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Looking up, startled from his thoughts on what had been going on for the past three or four days, he blinked a few times and realized it was Riza who was standing before him on the other side of the Paper Andes mountains. He smiled softly at the officer and nodded. The smile was caused partially by the fact that he was glad to see another human being instead of more paper, as well as the almost slip of tongue. He knew that she had gotten used to calling him 'taisa'. It was still a bit odd for him not to be called that, even though it had been awhile. Shrugging a bit to himself, he decied that old habits did indeed die hard.

"Coffee sounds good. I would really appreciate a hot cup. As for the papers, we could see about distributing them, however, the majority of them must be signed by me anyway, so I may as well fill them out."

Sighing, he looked at the still tall stack. Shrugging a bit, he looked back to the slender young woman. "Actually, could I come with you to get a cup of coffee? It would do me a bit of good to get out of this office for a bit."

He didn't mention the main reason behind wanting to get out of the office, nor that some of the paperwork at the bottom of the stack was an investigation report on what had happened to the best of some of the investigators best knowledge on that day that Ed disappeared. There were parts of the story that were perplexing. He wanted to get to the bottom of what happened and why. Also, to find out of Ed was still alive or not. To be honest, he actually missed the little guy.

Standing up, he stretched and leaned back a bit to stretch his back further. He had been sitting down at the desk for quite some time and it felt good to get up and move. He eyed the Riza and then walked infront of her and opened the door for her. Following her out, he shut the door behind him and locked it.

Riza paused a moment in thought. He had a point. But she hated to see him burdened by all that paperwork alone. Resting her stack against her hip, she made a mental note to sift through some of them later and weed out the ones that didn't require his signature.

Anything to lighten his load a little... He'd been under a lot of pressure lately. More than he deserved to shoulder alone, in her opinion. She replaced the papers to a different corner of the desk and nodded neatly to his coffee request.

"I trust you still take it black, sir?"




"Absolutely," she said, and a sly smile crossed her usually stern features. "Perhaps this time you will actually permit me to show you how to work the coffee maker?"

Last time, he had gotten so frustrated with it he had nearly burned down the break room...

He narrowed his eyes good-naturedly at her a moment, but did not reply to her quip.



She tarried in the hall a moment while he locked the door behind them, and then paced the junshou as he strode down the hall toward the little room at the far end of the corridor.

Neither of them said a word as they walked.

Riza looked at him sidelong, though he avoided her questioning eyes. She could tell that he could tell she knew something was wrong, but that had never made him any more forthcoming with his troubles. He was as fiercely private with his affairs as she was, but Riza Hawkeye was never one to give up on him simply because he had a hard shell to crack open.

She cleared her throat, and he glanced at her briefly. She licked her lips and, "Sir, I know you're upset about what happened to the Elrics... But you can't just keep sitting on it like this and letting it distract you. If you keep letting the work pile up and the stress rest on your back you'll run yourself into the ground."

Roy outright jumped at her comment, and she nearly stopped dead in her tracks for what had come out of her mouth. She had a sudden urge to bash her head into the nearest wall.

Dammit, that wasn't what she had meant to say!

Oh, for god's sake, Riza, just open up your mouth and shove your foot right into it...

She had never been the type to hold back on chiding advice (especially when it came to Mustang...), but she wondered if she hadn't gone too far with that...? Riza always had nothing but his best interests at heart...but sometimes she was afraid that there were times her personal desire to protect and defend the brig. gen and his views and decisions clouded her judgement and toyed with her words...?

She made a bleating noise somewhere between a whimper and a cough and then straightened her back and met the brig. general's startled eyes. Well...there was no taking back what had been said... >__<

~Reina felt him grab her arm and pull her with much force~umm your kinda hurting me ~she said in a small voice. she looked back at the other girls and frowned~was that really nessaccary(sp?)

Riza took a deep breath and licked her lips.

Uh oh...he looked mad.

She lowered her eyes.

"Fo...Forgive me, Sir," she said softly. "I was...out of line."



She smiled a little. He was as bad at making conversation as she was...

That was one of the things she had always found most endearing about Roy Mustang... Oft times, there could be an exchange between them, and nothing had to be said at all. Those had been some of the most meaningful conversations of her life...were the ones in which nothing needed to be said.

"S...Saa, na," she said. "I suppose...when someone of your caliber is put into a position of such high standing...extra work is to be expected...?"

He chuckled.

She sighed inwardly with relief. She knew Roy had a temper...she'd had to quell it once or twice to keep him from doing something he would regret later... But she had never been on the receiving end of it, and didn't want to have that day added to her calendar anytime soon...

Not that she feared Roy's anger, per se... She knew better than to think he would strike someone out of rage, he was far too intelligent and strategic for that. It was his silence that frightened her more. The way he bottled everything up inside made her ache. She was well aware that it wasn't in his personality to just up and have a heart-to-heart...even with her... But she dreaded the day all of the trials and tribulations he kept locked inside overhwelmed him...



Riza inhaled sharply when the brigadier general looped his arm through hers and picked up his pace a little.

She...certainly hadn't been expecting that... Certainly Roy had never been one to hide the fact that he was fond of his junior officers... Riza even liked to think he was rather fond of her in particular, just as she was of him... But she had never known him to initiate such friendly contact. Not since their days in the military academy long ago, when he had often playfully linked arms with her or Hughes...or anyone walking by, for that matter, and marched down the hall with them... Anything to make them laugh. Anything to help his comrades lighten up and forget about the exam grades, or the stressful lessons of the strict professors and drill sergeants.

If nothing else, one of the first things Riza had liked about Roy was his heart. Or rather, how much of it he had. He was subtle in his ways, but it had become quite clear to her that the people he chose to keep at his side were more important to him than anything...regardless of how he tried to tell you otherwise...

She gazed at him briefly. He had changed a lot since those days. Riza smiled affectionately. Where had once been a young and impressionable upstart had now become a proud and opinionated high-ranking officer who was well on his way to the top.

And Riza planned on being one step behind him...every step of the way.

And the one thing that had never changed... The one thing that had never even been nudged off-kilter...was that heart of his. Never would there come a day when Roy Mustang walked the halls alone. Not so long as Riza had a say in it.

She twitched her nose.

She did wish he would open up a little more though... It was so frustrating to know that the person who was most dear to you in the world was suffering in silence...



Something suddenly crept up her spine. She blinked, unsure of what it had been, exactly, but a trifle unnerved by it. Riza felt Roy tense up beside her, and she snapped her eyes up to meet his. His black eyes were alight with anxiety, and Riza's reflected the same.

"You...felt that, too?" she asked, and he blanched a shade paler at her words.

Riza suddenly had a feeling this was going to be a very long day, and they'd better get that coffee while they still had the chance...

((okay, am i being irritating and writing too much? u_u all my fics are novels and i think it carries over significantly in my para RPing... if you want me to shut the hell up and condense my words, i'll try... xd ))

((I guess I shall throw Envy in for a little bit))

Envy frowned as he watched what went on below him as he hid in the rafters. His violet eyes glimmered and the slits within thinned as he watched Edward Elric walk about and talk amongst the other pathetic humans. He let out a small laugh and let his brackish hair fall over his face.

I'll show those fools, the humans who made us.... may they be tortured by their own crimes...
You'll all die sooner or later, and all that will be left is us Homunculi.

With that thought in mind, Envy lept down carefully, as to not be seen, morphed into a commoner, and walked calmly out of the station. A small grin appeared on his face as he weaved through the crowd.

You just wait...

((changed my plan a little bit, o well, get over it....
anywho.... im not really sure of what to do.... i mean..... we are going to need some sins now.... sweatdrop im all lonesome....))

(( Sorry, its been awhile since I've posted.. Wow alots happend.)) Riku looked up from her map. This was it the famous HQ of the millitary, after purchasing a map she wandered the streets until she found something. She bumped in someone a girl. Riku reconized her from the train incident. " Um hi, your Kat right ? I'm lost I was wondering if you could help me ?"

"Well, I guess we could wander together sweatdrop . . . I have one question have you heard about the Fullmetal ALchmist?" Riku asked scratching her head.

Placing a note on his bed at Izumi-sensei's house before leaving early in the morning made him feel a bit uneasy, but Alphonse had reached a dead end in his studies. There was only so much he could do while still here, and he felt the need to head back to Resembool and visit with Winry for a while. That, and he wanted to ask her again of the times she spent with Edward while he was losing time. It had been so long since he was there last, and something was tugging at his memory again. There was some connection in that place, but it remained just outside his grasp, intangible to his conscious mind.

He grabbed his impromptu traveling case and headed out the front door. It was brisk as he stepped outside, the cool air making him both awake and alert. As he closed the door behind himself, he noticed just how little things seem to have changed since he began his studies anew. There was still this feeling of loss, like there was something or someone he should be near, and he could not place the image in his mind. He thought to himself as he walked through the familiar yard to the street, "Maybe it's just that my brother and I both trained here once. It's still odd that he disappeared right around the time we were going to bring mother back." He took one last look at the place he had called home for the last four years before turning and walking towards the train station. "Why does it seem my life is ruled by four years. First four of nothing, and now four of trying to catch up again."

Once in the station, he examined the schedule and the rroutes, deciding where he wanted to stop along the way. He could head west and then north, but if he did the more direct route he would travel through Central City. There was a great library there and, while he did have a destination in mind, he could always take a day or two and check out the sources there for what he needed. The information on the "gateway" he was seeking was still very vague. It was not something you could just ask about, and most people did not even realize that such a thing existed. That said, Izumi-sensei was able to provide him with a little peice of the puzzle. There was just an image in his mind, one of moving out of a strange open portal, from before he awoke after the long sleep after that day. It was still amazing to him that so many years could go by without notice. It was almost as though time had stood still for those four years, but there was something that happened then that tugged at the edge of his thoughts.

As he boarded the train for Central City, there was a feeling of deja vu to the whole experience. Now if only he could understand why...