AN: Ah, November the 29th. How I long for thee… You can't arrive soon enough... Ahem. So sorry this took a while, everyone. When I don't get any reviews, I tend to be less motivated to write. Anyway… Thanks to those who at least put this story on their alerts list and favourited it. I'm grateful you're taking an interest in the story. Please enjoy this next chapter. Here begins Roy's first weekend at the Hawkeye household:

Roy snapped the book in front of him shut and let out a heavy sigh. He had been reading nearly all afternoon, and he was beginning to think it was time for a break. Upon his arrival at Hawkeye house, Master Hawkeye had loaded him up with books, told him to read them and report to him again in the morning to begin proper instruction, and promptly returned to his studies. Roy had eagerly obeyed; taking the books to the spare room he was staying in, and sitting down on his bed to lose himself in the world of Alchemy. He had been at it now for hours, he was sure. Looking up at the clock on his wall, he noticed the time; the small hand pointed straight at the six, while the larger one pointed to the twelve. Six o'clock. He had to squint slightly to see it; he had been pouring over the volumes for so long, he had failed to notice that it was growing dim outside.

Getting to his feet, Roy abandoned the books on the bed, walking over to the door and flicking on the nearby light switch. The globe overhead sprang to life, filling the room with brightness, as Roy looked around. When he had arrived earlier, he had immediately sat down to read, neglecting to pay attention to his surroundings. He did so now. The first thing he noticed was that the walls were painted a light shade of blue. The only furnishings in the room were the bed, a small table that sat beside it, a closet and a wooden dresser, which supported a mirror. The meagre amount of furniture made the room seem rather large and empty, but maybe that was because it was; he had the same sort of furniture back home, which just about filled his small bedroom. This room was much larger than he was used to.

Finally, Roy looked up at the roof, and, as he did so, he gaped. Over his head was wonderful painting that encompassed the majority of the roof space, depicting horses running through a lush field, stained orange by the setting sun. At the head of the herd, a black stallion reared triumphantly, mouth open in an inaudible cry. Though time had aged the image, it was still glorious. He stood there staring, long enough to make his neck cramp, so he tore his eyes away from the picture, rubbing the aching muscles. He glanced over at the books that waited on the bed for a moment before turning around. They could wait for a while. He needed to take a break. Opening the door, Roy peeked his head into the hallway. It was empty. As he stepped out of the room, the heavenly scent of food hit him square in the nose. His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything since the lunch he had on the train.

Roy followed his nose down the stairs and into the living room. Peeking inside, he discovered the source of the smell. There sat Master Hawkeye's young daughter, Riza, on one of the couches. A bowl of some sort of stew balanced on her lap; she held it steady with a hand that also clenched a spoon. In the other hand, she held a book open at approximately the middle. Eyes trained on the book, she released the bowl for a moment to spoon some of the contents into her mouth. He watched, slightly paranoid, sure that she was going to end up spilling the mouthful, but she proved him wrong. He waited until she steadied the bowl once more before he spoke up.

"Uh… Hi."

The girl gasped in surprise, jerking her head around to face him. He held his hands out in front of him, as one would to show a frightened animal he meant no harm. "It's just me. Roy Mustang, remember? Your father did tell you I was going to be staying here, right?"

"Oh…" she said in a soft voice, blinking at him for a moment, before looking back at her book. "I forgot you were here, Mr Mustang."

"It's Roy," he replied, a little irked by her admission. It stung his pride a bit to think that a girl would forget about him so easily. Maybe he was getting too used to being the centre of female attention. But then, she was just a kid, so she probably wasn't very interested in the opposite sex yet, so there really was no need for him to feel affronted. He watched as she scooped more of the stew into her mouth. "Should you really be eating that in here?" he questioned carefully. "You might spill some on the carpet."

"If I do spill any, Mr Mustang, I'll be the one to clean it up." She raised the spoon to her lips once more, eyes still on the book. "So I won't spill it."

"Oh… Okay…" He thought privately to himself that having the intent not to spill the meal didn't mean that she would be successful, especially if she kept looking at the book instead of her food. His stomach growled in protest again, roused by the sight of the stew. Roy flushed slightly, embarrassed that it was so loud.

She glanced over at him solemnly. "If you're hungry, Mr Mustang, there's a pot with more on the stove. You might need to re-heat it though, it's probably cooled off a bit now."

"Uhh… Thanks…" He turned back around to head to the kitchen, but paused in the door, glancing back upstairs. "Isn't your father going to eat anything?"

"Father takes his meals in his study most of the time," she responded. "I already took his supper to him."

"Oh… He doesn't come down to eat?"

"Not usually." His stomach growled again. "I think you'd better eat something yourself, Mr Mustang."

"Ah… Yes, I will, thank you." As he turned around to leave again, he felt a bit slighted. She had made a meal for her father and herself, but not for him.

Now, that's not reasonable… He shook his head as he walked into the kitchen. She said herself that she forgot I was going to be here… I didn't see her when I arrived, and I've been in the spare room reading Master's books all afternoon, so she couldn't have noticed that I was here. She's probably used to it just being herself and her father, so I can't really blame her for forgetting. I should just be grateful I'm getting to eat anything at all.

He glanced in the pot sitting on the stove, expecting a meagre amount to be left in the bottom. Much to his surprise, there was plenty enough for him to eat. He shrugged, switching the stove on to heat the food. A ladle sat on the sink, so he fetched that and used it to stir so it wouldn't burn. When it was hot enough, he turned around to look in the cupboards for a bowl to put it in. One sat there on the bench by itself, as though waiting for him. Actually, it probably was meant for him. It certainly didn't get there on its own. He didn't take it out… And no one else had been in the kitchen since he walked in. It had to have been sitting there since before he had come in. So it seemed reasonable that Riza had probably left it there.

If she had forgotten he was going to be here, as she claimed, why would there be an extra bowl out? Unless Master Hawkeye had left it there… But had he even left his study since Roy arrived? Surely he would have heard if he had, the study was just down the hall from the room he was staying in, after all. It had to have been Riza then. Wait… If she remembered to leave a bowl out for him, then that meant she had lied about forgetting about him, didn't it? Why would she bother? Roy pondered on it as he filled up the bowl, tapping the ladle against the pot absentmindedly when he was done before rinsing it off.

It can't hurt to just ask… he decided finally, heading back to the living room.

"Hey…" He glanced in, opening his mouth to speak, but she had disappeared. The only sign of the room's previous inhabitant was the empty bowl abandoned on the table, spoon sitting inside it. He sighed, and returned to the kitchen. Retrieving his food, he sat down at the table to eat, unnerved by the lack of noise. Meals were usually a boisterous affair for him, since he normally ate with his aunt and her employees in their large kitchen. It was a family affair. His very extended, mostly female 'family'. They all ate together at the one large table before the women had to work for the night. It was normally very loud, as the women gossiped and laughed throughout the entire meal. Occasionally, some of the older women asked him about his studies, and more recently, some of the younger ones flirted with him. Either way, it was never boring. The Hawkeye's house was so different from what he was used to.

When he was done eating, he washed out his bowl and returned upstairs to the books Master Hawkeye had told him to look over. He read them from cover to cover, before turning off the light and retiring for the night. He lay down on his side and pulled the covers up to his chin, closing his eyes to let sleep engulf him.

He was greeted by absolute silence. He opened his eyes again uneasily, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. He was not used to this quiet. When he slept at home, he was often lulled to sleep by the clinking of glasses, and muffled chatter. Here, he could hear only the wind blowing in the trees outside and the occasional, distant lowing of cattle and bleating of sheep. The quiet seemed almost unnatural to him.

This is going to take some getting used to... he thought as he closed his eyes once more.

XxX

He had done absolutely no physical exercise at all today, but Roy felt drained of strength. He was exhausted. Master Hawkeye was that demanding. He had been concentrating so hard all day, and now his head throbbed painfully, as though information had been stuffed into his brain physically rather than verbally. He came out of Master Hawkeye's study holding the same books he had been given the night before, along with a couple of new ones. Master Hawkeye had stated that repetition was key to remembering information and told him to read the books again, and take them home with him to look over as well.

Roy took the books to his room and placed them on the bedside table before flopping down on the bed with a tired sigh. Even if he tried to read now, he would be too tired to concentrate; he had been concentrating all day, after all, and he felt like he could do with some rest. He yawned tiredly and closed his eyes, dozing off to sleep. When he awoke, he felt like he had barely rested at all, even though he had slept for a few hours. He was just debating whether to rest more, or attempt to get himself into the appropriate mindset for study, when he heard a chinking sound in the hall. Something as simple as that wouldn't normally distract him, but since any sort of noise in this particular house seemed out of place, he rose to investigate. Poking his head out into the hallway, he looked in both directions, but spotted nothing unusual. He was just about to retreat back into the room when the door to Master Hawkeye's study opened and Riza slipped out. She turned around, spotted him, and baulked slightly.

"Ah… Sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you again," he apologised.

"Did you want something, Mr Mustang?"

"No, I just heard a noise, that's all."

Riza looked back over her shoulder at the closed study door. "That must have been me. I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Mr Mustang."

"No, no! You didn't."

"Oh… That's good then…"

She fell quiet then, looking down at the floor and away from him. Uncomfortable with the silence, he asked, "You were bringing something to your father?"

She nodded sedately. "That's right. This is around the time he eats, so…"

"You took his meal up to him," he finished.

"Yes."

"I see."

She looked back up at him, and said hesitantly, "There's food prepared downstairs. Any time you get hungry, you can eat. I always make supper around this time."

"Thank you," he said with an encouraging smile. "I'll be sure to remember that."

She offered him a forced smile in reply, and disappeared into her own room, and Roy sighed to himself. Deprived of an excuse to make conversation, and break the quiet that seemed to hang over the house, he turned back into his room and clicked the door shut behind him, bathing the place in silence once more.

XxX

The bell chimed as Roy opened the bar door, and a dozen heads turned in automatic response to the sound of someone entering their establishment. Roy grinned, relieved to be home once more as he waved at them. "Hey!"

In a matter of seconds, he was surrounded by smiling faces, and passed from person to person as they mobbed him.

"Roy!"

"Did you miss us, little Roy?"

"Glad to see you back!"

"How were your studies?"

"I missed you while you were gone!"

Roy responded to each of them jovially, once they had calmed down a bit, "Of course I missed everyone, Mary! Haha, it's good to be back, Kate. It's going well! Thank you for asking about it, Charlotte."

"Welcome back, Roy-boy," his aunt called from the bar.

He walked over and sat on one of the seats, lowering his bag of books down to the floor by his feet. "Thanks, Aunt Chris."

"Did you enjoy yourself?"

"I don't know if enjoy is the right word," Roy replied. "I'm exhausted, that's for sure. I feel as though if you try putting any more information in my head, it's going to explode."

She chuckled, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "That's a good thing, Roy-boy."

"I know, I know. If I didn't want to learn, I wouldn't have wanted a teacher."

"So then, what's bothering you about it?"

"I dunno…" Roy muttered, resting his cheek on the bar in front of him. "I suppose, it's just… Things are a little… different… at that place."

"Change is bound to make you apprehensive at first," his aunt replied with an encouraging smile. "That's only natural. This was only your first visit, after all. You'll adjust to it in no time at all, you'll see."

"I hope so."

"In the meantime…" She looked up at the clock. "Why don't you go put your things upstairs? Then you can come down, and tell us all about your weekend. We've still got plenty of time before the place gets busy."

"All right." He got to his feet obediently, picking up his bag and heading up the stairs, listening to the banter left in his wake.

"I'll make us some tea while we wait!"

"No, don't! The last time you made it we all ended up in the hospital!"

"Hey, you're exaggerating again! Not everyone got sick, thankyouverymuch!"

"Yeah, just most of us!" Raucous laughter followed that statement.

"Honestly, you shouldn't be allowed to cook either! I got food poisoning last time you made something!"

"Hey, this isn't fair! You're all ganging up on me! Madame, please make them stop!"

"Shut up the lot of you! Kate, you can make the tea for us. I don't want to be throwing up all night either."

"You too, Madame?"

Roy laughed softly to himself as he closed the door to his small room, and looked around fondly. Though it wasn't nearly as big as the room he had at the Hawkeye's house, it was a lot more comfortable. He removed Master Hawkeye's books from his bag and sat them carefully, reverently, on his dresser beside his own books. Then he flopped down on his bed and stretched out contentedly.

Looking back over the weekend in his mind, he thought he had finally pinned down what was bothering him about the Hawkeye's house. It was lacking in warmth. He wasn't thinking about temperature, although the room he was staying in did get rather cold at night, but emotional warmth. The kind of everyday happiness that existed here, in his own home, was nonexistent in the Hawkeye household. There were no smiles there, no spontaneity, no laughter. There was no shouting, no simple banter, or even any scolding. It seemed so… empty. Master Hawkeye was always in his study; Roy hadn't seen him leave the room at all, although he was certain he must have at some point, for basic human needs. And Riza had been… doing whatever she did in her spare time. He had barely seen her at all over the weekend. Both of the Hawkeyes seemed to be very solitary people, avoiding even each other to an alarming degree. He had spent more time with Master Hawkeye this weekend than his own daughter had.

"Roy!" came a voice from downstairs. "Hurry up, would you?"

"Coming!" he called in reply, launching himself from his bed and heading back downstairs to the warmth of his family.

Please review! If I don't get any reviews, I will no doubt lack the motivation to update, and it will take me ages to write up and post the next chapter… Reviews make me happy and enthusiastic! Constructive criticism is more than welcome. And the next chapter will be Riza-centric, so look forward to it!