When the train finally pulls to a stop and I've downed the last of my lemonade, Gracia and I stay seated, waiting for the stampede of passengers to die down to a safer minimum. Roy and Maes, sitting a good three tables away from us, wait for the crowd to simmer down as well.
I'm not too terribly happy with what was in store for me, seeing as the Colonel would be involved. The rest of the ride had been disquieting thanks to that inconsiderate mind of his. Gracia, before flourishing with bursts of euphoria and energy, had wasted away into a nervous wreck, occasionally drawing wearisome glances between Roy and I. Maes however, not on the best of sides after his previous comment, was determined not to break under the wrath of the two of us. Even from here, fiddling with the straw that had been given along with the drink, I could see his relentless smile as well as the Colonel's grouchy slump. It was apparent how horribly the opposite moods clashed with one another. If we didn't get out soon, someone was bound to lose their life.
Gracia sighs. "Ready?" she asks, striving for that fluctuating optimism. She stands, offering her hand to me and I graciously accept. I just couldn't see how anyone would ever resist her good natured personality. The woman was too generous.
"Yup," I beam to the best of my abilities. Without calling attention to the boys, we head on out into the drizzling outdoors. I exhale happily, savoring the fresh air. The water feels great on my skin, and it's almost possible for me to forget the additional companion we've taken in, the idea of having to spend more unnecessary time with an excuse of a gentleman. Almost.
"Crap! I left my umbrella back on the…" Roy's voice shatters my bliss, driving me to spin angrily around to demand for some respect to this beautiful weather. However I'm unable to do so by the sheer panic that has taken over his features. The train doors, immediately after the men stepped off, had shut, refusing to budge open. Roy, determined little bastard he was, didn't seem to understand that it wouldn't be open anytime soon and was bashing on the surface with his fist in a sort of frenzy. Maes rolls his eyes. I take in the scene with inquisitiveness.
"Damn it," the boy mutters thus ending his foolish fit. Maes, sickened by his friend's behavior, takes his place back with his wife in his arms. I make sure to flash Gracia a smile that expresses my admiration for the love entangling between the two before turning back to speak once more with my sworn enemy. I take a deep breath.
"What is it?" I ask, attempting an unaggressive, non-provoking approach. Roy, stiffening, casts a dreadful glare that could have melted anyone on the spot, were it not me. His eyes pulse with a swirling rage and he bites his lip before snapping.
"It's raining."
Unconsciously I shrug. Maes makes a scoffing noise.
"Yeah? So?"
Roy doesn't seem to find this that simple. He tensely raises his hands to his head, blocking a few droplets. He tends to remain covered by the decomposing, wooded roof of the station, grimacing at the puddles forcing their way into the cracks of the floorboards. It's then I recall he is in fact, the Flame Alchemist, and what more could a flame hate than the terrifyingly cool substance of H2O?
I can't seem to rid of the sneer possessing my lips.
"Is the Colonel afraid of a little rain?" I leer, lifting my chin up in a vicious, merciless fashion. In response, Roy reddens then goes off bubbling a series of lame excuses. Dismissively, I wave him off and begin making my way up to the Hughes who were all too happy to depart with just me in tow. Sadly, having only the three of us make the trip wasn't going to be an option.
"I hate rain. I really, really hate rain. Why the hell does it have to rain on a Sunday of all days?" he complains, jogging to keep in step with us despite our increasing speed. Gracia, even with her pure goodliness, hardly stirs at his rant. Maes, staring on ahead, speaks to me in a tone that implied we were simply on a pleasant stroll.
"He gets like that because he's absolutely useless when he's wet."
I grin, scrutinizing Roy's heated reaction. "You don't say," I whistle. "Care to light a match for me?"
"Care to dry my hair for me?" he retorts, huffing. I open my mouth, then shut it again. No need to start a squabble with Gracia here in the middle.
She tosses an appreciative expression.
"What, no comeback, Bubbles?" he antagonizes, giving up with his pitiful display of shielding himself from the horrendous wrath of the light sprinkle. I flinch but convince myself, with great, great difficulty, to just let the moment slide. He wasn't worth wasting energy on. Not at all.
"All right," Maes claps, bringing me to attention. Gracia beams with a revived excitement, closing her eyes in absolute adoration. "Roy and I will drop by my place and grab a couple of things before heading on down."
At this, Roy lets out an audible sigh.
"Misaki and Gracia," Maes starts but then interrupts himself with a nauseatingly sweet peck on Gracia's lips, gushing with a storm of feelings. Unthinkingly, Roy and I toss each other an uncomfortable look before realizing who we were dealing with and shooting a last second scowl. "You girls are going to get a head start and have the area to yourselves for a bit."
I was perfectly okay with that. And based on the way Gracia was really glowing, she was just as fine.
"Alright, let's get to it then! Girls, be safe," Maes says, wrapping his beloved in a final departing gesture. Her face presses against his chest and she lovingly embraces the man, muttering for his own safe travels. At one point, Maes goes emotional and buries his face in her neck murmuring how badly he missed her already.
Roy and I just sort of say nothing and refuse to make the same mistake of sharing the same emotions. Instead, we clear our throats simultaneously, which wasn't exactly something we were willing to do either. Fitfully, I glare at him and glares right on back, beads of water making his hair glisten.
"Your hair is certainly sparkling today, Colonel," I hiss, completely disregarding my self-restraining attempts. "It suits that boyish appeal you have going on. Bet the ladies truly love going out with the facial features equivalent to a nine year old."
Roy smiles irritably, parting his lips to fire his own attack when Maes snatches the collar of his shirt, yanking him away. I'm feeling relatively smug, having the final word. Roy, however, has a darkening aura, and I know he's vowing to get another nasty comment in when we met back up at the 'usual place'. The ball was in his court now.
"Misaki, ready to go?"
I turn to Gracia, erasing evidence of my devilish contentment of beating my opponent. "Yes~~" I sing, feeling strangely warm and eager.
"Papa!" I yelled, barging through the front door with a hearty kick. "I'm home!"
From one of the bedrooms, I heard the usual "Welcome home!" and smiled. I'd just gotten out of class, racing Naomi through the market street, making sure to pull off a couple of harmless pranks on the local bullies. It had been yet another ravishing success on our parts. Thick as thieves. We were invincible when it came to the dirtiest tricks in the book. Normally I would have stuck around the girl to ploy our next form of attack, but I was craving a bit of knowledge from my old man. I'd been dying to give knife throwing a go. Those blades had been calling for me for the last month and I was intending to answer!
As I stepped further inside, I took the opportunity to notice my surroundings. These returns back home in the daytime had been growing fewer and fewer the past few weeks. The place was an absolute mess. Newspapers strewn about, dishes piling on the tables, it was real chaos. From a nearby sofa, dust bunnies were invading the space. The stomach quenching stench of garbage drowned my senses. Even the floor seemed to stick to the soles of my shoes as I entered. Of course Papa and I were never the ones made for doing housework. Mama had always been the one to take care of that.
I shook my head, sending those thoughts away. What was I doing, recollecting the past? It'd only cause questions and Papa couldn't handle those anymore. No, Papa was doing better and I intended for him to continue that way. Mama was no concern of mine anymore. She could do whatever she so pleased for all I cared. I just needed to focus on Papa.
"Fujiin," Papa's voice summoned me, sounding tired. "Have you already gone and left me?"
"No!" I answered, sprinting to his side, finding him sitting cross legged on his mattress, perfectly straight. He had been meditating again. I grinned, knowing that he couldn't see it. But he could at least sense it. "Can't leave you not knowing the techniques in tossing knives. The thought of it is simply absurd!"
Papa laughed, reaching out his hand for mine and I instantly comply. With a soothing gentleness, he strokes the intricate lines on my palms, his dull, grey irises peering beyond what I could ever comprehend. He smiled and let out a playful, "Aha!" As scripted, I feign shock and wonderment, pleading to be told what my daily future read. He chuckled.
"It says here that you…You're going to…cook tonight's dinner!"
I groaned, slackening my shoulders. "Ah…Papa…I cooked yesterday," I whined. With a tsk, he wagged his finger, hushing me.
"But," he dragged on. "It is in exchange for a lesson. And what's this?" he stopped his tracing finger at the tip of my wrist, tapping it excitedly. "It is a lesson in…knife throwing it seems."
With a victorious whoop, I leapt into the air, then swallowed him up in a hug, planting kisses on his cheek. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" I went off, itching to run in circles, do a cartwheel, do something to commemorate the moment. Papa laughed at my miniature celebration, pushing himself off the creaky mattress, waving away my insistence to aid, as always.
"Child, child," he scolds, still maintaining that rare, wonderful smile. "You need more faith in your old man. I may be blind, but I'm not clumsy. Unlike some people."
Rolling my eyes, I lightly punched at his arm to which he evaded and rewarded me with a merciless chop to the head. With an exclamation, I rub the aching spot, going crimson from the lack of defense I put up. I'd always have trouble maintaining alertness after hearing exciting news or getting delightful surprises. It was a habit I needed to work on.
I prepared for the usual statement that followed my mistakes.
"Never let your guard down, even in the times you find it unnecessary," he and I both recited at the same time. Noting my mocking behavior, he went out and struck at me to which I caught on and avoided with a giggle. Grinning, he reached back out to ruffle my hair and I sweep him away, rolling my eyes.
"Come on, then," he said after ruining my precious locks. "Let's head on out to the 'battlefield' shall we?"
I nodded, going giddy at the idea of playing with those ancient blades. Oh how they glistened! So beautiful and positively dangerous! Naomi would freak were she to hear of what I'd learned. Of course, she'd probably throw a fit, hearing I'd chosen knives over her. In any case, I was happy. Mama may have been gone and money may have been short, but at the moment, everything was as it should have been.
Gracia and I had reached the 'usual place' without a problem. And quite the place it was.
A garden. The Hughes had their own 'private' garden, one of which they'd come across on one of their romantic explorations. They'd stumbled upon a menacing mouth of a hold, somewhere along the abandoned ruins of an alley, and with my reluctant, not quite so eager spirit, Gracia had directed me into the gaping abyss, leaving me to wonder what couples now a days truly found romantic.
Omitting the terrifying nightmare for claustrophobics and arachnophobias alike, when I'd been guided into the most horrifyingly darkest pits ever to exist in all of Aerugo and Amestris combined, I was greeted not by the unexpected ghoul of death, but a lovely patch of greenery with flowers adding a marvelous flood of colors and holy light streaming from the crumbling roof. Mists of rain powdered the tips of the grass, leaving the impression of twinkling stars. That is, if stars came out in the day and were actually on the ground. It was truly a wonderland. Something from a fairytale.
The only thing that I wasn't entirely sure was supposed to be there was the lone figure, holding a single rose and prodding around the plants carefully, oblivious to Gracia and I. Her blonde hair was wet, glistening from the dewdrops sliding to the ends. When I'm a hundred percent certain of her identity, I shake my head incredulously, marveling the strange series of coincidences spreading around. First Roy on the train and now Riza in the 'garden'.
"I'm sure you never mentioned going to Central," I speak aloud after telling Gracia how beautiful I found the place. And truly, I meant it.
Riza turns around, slightly surprised by my voice. But she recovers and comes up to me, holding out the rose that I distinctively remember being the one Maes tossed at me.
"I'm sure I never mentioned going anywhere specific," she answers with a smile, offering Gracia a friendly hello. Unlike the previous one, this surprising appearance is almost appreciated and I happily allow Riza in for the company. Curiously, though, I ask what had driven her to come to such a place. She laughs, pointing at the rose in my hand. "I came home to a forest of those," she says, passing Gracia an amused expression, making her blush. "And I knew they seemed oddly familiar. And what with the lack of my guest and her abandoned key," she pauses to cast a mock-scornful look at me to which I nervously chuckled. "I deducted that Misaki had either, a- attempted to run away, or b- been kidnapped by one of the most devious duos I've ever encountered."
Gracia and I pass a glance at one another, breaking into laughter. Riza, shaking her head, eventually joins in.
"So, you figured I'd been kidnapped, hmm?" I ask, taking a whiff of the wondrous aromas circling the massive room. Riza gives a nonchalant, lopsided smile.
"Well, I figured that you had more sense than the Colonel to keep to my rules," she admits. For a second I remember the closet full of her severe gun obsession and shiver.
"Yeah," I say with a twinge of fear. "Wouldn't want to get on your bad side."
She laughs sweetly, throwing a knowing look. "Had yourself a peek on my special collection hmm?" Gracia glances between the two of us, clueless. I flush, turning to act fascinated by some nearby petunias.
"Gracia, these are absolutely lovely," I go off, ignoring Riza's humorous expression. "Did you grow these, yourself?"
She nods, forgetting of the sniper's secretive hoarding problem. Gleefully she engages in a passionate, detailed explanation for how she and Maes had started bringing the place together. Starting off small with the daily visits, noting the emptiness, and deciding how the room would gather just enough sunlight to house some living things, they built up their savings for a variety of seeds. Flowers, grass, even some trees were thriving in this unexpected sanctuary. It truly amazed me how everything the Hughes seemed to touch bloomed with radiant life. Especially Gracia. Her words, her story telling, just the way she played with her vocabulary, it too brought on a reaction in me. Something homely rested with me as she spoke. Riza, taking her spot at my side as she had been the past few days, made me feel warm with the idea of sharing this moment with kind people. The wonderful revelation of not being alone, it was remarkable how much it seemed to cushion these wounds of mine, inside and out.
"…we even tried to make due with some fruit we had. To Maes and my surprise, we came in a few days later to the heavenly sight of peaches, strawberries, apples…"
My mind goes completely haywire and I grab Gracia's wrist with a soft persistence. "E-Eh…?" I mutter unintelligibly. Riza, alarmed, leans forward to read my expression to no avail. Gracia, panicking, went on a chant of concerns, asking what she had said.
"Misaki. What's wrong?" Riza asks.
"Did I say something upsetting?" Gracia follows.
I shake my head, peering into her eyes. Mirroring back is my own pair of sparkling eyes, tainted with the curse of my severe addiction. Anxiety attack or not, I was a fiend when it came to fruit. God, I loved it. Fruit. Fruit. Fruit.
"Did you say peaches and strawberries?" I ask hungrily, earning a couple of relieved sighs and Gracia's delightful laugh. Riza, however, thwacks me gently on the undamaged arm.
"You seriously need to rethink how you react to things," she mutters, trying to remain upset but caving in to my in awe expression.
"Yes," Gracia says through her giggles. "I did." She gets up to her feet, offering a hand to my blindingly cheerful complexion. "Care to sample a few?"
"Would I ever!" I exclaim, jolting up with a newly discovered energy and practically bouncing my way with her to a secluded section. Sure enough, I was not disappointed to see an entire forest of fruit, fruit, glorious fruit! Riza follows close behind and politely asks for an apple before grabbing one. Gracia, noting my restless state, insists I help myself as much as I'd like. She even travels deep inside the holy-like greenery to search for the peaches hidden deep within. Amusingly, Riza too takes a quick adventure inside, rustling through the plants and coming back out with a handful of oranges. I nearly die from happiness at the sight. She tosses me one, to which I easily snatch out of the air. Gracia returns with a couple of juicy looking, succulent, round circles of pure amazingness. I squeal with delight then cover my mouth, horrified. Riza, setting down the piles of fruit, takes the moment to note my reddening cheeks before collapsing in controlled hiccups of laughter. Gracia covers her own mouth shyly, tinging pink with humor. Pretty soon I join with them myself, awkwardly palming the treasures in my grasp.
A week ago, I never would have imagined ever coming across a day such as this. I never would have pictured anything involving my own laughter or the rewarding sounds of others joining with me. I never gave a single thought to finding myself in a beautiful, abandoned place, run by the most elegant plants or, as I took my first bite, stunningly rich flavors of peaches. The world seemed to no longer make sense. My guesses to how life would play out were shattered. My reality was being changed. The dark pits in my heart seemed not as menacing. Perhaps even a little cozy.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely shocked by these bursts of elations and comfort. It had only been a few days and already these girls have touched my heart. It's been only a few days and they already have the similar impact on me as my own best friend. How they managed it, dealing with my temper and putting up with my outbursts, I hadn't the faintest clue. But one thing was for sure.
I was entirely grateful.
"Gracia," I beam after a swallowing a mouthful of my third peach. Scattered all around me are samples of oranges, apples, strawberries, more peaches, pears, kiwi, and several other kinds. For a moment, during their little quest to appealing to my incessant cravings, I was slightly disappointed to find a lack of raspberries, but I eventually shrugged it off. It was still a goldmine in here. "This is absolutely…divine."
Riza snorts, gracefully chewing through her own collection, putting me to shame with the juices spilling from my lips. The peaches were that ripe.
"Thank you," Gracia replies, giggling at my attempts to clear my face of the juicy evidence. "I'm so glad that you're eating. And as always, your royal way of talking is absolutely adorable."
I go crimson, finishing the last of the fruit in my hand. Did I really speak that formally? I glance over at Riza, making the act of eating look like an art. How the heck could she manage that?
I shake away the hair from my face, smiling away the comment. I'm curious to know as to how such a run down, abandoned place didn't seem in danger of being demolished or discovered by other wandering couples or adventurers. I relay my thoughts to Gracia to which she laughs angelically.
"Oh, well, Maes and I, after discover this place, realized just how precious it would be for us." She stares up at the hole in the ceiling, reminiscing. I reach for a strawberry. "We knew others would undoubtedly come exploring the area at some point like us, so we thought we'd take some precautions."
"Oh?" I say, biting into the soft texture of the flavorful berry. Unwillingly, my lips curl in satisfaction.
"Yup," she sings, grinning.
"And what were your ways of keeping this place hidden?" I wonder aloud.
"Ghosts."
Riza laughs at my reaction. A strawberry hangs limply at my mouth and I pull it away, blinking with concern.
"Ghosts," I repeat. Gracia nods cheerily. It's not something I would have ever expected her to say. I prod for elaboration.
"Maes and I spread some rumors about the usual stereotypical murders occurring in here and it spread like a wildfire," she answers, holding a hand to her cheek in embarrassment.
"But wouldn't that have…enticed more people to check it out?"
"Oh, we made sure to take care of it." She flashes, to my surprise, a devious grin. Her shoulders shake with a dark laughter and I look to Riza for her reaction. She's calm and composed as ever, raising a brow at my uncertain stare. Normal behavior she seems to hint. This is absolutely normal. Which leaves the question… What did Maes and Gracia do?
I'm eager to ask for more when she turns to Riza, back to her pleasant smile, asking how life has been going for her. For the sake of my sanity and views on the gracious woman, I drop the subject. Instead, I peer back past the chatting girls and at the luminous forest of green they had been scavenging around in. It is then, the third attack of my inner child goes nuts. Bubbles. Fruit. And now a brand new place to go poking around in.
"If you want to go in, I don't mind."
I jump at Gracia's permission, going beet red and gripping that faltering maturity of mine. This would only be a repeat of the bathroom incident. It was embarrassing enough to demonstrate those sloppy feasting manners of mine, but to go around playing hide and seek like some second grader? The thought itself was shameful.
Gracia, noting the war within me, seems to understand. With a firm nod, she agrees with whatever plan she has cooking in her mind and jolts to her feet, looking between Riza and me.
"Riza…" she says, giving the room a quickly look over before squatting to my level and gradually snaking her petite hand around my wrist. Riza gives a quizzical expression, as do I. There's something gleaming in Gracia's eyes, almost playful. With a reassuring glance at my confused face, she grins and suddenly jerks me up in a surprisingly strong grip. "You're it!"
With that, she has me sprinting with her, heart galloping with the thunderous explosion of thoughts running marathons in my brain. What in the world was she doing? What's going on? What are we running? Who's "it"? What?
Quickly we dart into the thickness of her garden, moving around to a snug spot in the middle. She's smiling giddily now, releasing me to try asking what she was planning. But no words fall out since she presses her finger to my lips, amused.
"Don't you know?" she whispers, looking around with intensity. "Hide and tag requires that you aren't found or caught."
I look at her, blinking at her face fighting a wave of giggles. For a second I'm going straight to the "she's crazy" accusations, but then recall my own want to do something like this. Something from my childhood. I remember Naomi and the local boys playing a game like this at some points. I'd always been spending time with Papa, skipping the games and going to the fights and training sessions. But a part of me always wondered why hiding around and being chased was considerably fun. I'd always thought that when you hid and were found, you were supposed to jump kick your pursuer to the throat. That was just the way I was raised. Pride kept me from games. But years later, here's Gracia, pulling me into the midst of a memory. A memory of something I longed to be a part of. A golden opportunity.
And who was I to decline this?
"But," I whisper back, picturing Riza's professional behavior and precise actions. "Are you certain that Riza is the type to-"
"Found you."
I spun around just in the nick of time to roll from Riza's lunge. She recovers instantly, watching me with a fiery determination and Gracia squeals with mock fear, sprinting away in a trail of giggles. Riza passes a single glance at our companion before coming to the decision of having me as her prey. With a yowl of complete non-Riza excitement, she comes after me and I dodge away, feeling the rush of adrenaline pounding through my veins. Noting the good chances of losing her by going through the thickest of the plants, I sprint away, losing her in the dust, breathing heavily when I had reached a suitable, safe zone. I had the speed factor in my favor, but Riza, man, being the sniper, had the stealthy pros on her table. I could not pick up any sound. I didn't even notice when she'd snuck up behind Gracia and I. She's a skillful one, that girl.
Whoa. This was intense.
I'm about ready to beat my heart senseless due to the loud racket it appears to be making when I hear the smallest of rustles. Alarmingly, I pop back into a defensive crouch, saying to myself "it's just a game" "just a game" "games can't hurt you." Well, in my mind. Not aloud. Because Riza scares the absolute crap out of me. Especially now where I can't see or hear her.
So this was what it was like. A game of fear and adrenaline and chasing people like madmen.
My god. This was…this was so thrilling!
There's a scream and I life my head in alarm. Gracia. Had something happened? Was she alright? Intruders?
I recall her earlier statement.
G-Ghosts?
No, don't be ridiculous. Why the hell would I even think that? There were no such things as ghosts.
But matters aside! I had to find her and see if she was alright!
In a dash, I stumble my way out of the thicket and find a patch of light brown hair sticking out in the midst of a nearby patch of flowers.
"Gracia!" I yell, running to her, falling at her side. "Are you alright?"
She turns to me, looking weary and nods with a weak smile. "Yes. I'm fine."
I sigh in relief until someone behind me shouts a warning: "I'm not 'it' anymore, doofus!"
"Wah?" I say craning to catch Riza laughing and slapping a hand dramatically across her forehead. It's come to me what she means and as I turn back to the sneering Gracia, her hand casually pokes at my nose and the words tumble out in a song.
"You're it!"
Then with that, she scrambles off in the distance, laughing maniacally, leaving me in the agonizingly slow process of realizing what I had to do. I was it. "It", meaning the chaser.
I turn back to look at Riza who has a disapproving look on her face. She shakes her head, wagging her finger, and scolding. "Oh no," she chuckles, walking back into the sea of plants. "You can try, but you'll never catch me."
My first target. Yay!
"We'll see about that," I say with a toying leer, taking no time to hesitate as she turns and bolts for escape. Somewhere afar, Gracia cackles with a mocking victory. "Gracia! I'll be sure to get you back, too!" I yell, weaving through the tangles of vines and leaves hitting my skin like soft pillows. Riza the sniper, barely leaves anything behind for me to use to my benefit.
I was chasing an Amestris military official in a game of hide and tag in the midst of a place Gracia and Maes went around with the rumors of it being haunted. And despite how weird that sounded, I didn't really care. This was fun.
Fun, but actually really challenging!
Several minutes pass by without luck and I begin to rethink my approach. No reason to run around wasting my stamina. Speed was my only real advantage here. Riza was quick but not significantly compared to me. Her strength was the talent to sneak around. As for Gracia…well other than playing with the hearts of others and tricking into trusting, I hadn't a clue. But she was just as difficult to find!
I mistakenly believed this was going to be a breeze. Gee, if I had my alchemy I could just blow away all these obstacles and hunt Riza down with a simple sprint. Ah, but that would be cheating. I think.
Sighing, I stop in my tracks, shutting away my vision and focusing on only sound. Concentrate. Got to concentrate.
Footsteps.
My eyes snap open and I smile to myself. Got you.
In a heartbeat I'm out and upon the unfortunate hider, certain it to be Riza. Joyfully I latch on to her shoulders from behind, taking care to whisper snidely, "Now you're it."
But something was wrong. And that something was that Riza did not have broad shoulder like this. She didn't have black, scraggly hair. She didn't have a muscular figure quite like this. And she certainly wasn't this tall…
Oh god dammit all.
Just as quickly as I'd come, I leapt away and back into my hiding place, quenching my strong need to scream with frustration. Again. Again. Freaking again.
"Oh?" Maes' voice calls from where I'd unleashed my ridiculous attack. He sounds amused and I distinguish his steps, falling back and away from Roy. "Colonel's it!" he suddenly exclaims, running for cover.
I can't help it. Oh man. I hated Roy, but Maes' reaction… Oh man. Too much.
I held my stomach, laughing up a fearsome storm.
Another chuckle rang out, joining my fit. When I tag who it belongs to, I spring back a few feet to avoid a pair of strong hands making a grab out at me. Sinisterly, Roy smirks, crack his knuckles and watching me as if I were a tasty meal.
Okay. The thought wasn't exactly appealing.
"I'm it you say?" he says under his breath, widening the smirk and taking a step forward. I maintain my ground, erasing away the giggling fit. Confusion wells within me and I'm not quite certain what to do. On one hand I hated his guts. On the other- whoa!
He rushes at me and I sloppily tuck and roll to the side, ensnared by the loose stems of some indistinguishable plant. Absurdly I curse the stupid thing, giving it an angry kick for leaving me down and exposed like this. When I escape the clutches of it, I rise to my feet and brush away grass stains, looking up to witness the Colonel's finger ever so lightly poke my forehead.
"Looks like you're it now, Bubbles."
He says the last thing with emphasis which really, really bugs me. I want to beat the man to a bloody pulp but before I do so, he tucks tail and runs off like a coward, leaving me in the dust.
Screw playing nice. This will be the bastard's final game.