after hours
A/N: I can't even write dialogue for Roy. Guh. Why so impossible, sir? Barney's hard to write too. And every time I write out his name I feel a little silly, like "What if someone finds this and thinks I'm writing about a purple dinosaur?!" Oh, and my apologies to Roy-mun for adding to Roy and Riza's conversation in the cafe - as well as my apologies to Hiromu Arakawa for, yet again, making assumptions about Riza's backstory. LOTS OF ASSUMPTIONS THAT DO NOT MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE unless, like me, you have mad time on your hands to think up stuff like this.
Warnings: Uhm, nothing really. WOW GO ME, I FAIL YET AGAIN.
Pairings: Barney/Riza & Roy/Riza. (She sure gets aroun- *shot*)
"Oh, by the way, he's back."
He puts down the newspaper and looks up at her. "He?"
"I thought you of all people would know who I meant," Riza says, pouring herself another cup of coffee. "Colonel Mustang. He's here."
Barney almost chokes on his own coffee. "What, again?" he manages to sputter.
This is the second time thus far. The first time he didn't stick around long, and Riza had seemed... a little disappointed at the time, but if she'd been more upset, she didn't show it. She doesn't show much at all, come to think of it, Barney thinks. Probably what makes her interesting. She's a challenge.
Riza nods and says, "Be careful not to get coffee on the table."
Coffee? He - (Barney doesn't really have a name for the Colonel, it's just "him" or, sometimes to himself, "that bastard") - he's back in Erro and you're worried about coffee? Why does every conversation we have involve drinks, anyway? "So is he here to stay, or just dropping by again?"
"I don't know. Have you finished with that paper?" (Here, Barney nods and Riza folds the paper back up, leaving it on the counter for any other customers to read.) "He was here last night. We talked."
Mental note to self: never go home early again. Ever. "Oh, talked? Is that all?"
Riza turns to look at him flatly. "I've told you, it's - we're not in that sort of relationship."
"Right."
***
"I hope you've been doing well, Lieutenant? Getting on well with the others here?"
"Yes."
The colonel - Roy - she wasn't quite sure what she should call him here, given that military rank didn't hold much standing in Erro - half smiled. "Just 'yes'? You haven't got anything to tell me about them?"
She wondered if she should mention Barney. But being asked for details would be a litte... diffiult, to say the least, because really, what was she supposed to say they were? Friends - maybe. A couple - far from it. Friends with benefits? The more she thought about the phrase, the more she disliked it, especially considering that the benefits thus far were really only a few awkward (at least for her - he knew what he was doing) kisses.
And she didn't really want the colonel knowing, anyway. Because -
Because she just didn't.
"Nothing important, sir."
Silence.
"There's no need to call me sir here," he said, after a moment.
"Then what am I supposed to call you?" she asked doubtfully.
He rested an arm on the table. "'Roy' will be fine... Riza."
It's what everyone else here called her, but coming from his mouth, it sounded completely different. He hadn't called her that in... years, really, not since...
"...Roy, then," she said, testing out the word.
"Much better."
There was another awkward silence during which he looked at her and she, not sure if she was ready to meet his eyes just yet, stared out the window.
She thought about a lot of things in the next five minutes. The first time they met, when she was fifteen and he was nearly twenty, and how she hadn't been able to think of anything intelligent to say. A year and a half later, her hands clutching the front of his shirt so hard her knuckles turned white, the very last time she'd allow herself to cry in front of anyone. The last time she'd seen him before the war began, when she told him she'd follow him to hell if she had to, and he'd said she shouldn't promise that to anyone, and most of all not to him. When the war ended, and he'd asked of her the exact same thing.
She was, in fact, so busy thinking that she didn't notice him standing up, ready to leave, until he laid a hand lightly on her shoulder.
"I'll see you soon, I hope, Riza."
He's gone before she can reply.
***
"Not like that at all..." she says now, looking down at the counter.
And he can't help but think she isn't telling the truth.
Warnings: Uhm, nothing really. WOW GO ME, I FAIL YET AGAIN.
Pairings: Barney/Riza & Roy/Riza. (She sure gets aroun- *shot*)
"Oh, by the way, he's back."
He puts down the newspaper and looks up at her. "He?"
"I thought you of all people would know who I meant," Riza says, pouring herself another cup of coffee. "Colonel Mustang. He's here."
Barney almost chokes on his own coffee. "What, again?" he manages to sputter.
This is the second time thus far. The first time he didn't stick around long, and Riza had seemed... a little disappointed at the time, but if she'd been more upset, she didn't show it. She doesn't show much at all, come to think of it, Barney thinks. Probably what makes her interesting. She's a challenge.
Riza nods and says, "Be careful not to get coffee on the table."
Coffee? He - (Barney doesn't really have a name for the Colonel, it's just "him" or, sometimes to himself, "that bastard") - he's back in Erro and you're worried about coffee? Why does every conversation we have involve drinks, anyway? "So is he here to stay, or just dropping by again?"
"I don't know. Have you finished with that paper?" (Here, Barney nods and Riza folds the paper back up, leaving it on the counter for any other customers to read.) "He was here last night. We talked."
Mental note to self: never go home early again. Ever. "Oh, talked? Is that all?"
Riza turns to look at him flatly. "I've told you, it's - we're not in that sort of relationship."
"Right."
***
"I hope you've been doing well, Lieutenant? Getting on well with the others here?"
"Yes."
The colonel - Roy - she wasn't quite sure what she should call him here, given that military rank didn't hold much standing in Erro - half smiled. "Just 'yes'? You haven't got anything to tell me about them?"
She wondered if she should mention Barney. But being asked for details would be a litte... diffiult, to say the least, because really, what was she supposed to say they were? Friends - maybe. A couple - far from it. Friends with benefits? The more she thought about the phrase, the more she disliked it, especially considering that the benefits thus far were really only a few awkward (at least for her - he knew what he was doing) kisses.
And she didn't really want the colonel knowing, anyway. Because -
Because she just didn't.
"Nothing important, sir."
Silence.
"There's no need to call me sir here," he said, after a moment.
"Then what am I supposed to call you?" she asked doubtfully.
He rested an arm on the table. "'Roy' will be fine... Riza."
It's what everyone else here called her, but coming from his mouth, it sounded completely different. He hadn't called her that in... years, really, not since...
"...Roy, then," she said, testing out the word.
"Much better."
There was another awkward silence during which he looked at her and she, not sure if she was ready to meet his eyes just yet, stared out the window.
She thought about a lot of things in the next five minutes. The first time they met, when she was fifteen and he was nearly twenty, and how she hadn't been able to think of anything intelligent to say. A year and a half later, her hands clutching the front of his shirt so hard her knuckles turned white, the very last time she'd allow herself to cry in front of anyone. The last time she'd seen him before the war began, when she told him she'd follow him to hell if she had to, and he'd said she shouldn't promise that to anyone, and most of all not to him. When the war ended, and he'd asked of her the exact same thing.
She was, in fact, so busy thinking that she didn't notice him standing up, ready to leave, until he laid a hand lightly on her shoulder.
"I'll see you soon, I hope, Riza."
He's gone before she can reply.
***
"Not like that at all..." she says now, looking down at the counter.
And he can't help but think she isn't telling the truth.