#but i made the bushes less prominent and added in the fence ad trees instead

[princessgearhead]

Eyes of a Killer

Chapter 2

Previous / Ao3 / ffn

The crisp morning air flowed gently into Riza’s room through the cracked window, rustling the curtains while carrying the scent from the flowering lilac bush on the hill of the far side of the Hawkeye property. Riza yawned, already tired of the day so far. She had already been up for about an hour or so following her regular morning schedule: feeding the chickens, cleaning out the coop, watering the garden in the back, and making a simple breakfast of eggs and toast for her father and herself. She briefly considered ignoring Roy’s previous protests from last night and make an additional plate for him, but since he had yet to get up, she decided against it.

Riza sighed as she lay down on her bed, breathing in the floral aroma. It reminded her of when she was little and she would play outside while her mother would read beside the flowering bushes. Lilacs were her mother’s favourite flower. It was something about the arrival of early summer that she loved. She always said that because their season of bloom was so short, you had to appreciate them before it was too late. Riza nearly laughed at the irony of it all.

The anniversary of her death was coming up on ten years and now the only things that Riza had left from her mother were the last lilac bush on the hill and the golden earrings that she now wore as her most prized possession. A bitterness crept into her mouth as the memories she had tried to forget were flicking across her mind. Memories are a funny thing, aren’t they? The more she tried to forget the ones that haunted her, the more it seemed that they were the only memories of her mother that stayed, while the ones she wanted to cherish seemed to slowly fade away.

She picked up the book that she had on her side table, trying to distract herself. After a few minutes, she found herself staring at the words yet not processing them. Her mind had successfully wandered elsewhere. More specifically, she was a little more aware of the snoring coming from the room beside her than she cared to admit to herself. The soft rumbling that came through the walls had been annoyingly hard to ignore last night, despite Riza being used to strangers coming and going with all sorts of sleeping habits that had never before bothered her. But now this strangely nice, and not to mention cute, city boy with messy jet black hair had come along, and of course, he had to have a nasal cavity that sounded like a running car.

When Roy had shown up on her doorstep, Riza strangely found herself taken aback. Her father has had many potential apprentices in the past, but none of them have ever been this young. Certainly, none that were around her age, at least. With the sunset behind him, he almost looked like he had walked out of a dream. Almost. The stunned look he had on his face kind of ruined the imagery. Although, even with his frazzled state of obvious nervousness, Riza found herself being charmed by the lingering stare of the eyes that were dark as the night that was rapidly approaching.

Feeling frustrated with herself, she put her book back down on the table. It was obvious that no reading was going to get done. With a huff, Riza grabbed one of her pillows and pulled it tight to her chest.

‘For God’s sake Riza, get a hold of yourself and stop being an idiot... He probably won’t last two weeks here anyways so calm the hell down. So many promising alchemists have come here and not one of them have stayed longer than a few months. How could you possibly even try to expect anything different for him?’

Since she didn’t have anything that needed to be done, and the guest in her home to had no apparent plans of being awake any time soon, Riza decided it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick nap. Before she knew it her eyelids were drooping heavily. And just as she was drifting off, she faintly heard the snoring from the room over suddenly stop with a snort.

As the morning grew on, Roy wasn’t really sure what to do with his Sunday since he didn’t have any real obligations yet. The light was pouring through the blinds, which is what woke him from his deep sleep. He made a mental note that he would have to remember to close them before tomorrow morning if he ever wanted to stay in bed past dawn. Roy laid with his eyes shut, desperately trying to ignore the very bright sun beckoning him to wake.

‘What is it about travel that makes you so tired? It really doesn’t make any sense, I mean you’re just sitting there for hours on end not doing anything extraneous but for whatever reason it’s exhausting…’

He turned over, in an attempt to escape the sun’s taunts, but after a minute or so he sighed, realizing there was no hope in the return of sleep. Shoving his covers off, Roy swung his legs off the bed and slowly stood up. Stretching tall and yawning, the mannerism he displayed was like that of a cat, long and lanky. His eyes settled on his suitcase beside the desk across the room and he groaned. Chris had explicitly told him that he should unpack as soon as he got there. She had said something along the lines of, ‘If you leave your clothes unpacked, not only will you look like a vagabond, but you will have shown that you lack the ambition and dedication to become Hawkeye’s apprentice.’ Remembering her scolding, Roy couldn’t help but smile. His foster mother was dedicated to helping him in any way she could, but that didn’t stop her from giving him the tougher side of love.

After making his bed, he grabbed his suitcase and opened it on his the smoothed out blanket. Everything inside was nicely folded in order to prevent the wrinkles that Chris had warned about. But once he looked everything over, Roy deemed it fine to leave his clothes as is for now after taking his choice of outfit for the day.

Taking the small bag of toiletries he had, he exited his room and crossed the hall to the washroom. He looked back to see that Riza’s door was closed and wondered passively if she was inside. Shaking the thought off, he began to wash his face to rid the lingering feeling of sleep. He looked up in the mirror above the sink and internally groaned after noticing his somehow messier than usual hair. After running his hands under the water, he attempted to tame his dishevelled locks by running his fingers through them while trying to avoid making a mess. He grabbed his comb and somewhat succeeded in getting it reigned-in before giving up, seeing there was little more to gain from the fight.

Returning from the washroom, he couldn’t help but notice the feeling like he didn’t quite belong. The room was so foreign to him with only his suitcase to signify that there was anybody staying in it. He thought to himself, as he got dressed, that maybe he would go explore the town to see if he could find something to make the room seem more like his own. When he passed through the small town yesterday he had seen a market set up for the weekend and decided that would be worth going to see even if he didn’t pick up anything.

Roy considered adding a jacket to his outfit, but after opening the window, he discovered that even in the late morning the Eastern heat was no match to the temperate climate of Central that he was used to. He sighed deeply. There was absolutely no way he would be comfortable in his desired attire. Taking one last moment to gather himself, he made his way into the small town.

Stepping out of the house, Roy could see a few other houses farther down the road. Some were accompanied by farmhouses that were surrounded by land occupied with various attributes. Others stood with only towering trees to border for privacy. His current residence seemed to fall in-between farm and country manor. The house was quite large with less land than most farms in the area, but there was a large coop that was far enough away that Roy hadn’t noticed it when he arrived the night before. The Hawkeye household was neither a short walk or a long trek away from town. The path was just wide enough for either one vehicle, the size of a car or carriage, or two small carts to pass judging by the well-worn tracks packed into the earth. Then again, it was hard to say what constituted as the road considering there was no consistent fencing to indicate where properties ended and the road began.

A soft breeze cooled the early summer sun, making it a much more enjoyable journey. The people here were what really struck Roy. Instead of the averted eyes of those hustling and bustling through the city, he found himself being waved at as if he was an old friend to these strangers he passed.

After some time he found himself in the centre of the town-- if you could really call it that considering its size. Almost any part of the town was close enough to the centre to consider itself apart of it. Shops of all sort were scattered about, both as permanent establishments or in pop-up shops for the weekend market. Roy was surprised to see there were enough people who lived here to make such a crowd. Standing off to the side next to one of the buildings, he admired the atmosphere of this quaint community. The small friendly interactions between everyone who seemed to know each other. He supposed with the population number as it was, it would be hard not to know almost all of your neighbours.

Across the way, there was a fruit stand that was connected to the little flower show next to it. In the window, he could see a stout older lady with little wisps of silver scattered in her dark hair that was pulled back in a neat bun. She wore a slight smile as she was in the middle of arranging a beautiful bouquet with white and pink lilies being the most prominent flowers. Almost like she could feel him watching her, she looked up and spotted him. Roy smiled at her and was about to walk away before she waved at him to come inside. He considered pretending that he had not seen her gesture to be on his way, but considering how well connected this town seemed to be, Roy decided it would be in his best interest to be friendly with the townsfolk. Another factor in his decision to slowly make his way to the steps leading to the door was the very insistent look on her face that made it seem like he didn’t really have a choice in the matter anyway.

Bells chimed as he opened the door. He was greeted by a booming yet joyful voice.

“You must be that Mustang kid right?”

He gave her an odd look. “How do you know me?”

“Word travels fast in a place like this. I heard ol’ Bert was taking on another student but I never thought you’d be this young.” She grabbed him by his arms and looked him up and down very intently before letting him go again with an impossible to read look on her face.

This whole interaction was much more up-close-and-personal than Roy was expecting, not that he was really sure what he was expecting to begin with anyway. With a nervous chuckle, Roy stepped out of her reach.

“Uh, yeah, that’d be me, Ma’am. I didn’t realize it could travel that fast...”

“Shows how little time you’ve spent here. You got a first name to go with that horse?” she asked, crossing her arms.

He crossed one foot awkwardly over the other. “Roy.”

“Roy, huh? Well, honey, you can call me Mrs. Catalina. I run this shop and the fruit stand right outside in the summer with my husband, Buck. I got a daughter about your age as well. Rebecca. In fact, she’s in the same class as Riza. What a sweetheart that girl is.”

Hearing Riza’s name made his stomach wobble but the side of his mouth involuntarily twitched into a small smile. “Yeah, Riza seems really great.”

Mrs. Catalina cocked her eyebrow, “I meant Rebecca.”

“OH,” Roy’s eyes went wide, “I just meant-”

“I know what you meant, hon,” she laughed, making Roy let out a strangely relieved sigh, scratching at the back of his neck. But then Mrs. Catalina stopped and regarded him closely, “I helped Riza out as much as she would let me when her mother passed. This whole town loves her dearly so you would do well to keep that in mind, young man.”

Roy felt his palms start to sweat, he took a step back before he bumped into the door, “I swear I’d never-” His stumbling sentence was cut off with Mrs. Catalina’s laugh.

“Relax, Roy. I’m just giving you a hard time. Mostly.” She was smiling, but her kind eyes still conveyed her seriousness.

He swallowed hard, his mouth felt dry, and he was feeling desperate to change the subject. He silently cursed himself. What was it about this girl that made his mind go completely stupid? Whatever it was, Roy hoped that sometime soon he would be able to act with at least some form of normalcy again.

Mrs. Catalina smirked, knowing that her self-appointed job of intimidating Roy had been completed. “Now, Roy,” she smiled a smile that gave a twinkle to her eyes, resembling rich chocolate, “since that we are all clear about that, I’d like to formally welcome you here. It’s a small town, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, so if you ever need anything and young man I mean anything, you come to me and I’ll help you if I can.”

She placed a hand on his shoulder, in a manner much less aggressive than she had shown previously. Her demeanour was extremely hard to follow and was completely perplexing to Roy. He laughed nervously and thanked her. Before he left, she insisted that he had to take a small potted cactus free of charge as a welcoming gift. She also told him to come around for tea once he got himself settled, an offer that, while he felt that he was obligated to accept, he also was grateful for.

While the town was small enough to go through it in a matter of hours, Roy decided that for today he would stick around the market. He made small talk with the townsfolk that approached him, but mostly kept to himself and observed. Roy was grateful that none of the interactions were as forward as Mrs. Catalina. He wasn’t sure what to make of her quite yet.

Since his goal of the outing had been to find things for the room as he was determined that this would be his newfound home, he eventually found a few things that he liked between shops to accompany his new prickly responsibility. He had picked up a beautifully bound leather notebook along with a set of stationery from a man who apparently lived only a few houses down from the Hawkeyes. At one of the stands, he met an elderly lady who made decadent sweets and convinced Roy to buy a box of assorted candies and chocolates to send back home for his sisters.

Roy found himself at the end of the market, or rather the end for him since he was back to where he had begun that early afternoon. Whatever perspective it was looked at, he was back at the Catalinas’ flower shop and fruit stand. He hadn’t really looked at the establishments before he had been ushered in. Now, after his encounter with Mrs. Catalina, he felt compelled to really look to see what the building could tell him. Like most of the buildings in the town’s centre, it had probably been constructed at least a few generations ago. The white paint was due for some touching up and the sign above the door that read Petals by Catalina had obviously been there for decades as most of the blue lettering was chipped off but it was still legible. It had to be a family business, Roy gathered from the name, whether it was started by Mrs. Catalina herself or if she and her husband had inherited it, he couldn’t tell.

In the window, he saw a girl with long wavy dark hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail. She was adjusting the display sign that had been knocked to an angle. Besides the absent-minded smile of Mrs. Catalina, this girl was the spitting image of her.

‘That must be Mrs. Catalina’s daughter, Rebecca… I wonder how well she knows Riza. It sounded like Mrs. Catalina almost raised her after her mom died. What the hell was Mr. Hawkeye doing then? It couldn’t have been easy but seriously? What could have happened there to make it up to the Catalinas to make sure she was okay?’

He glanced over to the see Mrs. Catalina chatting with who Roy assumed was her husband: a taller, lean man with a bushy moustache barely hiding the smile underneath that matched his short silver hair. Roy glanced at the customers who were looking over the produce and he was surprised to recognize one person in the crowded area, the girl he had just so happened to be thinking about. Her short golden locks nearly glowed with the sunlight hitting at just the right angle as she leaned forward to pick up an apple and inspect it before placing it with the rest of her produce in her basket.

“Riza?”

Slightly startled, she jumped as her head snapped in the direction of his voice with her eyes wide. Upon seeing who the speaker was she couldn’t help but smile.

“Mr. Mustang! What a surprise to see you here.”

“Couldn’t stay away could you, Roy?” Mrs. Catalina joked. Riza looked at her strangely and then back at him.

“How could I? Especially when you have such lovely clientele.” Roy smiled at Riza, who rolled her eyes as her cheeks flushed ever so slightly at his comment.

Mrs. Catalina laughed. “Where is this newfound confidence coming from? Are you sure that you’re the Roy Mustang that I met earlier today?” She shared a look with the man beside her, who had been eyeing Roy up, much like Mrs. Catalina had earlier during his first introduction. The intense gaze almost made Roy lose all of the calmness and regularity that he had built up throughout the day, interacting with everyone like he was just another person who belonged within the crowd.

“To be quite fair, Mrs. Catalina, you do have a talent for intimidation behind that charming beauty of yours,” he replied smoothly, regaining his confidence.

She scoffed as one eyebrow skyrocketed. A snort came from the man beside her as he watched her reaction, which earned him a quick stink eye.

“Ruby, my darling, you have to admit the kid’s got a point there.”

Mrs. Catalina pursed her lips before smiling as she shifted her attention back to Riza who had been silently watching the interaction in front of her as she wore the smallest hint of a smile in the corners of her mouth.

“Now, Riza honey, what else can I get for ya today? We just got our first plums of the season. I set aside a couple for ya already since I know how much you love them.” She reached down behind the stand to grab the pre-bagged fruit and handed it over to Riza as her husband started to help someone else.

“Oh thank you so much, Ruby, you’re really too kind, as always,” she replied while placing the fruit in her basket. “How much do I owe you for everything?” Riza asked, reaching for her wallet.

“500 cenz.”

Riza scowled, or at least as much of a scowl that someone can make while trying not to smile. “Ruby, you really shouldn’t keep giving me things for free.”

Mrs. Catalina crossed her arms. “It’s not free. It’s 500 cenz.”

Riza shook her head as she handed over the money. “You barely charge me anything for how much you send with me, and I appreciate it, but-”

“Then take the discount, darling. You aren’t going to change my mind here.”

Sighing in defeat, Riza put away her wallet. “Thank you, Ruby.”

“You’re welcome Riza.” Mrs. Catalina smiled at her and glanced back to Roy. “Now are you two headed home now or are you still walking around the market?”

Roy and Riza looked to each other for an answer, unsure of what to say. They both hesitated to respond until Riza replied, “Well, I didn’t have anything else to get today unless you still wanted to look around?”

Roy shook his head. “I think I saw everything that I wanted to already, I was about to head back until I saw you here actually.

“Alright then, I guess we’re going make our way back. I’ll stop by later in the week for tea probably. Thanks again!” Riza waved goodbye as they exited the produce stand together. Side by side, they started on the path leading out of town. Roy was watching his feet as they walked together in a comfortable silence for a while before they reached the road that met the edge of the small town. He let his eyes wander so Riza was less in his peripheral and noticed that both the basket and bags she was carrying were fairly full.

“Those look pretty heavy,” he observed. “I can carry some of that for you if you’d like.”

She shook her head, “I’m quite capable of doing it myself thanks.”

Roy couldn’t help but laugh. “I never said you weren’t able. I offered because it just so happens that I have a free hand and now insist on helping you.” He finished with a smile that made the darkness of his eyes seem to sparkle. Roy put out his hand towards her basket, which seemed to be the heavier of her items. Riza eyed him closely while considering his offer, or rather his demand, before shrugging and handing it to him.

She stretched her fingers, before transferring one of her remaining bags to her newly freed hand. “Thank you,” she said looking back at him as she smiled. Maybe being the first smile he had seen from her that wasn’t restrained. Roy felt his stomach turn and his knees wobble. It was the kind of smile that made it impossible not to smile as well.

“It’s nothing really. I’m happy to do it,” he managed to say with an even tone.

Perhaps it was because of the company and small talk to keep his mind busy because the journey back seemed quite a bit shorter than it had been that morning. Before he knew it, they had arrived back at the house. Riza opened the door for the two of them since Roy’s hands were preoccupied with not only the basket but his own purchases from the day as well. He followed her into the kitchen and set everything on the counter next to her bags.

Riza started to take things out of the bags to put them away in their respective places. Roy reached his hand to assist, accidentally brushing his fingers against hers in the process. Her amber eyes instantly flicked up to meet his. Her gaze left as quickly as it had come. Her hand followed suit.

Roy nervously chuckled and ruffled his hair before rubbing the back of his neck out of habit. With his other hand, he gestured towards the groceries. “Do you mind if I lend a hand?”

“Oh, um, sure I guess...” Riza eyed him cautiously before starting to tell him where things belonged.

It didn’t take long with two people working together. Not even enough time to have a conversation. Taking the last bags of produce out from the basket, Roy found there were two books underneath.

“Rimmer’s Collection of Poetry, and…?” Roy held up the second one, a thick leather-bound book that clearly showed signs of heavy use, in a questioning manner to Riza. “What’s this?”

“It’s nothing!” Riza’s face flushed as she snatched it from his hands.

Crossing his arms, Roy cocked an eyebrow. “Quite a reaction for nothing if you ask me.”

With lips pursed she shot him a glare. “It’s a good thing I didn’t ask now, did I?”

Roy held his hands up defensively. “I don’t mean to pry but you have to admit that the way you’re trying to deflect this just makes it sound more interesting.”

“Well, it isn’t, ok?” With a huff, Riza hugged the book close to her chest. Her gaze dropped to the floor as her cheeks flared.

A hard lump formed in Roy’s throat. He cleared his throat and ruffled the back of his hair. “Hey, I was just- I’m sorry… I’ll drop it ok?” He apologized, handing over her book which she hesitantly took back.

Taking a deep breath and sighing, Riza rubbed her arm absently. She glanced over to the counter, something catching her eye. Tilting her head with curiosity, she made a puzzling expression.

“Is that a cactus in your bag?”

Roy looked over to the bag that contained the items he had collected earlier to see that the cactus that Mrs. Catalina had given him was poking out of the top. Grateful that the previous tension shattered thanks to his new plant, he let out a chuckle. “Yeah, it was a ‘welcome to the town’ gift from Mrs. Catalina.”

“Ruby gave you a cactus? Really?” She asked in disbelief as she set the books behind her.

“Um, yeah… She seems very involved.” Roy chose his last word carefully, remembering that Mrs. Catalina had spoken about Riza with a very familiar regard. He wasn’t with the outright intention to be nosey, but he couldn’t deny that he was left with more than a few questions about her past.

Riza let out a snort. “That's one way of saying it. Ruby runs this town. She knows everyone and everything that happens around here.”

“Oh yes, she made that pretty clear,” Roy chuckled. “From what I can tell, it’s a very tight-knit community. It’s quite a bit of an adjustment from what I’m used to honestly.”

“You came in from Central City right?” She asked as she leaned back on the counter, crossing her arms over her chest.

Roy smiled at the thought of home. “Yeah, I did!”

“What’s it like? I’ve never really even been out too far from here, much less been to any of the big cities.” Riza’s golden warm eyes were filled with dream-like wonder and curiosity.

“Really? You have to go sometime. I mean, okay, there are good and bad things about anywhere, but I do really love living in the city. There’s always something going on or something to do. But then again, it’s quite refreshing that everyone is so friendly and personable here. Most people in the city just live in their own head rather than taking the second to acknowledge a stranger. Unless you know them, nobody is really going to stop you for a conversation on the street.”

She looked out of the window above the sink and sighed, “Someday I’ll get out in the world.”

Roy studied her face closely. Her look of determination and yearning completely mesmerized him. There was so much more about Riza Hawkeye that he didn’t know but couldn’t wait to find out. “You will, you’re just getting started and you have your whole life ahead of you.”

Riza glanced at him with an eyebrow raised and a smile “I hope you’re right Mr. Mustang, I really do.”

They shared a moment of wistful silence, dreaming of their own possibilities in life. Riza sighed, gathering up her books from behind her. “Well, it’s not going to happen anytime soon, that’s for sure. I’m going to put these upstairs now. You’re welcome to take a look at any of the books in the study or, I mean, really whatever you were going to do, I guess.”

“Oh, I think I’ll head up there myself. Get some reading done probably.”

Roy grabbed his bag from the counter and followed her up the stairs. She dipped into her room to put away her books while Roy headed to his. He took out the cactus from the bag and put it on his windowsill. As he was setting up his desk with his newly purchased stationary and such, Riza popped her head in his doorframe.

“I’m going to start making dinner now. Would you like to eat up here or in the dining room?”

“Dining room I suppose, do you want an extra set of hands?” He tried to make the offer seem casual but he couldn’t help but take the opportunity to try and spend more time with his teacher’s daughter.

Riza looked a little surprised at his offer and shook her head. “Thank you, but no. I’ll come to fetch you when it’s ready. And besides, you should probably unpack,” she remarked, looking at his suitcase that showed evidence that he had rummaged through it that morning. “You don’t want all your clothes getting wrinkled if they aren’t already.”

She disappeared downstairs without another word, leaving Roy alone to unpack and his mind to wander.

Roy had quickly finished unpacking and decided he might as well get some studying in before his lessons started on Monday, although with the aromas of whatever was being cooked downstairs being wafted through the house, focusing on his reading became slightly difficult. A little over an hour had passed and through the window, Roy could see the early stages of night begin to fall. He switched on the lamp on his bedside table and not long after, a light knock on the doorframe stopped Roy mid-sentence in his book.

“Mr. Mustang, dinner is ready downstairs,” Riza stood in the doorway before turning to leave.

“Roy,” he interjected as he got up from the bed, putting his open book upside down to save his place. She turned to face him again looking slightly puzzled. “Like you said yesterday, I’ll be staying here as long as I can. You don’t have to be so formal with me.”

She paused before she replied and the smallest smirk crept onto her face as she eyed him cautiously. “I hope your skills back up that newly found confidence of yours, otherwise you’ll be out in less than a week, Roy.”

His name on her tongue made Roy’s stomach lurch, even after he specifically asked for it. Trying to have a cool composure in his reply, he ran his fingers through his messy black hair while making an exaggerated sarcastic gasp. “Ahh, you wound me Riza,” he said as he dramatically brought a hand to his chest above his heart. “I never would have pegged such a sweet girl like yourself to have a hidden mean side. You could have really hurt my feelings there.”

“Oh, please. I have a feeling you have a big enough ego to handle it. “She folded her arms and leaned against the doorframe with the slightest smirk on her face. “As a matter of fact, I’m guessing you’ve never had the kind of mockery you need in order to keep it in check. So really I think I’d be doing you a favour if I continued.”

“Is that so?” Roy laughed. She was absolutely right of course. While Chris was a mostly strict foster mother and she always had him hard at work, she adored him completely and was the one who encouraged him in everything he did. It was not out of the ordinary for her to spoil him just a little bit, not enough to make him into a little brat who thought he deserved the world ought to be handed to him, but just enough that to put it quite simply, Roy was a mama's boy through and through.“So, what else about me do you think you have learned about me since I got here?”

Riza eyed him with a knowing look like he was missing something obvious. “Now why would I give information away that easily? Is equivalent exchange not the philosophy of alchemists? I may not be an alchemist myself, but growing up around one it was kind of hard not to get some of those ideologies engraved in my mind.”

What little composure Roy had evaporated as he started to sputter on his words. “First of all,” he paused to collect his thoughts, “equivalent exchange is not a philosophy,” he spat the word out with disgust, “it’s a scientific law. I- it’s fact! It’s not a belief or way of thinking.”

Riza tilted her head with an eyebrow raised. “I was under the impression that a philosophy was a study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, is it not?” She did not wait for an answer and continued. “Law or philosophy, it doesn’t matter what you call it, but you have to acknowledge that equivalent exchange isn’t just about alchemy, it can be applied to just about everything. Surely you must know that by this point in your life.”

Roy crossed his arms over his chest as he stumbled on a feeble attempt to respond. She smirked, knowing she had won and simply said, “Checkmate.”

He gave her a questioning look, not fully understanding the reference.

“You’ve never played chess before? Seriously?”

“What can I say? I’m not a geek like you apparently,” he replied with snark, getting a little frustrated with her condescending tone and her constant one-upping.

Riza couldn’t help but laugh, “I beg to differ, Roy. Your studies clearly prove otherwise, and besides, chess is all about strategy and using your brain. A concept which seems to be something you could stand to do a little more of if you hope to accomplish anything here at all.”

“Are you always this rude to those unfortunate enough to come through here?” Roy quipped.

She shrugged. “No, but to be quite fair, most of my father's students have been older than you and very few have paid much attention to anything besides their studies.”

“What makes you think I’m not focused on my studies? I just got here today and if you hadn’t noticed, I was studying before you came up here.” He vaguely gestured to the book he set down next to some papers he had scattered around his bed. “And my age? How should that factor into this? You’re what? Fifteen?”

“Sixteen, almost seventeen,” Riza replied cooley. “And I never said you weren’t studious. I wasn’t even talking about you then if you had been listening,” she sighed and Roy saw her cheeks flush ever so slightly. “I was just saying that not a lot of the people who have come through here have said much to, me much less tried to have a real conversation.”

Roy stood there silently, not knowing how to respond. Riza brushed her bangs back, tucking some stray hairs behind her ear. “Anyways, the food is probably getting cold downstairs.” She quickly left the room, Roy heard her fast footsteps going down the stairs.

‘Jeez, this girl does not seem like she’s had much attention paid to her in her life. Who the hell has been neglecting her to the point to make her so surprised that someone would take a few minutes to talk to her? It’s not like we’ve even talked that much at all and she’s acting like I’m going out of my way to be nice to her. Well… I mean I haven’t really. I may have intended to when I offered to help her out in the kitchen, but still, that could have just been a polite gesture… Maybe I’m just reading too much into this.’

Roy waited a minute after she left before following her lead downstairs and into the dining room that had a medium-sized table that was set for two. Riza came back from the kitchen, bringing out a steaming quiche with a serving already taken from it, she looked up at him as he entered the room and placed the pie on the table.

“It smells amazing in here. Did you really cook everything by yourself?” Roy asked, grabbing the nearest seat that had a place setting made up.

“Yeah, I’ve been helping in the kitchen for as long as I can remember,” she smiled as she sat down, looking lost in her thoughts. “Well, helping is a generous word for when I was really young. My mom loved cooking and she was always patient with teaching me everything she could. Even after all that, I’m nowhere near as good as she was. I pretty much do all the cooking now.”

Roy studied her closely, the genuine emotion that was displayed freely on her face was unlike how she had seemed earlier, hard and very guarded. He felt like he had stumbled upon something rare and incredibly sacred and pure: the way her shoulders had relaxed and even the subtle change in how she was breathing. It was more of the soft nature that Roy had first expected of her.

“Well, not that I’m really in the position to compare but I think she obviously did a great job in teaching you. You’re selling yourself short here Riza.”

His comment brought her attention back to him. She looked at him as though before he spoke she had forgotten he was even there. She shook her head and laughed. “You can’t comment on my cooking until you’ve actually had it. How can you tell it’s good if you haven’t even tried it yet?”

“You make a fair point, but it’s only a valid one for a few more seconds,” Roy chuckled as he took a bite and let the flavours take over his mouth. “Oh my god, Riza,” he exclaimed as he leaned back in his chair. “Are you kidding me? This is amazing!”

She rolled her eyes, “I don’t think it’s too late to train in theatre since you’re clearly proficient in being dramatic.”

“I’m being serious here. I’ve never had anything like this before I mean, I’ve grown up eating bar food, which, while delicious, is nothing like this. This has about a dozen flavours going on and isn’t filled with grease? It’s incredible!” He said with a beaming grin spread across his face before he continued to stuff his face.

Riza blushed and muttered a thank you before she started her meal as well.

They kept the conversation light, not delving into anything in particular until they had both finished eating and the rest of the pie remained on table cold. The darkness of night had crept up to them and without the overhead light in the dining room, it would have been pitch black.

Riza glanced at the clock behind her and was surprised to see that it was already twenty after midnight. “I really should clean this all up and get to bed, it’s getting really late.” She stood up and as she went to reach for the dishes Roy stopped her.

“Riza, I have to insist on helping you clean up. It’s really not fair that you cooked everything and you’re trying to stop me from cleaning? I could bring up the topic of equivalent exchange again in order to convince you, but that’s a bit useless since you can’t stop me from helping anyways.” Roy crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow with a very matter of fact look on his face.

Risa pursed her lips to give the impression of being annoyed but it was obvious it was only in order to stop herself from smiling. “Okay, fine. You win this round, Roy.”

He fake scoffed. “This round? It seems to me that I’ve won more than just the one today.” Roy crossed his arms as if it were to affirm his point.

Riza lightly shook her head as she rolled her eyes, lips pursed but with the hint of a smile showing, “God, you are impossible, you know that right?”

“You wouldn’t be the first to say something along those lines.” Roy smiled as he stood up and gathered up both of their dishes as Riza grabbed the pie and led him to the kitchen. He pushed up his sleeves and started to run the sink. Having two sets of hands made the whole process go by pretty quickly and soon enough they were done. The pair made their way upstairs, chatting quietly until they reached Riza’s door which she opened slightly and stood in front of, facing Roy.

“Well, I guess this is goodnight,” Roy said as he leaned against the doorframe with a half smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“Yes, I guess it would be. Goodnight Roy.” Riza said with a smile and stepped into her room.

“Goodnight Riza,” Roy replied as she closed her door behind her.

Roy let out a soft sigh as he smiled to himself and headed to his own room and let himself fall into his bed. Reflecting on his day he felt at ease. That was until he remembered what tomorrow would bring. The mysterious Berthold Hawkeye. He decided that it wasn’t worth worrying about, considering that this was the whole reason he had come here. But still, Roy couldn’t get the knots in his stomach to untie and spent most of the night tossing and turning until finally, his body surrendered itself to sleep.