Dreaded Encounter[Open]

[edward]

((Post Order: Ed, Al, Cyril, Riza))

Rain, why did it always have to rain? It seemed rather fitting considering the foul mood that one Edward Elric was in, and the walk from the train station to Central Headquarters had been hell. Sure he didn’t mind getting a little wet, who did? After all a little bit of rain wasn’t going to kill him, but it wasn’t the rain that had the elder Elric annoyed, oh no. On the way here, some stupid ass had decided that going full speed through a damned puddle on the side of the road was a great idea, oh yeah, great for him, not so great for Edward. Before he even knew what was happening the water sprayed up, covering him from head to toe, soaking him thoroughly, it had taken but a second for the shock of the moment to recede before the young alchemist hurled insults into the distance at the careless driver, he had half a mind transmute the damned road....but thought better of it when he considered the other motorists....asshole.

He had gotten a few queer looks on his entrance to Headquarters, and the icy glare he returned with those golden eyes made most look away instantly, but there were whispers, and Edward ground his teeth slightly....he really wasn’t in the mood for this, hell....he had just wanted to relax for a little while before continuing the hunt for the Philosopher’s Stone, but there were things to be dealt with first, Mustang being one of them. Just the sound of the mans name in his mind caused Edward to grimace as he dragged himself along the corridors, his younger brother in tow, this was going to be hell if there was one thing he hated, it was seeing Mustang, the man touched every nerve within him, and often he could feel his anger bubbling below the surface. It would be easier perhaps to thump the man and get it over with, but Edward for the most part showed restraint in that area, choosing instead to pass a few comments here and there or to reply sharply, it was enough to sate him at least for a while.

Stopping outside of Mustang’s office the elder Elric ran his hand down his face with a deep sigh, sodden glove leaving a streak of water down his nose. He had to give a report, that was all, get in, get out, no hassle, except he knew it wouldn’t be that simple, it never was with the Colonel, still, he could always hold out hope that he had little to say for once, no scolding remarks or sarcastic quips, just a few simple words and then giving him leave. “Wait here for me, ok Al?” he said after a long pause, turning to look at his younger brother, forcing a smile, face partially hidden behind sodden bangs. “Shouldn’t take long”. With those few words Edward turned back to the door, drawing in a deep breath before he knocked slowly, making loud and yet short knocks upon the door, of course he could always hope he wasn’t there, but then did Mustang ever actually leave the office?

[eatingsinner]

Alphonse was with his brother on their way to Central, to pay a visit to Colonel Roy Mustang. He got along fairly well with the flame alchemist, that was when he actually saw him. Most of the time his brother saw him, and what he heard from his loud boisterous remarks, that he was quite the sarcastic, women chaser. Riza, whom he had met and had more encounters with, was very nice.

When the usually had those visits his brother was in the hospital, briefing them on what happened and such. But today, they were headed to give Colonel Mustang a report, and to their luck it had been raining that day, since they got off the train.

Al's helmet covered his blood seal, which helped considering that it made his soul to this world, where if he dissapered, his brother would surely make a stupid mistake. But their search for the philosophers stone would not end soon. Or so they hoped.

On their way to the Colonel's office, Ed had gotten splashed on by a driving car, which had envoloped him in a wave of water, that made him soaked from head to toe. To his hot headed brother, he could tell he wanted to messed up the road for the driver. Even through the rain, despite his brother not using alchemy to dry him self, Ed and Al made their way to the Centeral Office.

When they approached the door, Al was told to wait there and that it would only be a second. "Ok brother." replied Al, his voice echoing inside his armor as if there were a real person inside. He sat on the bench, his hands on his lap as if he was told so by a parent.

[daedric]

Wanderlust was not the only thing that drove him onward. The second thing that motivated him to wander aimlessly through hallways with a lost expression was something he could not speak of. The third thing was the fact that it was raining outside and he despised the fact of trying to sleep in a cold, wet environment. The fourth thing was that he didn’t want to get chewed out if he found a corner to take a nap in and a military personal found him. So he was left to wandering, which earned him very strange glances from the everyday subordinates, secretaries, and other personnel who worked here. He ignored their persistent stares, as if indifference was an impenetrable shield against unwanted social interactions.

He deserved those confused looks, for he was certainly out of style here. Everyone he met was clad in blue and gray uniforms, looking very professional. He, on the other hand, just looked intimidating even at his stature. His roguish outfit of red and black certainly made him stand out and for once this thoroughly frustrated him for how was he supposed to avoid people questioning why he was there when everyone kept staring at him. He hated different people all asking him the same question and he didn’t feel like explaining himself either. Thus, when he passed by others he always averted his eyes, not wanting to meet their gaze and invite them to question him.

All I need is somewhere quiet I can…

He hesitated, tilted his head to the side, and gazed at the odd couple with an unreadable expression. In truth, it was a mixture of doubt and familiarity, but Cyril was excellent at masking his facial expressions. He then continued to walk forward with a quick step suggesting he was either very stupid or very bold, for he did not stop until he was near the behemoth of a creature clad in a suit of armor. With his head tilted back and lips pulled in a grin reminiscent of a fox, Cyril immediately greeted the fellow with:

“So, you must be the Fullmetal Alchemist. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

[Gearr]

UHM if you dun get what's up with Riza in the first bit of the first para then read chapter 39

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Riza gave a light sigh and tapped the tip of the pen against the paper before her, moments later adding her name, signature, and other important details, to the form. It wasn't so much that she had an issue with the work, anything but, Riza was known for her ability to fill out form after form without any apparent loathing to it. The issue right now was very simply that she had things on her mind, Riza had a tendency to self berate, indeed when she did so it it was often in a far more brutal manner than anything directed to any other (hard to believe, but it was true). Either way she most certainly had far better matters to attend than a self inflicted guilt trip, it would get her no where, and the blond woman knew this perfectly well. As such she quickly shunned such negative matters and pulled yet another sheet of the ink printed paper toward her to fill in as she had done its predecessor. A task tedious to most, yet necessary enough to her that it was always done without quip or qualm.

After some elapse of time she heard a raping knock to the door, one that caused her to trace amber eyes upon the door and frowned slightly. Standing she took a number of brisk steps toward said door, coattails flapping behind her as she did. If she was correct then it was most likely be Edward, The Colonel had absent-mindedly said something about it earlier that day. As she pulled the door open it seemed she was indeed correct, at least for the most part. Before her was the young alchemist (who right now looked like a drowned rat, evidently he'd been out in the rain for a while), and indeed his brother, but also someone she had not seen before, one that seemed quite out of place. He, like the blond alchemist, was of a somewhat laterally challenged stature (not that she'd make a remark on such of course). Yet this was certainly not what the composed blond found most odd about the young man, his hair and skin both seemed of tones not commonly seen within Amestris, at least not Central. His clothes though, that was perhaps what threw the ever vigilant woman off the most, in this building most, if not all, wore the customary blue uniform, there were few who could get away with not. Then it clicked, she'd heard rumours that a young gentleman had been hired by the military, yet was not within the military. He seemed to fit the description she'd heard, alas though she'd not heard a name murmured.

Turning back to Edward she gave a slight, yet precise, nod of her head. “Edward,” she stated in a greeting that held her usual formality. “I take it you've come to deliver a report?” Despite her wording it to a question the way she said it made it seem like a statement of fact, a fact that only a fool would have the audacity to argue with. Shifting to the side she granted enough room for the young boy to enter, before turning her attention back to the strange young man. “I fear your name evades me sir,” she offered stoically. “What business is it that you have here?” By here she did not mean this building, she had at least a rough idea of that. What she wanted to know was why he was here outside this office. Did he have some business to attend? If so then very simply she wanted to know, holding silence in this mater would be a very dumb, and near suicidal thing for him to do. Buuuut if he had a death wish of some sort then of course he was welcome to stand with some dumb grin on his face.

[edward]

Somehow standing here sopping wet the time seemed to be moving slower, or at least in Edward’s mind it was. Was he being kept waiting deliberately? Hell…it wouldn’t have surprised him if the Colonel was making him wait…bastard…he always did like to rub salt in the wound. He had left word for him that he would be coming with the young woman who manned the telephones within the building; it had been a short conversation, Edward merely reeling off an estimated time of arrival before putting the phone down. It was reasonable to assume that the woman had done her job correctly and handed the message on; therefore, Edward was confident that Mustang had prior knowledge of his arrival. The sound of footsteps dragged the elder Elric from his thoughts and he turned slightly, catching sight of Cyril from beneath the curtain of his sodden bangs.

The fact that he seemed to be making a beeline for them caused him to frown (though some part of him was moderately pleased that he was shorter than him) and for a moment golden eyes scanned him in a question manner, taking everything in. For one, he stood out a considerable amount and it was perhaps feasible to assume that he was not within the military merely because of his clothing, but Edward knew better than to take people at a glance and surmised that either he, like himself, felt the need not to conform to the usual military dress code, or he was here for some other purpose, thought what, Edward was unsure of. As he approached Alphonse however, Edward’s mind began to reel as to exactly what he wanted, but on hearing his words, the young Alchemist saw red. “So, you must be the Fullmetal Alchemist. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Why the hell did everyone think that Al was the Fullmetal Alchemist?! It was his reputation and his namesake and he was damn tired of having to constantly explain that to people.

Perhaps he understood somewhat, his brother was after all, nothing but metal, and that was always where the confusion lay, and whilst Edward held no anger towards his brother (who would often correct the people who made the mistake before Edward) he couldn’t help feeling really pissed off about it. The Elder Elric was about to voice his opinion on Cyril’s idiocy when he heard the door open and he turned sharply back towards it, golden eyes falling on the familiar form of Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. “I take it you’ve come to deliver a report?” So Mustang had received the message and that thought made Edward’s frown return as he once again mulled over what his conversation with him was going to entail. “Yeah” he said simply before she moved aside allowing him access to the room. Edward glanced back at his brother for a moment, giving him a brief smile, and a nod of his head, telling him in silence that he wouldn’t be long once more before he let his gaze move to Cyril, and a scowl moved across his features as he glared at him wishing he had said something but decided if the guy was still around later there would be plenty of time to voice his opinions.

“Might as well get this over with” he thought before turning away again and heading inside. It wasn’t what he was expecting at all, in fact, when he stepped inside the room Edward paused, his expression changing to mild confusion as he stared at the empty desk where Mustang should have been seated. Where the hell was he? Not only did he find his lack of presence somewhat annoying, but it was also unusual. Hell was this some new game? Make Fullmetal wait? It had better bloody not have been, Edward was already in a foul mood, and the last thing he needed was more fuel for his already white hot fire. Moving further into the office the young Alchemist approached Mustang’s desk, eyes briefly scanning over the few papers that lined it before he turned around, his back leaning against the desk as he folded his arms across his chest, one foot crossed over the other. “So I’m guessing I have to wait?” he asked in a somewhat raised tone to allow the lieutenant to hear him, but he couldn’t keep that edge of annoyance out of his voice.

[eatingsinner]

Al was approached by an odd looking person, whom was not in a military uniform. But he could see that he may have been shorter than his brother, which would make him proud, considering anyone who mentioned his stature usually got a fistful to deal with, and that was not always a good thing to happen. Especially on a rainy day like this. But when the person approached the fog grayed armor child, he had made a common mistake. They had mistaken him for the Fullmetal Alchemist, instead of his brother, which was usually followed by a short joke. Sometimes he had to stop him, but on other times, ed could do it himself. But that took a lot of self control to do such a feat as that, annd the way things were happening today, that level of stress just seeing the Colonel was tipping it off.

"I'm not the Fullmetal Alchemist my brother is." said Al as he pointed his thumb backwards, at the soaked older brother, his bangs sagging, creating a damp spot on the carpeted floor of central headquarters, looking like a puppies accident spot. When He said that Riza Hawkeye, the Colonels secretary somewhat, came out and greeted ed inside, where Al leaned forth a little and said "Hello Miss Hawkeye." She did not notice Al, which was quite alright, but she was more worried about the person whom had suprised Al, wearing a casual outfit, and walking up here like it was a food spot.

Ed gave a nod, signaling that it would not be long till they turned in the report to the lady chasing alchemist. He knew that much about the Colonel, that and the loathing that ed did on occasions, which usually ended in that he hated him, and was always doing one thing or another. But Riza did prove something. Who was he, and waht was he doing here in central?

[daedric]

The man stared for a long while, straight into the face of that emotionless piece of metal. For a long while he made no reaction, even as he was explained that what he was looking at was certainly not the Fullmetal Alchemist. An avalanche of thoughts raced through Cyril’s head, all of them pointing to one thing. These thoughts were not given voice and instead were tucked away somewhere in the back of the man’s mind. He would not forget what he had seen here as he had gazed into the physical mask of the armor.

“Oh, my apologies,” He said with a curt dip of his head and shoulders. “May I assume this is your brother, the Fullmetal Alchemist?”

His eyes moved to the boy right when the door they were standing in front of opened. Cyril’s attention was drawn to this new individual who had stepped out of the door; blond, average height, military uniform, and brown eyes that turned his heart to mush. A bulldozer would have been left effective at tearing down the carefully built walls that had long been used to protect himself from the pains and disappointments of society. In that moment of vulnerability it was not affection or lust that revealed itself. The expression that found his face was one of pain, the sort of pain that had grown over years like a thousand arrows that had skewered him but had yet to kill him. The subtle expression only lasted a brief moment and was whisked away on an exhale as the man quickly remembered not to let a pretty face tear his only shield from him effortlessly. He put on a smile as smooth as putting on a mask and he dipped his body in such an extravagant bow it would put actors and musicians alike to shame.

“Cyril Daedric,” He introduced himself. “I’m afraid your name escapes me, I haven’t been here that long. You are…?”

He gave a lighthearted chuckle and in answer to her question of what business he had he said, “Why, keeping dry, of course. I am doing a damn fine job of it too, if I do say so myself. Staying dry and keeping an eye on things here- after all if my comrades are ordered to do something who will relay the message to them if no one is here to receive it? In other words, the boss doesn’t want me on the battlefield; thinks I’m too weak or something.”

It was an awful bluff but it flowed from his lips with the smoothness of honey that any doubt of insincerity would be quickly dashed out. He was here to keep an eye on Central, but not to relay messages when they came out. He would play the role of messenger boy for the time being but in actuality he was here to spy. Spying generally didn’t mean he had to sneak behind doors and peak into keyholes. Cyril had found that the best way to get information out of people is to get them to give it to him willingly, which required nothing more than sweetened words to stroke their ego and deem him innocent. Besides, he was so observant that it was hard to let the littlest things slip past his notice. These were the reasons the boss man decided spy would be more suitable than messenger and if a message was given to Cyril it would be passed onto his cohorts; he wouldn’t be the one running the message to the next town.

He didn’t particularly enjoy spying on people, but he found it more enjoyable than killing people.

The kid seemed somewhat annoyed, perhaps impatient, and Cyril found the need to poke fun at him for it festering underneath the surface. He kept the words locked in his chest but he couldn’t help but flash him an obnoxiously bright and cheery smile. He didn’t like kids- he found them to be bratty and quick to anger. Then again, he didn’t much like adults for that matter…most of them didn’t act much different. The way Cyril acted seemed to say most people on the planet were put here for him to piss off for his own amusement, which is why it didn’t take long to let his guard down and accidentally blurt:

“Don’t worry kid; I’m sure your lover will return soon.”