"Heard you're getting married."

Roy grimaced at the sound of his closest friend's voice, rubbing his eyes to wake himself up faster. Of course, he would be the first to find out and, of course, he would be the first to pester him. Green eyes met his in the minute he opened them, spectacles and all. He looked silly with the large glasses on his face that was supposed to help his eyesight, but Mustang wasn't sure. Improving vision wasn't something he felt could be fixed. "It's nothing." He said, feeling the carriage lurch forward as his friend slipped into the seat across from him. Had they stopped? How long had he slept for? And where had Kaitlyn disappeared to?

"What do you mean, it's nothing? Roy, this is wonderful!" His friend's face lit up with exotic happiness before settling into the carriage seat. "It's about time you took a wife into consideration. Maybe you won't even need my help to get you to the King's position." His friend looked smugger than a laughing cat, even though he knew Roy could snap his fingers and broil him within seconds. It was the natural way of things between them—one of them was smug and interested while the other could care less.

"I don't want to marry her," He grumbled unhappily, staring at the seat beside him and wondering if it would be comfortable enough to sleep on. His eyes were heavy with exhaustion, the move from the East having tuckered him out more than before. That and the fact that his finest knight hadn't checked in for a week (He'd dragged his team of subordinates out of the town and starting towards the last known location of his knights) and the fact of the Catalina family death in a massive castle fire. He had once visited the family, when he was young and training under the careful eye of Berthold Hawkeye, and he had seen the young girl hiding behind the skirts of her mother at his presence. Though he couldn't remember her name, her green eyes still struck him with mischief in the rarity of his nightmares.

She would probably be around the age of his betrothed, maybe a year younger or so. He still didn't know where Kaitlyn was, though, and the fact of that bothered him. He twisted in his seat. As much as he didn't want to marry her, he didn't want to send her back to a father whose eyes were filled with hatred and disgust, except the failed attempt at hiding it when he was selling her off, like a piece of property. "—marriage is something to be cherished, even if it isn't what you want. I'm just thankful I managed to find my Gracia before she was married off, and I'm incredible thankful that she chose to marry me instead of some other suitor. I mean—"

"Hughes!" He interrupted, glaring at his closest friend with a scowl twisting on his lips. Hughes froze, before smirking and shrugging, settling down into the seat. Roy inhaled softly; it was going to be a long ride to Dublith. He and his personal team were the only ones to know about the Elric brothers' last remaining family resided there, and they weren't even his technical family. After the accident, he had taken both of the boys to their supposed aunt, but when he'd arrived, he found they looked nothing like family to him. Still, after being begged to keep the accident a secret, he blatantly ignored the fact that they had no parents to care for them and let the Curtis' to have custody when need be. That, and Roy had knighted them under the king's command, gaining them an income and so called determination while they searched to find the answer to the accident.

"Anyways, with Gracia pregnant, this might be my last year as a knight. I really don't enjoy fighting enough for it to be influential." His words were like a slap to the face to Roy, his head shooting up so fast that he swore he heard a bone in his neck pop from stress. Hughes offered him an apologetic smile and shrug before turning to look outside of the carriage window. Silence hung over their heads like an angry storm cloud, ready to pour and soak him through and through, and as much as Mustang hated the rain, he felt that it portrayed his mood accurately. "I want to be a kind and doting father for my kid, no matter what the cost."

"What if it's a girl?" Roy grumbled unhappily, sinking lower and lower in his seat. Hughes frowned, falling deep into thought, occasionally opening his mouth to pitch in a silent idea before shutting it in confusion. Now he really wished Hawkeye had taken him up to ride with him in the carriage; had it not been so late when they'd left Central, he would have taken his own horse. Yet the day had been grueling and sleep had evaded him ever since the move to the capitol. Even Hawkeye had claimed he ride in the carriage instead of his stallion, afraid he might fall asleep and promptly fall off of his horse.

After riding through the dark most of the night, the first rays of morning light were beginning to show through the carriage windows. He perked almost instantly when he spotted his trusted team leading them into the town of Dublith; Havoc and Breda were having a few words of a playful argument that had been going on since Roy could remember while Fuery and Falman both looked as if they were about to pass out on the backs of their mares. Even his best friend looked tired through the cracks of her stoic façade as she rode on the back of her dark stallion, with his betrothed riding alongside of her on the back of Hughes' horse.

The town was already bustling to life, more than he could have ever done had he lived in a town that required the utmost concentration of commerce. He was thankful that they'd finally arrived and that it seemed to be completely safe, with no arguments of any sort. It was a happy town. Not that he came by often; it was too far south in his district that had been given to him when he'd gained Knighthood under Grumman and too little of a town for a check-up. Breaths of fog kept the little place protected and out of sight, like a white blanket in the depths of night. The brightest of autumn's goldenrod flowers sprouted up between the cracks in the cobble, and the farmers seemed all too eager to sell their year's profits for a wad of Amestrian money.

The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the butcher shop he knew to be the Curtis' home. With a smirk, he spotted the two horses that belonged to the knights. Without hesitation, he slid on his gloves. "You think there will be trouble?" Hughes asked, watching him curiously.

"Not necessarily. But knowing him and his brother…." Roy shrugged cautiously as he opened the carriage door and stepping into the sunshine. His back ached from sitting still for so long. No matter how much he rode from place to place, he would never be used to it. He stretched, spotting Havoc helping Kaitlyn off of her horse, before taking their place behind him. Hawkeye took her spot beside him, her bow attached tightly to her hip. Finally, as everyone on his team and Kaitlyn settled into their spot, he walked forward and knocked on the door, the smirk lacing his lips smug.

The door opened hesitantly and he nearly fell backwards on his heels, the same stunning green eyes that wrecked his nightmares meeting his own.

"Sir Mustang?"