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The room was dark as he entered, the only light coming from a pair of emergency lanterns to one side of the room. Roy closed the door as softly as he could, his eyes on the still form lying on one of the couches and a faint smile pulling at his lips. He glanced at the men seated at their desks, one eyebrow lifting curiously as he tilted his head toward the couches in silent question. Falman nodded, lifting one finger to his lips in warning.
He kept his footsteps quiet as he crossed the room toward her, watching the expression on her face. He loved seeing her like this, these moments of well-deserved rest, of calm, of peace. These moments when she could completely relax, and, unconsciously, her body took full advantage. Riza may have been perpetually together and fully professional during waking hours, but all of that was abandoned the moment she fell asleep. For instance, now, she was partially curled into a ball, one arm acting as a pillow, her other hand in a loose fist held close to her chest, her mouth just slightly open, enough for the faintest of staunchly-denied snores to escape.
“How long has she been out?” he asked, his voice just above a whisper. Over by the lit lanterns, Havoc’s head came up.
“Only about five minutes, Boss. But she was looking pretty tired by the time she dropped off.” He smiled. “She initially settled down with Hayate, thinking it’d help him calm down, but he abandoned her for Fuery the second she was asleep.”
Roy looked to the small dog sitting contentedly in his Master Sergeant’s lap. “Getting her to admit she’s even slightly tired is an uphill battle itself.” He crossed back toward the desks, tucking both hands into his pockets. “I talked to one of the guys from Facilities, and they’ve got space set up for everyone in the first-floor mess. If we’re snowed-in here overnight, that’s the place to be.”
“Do they know when the storm’s going to let up?” Fuery asked. “Or when the electricity will be restored?”
“Doesn’t look like it.” Roy glanced toward the window, and the steady flow of white flakes beyond the glass. “And I’d be willing to bet it won’t clear anytime soon.”
Havoc stood, stretching. “Weather service was saying it should blow itself out by noon tomorrow. Goodness knows they’ve been wrong before, though.” He turned for the door. “We’d better get down there if we want spaces all together, though. It might ruin the experience if we get stuck near Hakuro and his staff.”
Falman glanced toward the couches. “Should we wake the Lieutenant? Or maybe leave a note telling her where to find us?”
“I’ll wake her.” Roy smiled wryly. “I saw Hughes try to wake her up once in Ishval…. The man was lucky he didn’t lose an arm.” Adopting a mock-solemn expression, he added, “I can’t ask any of you to take on that level of danger.”
“We’ll tell of your bravery at your funeral,” Breda said wryly. Dropping a thin stack of files into a desk drawer, he got to his feet. “If we don’t hear from you in twenty minutes, we’ll send the hound after you.”
They were still filing out of the room when he turned toward the couches again. He didn’t approach straightaway, taking a moment to pull his watch from its pocket to check the time. She had been asleep for maybe ten minutes now, not long enough if she was as tired as Havoc said. He could give her another ten for a decent power nap.
Fuery was the last to leave the office, just as Roy started toward the couches. Voices faded away down the hall, reassuring him he was unobserved… but he still checked over his shoulder. Removing his jacket, he circled around beside her, settling the garment over her; without power and with a raging snowstorm outside, the office was decidedly cooler than usual, but not so much that being in his shirtsleeves was uncomfortable.
He settled onto the opposite couch, hands folded and elbows braced on his knees, watching her. His mind drifted back several years, to the flickering light from lamps and fireplace playing across the smooth skin of her back, bared to him for the first time. He had been so focused on deciphering the archaic words and their half-backward syntax that he hadn’t noticed she had fallen asleep sitting up until she unconsciously leaned against him. He remembered the heat as his cheeks flushed scarlet, remembered edging to the side and carefully lowering her to the floor, before snagging the black overcoat from where he had left it draped over an arm of the couch and using it to cover her.
How many times had watched over her – studied her – as she slept? He had never actively kept count, only thanked his lucky stars he got the opportunity at all. In Ishval, he had been prone to snapping awake in the middle of the night for an hour or so, and he had always just stared at the stars or the blank triangular ceiling of a canvas tent. And then they had found each other, and suddenly, he had something – someone – else to look at. Separated by a socially-acceptable expanse of sand, but she was there.
For three years, after Ishval, he went without her at night. He would lie awake with his war-induced insomnia and wonder if she was sleeping, hoping that she was and knowing she probably wasn’t. Gradually, the insomnia faded, he stopped waking in the middle of the night, but he never really stopped wondering.
Three days after that fateful trip to Resembool, on an impulse, he had knocked on her door at two in the morning with far too much on his mind from what they had found there. An hour after that, they had somehow – he still didn’t know how – literally tumbled into bed together. Two hours after that, exhausted but unable to sleep in light of this newfound whatever-the-hell it was, he had lain perfectly still, once again marvelling at her as she slept. The sun had just begun to creep above the horizon, tingeing the room pink and gold, glinting in her short hair.
The lamplight from across the room didn’t provide the same kind of light as a rising sun or flickering fireplace, but the soft yellow glow created a cozy glow. Looking at her now, Roy felt his chest constrict in some nameless emotion, felt it steal the air from his lungs, felt it send heat rushing through his limbs to tingle in his fingers like a ghost of his own flames.
Tearing his eyes away, he took his watch out again, letting the cool metal in his palm soothe him. The ten extra minutes were up; any longer, and the men would soon send someone up to check on them. Best not to be sitting here staring at his sleeping Lieutenant if and when they did.
Moving quietly, he shifted across the short space separating the couches, easing into the short space between her head and the armrest. Reaching out, he settled a hand on her shoulder, shaking gently, even as his eyes flicked cautiously toward the door.
“Riza? Time to wake up.”
She shifted at the sound of her name, but really only succeeded in burrowing herself further under the edge of his jacket. He couldn’t help but smile; of course that wouldn’t work with her. His hand moved to brush her bangs back from her face before he bent close. He pitched his voice low and soft, the way he knew usually sent her fingernails digging into his back when the bedroom was dark around them.
“Wake up, love.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her fingers twitch. Her eyes closed more tightly, just for a heartbeat, before opening to blink lethargically. Brown eyes gradually gained focus, but not awareness, staring at the couch opposite her. Her brows drew together, just slightly, a small frown as she began piecing together where she was, coming out of the sleep-induced disorientation….
He touched gentle fingers to her hair, pulling his face back slightly so as not to startle her when she noticed his presence. “Hey, there you are.”
He had anticipated her reaction correctly. As soon as he spoke, she was moving, her body jerking up and into a sitting position, turning to face him at the same time. His jacket dropped to the floor, wrapping itself loosely around her ankle. Her eyes, so calm and relaxed a moment ago, were wide and alert. Being woken from deep sleep was almost always like this, with her, this brief moment of panic before her mind caught up to what was going on around her.
‘Brief’ being the operative word. Her gaze landed on him, she froze… and then visibly relaxed. “What….” Her eyes travelled around the room again, probably noting where she was, or if anyone else was around. “…Did I fall asleep, sir?”
“That you did.” He shifted to lean back comfortably against the armrest. “The men said you were trying to get Hayate to settle, but ended up passing out yourself. And that you must have needed the rest.” He watched her gaze land on the vacant desks across the room. “Seemed like they were a little worried about you… and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, too.”
She looked back to him, trying to gauge the expression he was keeping tight control on. “It’s not very often you just drop off like that,” he noted. Dark eyes stared straight back at her, seeking an answer. “For that to happen, you have to be pretty tired. Care to elaborate as to why?”
Riza was far too used to his method of casual interrogation to be caught by it. Brown eyes level and revealing nothing, she shook her head. “It’s been a long, busier-than-usual day, sir. The usual work, and then the emergency preparedness once the snow started and the power failed….” She gave a measured, microscopic shrug. “I suppose it all caught up to me.”
“And if extra work was the case, it would have ‘caught up to you’ three times in the last two weeks.” He knew what she was doing; a suggestion of a reason she knew to be a weak one was a subtle insistence on her part to drop whatever he was digging for… but he had no intention of humouring her this time. “Riza Hawkeye does not simply ‘drop off,’ not without reason.” She opened her mouth to reply, and he added, “Good reason.”
Her mouth closed again, into the sort of set that said she knew he was right, and was contemplating either continuing to insist there was nothing wrong, or else staying entirely silent for the rest of her natural existence.
Easing forward along the couch, closer to her, he slipped one arm around her shoulders. “Riza, when you keep something close to your chest like this, nine times out of ten, it’s because you’re trying not to worry me. But right now, it’s doing exactly the opposite.” She didn’t pull away as his cheek pressed against hers, but neither did she respond to the romantic closeness. “If you’re falling asleep at the office, I’m willing to bet it’s because you didn’t sleep much last night. How come?”
For the space of three breaths, she was silent and still… and then he felt the tension drain out of her. Her forehead rested against his shoulder, one hand settling on his leg. “It’s been… a chilly couple of nights at my place,” she admitted, her tone still remarkably casual. “…The furnace stopped working a few days ago, and the superintendent is having trouble finding the right part to fix it.”
Pulling back so that he could see her face, he couldn’t hide the surprise on his own. “Your apartment has been without heat for two days?!” When she nodded, he paused, thinking, then added, “Don’t you have at least three thick blankets for your bed? Those weren’t enough to keep you warm enough to sleep?”
“Ordinarily, they would have been. If I hadn’t lent those same blankets out to my neighbours to help them get through the outage.”
The surprise melted into mild exasperation, his eyes rolling toward the ceiling. “Riza….”
“They’re all over sixty; they needed them more than I did.” She wasn’t quite defensive, but he could read the annoyance in her tone at having her actions questioned. “I still had my regular blankets, and Hayate. I’d hoped that might be enough.”
“I know.” Getting to his feet, he held one hand out to her. “At least for tonight, you should be able to sleep a little warmer. They’ve set us up down in the first-floor mess; I sent the men ahead to claim some spaces.” Assisting her to stand, he waited as she bent to retrieve his jacket. “And if, by the time we get out of here, your heat is still out….” He leaned close, not quite far enough to kiss her, but needing only an inch or two more. “Then maybe an extra body in the place will help keep you warm.”
Her eyes dipped to watch his lips as he spoke, her own curving in a sly smile. Her free hand rose, resting lightly on his chest, the other passing his jacket to him. “I will keep that… very generous offer in mind,” she said, her voice low. “But for now… I can hear Fuery’s footsteps coming up the hall.”
Taking a step back, he folded the jacket over one arm, giving her a fast, playful wink. “To be continued, then.”