Work Text:
She had woken up feeling terrible. She was sweaty and dizzy and had no energy whatsoever. But there were people in this house that she needed to take care of, and she knew she could not let them down. So she got up.
A cold shower helped a bit to cool her down, but she was still incredibly sleepy. She felt like a zombie while walking through the halls of the small house. Her feet dragged across the floor as she began to make breakfast. She could almost hear her father chastising her for shuffling, “A proper woman picks up her feet and walks with pride; you are being lazy once again.” She let the imaginary voice in her head take over and tried her best to pick herself up. He didn't want to disappoint her father anymore. She wanted to be strong even when he wasn't around to see it.
She decided on making omelets. They were pretty easy to make but proved that she put effort into the food. Her father didn't like it when she was lazy about cooking either. She started up the stove and began to chop up peppers. The cuts were hard to make, and she nearly cut her fingers multiple times. It shouldn't be this hard to do such simple tasks, yet here she was, struggling to cut simple strips.
As her luck would have it, her fathers apprentice, Roy Mustang, was walking towards the kitchen. Why did he have to be up this early? If he told her father about how poorly she was doing…well, she'd rather not find out what would happen.
“Good morning Mrs. Hawkeye, you sure are up early.”
“I could say the same for you, and you can call me Riza, I've told you that multiple times.”
Just speaking made her feel nauseous as she tried to carry out their small talk. Mustang had his eyes fixed on her, watching as she moved slowly around the kitchen.
“Mrs. Riza, are you feeling okay? You seem to be very tired.”
This was the worst thing that could happen.
“No, I'm fine. Still waking up I suppose.”
She could tell from his look that he didn't believe her, but she tried her best to carry on. The stove was now hot enough so she placed the pan over the heat and cracked two eggs. It only took a few minutes before Riza realized she was screwed. Upon smelling the eggs her stomach began to churn. She tried to hold herself together, she was stronger than this. But the smell kept getting stronger and her body was getting weaker.
“Mrs. Riza, are you sure you're okay? You seem squeamish.”
She couldn't respond. She knew the moment she opened her mouth everything would come out and he couldn't have that. She didn't want to hear what her father would say. She didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Mustang. But it was coming, she could tell. She tried to make her way to the bathroom but only got a few steps before her body gave in. She threw up on the kitchen floor. Tears immediately began to fall from her eyes, she was disgusting. But she didn't stop. Almost immediately after the first bout, a second wave came crashing in and she threw up once again. This time her legs gave out and she fell to her knees.
She tensed up when she felt a hand on her shoulder, but nothing came of it. There was no punishment, no harsh words. Only a hand slowly rubbing her shoulder, offering comfort. She focused on the hand, carefully moving up and down her shoulder. She could hear a voice saying something, but she couldn't understand. The voice sounded kind, Riza could listen to the sound forever.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end when she realized what she had done. She had just thrown up all over the floor, in front of Mustang no less. And she was crying too, she could feel the warm streaks sliding slowly down her face. Suddenly, the hand was gone. This was it, she knew it was coming. He would tell her father and he would be mad. She attempted to stand up, but did not get very far before the hand was back on her shoulder, slowly guiding her back to the ground.
“Take it easy, let me take care of it. You need to rest.”
Riza couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was he trying to help her? No, he must be taking pity on her. Riza did not take pity. This time she managed to stand up, immediately regretting her decision. The room was spinning and she felt like she was going to pass out. But she kept herself together like she always did. Upon opening her eyes again, she saw what a mess she had made. She also saw that the egg was moved off of the burner. Mustang must have done that. It was a kind gesture, but it would mean she had to make the eggs all over again.
She took small steps over to the stove, turning it back on before waiting for it to heat back up. She felt like she was going to fall asleep at any moment. She was freezing now and she was shaking.
"What are you doing? You need to sit down and rest!"
The voice startled Riza who flinched away from it. Standing there was Mustang with a mop and bucket. She quickly realized that he was going to clean up her mess. She couldn't have that. If father found out that she couldn't even clean after herself he would be furious.
"I'm fine, sorry for worrying you. I can clean it up, it's my mess after all."
"You are most certainly not fine. I don't know what you think you are doing, but if you need your father I can go get him."
"No!"
It had come out much louder than she had intended and left her wide-eyed, waiting for a response. Mustang stared at her in shock.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean-"
"It's alright, it just caught me off guard. Now please, relax. I can handle this, you don't need to push yourself."
Realizing that Mustang isn’t going to give up, she decides to lean against the counter and close her eyes. It’s the best thing she can do in this situation. She hasn't been taken care of by someone else in a long time, how is she supposed to handle this? She can hear the bucket being filled, the grunts as Mustang lifts the bucket and the thud of him setting down on the floor. She can only imagine what he's thinking at the moment, he must be disgusted. She allows tears to stream down her face, her shield had been broken already so she might as well let it all out
She didn't flinch when there was a hand on her back, she knew that hand. That hand would never hurt her.
"You're okay, let's get you to bed."