tampered | Log: Ongoing

Log: Ongoing

When; June 13
Rating; PG for now
Characters; Elena

flameroy
Summary; Wondering what could make a person mope for two years, Elena decides to play nice and visit the moper herself.
Log;

She did always seem to find the most charming of people to try and get to know, didn't she? Elena had to smirk to herself as she entered Building 3, making her way to apartment 9. Roy must really have been quite distracted to not notice the fact that he'd never actually told Elena which room he stayed in, but he had also said he had been moping for two years. A minor slip-up, but one that didn't stop to amuse Elena just the same. Course, she had been finding a lot more things amusing lately, but that was besides the point.

She dressed the same as always, but her jacket had been unbuttoned and Elena had left her gloves at home, instead choosing to bring a bottle of snaps with her. An unspoken signal meaning that she wasn't here for any other purpose than a friendly one. She may not have been completely unarmed, but what Turk in their right mind would go anywhere without some kind of weapon on hand?

Knocking on the door to apartment 9, Elena made sure the bottle was in plain sight and waited to be let in by her most charming and cheerful new friend.

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Upon hearing to knocking at the door, Roy assumed immediately that it was Elena. He wasn't expecting anyone else, except maybe Cielo, but they both lived here now. He tried his best to wear a smile of some sorts when he moved to open the door, but the only thing he could keep in his head was the reason for Elena's visit.

He opened the door with a neutral movement, and his smile curved along his lips slightly when it was indeed who he expected.

"Elena, Hi." He attempted, eyes falling to the bottle in her hand. So there were no hard feelings after their spar. No he figured the only one with those out of the two of them would have to be himself. He was too bothered with other issues to care though.

"Come on in. It's not much yet, but I'm getting there." He told, stepping back slightly to allow her access to his apartment.

Nice. A little flat, but the effort was appreciated. Elena just gave a little grin in return and stepped in the apartment, still holding onto the bottle in one arm since Roy hadn't made any effort to take it from her yet.

"Don't worry about it," she assured him, taking a casual look around. It was to be expected, of course. They all had been new to the City once. Overall, the place wasn't bad as far as apartments in the place went. "I don't have much of my own things decorating where I live either, but my boyfriend's belongings makes up for my lack of them."

Idly, Elena wondered how she was going to approach the subject of Roy's depression and moping, but if nothing else, she could wing it well enough and wait till he brought it up for a while. If it seemed there might be some awkward silence between them though, she'd probably just ask outright. But that would only come later. Now, she'd be nice and continue with the idle chatter and easy conversation.

"Do you at least have some glasses or anything we can drink this with?"

He nodded slightly at Elena's talk about not worrying. He wasn't actually that worried about what she thought of her surroundings, but how on earth he'd managed to get himself into this kind of state. This was not the Roy he was supposed to be.

"I'm pretty sure I won't have many possesions around here particularly." He mused, turning around when Elena mentioned glasses. He laughed lightly, realising that he probably should have taken the bottle from her, he didn't do that even now, and began to wander to the kitchen area, which was separated from the living area by a simple counter.

Pulling down two small tumblers from a cupboard above, he set them down, pushing them closer to the side Elena stood.

"What is that anyway?"

Elena simply made a noncommittal noise in response to his first comment, though she did quirk her lips upward for a moment at the sound of Roy's laughter. So he wasn't as far gone into the world of self-pity as he might have initially seemed. That was a positive note. It gave her more to work with anyway.

And the alcohol would help with whatever else she couldn't do herself.

"It's a bottle of schnapps," Elena explained, walking over and twisting off the cap. She'd picked this type of alcohol because it had a higher proof rate, but didn't have quite the same alcoholic tastes that stronger proofs did. But since she hadn't known if Roy went for the sweet kind of drinks or not, Elena had also found something that seemed highly appropriate, given the name on the bottle.

"The brand's called Fire Water Cinnamon Schnapps," she stated with a smirk, pouring the liquid into the tumblers.

[ooc: And 'snaps' up there is actually supposed to be spelled 'schnapps' as well. That'll teach me to write a tag while buzzed. ^^;;]

Aha. Alcohol. To loosen his tongue, he presumed. He watched her pour their drinks, arching his eyebrow slightly. It was Elena's explanation of what kind of Schnapps it was that had a smile at his lips.

"Of course, Fire." He noted, lifting his glass to just beneath his nose. Oh Great. "Let's sit." Acting as 'cool' as was possible, Roy moved round from behind the counter, to the other side of the room, where there were two adjacent sofas, with a coffee table perfectly aligned inbetween them.

He slumped down into a seat, sitting upright for the time being with his glass, simply examining the liquid.

Elena had to raise an eyebrow at the sight of Roy lifting the glass to smell it. As far as she knew, didn't you only do that with wines, and not much else? Granted, it wasn't as if you couldn't, but generally a person didn't bother smelling any other kind of drinks.

Shrugging, given that if Roy wanted to smell his drinks, she wasn't going to stop him, Elena capped the bottle and carried both it and her glass to the seats. Taking a seat on the other sofa, not really trying to pursue correct posture or anything, Elena put the bottle down on the table in between them. Half-raising her glass in a mock salute sort of gesture, Elena swallowed the half the contents of her glass in one gulp.

What better way to start things off than by proving she wasn't merely out to get Roy drunk? She'd be drinking a fair share too.

"So what exactly is it that has got you moping about for two years straight?" Elena asked, diving right into the heart of the matter.

Roy was really going to have to get his mind sorted out, he actually hoped that talking to Elena about things might have helped him figure a few things out. Or rather, he hoped she would talk some sense into him. She seemed like a wise enough girl, after all.

He couldn't help but stare though, when she tipped her glass back to drink it. He wasn't one for succumbing to peer pressure of any sort, so he merely brought the glass to his lips to taste it with a sip, wincing slightly at the taste. So, he wasn't quite used to it. It wouldn't take long.

He found himself staring at his glass, and when Elena spoke again, it brought him straight out of any trance he was in. He looked right ahead at her for a few moments, before looking back at his glass and mimicing Elena's previoous movements. He downed the entire glass before setting it back on the table.

"Where should I start?" He muttered, talking to himself more than Elena.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes and say something cliche like, why don't you start at the beginning, or why don't you start with yourself, seeing as how those lines really were quite overused and trite. Instead, Elena shrugged and crossed her ankles as she settled back into her seat.

"Just start and don't think about where you're starting from or why," she suggested to the somewhat unasked question. It wasn't quite that she was kind in her suggestion. Rather, she was being practical and logical about the situation. If Roy spent too much time thinking about it, he'd never get anywhere, so it was best to simply start and go with the flow.

While Elena didn't think she'd understand everything that Roy might talk about, she also didn't think that would be such a large matter for the time being.

That made complete sense, really didn't it. Bringing his hands up to his forehead, he pressed his fingers against his skin lightly, trying to figure out where exactly it all started.

"There was a war in a Ishbal, back home, it was the first time I'd been involved in any sort of military operation of the sort. I had a dream though, and I wished to chase it... Many people died at my hand." He paused, only to calmly take the bottle off the table, and pour some more Schnapps into his glass.

"After that I ended up wasting myself away. It was only Maes who seemed particularly bothered about it - It wasn't as if I were the only one affected by that war, but we were friends. He talked me into sticking with the Military, and he told me that he would work beneath me to push me through the ranks." Yup, this was where he'd be needing the alcohol, and in one swoop, the glass was at his lips again, and he'd downed another tumbler of the stuff.

"I was Colonel before I knew it, more years back than I care to think about. Maes.. was murdered. Promoted above me post humously, how ironic. After that though, things started getting complicated. Full metal, a subordinate of mine was being targeted for his skills as a creator of the Philosopher's stone by some homunculus in our world, yet that was the one thing he was seeking. It all came to a head, and we were fighting for a lot of things. Turned out the Fuhrer, one whom I had trusted, the bloody head of the military was the one behind all the plotting. I killed him though, not sure how. Hawkeye had been back-up, but she was a little too late. I was caught off guard, and that's when I lost use of my eye.."

He was rambling... His lips pursed and he stopped for the moment, staring at his empty tumbler again, before reaching for the bottle once more.

While Roy was talking, Elena quietly sipped on the remaining drink in her glass. She didn't interrupt him once, only making a few mental notes here and there about Roy's story. If he was bothered by the thought of killing people, then Elena idly wondered what he'd make her chosen profession.

Elena vaguely recalled something about a stone of sorts in one of the numerous books that Jr. had brought with him in his search for an answer to hers and Sakura's deaths, but she also remembered sometime about it being dangerous or a myth. And she had enough of mythical stones to last her more than several lifetimes without the desire to become involved with another. Homunculus... Well Greed was rather hard to ignore, even if one wasn't interested in him.

By the time Roy had stopped for the moment, Elena had finished her glass. She set it down gently on the table and thought for a moment. Really, there was only one thing she could say to such a tale.

"Be glad that your eye and one friend was the only losses you had," Elena stated calmly. She wasn't a woman to offer pity and falsehoods for what someone regretted in their past. She would offer compassion, like when she'd listen to Jr. in his times of distress, but she always gave the truth, regardless of how painful that truth might be.

"When people plot, death is always present and unavoidable. The cost you paid was minimal to what it could have been."

He listened hard to what Elena had to say as he tipped some more of the contents into his glass, before reaching over to do the same to Elena's.

"I know I could have been a lot worse off, I'm not looking for sympathy, just a way to regain... what I've lost." He paused, realising something in that brief moment. "I was never one to mope about like this, it's unbecoming." He set the bottle down again, taking his tumbler by both hands and holding them around it as it sat on the table.

"After I lost sight in my eye... I resigned from my position as Colonel... and spent the next two years guarding a remote outpost in the snow. Then when I heard that a gate had been opened... I was on my way back to Central, back to my subordinates, to Hawkeye. Then I ended up here."

He stopped, staring blankly at his glass before laughing suddenly.

It was debatable if Roy was really looking for sympathy or not, but if he said he wasn't actively trying to find it, then Elena would be willing to go along with it for now. At least he realized that he was moping and not trying to deny that fact of his behavior.

Elena had picked up her newly poured glass and had only brought it to her lips when Roy spoke again. She managed to take a sip before Roy's sudden laughter made her raise an eyebrow curiously, halting the progression of drink to mouth.

"I get that you need a goal to motivate yourself, but can I ask what is so funny?"

He noted her raised eyebrow, and shook his head slowly as Elena spoke, taking a deep breath to stop himself laughing much longer. His head dipped slightly, but he was still smiling, almost sadistically.

"I've just realised a few things that I find rather ironic. A little alchemist subordinate of mine always said he was looking to regain what he lost by searching for the philosopher's stone. They found it, but they had to pay dearly. Here I am, saying that the same thing. Except, I don't think a Philosopher's Stone is the answer." He leant up again, offering another one of his vague smiles.

"I just need to figure out what kind of a goal I'm looking for. I thought returning to everyone in Central would do the trick." He leant back in his chair, frowning now. His emotions were on a yoyo.

"You're female. You might be able to answer a question for me..."

"Probably not," Elena agreed, nodding her head slightly. If death bothered Roy as much as it had, he really was better off not attempting to search for this Philosopher's Stone, even if he had been involved with it slightly already.

And he was moping again, if only to a small degree. Elena understood the need for a goal, of course. But if a person didn't have enough strength to make your own goals for themselves, then there wasn't much help for them in the long haul.

The single raised eyebrow was joined by a second as Roy stated the obvious, followed by a lead-in that could mean quite a few things, depending on what Roy asked her next.

"And what question might that be?"

No he knew for definate that aquiring the stone was not the way forward for him. He was watching whilst Elena's expression changed, before laughing softly and shaking his head.

"Ah. There was, a subordinate of mine. Female. By the name of Riza Hawkeye. She was my first lieutenant back home. I..." He paused, feeling his cheeks heat slightly.

If the reddening cheeks weren't enough of a telltale sign, then the fact that Roy had trailed off, unable to finish his question was enough to tell Elena all she needed to know.

Grinning, Elena took a long sip from her glass before speaking and answering his unfinished question. Sure, she was drawing it out a bit in a sense of torturous pleasure, but not extensively so. Just a little to play around, is all. Wasn't everyday you saw a grown man, one of the military even, blush.

"You like her and you're either wondering if it'd be a good idea to pursue your feelings for her, although she's your subordinate, or you're wondering if your new goal should be related to her instead of yourself," Elena filled in with a smirk. How the tables had turned. Quite amusingly, given Elena's own past and somewhat current feelings. "Well the first thing to wonder is if there's any attraction on her end?"

Roy sighed yet again, this was beginning to get stupid. His hands pressed against his cheeks gently, checking to feel how hot they were. He never blushed, never.

"It's not that, she's always been around for me, and when I was guarding my outpost, Havoc and Breda came to visit without Hawkeye. Would you actually want to... you know, with someone who abandoned everything like I did? Hell, I don't even know."

He was staring at his glass still, it was full.

Elena couldn't resist the light chuckle that escaped her hearing Roy try to clarify things. It was endearing, in a way, to see him sputter and be at such a loss for the right words to say. It was interesting to see that, regardless of where a person was from, there were things that stayed the same. Matters of the heart being one of them.

"I personally wouldn't want to be with someone who left everything behind because they didn't know what else to do with themselves," Elena stated bluntly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. It was true. A man who simply left when they didn't know where they belonged wasn't someone Elena held in high regard. However...

"But... if I had known someone as long as I'm guessing that Hawkeye has known you, I wouldn't just abandon them either. Depending on the kind of woman this Hawkeye person is, she could be waiting for you to pick yourself up. And when you do, she'll be right back there to stand by your side because she wants to. Women have different ways of supporting the men in their lives. Waiting is just one of them."

Waiting wasn't the kind of support that Elena used to show that she cared about someone, but that wasn't something Roy had asked about, so she didn't feel the need to say it.

His head dropped almost instantly, and his elbows were rested propping himself up across his knees, hands clasped together loosely. There were many things that effected him, especially things that had happened fairly recently, well, at least recent if you counted two years ago as recent.

Elena was right though. After Hawkeye had sat with him, pretty much every day, he up and left. A sharp shudder ran down his spine. He'd been closer to her then, than he had ever been.

"Can't erase what I've done." He said obviously, wondering if Hawkeye was the kind who would wait for him. They had been through so much after all. He lfted his head again, picking up his glass and taking a sip, before letting it rest in his hand, still leaning his elbow on his knee, but looking up at Elena.

"There's no point in thinking about what she will or won't do. If she ever gets here, I'm sure I'll be the first to find out for myself."

Shrugging, Elena took a swallow of her glass, which was now about half-way drained, though she hadn't been drinking all that much. It really had been more for Roy's sake than her own.

"Obviously you can't change things, so just move on," Elena stated flippantly. It was a little callous of her to be saying such things in the manner that she was, but it was just how she felt. It seemed like unless someone gave Roy a kick in the pants, he'd just be circling around the same subjects over and over again. Like he had been doing.

"Stop being so weak-willed about it and just do something already. Regardless if she's here or if she ever will, you not helping yourself by moping all the time."

"You're right..." He set the tumbler down on the table, leaning back into the sofa, his arms falling into his lap comfortably.

"Move on." He nodded slowly. It made sense, he'd tried to talk himself into it for months on end, but he'd never managed. He was a State Alchemist, a Colonel in the Military. He had to forget the past, and remain as proud and confident as he had always been.

A faint smile lifted to his lips, and he leant forward again.

"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right." He laughed again, shaking his head as he picked up his glass. "It's taken this long for someone like you to turn up and tell it to me straight.. Thank You."

Funny expression that. What doesn't kill you... But Elena held her peace on that matter. Her own sense of morbid humor didn't quite fit with the current situation and she really didn't want to ruin the progress Roy seemed to have made. Instead, she just smiled a little half-pleased smile and sipped at her glass.

"Glad to be of service to be the one to tell you straight," Elena replied cheerfully. "Friends and all that, right?"

He finally felt content. Just content. Everything was well with his mind, he just needed a little more time to enjoy the peace, and then he'd decide where he went from here. There would be plenty of time for thinking.

"I'm grateful." He told honestly, wearing as twisted kind of smile at Elena's last statement. So, this was how one made friends here? Spar, then spill your feelings.

"Friends it is."

[ooc: And I think we're done? :3]

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Log: Ongoing

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