Author's NOTE: Hello mah dear readers! I've awakened from the dead!
T_T Well, I've had two exams, each 3 hours long, today I had math, a good 50 + pages to write and calculate...yeah...that hadn't been exactly a walk in the park.
Anyway, A Homunculus Can't be Trusted Part 2 is currently under construction so please be a little bit more patient! :)

I've written this to tide you guys over and since writing acts as sort of therapy for me whenever I'm extremely stressed, which I am, a lot. .

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:

Daughterofapollo12345: ^^ Aww thanks so much! :3 There's plenty where that came from! ;)

Bob: Ahh One Piece...one of the many animes of my childhood :3 Yup, I did!

Penguin20: Oh! Thanks! (hugs you tightly right back) haha :)

Cassey: Here's something short with Royai, but I promise I'll include them again! :)

HackerSlash: Uh...hi, I guess? First of, why in the hell are you even reading so many chapters of mine if you aren't satisfied with the way I write? I don't mean to be rude, but there's a reason writers often write "Don't like, don't read" in their author notes. If you learned a thing or two about "being civil" then write a review anytime, but don't give me anymore "crap" about finding a story "shitty" after you read 90 chapters. Please, no offense.

The beautiful simple things

"If you take the time to really look at simple things you will come to realize that they really are beautiful," - unknown

Flowers

"Colonel, are you drunk?" Riza was already in her pajama's when her phone rang and she got up to answer it, it was two in the morning and she certainly hadn't been in the mood for chit chat.

At least not this kind of chat.

The words were slightly slurred, but not to the extent of leaving the owner of the voice incapacitated by the alcohol intake he had had, "Not much, no...I don't think so."

Riza waited patiently for Roy to continue speaking but it seemed like she had to take the first step again, "...Colonel, why are you calling me at this time? Has there been an emergency?"

She made a mental calculation of how long she needed to dress, arm herself and locate him before something bad happened to her superior, after all he was known to attract unwanted attention. Inebriated, he was worse.

"No...no I don't think so." She was about to ask him if his vocabulary has been limited to only these words until he started speaking again, "Listen...my car is full of flowers," his voice was as serious as if commanding a battalion of soldiers, but the words behind it were utterly ridiculous.

Riza rose an eyebrow, "Flowers?" she briefly contemplated on asking him how in the world he could buy flowers in his state, much less purchase so many that could fill his car if his words were to be taken seriously.

"...Yes, I recon there's been a kind old lady from whom I purchased them...lilies, magnolias, roses, tulips-" before he could count off all the exotic flowers he had bought, Riza stopped him.

"Colonel, I suggest you go home, I doubt you know what you're saying in your current state of mind," she shook her head, worry still tickling at the back of her conscious despite knowing he was alright. He was drunk and a drunk Roy Mustang was as dangerous as a kitten, depending on his state of inebriation of course.

"Tis no good...I know very well what I'm saying...Lieutenant...do you mind *hiccup* taking the flowers? I don't know what to do with them," Riza's brow twitched.

"...Go home, sir," she was about to hang up when Roy's voice suddenly, magically, turned a bit more sober than it was seconds ago.

"I'm serious," it made her pause and Riza considered this.

Now what would it look like if she went out in two in the morning only to return with a car full of flowers and a drunk man dressed in military garb at her doorstep? Her neighbors had met Roy a few times and could identify him by sight, no doubt there would be rumors spreading fast.

"Sir...I don't think it's a very good idea, would you please get in your car and go home? I still expect you ready for work in the morning," she didn't bother stressing him to be punctual, he knew the routine.

"...under one condition," Riza sighed, for what felt like the umpteenth time since starting this conversation, before she replied with a soft "Yes?"

"...take the flowers-" she hung up, placing her phone at her night desk and sighing, throwing herself back on her bed.

Black Hayate whined, looking at his awake owner, who seemed in distress. Riza smiled at him tiredly, "I don't know boy...sometimes I worry for his sanity,"

Her phone flashed and Riza reached out to take it again, finding she had a new message.

When she opened it she rolled her eyes, "Can you open the door? I don't think I can carry all these flowers by myself,"

With a exasperated huff and a small smile on her face, Riza covered herself with a robe before she walked to the door to help a certain Colonel of hers to carry all the flowers he had bought, he hadn't been joking when he said his car had been filled with them, her whole apartment was filled by the time they moved the last bouquet of flowers in.

What Riza later found out, each bouquet held a single red rose and in each one, there were small rectangular cards, sloppy handwriting decorating the inside of them.

"A rose for every time you made me smile,"

Riza couldn't believe he turned into a romantic when drunk.

Long hugs

"This is awkward as hell," Ed commented, squirming and trying not to bite the hand off currently tightly wrapped around him as if he were a large, oversized teddy bear.

The blonde older male behind him pouted, "Edward, don't be like that to your old man! I haven't seen you in years and you punched me on our first meeting!" Hohenheim whined, cooing as he ruffled his son's hair affectionately.

Ed growled and swatted at his hands blindly, "Knock it off! I'm not some kid! Argh! Hohenheim!" if he could actually see where he was hitting, he would have punched him in the face.

Alphonse watched in amused perplextion as his father and brother half wrestled, half hugged near the camp fire, Hohenheim grinning and ruffling his older son's hair while Ed looked ready to murder him.

The younger sibling sighed and Greed asked from beside him, "So...are they always like that?" he tilted his head, Ling thinking the same thing apparently as they conversed within their shared mind.

The armored boy nodded affirmatively, "Well...I'm sure if they spend more time with each-other then it can be considered as "always"," Greed nodded silently, watching how father and son quarreled in a admittedly sappy familial fashion.

"Wanna hug too?" Ling piped in with a grin.

"I promise much pain if you even dare, piss ant," the silent threat prompted Ling to laugh.

Shy smiles

"Uhm...h-here, these are for you," Alphonse shyly held out the small bouquet of flowers he had handpicked at the back of the Rockbell house, a light pink dusting his cheeks as he shyly handed them to the small Xingese woman in front of him.

Mei blinked, Xiao Mei blinked.

Alphonse was suddenly run over by the small yet fierce weight that slammed against him, knocking him to the ground and crushing the flowers in-between him and Mei, who nuzzled her face into his chest, squealing happily.

The face of the younger Elric deepened into a full on blush, watching how the Xingese princess straightened to look at him in the eyes, a blush covering her own cheeks, "Oh thank you so, so, so much Alphonse! I love them!" she held the slightly crushed flowers in her hands, looking ecstatic at having received such a precious and thoughtful gift from her love interest.

"Ah, you're welcome Mei," Alphonse chuckled, scratching at the back of his neck and giving her a soft, shy smile.

It was that shy yet endearing smile that made Mei's heart beat just a little faster and her mind reel just a bit more.

Starry nights

"You can finally see the stars from here," Winry commented, gazing into the dark, endless abyss of darkness that was the night sky as lights twinkled above their heads, some bigger and brighter, some smaller and less bright but just as beautiful.

Ed nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I nearly forgot what they looked like," he chuckled to himself, leaning back on his hands to view the small particles made of gas.

Winry smiled from beside him, "I bet you did, travelling to all those places with such polluted air, it's a miracle you even know what stars are," she giggled and Ed chuckled, gently nudging her with his knee.

"Very funny, I happen to know a lot more about them than you gear head. Besides, it's not like I never saw them. Al and I sometimes preferred to sleep outside than in closed rooms and sometimes, we could see a few of them, but..." Ed's look was soft as he said this, "...they never really looked like these. So bright..."

Winry nodded absentmindedly, taking in a deep breath of the fresh slightly crisp night air. It was warm enough to not wear a sweater, but just cold enough to enjoy the fresh air in your lungs.

Ed's deep, soothing voice entered Winry's ears again, "Let's stay like this, just a bit longer," Winry nodded, leaning back a bit to lean gently against Ed's chest as he rested his chin on her head, his expression softening.

She smiled and lightly snuggled against him, "Mhm...let's," they both looked up at the dark sky and they swore one of them grew just a bit brighter.

Signs of love

"So, when exactly did he confess? Why didn't anybody tell me anything!? He doesn't have the balls to do that!" Paninya crossed her arms, skeptically looking at the duo standing in the kitchen.

She had decided a random visit was in order to her favorite mechanic, as well as that idiot friend-slash-secret-not-so-secret-love-interest Edward Elric. She didn't see the blonde mechanic in a long while and as soon as she set foot inside the house, Winry had insisted on tinkering with her automail since it "desperately" needed a maintenance check.

As far as that necessity had been taken care of, she had met Ed head first. Literally. Her greeting style of the older Elric was unique in its own right, either way a good kick to the face, a head butt or picking his pocket.

Picking his pocket had been the second thing she did, unfortunately all he had on his person was his old State Alchemist pocket watch and she had been quick to give that back, commenting something under the lines of "not much of use since its not in service anymore".

However, when the two childhood friends had retreated to the kitchen to do something, Alphonse had updated her on any important events she had missed.

Apparently she also missed the dense, thick headed Edward Elric finally confessing his more-than-obvious-feelings to Winry.

You can't blame her for seeing a problem in that equation, "Hold it Alphonse...just...how did he even manage to say that without being a walking stuttering disaster?" she rose an eyebrow skeptically.

The younger Elric sighed and shook his head, "Oh, no, I didn't mean that. He never said he loved her," Paninya nearly fell of her stool, clutching the table for support.

"What?! What do you mean he never said he loved her? Then how did he confess?!" did she miss something here?

Alphonse shook his head again, "Just look, he is telling her how much she means to him right now," discreetly, he motioned with his head toward the kitchen.

Paninya strained her eyes to see it.

Winry was having trouble reaching for a plastic container box located at a higher shelf, her fingers just shy of reaching the bottom of it.

Ed's taller frame easily grabbed the container and handed it to Winry, who smiled brightly at him and thanked him. Ed smiled back and nodded, going back on working on the unclogging the sink. Winry had accidentally flushed rice down the drain and now it was all clogged up thanks to the sticky composition the rice was made of, especially when half dried and stuck somewhere in a extremely tight space down the pipe.

"I don't see it," Paninya deadpanned, eyes zeroing in on them but seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

Alphonse rose an eyebrow in confusion, "Try again, here this time, it's Winry," Paninya leaned forward in her chair.

Ed cursed silently when he cut his finger on the sharp edge of the screwdriver he used for the sink, glaring at the small wound inflicted by it, he huffed.

Winry gently took his hand and washed the blood and grime away with running tap water, before she took a bandage she kept stored in a small drawer next to a shelf with cutlery, meant for small emergencies in the kitchen such as these, and wrapped the plaster around the wound, covering the cut and stopping the bleeding.

"Thanks Win," Ed smiled at her and Winry blushed lightly, smiling back.

"You're welcome Ed, just be careful next time okay?" he nodded and got back to work.

Alphonse looked ready to cry, "How adorable, they're growing up so fast..."

"I don't see it," Paninya deadpanned flatly, shaking her head furiously.

"But how? They said all they needed!" Alphonse couldn't believe how she didn't see the obvious.

She snorted, "Come on Alphonse! All they did was thank each-other for helping the other and that's that!"

"And that's where you are wrong Paninya," Alphonse chided softly, "There is another way to express love without using words," she tilted her head to the side, thoroughly confused.

He held a finger up as he explained, "Ed shows Winry how he feels by doing small chores for her or things she needs help with, like reaching for, after so many years, higher shelves she can't, helping her with the household or carrying the bags for her. Winry does the same," he nodded to himself, proud of his explanation.

The dark skinned girl still didn't understand," But how can someone know the love each-other just by that alone!? Friends help each-other too!"

Alphonse chuckled, "But it's in the way they look at each-other that's different,"

Indeed, the secret looks both were giving each-other spoke volumes of their feelings, feelings which needn't be voiced aloud.

Feelings they very well could convey through actions. After all, actions speak louder than words, now don't they?

Yup! Very short but I promise I'll try to do better! I don't know when I'll be able to update next, but I hope tomorrow! :) Thanks for reading! Part 2?