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“What are you afraid of?” Riza asked as she threw open the door to Roy’s office. He looked stunned, by her outburst or the surprise of her entrance it was unknown, but it only lasted for a moment before the familiar hard-set brow and scowl returned.
“What?” He asked, confused and annoyed that she was bothering him. There was a time that he wouldn’t mind, that he’d be thrilled to have her there. But that was long ago, back when fall and spring still existed.
“He’s just a boy in love.” She said, closing his office door and crossing to his desk.
“Why don’t you have a drink,” disdain filled his voice as he looked back down at his desk, finishing whatever paperwork he had, or more so just looking over it.
“No,” she said, he looked up at her with a more determined look in her eyes. One she hadn’t had in a long time. “I’ve had enough.”
He now regarded her fully instead of just waiting for her to leave.
“He loves that girl, Roy.” She said, a little bit too desperate for her liking. But she would ignore it, she couldn’t sit by and watch them both end up broken-hearted and apart. She knew what that felt like and she couldn’t bear it for someone else to know it.
“Well, that’s too bad.” He stood up and placed his hands on the desk, leaning into it so he was looking down on her slightly with a smirk on his face. She leaned her hands on the desk, matching him. He could only try to intimidate her but it was futile, they both knew there was nothing that he could say or do that would stop her.
“He has the kind of love for her,” she said, her voice still hadn’t dropped the desperate tone and shook ever so slightly as she looked into his eyes. “That you and I once had.”
At that his face softened, there was a look in his eyes. The old version of him that had seen her in her mother's garden and had been at such a loss for words he could only sing for her. He looked down toward his desk, as did she, and stared at their hands. She hadn’t realized how close they were to each other. Only a slight shift and their fingers would graze each other.
“The girl means nothing to me,” he said after a moment, his eyes not looking up from where their hands were so close to touching.
“I know,” she said as he looked into her eyes again and she could still see him, the one she knew and loved. “But she means everything to him.”
And just like that, he was gone, his eyes returned to the version she didn’t know. The eyes that looked at her in triumph and excitement as he showed her the renovations to Hadestown. The eyes that smirked at her as all the workers sang the anthem of his little city while she just scowled back. The same eyes that barely even cared about Winry as he threw her into her arms, not even caring if she was caught it not, while he called upon guards to escort Edward out.
“So?” He asked as he completely pulled away from her and she felt her chest tighten. She kept her face in check though, if he wasn’t baking down neither was she.
“Let her go.” She followed him with her eyes as he walked around the desk to where she was, but making sure to keep his distance now. She took a deep breath before she turned to him.
“Roy,” she said, looking at him, her husband, her light, and her darkness. “If you heard him sing, you’d pity him.” She looked at him with pleading eyes while he remained cold and unchanged. “All of his pain, all of his sorrow, it doesn’t fit in his chest. It just burns like a fire in the pit of his chest and his heart is a bird on a spit in his chest.”
She saw him roll his eyes ever so slightly at the extended simile and metaphor.
“How long? How long? How long?”She asked, getting more frantic each time as he looked at her more seriously.
“How long?” He asked, his voice cold and uncaring. Any trace of the man from before was gone now, replaced instead with the King of the Underworld. “Just as long as I am king.”
She pursed her lips as he moved closer to her.
“Nothing comes of wishing on stars. And nothing comes of the songs people sing, however sorry they are.” He gave her a more pointed look at that. “Give them a piece and they’ll take it all, show them a crack and they’ll tear down the way, let them see you bleed and the battle begins, lend them an ear and the kingdom will fall. The kingdom will fall for us all.”
She knew he wasn’t talking about Edward, maybe in part, but was more talking to her. That nothing would come of questioning his authority or reasoning behind his actions. He was set in his ways and wouldn’t change. But so was she, and it was one of the things that had drawn him to her initially.
“What does he care for the logic of kings,” she said through gritted teeth, if he would play this game so would she. “Or the laws of your underworld? It is only for love that he sings,” she saw his face shift ever so slightly, and she knew he was thinking of that day in the sun together. “He sings for the love of a girl-“
“You and your pity,” he said, cutting her off and dropping the metaphor play entirely. Addressing her now as her husband, though he was exasperated like he was trying to understand her. “Don’t fit in my bed. You burn like a fire in the pit of my bed and I turn like a bird on a spit in my bed.”
He looked at her then with the same pleading eyes as she did to him, but it didn’t hold the same meaning. “How long? How long? How long?”
“How long? Just as long as I am your wife.” She said forcefully, maybe more than she intended as when he looked at her she could see the fear in his eyes. The same fear she saw for a split second when she told him Edward’s name, a person from the upper world, and the other life she lived. The fear that came with her leaving each summer like she wouldn’t come back this time. Though the look didn’t match his tone before he thought it was a humorous mistake. His voice at that moment was demanding. It tried to keep her rooted to the power cords and power lines he’d built for her.
“Yes, it’s true the earth must die. But then the earth comes back to life,” she moved closer to him, begging him to finally understand her position. Make him remember the song of love that once made the world turn. “And the sun must go on rising.”
She reached out to him then, slowly. He saw her hand as it slowly moved to run along his cheek. But before it could there was a noise that made them both turn to the door.
“What’s that noise?” He asked, both straining to listen. Suddenly it grew louder and Edward’s voice, accompanied by all the workers, was heard through the walls. Riza's eyes widened as Roy's nose flared in rage. “It’s the boy!”
He stormed out of the office then, she gaped slightly at him before she followed him out.
“Roy, wait!”