I feel so bad for skipping days in these chapters recently, but it takes seska 5 days to copy things and the boys 10 days to crack the code. I'm so not writing 15 fillers, even if I had a bunch of days in one or two chapters. It's boring to read and even more boring to write. Here comes a curveball:)
(Age 16)
Elizabeth groaned angrily as she shut the library door behind her. It took five days for Seska to write down Doctor Marcoh's book because it was coded into 1000 Flavors for Today's Menu, not even joking. What Ed commented was correct, though, when he said that Alchemy was born in the kitchen. She just wish that he hadn't gotten so caught up in cracking the code that he forgot what today was. He forgot that today was their birthday. In her mind, what was worse was that Alphonse had also forgotten. He normally got so excited about those little mundane things.
Nonetheless she grudgingly trudged to the mess hall, hoping to buy a small celebratory cookie or treat of the like. She completely ignored Denny and Maria's whispers about their determination and their theories of what the research was on. She was feeling pretty down that no one remembered, not even her brothers, not even her twin who shared it!
"Hey," Riza's sharp voice called from down the hall, thoroughly catching Elizabeth's attention, "Come here, Elizabeth." With a small, forced smile, Elizabeth made herself stand up straight and proud as she obliged.
"Yeah?" She replied, eyeing the woman's odd expression. She seemed to be happy, but not quite disguising it as well as normal. Or maybe she was just never happy...?
A smile finally appeared, confirming Elizabeth's suspicions of happiness, as the normally strict woman softly said, "Happy birthday, Beth." Without another word, Riza turned sharply on her heel and left the girl with watery eyes.
Someone had remembered, and that made Elizabeth so happy, yet the nickname was like a punch to the gut worse than when Jean stopped calling her that. Only Jean Havoc got to call her Beth. That was the way she, and he, liked it. "It's Elizabeth or Liz," She muttered in response, just loudly enough to be heard by the retreating figure, "But thanks for remembering."
Down definitely depressed, Elizabeth made a beeline for the mess hall, hoping for no more surprises, but disappointed at the arrival of Roy Mustang.
The Flame Alchemist smiled at the girl, "Broken Flame, how are you?" He asked genuinely, pausing his quick pace to converse with her.
Elizabeth once again placed a forced smile on her lips and replied, "Good, and you, Flame?" She knew that her forced smile was completely unconvincing, Riza knew as well, and so did Roy Mustang. Thankfully for her, he just smiled knowingly and turned to leave with a nod.
Before she managed to take her first step to the mess hall, however, Mustang threw his head in her direction and called, "And Happy Birthday, Beth." With a sharp intake of breath, Elizabeth managed to calm herself down a little bit, just enough to continue on her way to the mess hall.
Riza's slip had been a coincidence, but Roy's as well? Elizabeth felt something funny going on, and was pretty damn sure it had a little more than something to with a certain ash tray by the name of Jean Havoc.
Finally sitting an munching on her chocolate muffin, Elizabeth allowed her imagination to wander to marvelous places, where she and Jean had a fairy tale ending and everything made sense all of the time, and no one had automail and no one needed alchemy. But then her encounter with Kain, just before she came into the mess hall, rebounded through her mind. It had been nearly identical to Riza's and Roy's encounter. He had greeted her, then went to leave, stopped, said 'happy birthday,' and called her by Jean's nickname, Beth.
Beth. Beth. Beth. Beth. No matter the tone or feelings she tried to tie with the nickname 'Beth,' the emotions stirred in her came nowhere close to those that Jean could create by just uttering the name once in his slight accent. Reluctantly, Elizabeth ate her last bit of chocolaty goodness and stood up to go throw away the wrapper. As she made the movement, she caught a familiar blonde's eye.
Jean Havoc smiled mischievously as he watched Elizabeth's eyes widen, and he knew exactly why, because he was the one to ask Riza, Roy, and Kain to call her 'Beth.' He knew he was the only one who really got away with calling her that, and that's exactly the way he liked it. Now he was just trying to get Elizabeth to feel the same way.
Breaking eye contact first, Elizabeth shuffled over to the trash can to dispose of the wrapper before swiftly turning on her heel and all but dashing out of the mess hall. Expecting no less from his feisty little crush, Jean was already on alert, shoving the little white box with a red ribbon in his pocket before reaching the mess hall door only a split-second before she.
He smirked at her playfully as she only froze for a moment to take in the shock of his swift movement. Quickly regaining her senses, however, she opened the door and exited anyway, Havoc in tow.
"What do you want?" She spat angrily, her hair pin slipping down slightly. He managed to catch up to her, but only because his strides were longer than hers.
"Elizabeth," He pleaded, without a trace of his prior smug smirk, "I just wanted to tell you something." He almost walked straight down the hall as she turned sharply, but managed to continue to trail her.
"I'm listening, tell me." She replied sharply, making no effort to slow down or stop, rather seeming to speed up and turn sharply again, nearing her room.
"Eliz-" He began to say, but just as they reached her room, Elizabeth halted and spun on her heel to confront him.
"Don't." She sneered, "Call me that." A small smile played invisibly at the corners of Havoc's lips, but he contained it, barely, as she continued, "I asked you over and over and over again not to call me that Damned name Beth, and now, now that I'm finally used to it, you start calling me Elizabeth again? What the hell, Havoc?!"
The small smile removed its invisibility cloak and grew noticeably larger as he replied coyly, "Finally used to 'Beth?'" Elizabeth stopped cold in response, her hair pin slipping even farther, visibly messing up her hair. "I see," He added, "You like the nickname." He leaned a bit closer, "You like me."
Flustered, Elizabeth snapped, "Do not!" As she shoved his warmth away, enveloped in her own heat from nervousness. Red faced, her hair pin slid the final length and clinked on the ground.
Smiling, Havoc reached down and grabbed her bobby pin, moving to place it back in her hair. "N-No!" She cried, trying to take it from him. He seemed to have expected this, and held a firm grip on the small metal contraption until she started to grab with her automail hand. He then let her have it, but she had still been waiting for resistance, thus accidentally snapping her own bobby pin in half. "Damn it!" she cursed under her breath, still very well heard by Jean.
"Well," He smiled knowingly, having obviously planned for her to break the pin, "Looks like you're stuck with no hair supplies." He pointed out rudely, making Elizabeth huff angrily, knowing that she blamed him entirely.
"Wonder whose fault that is," She remarked snidely, "Jean." she added, a bit bitterly, waiting for his own snide retort. He completely surprised her again by smiling warmly.
"Now that's the Beth I know," He replied, wrapping her in a warm hug. She couldn't help but revel in his body heat, even though she wanted to badly to be mad at him. "I made you break it on purpose," He confessed, releasing her a bit too soon in her opinion, "Otherwise you might have stayed mad at me and not want to accept my birthday present." He explained, digging into his pocket and wrapping his fingers around the little box.
Her eyes brightened, somehow completely forgetting the anger he'd caused her previously, "A birthday present?" she chirped happily. Havoc nodded with a coy smile.
"But," He said, adding a condition, "I want a present, too. You missed my birthday, you know." Elizabeth pouted unconsciously, but nodded with a small look of confusion.
"What do you want?" She inquired, curiosity eating at her. She wanted nothing more than to open her present now. Havoc let out a small 'hmm' as he pretended to think about it. She huffed and put a hand on her hip and repeated, "What do you want?"
Havoc chuckled at this short girl's determination, "I'll ask for it after you open it, so you can't refuse." He decided, handing her the little box before her questions could get him out of his plan. He knew the curiosity would get her, and that her honor and justice would do the rest.
She grabbed it excitedly with greedy fingers, untying the knot gracefully and flinging open the tiny lid. Her eyes sparkled in wonder and small, unshed tears as she realized what it was, the small, silver periwinkle bobby pin. She turned her head to him and looked at him expectantly.
He smiled in return and delicately took the pin and place it in her hair, securing the fashion she came to love with a memorable bobby pin. Then his smile widened as he blurted, "A kiss."
She blinked at him, completely confused, and asked, "Huh?" He brushed her hair that was left unpinned behind her ear and leaned down to it to repeat himself.
"A kiss," he reiterated, his voice a bit deeper, "That's what I want." When he pulled away from her ear, the confident, feisty girl had disappeared, leaving an astounded, red, and nervous girl in her place. A girl who was biting her lip in an innocent way that made Havoc feel all kinds of things.
"Uh, uhm." She muttered nervously, a completely different person. She flared again in embarrassment, "I-I've never..." She trailed off, seeing Havoc's expecting gaze. Had she asked not to, he would have dropped it without hesitation. He knew that. She knew that. But she wouldn't, and he knew she wouldn't. She nibbled on her lip once more and muttered, "Come here."
She grabbed Havoc by the back of his neck and tugged on him gently, feeling him lean in easily. His head tilted slightly to one side, and Elizabeth, not knowing what to do, copied and tilted to the opposite, closing her eyes and just letting it happen. His hands fell to her waist as he tugged her closer. Their lips met softly, without any movement, for only a moment. In that moment, they felt a dozen different things. They were aware of each other's heat and strength, the softness of their skin and lips, the small of her back, the nape of his neck, the feel of their hands on them, and the involuntary flutter of eyelashes against one another, tickling one side of their faces, only adding to the single moment they stood there, lip-locked.
In another flutter of her eyelashes, Elizabeth's eyes snapped open and she pulled away abruptly, her heart racing and her face flushed bright red. Havoc was also slightly pink, but his heart was racing just as fast. His breathing was a bit shallow, but it was definitely not from being out of breath. "Elizabeth," He started, his voice a bit husky. Elizabeth shook her head to interrupt him.
"H-Happy birthday, and, and, uhm, goodnight." She rambled, turning and rushing into her room as fast as she could, pushing the door shut behind her. She had left Havoc in the dust, touching his lips where he had felt hers. She leaned against the door and slumped to the ground until she, too found herself touching her lips where she had felt his. The kiss was simple, innocent, and not much more than a peck, but it left them both wanting more.
Walking back to his own room, Havoc heard a familiar chuckle. He turned to see a smirking Roy Mustang, "Havoc, stealing kisses from the cradle, are we?" he teased, walking past him to get to his office.
Havoc let out a frustrated groan and hit the hallway wall as hard as he could, thinking, Why the hell can't I just enjoy a moment like that? An innocent kiss like that? He has to go and ruin my moment with Beth, damn bastard.
UPLOAD 4/4! I never thought I'd get it done3 So proud of myself right now:)
Anyway, I've been wanting to do a kiss for about...20 chapters nowxD
Feedback, please? Was the kiss good, too soon, not good, too late, what?