Lascivious

Chapter Nine

Roy tripped over yet another pile of books, and the dust that had lain there for months undisturbed rose into the air, covering the room with an uneasy haze.

The rest of his late master's house had been kept in decent condition, as it had been when Roy knew it best, but the upper story, Berthold Hawkeye's abode, seemed to have aged and decayed as poorly as its former resident.

Riza looked at him apologetically through the dust. "He wouldn't even let me up here, near the end. And right after he had died it didn't seem right to change things so soon."

"Of course," Roy said, a tad uncomfortably, the history of all that had taken place in these four walls hanging between them. He looked around. "So, is it here?"

Riza smiled grimly. "Just about."

Roy coughed a little. "I uh... I just wanted to say that I'm honored that you would trust me with your father's research. Over all his old apprentices, I mean."

Riza shook her head. "It wasn't even a contest. You're the only one who wouldn't abuse this for your own gain. And you're the only one I would trust to see the... medium of the research." She cut him off before he could open his mouth to question that last part. "I know you intend to be a state alchemist and I have my own feelings about the military. But whatever happens, I know that your intentions are good and right now, that's the most I can ask for."

"I want to use this to help people," Roy said earnestly. "I want to protect—"

"I know," she said. "But Roy... I need you to know that this might not be quite what you were expecting.

"What do you mean?"

She closed her eyes, and to his horror, he could see her eyelashes beginning to dampen.

"Turn around," she whispered.

He blinked. "What?"

"Or close your eyes. Whichever." A pause. "Just trust me."

Slowly and dubiously, he turned his back on the girl.

"Alright. You can look now."

-

"Are you sure these were the best you could do?" The brunette snapped the book shut with a thud.

Riza sighed, slowly turning an age stained page of another tome. "I told you, only State Alchemists are allowed to access the really high profile alchemy texts. That's where any of the really good information on homunculi would be, if there is any. Frankly, with the homunculi after me, I'm surprised I was even able to get away with checking out these books."

Frustrated, Vanessa tossed her head against the back of her chair, staring up at the ceiling. "Okay, so then we get a State Alchemist to check out the good shit for us. Right?"

Riza shut her eyes slowly. "Because we've got the military's full support on this, right? Because we have so many allies in State Alchemy department?"

"Okay okay sheesh. No need to get so testy. Can you really not think of anyone who might be willing to work with us on this?" Vanessa paused for a moment. "Besides Roy obviously."

Riza opened her mouth only to pause for a moment. "Well... maybe. I'm sure the Elric brothers would want to help and I know we can trust them but..."

Vanessa lifted her head up. "But what?"

"I'm just a little hesitant to reach out to anyone right now. I had figured coming to you would be safe enough because the homunculi had no reason to think I would contact you, but I haven't tried to communicate with anyone else since I escaped. And not just for selfish reasons," she added quickly. "If they managed to get a hold of me... I have information that would allow them to turn someone else into the same kind of weapon they forced the General to be. You know I can't allow that to happen just because of my own selfish sentimentality."