storypaint (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
storypaint) wrote2009-02-11 08:46 am
storypaint) wrote2009-02-11 08:46 am
Sniping (Riza gen)
Title: Sniping
Day/Theme:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
31_days_exchnge: 8. lightning, my pilot
Series: Fullmetal Alchemist
Character/Pairing: Riza gen
Rating: PG for war themes
Length: 537 words
Other: AU
Excerpt: "Do you like this?" he says softly, flexing his gloved fingers and watching the rain slide down them.
Riza is good with guns. Not many women are. Or maybe she should say she's better than most of the trainees. They take her out of the rest, she and Argent and Mustang, and they begin to train them as snipers.
Mustang is impossible. He's whiny and he's no good with a gun and he complains all the time. She doesn't understand why he's here until the day he lights the tinder, one snap of his fingers, and then she hates him a little.
Alchemists don't belong in the military. They're there to kill, and they will be killed, because they're no good as military men.
She passes training with flying colors, and so does Argent, and for some reason they send Mustang along with them. One rainy day, they're chin-deep in mud (stretched out on their stomachs along the crest of the hill in utter silence), and there is lightning crashing overhead, and Riza can barely see anything in the gale, much less her target. She squints as it flashes and tries to focus.
Mustang is crouched down beside her-- not flat against the hill like he should be, but he (supposedly) can take care of himself, so she doesn't say anything. If he gets shot, she and Argent can still slink away without being seen, after all.
"Do you like this?" he says softly, flexing his gloved fingers and watching the rain slide down them.
"Hmm?" she says, still squinting. She shifts her aim, very carefully.
"The war," he says, waving the grubby-white-gloved hand, and this time she reaches out and smacks him in the back of the head, pushing him into the mud. He smacks his chin somewhat hard.
"Quit being a target," she says before he can open his mouth to protest. He leans up on his elbows and rubs at his chin for a minute before he asks again.
"Do you like the war?"
"Who likes war?" she says, resetting her sight without looking at him.
"Don't you wonder if this is right?"
"I do my duty," she says. The lightning flashes and she fires. A very small target falls to the ground, very quietly. Mustang rubs at his ears, grimacing.
"I knew your father," he says, "and I need your help."
She doesn't care; she's busy. But she listens to him anyway. When he's done talking, she pops off another target before she responds.
"We'll see if we live that long," she says. He sighs and runs a muddy hand through his hair. He gets a knee under him before Riza sees a flash of metal she has been trained to see, and she tackles him sideways.
"They have snipers too, you idiot," she growls, gazing out at the rain and not seeing any gun barrels. Mustang gulps.
"Thank you," he says.
She shrugs and goes back to her work.
*
She isn't really surprised when she gets the notification of transfer afterwards. She'd told him, after all, that they'd talk about it if they'd lived. He had, which was nearly a surprise, especially after he was tranferred away.
The lightning cracked across the sky when she stepped into her new headquarters and saw the man sitting at the desk.
Day/Theme:
31_days_exchnge: 8. lightning, my pilotSeries: Fullmetal Alchemist
Character/Pairing: Riza gen
Rating: PG for war themes
Length: 537 words
Other: AU
Excerpt: "Do you like this?" he says softly, flexing his gloved fingers and watching the rain slide down them.
Riza is good with guns. Not many women are. Or maybe she should say she's better than most of the trainees. They take her out of the rest, she and Argent and Mustang, and they begin to train them as snipers.
Mustang is impossible. He's whiny and he's no good with a gun and he complains all the time. She doesn't understand why he's here until the day he lights the tinder, one snap of his fingers, and then she hates him a little.
Alchemists don't belong in the military. They're there to kill, and they will be killed, because they're no good as military men.
She passes training with flying colors, and so does Argent, and for some reason they send Mustang along with them. One rainy day, they're chin-deep in mud (stretched out on their stomachs along the crest of the hill in utter silence), and there is lightning crashing overhead, and Riza can barely see anything in the gale, much less her target. She squints as it flashes and tries to focus.
Mustang is crouched down beside her-- not flat against the hill like he should be, but he (supposedly) can take care of himself, so she doesn't say anything. If he gets shot, she and Argent can still slink away without being seen, after all.
"Do you like this?" he says softly, flexing his gloved fingers and watching the rain slide down them.
"Hmm?" she says, still squinting. She shifts her aim, very carefully.
"The war," he says, waving the grubby-white-gloved hand, and this time she reaches out and smacks him in the back of the head, pushing him into the mud. He smacks his chin somewhat hard.
"Quit being a target," she says before he can open his mouth to protest. He leans up on his elbows and rubs at his chin for a minute before he asks again.
"Do you like the war?"
"Who likes war?" she says, resetting her sight without looking at him.
"Don't you wonder if this is right?"
"I do my duty," she says. The lightning flashes and she fires. A very small target falls to the ground, very quietly. Mustang rubs at his ears, grimacing.
"I knew your father," he says, "and I need your help."
She doesn't care; she's busy. But she listens to him anyway. When he's done talking, she pops off another target before she responds.
"We'll see if we live that long," she says. He sighs and runs a muddy hand through his hair. He gets a knee under him before Riza sees a flash of metal she has been trained to see, and she tackles him sideways.
"They have snipers too, you idiot," she growls, gazing out at the rain and not seeing any gun barrels. Mustang gulps.
"Thank you," he says.
She shrugs and goes back to her work.
*
She isn't really surprised when she gets the notification of transfer afterwards. She'd told him, after all, that they'd talk about it if they'd lived. He had, which was nearly a surprise, especially after he was tranferred away.
The lightning cracked across the sky when she stepped into her new headquarters and saw the man sitting at the desk.