Lascivious

Chapter Four

A cool breeze rustled Roy's hair as he leaned against the tree. He read the same lines of the faded alchemy text again and again, but the words slipped through his mind like sand as he struggled not to doze off.

"I hope I didn't interrupt your nap," a voice came from behind.

"Riza!" Roy fumbled, trying to act like he had not been in the process of placing his book like a pillow. "Of course not; I was just studying."

Riza raised an eyebrow but didn't contradict him. "What's it on?" she asked.

"Um advanced Equivalency and how it relates to the specific breakdown of chemicals... it's pretty complicated stuff."

She nodded thoughtfully. "I think I've gone over that stuff with my father. Here, why don't you let me see that and I'll see if I can help? It'll at least help you to study with a partner."

Roy dutifully handed over the book and watched her as she flipped through it thoughtfully.

"Alright," she said, and began to explain things carefully, scratching transmutation circles into the dirt. Occasionally, Roy would jump in, adding marks of his own, until the two were discussing the subject together as the sun faded into the sky.

"Why don't you study alchemy?" Roy asked eventually. "I mean, you're clearly good at it and you certainly have all the resources to learn it."

Riza looked up from the dirt and lay down, staring up at the stars beginning to peek out of the darkening sky. "I guess I like the world the way it is," she said. "I don't want to have to turn it into anything else."
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Lust was annoyed. None of this had gone the way he had planned: Hawkeye escaping out the window, leaving a witness behind at the hospital... Of course, he had neglected to mention that last part when reporting back to Father; Lust was only about a few days old, and that was a far shorter life than he intended to live.

"You brought her here?" Father asked angrily. "An outsider; not even a candidate for sacrifice—"

"Look, I had to," Lust protested. "She knew about us, who I was. I can't just let her out into the world with that knowledge."

"I agree," said Father. "Which is why you kill her, or even better, you allow Wrath to transfer her somewhere else like the rest of the Flame Alchemist's team before you got us into this mess."

Lust shook his head. "Not this one. Like I told you, she's important."

"And I was inclined to agree with you before you lost control of her so quickly and spectacularly. And all you have to go off of is Mustang's word—"

"Not his word," Lust said sharply. "Like I said, I've been eradicating what's left of Roy Mustang's own consciousness, slowly making it complacent with my own."

"Like Wrath did with his vessel the moment they were merged," Father reminded him.

Lust bristled at the comparison but went on, "As a result, I'm getting increasingly more access to his memories and this woman... she's his weakness. Mustang won't try to defy us when we have her in our custody. And more importantly, she's the key to what we're looking for."

"She wouldn't even be necessary if you would spend less time worrying about her and more time keeping Mustang under control." Father frowned. "Don't pretend that he doesn't gain control sometimes; it hasn't escaped any of our notice. If you could force him into submission, you would have complete access to his consciousness and not need this woman at all."

"Well in the meantime," Lust said hastily, "let's get information where we can. Mustang isn't telling me anything about Flame Alchemy and obviously I can't exactly just start trying things out for myself. Hawkeye is connected to it, I'm certain."