His role as a General was all but forgotten by a certain Edward Elric. He was always calling him up at odd times, announcing himself with a loud, "Colonel *insert insult*!"
He wanted to be annoyed, but it was nice to hear from the Fullmetal Alchemist every once in a while. He was rarely around and often off and about doing what ever it is that Elrics do in their spare time. Riza was always crinkling around the eyes when she heard the brash voice echoing past the receiver.
He knew he wasn't the only one who enjoyed the random calls.
"You'll never guess what Eliza did today!" Edward's voice reverberated through the office as Riza was filing away paperwork, so he knew that she was hearing it as well.
Roy rolled his eyes in jest. "She walked."
The scoff was clearly insulted. "She's nearly four. She's been walking for a while now." Without waiting for another halfhearted guess from his previous commander, Ed continued. "She drew her first transformation circle today. Okay, it was more of an oval, but still.
"Winry wasn't impressed with the carpet being destroyed by a marker, but I think it's great. We'll always have her first attempt with us."
Roy didn't even try to stifle the smile that crossed his face. Riza was also softly smiling to herself.
Ed continued. "I tried to figure out what she was making with the circle, but in all honesty, I think it was just gibberish. She said it was to make apple pie, but the formula was all off.
"Ah! I did take a picture of it to send to you! You'll have to tell me what you think of it. Winry said she was just copying something from my notes, but it must be a conglomeration of several circles."
Roy laughed loudly at this. "Is she the next Fullmetal?"
"Ah hell no. She's not going into the military. Not on my watch. She's going to be a brilliant alchemist all of her own. Or maybe a mechanic. Right now, she thinks she's going to be a ballerina, so her future could go anywhere."
Roy leaned forward on his desk, resting his chin in his hand. Riza had stopped sorting through papers, and he knew she was just as enthralled with the story being regaled by their previous team member.
"But Thomas, now that kid is going to be an engineer! Yesterday he took apart the radio and put it back together! I mean, not in working order, but still. He nearly got it all together!
"Ah, speaking of which, he started school last week? Did I tell you about it?"
"Yes, Fullmetal, you did call to let me know Thomas was in school now."
Roy could practically see Ed's chest pump up with pride. "He's way ahead of his classmates in reading too! Got to see his teacher in town the other day and was complimented on how brilliant my boy is!"
This caused Riza to look over her should and smile at him.
When Ed and Al were scouring the nation looking for ways to get their bodies back, it was rare that either of them would know anything about what they were doing. They were lucky if they even knew which side of the country they were on at any given time. Sometimes Ed would write or call to report, like he was supposed to, but never to the extent that a State Alchemist should. It was often a long game of telephone to get ahold of the brothers.
But now, Ed was frequently checking in to tell him about his family, or to call and tell Roy about a breakthrough he had with his research.
His lack of alchemy didn't stop him from continuing his quest to find all the answers he could.
"Well," Roy said, "he is an Elric."
"And a Rockbell! Nothing but brilliant genes running through him!"
Ed shifted the conversation to how he was working on a way to better balance the levels in soil to get the best results for planting, his latest endeavor. Winry had gotten into planting and growing her own food to can, which meant Ed had to find his purpose in her new hobby.
Roy listened politely, taking in the feeling that Ed, the so troubled and tormented boy he had once met in a wheelchair so long ago, had found peace and happiness at last.
It would be just a few short days before a large envelope would arrive at his office, Ed's atrocious handwriting sprawled across the front.
Riza would open it before Roy got into the office, taking her time to look at all the pictures Ed had sent along, with Winry's neat printing on the back giving a description of what was going on in the picture. By the time Roy arrived, the snapshots into the Elric-Rockbell lives would be neatly sorted on his desk.
He would tuck them away in his desk, alongside all the other photos Ed had sent of his family, so that whenever he wanted, he could get a peek into the life of the boy who never could remember his title.