The First Step
Summary: Every journey begins with a single step, and sometimes Roy needs help remembering that.
Pairing: Roy Mustang x GN! Reader
Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood
Word Count: 884
Warnings: Maybe some spoilers if you've never seen or read FMA
A/N: Uh...hi? I'm alive. And well. And I've sort of moved away from Star Wars, but that's okay. Further, I've not written in well over 6 months, so this is probably awful. Anyway. Hi. Also, no taglist because, honestly, I can't find it. Lol. And I can't remember how I tagged things.
“Your parents called my office to berate me for kidnapping you.” You start so violently at Roy’s voice that you nearly fall off the couch, and you do drop your resource book under the coffee table.
“Don’t DO that!” You yelp, pressing you hand against your chest to try and calm your racing heart.
“Sorry, sorry.” His hand presses against the top of your head and rubs roughly, messing up your already messy hair.
“Really?”
“You shouldn’t be such an easy target then.” He shrugs lazily and tosses his uniform jacket over the back of the couch, “Anyway, your parents called me.”
“Yes, I heard you.”
“They accused me of kidnapping you.” Roy repeats.
“I heard you say that too,” You counter as you comb your fingers through your hair to try and fix the mess Roy made.
The cushions behind you dip slightly, and you look up to find Roy leaning over you, exhaustion writ on every line of his face.
And you feel a pang of guilt, and then a surge of anger. Roy is doing everything he can to help rebuild Ishval, and your parents have the gall, the nerve, to harass him about something you chose to do?
This is why you don’t talk to them anymore.
Roy muffles a laugh and lifts a hand to rub his thumb against your brow. “Wipe that look off your face, you don’t have to go to war with your folks on my behalf.”
“I would though. They have no right to—”
“Calm down,” He lightly flicks your nose, “I did abscond with you all the way across Amestris, after all.”
“Abscond?” You repeat the word in a scoff, “I chose to be here to support you. And to help you. Lord knows you need it.”
He laughs, “Well, you’re not wrong. It’s not like the Ishvalan people are willing to talk with us.”
You shoot him a dry look, “And there’s no possible reason why that’s the case, right?”
Roy walks around the couch and flops down next to you, allowing himself to topple over so his head is resting on your lap and his feet hang over the arm, “I never said that.”
“I know.”
He drapes his arm across his eyes, “Sometimes, this feels like I’m slamming my head against a brick wall.”
“No one said that rebuilding would be easy.” You point out as you lightly card your fingers through his hair. “You have to earn their trust, Roy. They have every right to hate you and that uniform you wear.”
He’s quiet for a long moment. Long enough that you start to wonder if you need to wake him up so you can start dinner, but then he drops his arm and looks up at you, “Do you think it’s worth it?”
“What? Rebuilding?” You ask, bemused.
“No. Well, yes, but also everything else.”
“Of course.” You reply immediately. “It’s always worth it.” And then you smile at him, “This is just the next step in your dream, right?”
“And what happens if I never become Fuhrer?”
You blink at him, “That’s not going to happen.”
“It might. I’m not exactly popular.”
“Well then,” You pause, “Then, I’ll just gather up everyone who is loyal to you and we’ll topple the government. Again. It’ll be easier this time since the acting Fuhrer isn’t functionally immortal.”
Roy stares at you for a moment, and then he laughs, “You’d commit treason for me?”
“I’d commit treason for a potato chip,” You correct, “But you’re pretty high on the list too.” You press the palms of your hands against his cheeks, “Besides, you’re going to bring democracy back to Amestris. That’s what you promised me. And I’ve never known you to break a promise, Roy Mustang.”
He stares at you for long enough that you shift uncomfortably, “What did I do to deserve you?” He finally asks.
“You pushed the kids bullying me into the stream behind the school.” You squish his face a little more, “And that’s the day that I decided that I’d die for you.”
“Please don’t.”
A quiet laugh falls from you, “Look, Roy. This,” You gesture vaguely to the window, “is just the first step in bringing back democracy. I know you can do it, even if it’s hard. Even if it’s annoying.”
“How do you know?”
“Because there hasn’t been a single day of your career that hasn’t been hard or annoying, and look at where you are now. Even if you don’t have faith in yourself, know that I have faith in you. And I always will.”
Roy doesn’t say anything for a moment, and then he smirks and closes his eyes, “I always knew you were in love with me.”
“Ugh. I take back all of the nice things I just said to you.”
“Nope, too late. No take-backs allowed.”
You watch as some of the stress drains from his shoulders, and your fingers find their way into his hair again. Roy has always been his own worst critic, he sees all of his own bad qualities and none of the good ones. But that’s okay. You’re pretty good at playing cheerleader at this point.
Roy cracks open an eye, “By the way, call your parents.”
You smile at him, adoringly, “Never.”
