Hey guys! We saw the Beatles tonight! Kind of. . In honor of them, however, we've decided to make all our titles Beatles-related. *dun-nuh* It was awesome. If you ever get the chance to go see 1964: The Tribute, DO IT. You won't regret it, we swear. Lissa's new dream is to hug their Ringo Starr.

Disclaimer: We do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. Nor do we own the Beatles, not that it really relates to anything... But Lissa does own two pretty cute goats! ^^ *Hughes pose*

"Okay, okay, there are a few stipulations to this bet," Jean Havoc reiterated. "For example, you can't go around flaunting what you do in the military. If she asks for your rank, tell her, sure; but no gallivanting around blatantly bragging about your skills."

"You can make the bet as in-depth as you want, Havoc. We both know I always win."

There was a sharp knock on Ivy's door. It was bright and early on that next Monday morning, and the woman hadn't even woken up yet. Ivy stumbled out of bed and eventually made it to her door, cracking it open to reveal a black-haired man who looked terribly familiar. "Hello? Can I help you?" she asked with a sweet, but sleepy smile.

"Are you Miss Ivy Perry?" the black haired man asked in a deep voice. She nodded. "The military requires you to give us as much information about Miss Alice Ackerman's daily activities as you possibly can," he said in a very official tone.

"W-why? Is Alice in some kind of trouble? Do I know you? Why are you asking me?" she fired off all four questions in one breath.

"That, Miss Perry, is only for top military personnel to know," he replied curtly. "And keep in mind that withholding information is a crime against the State, no pressure."

Of course, Roy was totally pulling Ivy's chain; in reality, he just wanted to find out where he could "bump into" Alice without being too conspicuous. He had dropped by the office that morning and informed his team what paperwork needed to be done, and what should be said to Hughes should he call. Riza had rolled her eyes, and Roy had tipped his hat once before stepping out, making his way over to the so-called Ivy Perry's place of residence.

"D-duh, uh…" Ivy was flustered, "What day is it?" To be fair, she had just woken up, and she wasn't exactly thinking straight.

"Monday."

"Er, at 11:30, Alice goes to the bakery. She has a couple students, I think, but other than going to the bakery she doesn't leave her house." Ivy quickly gave Roy the lay down of her neighbor's whole week as accurately as she possibly could. Roy gave her a slight smirk before leaving. He couldn't believe that the girl actually believed him. It made his job easier, but he was so looking forward to a challenge…

Alice awoke at 8:00, like she did every Monday. She dressed herself in a knee-length pale green dress that brought out her eyes; she then finished off her week-old bread and drank a bit of milk before preparing to leave the house. Alice checked all her light bulbs and her stove, though she didn't use either since the night before. She pulled her jacket on and checked that her door was locked three times before leaving at exactly 11:30. She walked to the bakery like she always did and waited in the short line.

A tall, black-haired man turned around and almost ran into Alice. "Oh, um, I'm sorry," she mumbled looking at the ground.

"Oh, hey, don't I know you?" Roy gave the woman a smirk, and Alice made eye contact before jumping back in surprise. Of course, it would be her "boyfriend" from Friday; the pianist's cheeks turned dark scarlet.

"Oh, um… I'm really sorry about, er, Friday." The man smirked at her embarrassment and gave a nonchalant shrug. Alice glanced up at the man and noticed that he wasn't in his military uniform like in their first meeting, although he was still dressier than Alice herself. "Aren't you in the military?" she asked quietly. "It's Monday; don't military men work on Mondays?"

Roy smirked yet again, "Don't military men deserve a day off?"

"Well, I, um, I only meant, um…sorry," she replied in shame. Alice had never been much of a talker, and that fact was further proved by her inability to converse with Roy. An awkward silence ensued, and Alice looked towards the clock for a moment. She was really supposed to be getting home, as it was coming up on twelve. What was worse, her bread was growing cold. It was the only time during the week that Alice got bread; she couldn't afford to waste it while it was hot.

After Roy didn't say anything, she began to turn away and exit, but the military man beat her to it, opening the door. Alice gave him a shy smile before stepping out, with him following.

"You wouldn't mind if I walked you home, would you?" He raised an eyebrow before shoving his hands in his pockets and walking alongside her even though she didn't answer.

Alice felt awkward as they walked, so she decided to attempt at conversation. "So, um, why were you at the bakery?"

"I needed bread," Roy responded shortly.

"But you didn't buy any bread…"

"Well, I decided that I don't really want to buy bread today."

"Oh. Well, that probably wasn't the best idea if you needed bread," Alice replied with a confused look. Roy wasn't expecting the girl to be decently perceptive. He decided that this situation could become interesting.

"You may be right." He smirked slightly. Alice looked up at his bemused face and couldn't help but notice how classically attractive her companion was. She wasn't used to walking around with a man, let alone a handsome military man. The only man close to her age that she spoke to was the grocer's son who always offered to carry her groceries home for her. And even then, all she did was thank him for the offer and blush a no… although come to think of it, he was cute, too.

"So, um…" This was as close as Alice would ever get to being social, so she figured she might as well make the best of it. "What do you do?"

"Well, I'm in the military, as you know." Roy chuckled. "Colonel Roy Mustang, at your service."

"Colonel? Is that… high up?" Alice blushed at her own lack of knowledge. "Sorry, I'm not very attuned to military workings." Major, General, Lieutenant; they were all the same to the piano teacher, who didn't much take interest in such things.

"I do alright. It's enough to buy me a good house and put food on the table every night." He smirked, giving Alice a trademark grin that usually made the opposite gender just melt. The girl wasn't paying attention, however. Alice seemed rather focused on her feet more than anything else. The smile, unseen, didn't have quite the effect that the colonel had been expecting. He decided to move on. When you can't dazzle them with a smile, you either burn them or pretend to show interest. He decided upon the latter after a bit of consideration. "So what is it that you do?"

"Oh, I'm a piano teacher," she said, perking up a bit. Alice loved her job. It didn't have any benefits, it barely brought in any money, and she had to deal with several unenthused students, but there was just something about her job that made her life complete.

"Oh?" Roy looked at her with one eyebrow raised. He'd never seen anyone that excited to announce that they were a piano teacher. Then again, Roy had never before met a piano teacher.

"Yeah, I know. Piano is such a geeky instrument, huh?" she said with a quiet smile on her face. "But I have a nice, cozy house, and food to eat, so at least it's good for something." Alice's eyes lit up at the thought of her precious piano back home, and instantly she was slightly more content with the situation.

"Not at all." Roy tried the smile again, this time catching Alice's eye briefly before she turned away. "Sometimes I wish I could do something like that."

"I could, um," Alice's words came out before she could stop them, "try to te-teach you sometime." She stumbled over 'teach,' finally realizing what she was saying to him halfway through.

"I would have no luck with something like that, I'm afraid. Thank you for the offer, though." The thought of himself learning an instrument was not near the top of his list of things to be able to do, although it seemed to be the one thing Alice would openly talk about.

The skies had been cloudy all day, but a few moments later, the rain began to pound the ground without mercy. Alice hugged her bread to her chest, pulling the jacket she wore above her head, and began moving more quickly in the direction of her residence. Spotting Roy simply staring up at the sky with a slight look of disdain on his face, she spoke slightly louder than usual, "Come on! Let's get out of the rain!"

The man and woman quickly maneuvered themselves to Alice's house, and she quickly unlocked the door and burst in, getting out of the rain as quickly as possible. When she turned, however, Alice saw Roy still standing on the doorstep, looking in silently.

He would be one of a select group of people who were ever let into her house besides family and students. Ivy didn't even ask. She just came rushing in whenever she felt like it. Alice thought for a moment about letting him in, before the guilt came creeping into her mind. Roy was only out in the rain because he had walked her home. With a sigh, she re-approached the doorway and said, "Come on in. I have a student due in a few minutes, but… make yourself at home."

Roy smirked slightly and stepped into the small house. Alice took his soaked jacket from him and hung it up in hopes that it would dry. "Would you like a sandwich?" Alice asked timidly, leading Roy into the small kitchen.

"How about a grilled cheese?" Roy asked, moving towards the stove as the pianist began cutting up the still-warm bread. Alice dropped her knife, eyes growing wide as she blocked him from getting to the stove.

"No, don't! It's, uh, it's broken! Yeah, it's been broken for a while now. It's not safe to turn on, or go near for that matter." Alice shifted uncomfortably.

"Maybe I can fix it," Roy started, about to walk around the woman.

"No! Really, it's fine! I've adapted. I would even say that I prefer it like this. Why were stoves invented anyway?" she laughed nervously and began sweating a bit.

Roy looked at her uneasily. "Uh, okay then," he replied, a bit surprised at the small woman's random outburst. It was just a stove, after all…

Alice soon busied herself with making cold sandwiches. Roy just stood there as she did all the work. He figured that it was a fair trade: she got him stuck out in the rain; she had to make him a sandwich. If that wasn't Equivalent Exchange, he didn't know what was.

There came a knock on the door, and Alice quickly asked Roy to answer it for her. "Roy, could you get that? It's probably Liz; she's my favorite, we can't keep her out in the rain. She's a little brash, so if she gets lippy, just yell back."

Regardless of her final warning, Roy stepped over to the door, swinging it open to reveal a short redheaded girl. The girl, Liz, Roy assumed, blinked once and gave him a quick up-down before yelling, "Oi, Miss A, you know there's like, a guy in your house, right?"

Alice emerged from the kitchen with his sandwich in hand, handing it to Roy. "Don't touch my stove." Her words addressed the colonel before Alice turned to Liz. "Alright, pretend he's not here. We have your lesson to attend to."

"I didn't even know you had friends, Miss A, other than that Ivy lady next door, much less boyfriends!"

"Liz. Stop talking. Your playing had better be perfect to make up for all the completely stupid things you say."

"How am I supposed to ignore a random guy watching my practice session? I don't even know his name," Liz responded.

Alice sighed, "Fine, this is Colonel Roy Mustang, he got caught up in the rain, so I invited him in. Are you satisfied?"

"Ooooh…A military man, huh? Good choice, Miss A! He's not entirely unfortunate-looking either!"

"Should I leave?" Roy asked, shooting a glare towards Liz. Alice didn't notice. She insisted that Roy eat his sandwich and that Liz start her lesson.