Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, and I don't own the MSA. If there's an MSA Magazine out there somewhere, I don't own that either!

Notes: Wow. It’s been ten and a half months since I last updated this story. I just haven’t been writing much recently, but I think anyone who’s seen me around would notice that. I’m trying to get back into the habit of writing daily (for the past few months I’ve been writing a list of things to do each day, and ticking them off as I do them, trying to get at least half done each day), and for the past three days it’s been working. I either write, or I plan chapters.

Anyway, besides my writing schedule, I do have more to say in these notes. This chapter is the very last in the Photography series. It’s been a short one, and not much worked on, but it’s always been another open series I have to think about how to update. So since I’m planning on trying to get back to Theme and Variations (there’s no telling when I’ll get to that, though), I thought I may as well finish up this one. I’d like to thank everyone who has favourited, watched, or reviewed this story – you guys are made of awesome – and hopefully I’ll still see you around here, somewhere! So here’s the final chapter of my Photography AU:

Snapshot Seven: Soldiertron: Matchmaker Extraordinaire!

Even as a child, Maes was a social person. He had his moments when he put his head to the grindstone and worked hard, but he couldn’t go a week without hanging out with his friends. School didn’t count in a young man’s mind.

They’d go watch movies, muck around at the shopping centre, waste pocket money on pointless junk, and ride their bikes around the park. Or, alternatively, they’d try their first cigarettes, sneak alcohol out of their parents’ fridges, and drive around late at night – all depending on the company and what their idea of ‘cool’ was at the time.

Now he was thirty and had a beautiful wife and wonderful daughter, but that didn’t change a thing. They were his home life – and a fantastic one it was, too – but he got to see them often enough. So long as he was there to tuck in his daughter most nights, he could miss one or two a month to hang out with his friends, right?

Wrong. He’d rush home, and sweep the little girl up so he could place her in her bed himself. Maes liked hanging out with his friends, but his little princess always came first.

For Roy, however, it was a completely different story. Bachelor, childless, and single (well, technically), Roy had no family to come home to at his apartment, so he made up for that by being with friends. Every now and then he liked to have some time to relax and have a day for himself, but sure enough, most weekends and days off could find him in the company of someone else.

This particular day off, that ‘someone else’ wasn’t in the most agreeable of moods.

“Look, either pick a movie or we’re going to do something else,” Riza said impatiently. “And ‘Transformers: Introducing Weapontron and Kate’ is not an option.”

Roy wilted just a little at the edge in the tone of her voice. His hand retracted from the shining cover of the DVD. It had been calling to him from the moment he had entered the store. Instead, he tucked the title away in his memory for the next time Maes was free for an afternoon.

“Well, I’m not watching anything with subtitles unless it has an inordinate amount of blood and fighting in it!” he retaliated, waving his hand at the French film she held. Roy had been trying to boost his vocabulary recently, and ‘inordinate’ was his word of the day. He was very proud of himself to find an appropriate place to use it.

One of the other customers in the video store gave the pair a covert glance and moved around them. Roy closed his mouth and made a mental note to keep the volume down.

Riza seemed to have received the message as well, because when she spoke again it was in hushed tones. “I like action. I just like it to have a storyline. Pointless or overdone killing gets boring when it doesn’t lead up to anything.”

“What do you mean action with a storyline?” Roy asked. “Does that even exist?”

“Of course it does,” scoffed Riza. Her eyes scanned the covers of the movies in front of them. “There’s ‘The Shadow of Space’, ‘Ghost Ship: A Horror-ble Love Story’ . . . They really should have subtitled that ‘A Romantic Horror Story’ if they didn’t want people to think it was a comedy.”

At the same time Riza had made her comment on the subtitle Roy groaned, “Not some sappy chick-flick, please.”

Riza frowned. “Sappy? It’s about a giant ship overrun by haunting spectres wanting to kill anyone who comes near.”

With a jab, Roy pointed at the three separate descriptions on the side of the cover. “Look, here it says ‘talking about feelings’. That is not the sort of horror movie I like.”

Riza rubbed at her temple and sighed. “Okay. Pick something. Anything except that Transformers movie. No matter what it is we’ll get that and go.”

A smirk crawled onto Roy’s face. “Anything?”

“No porn, excessive horror themes, zombies or supernatural themes,” she ticked off on her fingers.

Roy pouted. He thought she might have forgotten about those restrictions. Porn was a basic no-no (even Roy knew that), but the other three categories, while apparently alright in moderation, left Riza feeling too out-of-control of the situation to be comfortable. He was just curious, that was all . . .

In any case, Roy wandered off, searching the aisles. Anything, eh? Did that include those bloody ninja movies he saw on the way in? He could stand those subtitles – there’d only be a few lines in between fights anyway. Maybe even some English if he picked the right one.

Pushing aside a misplaced Horror/Mystery movie titled ‘The Hotdog Man’ (the look in the man’s eyes sent chills down Roy’s spine), Roy picked up a copy of ‘Car-tyre Terrain’, a movie apparently about three nerds drafted into the army, who used their superior intellect to create various gadgets they could control remotely, thus removing the need for their presence at the front lines.

He was still looking at the blurb when he turned to find Riza and-

“Oof!”

Roy’s head shot up to see who he’d just walked into. “Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean- . . . Kain?”

Kain Feury blinked in surprise back at him. Roy must have been the last person Kain expected to see here. Roy certainly hadn’t expected the young IT man from the magazine.

“Roy! What are you doing here?” See? He hadn’t expected him. “There must be five video stores closer to your home than this one!” Kain said, a polite smile beginning on his face.

“He’s here with me.”

Roy stepped around to see Riza joining them, wearing a smile to mirror Kain’s, and holding a DVD case of her own.

“Hello, Riza.”

“Hi Kain. Looking for a movie?” she asked brightly, as though she didn’t know the answer to that already.

Roy plucked the case from her hand, and snorted at the title ‘Stuntwoman’ splayed over the top. Some superhero name that was. Probably an accurate reflection of the quality of the film.

“I’ve found one for us,” he said and handed her the case of ‘Car-tyre Terrain’.

Kain’s eyes lit up at the sight of the movie. “I’ve seen that one. It does a good job of explaining the mechanics of the robots. I was tempted to give it a try myself, afterwards. This time I’m getting the new Transformers movie, though. I’ve been waiting for it for weeks.”

Roy rolled his eyes. “I wanted to get that, but she wouldn’t let me.”

“Well, if you want to spend your afternoon with Kain instead . . .” Crossing her arms, Riza looked up at Roy with a raised eyebrow.

Roy grunted – he didn’t say that. She was just making up things.

“J-just as well,” Kain said, his smile having slipped to a more awkward, wide-eyed, and apologetic look. “I have guests coming over later, and I think my apartment will be holding the most people it can by then.” He paused, eyes flickering between the two of them, and then said, “I should really be off. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

“Strange kid,” Roy muttered, as Kain shuffled off.

Riza nodded in agreement and turned to head to the front desk, now looking at the case of ‘Car-tyre Terrain’. “He’s alright, though.”

The DVD Riza had chosen was subtly left on the shelf next to ‘The Hotdog Man’, and Roy put his now-free hands in his pockets to follow after Riza. She could be a little intimidating from time to time, but Roy was sure that once he got used to it, it would be no great problem.

It turned out that the movie was incredibly boring. Roy could see why Kain liked it – robots and the like would have been heaven for a computer-geek like him – but the technology took a higher place in the story than the killing did, and apparently the plot wasn’t good enough to draw even Riza in. It was so incredibly boring, in fact, that she didn’t complain when Roy put his arm around her. Instead, she twisted around to put her feet up on the lounge, and settled back against him, playing with his fingers.

Roy was so surprised that he stopped watching the movie completely. Did she not know what she was doing, or was this a different Riza to the one he was used to?

“You have nice fingers, you know,” she told him. “Long. Not like the last guy I went out with. His were all short and stumpy. Couldn’t play an octave if his life depended on it.”

There was a moment in which the only sounds were those of bombs exploding, guns firing, and a character in the movie shouting out, “We need you out there! You nerds are so skinny their bullets fly right past you!” followed by another calling back “You don’t need me – you have Soldiertron to fight alongside you!”

Finally, Roy nudged Riza with his shoulder. “Does that mean we’re making this official?”

She turned her head, fingers entwined in his, on her knee. “We could.”

“So you’re going to be my girlfriend?” he asked.

A pleased grin emerged on Riza’s face. “Looks like it.” She twisted and planted a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Aren’t you glad you didn’t go and hang out with Kain, instead?”

Roy laughed. “It was never really an option.”

I don't own any of these songs:

When You're A Transformer ; Shadow of Space ; Ghostship ; The Hotdog Man ; Too Skinny For The Army ; Stuntman.

All of those wonderful pieces belong to the Australian comedy trio known as Tripod. If you don't know about them, Youtube them. They're made of awesome. My favourite song of theirs is 'Kempt'.

So, with that, this story is at its end. Thank you for your support. Au revoir!