The title of this chapter is adorable, in my opinion. This chapter was written entirely over e-mail, but it's still beastly if we do say so.
In other news - Lissa and I 3 our reviewers! The love goes out to RedRose-Requiem (Thanks very much for your praising of Alice! She's one of our favorites! :)), chocolvr69 (Actually... we're going to try and update Young and Hostile this week... .), and Tears of a Fallen Angel223 (Why, thank you love!). There isn't much more to be said, except thanks!
Disclaimer: We, uh, don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I always think this is kind of given, but hey, I'm not one who likes to get into legal trouble. -shrugs-
"A man just came out of your house." Ivy came bursting through Alice's door, without any regard whatsoever for the latter's privacy. Roy had just left a few minutes before, and Alice had hardly had time to gather her bearings before the neighboring woman's nosy nature got the better of her.
"O-oh. You mean Roy? It was raining outside, so I let him 'take shelter' here…" Alice explained half-heartedly, knowing that her neighbor would blow it out of proportion.
"…You fornicated, didn't you, Alice Ackerman?" Alice rolled her eyes, but couldn't help blushing the slightest bit.
"If anyone fornicates between the two of us, Ivy, I'm pretty sure it's you." Ivy stuck her tongue out childishly, and Alice mimicked her actions.
"Anyway, who is he? I have to know everything, Alice!" She started to push her way in, but Alice wouldn't budge. Ivy had to go home, giving the pianist a whiny, puppy-dog look the entire way.
The next day was Tuesday, and Alice awoke, readying herself with her morning routine. She would have to go to the market later, but not until 10:40; now, it was only nine. The woman had caught herself wondering whether or not Roy would come by again. He said he would, but who knew? She was foolish for thinking he would come now, however; he obviously had to work.
The time came, and Alice set off for the market with bag in hand. It was one of the highlights of Alice's week, going to the market. There were so many sights to see, although she rarely engaged any of them herself.
The young woman went around buying what she would need for that particular week: cold meats, cheese, vegetables, milk, etc. On that particular day, she decided to buy a small package of brownies. She wistfully hoped that she would be able to share them with someone. Someone who wasn't Ivy.
It was around noon when Alice began to make her way home. She made herself a sandwich and taught two students for the day. They weren't at the same level as Liz and Benji. Alice liked to classify her students' abilities by which day she taught them. Mondays were her experts. Tuesdays were her getting-there-but-not-quite-experts students. And so on.
After both lessons, Alice sat down on the couch and sighed. "I guess he's not coming," (HAHA! THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!) she said to herself. About an hour later, there was a knock on her door. She stood and opened the door.
"Hello, Alice. Mind if I come in?" Alice stood aside so Roy could step in. "I have a favor to ask," he began. Alice grew a bit tense. What kind of favor could she possibly do for him?
"What is it?"
"I was conned by a tin can and a pipsqueak," he reached into his pocket. "I'm not very good with this kind of thing...And I was wondering if you could temporarily take care of it until I can con it onto Havoc." Alice looked very confused. She had no idea what he was talking about. Roy's hand emerged from his pocket along with a little ball of fluff.
Alice walked closer to Roy cautiously. The fluff ball stirred and turned its frightened, bright green eyes to Alice. Alice's jaw dropped. "Awwww..." she sighed. "Can I hold him?" Roy was taken aback by the usually quiet woman's enthusiasm. It was just a damn kitten, after all. Roy handed the orange and white fluff ball over to Alice.
Alice cooed and the kitten purred. "He seems to like you," Roy smirked and reached out to pet the cat. The kitten hissed and Roy's hand retreated.
"Aww...There, there. It's okay, little guy. Can I keep him?" Alice's eyes were pleading.
"Are you sure you want him?" Alice nodded profusely. "Well, I suppose so. Though I was so looking forward to forcing him upon Havoc. Oh well..."
Alice giggled as the kitten batted at her long, red-brown hair. "Now, what shall I call you?" she held the kitten up as if to get a good look at him.
"I got it. He shall henceforth be named: Foofy Vladimir, Lord of the Flame!" Roy struck a triumphant pose.
"Uh... No offence, Roy, but I think that's a bit too, um, ridiculous, if you catch my drift?" He was a bit more… manic, than Alice was used to, although she'd only met him a couple of times, and that was the dumbest title she had ever heard.
"I'm glad you think so. If you named that cat that, I might have been forced to whisk him away." The kitten jumped down until the floor, padding around curiously, investigating the various items in Alice's home. Something in her kitchen, however, must have frightened him, for the ball of fuzz squealed and jumped into the air.
Alice giggled, then blurted out, "Staccato. That makes perfect sense. His name's Staccato." Roy raised an eyebrow as Alice knelt on the floor, holding out a hand for the newly named Staccato to sniff. "Thanks, Roy. He's a sweetheart." The kitten nuzzled her hand, giving Alice's index finger a quick lick.
An explosion of the door bursting open sent the kitten running, and Roy was immediately at the ready, apparently ready to knock out whoever was coming in. Alice, however, wasn't too shocked by the intrusion.
"Ivy Perry! This is getting ridiculous!" Alice scolded the girl who had coming skidding into the house without a thought. At the sight of Roy, Ivy squealed, hugging Alice for all she was worth.
"I'm so proud of you, Alice! All this time I thought you were completely and entirely socially inept, but, but… you got a boyfriend! And he's even attractive!" Alice turned bright red, looking from Roy, to Ivy, to her shoes.
"He's not really my boyfriend… he just brought me a cat…" Said creature popped his head into the room, looking up at Ivy and then rubbing against her leg. The girl's eyes lit up, and she picked up the ball of fur with care.
"Aww…" All the talk of Roy was forgotten momentarily. "He's adorable, Alice! What's his name?"
Alice smiled; she'd already grown fond of the kitten. "Staccato. He's a little jumpy, so I figured that the name fit pretty well."
"Personally, I don't get it, but okay," Ivy responded as she rubbed the kitten's ears. "Wow, Alice. You've got yourself a keeper."
"Yeah, he's a cute little guy, huh?"
"I wasn't talking about the cat," Ivy responded with a wink. Alice turned a shade of red.
"Wh-What are you talking about?"
Roy cleared his throat. "I believe she's referring to me." He gave the two women his "melting grin". Ivy melted while Alice continued to stare at the floor, her cheeks still red. Staccato, on the other hand decided to hiss at the man.
"Hush, Staccato," Alice said taking the kitten in her arms. "We like Roy, don't we?" The cat hissed again.
Roy chuckled. "I'll take that as a no. Well, I have to get going anyway. There are some things that I must attend to."
"Oh, okay. Well, thanks for stopping by. And also for giving me Staccato," Alice gave him a genuine smile.
Roy couldn't help but give a slight smile back. "You're welcome, Alice." He stepped out into the darkening street.
"Well, uh, see you soon?" Alice asked questioningly.
Roy smirked and replied, "I don't see why not," before disappearing down the street. Alice went back to petting Staccato, cheeks still red, but Ivy would have none of it.
"Okay, so, he's freaking gorgeous."
"Ivy!"
"What? It's totally true, and it's absolutely glaringly obvious that you're totally into him."
"Oh, no. It's just a little joke we have. When we first met, um, I called him my boyfriend to get out of a sticky situation. You don't remember, because you were totally drunk." Ivy shrugged; the fact that she was wasted didn't seem to faze her, probably because she was that way a quarter of the time anyhow.
"Oh, give it a rest, Ivy. Roy and I are just friends. Besides, I've only talked to him three times; just because he's attractive doesn't mean I'm entirely infatuated with him. I'm not you, for God's sake." Alice gave her friend a wink, and Ivy rolled her eyes before flicking her forehead. It was true, though; Alice enjoyed Roy's company, of course, but it wasn't as though she was tripping over herself to gain his attention.
"...On the bright side, if you two ever fornicate, you'll make pretty babies-" Staccato interrupted Ivy's awkward statement by mewing loudly. Alice's eyes widened, and she looked frantically to the kitchen.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"I just realized - I don't know if I have anything for him to eat..."
"Oh, calm down... I'm sure you have something." Alice and Ivy rushed into the kitchen, searching through her cupboards and the things she'd bought at the market when Ivy held up the milk the woman had bought triumphantly.
"Cats like milk! Er, I think, anyway." Their suspicions were correct, however, and Staccato was thoroughly full when he was done, purring with a gorged stomach.
The women sighed, having dealt with that disaster without too much difficulty. Ivy soon left against her will.
"But it's only like 9:30!" she wailed.
"And I only have like three students to teach tomorrow, plus I have to go out and find supplies for Staccato in the morning." Ivy pouted and trudged home.
After checking all the light bulbs, Alice picked up her tiny kitten and scratched his belly. He purred with content as she carried him to her room. She changed into a nightgown and crawled into bed. Staccato had already made himself comfortable on the other side of her double bed.
Alice smiled softly at the little kitten. She realized that this would be the first time since moving out of her parents' home that she shared a house with someone. She patted the kitten's fluffy orange head, and thought to herself about how kind it was of Roy to give her Staccato. Alice made a mental note to properly thank the man the next time she saw him.
Alice yawned and settled down into the covers. The kitten woke up just long enough to cuddle up next to Alice's warm body, and fell asleep immediately after getting comfortable. Alice smiled sleepily down at her new companion. But soon enough, both were sleeping soundly; dreaming of nothing but military men and cold milk...