a/n: SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. a lot has happened, my tumbs got suspended for bs reasons and i've been trying to get it back and ana started another trimester at uni. but thank you sososoosososo much for your patience and love and support in spite of all this! This chapter is a plotty but we'll ramp up the heat soon!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

i'll continue to go down kicking / rebecca morgan frank, the moon's magnetic field once came from an asteroid

As far as friendships go, Maes Hughes is easily Roy Mustang's oldest to date. He's had acquaintances and colleagues - some that left and some that went, but none stuck by Roy harder than a tick on a toe than Maes Hughes. Inseparable through college, closely associated in the military, Maes was Roy's right hand man during it all. In turn, Roy was his best man for his wedding, was a no-brainer for being chosen as Elicia's godfather.

Even though their work in the military had led them in different ways - Maes in intelligence, and Roy in research and development - it hadn't stopped them from being closely involved in the other's work. And it was because of that close involvement, that Roy found himself even in a position to be grateful for being alive. After the Incident, it took a lot to deal with the deaths of those who working with him because of his research and where Greta was absent, Maes was there, quietly supporting, with no passing judgments.

He trusted Maes to see a more human perspective to things, that not everything was black or white. He'd say sage things like 'look at the forest for the trees' or something like that. That 'the path of doing good isn't always clean, and now you know the difference'.

Even with all that, Roy isn't sure if he could trust him with this, because this was a bit more delicate. This was a bit more than just black and white or grey. This fell in the territory of 'what the fuck do you think you are doing' and the look Maes gives him when he emerges from the study cannot be construed as anything but.

His eyes take in the full picture before him: his best friend has made himself mightily at home. Roy quickly blurts out, "Maes what are you doing here?" He chokes a little on his words and he'd find it incredibly amusing and uncanny about this being another time they've been caught. But there's no humour in this moment, only increasingly awkward silence. It's uniquely alarming because, even with all of the years knowing Maes, Roy simply doesn't know how he'll react to this. He swallows down the smile that threatens to appear - right now, he can't rely on what he knows. Best friend or not, Maes Hughes has his limits and Roy is careful to be mindful of them.

Maes' eyes flick over to Riza, standing next to Roy, and she hasn't said a word. She's expressionless, but her eyes are a bit wider than usual and it's glaringly obvious how tensely she holds herself. "Well," Maes starts, grinning as he slowly shifts his eyes back to Roy, just as he cleans a piece of food off his fork. "Someone rudely hung up on me..."

"Last I checked, that wasn't a crime. But breaking and entering is…" His eyes fall to the fork hanging limply in his friend's hand. "Are you eating my quiche?"

Hughes snorts, setting down his mug. "You eat out your girlfriend, I eat my wife's quiche. It's all about preference and mood."

"Hijo de tu madre... Gracia made that for me."

Maes nearly chokes on his bite. "You kiss a pretty girl like that with that mouth of yours?." He points to Riza with the end of his fork and continues munching on Roy's leftovers. "What would Chris say?"

Roy deflates, sighing deeply. Insofar as he can deduce from the scene in front of him, his best friend is more curious than anything else, and he'll take all the good signs he can get right now. "Riza, this is Maes Hughes."

"I'm his ex-husband-"

"Hughes is an old friend," Roy interjects strongly, glaring daggers at the uninvited guest. Maes merely winks and puts down his cutlery.

"Ri-za," he says, elongating the vowels in a singsong way like he's tasting the name in his mouth or the savouring the remnants of the quiche. Maes wipes his mouth and hands on a paper towel and rounds the corner with an extended hand. He stops, before looking back at Roy, and pivots back slowly towards Riza. "The ...student?"

Her eyes narrow and she gives him something close to a glare, but much too benign to be considered one. It's a subtle change in her expression, the slight tightening to her jaw and the smile that doesn't grow to her eyes. She takes his hand regardless. "In a manner of speaking."

"Ho ho, she's a sharp one." He lets go and saunters back behind the island. "Undergrad? Masters? PhD?"

"Maes-" Roy says sternly and asks again. "Why are you in my house?"

Maes stares at him incredulously. "I feel like there are other matters worth talking about. Elephants in the room, perhaps?"

Riza finally moves more than he has seen her manage in the last couple of minutes, looking away and firmly announcing, "I think I should go."

"Riza, wait - no-" Roy tries to catch her arm, but she's quick and halfway to the study already. He shoots a look at Maes that says 'don't move' and the returned shrug at least distracts him somewhat from the mounting fear in his heart. It was far too foolish of him to think that his absences would not be noted.

In hindsight, it was straight up stupidity to think that his friends and family would just patiently wait, rather than take matters into their own hands when he pulled himself back from their lives - partially because his actual workload had increased, but also because of this new part of his life. Roy doesn't want to imagine the shitshow that could've happened if it was his mother waiting, patiently waiting with eyes as sharp as knives, but he can't cast off the feeling Maes can be just as deadly if given enough motive.

Like before, she's stuffing her belongs in her bag; it's not a far leap to guess that she's scared - and justly so. She doesn't respond to her name as he urges her to stop. He stalls her hand to stop it from shoving in yet another poetry collection. "Riza - he isn't like Olivier."

She stops, and grips the fabric of her duffle bag tightly. Her hands are trembling, knuckles blanched white with how tightly she holds herself. "This is too much," Riza manages. "I don't know who this man is, if he can be trusted -"

"He's my friend."

"And I thought Olivier was my friend and look how that turned out," she counters sourly, leaning back against the side of the armchair. "The more people who know about this, the more likely we'll get found out and then it's downhill from there."

He cuts her off before she can speak truths that hit a little too close for comfort. "You're just realizing this now? And please, Riza - the blame for this will always fall more harshly on me than you for this, and it absolutely should."

Riza scoffs, putting fingers on her temples and closing her eyes. "Like that even matters-"

"It does," he tells her firmly, cupping her jaw and coaxing her to look at him properly.

"I meant... it won't matter who gets the brunt of the consequences, we'll both still have to pay in one way or another. We aren't thinking clearly and…" she trails off in thought. She's scared - impossibly, impossibly scared; he sees it clear as day in her eyes, hears it in the way her voice hitches in her throat. Roy realises that she has to know that he is too, but not because of the man waiting in his kitchen. This whole situation that they've found themselves in - none of it is ideal but the bed has been made and now they must lie in it.

She deserves that much, at least.

"We didn't get through the entire semester just to end up here. I took off and left you to handle her... and in a way I trusted you to handle that, so let me handle this, please." His thumbs rub over her cheekbones slowly. "Maes is my oldest friend. He's been with me through damn near everything. He will want to understand."

After a moment, she concedes and lets her shoulders drop. She turns her head and kisses his palm softly. "I still don't think I should be here," she murmurs.

"No one is asking you to leave, but I understand if you feel the need to."

"Thank you." She draws near, slipping her arms around his neck. He pulls her closer, arms settling around her waist. He feels her inhale and exhale slowly, nails dragging absentmindedly along his shoulders. "Do you mind if I shower before I go?" she asks, voice small and muffled against his skin.

Roy smiles, shakes his head, and kisses her hair. "No, take as long as you need." He presses another kiss close to her temple, drawing back. "I'll be outside."

Maes perks up as Roy re-enters the kitchen, grabbing his own mug and placing it under the nozzle of the coffee maker. Coyly he offers, "Trouble in paradise?"

Roy takes five seconds to exhale in an attempt to control his temper. He changes tact. "How did you get in?"

Maes points again with his fork to the spare key glinting against the island top. "You really need to find a better place to hide that. If I can find it in three minutes, burglars will find it in five."

Roy takes a sip of coffee, mindful of the temperature. "You're not the first person to point that out. There's nothing worth nicking here, unless there's a black market for organic chemistry books."

"People are an entirely different matter."

"I'm sure I could fend off a would-be burglar."

Maes grimaces, shaking his head. "I know you can. But could she?" His head jerks towards the hallway. "You'd be facing a whole set of questions yourself if it was reported to the authorities. Student discovered in lecturer's apartment after a botched B&E." His voice takes on that high-pitched, nasally cadence that Roy hates; he hates the unsettling truth that lingers in his words.

Yet. He had relied too much on the supposed safety of houses - and been proven wrong two times too many. At this rate the library or even his office was a statistically safer place to rendezvous.

"You have no proof that she's my student," he replies loftily. This time, Maes laughs loudly, openly.

"And I know you well enough to know you will never be a homewrecker, no matter how pretty a girl might be. You're too honourable." He takes another bite of quiche. "Besides, you won me a month without cow tongue tacos, so it's all worked out."

Roy chokes on his coffee. "You bet on me?"

Maes nods, stabbing at the quiche some more. "Gracia didn't think you'd become that depraved. She was convinced it was just someone who we weren't familiar with-" he pauses, frowning in concentration, "-no, me being right trumps hers because I was more specific. You can back me up on this tonight."

Roy knows he's walking into a trap, but he asks anyway. "Tonight?"

"Hah! Good one. What present did you get her anyway - I promised her a pony and a Mustang is technically better, so-" Maes' head turns and Roy isn't quick enough to wipe the confused expression off his face.

"Don't tell me you forgot?"

Oh shit. He scrambles to come up with an excuse but nothing is coming to the forefront of his mind - between his deadlines, his work and the messy landscape that was his and Riza's relationship...it had completely slipped his mind that this weekend was his goddaughter's third birthday. He had agreed he'd adjust his schedule to make an appearance… which had been buried in a hundred other emails in his personal inbox about his sister's pregnancy.

The fork is pointed at him, jabbing forward accusingly. "You did! You did forget!"

"Maes..."

"She's your goddaughter for fucks sake!"

"Sorry." Roy glares at his friend and then eases back while rubbing the back of his neck. "I've been busy, okay? End of trimester is always shit."

"But you have enough time to fuck your student still, I see how it is." Maes stops himself, shaking his head vehemently. "No, no. Not the main reason I was so insistent on driving you back home. You gotta help me understand, or I'm not gonna be any better than some old Tom, Dick or Harry off the street when it comes to you two. Believe me when I say I want to be on your team, Roy."

There's silence as Roy fiddles with the handle of his mug.

"I'm waiting." Maes sets down his fork, pushing the plate of quiche away.

"It's...hard to explain. And it doesn't exactly help that you arrived like this."

"How was I meant to? I fucking called you man, that should've been more than enough warning to put it in your pants. Should have expected less."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." The truth of Maes' words sting a little too sharply. "One of her flatmates discovered us in a similar position…" he sighs, moving around the kitchen island and takes the other seat. "It didn't end so well."

Maes frowns. "They sound like a pleasant person."

Roy laughs bitterly. "She had her reasons. I can't say I blame her, but that doesn't exactly endear me to her either. Apparently Riza's explanations fell on deaf ears."

"And what explanation is that? From where I'm standing it just looks like cradle-robbing."

Roy bites his tongue and counts to five before responding. "She's legal, Maes, before you get any ideas."

"How legal?"

"Twenty."

Maes whistles lowly. "And she's your student."

"Give it another month and then she won't be." It's hard not to let the petulant tone slip through - but this isn't the time nor the space to be dramatic, not with the uncharacteristically somber attitude of his best friend.

As if on cue, a door shuts and Riza darts from the hallway towards the door.

Roy starts to say her name but Maes uses a voice specifically reserved for when he's parenting Elicia. "For his sake, I need to know something." It's in a timbre that isn't at the volume for yelling but it still reverberates throughout the apartment, dripping in assumed authority. "If you walk out of this apartment, then this secret will walk out there with you - I can promise you that."

She stills and Roy's jaw drops. "Hughes-!"

Riza pivots on her feet, displeasure more than evident across her face. There are still wet tendrils of hair making wet spots on her shirt.

"Good, I got your attention." Maes nods his head expectantly over towards the couch. "Now, sit."

"What?" Roy manages, quickly rounding the kitchen island, coffee long forgotten. "What're you-"

"Both of you." He emphasises, prodding Roy's side none-too-kindly. "I need to talk to you both."

Riza's eyes flick to him, and he's quick to realise what she's asking. He nods shortly, pushing away his friend's incessant fingers, all but collapsing back into the couch. Riza arranges herself neatly against him, legs curled up under her. The hand that had stretched out along the top of the couch drifts to her damp hair, and he pulls it back over her shoulder, carefully working through the knots.

Maes watches the two of them with a knowing smirk, before dragging the armchair to face them properly over the coffee table. "Much obliged sweetheart," he begins, shrugging off his jacket. "The sooner we deal with this, the sooner I can be out of your hair." He pauses here, a wry smile exposing his teeth. "I guess Roy is another matter entirely-"

"I swear to god if you're only gonna joke about-"

He laughs loudly, hands raised in surrender. "Okay, okay, message received. Only serious talk from here on out." In a matter of seconds the smile has been wiped from his face and Roy finds himself face-to-face with the Maes Hughes of yesteryears, all analytical guile and shrewd cunning. It's been years since he's had to deal with a line of questioning that will be as thorough as what his best friend is capable of - hell, even his viva voce didn't intimidate him in the way that Maes' talent for interrogation could.

"First things first. What are you assholes doing?" His face shows no hint of jokes or jests, brow flat and eyes hard, cold.

His fingers still in her hair.

"Let me rephrase." He continues, leaning back in the armchair and folding his hands over his knee. "Why are you-" and he gestures at Riza "-risking your academic career to fool around with this piece of work?" He raises his eyebrows at Riza expectantly.

"Some friend you are," she shoots back acidly.

"Sometimes you need friends to tell you the hard truths. When you grow up, you'll learn the value in that."

"Maes, that's enough."

"When I need to talk to you, I will." He slowly turns his head to Roy. The jovial, fatherly face Roy has come to accept as normal has completely fallen away, replaced with an expressionless facade that offers absolutely no insight into what his best friend is thinking. "So, Miss Riza. Did he coerce you? Did he bribe you? Is this a serious commitment? Did he promise you as much?"

Steadily, she replies, "Are you asking if we've exchanged promise rings?"

"Very mature. I'm sure that'll go down like a cup of cold sick in front of the disciplinary board when they revoke your qualifications… assuming you have any? I doubt any tertiary institution in the country will want to have anything to do with you after this gets out."

Riza breathes in. "It won't," she replies.

"I admire the confidence, but already, I know you're in an illicit relationship with your professor. So does your flatmate."

Roy recoils within himself, not expecting Maes to be so forthcoming with what he knows. He can feel her eyes on him.

"After all, there's no guarantee either of us will keep quiet." Maes continues. If he noticed the exchange between them, he's made no show of it. "There must be an immense amount of trust between you two, or you're both painfully reckless. So which is it?"

Riza glares at Maes, stony-faced. No longer lying against him, her spine is taut and she brushes away his hands, still tangled in her hair.

This… thing Maes does, it's always been unnerving. It's just as condemning to stay silent as it was to speak. It was his specialty, reading people like this - it's why he was so damn good at it.

"You don't know," Maes says after the brief pause. The air around them is still tense, and then he sighs, standing out of his chair suddenly. He snaps his fingers as he dwells on the thought, pacing behind his the chair while the two of them can only watch. "Or it's a mixture of both. It's muddled, isn't it?"

Her lips purse, and Roy bites his tongue to stop himself from speaking. Maes isn't interested in what he has to say - not when the reason for his distance and sporadic attention is sitting right in front of him. He picks at the skin around his fingernails, and watches her out of the corner of his eye. She's mulling over what to say - he's seen that expression on her face too many times to count - a chewed lip, furrowed brow.

"It was… a fling, in the beginning," she starts, unsure but somehow sincere. "It was a mutual attraction that went beyond what either of us expected it to be. It was difficult to be in the same room as him and then we made the mistake of deciding to be around each other more. We weren't terribly concerned with the rules regarding proper conduct either. We kissed…" she turns to look at him properly, a small smile playing with the edges of her mouth, "...a month into the semester."

"Probably the only way I was going to shut you up about making up for the participation grade." He realizes how easily he said that without a second thought and chances a careful glance in her direction.

Smiling, she turns back to Maes, and tucks her hair behind her ears. "Believe me when I say I tried to put that incident behind me. I know you did." Her voice becomes softer with that last sentence directed towards him, almost uttered as forgival.

Roy can see the cogs aligning and pieces falling together in his friend's expression as he nods slowly. "When you last came to Central," Maes deduces. "I told you to screw your head on straight. Clearly that advice went in one ear and straight out the other. Typical." By now, he's leaning on the back of the chair looking at them both with his hands clasped together. "So, what now kids?"

"What do you mean?"

"Down the road, what's your plan? I'm surprised you've been able to have a relationship for this long without reaching some kind of internal hurdle. I assume you aren't out and about too often with dates, knowing how stupid that would be in such a small town. But eventually, hiding will be too much for one of you. And my bet's on this useless clown."

Roy groans, running a hand down his face. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime, bud." Maes quips back as he sits back down. "I guess my question is, do you want to deal with that, just to be with him? You're an attractive young lady who could charm the pants off any young stud in the district."

"The 'young studs' around here are uncouth stock horses at best. Roy is a pleasant change of pace." She glances at him fondly, her brown eyes bright and teasing. "I can't say I haven't considered what happens beyond this trimester… but we have to get through it first. It seems stupid to put the cart before the horse in this situation."

Roy can see Maes mouth to him none too discreet: I like her, and he can't help but smile, even if the horse jokes are at his expense.

"Then it's settled. You'll both attend Elicia's birthday party."

"Come again?"

"Give it another few hours, you animal. C'mon - it makes sense! Elicia gets her godfather actually turning up for once and not being an altogether disappointment, and you can show Riza how to paint the town red. It's not like we don't have the room for both of you."

"No. You're talking about going to Central today."

"And?"

"We should," Riza speaks up suddenly.

"What?" Roy balks.

Her eyebrows crease slightly at his reaction. "Academically, there aren't any pressing matters - for either of us - and 'Becca is going to be busy cramming. I'd hate to be in her way."

Just like that, Roy is officially out of excuses.

"Then it's settled," Maes announces triumphantly. "You can see the city if you've never been, but more importantly you can see Elicia!" He whips out his wallet and the string of photos cascade down to the floor; Roy notices he's added more. Riza peers at them, somewhat perplexed at the sheer volume.

The offer is tantalising. The likelihood of either of them being recognised was close to nil, and he could actually show her some of the city - the real city too, not the crappy tourist version that cost an arm and a leg to explore. It's been a long time since he's had any real free time and the possibility that he could simply spend it with her is all too tempting.

He cuts Maes off before he launches into passionate explanation about how flawless his daughter is. "Do we need to drop by yours on the way?" he asks, stretching out his legs. While the ride to Central wasn't terrible, it was long, and he's not sure if he can withstand Maes' questioning for another three hours.

"No, I should I have enough here," she responds absent-mindedly as she scrutinizes a particular photo. She doesn't realize the clues she's given Maes from that statement.

Despite her belongings being strewn all over his apartment, she still packs faster than him, and Roy finds himself wary of leaving her alone with Maes for any length of time. It's not that he doesn't trust his best friend - but Maes has an unfortunate tendency to poke and prod without a care for propriety or boundaries. He remembers the gift he bought for Elicia at the last moment - a collection of books, tied up in countless pink ribbons. Maes merely smiles at him in a bland fashion, and Riza lingers near the doorway like she's debating whether this was a good choice or not.

They're out of his house before the afternoon traffic starts to pick up again. Even as the doors close to Maes' car, he can't help but be surprised, and appreciative, at how she's taking all of this in stride, knowing the last time with her roommate didn't result in an impromptu weekend trip. It speaks volumes of how much she trusts him.

Really, he should be thanking Maes because it wasn't painfully evident until this afternoon just how much he meant to her.

Maes, a true testament to his hasilty whispered promise as he loaded their luggage in the boot, keeps the conversation light and free from any prying questions. Roy knows that the illusion won't last - not certainly when Gracia realises who her husband had managed to coerce into coming back to Central.

The playful regret of introducing the two comes back with the nostalgia of seeing Central again.