Work Text:
Royai Week 2024
Day 3 - Pressure
Riza emerges from her dreams cloaked in warmth. She might as well be surrounded by a wonderful, heavy quilted blanket strewn upon her body. Would the outside world dare to disturb this perfect night of sleep, when they often came so few and far between? That seemed to be the case.
She grumbles to herself as her eyes open for the first time that morning. Their room is out of focus as the haze of sleep continues to fade. The light of sunrise is unhindered by winter clouds. Did it snow last night? Perhaps she’ll rise and open the curtains to see it sparkle, if Central was so lucky. It always reminded her of the winters back home as a child, the snow disturbed only by the footprints of rabbits, foxes, deer…
She blinks again. This weight is…much more contained than any heavy blanket. Actually, the blankets they had on the bed last night seem to be unceremoniously on the floor. This weight is not from a heavy blanket sheltering her from the winter morning chill. No. Quite different in fact.
It’s the pressure of Roy sprawled across her torso, arms wrapped around her waist. Did the blankets simply fall off them in the night, or had he done away with them in order to feel her skin?
She sighs, careful as to not disturb his slumber. Lifting her hands, she weaves them into his hair and along his scalp. Her fingertips are gentle as they trace patterns onto his skin. There’s no tension and she doesn’t care. Unknowingly, his head presses into her hands. Someone might find their position suffocating, but she’s rather fond of it, especially on these cold mornings. Roy ran hot. She ran cold. It made them the perfect pair.
Unless she wants to wake him - and how could she be so cruel - this would be her fate until Roy wakes up. His body when asleep was a dead weight. Oh dear… she laments silently while the corners of her lips curl upward.
He’d give her grief over being a blanket and sweater hog, and she’d give him grief over being so needy. She’d simply joke that he could keep her warm if he’d join her. He took that to heart last night.
The sun rises higher in the sky. Their bedroom glows with light filtered through the curtains. Roy shifts, and Riza knows it won’t be too long before he’s awake as well. There’s the sounds of the weekend below their apartment. Citizens head out to meet with their friends or to one of the museums to hide out from the wind and cold.
Civilian life suited them both. They suited each other. No longer did she hold herself back, trepidation clouding their agreement that they’d give this a try after leaving the military. They took it slow. They had to. So much was simply adjusting from years of protocol. She’d questioned their shift for months. He probably suspected, maybe even had some dread at this new unknown they trekked into. Anxiety twisted her stomach into knots and turned her mouth dry. It wasn’t easy. This was another level of intimacy that Riza hadn’t dared dream of in her waking hours. Her guard only dropped as she slept and her mind wandered into safer pastures.
Even after their promotions to General and Major, it wasn’t uncommon for a Colonel or Lieutenant to fall from their lips. It was the closest they got to any pet names, even if it wasn’t intentional. The closest Riza got was an occasional sardonic ‘dear’ when the situation called for it. Roy certainly found it amusing.
They knew a lot about each other. Just not in this way. Roy wanted to know her completely, as she was, what once was, and what she will be. She wanted the same. That realization, something so simple and open and honest, lifted any burden that took root within.
Roy yawns, unwinding one of his arms from her back to stretch, then the other. He blinks a few times before resting on his forearms, gazing up at her. “G’mornin’.”
“Morning.” She unwinds her hands from his hair, sliding them down to cup his jaw and pull him up.
He grins, climbing up her body to press a kiss against her lips. She adores his kisses. “I hope I wasn’t too suffocating.”
She shakes her head. “No. Quite welcome given the weather.”
Roy tilts his neck, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “I know we had plans on our day off, but…”
“You read my mind.”
Roy wilts; his tired laugh confirms all of her suspicions. His forehead rests against her clavicle. “Oh thank god.”
“Well, don’t sound too excited to flake on our plans.”
“Listen.” He rises up, lifting a pointed finger. “We’ve earned lazy. We’ve spent the last few decades refusing to be lazy. Lazy is good.” As if to punctuate his point, he rolls over, landing with a softened thus against the mattress. Limbs go limp. “I refuse to move unless it’s functionally or pleasantly necessary.”
“Fine. Then I will.”
He turns to her, intrigued by what she has in mind. It’s not that complicated, really. She rolls over on top of him and rests her hands atop one another on his chest, chin topping the arrangement. Her head tilts a few degrees. “Do you have anything in mind?”
“No.” He yawns. “This is perfect.”
He gazes down at her, both thinking and evaluating her face. Then his eyes drift past the line of her shoulder. Riza discerns that he’s down a path which ensnares him from time to time. He returns on his own, eventually. She’s as patient as ever, choosing to follow the lines of his face, watch his brows furrow and relax, and lips purse as he thinks. He glances down at her. “When was the last time we did nothing? As in, nothing nothing?”
Shoulders shrug. “Not in a long time.” Even when they recovered from the Promised Day, they dove into formulating new plans. Havoc needed recovery before the Colonel would even think about using the Philosopher’s Stone offered by Marcoh to regain his sight. They’d work with Grumman to root out any remaining corruption, but Ishval had to be next. Those years in the desert were harder work than she anticipated, but not due to any lack of anticipation. Each day required sensitivity, accountability, devotion, and fortitude. Addressing this outwardly wasn’t what she hadn’t prepared for. The personal work was what blasted away her well built exterior to unveil the cracks that remained below the veneer.
If they hadn’t been there together, she wasn’t sure they would have made it, at least as long as they had. Their plan was never to remain in Ishval indefinitely, or at least remain as the heads of the reconstruction forever. Besides Roy’s ambitions to become Fuhrer, and hopefully one day President, it wasn’t right of them to assume such a position forever. The Ishvalan area was for the Ishvalan people. She hopes that even those that did not welcome their presence and refused to work with them will live happily and safely. She’ll do as much as she can to ensure that will be an inalienable right.
“Lost in thought, were you?” He smirks.
She smiles back. “A little.”
Their bedroom door swings open. Paws pad along the hardwood. Onto the bed leaps their three dogs, ceasing the quiet and calm. Roy playfully groans as Hayate makes a beeline for him and begins licking his face. “Ew, yuck. Down boy.” Hayate obeys, plopping his butt in a pristine display of ‘sit’. A brief standoff ensues as Roy stares. Hayate stares back, panting happily.
“You know you’re not going to win.”
Roy frowns. “I sure can. I’m more stubborn than a dog, Riza.”
“Not this one.” She reaches to scratch behind Hayate’s ears. He turns and laps at her palm, before she accesses the perfect spot behind his ear prompting his tail to thumb and leg to follow. Once satisfied with her affection, she climbs off Roy and sits at his side. Comet takes her chance, slinking into Riza’s lap as she crosses her legs. Hayate and Yuki both seize theirs, climbing onto Roy’s torso and making themselves at home.
A short huff of a laugh escapes her lips. “Now you're imprisoned into your laziness.”
Roy really can’t complain as Hayate and Yuki curl into each other. This doesn’t stop him from moaning, casting an arm over his eyes in a plain display of theatrics. “However will I survive?”
“We can make it work.”
Comet sneezes - which prompts a ‘bless you’ from her masters. Riza leans down, kissing her between the ears. “I know we talked about nothing nothing, but how about I go start some coffee and gather some things from the fridge for breakfast in bed?”
Before she can slip Comet off her lap and step off the mattress, his arm lifts from his face and he cups her cheek. He guides her back down to him and kisses her again. Once, twice, thrice. “Love you.”
Her fingers brush the hair away from his forehead. “I love you, too.” She shuffles Comet out of her lap and slips off the bed. “Now be lazy.”
He replies with a lazy two fingered salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
He watches as she leaves the room as she laughs. Comet has decided to curl up against his side, so he runs his palm along her back. He considers he looks quite lovestruck in his expression while he gazes out the doorway where Riza had disappeared, but he doesn’t care. All he knows is how easy this is, even in the hardest moments that crop up from time to time. She makes it easier when he knows he can come home to her at night, lay like this together, and if they’re apart, that he can hear her voice at the end of the telephone as they check in.
The smell of coffee wafts into the bedroom, and before long she’s returned with a tray with a few slices of toast, little jars of jam, a few tabs of butter, and fruits. On her other arm are the dog’s three meal bowls. He marvels at the effortlessness she balances it all with. Maybe in another life, she would have owned a restaurant. Maybe he’d have been a patron who asked her out after becoming a regular and inevitably becoming friends.
He plucks a grape as Riza commands for the dogs off the bed and to their own breakfast. She slides up next to him, balancing the tray in her lap. He takes his cup of coffee. She rests against his shoulder. They make no thoughts about the rest of their day. Time to take the day as it comes. No plans, just each other.