A good spot to rest (Roy)

[mustang]

She was eleven years old? That news was rather shocking to Roy - having not been that accustomed to being around children aside from Elysia (and even those visits were probably not as often as they could have, and really should have, been) he had completely misjudged the girl's age, having placed her around six or seven. Now that he thought about it, she was kind of taller than she would have been at that age, and she didn't really act that young, so maybe his misjudgement had been a bad one. [navy]"Eleven, huh?"[/navy] Roy then asked her, trying to stay casual once more, before letting out a low whistle. It was sort of a feigned action of being impressed, but far from sarcastic - this was how one was supposed to talk to kids, right? Besides, her age WAS shocking news to him, so even if he wasn't impressed, he certainly was surprised. [navy]"I guess maybe you can take care of yourself."[/navy] That was a bit more sarcastic, but he kept that tone from his voice.

When the girl began to apologize, Roy's mouth turned downwards in a frown. Really, she had nothing to apologize for - he really didn't have a right to yell at her for being out so late, considering she was not his responsibility per say, and yet he still felt like she was. He had found her, after all, and since he had spoken to her she had been following him - that was his fault, and thus this was a problem he would have to deal with whether he wanted to or not. [navy]"You shouldn't be sorry, you should just...be...safe," [/navy]Roy then added a bit sternly, though the casualness he had been so proud to have recovered only moments earlier was replaced again by awkward wording.

[navy]"Okay, listen, you can't just follow me into State Headquarters, considering you're not exactly military,"[/navy] Roy then continued to speak, deciding that it was best to just say this now, get it over with, and hopefully the girl would understand - he hoped he would not have to put the explanation into different terms, because he was not exactly certain how to even begin that. He held his breath for a moment, thinking, before he let it out rather over-dramatically. [navy]"Where do you live, anyway?"[/navy]

[Ember]

That was a question she was hoping he didn't ask. She didn't want to be sent back home she really didn't. She was still awake and alert and wanting to run around and play. She had been sitting still most of the day.

"I live on the other side of central." She shuffled her feet again. She was dreading it. Because if she couldn't sneak in quietly it was likely that her uncle would get mad if she woke him up. He wasn't usually a sound sleeper until he had been in bed for a long time. or maybe they weren't Even in bed yet.

It was still bothering her.... so much.

[mustang]

Of course she lived on the other side of Central - nothing ever seemed to work out as easily as Roy would have liked it to, and this seemed to be no different, which came as no surprise to him. If anything, it was just...disappointing, really. He closed his eye, squeezing his nose between his gloved thumb and forefinger in thought as he let out another deep breath - what now? Where was Riza when he could really use her? Well, he had technically abandoned any hope of assistance himself when he had sneaked away from his guards, so perhaps he had only himself to blame for not having any back-up at the moment.

Thus, Roy Mustang began to weigh the options himself, and after playing out a few different approaches and solutions in his head, there was clearly only one that he could go with - he had to take the girl back himself. After all, he could hardly let her wander back however far on her own - she was only eleven, no matter how responsible she thought that made her - without actually coming to a borderline case of feeling guilt for basically abandoning one of his citizens. But weighing on his mind even stronger than that was the fact that he knew that there were countless stacks of paperwork in Headquarters just waiting for his dutiful return - and well, this was an excellent excuse to avoid those just a little while longer.

"Then its decided," Roy stated with a commanding tone, making the decision aloud almost in the sense that the two of them had discussed some sort of agreement, when in reality he had made the decision completely without the girl's input, "I have no choice but to take you back myself." With that, he offered a weak smile, rising back to his full height - he was not going to get the girl argue this point, and he hoped that she would perhaps dutifully take the lead...but he had a hard time predicting the actions of children.

[Ember]

The little girl's eyes went wide in a shocked and horrified way. "N-no! you don;t have to do that!" there were so many ways that this could go wrong. If her aunt and uncle saw him taking her home they would get mad. They were fine with her being out as late as she wanted as long as she didn't do anything to reflect badly on them. This was why she usually went far away from the house to play. She looked up at him. There was probably no changing his mind. She would just have to make sure that her aunt and uncle didn't find out.

The eleven year old sighed in defeat. "It's this way" she said sadly.

[mustang]

(OOC :: Sorry, when I was checking the site, I didn't even see this was replied to >_<)

Roy's expression fell slightly when the girl first erupted that he couldn't possibly take her home as he had rightfully suggested - of course he was going to walk her home! He was not about to let a female citizen of ANY age walk themselves all the way across Central in the dark when he could be a perfectly fitting escort, after all. And in the end, it did all connect back to this being the solution to removing his own guilt about the situation, as well as filling his 'good deed' quota for the day - he would have to remember to tell Hawkeye about this one later. Maybe she would be impressed at least this once - well, Roy actually thought she was impressed quite often, and just chose to hide it well. But then, his ego didn't let him think much otherwise than that.

Conveniently, before Roy had to come up with some sort of argument as to why he knew it was for the best that he escort the girl, she seemed to come around on her own, even beginning to take the lead back towards her residency. Roy smiled to himself, satisfied that she had seen things his way without him even having to say anything else - oh yes, Roy Mustang was just that good sometimes. Instinctively, as he moved to walk in step with her at her side, he laid a gloved hand gently, yet protectively, on her shoulder as the odd pair walked through the streets of the darkening city.

"How far is your home from here?" Roy asked curiously after a few minutes of nothing but silent walking between the pair - silence was not something the raven-haired man had ever been able to handle for long periods of time, and though his current companion was far from what he was typically used to spending his time with, he felt driven to make conversation all the same - not to mention he was gaining information that he deemed important to being successful in his current self-appointed 'mission.' "And what's your name anyway?" Well, that question could have used a little more tact, but he was uncertain how else to put it into the conversation, and again he had deemed it necessary information - which thus made it a perfectly acceptable inquiry to make.

[Ember]

She looked up at him when his hand rested on the shoulder. She was still so confused. "It took me an hour to run to the library." That was about the only way she knew how to tell him how far. And it was a rough estimation. It might have been more or it could have been less, but not much less.

"My name's Ember." She looked around her. She had never been in this part of town at night. She really liked the night. It was peaceful and she could go wherever she wanted. There wouldn't be people glaring at her or telling her to get away from their stores. There were no kids to pick on her for her weird hair and skin. Sure it was lonely when the streets were pretty much empty but it was better that way.