willing to dedicate my life to see through," Riza said.
"The General becoming Fuhrer?"
"Yes, so you must understand why you can't tell anyone about us."
"I would never," Ed said almost too quickly. "I question your taste in men, Captain, but I would never question you."
"Thank you boys," Riza answered with a smile. She turned to Roy, who was still unsure on what to do next. "I think, for now, it may be best to let them finish their meal."
"Yeah, why don't we see if the hotel has another room available. This time with only one bed."
The soldiers soon left the room. Once the two brothers were alone, Alphonse awkwardly cleared his throat.
"So, who's going to tell them they left their box of condoms here?"