Choices

Choices

A/N: This was my first Royai Week as a participant, and it was a real whirl. I wrote seven fics in nine days. It was like cramming for finals. My brain is kind of tired. Anyway, it was crazy fun, and I thank everyone who read my stuff.

This fic has a little bit of foul language and only about 550 words. FMA is not mine.

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He appeared to be sleeping, and all but one of his subordinates would have believed that he was. Because he was known for taking forty winks in his inner sanctum, the rest would have thought that he was lost in some sexy dream. They would not have given it a second thought other than envy. It looked like of one of his frequent naps, but she knew better. His breathing, while silent, was irregular. He was thinking. He had a difficult choice to make.

He'd already made a preliminary choice. He knew what he wanted to do. What he had to do. That had been simple. He had a strong sense for what was right and what was wrong, and usually, he had no difficulty in choosing the correct option. He had his Lieutenant for when he began to veer in the wrong direction. He usually knew that he was misguiding himself, but he sometimes needed her strength to pull himself back. He would have loved her solely for her ability to help him control himself if he had not loved her for … everything.

She left his office and quietly shut the door. He needed alone time. When he was ready, he'd bounce it off of her and maybe Breda.

He sighed when he heard her leave, but his eyes remained shut. Usually he wanted her with him, but she would distract him too much right now. He needed to concentrate on the problem at hand and not on her hair or her smell. Victory was essential, and failure was not an option. If he failed to convince the generals and Bradley to follow one of his plans, there would be war. He was dealing with Central personnel, and talking to them was always a pissing contest. He knew better than to seem like a threat to them. He'd have to be self-effacing. All they cared about was accruing power for themselves. Well, so did he, but he wasn't a complete hypocrite. He would not climb to the top by harming innocent people.

He wished he were dealing with Grumman, who was intelligent and decent beneath the loony exterior. He'd even rather deal with the Snow Bitch who would beat him in a pissing contest, but she was ethical and she cared about her soldiers. But, thinking about them was just avoiding the problem at hand.

He'd come up with three plans that could feasibly satisfy all parties involved. Bradley would only allow him time to present one. He was lucky that he was even permitted to participate. He finally decided that Plan A would suit their egos best. He had a good argument for how this would benefit the country and Bradley and the generals. He really had a chance of selling it, he thought. He'd be modest and let everyone else take credit. He'd know that he'd saved lives, and that would be enough this time. Yes, Plan A was the way to go.

He arose from his chair to gather his team.  What would he do without them? He opened his door. “Lieutenant, I need you to gather and organize materials. Breda, there are a couple of points that I'd like to discuss with you.” He was ready to get on with it.

Happy RoyAi Day everyone!

I did this sketch last month because I didn’t know if I could make on time with all the stuff coming, but gradly I could! I hope you like the simple in this one and something nice after all the suffering we had because of the pairing (wait, no? it was just me with the struggles everytime I saw them on the manga and anime? yikes)

This is a call to arms, will you embrace me before it’s too late, baby?

Royai Week Prompt 7: Choices The choice was Maes Berthold (the writing isn’t very clear) I couldn’t decide whether I was trying to be realistic or simplified so the result is kind of… idk It’s been a good week! I’ll definitely draw more Roy and Riza in the future (And I saw people’s lovely reblog tags - thank you so much they made me so happy!)

Ignite

A/N: Royai week 2016 Day 6: Ignite. I'm not too happy with this, but I want to complete the “challenge.” I didn't know what the prompts were until a couple of days before Royai week started, so I am really rushed as the week winds up. A tiny bit of my post Promised Day head canon is in here. This is about 430 words long. Of course, FMA is not mine. It's so obvious that I sometimes forget the disclaimer.

Roy Mustang was famous for his ability to ignite things. After all, he wore ignition gloves. People loved watching the Flame Alchemist produce fire with a snap. He could spectacularly set things ablaze from great distances. His explosions and conflagrations could inspire shock and awe. He could produce flames into tableaux that were almost art. He'd developed a method of producing colored flames which he could hang in the night sky like fireworks. He controlled the blazes like a puppet master. On a smaller scale, he could do subtle tricks like lighting several candles in a row or even in a pattern. He could, carefully dry you off after being soaked by rain. Of course, he could get a fireplace crackling in a flash.

What most people didn't realize was that his ability to ignite things was not as amazing as his ability to ignite and incite people's interest, imagination, or duty.

He had talked his foster mother into believing that he was worthy of the investment and mature enough to be sent away for alchemy lessons at the age of 15.

He had convinced a bitter, prematurely old brilliant alchemist to teach him.

He had overcome another teen's reticence to form an enduring friendship.

He had unintentionally swayed that young woman into becoming a soldier.

He had convinced his two best friends that the military was corrupt and evil and that they could and should change it.

He had turned a group of talented but unappreciated military misfits into a strong and loyal team.

He had stoked the flickering flame in a desperately damaged  Edward Elric and fanned his will to live.

Somehow, when he was a colonel, he had persuaded two generals- one who had affection for him and, amazingly, one who could barely stand him, to save the people of their country by carrying out a coup d'etat  to overthrow the monsters controlling Amestris.

His ability to draw people into his plans consited of charm, articulate and logical language, intellectual brilliance, good looks, and a dash of petulance.

Now, to accomplish his most ambition aim, he was using his formidable powers of persuasion to democratize his country. It looks like he will succeed.

Roy Mustang has one more aspect of his heat-related talent, but he only shares it with one person- his old friend, his soldier, his lover. It was a very personal and private type of flame, the flame of love. Arguably, Riza Hawkeye's ability to fan his love is at least equal to his to fan hers. It makes for a pretty wonderful connection.

I’m always impressed how parts of each of Brett’s paintings stand on their own as beautiful art. 

Abby (detail), 2005-2010

Oil on linen