Mine. A word that causes a few associations to sprout when the words hit against her back. It’s so soft, Riza thought it was only a word floating around her conscience as she hovered around the line between slumber and sleepless.
But it leaves his lips - her companion in this bed tonight - again. And not just this night, but every night as of late these last few months.
When they’d been uprooted and transferred to Central, Riza elected for one of the smallest apartments imaginable. Bedroom just large enough for her bed, dresser, and Hayate’s cushion. A living area barely enough for a table and 2 chairs, and a couch. Rebecca insisted on that one - how was she going to visit properly if she had nowhere to sleep? Riza quickly conceded, knowing that wasn’t an argument she would win.
Even with perks like that one, it wasn’t an ideal space for two to sleep (plus a dog of he so chose). It worked a handful of times, but Roy liked to sprawl. So after one too many mornings of sore necks and stiff shoulders, she put her foot down. It didn’t very much help matters that her apartment was still strewn with boxes she hadn’t bothered unpacking, quite a few of which belonged in storage.
As it turned out, he preferred his own bed anyway - one in which he’s barely sprawled across since the first night they fell asleep and into the soft cushions embrace.
Instead, even if they fall asleep outside of each others arms, his find their way around or over her waist. Just now, she feels the gentle too and fro of his thumb as it brushes against a sliver of bare skin on her stomach.
His breath is light but warm against her shoulder. Even, lazy. She doesn’t dare turn over. He needs his rest even more than she does on this night. Plenty of thoughts swirled around, and she was obviously conscious at some god forsaken hour of this early morning. Considering she knows not what brought her to consciousness, that was probably for the best. It was nothing in comparison to the weight he’d been carrying as of late.
It was enough to consider recommending, gently but forcefully, that he take a personal day. He wasn’t infallible. The most random and mundane of things still had the capacity to latch like a leech, and burrow like a parasite. The world they lived in now might be absent of previous monsters and madness, but there were different beasts and agendas that lurked in the dark.
Even sickness brought on by stress and worry wasn’t an impossibility.
Riza sighs. Best to let it go for now, and let herself have this rest. If he started tossing, she knows what to do. She’s known for a long time. Even when the closest they got were tents on opposite side of camp, when the nights were the coldest and most unrelenting, the strategies might change, but the roots remain the same.
He exhales more fully this time - in such a way that causes her to shift just so, afraid he’s woken up as well.
No. She hears the smile in his voice. The simple contentment, the acceptance of fact and the thankfulness for it. An ever so soft, barely audible word:
“Mine.”
She feels the night tug at her eyelids one final time. No. This is not a possessive child, territorial over their favorite toy, nor an avaricious entrepreneur unrelenting in their claim to riches.
Her other whole. The fact that if they had each other, none of the rest very much mattered. The fact that they would be just, perfectly, unequivocally fine.
Her hand moves from underneath her cheek and cradle his before the world slips away for the remainder of this night.
This fic comes from me thinking about Riza’s childhood a lot, especially in comparison to my own. I was considering her not ever having a “Christmas”, or Solstice, tree, maybe even many Solstice traditions, despite her always wanting them.
To clear up any possible confusion, this is Post-Promised Day. Riza is a Colonel and Roy is a Brigadier General.
I hope you enjoy, @misshermitcrab!
“You’re not spending the Solstice alone, are you Colonel?”
Riza took a sip of her cocoa, spiced with a signature dash of cinnamon. Her gaze met Fuery’s and she responded with a shrug. The round table at the empty restaurant was filled with people, from Ross, Brosch, and Armstrong, to Becky, Fuery, and the rest of her immediate team.
All that was missing was Roy.
“It’s been a rare time that our travels have kept us apart.” She explained, setting the mug down to continue her response to Fuery’s inquiry. “There’s a lot of things I can do at our flat and there’s traditions of my own that I had before Roy and I got together.”
Havoc grins as he squeezes Becky’s shoulder. “Good, I wouldn’t want to think that Mustang was leaving you all alone while he spends his Solstice with the Queen of the North.” He pauses, quirking a brow while his grin turns impish. “Rumor has it that his sense of humor got the trip extended by two weeks.”
Becky nudges him but she can’t help but find herself grinning too. “It’s not right to leave your Queen all alone on the holidays, with no one to cuddle up to.” The lilt in her voice makes Riza playfully roll her eyes, to which Becky gives her a mischievous wink. “Seriously tho, Ri. You’re sure you don’t want Havoc and I to stay and keep you company? We don’t absolutely have to leave for his family tonight.”
A wave of her hand confirms her decision. “No you guys. It will be nice to have a little time by myself actually. It’s been a while since I have spent a holiday on my own.” A tilt of her head signals to the two bags of treats that Becky and Maria had baked for her. “With Hayate, those pastries, a good book, and some cups of cocoa, I’ll be all set to be comfy and warm the next few days.”
In the midst of their conversation Armstrong had paid their bill, refusing to let anyone else chip in with a twinkle in his eye. “It’s the holidays and a reunion of the Ishval and Central team. My treat.”
They all gather their coats and Riza peaks outside to see the heavy snow had let up. She wraps her scarf tighter around her neck, burying her nose in it after everyone had parted ways and said their final goodbyes until their break for the Solstice is over. The calm flurries made her walk home easier, all of the snow on the ground light and fluffy.
She arrived home to an unusually energetic Hayate. As she placed her keys on the hook by the door he bounced around her ankles, all the while yipping excitedly. In her attempts to quiet him at the late hour she didn’t have a chance to notice Roy sneaking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist as he buries his nose in her hair.
“Surprise~”
Turning in his arms to face him, Riza is confused but even more delighted. “What are you doing here? I thought you said Major General Armstrong was…how did you word it exactly?”
“’Keeping me ‘hostage’ in Briggs for two weeks for my poor attempts at sarcasm’.” Roy grinned placing kisses along Riza’s face and bumping his still cold nose against her rosy cheeks. “Apparently Alex somehow convinced her to pull that so I could surprise you. When I called over the weekend I really thought I was going to miss spending the Solstice with you.”
“Because everyone knows you can’t lie to me.” Riza joked softly before pressing her lips to Roy’s. Her arms wrapped around his neck. “Well, I’m glad you were able to make it. I could practically see your face and how sad you were when you had called.”
“I was really upset.” He defended with a small pout. “I was looking forward to spending some quiet time with you that wasn’t just during the weekends or on a rare day off.” His frown deepened but she could tell it was more joking than anything. “I had a feeling after the General clarified everything that she was more than happy to get under my skin and see how I’d react. I looked like a love-sick puppy, apparently.”
During this time Hayate had taken to sitting obediently at their feet, tail wagging as he watched.
Roy untangled himself from Riza, reaching down to give the pup a good scratch around the ears. He got a few licks on his palm in return before turning back to Riza just as she was beginning to unwrap her scarf and remove her mittens.
“Now. How about we get a tree?”
Riza blinked. “A tree?”
Roy shrugged. “Well, we have lights. Plus I know you like the smell of them a lot so why not have a little tradition to start of our own?” He could see her thinking, wondering just where would they put it among all of the boxes that still had yet to be unpacked. “I know you never had one when you were growing up.” He said gently.
“Father never wanted one, really.” She said quietly. “And with everything I had to do on my own it wasn’t realistic to have to spend an entire day looking for one to take alone in the woods around the house…even as much as I wanted to get one every year. Some winters were worse and worse, too.”
“I’m letting you pick it out, chop it down, everything.” He told her. “We’ll go tomorrow morning and spend the entire day there. Cider, cocoa, sleigh rides, the whole event.”
“You’re wonderful.”
Riza smiled, big and excited, a kind of smile that Roy relished in being able to see so often. Really, he wished he had done this sooner, but with all of their winters spent in Ishval working on their reconstruction, he was worried she might actually sit on him so he wouldn’t spend a large chunk of money just to ship one in on the newly constructed railroads at the time.
Just as Riza kissed him again, this time longer, Hayate nudged the bags of treats in her hands. “Oh-I forgot. Maria and Becky baked these for me-…well us.” He was already taking them from her, sweeping them away to the couch to nibble on. She followed after removing her coat, scarf, mittens, and boots, settling beside him as he explored the bags. Even if she wasn’t going to be getting a tree, Riza knew she would enjoy the Solstice all the same. In the warmth of the prepared fire, Hayate, Roy, and the bags of baked goods, and time, she wouldn’t ask for anything else.
