Roy grumbled annoyed insults under his breath as he searched through the crowd, Hawkeye dutifully right at his heels. He looked for a familiar, short blond that had somehow gotten lost in the crowd. Not that Roy had noticed. Hawkeye was the one to point out that the Fullmetal Alchemist was missing. He would call for the brat, but he wasn't that worried. And, besides, it would make him look strange if he went shouting for someone in the middle of the street. People tended to think bad of you if you lost a kid, as he soon found out after the last time Fullmetal went missing.

"Sir, I think I see him," Hawkeye said quietly, pointing to somewhere to Roy's left. He paused and followed her finger. And there was Fullmetal, blatantly obvious in the middle of the crowd with his golden hair and bloodred jacket. He was looking around frantically, before his eyes found them. He mouthed something - probably Roy's name. Then he started running over, pushing past a few people and bumping into others. Roy smirked, thinking of how grateful Fullmetal would be since Roy had found him.

"Riza!" Fullmetal cried, pushing right past him.

...

What.

Roy turned his head. Fullmetal came to a stop right in front of Hawkeye, beaming.

"Thanks for finding me!" he said breathlessly, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. "I thought I'd never find you!"

Roy cleared his throat. Fullmetal glanced back at him.

"Yeah?" he grunted, narrowing his eyes. "What do you want?" Roy was taken aback. Where was the gratitude in that cold tone?

As he searched Fullmetal's eyes, all he could see was glaring annoyance. Then he turned away.

"Can I hang onto you so I don't get lost again?" he asked Riza. "I don't do well in crowds. All these giants keep pushing me aside." He spat out the word 'giants' like poison. Hawkeye smiled indulgently.

"Of course. Here, take my hand." Fullmetal grasped her hand with a grin. "Shall we go?" Hawkye looked up at Roy as she said this. The Colonel was gaping, doing a very impressive fish-out-of-water impression.

"...Sure..."

After they had finished the two-hour-long meeting, Roy and Hawkeye returned to Roy's office while Fullmetal went back to Alphonse. The suit of armor had sadly been deconstructed, and Fullmetal hadn't had the time to gather enough parts to fix him before he left. Roy sank happily into his chair. He had to stand during the whole meeting, while Fullmetal got to sit in a chair in the corner since he was a 'special case'. Roy snorted. 'Special case' his ass. They had just wanted to suck up to the youngest State Alchemist so he wouldn't go around giving the other State Alchemists a bad name, otherwise they would discharge him from the military. Of course, he didn't want to just simply let the boy go, but he couldn't say the same for Fullmetal. The way he had ever so obviously ignored the Colonel when he was in plain sight was slightly offensive.

"Why?" he suddenly blurted out. Hawkeye raised her eyebrows.

"Sir?"

"Why did he go straight to you instead of me?" Roy asked, putting a hand on his forehead. "It doesn't make any sense. I'm his superior officer!" He hated to admit it, but he was jeaolus of the willing attention that Fullmetal gave to the First Lieutenant instead of the other way around. Sure, he was being petty, getting jealous over something as trivial as this... But still.

"Sir, maybe it's because he doesn't really see you as a friend," Hawkeye said formally. "While I have managed to hold many civil conversations with Edward and am on a first-name basis with him, he has yet to manage a conversation with you that hasn't ended in him storming out of the office. You still call him 'Fullmetal', and he calls you 'Colonel' as well. Maybe you should try and be a little more friendly with him."

"Friendly? I'm plenty friendly to him," Roy snorted.

"But you must keep in mind that he is a child," Hawkeye said patiently. "The only 'friends' he has are nearly twice his age. You can't expect to be a friend to him when you treat him like me, or even Hughes."

"Hmm," Roy huffed. "Still, he is a dog of the military. I also have to keep that in mind."

"Right," Hawkeye sighed, realizing that Roy would maybe never get the point of this conversation. "Whatever you say, sir."

It happened again when Fullmetal had once entered Roy's office. He gave a pleasant, warm greeting to Hawkeye, then turned to the Colonel with a scowl.

"Well?" he snapped. "I don't have all day to be standing here, you know!"

Miffed, Roy had given the boy his assignment, a few choice words on his tongue.

A few minutes later, the door slammed closed, Fullmetal's last yells echoing in the office. The papers on Roy's desk were scattered all over the place from when Fullmetal had slammed his hands down on it. Hawkeye sighed and began to pick them up.

"I still don't understand," Roy grumbled. "He seems so friendly with you..."

"We already discussed this, sir," Hawkeye said calmly, tapping the edges of the papers on the desk to straighten them. "You treat him too much like a little child, then act like he's an adult the next second. He doesn't appreciate being treated like a child, but he can't handle the responsibilities of a grown person, no matter what he says or what he has done." She placed the papers on the desk. "Think about that next time you see him. Then maybe you could work on an actual friendship. Or, at the very least, call him by his first name instead of 'Fullmetal'."

She left the office, leaving Roy to ponder about what his subordinate had just told him.

"Not like a child, but not like an adult... What does that even mean?!"

It took a while, but eventually, Edward had realized the fact that Roy really was just trying to help him. It didn't make him accept it, though. Instead, it just made him not want it even more. Roy still hadn't figured out what Hawkeye was talking about that day.

"Look, you're already 'helping' enough by giving us these useless missions," Edward had nearly growled after he returned from yet another unsuccessful mission. "We don't need you screwing up anything else."

Feeling very affronted at that, Roy frowned.

"I don't 'screw things up'," he retorted. "I've given you assignments I felt would be beneficial to your search."

"And what a load of good that did," Edward said sarcastically. "Look, I know you want to help, but I really just don't need it. Go sign some paperwork or something. I'm fine."

The two hadn't shown signs of growing any closer until months and months later. Edward was returning from a visit to Resembool to fix up his automail, and Roy had insisted that Hawkeye and himself were there when the Fullmetal Alchemist returned. Al had decided to stay in Resembool for a while to experiment with a few metals to make his body lighter, and possibly quieter to make himself more stealthy on the more secretive missions. The two officers searched over the crowd of dark-haired adults, searching for the blood red coat they knew could only belong to Edward Elric.

Roy was the first to spot him, and he smirked before calling out for the boy.

"Edward!"

The blond head turned, and golden eyes widened with recognization. He pushed through the crowd, and Roy was reminded of the first time he had realized just how distant he was from the boy. He had grown since then, but he was still just a teenager, and he was not yet as tall as he swore he would be.

As he approached, Roy stopped and waited for him to catch up.

"Colonel!" was the first word out of the Fullmetal Alchemist's mouth when he finally reached the duo. Roy smirked at Edward, pleased. He had finally reached his personal goal of becoming one of the most important people in his subordinate's life, even more important than Hohenheim. Though that wasn't saying much, considering the boy's view on his biological father.

"I guess it's a good thing you stand out more than even Al does," the Colonel commented. Edward just shrugged.

"What can I say? I have a very selective taste."

"In friends or fashion?" Roy questioned. Ed grinned.

"Both."

Hawkeye merely watched the exchange with a smile. Maybe she had been underestimating her superior officer. Maybe he could hold a civil conversation with his subordinate. Maybe-

"I'm guessing you wear such bright colors since it's the only way you could ever be seen?"

"...Is that an insult?"

"Only if you look at it that way."

And there went that theory. Hawkeye sighed as Edward began to rant once more, his fists flailing wildly. Roy just smirked at his success in riling up the teenager.

"One day," the Lieutenant swore to herself, "he'll see."

But that day was very, very, very far away.

To celebrate Fullmetal Alchemist Day, have this one-shot I wrote three or four months ago. It probably isn't as good as it could be, but hey, I tried.