#[ riza accept kindness challenge ]

[hawksights]

@galeleads is a wonderful soul: is aurora making hot cocoa to warm the bones? yes she is!

"You're too kind, Major. You don't have to go out of your way for me."

[firewoodfigs]

amendes honorables

Summary: Riza Hawkeye is appalled to discover that her fifteen-year-old daughter has indicated interest in a boy. Her husband thinks she’s being a little bit of a hypocrite.

(thank you @waddiwasiwitch for hosting @moms-made-fullmetal-2020 ! ^_^)

read on ao3

~x~ 

Roy Mustang was having a very hard time trying to contain his laughter while lazing on the bed with his morning coffee in hand.  He was trying, really - his absolute, darnedest best - palms over mouth, holding his breath, distracting himself with boring, draggy books about legal positivism. But try as he might, it was very, very entertaining to see his stoic Captain, now beloved wife, getting so riled up over their daughter’s predicament.

Between the two, everyone always assumed that he would be the overprotective parent, but Roy knew better. He knew his wife like the back of his hand and had correctly predicted that she would be the paranoid parent who would impose a stringent “no-dating-until-you’re-an-adult” rule. Of course, every rule came with loopholes, and the definition of an “adult” was left up to her (legally, it should have been eighteen or twenty-one, but Roy believed that in Riza’s mind it probably ranged between thirty to forty, or more).  

“Stop laughing, Roy. This is serious!” Riza exclaimed, thoroughly flustered by the fact that their daughter had been the recipient of so many confessions, letters, chocolates and whatever frivolities teenage boys thought girls their age enjoyed receiving on Valentine’s Day.

Given how attractive her parents were it was no surprise that Rae Mustang was the apple of many young boys’ eyes at the juvenile age of fifteen. With thick, raven black hair like her father’s, her mother’s sharp features, and eyes like wood smoke in autumn - a lovely blend of her parents’ - it was hardly surprising that boys were attracted to her like moths to light, and while some girls were envious of her for winning the genetic lottery others had graciously accepted defeat.

Her mother was of course, acutely aware of this curse, or blessing, whatever one might choose to call it, and had taken it upon herself to confiscate gifts and letters she had received on that wretched holiday, on the excuse that it was hardly inappropriate for a girl her age to receive such things, and really, what did boys know about love at that age?

Riza had declared over dinner that night that professions of undying, profound love at that age were nothing but intricate lies designed by deceitful young boys, and Rae shouldn’t bother herself with it.

(Roy wanted to call her out for being a hypocrite there and then, but she shut him up with a threatening glare before the first syllable even left his mouth.)

In response, she’d nodded dutifully before returning to the steak and frites on her plate - courtesy of her father, who had taken it upon himself to “whip up a fantastic dinner for my lovely girls on this holiday about love” and “blessed it with a chef’s kiss” afterwards, but alas.

Alas. Her little girl had inherited their talents in covert operations and somehow managed to hide a very important gift and letter from her mother’s prying hands, and it didn’t take a genius to guess that it was gifted by someone she was interested in.

Riza had been utterly mortified when she found the traitorous piece of evidence sandwiched in between her chemistry textbooks (Rae had attempted to use some kind of alchemy she’d learnt from her Uncle Ed a few weeks prior to seal it, but there was something faulty with the array that foiled her plans in the end), which therefore led to the current situation of her pacing frantically around their room as she rambled on and on to her husband.

(She still didn’t know whether to be disappointed or proud of her daughter for possessing such a natural penchant at hiding things, but it was probably the former.)

Finally, she stopped pacing and turned to glower sullenly at her husband, who was hiding his laughter behind a book that he was pretending to be engrossed in. “I think she should be grounded, Roy. We can never know for sure if she’s been secretly planning dates behind our backs with this - this boy - mmph -” her words were muffled by a passionate kiss and a suffocating embrace.

“Relax, Riza,” he chuckled as he held her close in his arms to soothe her frazzled nerves. “We don’t even know what the boy is like. What if he was like me when we were younger?” He lifted his index finger and thumb to his chin, as if stroking an imaginary beard (Riza and Rae had conspired together to shave that blasphemous mustache off his face in his sleep) and pretended to be deep in thought.

Riza balked. “I didn’t like you when I was fifteen, Roy.”

He put a hand up to his heart in mock hurt. “Don’t be cruel, Riza. I know you did -”

“You did, I didn’t. Back to the topic at hand. I believe the appropriate punishment would be to ground her, and she most certainly owes us an apology for lying and hiding such scandalous affairs behind our backs.”

“Alright, alright,” he raised his hands in surrender, hoping it would ease the scowl on her face. It did somewhat, and so he decided to help his daughter with a little… negotiation. “You can ground her if you think that’s proportionate and necessary, but let’s give the boy a chance. We could have him over for dinner,” her frown was returning, and he hastened to add, “which would give us the perfect chance to interrogate him and analyse their rela - friendship, of course.”

The thought of being able to question him excited Riza just the slightest. She did love a good cross-examination, after all, and no one would touch her daughter without first crossing her. “Fine,” she relented. “I’ll talk to her tonight.”

Roy grimaced at that thought. His wife could be the living personification of the Spanish Inquisition when she put her mind down to it, and he hoped that it wouldn’t be a bad mix with the notorious teenage hormones that plagued everyone at fifteen. “Be nice, Riza.”

~x~

“You can come in, mom,” came her daughter’s trembling voice from behind the door.

Well. It seemed like they were already off to a bad start. As she opened the door slowly she could see her daughter’s quivering frame hunched over her literature homework, the likes of Austen and Bronte all strewn across her table messily as she tried very bravely to hold in her tears.

She groaned internally. Already, Riza felt her resolve weakening, and it was difficult to remain angry at such a sweet child (she often wondered what she and Roy did to deserve such a lovely daughter, but her husband deemed it necessary to discuss, in great detail, how Rae was made, so she never vocalised that thought ever again). She sat on the corner of her bed and beckoned for Rae to come sit with her, and as soon as she sank into the duvet as she placed a comforting hand over her shoulder.

So much for being strict.

Before she could even say anything, though, Rae started apologising frantically, words tumbling out of her mouth like a gushing stream. “I’m so sorry, mom, I know I shouldn’t have lied to you and I know I’ve disappointed you and I know I shouldn’t have and I’m just, I’m so sorry,” she stuttered, choking over her sobs. “I just… I know it would’ve upset you, but he’s… he’s a really nice boy, but I know what I did was wrong, and I’ve let you down, and I’m so -”

“Rae,” Riza called, her tone stern but gentle. “Okay, one thing at a time. I’m not going to lie, I am disappointed that you hid this from me, and there will be consequences, but I forgive you. I always will,” and she pulled her in for a hug, stroking her soft tresses tenderly as Rae sobbed into her shoulder and threw herself into the embrace.

… It truly was a challenge trying to pull a stern hand on her daughter. Her colleagues would’ve found this incredulous, and she never thought austerity was something she would ever struggle with, but Rae had proved her wrong. While she was supposed to be at the age of rebellion - Riza supposed this was it, the defining act - her daughter was quite the little darling, full of sunshine and joy, and it made it very hard to remain angry with her for long. In some ways, she reminded her a bit of Alphonse, although Rae had been adamant that her Uncle Al was wrong - dogs were better than cats.

Another point to Rae.

And though it was equally difficult to swallow her pride and admit that she had overreacted a little, just the slightest, over the gifts that had swarmed her table, she supposed it would only cause Rae to feel like she couldn’t trust her. “You… you can tell me these things, Rae.” Riza wanted to say she wouldn’t get mad, but that would just be an outright, blatant lie. “It’s better than hiding, or lying.”

“Really, mom?” her eyes glistened with hope, and really, it was hard to say no to a face like that. Riza would give her the stars and a mountain made of gold and diamonds if she just asked for it.

“Yes, really. In fact…” she remembered her previous discussion with Roy. Compromise, Riza. “You can invite him over for dinner one of these days.”

A watery smile crossed her daughter’s face, and it was so hopeful that Riza couldn’t resist chuckling a little. “But you, young lady, are still grounded, and will continue to be so for two weeks.”

She nodded glumly, as any other fifteen-year-old would be at the prospect of having to come home immediately after school, but otherwise relented and gave her mother another hug. “I understand, mom. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I forgive you.” She grinned at the thought of being able to grill this young man, both literally and figuratively. “So, when’s a good time for dinner?”

~x~

Riza had been… surprised, to say the least, when she opened the door to come face to face with a tanned-skin boy with white hair and distinctly red eyes that shone like a dreadful mix of rubies and garnets.

An Ishvalan.

Her immediate response had been to apologise to Rae instead - for how could he bear to look at her and Roy in the eye and seriously say that he was alright with who they were? If he’d bolted there and then, or threw the bag of cookies that he’d painstakingly prepared as a present in her face out of anger or animosity, Riza would have honestly accepted it and forgiven him regardless.

But instead the boy - who introduced himself as Elyas - had proceeded to remove his shoes before asking politely if it would be alright to come in, holding out the dessert he’d prepared with such a delightful eagerness and enthusiasm, and really, it was impossible to reject him.

“Of course, come on in,” she said invitingly, swallowing the bile rising in her throat as she observed Roy’s equally shocked expression. But he said nothing, only smiled welcomingly as he set up the dinner table and thanked him for the wonderful gift.

She’d almost lost her composure when he mentioned that he was an orphan, when Roy asked about his family, but as if reading her mind Elyas immediately sought to qualify his statement with “I’m very sure you two had nothing to do with it, Mr and Mrs Mustang. They died in an accident not too long ago, not because of the Ishvalan War. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. If anything, we should be the ones apologising. I understand if… if you are uncomfortable being here,” Riza whispered quietly, suddenly feeling like an incorrigible mother.

Underneath the table, Roy stretched out his hand to rest a palm on her thigh, rubbing soothing circles with a padded thumb. She responded in kind, knowing that the same sentiments, though unsaid, were on his mind as well.

Elyas, though, amazed them all by thanking them. Them, a pair of cold-blooded war criminals.

“Ah, well,” he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly with an open palm. “I’m alright. If anything, I’d like to thank the both of you for rebuilding Ishval. My parents often emphasised that it was General Mustang’s office that improved the lives of many Ishvalans because of the trade relations with Xing, and we’ve all benefited greatly from that.”

He flashed them a sunny smile, and his eyes conveyed everything they needed to know - that’s in the past now. “Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Mustang, and thank you for having me over for dinner.”

“Not at all, we’re more than happy to have you here, Elyas.” Riza was unequivocally sure that she owed Rae an apology instead, and vowed to speak with her again tonight.

Her husband had offered to do the same as they stood at the sink together to wash the dishes, but after what happened she thought it best to speak with Rae separately herself first, and so his only response was a reassuring, understanding kiss to her forehead.

“We’ll work it out together, Riza.”

~x~

“Can I come in, Rae?” Riza knocked hesitantly, the nausea and guilt that had settled in her gut previously making an unwelcome resurgence.

“Of course, mom!” Rae skipped happily to where her mother was as soon as the door was open and gave her a tight hug. “Thank you so much for tonight.”

“Not at all,” she smiled weakly. “I think I owe you an apology, Rae. I… I wasn’t expecting him to be an Ishvalan.” Her daughter was not ignorant to the sins that they had committed decades ago, because she’d made it her personal duty, alongside Roy, to explain history accurately to her - for both of them had agreed that it would be worse if she found the truth out by herself.

And Rae, kind, innocent Rae - bless her heart - had accepted the harsh reality of who her parents were with a grim nod, but after a few hours of introspection she’d knocked on their door to tell them that she still loved them regardless, and that she was proud to have parents who were working so hard to rectify the injustices they’d committed.

But this… this was quite a different story. She wasn’t sure if Elyas was just being courteous earlier, or if he was genuinely alright with who they were, with the wrongs they’d done against him and his hometown and entire culture. How could he? “I do apologise, Rae, if I’ve ruined anything.”

“What? No, mom, you didn’t! When I sent him off at the porch just now, he said that he really enjoyed dinner - said that you and dad are great cooks - and that it was an honor getting to know the both of you personally.” She grinned giddily, like a young girl happily in love. “I… I know why you feel that way, mom. But believe me, you can believe whatever he said. He’s the most genuine person I’ve ever met, and…” her feet shifted in embarrassment as she confessed quietly, “that’s one of the reasons why I…”

“Why you like him?” Rae nodded shyly, pink mottling her pale cheeks flatteringly.

“I see. Well, I can understand that, Rae.” She bent down to whisper a secret in her ear, one that only she could hear - just in case her ridiculous father was snooping around somewhere trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. “I liked your father when I was fifteen, too.”

Rae giggled and smiled brightly at her mother when she heard her admission. Then, looking up at her mother curiously with her best set of puppy eyes, she asked, “Does that mean I’m not grounded anymore?”

“No, you still have a week more to go, Rae,” and while her daughter responded with a petulant, disappointed sulk she could still see the happiness sparkling in her eyes. “But feel free to ask him over for dinner anytime.”

[misstinfoilhat]

Hullo! I really love your writing, and I saw that you got a bad things happen bingo! I really love both Ed and Dazai, so I was wondering if I could request something for both of them? Maybe tied to a pole with Ed, and human shield with Dazai?? If two requests is too much, could you please do Ed? Thanks ☺️☺️❤️

Heyoo! I can do both! I have the Ed one ready now, and then I’ll do the Dazai one later! ^^ I might do some of the other stories first though--- I hope that’s okay! 

Again, this became an actual one-shot. A drabble isn’t usually 2000 words, ya know. But it was fun to write! And I’m actually really happy with the outcome!

The whole “tied to a pole” prompt was a bit unspecific to me, but here’s what I made of it:

---

Roy grit his teeth, fists clenching tightly. They all knew that the court martial’s verdict was bullshit, that the Mayor of this godless town in the south-of-nowhere was out for revenge. The humiliation of having been corrected on the history of his own town in the middle of a speech was too much for his wounded ego. The fact that representatives of the military from several other districts were present at the time, had only amplified the effects.

If Edward had only kept his mouth shut. If he hadn’t been such a bratty know-it-all, then Roy and his unit would have been on the train heading back to Central right now. They wouldn’t be standing in a crowd of people, watching as their youngest teammate was fighting his restraints, hard-handedly being escorted to the flogging pole.

The masses that had gathered to observe the disciplinary action was mixed. Some whooped and laughed, pointing while cheering for the administrator, while others turned away in outrage and disgust the moment they saw Edward’s minuscule stature and automail arm. 

“It’s just a child,” a woman behind Roy gasped, and Roy lowered his head, rubbing at his eyes.

‘I know!’ he thought. 

As the guards tried to attach Edwards’s cuffs to the pole, a wave of laughter spread through the crowd. Roy snapped his attention back to the stage, where it became apparent that Edward was too short to reach. The ropes they would tie him to weren’t long enough. 

“Yeah, go figure! They’re not meant for a child!” Havoc heckled but was quickly shut up by a sharp elbow to the side from Riza. Roy sent him a venomous glare.

“Leave it,” he hissed. “This is just for show. He can handle a few lashes. If we leave here on a bad note, we will all be court-martialed once we get back to Central.” 

Havoc scoffed. “It’s such bullshit,” he muttered, relighting his cigarette.

“I agree, but our mission was to kiss some ass and make good relations. Fullmetal did the opposite of that, and now he’s facing the consequences.” The words left a foul taste in Roy’s mouth, but it was the truth. All he had asked of the vertically challenged knucklehead, was to smile and nod as they paraded him around like a show pony. 

Eventually, someone had produced a crate from somewhere, which they placed Edward on top of. The teen was fuming with embarrassment and rage.

The large crowd settled as the Mayor walked ceremoniously to the front of the stage, unrolling a scroll and cleared his throat. 

“For the crime of breaching military code, I hereby sentence Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist to one hundred lashes,” he spoke loudly. The collective horror from the audience made him pause, however.

Something heavy settled in Roy’s stomach and he felt his knees start to wobble.

“That’s too much---” Riza gawked, aghast. The moment it had been said, Roy, Havoc and Breda had all bolted towards the stage, leaving Riza, Fuery, and Falman behind. The three exchanged glances, before rushing after them.

“That is outrageous!” Roy shouted as a guard blocked his path. “He can’t weigh more than a hundred pounds!”

“A lash per pound then,” the Mayor chuckled spitefully and glanced to where Edward was still fighting his bonds.

“That amount of lashes will kill him!” Fuery chimed in soon after, out of breath. “A man should optimally only receive fifty lashes a day, but a child his size---”

“Preposterous!”

“Barbarians!”

The crowd roared in outrage.

“-would likely not withstand more than twenty, maybe thirty---” Fuery was stopped by a hand covering his mouth. He glared back at Falman.

“Yes. As he said, twenty,” Falman inquired vigorously. 

The Mayor’s eyes hovered over the audience, furious fists being thrown in the air and voices pleading for mercy for the child. Only a few people still laughed, calling Edward a wimp, a crybaby, and other downgrading names.

Eventually, the Mayor rolled his eyes obviously and strolled back to the centerstage. He cleared his throat in an overexaggerating matter.

“On account of the kindness in my heart, I will relent to your appeal. I will change the sentence to---” he paused for dramatic effect, bathing in the sea of anticipation as all eyes were directed at him. “-forty lashes!”

“That’s still too much!” Havoc directed at Roy, eyes begging for him to do something. But all Roy could do was to shrug and shake his head gloomily.

“There’s nothing I can do. We need to be aligned with this asshole, no matter how much of a self-absorbed jerk he is.”

Havoc still argued. “But Furey said twenty lashes, and he raised it back to forty!”

“If we don’t accept this more ‘reasonable’ punishment, I’m afraid they might go back to a hundred and I’ll have to blow the tops off their heads off,” Riza joined in, hand resting instinctively by her holster. 

Their discussion was cut short at the sound of leather singing through the air, followed by the sickening noise of it smacking across flesh. The muffled groan Edward bit back made them all turn. 

The already scarred back had a glowing, red welt across the shoulder blades, and Edwards’s hands grasped at the ropes binding him to the pole as they shook by the effort of holding him up on his tippy toes. The thin scar tissue around his shoulder port was already bloodied.

Again, the flogger danced as the guard raised his hand anew and brought the spiked tip back across the feeble spine. The Mayor counted loudly as each stroke was delivered.

The seventh lash broke Edward’s skin. Crimson red merging with perspiration, running down his back and leaving small puddles of blood around his feet. As the punishment went on, his flesh broke more and more. On the seventeenth blow, the tip of the whip lodged itself underneath the plating of his automail arm.

As it was forced back out, the metal plating visibly shifted, grinding into Edward’s bones. That was the first time Edward broke his stubborn silence and let an agonizing cry cut through him. He threw his head back, revealing that he had bit his bottom lip bloody and cursed at them loudly. His body was spasming, if it was because of the flogging or the automail was hard to tell, but it was heartwrenching to witness nevertheless.

When the twentieth hit was dealt, the crowd had gone silent. A few had left, and Riza had her back turned, unable to take it any longer. She assessed her superior’s face solemnly. Roy’s eyes were dangerously narrow, and his jaw was set tight, telling her that he struggled to compose himself.

Edward had gone completely quiet behind her. The only sound that cut through the grave silence was the swishing of the whip and faint occasional moans.

As the Mayor got ready to declare the thirty-first lash, a brisk baritone voice spoke up.

“That’s enough!”

The man giving the lashes paused for a moment and looked questioningly at his superior. The Mayor glared at Roy for a moment.

“I will stop this now, if your unruly subordinate offer me a formal appology,” he smirked boastfully. 

Roy took a step forward and Riza had to keep herself from instinctively grabbing at his arm.

“With all due respect,” Roy bit, with evident sarcasm bleeding through his words, “even if he had been conscious to offer you his apologies, I would refuse to let him after your reckless, thoughtless behavior. A teenager wounding your ego is not punishable by death, nor near death. If it was, I swear Fullmetal would be administered floggings daily by myself!” Roy’s voice rose slightly, even if he was now standing only a few feet away from the podium, glaring up at the pompous man.

The Mayor assessed him lazily, arms crossed and nose raised. 

“I- I can take it,” came weakly from behind him. Simultaneously, Roy and the Mayor’s heads snapped towards the fragile voice.

Quivering feet were trying to get purchase on the wooden crate, the exhausted body swayed limblessly back and forth as he failed to keep his balance. The bright fresh blood still seeped through the several ugly lacerations crisscrossing over his sunkissed back at an alarming rate. 

“Fullmetal---” Roy disputed softly, but Edward shook his head.

“No! I can take it!” a newly found strength reached his tone. “I’m not some scrawny kid! If I can do an adult’s work, I can take an adult’s punishment!”

Edward had to pause as a few painful coughs wrecked through his weary form, robbing him of his newfound energy. A raspy intake followed, before he was ready to speak again. 

“So, just do it,” he croaked, barely above a whisper. “Give me forty, fifty, a hundred. I don’t care. Just get it over with so I can be done with this piece of shit job and go back home to my brother.” 

With a defiant stubbornness, Roy kept his stance with folded arms and looked venomously at the Mayor as he signaled for the punishment to continue. It proceeded with absolute silence, an uncomfortable aura spreading over the onlookers. Accusing and disapproving stares were cast at the man who had administered each lash. Edward had eventually given up on keeping his feet under him and hung motionlessly from the ties as the last lash hit him. 

The relieved sigh as the Mayor declared the fortieth blow was elevating. Low murmurs and quiet conversations filled the streets as the crowd thinned, and people got on with their lives, undoubtedly discussing whether or not they would want to keep such a heartless Mayor in the upcoming election.

The administrator reached to untie Edward’s wrist, but Roy skipped up on stage and demanded to do it.

Gingerly, he undid the first knot, carefully placing his arm under Edward’s to keep him from falling. Edward hissed from the contact, and Roy apologized bashfully. As he unraveled the second not, he let Ed slide down and rest on his lap.

Roy held him tightly, supporting his back with one arm while brushing strands of hair away from his face with the other. Golden half-lidded eyes peered tiredly up at him.

“I’m sorry,” Edward muttered weakly, shamefully scrunching his eyebrows together. Roy mimicked the expression in confusion.

“What? What do you have to be sorry about? You took your punishment like a champ!”

“I ruined the job,” Edward uttered quietly, straining to keep his torn bottom lip from wobbling. “They’re not gonna be our allies after this, all because I couldn’t keep my stupid mouth shut.”

The surprised scoff that tore its way through Roy’s throat startled them both. Roy’s hand kept brushing through the unruly mop of golden locks affectionately.

“He was an asshole anyway, Fullmetal. There’s no way anyone will elect him for another term after this display. Maybe a potential new Mayor was in the crowd today, watching as you took this unfair punishment with your head held high. If anything, you’ve might increase our chances of aligning with them.”

Those large, brilliant eyes widened as he looked up on him, making Roy smile fondly.

“You really think so?” Ed asked in awe, gripping at Roy’s sleeve to make him stop petting his head.

The colonel chuckled lowly, shifting a little, signaling that he was getting ready to get up.

“Yeah, I do,” he confirmed as he finally lifted Ed off the ground. Edward winched, and his grip on the older man’s sleeve grew tighter. They passed the Mayor without a word. 

A few feet away, the rest of their unit stood. Havoc was holding Ed’s red coat and delicately placed it over Edward’s trembling form as they turned to leave.

“You made me really proud today, d’you know that?” Roy murmured silently.

“Really?” a hoarse croak answered from the bundle in his arms.

“Yeah, really.”

[fullmetalscullyy]

For the prompt list, can I ask "What were you thinking?!?!" for Royai pls? 👉👈

of course!!! thank u for this gift 😍

happy new year everyone and all the best to you and yours in 2020!!! 💖

“what were you thinking?!”

“Hawkeye,” the Colonel growled, but Riza ignored him and breezed past, into her bathroom. She grimaced at the sight of her face in the mirror, noting the blood in her hair and trailing down her face. It had dried and cracked, irritating her skin and making her feel filthy. In the moment she hadn’t noticed it. While adrenaline was rushing through her veins it wasn’t even a thought, but now it was all over, she just wanted a long, hot, shower.

“Hawkeye!” She closed the door on him and his ranting.

A shower first, then she’d deal with his tantrum.

Riza understood he was worried about her. She knew that. In the reverse situation, she’d feel the same way, but this was her job. He never seemed to understand that about her.

The water pounded against her skin, the heat of it burning her nerve ends and setting her skin alight. Anything to wash away the troubles of the night. Roy was quiet outside the door and Riza knew he’d be pacing in her living room or something, too restless to simply sit still.

Riza turned to grab the soap to scrub her face, but she winced and let out a hiss of pain. Automatically bringing her hand up to her injured side, she clutched it. Damn it. She’d forgotten about that one. A poorly aimed stab resulted in a gash across her side, midway down her torso. A hand was placed on the tile in front of her to brace herself as wave after wave of pain washed over her. The water stung in her wound and Riza flinched away from it.

Washing herself free of the dried blood and grime took a lot less time than she would have liked thanks to that wound. Shutting off the water, Riza stepped out of her shower and grabbed a towel, not caring that blood would get over the white fabric.

The cut was ugly and ran from underneath her breast, around her back to underneath her shoulder blade. Riza sighed at the sight of it, but it was just another one to add to her collection. Opening the cabinet, she dug out a patch and bandages, ignoring the shaking in her hands as she clenched her jaw, gritting her teeth against the pain ravishing her torso. Wrapping it up was a quick affair, but it would do to stop blood covering her carpet and clothes after getting dressed. It was at such an awkward angle that she couldn’t properly clean it either. To do so, she had to stretch, and that made the pain worse. Giving up, she tossed the unused bandages in the sink and pressed the pad in place. It would need to be properly looked at.

Hesitantly she poked her head out into her bedroom. Roy had seen more of her than anyone else had, but that didn’t mean Riza wanted him to see her right now. Plus, he wasn’t the kind of person to confront her, half naked, in her bedroom after exiting the shower. No, he’d be stewing in her living room, waiting for her to exit. She was half tempted to leave him there. She was tired, she was sore, she just wanted to curl up with her dog and go to sleep. But Riza rarely got what she wanted in this life.

Putting on her pyjamas was a painful affair. She bit her lip throughout to try and hide the pain, leaving her panting at the end as her wound stretched.

Just as Riza thought, he was waiting for her in her living room. Roy was pacing in place, a frown on his face while his chin rested on his fingers. Hayate sat on the rug in front of the fire, watching him, but when Riza exited, her dog trotted over to Riza, following her to her kitchen.

The room was silent for a moment as she readied herself a cup of tea. The pot was filled with extra water to boil so she could sterilise anything if she needed to while patching herself up.

“What were you thinking?” His tone was quiet. Dangerous. Riza rolled her eyes, preparing herself for his tirade. He had no right. She was only doing her job.

“Tea?” she asked, ignoring him.

“Hawkeye –” he barked.

“Sir, would you like a tea or not?” she glanced over her shoulder, noting how his jaw set, his expression hardening.

“No,” he spat out. “Now –”

“Sir, I’m tired. Can this wait for another time?”

“What were you thinking?!” he growled angrily.

“It’s my job!” she snapped, her voice rising in volume. Something inside of her broke. He had no right to talk to her this way. It was her job to protect him and she’d done that tonight, and yet he felt it was appropriate to yell in her face about it, about how “stupid” she’d been. “Or have you forgotten that?”

“It’s not your job to get yourself killed,” he fired back.

“I’m not dead, am I?” she asked, demanding an answer from him. “I’m more than capable, and I don’t need you breathing down my neck and scolding me like a child for doing what I’m being paid to do!”

“You were reckless –”

“To you, yes, but only because I got hurt. If I hadn’t gotten hurt, there would be no problem, would there?” she challenged him, and she saw the spark in his eye. Riza knew she was right. She’d hit the nail on the head. “If it was any of the other men, you wouldn’t be throwing such a fit, but I vowed to protect you so you could reach to the top. Conveniently, you’ve suddenly forgotten that just because I got injured.”

“I’ve not forgotten that,” he replied, tone controlled.

“Really?” she scoffed. Riza crossed her arms. “Because that’s exactly what it looks like from my side. “In order to do my job effectively I need you to stop holding me back. We have a history, I get that, and if the situation was reversed, I would be worried sick about you too, but the world can not stop still just because I’m in a dangerous position. I’m expendable. You’re not.”

Fire flashed in his eyes, but Riza was right. When it was broken down, that was the basics of their professional relationship. She’d sacrifice herself for him so he could keep on living.

“Never refer to yourself that way.” His voice was low and dangerous again. He was angry, but, yet again, he’d conveniently forgotten that she was employed as his bodyguard and would take a bullet for him if it was required.

“It’s the truth,” she shrugged.

“No, it’s not,” he ground out.

“Personally, maybe, yes,” Riza corrected herself. “But professionally? I’m your bodyguard, Roy. That means I lay my life down for you to protect you, so you can keep on working for the top, unharmed.”

“I don’t want that to happen.”

Riza offered him a sympathetic smile. “Then this isn’t going to work out.”

Roy stared her down, unable to offer her anything further, but only because he knew she was right. He just didn’t want to admit it. Riza took no pleasure in proving him wrong and having this discussion, but she needed to be able to do her job effectively. She couldn’t be held back like that by him just because he was worried.

Riza poured herself the tea and reached automatically for the sugar, then winced and gasped in pain. Her hand flew to her side and she bit her lip, riding out the pain.

“You’re right,” Roy spoke with finality. “This isn’t going to work.”

Glancing up, Riza watched his retreating back. Her apartment door closed with a click, but it sounded like a gunshot in her mind. Sighing, and hanging her head for a brief moment, Riza accepted his decision.

They were done.

Riza didn’t know what this meant but right now she didn’t care. Numbness was setting in. All she could worry about was getting the wound treated and having her tea to soothe the twisting in her stomach.

The blood had seeped through the pad and onto her t-shirt. Changing into just a bra and tossing her bloody t-shirt aside, Riza re-entered her kitchen to pick up her better equipped first aid bag – Only to find Roy back in her kitchen, laying medical supplies across her table. He glanced up but barely flinched that she was only in her bra.

“Here,” he beckoned with a jerk of his head. “Have a seat,” he murmured.

Riza eyed him as she did so. She hadn’t expected to see him back. Roy motioned for her to turn so he could see her injured side. He peeled away the patch with such a gentle touch. His anger from before was gone and his eyes looked regretful.

“You’re right, this isn’t going to work if I act like that,” he murmured.

“No, it won’t.” Riza hissed as his hands pressed the alcohol swab against her injury.

“Sorry,” he murmured. It was a loaded apology, referring to the sudden sharp pain from the cleaning alcohol, and his behaviour. “You’re right, of course,” he chuckled humourlessly. “As always. I was being a fool.”

Riza bit her lip as pain shot in her side. “It doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your concern,” she bit out as the alcohol felt like fire against her injured skin.

“I know,” he stated, taking a short break. Riza appreciated it and took it as an opportunity to get her breath back. “I don’t know I…” Roy swallowed. “Every time I see you hurt I just lose it. I hate it, but only because it frustrates you, because you’re right – I’m holding you back and preventing you from doing your job. That’s something I never want to do.”

Riza nodded, glad he’d seen sense at least. Roy moved behind her and poured a cup of boiling water. He lifted the needle from the kit and placed it in the cup, sterilising the needle.

“Just like old times,” he commented and Riza smiled. They’d patched each other up before like this, but not for a long time, and not on this level. Being in the military and being in the war they’d picked up some medic skills, and Riza was glad. She really didn’t feel like going to the hospital like this.

“Just like old times,” Riza agreed. “I’m glad you’ve seen sense.”

Roy huffed a laugh. “Sorry for being an ass.”

“Apology accepted.” Riza smiled to herself. “Respectively, don’t do it again.”

“If I do, I give permission for you to shoot me.”

“Noted,” she smiled dryly. Riza winced as the needle pierced her skin. She tried to keep her pained gasps and winces controlled, but sometimes she couldn’t. As soon as Roy announced he was finished her body sagged in relief. Hands were placed on her shoulders, his thumbs rubbing circles against her skin.

“Come on,” he murmured. “Let’s get you comfortable.” Roy helped her stand. It was a struggle to stand properly because of the pain in her side, but Roy grasped her elbow and assisted her walking across to her couch. Riza didn’t need it, but she gave in to it for a moment. It was nice to be comforted in such a way. They couldn’t do it any other time, so she allowed herself it just this once.

In a surprise, arms wrapped around her shoulders as she lay back in her couch. Riza was eased backwards onto Roy’s chest, her body in between his legs are they lay back together. He pulled the throw across her body once she shivered in the cool apartment air.

“Get some rest,” he murmured. “I won’t be going anywhere.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Riza asked, unable to help herself.

Roy chuckled, his breath skating across her cheek and her ear. His hands rubbed up her arms. “Get some sleep. It’s fine, Riza.”

She closed her eyes and drifted off. Riza was glad she’d gotten that off her chest and was glad they could talk about things like this and it wouldn’t create a rift between them. At the end of the day, they were both terrified of losing each other, however in a professional capacity, that was the reality of things. They both knew this, but fear had a funny way of altering one’s actions when faced with a terrifying situation. Riza could have died tonight, but she didn’t because she was good enough. She wasn’t indestructible, she knew, but she was good and confident in her abilities. Roy knew this too, but he’d seen her almost being stabbed after she’d charged in front of him to protect him from being hurt. In the shock, Riza would have probably done the same.

Allowing herself to succumb to the comfort he always provided her so effortlessly, Riza relaxed and let the day slip away from her. They were both alive and ready to live another day. That’s all that mattered. They still had to get to the top, after all.

[hlwim]

Do you have any tips for writing dialogue? I’ve been writing a lot of fic lately but find that getting character voice to be a big challenge, and absolutely loved the way you paced the dialogue on Night’s Cope. 😊

dialogue typically is the first thing that i write which can be a huge pita because then i have to go back and add like narrative and thoughts and enough tags to know who is speaking when. i write dialogue fast, exactly like transcribing a conversation.

first & biggest thing for writing dialogue is that characters need a reason to talk to each other. some acceptable reasons: interrogation, confession, flirting, intimidation, filling the silence. unacceptable reasons: exchanging information for the benefit of an invisible over-watching 3rd party. this gets lampshaded in every meta-referential tv show in existence but never NEVER ever write dialogue that only exists to convey information to readers. if you are 15 lines into a “well, as you know” kind of monologue, abandon ship and let her sink. no person in the world (except maybe 3 lizards in a trenchcoat) greets a long-time friend with “ah yes hello Lieutenant Colonel James W Barrow, the adult man who once saved me from a burning demon bear back in 1878. we are excellent good friends how fairs your wife Mildred and your thirteen children?”

now, that’s not to say dialogue can’t ever be used to convey information to the audience. in fact, it should, but the difference between good dialogue & bad dialogue is how it conveys information. i’ll use example from night’s cope.

the first dialogue is an exchange of information between riza and kimblee. riza is direct and practical, supporting a suggested course of action with evidence. there is a lot of exposition happening, but it’s reasonable for her to both have this knowledge and expect kimblee not to. it also plays into the theme of riza giving more information than she really intends to, as well as kimblee’s habit of internalizing these little details for later manipulation.

the amount of dialogue should also reflect who the characters are and what’s happening around them: it’s just too fucking cold for them to talk for most of the walk to the cabin, but kimblee is the kind of person who can’t let silence linger. he’s self-absorbed, complaining about his hat and then trying to assert power when he is entirely reliant on riza’s expertise to save them both. if you’re writing a lot of action, do not have your characters stop for 25 minutes to chat (seriously, read your dialogue aloud to see how long it actually takes to say.)

kimblee is very fun to write dialogue for because almost everything he does is to get a reaction out of someone else. also he’s an egomaniac who loves the sound of his own voice, so his reason to talk is “because no one else is.”

i mentioned it above, but knowledge is another key factor in good dialogue. your characters are not a hivemind; they don’t all know everything and they can’t always read each other’s emotions perfectly. awkward dialogue is realistic. two people talking past each other or talking in circles is realistic, and it lets you flesh out their relationship without relying on narrative or a dreaded flashback.

finally, do not fear “said.” it’s great. pair it with adverbs for versatility! but for the love of god do not ration the number of saids in your fic. it is so unbearably distracting to read a run of “she whispers, he sighs, she murmurs, he mutters, etc etc” lend emotion to your dialogue with facial expressions, with body language (which hey is a huge component of communication in reality), and with the environment the conversation is happening in.

the balance of dialogue and narrative is hard to learn. speak your dialogue out loud or at least run it in your head like a movie, and you’ll start to figure out where you’re getting hung up, where things are taking too long, where a pause would work better, where one person can lie and another can drift into thought and stop listening.

[bombshellsandbluebells]

1, 2, 3 and 5 for the female characters top fives?

Thank you!! Okay, listed in no particular order and with short rant included because I couldn’t help myself. So this is long, prepare yourself!

1 - Protagonists

Elizabeth Swann (Pirates of the Caribbean) - 

I love her so much. She’s so stubborn and won’t put up with anyone’s shit and is ruthless and is more of a pirate than Jack Sparrow. I love that she longed for the sea and learned about pirates in secret as a kid and then got her own ship and crew and became Pirate King!! And that her story was always about freedom and she got it in the end. I love that Elizabeth doesn’t wait around for Will to save her, but goes out and saves herself and makes her own destiny.

Tohru Honda (Fruits Basket) - 

Tohru’s proof that kind/compassionate characters are not boring or less complex. Tohru feels so real; the way she ignores her trauma and grief and hides her issues to try to always appear perfectly selfless and happy is so human and relatable and her journey is really, really interesting. She’s so kind but still has so much room to grow and I honestly see a lot of myself in her.

Emori (The 100) - 

I mean most of you already know how much I love Emori, but I LOVE EMORI. She’s such a fun, interesting, unique character with a really interesting backstory and unique challenges to face. I love how smart and manipulative and conniving she is. I love how she doesn’t know how to trust people and has to slowly learn how to be part of a group. I love how insanely loyal she is once she’s found that group. I love that being one part of a romance story didn’t fix all her issues, but finding community and acceptance helped her grow even further. I love that she still loves herself despite what society says about her. I love her look even if the shape and size of her tattoo keeps magically changing.

Annie Edison (Community) -

I love how Annie is ruthless, and I love how that contrasts with the sweet/innocent/naive stereotype she appears to be at first. The more you see of her the more you realize that Annie Edison will steamroller over literally anyone in her path to get what she wants, Jeff included. The hints we get about her backstory and family life are also really intersting, even if the show never really goes into it - probably because it wouldn’t really stay comedic. 

Lucretia (The Adventure Zone: Balance) - 

It is my mission to get more people to give TAZ a try. It has so many great characters and Lucretia is one of the best. She’s so complicated. Your outlook on her constantly changes. She goes from being a mentor archetype to possibly the antagonist to a tragic hero. She did something terrible to the main characters for good reason and you see the awful affects of it but it’s also made clear why she did it and just how awful she feels about it. She’s such a tragic character and every time I relisten my heart breaks for her more and I just love her. 

Also she has some amazing lines like “Hot diggity dog, that is a baller cookie” so how could you not love her.

2 - Villains

A.L.I.E. (The 100) - 

She’s probably my favorite villain ever. Every season I want them to bring her back. I’m still bummed s5 didn’t take the PERFECT opportunity they were given. She would be my one weakness to start watching the show again.

Azula (ATLA) - 

Azula’s far more threatening than Ozai ever is, and she’s so flawed in such interesting ways. One of my favorite moments of her is the scene where she says, “Are the tides the captain of this ship?” because at first it seems like such a badass, in-control moment, but it honestly reveals just how much Azula’s pride and arrogance hinder her. That’s such a foolish, reckless thing to think, that what you want is above the forces of nature, but Azula is foolish, prideful, and arrogant, even if she is incredibly talented and smart. I think it’s also really interesting how they parallel her decline with Zuko overcoming his trauma, because for most of the series it seemed that Azula only benefited from their upbringing, and then you realize she’s just as messed up from it, just in different ways.

Bellatrix LeStrange (Harry Potter) -

I don’t have a rant for her, she’s really not that complex, she’s just such a fun, terrifying villain and Helena Bohamn Carter plays her to perfection.

Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter) -

I mean I don’t like her at ALL but we all collectively DESPISED her and that’s just proof of what a great villain she is. When she showed up again in Deathly Hollows I remember just feeling rage as I read it. I was like, her??? AGAIN???

Last one below the cut because major spoilers for Fruits Basket!!!

3 - Superheroes

Nebula (MCU) -

I really love her journey in the MCU from villain to hero. The best parts of Endgame were getting to see her find a group of her own that supported her and learn to have fun and smile.

Natasha Romanoff (MCU) - 

I don’t always love how the MCU handled her, but I do like the character the MCU ultimately created, if that makes sense. She’s snarky and kind of dorky and it’s such a contrast from the shallow femme fatale cliche she started as and is usually portrayed as. I love that we get to see some of her weaknesses and fears over the series. I think they screwed up with her narrative a LOT, but I still enjoy the character they ultimately created.

Pepper Potts (MCU) -

Badass business lady turned occasional badass superhero when her husband’s in trouble. I really love her visceral fear of the superhero business and her hatred of it for most of the movies. It makes sense and makes her human that she doesn’t just go along with it. 

Raven (Teen Titans) -

Raven was one of my favorite characters as a kid. Apparently I like characters who are isolated but crave community and slowly learn to love others and let that love and acceptance in, because that’s part of what I love about her. 

Carol Danvers (616) -

I don’t like Carol in the MCU because of writing/directing reasons, but I love Carol in the comics. I love her “fuck you” attitude that is so at odds with most superheroes and her stubborness and her tendency to punch first, talk later, even when it gets her into trouble. I love that she named her cat after Star Wars and makes really corny jokes.

5 - Queens/Empresses/Royalty

Apparently I don’t watch a lot of shows with queens/royalty, so I’m going to do a grab bag of five other great female characters that come to mind.

Aqua (Kingdom Hearts) -

KH isn’t great at handling it’s female characters, but she’s the one exception. She’s a keyblade master who tried to keep her friends safe and stop the main villain, and she failed! She sacrificed herself trying to save one of her friends, letting herself get trapped in the Realm of Darkness, and the tragic part is that she didn’t even save him. So then she wanders the RoD for 10+ years, alone, being haunted by her fears and doubts and regrets, slowly losing herself. She eventually gets saved and gets a happy ending, but the part of the series exploring her endless wandering is so interesting. She’s a protagonist of a series aimed for kids, but she fails, and she has flaws and doubts and she has parts of herself she doesn’t want to face, and she’s just cool.

Echo (The 100) -

Because I didn’t list her in protagonists. I really fell in love with Echo in s4 when we saw her internal struggle between what was right/just and what was required to protect her clan. She was a great antagonist because we still saw so much of her humanity and now she’s a great protagonist with flaws and desires and self-doubt. And she’s a badass.

Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist) -

Another really interesting, flawed, complex lady. Riza is a soldier who fought in war and her actions during it still haunt her and drive her to push for a better world and country, even if she fully expects and accepts that a better world will punish her for her actions. She’s so interesting.

Judy & Jen (Dead to Me) - 

They’re by no means favorite characters of all time, but I do really love both of these characters. They’re just well written and interesting and the conflict between them is really interesting and I just want to include them for being cool female characters.

Furiosa (Mad Max: Fury Road) - 

What an awesome character. Her design is cool. Her actress is amazing. Her risking her life to get the wives to safety is fantastic. The way the movie slowly humanizes her more and chips away at her harsh exterior to show the emotions underneath is so good. She’s got a disability and fights around it. She’s great.

Villains (Cont.) below the cut ; spoilers for Fruits Basket

Akito (Fruits Basket) -

I put this under the cut because people are just starting to get into Fruits Basket for the first time and the fact that Akito is even a woman is a major spoiler, because she was raised as male her entire life because she was head of the family. Akito is so unlikeable at first and so awful and manipulative. She takes joy in hurting other people. She has a hand in most of the other characters’ trauma. And then you start learning more and more about her and realize she’s a traumatized, lonely, hurt person and is lashing out. It doesn’t forgive what she’s done, but it humanizes her. She’s a great parallel of Tohru in that they went through very similar trauma and experiences but Tohru had a loving mother who taught her the importance of love and kindness and Akito’s mother was awful and abusive and she learned that the only thing that mattered was power and control. She’s a really interesting character and I honestly still don’t know to feel about her most of the time.

[aaaaamorphous-entity]

Alright so my siblings and I started discussing the possibility of a Fullmetal Alchemist/Fate (Fate Metal Alchemist?) crossover in which the 7 sins are summoned as Servants, and these are the thoughts so far: 

(It’s long so under the cut.)

Wrath and Olivier

- In the words of my older sibling, “We need at least one Master-Servant pair that’s pants-shittingly terrifying”. 

- Most likely team to win a one-on-one match against the other War participants, except MAYBE Pride and Scar.

- If not the ones to win the Holy Grail, certainly one of the three final contending teams.

- Least likely to form alliances. One of the few chinks in their armor.

- If you think going after the Master will be easier than dealing with the Servant, then you are hilariously incorrect.

- Wrath is most likely to be a Saber, but if the slot were already taken, he’d naturally be shuffled into a Berserker class.

~ * ~ 

Pride and Scar

- Tension

- So much tension

- They don’t like each other one bit, but they don’t hate each other depending on how you mash the canon of the two series. 

- Scar can and will yeet Pride at the enemy as a distraction for his own quick escape if he has to. 

- Okay maybe Pride hates Scar a little.

- Another Master you Just Don’t Tangle With if you can help it.

- Not as tactically strong as Wrath and Olivier, but in terms of sheer power, they’re pretty damn dangerous. 

- Even less likely to form alliances than the last pair.

- Despite this, their sheer power individually and combined are likely to make them one of the last three teams standing.

- Pride could easily wind up being shuffled into Lancer, Caster, or Archer classes, and all three are equally devastating.

~ * ~

Greed and Ling

- Let’s be honest, this one was obvious. 

- They butt heads a lot to begin with but they’ll bond with a little time, whether they like it or not.

- They’ll get sidetracked a lot between Ling wanting meals and Greed being...Greed. 

- Going after the Master is still a pretty bad idea if you aren’t a Servant. 

- Lan Fan and Fu work as Ling’s support. Maybe Lan Fan helps supply mana? 

- Fairly likely to form alliances, depending on who the other party is. 

- Strong, stealthy and moderately strategic between the two of them (and the bodyguards), they are likely to be one of the three final teams. Unlikely to win without alliance support, though.

- If Greed got shuffled into Rider class for lack of anything better being available, he’d be Pissed. Refuses to lift a finger until a proper mode of transport is procured. (Alchemy-mobile? Alchemy-mobile.)

- If not Rider, he’d be a fairly solid (if not super stealthy) Assassin. 

~ * ~

Sloth and Mei-Chang

- A fun unlikely pairing with some entertaining/cute dynamics.

- Mei will indulge some degree of Sloth’s laziness and let him sleep when she doesn’t need him or after he’s done some heavy lifting. But once it’s go time there’ll be shouting and stomping feet and ineffective pushing/pulling in an entertainingly useless attempt at getting him up.

- Illya + Berserker themed team because yes.

- Mei can and will ride on Sloth’s shoulder sometimes.

- In terms of strategic planning, they’re fairly weak. In direct combat they compliment each other nicely, with Sloth providing a very in-your-face distraction while Mei attacks from a distance.

- Going after the Master is much easier in comparison to the previous three, but still challenging and dangerous if you let your guard down. If Sloth gets called, then whoever’s going after Mei better hope their Servant is on hand to provide support.

- They’ll probably last an intermediate amount of time, until they run up against a more strategic or highly damaging team like Scar and Pride. 

- Heaven help the rest of the War if they team up with Scar. 

- Fair chance Mei would temporarily put aside her differences with Ling for the sake of defeating a greater threat. Just as likely, if not more so, for her to side with the Elric Brothers.

- Sloth is a Berserker.

~ * ~ 

Lust and Mustang

(Yes I’m aware of the irony of using that right pic.)

- Another unlikely pair who seem like they could have interesting dynamics.

- They get along decently. Not friends necessarily, but fairly compatible rather than combatible. 

- Lust occasionally flirts with Mustang just to get a rise out of him. He’ll typically brush her off, complain, or remind her that they’re in the middle of a war. Occasionally she manages to fluster him, though.

- Riza provides support, similarly to how Maya was Kiritsugu’s. Quite possibly also supplies extra mana to bolster Lust. 

- In terms of strategic thinking, they’re one of - if not THE - strongest teams. That being said, they’re severely lacking in actual strength compared to teams like Wrath and Olivier. 

- Highly likely to form alliances to advance themselves, just as likely to double-cross depending on who they join forces with. 

- We’re back into “laughable to even try” Masters to attack if you aren’t a Servant territory. 

- Depending on who they allied with, if they did, they might make it to the later/last stages of the War. Independently, they’d likely only get to late-intermediate stages at most, given Lust’s weaker combat abilities in comparison to most of their competition. 

- Lust would most likely be a Lancer, but Assassin would be a decent second choice for her.

~ * ~

Envy and the Elric Brothers

- Ed is the main Master and Al works as the co-master, similar to Archibald and Sola-Ui from /Zero. 

- Ed does not get along with Envy At All and it’s hilarious. 

- Al isn’t super fond of Envy either, but he at least tries to be a mediator and act as the level-headed one of the group.

- People always mistake Al for the Master.

- Envy and Ed are constantly sniping at each other and getting into arguments. They fight with each other as much as they do anyone else in this damn War. 

- You can bet Ed’s misused at least one command spell out of frustration-fueled stupidity. Al went up one side of him and down the other for it.

- They’re very likely to ally with other teams, though Ed and Envy are both highly suspicious and wary of betrayals. Teams Mustang, Mei, and Izumi are their best bets.

- If they team up with Izumi, she’ll kick Ed and Envy’s asses and whip them into shape. 

- Still not likely to last that long in the War independently, though. At best, medium-intermittent stages before they get crushed by a more powerful and competent team.

- Envy would be a terrifying Assassin primarily, but I could see them getting slotted into the Rider class more smoothly than, say, poor Greed.

~ * ~

Izumi and Gluttony

- Izumi terrifies poor Gluttony and commands his absolute obedience.

- Despite this, she does keep him decently fed where she can.

- Gluttony’s one of the weakest, if not the very weakest Servant in this War. The only reason they last any amount of time is Izumi’s prowess as a Master.

- If you even look at that Izumi, she’ll trample you to death with her hooves.

- They’ll ally with others, if Izumi finds the other party acceptable. (Mei-Chang, the brothers, possibly even Ling and Greed. As well as Izumi and Olivier got along in their own canon, I don’t know how well their relationship would fare in this AU.)

- Even allied, Gluttony isn’t likely to last long. Probably the first Servant to die in the early stages of the War. Despite this, Izumi would stay involved, likely to help the brothers or Mei. (Backstory for this crossover will determine who.)

- Gluttony would be shoehorned into a Caster class (the False Doorway in his stomach just barely fits). 

- He’s not very suited to most classes, the best fit probably being Berserker, given that tantrum he threw the night before the Promised Day.

~ * ~

Final Thoughts/Notes

- Hohenheim would be a terrifying Master or Caster, either way you cut it.

- The Father is the scariest Caster available in this AU’s roster.

- Most wishes are fairly obvious. The brothers want their bodies back. Izumi wants a child. Mei-Chang and Ling wish to save their clans. Mustang wants to rule the country. Scar wants justice for his people, or to ensure their safety and place in the world, depending on what stage his character development is at. The only one I’m not solid on is Olivier.

- Is The Truth the Grail??? I have no idea, but (incoming F/Zero spoilers) they kind of remind me of corrupted Irisviel, after she was merged with the Grail. 

- Greed’s death is tragic and heart-touching, just as it was in his original canon. 

- Envy could have been a devastating Assassin...if Ed were even remotely suited to being a Master for one. As it stands, most of their potential would be squandered thanks to Ed’s morals, ideals, and dislike of them. (Yes they/them pronouns for Envy imo.)

- Feel free to add your own thoughts. The hashtag #Fate/Metal Alchemist is just barely existent and it could really use some lovin’. 

[giuliadrawsstuff]

Creator 2018 Tag

General Guidelines -  Time to be proud about some of the cool stuff you‘ve done over the past 12 months. Choose a few favourite works you’ve created this past year - fics, art, edits, things, any media whatsoever! - and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve achieved in 2018.

Tag as many creative mates as you want (fan or original!) so we can spread the love and share our awesome works.

Thank you @lonepiper5758 for the tag, I’m sorry this took me quite a while to think about something.

Here are some things I’m quite happy about in my last drawing year:

1. Colour.

I’ve always hated colouring drawings (I did it mostly because everyone said coloured drawings made them look better), but now I find digital colouring challenging and interesting. I know I merely scraped the surface and there is a lot more stuff to learn, but the start is fun. Also, I like drawing traditionally with paper, pencil and pen and then adjust everything on Photoshop.

2. Black and White (and Inktober).

I found out black and white can be challenging and awesome to try and I think that’s why this year’s has also been my favourite Inktober so far. I had a whole month to experiment different types of black and white and see what results were better than others.

3. Commissions.

I finally started accepting (payed) commissions and I’m quite satisfied with the amount of demand I’ve had so far.

4. Draw this in your style.

It’s been an awesome challenge (and since it’s coming back to life I’m planning on drawing more). I intentionally decided to draw exactly the same poses in the hope to better appreciate the styles’ differences. I can’t really see my drawings as having a precise and recognizable “style”, but it was fun to see how other people’s drawings came out my way.

These last 2 things are a bit of a stretch and not really improvement, but are things I found out I enjoy drawing:

5. Japanese Roy.

As you all followers might know I love drawing Fullmetal Alchemist stuff, particularly Roy and Riza. I recently decided to change the way I draw Roy to more Japanese features and I must say I’m really enjoying it.

6. Bojack Horseman.

Definitely one of the best shows I’ve ever watched, I found out I enjoy drawing Bojack and Tood (especially Todd) very much. I find it kind of soothing and relaxing, even though the show is full of stress, anxiety, fear and remorse (but everything is so damn real, it’s more immersive than most tv series I’ve watched).

The End!

I hope you enjoyed all my blabbering and I haven’t bored you all

 I’ll tag @just-quintessentially-me  @andpie @colonelhotstuff  @mustangsgloves @moistang @sashamcgregorart  @alemanriq 

[egoiistas]

primavera

a/n: This was originally written for @peggyplatter‘s birthday but I waited to post it for Royai Week! ayy. Have some shameless first kiss fluff from the Grumman AU

Words: ~1.4k Rated: K+?

It’s chilly in Central and growing colder as the horizon ate the sun, giving way to the evening. The clouds overhead blocked any comfort the sun could have provided and the breeze blowing was harsh and unkind to Roy Mustang; it made his fingers coil tightly in his pockets and blushed his cheeks from the chill. He longed for warmth from none other than his favored, overused, ever-present longcoat with its thick wool with expertly stitched seams that would seal any heat from escaping. But he’d made the sacrifice for someone else. And what a valiant sacrifice, he thought to himself. The coat currently rested over the shoulders of his quiet date, the General’s Granddaughter.

Riza Hawkeye.

A lovely date by all standards: stylishly dressed with a pretty laugh and even prettier face with a mild-mannered comportment that was expected for ladies from households of affluence and higher social status in Central. Reflecting off the polished surface, the impression was that she was another run-of-the-wealthy-mill heiress whose a family who had struck it large with railroads or perhaps, status derived from a high ranking in the Amestrian military machine. In ways that no longer mattered, there were other socialites who outshone her and others who were dull next her in comparison. He’d say she was average, if he was blind or stupid or both.  At the bittersweet finale of their first date, he could say with chest-swelling certainty that she… she was more.

His aunt always told him setting expectations of people was a mistake, a double edged sword as she put it. They’d always surprise you - one way or another. And surprise she did. If his expectations were a glass ceiling, Riza Hawkeye shot through it with enough force to disintegrate the material to dust. She left him in a blinking stupor, staring in her direction as if her glimmering wake were the stars themselves and she, the vibrant sun herself. She pulled off this shattering with a certain subtly: cleverness and wit, with a knowing look in her eyes or a nuanced comment hinting at her dry humor underneath, or challenging him with insight or a refreshing kind of wisdom from an old soul.

Looking at her with face half covered in his jacket, Roy wondered if she knew this about him, if this was the treatment for all her suitors, and then, he wondered, if he get to be her last. Once again feeling like a besotten schoolboy, he shook the thought away as she mumbled something into the lapels.

Roy leaned in just an inch closer. “Pardon?”

The rest of her head popped out of the coat and she cinched the collar around her neck. “I don’t mean to be rude, but why are we here?”

“I’ve explained already.” Roy clenched his jaw for a second to prevent his teeth from chattering. “The pièce de résistance.”

Riza chuckled quietly, snuggling down further into the coat.

His lips curled into a smile, not a charming smirk, one that he couldn’t hold back; those were a nuisance lately, because they decided to appear only around her. Then he’d make a face trying to wrangle it back. “You said you were tired of the boring dinners where men of the military boast about their accolades.”

“Ah,” she nodded her head in understanding. “I suppose silence in the cold is a favorable alternative.”

“I think the weather is just fine,” he lied.

Amused, she giggled softly, smiling when she glanced at him intermittently. “I think you’re too proud to admit you’re cold.”

“Huh?” he responded inelegantly, tripping over her train of thought.

“You’re very tense, Colonel Mustang, and your body has been very tense since you gave me the coat.”

“You noticed…?” She might’ve caught him off guard but if she parted the curtains to showcase her humor, he wanted to hold them open. “You’ve been ogling me?”

She was expressive in her disdain. Riza scoffed. “Your jaw. The muscles have been flexing this entire time. My point being is that you put it on me because you interpreted my shiver as a result of the cold when it was from something else.” She was less composed as she went on, unravelling more and more from the grin on his face. “You’ve been cold this entire time pointlessly.”

Roy kept the quiet for the moment, looking forward while watching her shift her weight in his peripheral. As she settled into a still sit, he leaned and asked, “Were you shivering from my good looks?”

She made a noise harsher than a scoff this time, nudging him with enough push to bring his hand out into the cold to catch himself. He saw her grinning off to the other side when he recentered. Riza muttered, “I bit off more than I could chew from the kabob.”

“That’s incredibly unladylike, Miss Hawkeye.”

She hummed. “Grandfather is always saying that.”

A snicker escaped him before he could control himself from laughing at his superior officer. “But it served a purpose. You’re warm now, aren’t you?”

Quietly, she said, “I could be warmer.”

Roy saw her breath as she said that. The light and temperature dropped further as the sun lingered in its final moments. He stood before her and extended a hand. “The sun is almost completely down, would you like to dance?”

“Dance?” An eyebrow shot up skeptically. “To what music?”

“I’ll let you decide on that.”

Riza considered his answer for a moment before she took his hand and he led her to the middle of the half-circled terrace where Central could be seen. “You’re something else, Colonel Mustang.”

He half-grimaced half smiled. “Roy is also an acceptable name.”

“I know.” She shifted her gaze from the city view to him with a coy smile. “But I think it bothers you more if I call you “Colonel Mustang”. There’s this subtle change to your face. It’s quite amusing.”

“Or really mean.”

Her mouth opened to speak - he predicted something witty or something equally entertaining, but her breath was caught and she gasped, stopping their swaying altogether. Outside the boundaries of trained decorum, her gloved hand sparsely covered her mouth as she took in the sight of the lights as they sprung to life in the city below. It was almost as radiant as her expression. She walked over to the railing, slowly in her wonderment. “I’ve never seen the city like this,” she confessed. “And it’s been here all along.”

“Whenever I wanted to get away from the noise, I would come up here for a quiet place to study.”

“How did you find it?” she asked innocently.

His smile was bittersweet. “My mother used to bring me, before she passed.”

Her face fell in a space between guilt and pity, but her eyes also told him that she knew the same pain, the same grief. So, she offered a genuine smile instead. “They left us too soon, but forever in our hearts.” There was that old soul again.

Roy hummed in agreement, hands still buried in his pockets.

A gust of wind blew again as if trying to ridicule him. Silently, she took off his jacket and said, “You don’t have to go on with these theatrics. I can’t have you freezing to death when we haven’t had a second date.”

“A second date? I’m honored.” How he delivered that line with a cool composure, he didn’t know. Maybe the cold was a good thing after all. Inside, his heart was jumping, clicking its heels in the air if it had feet. He tried adamantly, stubbornly, not to grin like a fool as he reached for the coat.

“Actually, allow me,” she insisted, keeping the coat out of reach. “I think I can help you warm up a little faster.”

Riza fanned out the overcoat to wrap around his shoulders in one motion and before he knew it, she was using the lapels to ease him closer. He must have been frozen in place, flash frozen at his feet and his hands, because it happened with the slowing of time. His lips touched hers for a kiss, warm and plush and smiling, and the space they existed in turned into spring when his eyes closed. Along his jawline, he felt the warmth of her hand and an impossible sun shining over head until she pulled away. Roy licked his lips, tasting sweet

Smiling and furiously blushing, she asked, “What are alchemist always saying?”

He tried to respond but he found himself a little lost in his stupor.

“Ah, yes,” she said and leaned closer before she brought forth the spring again. “Equivalent exchange.”

[bleedingcoffee42]

Coffee shop au/hospital au pls

Rules: Send me two (2) tropes from this list + a ship and I’ll describe how I’d combine them in the same story. 

(LOL, I didn’t read the rules and wrote this psuedo-drabble instead of a description.   I’m sorry. also assuming it was for Royai )

xxxxx

Dr. Hawkeye used to be content with the coffee in the break room and didn’t want to buy in to the hype about the Coffee Shop across the street.   However that changed the day the coffee pot was broken and she was left with little choice than to buy overpriced coffee.  Then she saw the reason behind all those smiles and hourly coffee runs at the nurses station and it had absolutely nothing to do with coffee. 

It had everything to do with the guy serving the coffee.   

Roy Mustang was the man who slow roasted the beans and created caffeinated concoctions.   He was also a man who wore an apron well and had a smile that she could just drink up instead of what he was serving.  He also promptly asked for her number and she wrote down 9-1-1 and told him to call if he found himself in need of a visit to the ER.

He smiled and accepted her challenge and started writing down his personal diagnosis of his ‘health problems’ that required her medical attention down on her coffee cups.   Everything from ‘racing heartbeats’ to ‘daydreaming about raising a puppy with you’ found it’s way onto her cup in black sharpie.   It made her smile and she was surprised when she found out the other customers just got their names on cups.

Then one day Roy found himself in the ER with burns from a coffee cup that had been thrown at him by an angry customer:  Some asshole in a fedora who didn’t appreciate his name being written Zolf Jay Kimberly.   She treated him and noticed many other scars on his body that made her wonder what kind of violence a barista could get into.

When the police arrived for a report, Riza checked his medical records.   Nothing.   No admission records at all and those injuries were professionally doctored.    She saw stab wounds that look like a surgeon sewed them back together.  Things weren’t adding up, and she was even more perplexed when the Coroner materialized out of the basement and came to check on her patient.   

Dr. Knox was not a friendly man, yet he stayed with Roy for a few minutes, double checking her work and bandages and then left.   When she returned to Roy he was eager to leave and get back to work.  She signed his discharge and decided to check up on him later after the coffee shop closed. 

When her shift ended,  Riza went across the street and into the alley behind the store.  The Shop had been closed for at least fifteen minutes and she assumed Roy must have been cleaning and would leave through the rear of the building.   She was not expecting to see him packing coffee bean bags into his trunk.   They look full.  That was not right.

When he went back in the store Riza ran around to the trunk and felt around in the bag.    She felt beans, but also something metal?   She pulled the piece out and saw medical grade stainless steel….automail?

“Dr. Knox hates to see good parts go to waste, especially when they could be used in the more rural areas where people can’t afford automail.”

Riza froze in place.    Her curiosity may have gotten the best of her but she was confident in her ability to defend herself,   especially after that creep Barry stalked her a few years prior.   So when she turned to look at Roy, she made sure he didn’t have a gun and then relaxed a little.  Her own gun was strapped to her thigh, under her skirt if she needed it.   “You’re stealing medical supplies?”

“It’s only stealing if the person is still alive.” Roy said and admired her for her bravery and how perceptive she was.   “Protocol is to remove it prior to the body leaving the morgue so the funeral home doesn’t sell it, something that’s been an issue in the past.   Protocol is to just take it off and not send it with the body.  No logging. No recycling.  No records.  Just don’t let it leave on the body.  It’s considered medical waste when the family asks, but the hospital just thinks it’s trash.”

“That’s a horrible waste.” Riza said and looked down at the piece of automail that was probably part of a hand.   “It can be cleaned and reused.   The wiring not so much, but the metal?”

“Dr. Knox feels the same way.  So he gives me the pieces and I ship the coffee with the parts needed.   It’s helped a lot of people.”  Roy explained.  “So the question is Dr. Hawkeye, do you want to go to dinner with me or take me to the police station.”

“Dinner.”  She said and walked over to grab the next bag from his hands.  “And for you to read your damned discharge paperwork and stop aggravating that burn.”

“I didn’t read that.”  Roy snorted and locked the back door.  “I hate paperwork.”

[tsaritsa]

praise loudly, blame softly

this fic can also be found at ff.net or ao3

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

"I have seen three great monarchies brought down through their failure to separate personal indulgences from duty. You must not allow yourself to make similar mistakes. And while you mourn your father, you must also mourn someone else: Elizabeth Mustang. For she has now been replaced by another person, Elizabeth Regina. The two Elizabeth's will frequently be in conflict with one another. The fact is, the crown must win. Must always win."

The King was well-known for being a somewhat difficult man at the best of times, but on the day of his eldest daughter’s wedding Major Matthew Miles felt that the man was perhaps leaning into his ill-tempered persona a little too much.

“Is it too hard,” the older man fumed, wringing his hands in agitation, “to expect some sort of professionalism for crying out loud? It is my daughter’s wedding-”

“Right you are, sir,” Miles smoothly interrupted, taking the bowtie from the young butler (a new one, if his eyes weren’t deceiving him) and folding it in his hands in the proper fashion, jerking his head towards the younger man to leave. “You must forgive us; we are all just as excited as you must be.”

Berthold eyed the Major carefully, taking a long drag of his cigarette. “Are you doing that Ishvallan thing where you say nice things to my face, but mean much ruder things in your words?” He blew the smoke out lazily, watching the tendrils dissipate into the air. “Well, Major?”

Miles blinked, nonplussed. “Of course not, your majesty. But if I may present you with a challenge…” Berthold snorted derisively.

“A sea captain’s young bride, fell into the bay at low tide...” Miles began, the barest of smirks pulling at his lips.  There was a pause, before the King sighed, and readjusted his position as Miles began to fasten the tie. “You could tell by her squeals,” he continued, “that some of the eels-”

He pulled back and nodded at the King. Berthold raised an eyebrow.

“-had discovered a dark place to hide.” Miles finished easily.

“You’re getting better, Miles,” Berthold replied, rubbing at his chin. “Let me see…ah – there once was a girl named Mariah, who succumbed to a lover’s desire.” He accepted the sash given to him by another butler, motioning for Miles to stay close by. “She said ‘it’s a sin! But now that it’s in’,”

A lewd smile grew on the King’s face. “‘Could you shove it a few inches higher?’”

Miles hid a smile behind a gloved hand. “Very good sir. I will have to think of a winning one for next time.”

Berthold nodded, stubbing out his cigarette on the ashtray next to him on the mantelpiece, running a hand over his hair. “Do you think they will notice?” he asked, turning back to Miles and gesturing at his face.

“Does Your Majesty require more rouge?” an elderly butler asked, but Miles held up his hand, waving the man off.

“There are hot water bottles in the carriage for when you leave, which should do more than enough for your complexion. As soon as you are seated in the church nobody will pay you much attention, I confess,” Miles admitted.

Berthold smiled weakly. “But you don’t think-”

“I wouldn’t wish to overdo it, sir. It is cold today. I think I’d be more worried for the princesses – I do not imagine they have the luxury of long johns like we do.”

The King laughed loudly, before coughing violently, gripping the back of the nearest chair as he bent over. There were a few moments of laboured breathing before he righted himself, moving the handkerchief away from his mouth – it was speckled with red, Miles noted uneasily. The wedding had been on everyone’s nerves, both inside and outside the palace: aside from the stigma Mustang brought over from his family based in Southern Xing, the amount of planning and preparing that had gone into this event meant that mistakes would not and could not be tolerated.

This was the first real test for the family – for Berthold’s family. The scandal that had arisen from Zolf’s sudden abdication and the much quieter scandal that they had managed to keep almost entirely under wraps meant that they were being closely scrutinised, not only by their populace but by neighbouring nations. A transition like that was never meant to go peacefully – any sign of weakness in the family today would be torn apart for clues and signs of discord.

The door swung open suddenly, and Rebecca practically floated in, ignoring the sudden exclamations form the butlers hovering around the room.

“Papa!” she exclaimed, skipping over to him, a wide smile on her face as she balanced a cigarette in-between fingers tightly clenching a near-empty flute of champagne. “You look very handsome.” She draped her free hand over her father’s shoulders and inclined her head at Miles, still smiling broadly. “Don’t you think so, Major?”

Miles bit down a smile and nodded. “Of course he does, Princess. I cannot imagine a prouder father.”

Something flickered in Rebecca’s expression, before she turned to face her father properly, deftly handing her glass and cigarette to a maid as she straightened his collar.

“You must look perfect for Riza,” she murmured under her breath, the grin still sitting brightly on her face. Her dark hair had been tamed into a tight coif, with baby’s breath surrounding her head like a halo. She had changed into her bridesmaid dress: it was a simple design, accented with floral motifs from each district in the delicate lacing surrounding her bodice. It wasn’t entirely suited to her – most certainly to Elizabeth, to be sure – but Miles felt that perhaps even old sibling rivalries couldn’t be laid to rest for the sake of each other.

Miles stepped back to allow the King and his younger daughter some privacy to talk, catching Rebecca’s eyes for a moment before another butler began to whisper furiously in his ear about an incident downstairs involving the groom’s party. Miles sighed inwardly, before gesturing for the man to lead the way.

He was going to need a drink after all this.

She could already hear the roars and screams from the crowd that had assembled outside the palace – a quick peek through the curtains confirmed just as much: the crowd was a sea of green and gold outside, as far as her eyes could see. All waiting for her.

Riza didn’t do well with stress of any kind. She never had – as a child she had always been the more reserved of her and her sister – Becca had always shone under the spotlight, practically lived for it. Becca had the flair for the dramatics that lent her a particular kind of gravitas that Riza could only wish for. No amount of practice would ever fully prepare her for talking with people who may have well been strangers in any other situation: but for some reason being a princess meant that everyone talked to her with the air of an old friend, with the assumption that they knew her intimately.

They did not.

Though she didn’t quite share her father’s hatred of public speaking – provided she actually understood the topic and felt keenly about it, Riza certainly felt she could be very compelling; but the fact still remained that such a significant moment in her life was going to be watched by people of whom she had never met before and was unlikely ever to in future. It didn’t sit well with her that her marriage to Roy Mustang – and she was still shrieking a little inside that she was going to marry that beautiful, idiotic man and he would be all hers – would be shared with people and countries beyond her reach.

It was a moment meant for them, and them alone. Not fifty million others.

She turned from where she hovered by the curtains, her hands running over the lace of her dress as she paced the room. She was grateful her mother wasn’t here, instead someplace else undoubtedly trying to reign in a younger sister that had already helped herself to too much brandy at breakfast, because Riza didn’t think she could listen to her prattling right now. She was a mess of emotions, but terror was the overarching one. What if she mucked up her vows partway through? What if he decided he didn’t want to go through with it, and just left her standing at the altar? What if-

“You’re going to wear a hole into that carpet if you’re not careful,” a familiar voice said behind her. She whirled around, hands flying to her mouth as she realised who had walked in.

“Roy, what are you doing-”

He smirked and held a finger up to his lips ducking his head out the doorway for a moment before carefully closing the door with a slight click.

“You can’t just-”

It only took him three quick strides to gather her up in a bruising kiss, his warm hands cupping her face and sending shivers down her spine as his thumbs rubbed over her pale cheeks. Riza sighed into the kiss, allowing herself to wrap her arms around his neck and draw him closer to her – as much as her dress would let her. He was a much-needed reprieve from the emotions churning inside her, and though she knew she wasn’t meant to be seeing him until the ceremony – the old superstitions surrounding the traditions of weddings niggled at the back of her mind – but there wasn’t anybody else she would be genuinely happy to see in this moment. Her father never had the right words at the right time, her mother had far too many, and Becca – well, judging by the amount of brandy that was missing from the decanter at breakfast, Riza supposed that her younger sister wouldn’t be capable of much coherency anyway.

Roy treated her like a normal woman. Like a human. Too many people were always trying to touch her, to talk to her like they had any right and Zolf had –

She stopped that thought in its tracks, pulling back her shoulders slightly and standing straight, steadfastly ignoring the prickle travelling across her back. Now was not the time to dwell on a man who was a good as dead to the family.

Roy pulled back and inspected her, a soft smile on his face. “Much better,” he said lowly, carefully rearranging her fringe. “Now you have some colour to your cheeks.”

Her hands flew to her cheeks and she groaned, turning towards the full-length mirror on the opposite side of the small room. Roy laughed, a hand drifting down to rest on her waist, his fingers rubbing against the satin of her bodice reassuringly. “Did you have enough to eat this morning?” he asked quietly, shifting her hair aside to drop a kiss on her back, at the top of the mottled skin. She shivered slightly at the touch – not unwelcome, but she always marvelled at Roy’s capacity to love without any kind of hesitation.

“I had some toast,” she answered, closing her eyes and leaning back into his touch for a moment, focusing on her breathing. “I’ll be able to eat once this is all over – this dress, I swear to-.”

Roy snorted harshly. “We’ll all be happier once this is over. I saw your sister on my way here – is she-”

“Yes,” she interrupted tiredly, turning so she could face him properly. Up close, she could see the signs of stress on his face – he certainly could hide it better than she ever would, but it made her feel a little better to know that she wasn’t the only one stressing out about this. Her fingers brushed along his brow bone and she stretched onto her tiptoes to kiss him softly. “We’ll deal with her later – well, somebody will. We have more important things to do.”

“Like getting married,” he murmured, the joy obvious in his voice.

“Like getting married,” she repeated, unable to keep the broad smile off her face.

He kissed her once more, and Riza let herself smile widely, giggling against his mouth as he peppered her face with kisses that were more ticklish than soothing: she batted his hands away, grasping them tightly as she tried to fight him off.

“You’re the worst-”

“You like it,” he reminded her playfully, smirking as she tried to push his arms back to his side. She was too restrained in this dress; normally Roy wouldn’t underestimate her in any kind of fight, whether verbal or physical, but seeing her struggle in this strange, made-up way was far too entertaining.

He relaxed his arms and let her adjust herself and smooth down the dress quickly. She smiled at him nervously, eyes bright. “You should- you should go,” she said hesitantly, twisting her fingers together. Roy inclined his head.

“Are you-”

“I’m fine!” she replied quickly. “Just – you know how I am with crowds, and-”

Roy nodded, reaching to adjust the pearl necklace she was wearing – a gift from him early on in their courtship. Though it was easy enough to transmute mother-of-pearl, this necklace had been created in the traditional fashion (Roy claimed he had hand-harvested each and every pearl – Riza thought he was full of it).

The gifts didn’t matter to her – she had more than enough wealth simply from her own savings, not to mention the coffers that were made available to her if she so wished: but no amount of money could buy what she craved – privacy, quiet, boundaries.

He was the first person that didn’t immediately treat her like an old friend, like he was privy to her secrets and affections. It was a startlingly refreshing change from the other suitors her mother had been coaxing over: for once in her life she was able to savour the ability to say, ‘call me Riza’ of her own volition. The way he had breathed it hadn’t helped her either – like a prayer, like she was sacred. The subsequent kiss had sealed her fate: beyond the intoxicating feeling of him under her fingers, beyond the warmth that had burned like fire on her lips, there was a man who she was already half in love with, by the mere fact that he didn’t presume.

She wrung her hands slightly, trying to ease the nerves she could feel building once more. “Honestly though – you shouldn’t be here, where is Maes-”

“Maes may or may not be causing one hell of a distraction for me,” he quipped, rolling on the balls of his heels. “My time is probably up, anyway. I’ll-” He paused, cocking his head to the side before rubbing a thumb over her bottom lip – Riza tried her best not to close her eyes as a wave of pleasure brushed over her. He was addictive, a trait that had reared its ugly head in the last few weeks. She couldn’t remember the last time she had time to properly enjoy the time she spent with him. In the days following the announcement of their engagement her grandfather had warned her that they days spent shrouded in secrecy were long behind them – Riza was only just beginning to appreciate the few stolen nights she had managed in the last month alone. She worried for him, sometimes; his marrying into this family was far more taxing for him than it would ever be for her, and yet he barely seemed to notice as more duties and responsibilities were thrust upon him.

All for her.

“Now you look presentable,” he said softly, squeezing her hand tightly. “All prim and proper for the people.”

She bit her lip, nodding. “I’ll be glad when all of this is over,” she admitted, running her thumbs over the fingers grasping her hands. She could feel the heat from his body from where she stood, apart from him, and part of her desperately wished this whole affair could be over and done with without the pomp and circumstance. She was just so tired.

“Me too,” he replied, dropping a final, soft kiss on her cheek before ducking out the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. She could hear Maes beyond the wood, chastising her fiancé for taking so long.

“That butler was onto me, I swear if you-”

“You look fine, so obviously you weren’t caught-”

“You won’t be so lucky – you’ve got lipstick all over you, idiot.”

[firewoodfigs]

A small snippet from a young!royai fic that I’ve been working on!! I’ve been writing bits and pieces, as and when I get bouts of inspiration (and also to procrastinate) but I’m hoping to get the first chapter done by this weekend ^_^” am (very) open to feedback and would really appreciate comments on this! 

~x~ 

He was thankful for the distraction when they finally arrived at the bakery; the young girl beside him looked almost transfixed by the delightful cake that was prettily topped with strawberries and cream laid out at the counter. In the few minutes of knowing her, he could have sworn that was the least scary expression on her homely face.

Hope I don’t get another punch in the face for asking. “Wanna get that one?” She nodded shyly and started fishing out the coins that her mother gave earlier from her pocket. “It’s fine, I’ve got it,” and paid the kind cashier with the money that he received from his aunt. 

Then, with more force than he expected from a girl her size, she gripped his wrist and dropped the coins in his palm, lips pursed in a tight, obstinate line.

“Wait, no, my aunt will kill me if she thinks I asked you to pay for it,” because she already thinks I’m a penny pincher, but he didn’t add that last part. 

Riza simply responded with a stubborn gaze, as if waiting for him to challenge her.

“Just… please take it back. I’ll probably eat a bigger portion than you anyway, so it makes sense for me to pay for it,” he joked, while still holding out his palm in what he thought was a peace offering. When she finally realised that neither of them were going to move from their spot until she took back the money, she accepted and murmured her thanks, and made her way out of the quaint shop as Roy trailed behind her carefully, cake in tow. 

~x~

[fullmetalscullyy]

Back again Emma for the sentence starters. Fluff 3. Modern AU obviously. I'm so excited to see what you make of it

ahhh i loved this one and it’s a continuation from the “stalker au” which i’ve been itching to do for a wee while, so thanks for that aoife ;)

(also if this looks odd i’m so sorry the ask format is so weird rn)

part 1 | part 2

“Haveyou seen my hoodie?” “Nooo.” “You’re wearing it, aren’t you?”

“Riza,why is there so much stuff in here?”Roy asked, looking around his living room. All of sudden, there were piles ofboxes cluttering up the space that used to be his own. Apparently, now hisgirlfriend had taken over and moved half of her belongings into his apartment whilehe’d been at work.

He’dbeen joking this morning when he said she would be better just moving in withhim completely rather than returning home to her apartment to sleep only to letherself in either through the night or around six in the morning anyway to waitfor him to wake up. Most of the time, it was by climbing into his bed. Wakingup holding Riza when he had gone to sleep in an empty bed was always a nicesurprise. And while it was incredibly adorable, it wasn’t practical in theslightest and they both knew it.

Notthat Roy never wanted the move to happen, he just didn’t expect to come homeafter work on a Friday night to see all her stuff sitting there. It had been along day at the office, and he had been looking forward to just relaxing on hiscouch, Riza lying against him, as they watched a movie.

Thatdidn’t look like it was going to happen.

Hedumped his briefcase by the door, hitting the floor with an exhausted thud as he loosened his tie around hisneck. He shrugged out of his suit jacket when Riza appeared in the room,looking slightly sheepish.

“Sorry,I’d hoped to have it all out of the way before you came home.”

“It’sfine,” he replied, but he cringed internally at how it sounded. Exhausted, likeit really wasn’t fine, but he was only saying that to placate her.

Rizalooked slightly disappointed and she nodded. “Sorry. Just ignore me, I won’t belong.”

“No,”he interjected. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound so disappointed. It’s been avery long day,” he elaborated, closing the distance between them. He graspedher hands with a smile, pulling her body gently towards her for a kiss. “I wasjoking this morning when I suggested it,” he chuckled. “However, it would be amassive improvement to my current living situation.”

Rizalooked up at him uncertainly, gauging the truth in his words through theexpression on his face, the look in his eyes. He loved it when she studied himlike this, completely sussing him out, and there was no one on this earth whocould do it better.

“Seriously.Now that it’s here I…” he trailed off, blushing slightly, unused to speakingabout such serious things with someone else. He had never had a relationshiplike this. Most ran the course of a few months before the two drifted apart,each losing interest in the other. There had been one-night stands, but boththose types of relationships combined were not nearly as satisfying as what henow shared with Riza. “I’m excited.”

Themost commitment he’d ever shown was to a goldfish he’d owned three years agoand that was only because Hughes had stated Roy was so afraid of committinghimself to another person, he couldn’t even keep a pet.

Itwas three years later, and that goldfish was still alive, thank you very much,Hughes, but the thought of commitment had still scared the hell out of him.

Nowthough, with Riza in front of him, her belongings littered around hisapartment, he didn’t feel scared at all.

Hefelt excited.

Roywas eager for this next step because it involved her. They’d only been together for about six months, but he knew hewanted to spend the rest of his life with her. When he thought of the future hecould picture the house in the suburbs, the white picket fence, the childrenand dogs running riot in the front garden while they either ran around withthem or sat on the front porch, simply observing and thinking about how luckythey had become in life.

Plus,it only made sense Riza would move in. After Dickhead Dan left his mark on herapartment, she still didn’t feel comfortable in there. She returned to herapartment each night – purely because she was to stubborn to admit defeat(something Roy admired her for because if he was in that situation, he would beoutta there) – but Roy could see it affecting her. She was still afraid,that’s why she crept into his bedroom in the middle of the night half the time,too afraid to sleep in her own room, alone, just in case someone was stillwatching.

Ofcourse, Roy readily accepted her company. After spending so much time with heralready he ached when they were apart. It was dramatic, but it was true. Hemissed her so much when she went on holiday with Catalina a month ago to Aerugo.The day after she arrived home they didn’t venture far from his bedroom.

“Maybe we could take a trip there someday?”she had asked, hopeful. Roy had wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pullingher body against his as he kissed the top of her head.

“Your wish is my command, my lady.”

Theywere going there in forty-six days, twelve hours, and fourteen minutes. Notthat he had a countdown app on his phone or anything.

“Areyou really?” Riza asked, biting her lip as she looked around the room. Roy drewher even closer, giving her forehead a quick kiss.

“Ofcourse, I am. Do you think I would lie?” he chuckled, teasing her.

“No,but I know not everyone would appreciate someone moving into their apartment withoutasking –”

“Youbasically live here already,” he interrupted. “It makes sense.” He gave heranother peck, this time on the cheek. “Ever since you stole my first hoodie, I knewyou would be moving in sometime soon.” A smile broke across her face. “Sorry I haven’tbrought it up more. I know how uncomfortable your apartment makes you now, and Irealise I probably should have mentioned it sooner.”

Ahand was placed on his cheek and he leaned into her touch. “You’ve been busy, Iget it. I kind of dropped in at an inconvenient time.”

Heturned his head and kissed her palm. “You are never an inconvenience to me… Well, only when you steal myfavourite hoodie,” he grinned.

Rizashoved him playfully and they laughed together.

“Comeon, let’s get started with all this stuff,” Roy announced.

“No,it’s fine, you get washed up, I’ll –”

“I’mnot leaving you to unpack all by yourself. The more hands, the less time itwill take,” he reasoned with a cheery grin, picking up a box and beginning tolook through the contents. Excitement bubbled in his stomach because Riza was moving in with him.

Hewas ecstatic.

Acouple of hours later they finally moved the majority of Riza’s things. Therewas one box left but it was nearing eight o’clock and they were too exhausted todo anymore.

“Futureproblem?” Roy had asked tiredly, jerking his head towards the box.

“Futureproblem,” Riza agreed, pushing herself up from the floor. She extended a handto him, hauling Roy to his feet.

“I’llget wash up. Do you want to order a takeaway? I really can’t be botheredcooking tonight.”

“I’mglad we’re on the same page,” she smiled, kissing him.

Hepaused at before his bedroom door, turning to his right to begin rifling throughthe neatly folded pile of laundry.

Speakingof stealing his clothes…

“Haveyou seen my hoodie?” Roy asked, pretending to look through the clothes for it. “Theblack one with the raid logo in the middle?” It was his favourite lounge hoodiefrom his favourite console game he played with Havoc and Hughes. And, he knewexactly where it was without having to ask. Riza was wearing it right now

Hewas only an inch or two taller than her, but he always knew when she waswearing his. This one was slightly larger than his usual size – it was big evenon him – so the cuffs were bunched around her wrists. She always favoured theslightly larger clothing, especially his. Roy loved watching her curl her legsunderneath her body and burrow down inside the fabric, just her eyes peeking overthe neckline. It made his heart swell with love to see her so comfortable withhim that she wore his clothes.

“Nooo…”

Roysmirked but hid it when he turned around to face Riza. “You’re wearing it,aren’t you?” This time he couldn’t hide the smirk.

“So,what if I am?” she challenged haughtily, but there was amusement on her face,her eyes dancing with the challenge.

“Well,”he considered, taking slow steps towards her, mindful of her boxes. “I’ll justhave to take back what’s mine,” he threatened, a wolfish smile on his face.

Rizafluttered her eyelashes. “Come and get it then, Roy,” she purred.

He pouncedon her as Riza laughed.

[zetalial]

BH rewatch episode 24

Previous Episode          Next Episode

Episode 24: Inside the Belly

Envy has decided to once again grace the series with his presence. We see quite a bit of the Homunculi in this episode actually. Which is very nice. And more Ling who is sadly not yet a Homunculus. He does get eaten by one though! Yeah, a lot of stuff to like.

So we open with Envy. Yay! He’s talking to Marcoh who they’ve just been keeping prisoner so they can turn him into a Homunculus. Marcoh has realised they plan to use the entire country as a transmutation circle and Envy laughs and tells him he’s on the right lines.

Ah, no one can pull of Evil like Envy. He brags about how pathetic and emotional humans are and threatens to kill all the people in Marcoh’s village if he doesn’t work with them. (What they need is for him to perform a human transmutation though. He can’t do that while imprisoned. And I believe they’ve had him captured since around episode 7? Not that they’ve shown him since then. Threatening him to perform it can work of course but they’re being pretty lazy about carrying these threats out.)

Envy is specifically calling humans pathetic for the emotions they have, how they care about others. He is sure that Marcoh will agree because even though it may be illogical to save one village at the expense of the whole country, humans act based on their feelings which the homunculi manipulate. Envy has an interesting and pretty skewed perspective here.

Then we get some Wrath and an early showing of Pride. It’s just Pride’s voice Wrath is hearing (through his shadows though this isn’t revealed yet.) Pride notes how Wrath is looking strangely pleased even though they’re having a setback with the humans having won some small victories in outwitting Wrath and Gluttony. Wrath seems pleased with the challenge and notes that he is ageing and that these young humans could mean good new ideas for the future. Pride warns him not to talk like that, to focus on their goal. He says he won’t mention anything to their Father though. The scene gives us a lingering look at a spider eating a butterfly, foreshadowing the way Pride works in the shadows, spinning his webs.

In the episode proper we get back to our Gluttony fight. He wants to kill Mustang and is being pretty reckless about destroying whatever he can. Ed and Ling mention trying to capture him again but Mustang has decided it’s too risky and goes to blow him up with fire. And Gluttony just eats the fire.

Yeah, that’s when they all decide to run.

Mustang’s injury from Lust is giving him pain again and he can’t fight. Ed creates a Mustang decoy to help him get away and this tricks Gluttony.

While he’s distracted, Riza convinces Mustang to get in a car so they can get away, along with Lan Fan and the doctor. Ed, Al and Ling all decide that they want to stay and fight. Here’s one of these moments that just scream Parental!RoyEd with Mustang worrying over the boys, pointing out that they’re just children and shouldn’t be fighting. Roy in general is characterised as quite noble and caring (pretty different from the manipulative bastard who is terrible at showing he cares – yeah I mean 03!Roy.)

The three of them convince them that it’s their fight too though and Roy reluctantly accepts. (Oh he’s been called useless a few times here.) Before they go though, Riza hands Ed a gun and there’s a brief flashback to him taking the gun from Winry’s hands. He accepts the weapon reluctantly – suggesting he feels that his hands are meant for destruction and violence.

Envy is back and showing off a pretty neat transformation power – he can shift into a dog. Oh and he can sit in a tree without breaking it – isn’t he supposed to be really heavy? I don’t remember that ever actually mattering.

Envy is super friendly, telling them he’s not here to fight, just to pick up Gluttony. ‘Course they don’t want to kill the Elrics but Ling on the other hand can totally die.

Well they begin fighting and Ling fights Envy while Ed and Al attack Gluttony. I’m not sure if they have much of an objective now unless they think they can defeat Envy and Gluttony? Well the Homunculi probably would’ve attacked Ling either way.

Speaking of, while Ling is fighting Envy, we hear Selim reading a letter to Bradley while that family has dinner. It sounds like the kind of letter a kid might write about how his father is a great leader who defends the country but still has time for his family. I’m not really sure what to read into it as it’s unambiguously about the Fuhrer so it seems like Pride is just playing the part of innocent child. The leader stuff could be a reference to Wrath and Ling’s discussion about true leadership a couple episodes ago and the show is trying to hint that Ling is a true leader who cares with those cuts between his fight and the letter reading.

I rather hope that’s not it. Ling’s fine! I didn’t like how he was introduced into the series of course, but my issue is more that Ling’s still young and I’d rather the show was suggesting he has great potential, not suggest its something he naturally possesses already. Hmm, I guess the show could mean that. My issues with Ling’s character are becoming a little complicated to describe. How about this? Any flaws Ling has are being played for comic relief and are not to be taken seriously. Meanwhile his claims about being a good, noble leader have been consistently supported by his two very faithful followers. He’s been consistently bothering the Elrics and without facing any negative consequences. In fact, he and Ed have basically become friends.

Eh, I’m probably trying to read into this a little too much. I might try watching the scene again apart from the rewatch. I should try and articulate my issues with Ling in a separate post maybe. Err that’d be sort of critical though and I don’t want to make lots of posts complaining about brotherhood. (This rewatch is sort of that already, I know. Sorry I can’t help it!)

But I digress. Ling’s fight with Envy is entertaining. I try not to rewatch moments too much but it was totally worth rewinding part of the sequence. Envy has one arm turned into a snake wrapped around Ling’s neck. The other has morphed into a blade. Ling drops his sword, kicks dirt into Envy’s face and grabs the non-bladed part of the bladed arm and uses it to cut off Envy’s snake arm. Then he sort of rips off the blade which was vulnerable where it transitioned into skin. This sequence is all incredibly smooth and fast. I had to rewatch to see how it happened.

Ah, Envy. He seems to have even more powers than his 03!Counterpart. Turning into animals, turning arm into a snake complete with a fanged head while the other arm is a shiny metal blade and of course his monstrous true form. 03!Envy’s abilities did include strength and turning his arm into a sharpened spike but that’s about it (that’s the extent we see at least). It’s amazing how incompetent Envy is, therefore. He seems to never have any idea how to use his powers well. More abilities but he’s lacking 03!Envy’s grace.

This isn’t a complaint by the way. It’s totally in character for Envy to be theoretically overpowered so he’s lacking any actual skill and technique to back his abilities up meaning he’s often outmatched. He usually has to resort to cheap tricks like transforming into an opponent’s loved one to win.

He does this here, naturally. Ling hesitates against Lan Fan and Envy laughs about how emotional humans are, like he did with Marcoh at the beginning.

Against Gluttony, Ed and Al have the advantage as Gluttony can’t kill them. It’s because of their plot armour as they’re both Sacrifices. Which they are well aware of. But finally Gluttony has the chance to swallow Ling!

Ed gets in the way, so Envy tries to pull Ed out and all three of them get eaten! As does some of Al’s arm, as he’d also tried to grab Ed.

We cut to Mustang who is speaking with General Raven. He wants to trust the man so he’s making connections and ‘jokes’ that the Fuhrer might be a Homunculus. That’s when it’s revealed that the Homunculus conspiracy is plaguing the military itself. It seems many higher ups, including Raven, are also aware of Bradley and are working with him anyway. Mustang utters this nice line (this won’t be accurate – it’s from memory): “When he said the enemy was close, what he meant was that we are the enemy.”) Fuhrer Bradley appears too, asking Mustang if it matters that he is a Homunculus.

We get a look at Al panicking as Gluttony sadly tells him he can’t uneat anything as his stomach closes. Then there’s a look at Ed waking up inside Gluttony’s stomach. He can only wonder where he is. That’s how the episode ends.

–

So, nice episode. Envy is great in it. Some nice action. Cool ideas. My little digression about Ling isn’t anything to do with this episode really -it’s purely Ling in general up to this point. Yeah, I’m still not fond of him. Pride’s scenes are a little weird and I think that’s because they’re trying to make the reveal more dramatic when it comes around. You’d think ‘inside the belly’ is referring to getting swallowed by Gluttony but I think that’s a misdirection. It’s really a reference to how Mustang is trapped in a military which is made up of enemies. The military itself is the beast.

[mustangsgloves]

Unspoken

Read on AO3

Alright, this is my second (my apology gift, really, it’s over 5000 words of fluff) for Shay, in which I attempt to tackle one of her favorite tropes (characters A and B have to stay at a hotel and there's only one room with one bed)...

once again - thanks to @the-musical-alchemist​ for listening to me flip out about how to write this, I appreciate it always, Gio ;-;

I said it already, but I’ll say it again - Shay, you’re one of the greatest people I’ve ever met, simply because of who you are - you’re always kind, passionate, thoughtful, and are extremely talented and witty.  In short, you’re just incredibly wonderful.  Thank you so much for being you, and have the happiest birthday possible.  Hey, now you can rent a car and come visit me!!!

“Are you kidding me,” Roy grumbles, tightening his grasp on his small bag as he stomps his snow-packed boots on the porch of the building.  “Of course Grumman sends us to the most remote town, in the dead of winter, splits up our team, and gets us reservations in what has to be the absolute filthiest looking place I’ve ever seen.”

“Relax, sir,” Riza responds.  She flexes her frozen hands to try to regain feeling in her numb fingertips as she switches her bag from left to right.  “You’ve seen the rest of this town; the entire place just doesn’t have a lot of money.  I’m sure the inside is nicer.”

“Whatever you say, Captain,” he retorts.  Riza sighs at his snarky-tone, but doesn’t challenge him, knowing that the last thing that she needed was to argue with her superior officer when they were both cold, hungry, and exhausted.

Riza follows as Roy enters the small hotel, and the door creaks shut behind them with a resounding thud.  Roy blinks as his eyes adjust to the dimly lit, and decidedly decrepit, lobby.

“Evenin’,” a gruff voice rumbles.  “Can I help ye?”

“Yes, please,” Riza replies civilly, despite the man’s less-than-warm tone.  “We have a reservation under Grumman.”

The man grumbles under his breath as he flips through a stack of cream-colored cards by the landline.  After a minute, he turns back to Roy and Riza.

“The room you reserved is 205,” he grunts.  “S’got a bed and a bathroom.”

Roy watches Riza as she frowns slightly, “room 205?”

“Room 205, bed and bath,” the man, Johnson – Roy reads on his nametag – replies.

Roy’s own eyebrows knit together in confusion.  “I’m sorry?”

“Can ye hear?” Johnson growls, “ya get room, 205, and is’got a single twin bed.  Is there an issue, mister?”

“Respectfully, Mr. Johnson,” Riza replies, her face the perfect image of patience.  “Our reservation is for two joined rooms, each with a twin –”

“Well ‘m afraid yer straight outter luck,” Johnson says with a sickly-sweet smile.  “your reservation is for one room, one bed.  And before ye ask, I have no other vacancies.”

Roy finds that hard to believe given the decrepit status of the ‘hotel,’ but he wisely keeps his mouth shut.

Johnson gives Riza a lecherous once over, despite the fact that she remains completely covered in her countless layers, and smirks.  “But if that’s too much of an isser for ya, ye could stay with me instead of that loser,” he says, jabbing a finger in Roy’s direction.

Riza’s previously calm demeanor fades, and she fixes the disgusting man with a dangerous glare, her eyes filled with a sudden anger.

“Excuse me?” she says, with false politeness.  Roy’s own anger bubbles up alongside uneasy concern – Riza’s patience may appear to be never-ending to most, but he knows better.

Johnson grins, revealing a mouth full of uneven, yellowing teeth.  “Ditch Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Brooding over there and get with a real man.”

Riza’s right index finger twitches – and, deciding that it’d probably be best if she doesn’t punch the man in the face, no matter how appealing it may sound – Roy wraps an arm around Riza’s waist and pulls her gently towards him.  He sees a split-second of confusion flit across her features before she relaxes into his hold, even reaching down to wrap her right hand around his own where it rests on her waist.

Roy sends the man what seems to be an apologetic smile, but he knows that Riza can tell it’s grossly insincere.  “I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood our relationship, Mr. Johnson.”  The way Roy says the title is almost mocking, and Riza bumps him slightly, a silent reminder him to keep his cool.

Roy clears his throat before continuing with the same smile.  “My wife and I were simply confused by the change, that’s all. There’s no problem.  It will work out perfectly, the other couple that was supposed to come – our friend Jean and his wife Rebecca – they couldn’t make it.”

He sees a quick ghost of a smile cross Riza’s face as he says the words.  Tactic wise it makes sense, the more detailed the explanation, the more reasonable…

Roy fleeting thinks of how lucky it is that he and Riza both still have their gloves on (consequently hiding their tell-tale lack of rings) as Johnson frowns.

The man seems to accept Roy’s words.

But it doesn’t keep him from continuing to show his repulsive personality as he slides them the single room key across the counter.  Johnson looks to Riza, twitching his face in a way Roy assumes was meant to be a flirtatious wink.  “My offer still stands, little lady.”

Roy fights down a smile as he feels Riza squeeze his hand and tap her index finger quickly against his knuckles, an odd habit she’s had for years that remains a clear sign of her agitation.

Then she does something that he is in no way prepared for.  Quickly twisting her body to face him, she brings up her free hand to guide his face down towards hers, and promptly presses her lips against his.

Roy feels his eyes widen, then remembers that since they were “married,” kissing her shouldn’t startle him at all, and quickly responds with enthusiasm.

Even though her lips are chapped from the cold, as he’s sure his are, they are warm and surprisingly insistent.  Roy finally feels his body relax, only for Riza to pull back, face red and lips still parted.  She’s clearly startled, despite the fact that she had initiated the kiss, and looks slightly embarrassed, but he sees her swallow and place a smile on her face that could only be described as completely and utterly in love.

She snuggles herself back into his side, and turns back to Johnson, who looks thoroughly schooled.  “That won’t be necessary.  Goodnight.”

Riza grabs room key, tugs on Roy’s hand – subsequently breaking him out of his shocked state, as well as simultaneously prompting him to grab their bags – and drags him towards the set of rickety-looking stairs that lead to the floor above.

Neither of them speak until they are in front of 205, though Roy does fleetingly note that Riza has yet to let go of his hand.

She finally does when she slips the key into the lock and swings the door open. When she speaks, it’s in the form of a quiet, “after you.”

Roy nods and acquiesces, silently entering the room.  Riza comes in after him and shuts the door.  He lets the bags drop.

Neither of them say a word.

The room was indeed meant for one occupant, indicated by its very limited floor space as well as a cramped looking bathroom, and perhaps the most problematic thing of all, a single twin-sized bed.

“You take the bed,” he says.  Riza gives him a look, but before she can retaliate, he continues, “that’s an order, Captain.”

She glares at him, before simply saying, “no.”

“Hawkeye please don’t start with this,” he replies, running a tired hand through his hair.

“I will ‘start this,’ General, because where the hell would you be sleeping?” She gestures vaguely around them, patience clearly waning (most likely almost completely exhausted by the lovely Mr. Johnson below).  “There is not a single other area someone could sleep, not even the floor.  There’s barely enough room for us in here as is.”

“What about the bathtub?” Roy counters.  Riza shoots him a withering look.

“There is no bathtub,” she retorts.

“Fine, then we just share.”

“It’d be inappropriate, sir,” Riza replies.

“Inappropriate?” he exclaims, frustration ratcheting upwards.  “You just kissed me, Hawkeye!  Sleeping in the same bed isn’t going to be any more inappropriate than that!”

Belatedly, Roy realizes the phrasing of what he’s said, but it’s too late.

Hawkeye visibly deflates from the challenging demeanor she’d been in seconds before, and looks at the ground.  “My apologies, General.

“Hawkeye I –” He cuts himself off.  He what, exactly?  Really and thoroughly enjoyed a kiss that he shouldn’t have?  Is becoming more and more convinced that he’s in love with his subordinate?  He swallows, fighting down his plethora of disjointed thoughts from erupting into dangerous words.

There’s a silence again, and for once in all his time with Riza Hawkeye, it almost feels awkward.

“You use the shower first, sir,”” Riza says quietly.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Hawkeye,” Roy almost snaps back – awkwardness forgotten. “You have fewer layers on than I do, and besides, my body is always warmer.”

He ignores the way her face flushes at that, and passes it off as her finally adjusting to the chill of the room.

“You shower, and then I will, and that’s an order.”

Riza sends him a scathing glare before relenting and grabbing her duffle and disappearing into the tiny bathroom.

As soon as he hears the rush of water from within the closed bathroom door, Roy plops down onto the decidedly cramped bed with a low sigh.  This, he thinks, has got to be the weirdest mission ever.

He runs a hand through his hair as he tries in vain to forget the feeling of Riza’s chapped lips pressing firmly on his own, and groans as he fails and he only thinks instead of her endearing quirk when angry or worried.

He swears he can still feel a ghost tap-tap-tap on his knuckles from where her right index finger – her trigger finger – had been drumming against only minutes before.  He tries not to think about the way she had fit into his side so seamlessly, and the way a blush had briefly painted her face as he had called her his wife.

His wife…

Shaking his head to try to clear the increasingly dangerous thoughts, Roy stands, and walks over to rummage through his small pack for something to sleep in.

He hears the faucet squeak off, and bites back a groan as he realizes that his one other t-shirt had been soaked through by the incessant snowstorm that raged outside.  He grabs his thankfully dry pajama bottoms, and his last remaining pair of boxers, and sits back on the bed.

It’s only a minute before Riza opens the door and emerges in a comforting shroud of warm steam.  Her hair is down, dripping wet, and she doesn’t quite meet his eyes.  He’s about to ask her what’s wrong when he swallows hard, noticing suddenly – and very unpreparedly – that she is only wrapped in her towel.

All at once his entire body feels too hot, the air too stuffy, despite the drafty walls of the room.

“My pajamas seem to have been soaked through, sir…” she starts, trailing off uncertainly.

Roy regains his bearings and nods.  Get a hold of yourself, Roy, he chides silently.

“You can borrow one of my shirts, Lieutenant,” he says, feeling his face begin to burn. “I’m afraid I don’t have any dry pants, but a dress shirt should fit you…”

He pauses.

“Oh – actually, you can use my pajama pants if you’d like, I – uh, have a, uh…” he doesn’t continue and instead gestures awkwardly to the pair of boxers he’s still holding in his right hand.

He watches Riza’s gaze follow the movement, and her face promptly flush a deep scarlet.

Damn, he thinks silently.  And here I thought we were adults…

“I, uh… I appreciate the offer, sir,” she manages.  “Thank you.  However, I’m sure the shirt will do just fine.”

Roy simply nods, and turns to rummage once again through his bag for the one dress-shirt that remained untouched.  He doesn’t meet his subordinate’s eyes as he hands her the blue fabric, but that doesn’t stop him from biting the inside of his lip as their hands meet briefly in the exchange.  He doesn’t miss the way they both jump apart, as if there’s a static buzz – which, Roy really wouldn’t be surprised if there was a physical bolt of energy, because that’s sure what it felt like.

“I’ll just go shower, then,” he mutters, walking past Riza to enter the cramped bathroom.

He shuts the door without looking back.

Riza sighs as she buttons up Roy’s shirt.  The way the cold piece of clothing hangs on her – almost like a dress – is somewhat comical, but Riza isn’t laughing.  Inside, she cannot seem to shut off the constant monologue of, “this is inappropriate…wildly inappropriate...”

She tells herself that her shivering is because of the cold, not the fact that she is wearing nothing but his shirt and her underwear.  But she knows, despite herself, that she’s not telling the entire truth.

Standing, she shuts off the overhead light and flicks on the bedside lamp instead.  In two steps, she crosses to the door and checks the lock – sliding the manual lock as well for good measure.

Sure, the town had seemed alright, nothing shabbier than some of the suburbs outside of East City, but the last thing they needed was their belongings stolen… or, if she was being more honest, for someone who knew they weren’t married to come and see them.

Riza shudders at the thought.  Just the fact alone that they were sharing a room could get them court-martialed… But pair that with sharing a bed, while being less-than-decently dressed… Not to mention the kiss from earlier… Oh god, that kiss.

Riza sits at the edge of the bed and tries to calm herself as she feels her heart speed up.

What exactly has she done?

Roy braces his hands on the tiny counter, gazing at his own frown in the mirror.  Thankfully, the pajama pants are much fuzzier than he was anticipating – a welcome surprise, unlike many of the other situations today.

His chest is painfully bare – his sleep shirt had been soaked through – and he can’t quite bring himself to exit the warmth of the steam…or see Riza.

But it’s been ten minutes, and he can’t hide in here forever.

Roy runs the piece of cloth that is supposed to pass as a towel over his damp hair.  Inhaling, he places his hand on the door handle.

Get a grip, he berates himself.  You are being completely childish…

Reasonably so, some stupid, unnecessary voice retorts.  She did kiss you – of course you’re freaked out…

“I’m not freaked out,” Roy mutters.  He sighs heavily as he realizes that he just had an entire conversation with himself over may be one of the stupidest reasons ever. Damn…

He opens the door…

And abruptly stops.

The clouds responsible for the snow swirling outside allow little light to enter the room through the small window.  In fact, the only thing preventing the entire room from being in complete darkness was the lamp on the bedside table.

But that’s not what makes Roy pause.

A soft glow illuminates Riza’s still-drying hair, causing a golden hue to fall across the rest of her body as she sat on the edge of the bed. Her back is to him, and her hands run through her long hair, absentmindedly braiding it as she gazes out past the limp curtain that she had seemingly dragged aside.

Despite the darkness, there’s a dark purple hue to the sky, and the ledge outside has a small, but growing, loft of snow on top of it. It’s quite peaceful, really, and extremely at odds with his thumping heart.

The golden aura extends down to the rest of her body, emanating from the shirt she wears (his shirt, too big, but fitting nonetheless), and down towards her legs. He tries to distract himself before his thoughts linger back to the kiss…

So, being the idiot he is, Roy clears his throat.

Riza jumps slightly at the sound, and turns sharply to face him.  He can clearly see her posture relax, even if just slightly, as she registers it’s just him.

It appears that this is one of the very few instances in which he had successfully – even if accidentally – snuck up on Riza Hawkeye.

He tries not to think about the fact that somehow she had been so caught up in her own mind (about what, he could only speculate, but he tries to ignore the rising suspicion that it’s maybe some not too different from his own) that he was able to surprise her.  The infallible Riza Hawkeye, startled by him simply stepping into a room.  It’s something that he could definitely let go to his head, but he doesn’t.

Instead he asks, “are you warm enough?”

She hesitates briefly before nodding, “yes, sir.”

He frowns.  “Hawkeye please.  We may as well be outside right now.  These walls are doing nothing to keep out the chill.”

“Right.”  Riza straightens, pulls back the thin-looking blanket, and slips underneath it.  She faces the window, subsequently turning her back to the door, and him.

Almost a minute passes before she realizes he has yet to move.  She looks over her shoulder, quirking one eyebrow in a silent question.

He clears his throat, “right, sorry.”  He shifts his weight from left to right and nods awkwardly.

He knows, rationally, that this isn’t a big deal. He knows that he shouldn’t be overreacting, but he can’t help it.  For so long he has fought back against Grumman whenever the old man mentions his granddaughter and ‘hints’ about her “being the future Fuhrer’s wife.”  Whenever Hughes would call on the phone, or drop a line about Roy “getting himself a wife,” Roy’s frustration would bubble up and he’d snap at his friend.

But this is a big deal.  Not because he thinks anything more than strictly getting some rest – even though it happens to be in the same bed – is going to happen, but because he’s rejected his own feelings for so long.  Feelings that, with the events of the past hour or so, had come back, relentlessly bubbling up to the surface of his mind.

Even before Riza became his subordinate, his adjutant, his left-hand, he had tried to navigate their relationship carefully as kids. Her father hadn’t been the most incredible man ever, despite his genius, and Riza had lost her mother at a young age. When a young teenaged boy had entered into her house, bursting with energy, curiosity, and a somewhat unrelenting enthusiasm, she hadn’t welcomed him with open arms.

Yes, Riza was polite, and respectful, but they hadn’t just immediately become friends.  It had taken weeks, hell, even months, of understanding, respect, and patience.  Roy had worked hard to make it so Riza felt comfortable and open around him, comfortable and open with him.

It had all been worth it, no question.  The years spent with her as his best friend had been some of the greatest of his entire life.  They’d become closer than either of them could have ever expected, and at some point, the friendship had given way to a more dangerous creature – one that reared its nervous head, finally, just before Roy had had to leave for the Military Academy.  One with an unspoken understanding of something more.

A creature that, despite everything, was finally peeking out again tonight.  It seemed to Roy that that simple action of a kiss (sure, paired with everything they’d gone through before, their encounter with Lust, countless missions that could’ve, and sometimes did, go wrong, the Promised Day) had coaxed this creature back out, given it something more concrete than it had had (or been allowed to have) for what seemed like ages.

Roy had fought down these feelings – anything more than a professional respect – to the best of his abilities for years, simply due to the fact that he felt that he didn’t deserve her.  Of course, Roy knows that despite all of his attempts, those exact same feelings, the ones more dangerous than professional respect, were clear to all of the men on his team.

How many times had Havoc given him that oddly knowing smile? Or whenever Fuery had a grin a bit too wide on his face during dangerous missions as he watched Roy and Riza interact, even something as simple as discussing strategies? What about the countless times that Breda had just a faint ghost of a smile as Havoc whispered something to him while looking at Roy when the team was at Christmas’s bar, after Roy had finally convinced Riza to have just one dance with him?  What about Falman, ever-silent, stoic Falman, whose eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement whenever Riza gave Roy that look when he was complaining about paperwork in the office that would shut him up and get him working?

Even Fullmetal, who had teased and antagonized Roy with a passion as his subordinate, had shared a few quiet conversations with the rest of the team and Alphonse.  Was it not Edward himself who had (on multiple occasions, even) told Roy to just “live a little”?

Roy fight’s down a huff of amusement.  What would his team say now, seeing their two superior officers arguably “scantily-clad” in the same hotel room and sharing the same bed?  No doubt something completely inappropriate if Havoc were there, and some sort of comment close to, “it’s about damn time,” from Edward.

He blinks, clearing the rush of thoughts from his head, and just stares at Riza.  Riza Hawkeye, the woman who, in spite of everything, was still by his side.  Roy feels his world tip just a little bit at that realization.

“Sir?” Riza asks.  Roy wonders how many times she’s tried to get his attention in the past minute.

“Hmmm?” He hums back, not quite trusting himself to verbally respond in fear of the uncontrollable waterfall of confessions that may come out instead.

“Are you going to go to sleep, or…” She trails off.

“Yeah.”  He still doesn’t move.

After a few moments, he sees a quick flash of frustration on Riza’s face before she sighs and says, “of for the love of –”

She scoots herself closer to the edge of the bed and throws back the covers to the space that remains open, for him.

“Just lay down.”

Roy forgets about everything he had just been debating and deliberating about in his head, and crosses the one step it takes to reach the small bed.  Before he can lose his confidence, he sits on the edge, still not looking to Riza, lays down on the cold sheets and pulls them over himself.

All at once he’s far too aware of the sound of Riza’s uneven breaths right beside him, and he feels what seems to be like a white-hot burn at every single point of contact between her body and his own.

Simultaneously they both mutter a quiet, “sorry,” and make to move away from the other – and barely stop in time to prevent falling off abrupt edge leading to a cold, hard, wooden floor.

Roy lets out a resigned sigh and turns to roll back to the middle of the bed…only to be met with Riza’s face just inches away.  He tries to speak, but his mouth just won’t form the words.  His heartbeat thumps uncomfortably – no, it’s oddly comfortable – and Roy watches as a blush crawls up Riza’s face, starting from beneath the collar of the shirt (his shirt), and covering her cheeks.

Has that dusting of freckles along the bridge of her nose always been there?

Roy can feel a warm puff of air on his face as she exhales, and his own breathing catches.

Neither of them speak for a moment, but then Roy feels Riza shiver slightly, and he realizes just how cold the room really is.

So, once again, he opens his mouth and speaks without thinking.

“Are you cold?” His voice sounds too loud in the silence of the room.

“No,” Riza says quickly.  Their faces are still too close, but he wouldn’t need to be close to her to tell that she was lying.

“Captain, please,” he retorts.  “I can feel you shivering.”

Her blush deepens, and she almost looks ashamed.  “Fine,” she gives him a half-hearted glare, “yes, I am.”

“Okay,” he says.

Without giving it a second thought, he acts on his instinct and pulls her towards him.  One arm around her waist, and the other cradling the back of her head, he presses her gently to against his chest and moves his chin to rest on her hair.

She stiffens, briefly, and asks, “Colo – General… what are you doing?”

“Keeping you warm,” he says, feeling his face flush. “Just…trust me?”

There’s a pause before her muffled response of, “okay.”

He’s suddenly very aware of the fact that his chest is completely bare, and that where Riza’s face lies, is significantly warmer than the rest of his torso.  He also remembers, as he pulls her barely closer (but still well within the realm of propriety, or as much as there could be given the current situation), that the feeling of cool, smooth, fabric between his fingers is, in fact, still his dress shirt.

They lay like that for a few minutes, wide awake, cold, slightly stiff from nerves, and far too hyper-aware of the other to relax…before Roy hears Riza sigh quietly.

And then – much like she did earlier when she pulled him to her and kissed him – she completely and thoroughly surprises him…by tangling her legs with his.

Roy fights down a surprised squeak, and takes a moment to process what just happened.

He leans back his head just slightly to gaze down at her face, and isn’t surprised to see it blushing deeply (he knows his own looks the same).  Her eyes flicks up to meet his for a split second before she closes her eyes and returns to resting her cheek against his chest.

“I, um…” for some reason he feels the need to speak, but can only stammer out in his shock.

“For warmth, sir,” she supplies.  There’s a long pause before she says, “just, trust me,” and presses herself impossibly closer to him.

This time, Roy doesn’t fight back his squeak of surprise, and feels Riza’s lips curve into a smirk against his chest.

He swallows, trying to calm his racing heart that lies just under her ear.  No need to let her know just how much his nerves had taken over.

“You know, Captain,” he says after his heart has slowed.  “If you wanted warmth, you could’ve just asked.”

He feels her release a huff of laughter, one that shakes them ever so slightly, before she responds.  “You are impossible, General.”

“Only with you,” he responds.  He realizes the tone of his words only after he says them, but this time, he doesn’t really care.

Riza doesn’t seem to catch the accidental…unprofessional implication…or at least doesn’t go to address it.

“Besides,” she says, picking up her previous train of thought.  “Given how long it took you to even get into bed, I’m sure I would’ve frozen by the time you actually got around to ‘warming me up.’”

He goes to look at her again, and this time Riza does the same, pulling her face away to look up fully at his.  They find themselves merely centimeters apart.

Roy searches her humor-filled amber gaze as he looks for words he’s pushed away for years.

 Instead of some heartfelt confession, he says, “I’m sorry I put you on the spot by calling you my wife, earlier.”

There’s a flash of what almost looks like disappointment in her eyes before she smiles softly and shakes her head.

“No need to be sorry, sir,” she replies.  “You read the situation quite well…as always.”

He smiles at her compliment and hums.  They remain close, studying one another with caution before Riza continues.

“I’m sorry I…” She swallows, and turns her eyes away from his own.  “I’m sorry I kissed you, sir.  It was well out of bounds and I –”

“Don’t apologize, Hawkeye,” he interrupts, “it’s like you were saying, you read the situation quite well, and acted appropriately.”

Roy pauses.  “And besides…”  Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t be stupid… He ignores the rational voice that pipes up and continues, “it was…nice.”

Her eyes snap back to his with surprise.

“With all due respect, sir…that’s entering into rather dangerous territory,” she says quietly.

“I’m a dangerous man,” he replies.  He can see her fight down an eyeroll.  “But in all seriousness, Captain, who can hear us?”

Riza seems to accept his words and sighs.  “I…” She laughs softly.  “I guess you’re right.”

There’s a pause.

“And besides, I don’t disagree.”

Roy laughs and draws her to him, resting his chin, once again, atop her head.  He smiles as she relaxes and presses into him.  He can feel warmth spreading back into his body.

“Can you imagine if the team saw us right now?” He asks.

“Yes,” she replies.  “It’s not very fun for either of us.”

Roy snorts.

“Is Havoc making inappropriate comments?”

“Would you expect anything else?” She responds.

“Fair point,” he amends.

Sure, they know that in all seriousness, nothing has changed, but it’s no secret that they are both aware of their team’s thoughts and opinions.  Give the men a few drinks and they become very forthright with what they think exists between their superior officers…

Even Edward, embarrassed, awkward, Edward hadn’t been afraid to call it out to them both individually on various separate occasions.

Apparently, Roy had been blind far before the Promised Day.

Thinking back to their time in the hospital, when Roy had become accustomed to simply listening to his subordinate’s even breaths, he lets out a sigh. Following what had become routine then, he whispers, “goodnight, Hawkeye.”

He thinks she’s fallen asleep due to her lack of response before he hears a tired, “goodnight, Roy.”

A simple slipup – one, granted, he had scarcely heard since their childhood – but Roy feels some of his doubts from before fall away nevertheless.

Sure, things might remain unspoken, but that’s how they’ve always operated.

They didn’t need any extra words to communicate what they already knew.  And besides, Roy would never forget what Maes had once told him – actions speak louder…

So, keeping his best friend’s advice with him, Roy presses a soft kiss to Riza’s forehead as he drifts to sleep.

Maybe this mission wasn’t so bad after all.

[ohmytheon]

What about a How to Train your Dragon Au with Royai?

Part two to this prompt. I figured I’d just do a little continuation since I was given this twice.

give me a pairing and an au and i’ll write a drabble

It had taken some convincing on both sides for them to come to this. Riza was too wary and untrusting towards Toothless and the dragon kept bearing his teeth at her for her to agree with his nickname. Roy spent the better part of an hour trying to soothe both of them, but it was really important that they get along. Riza had been a big part of his life for as long as he could remember and Toothless was the turning point in his life for the future. He didn’t want to let either of them go – he refused to – and so he had to make the two very different aspects of his life somehow work and come together.

Of course, it wasn’t that simple. Even after an hour of talking and persuading, using every last bit of his skills that his aunt had taught him, things still felt rocky. It was only natural. Riza had years of dragon fear and hate ingrained in her, from the time she was born; and Toothless had spent his entire life being hunted and mistreated by humans. Neither one of them truly understood the other, nor could they until they began to learn more about each other. Roy didn’t particularly enjoy being that bridge, seeing as how it caused both dragon and human to be irritated with him when he was only trying to do good, but it was a role that he would take.

Riza wore a stunned expression as Roy clambered on top of Toothless’ back and adjusted the harness with care. She almost scowled when the dragon gave her a probably smug look in response. “I don’t know if this is a good idea,” she said.

“It’s a great idea,” Roy told her. “Toothless is an excellent flyer. We’ve worked on it a lot together. He’ll be good.”

Toothless snorted. It wasn’t a snort that inspired a lot of confidence in Roy’s declaration.

“He won’t toss me off?” Riza asked.

“If he tosses you off, then I go down too,” Roy pointed out, “and he won’t do that.” He scratched the dragon right behind the ears where he knew Toothless liked it the most. “Will you?”

Roy neglected to add that if that were to happen, Toothless would be able to snatch him up, as he’d done before when Roy had fallen off the harness during a few flying mishaps. He trusted the dragon. Toothless might act up a little, but he wouldn’t do anything that would harm Riza, just scare her. Riza was tough; she could handle it.

Finally, after taking a deep breath, Riza stepped up to Toothless – but then the dragon hopped to the side and she jumped back. Roy coughed and glowered down at Toothless until the dragon laid down passively on his belly and allowed Riza to climb on top of him. It took a minute of adjusting, but he was able to strap her in and then pat Toothless to let him know when they were ready. Riza was breathing steadily, but he could feel her heart beating fast through her chest pressed up against his back. He didn’t remember being this scared the first time he rode Toothless, but then his head had already been in the clouds.

When Toothless started to run to gain speed before taking off, Roy and Riza both jerked back. He had a hold of the reins so he was fine, but she yelped and wrapped her arms tightly around his middle, pressing her face into the back of his shoulder. Roy was suddenly struck by the fact that this was the closest the two of them had ever been. Riza was his best friend, but they maintained a very careful and respected distance from one another for reasons he didn’t know. Now she was up against him, clinging onto them as they sped into the air, and he could hear her muttering to the gods along with the rush of wind in his ear.

Just as he felt every time when he flew with Toothless, Roy could not help but feel elated. His heart sored alongside them and he felt lighter than ever before. He never felt as free as he did when he was high in the clouds with Toothless. He could take his hand off the reins comfortably now and just accept the wind against his face and body, but he knew that would frighten Riza.

“You can loosen your grip now,” Roy told her cheekily, glancing back at her out of the corner of his eye.

Riza peered up at him and shook her head. Definitely not. Honestly, he didn’t mind her holding onto him – it made him feel even better – but he wanted her to be able to enjoy this and she couldn’t with her face pressed against him or her eyes closed.

“Come on now,” Roy said, “just take a gander. Or are you too scared?”

Her bravery challenged, Riza could do nothing but look. She slowly loosened her arms around him, but she didn’t let go, as she straightened up and gazed ahead of them. Toothless glided smoothly through the sky over the ocean. Riza gasped at the sight. It was stunning. Even after all this time, Roy could feel the rush that this view gave him. The sky mirrored the ocean, the clouds hung above them like they could be touched, the sun shining before them.

“It’s…beautiful,” Riza breathed. Her hair was blowing wildly in the wind, wisps of it flying in her face, but she didn’t seem to notice. The sun reflected in her amber eyes as she stared straight ahead, awe written all over her face.

“See? This isn’t so bad. Toothless is pretty nice.”

And then the dragon jerked hard to the left, swinging them on the harness, and Riza grasped Roy tightly again. As much as Roy wanted to scowl at Toothless for being a little brat, he kind of liked the feel of Riza holding onto him as well. It made him feel as warm as the sun. Roy couldn’t stop the grin from coming onto his face. This was turning out a lot better than he expected.