Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or any of the characters in it.
Hayate wagged his tails as his owner gave him a pat on the head.
"Hello Hayate!" Roy greeted the dog cheerfully. He went to put the bag of groceries onto a table. He turned to Hayate who was tailing his master. Roy grabbed the little dog and started to throw him into the air again and again as if he was playing with a toy.
Hayate yapped at Roy but was ignored.
"Careful sir. He bites." Riza said while she prepared some tea.
"Don't worry Hawkeye, animals love me." Roy said smugly as he continued to fool around with Hayate. "Ouch!"
"I'm sure they do, sir." Riza set the tea on a little round table. She took Hayate off of Roy's fingers and set her little companion on the floor. "It does not hurt so badly, does it? It's not something that the infamous Flame alchemist can't handle. Am I right, sir?" Riza said as she has a look at Roy's fingers that were bitten by Hayate.
Roy pulled his hands from Riza and pulled an annoyed face. "Of course it's nothing. I'm not a cry baby."
"I'm sure you are not, sir."
"It's just that having my shirt covered with drools does not feel so good." Roy said as he take off the white shirt he had on. "Do you mind if I hang it here for a while?" Roy asked as he laid the shirt on a chair nearby a window.
"Go ahead." Riza said. She was organising the groceries she bought. "Drink the tea before it gets cold, sir." Riza turned around after she put away a pack of rice cracker into a drawer. The first thing she noticed was the scar on Roy's abs. She quickly looked away. That was the second time in a day. The first was when Roy showed it to Havoc earlier that day.
"Aah. This is so refreshing. It's Earl Grey, isn't it?" Roy made a remark. "Come and have a cup yourself."
"I see that you know your tea well." Riza replied as she poured some of the tea into a cup. "The fuhrer gave it to me."
Roy almost spit the tea out but managed to maintain his composure. "How very nice of him." Roy said as a blood vessel on his forehead started to become more visible. Riza did not reply to his remark. He looked around Riza's apartment. It was a lot bigger than her previous one.
"Sir. I am sorry." Riza suddenly broke the silence that has been lingering in the air for a few minutes.
"Huh?"
Riza try to face Roy's perplexed face but she looked away when she realize that she could not gather enough strength to do so.
"That scar.." Riza paused to catch a deep breath. "It was because of me that you have that scar. I'm very sorry, sir." She said bitterly.
There was no immediate reply from Roy. It was only after a while when Roy finally let out a sigh. "I knew it all along that you are going to blame yourself for this. I just.. It's just that I had never been able to gather enough strength to ask you. I feel so bad for making you feel guilty all the time." His face fell.
Silence surrounded them again. Roy stretched his arm and cover Riza's hand which were placed in her lap with his own. It was only on several rare occasions when he got to do so.
"It wasn't your fault. You only did what I ordered you to."
"But you ordered me to guard your back. But I did not. I failed to do so."
"Well, think about it. I asked you to watch my back not my front side. I got hurt on the in front." Roy said sarcastically in order to lighten the gloom mood but it did not work.
"Sir! This is no laughing matter! I could not protect you! I failed to carry out my duty. My responsibility which is to protect you!"
"But I deserved this stupid scar!" Roy exclaimed as he pointed towards the scar on his stomach. "In comparison to the one that I put on you, this small blemish is nothing!"
Riza was taken aback. Chill started to climb up her spine. She has always felt so when she thinks about the 'piece of art' on her back.
"What I did to you was even worst! I was supposed to take care of you but instead I hurt you!"
Riza rose to her foot. "It was not your fault! You did not ask my father to tattoo it on me! You did not voluntarily try to erase the tattoo! I asked you to do it!"
Roy grabbed Riza who was about to run and lock herself in the toilet. He hugged her tightly. He could feel her tears dropping onto his bare shoulder. He put his fingers through her golden hair.
"It wasn't your fault. It was nobody's fault." Roy whispered into her ears. "It's just that at times, thing go wrong. The world is imperfect. You know that, don't you? So you can't keep on blaming yourself for everything. You can't keep putting all the burdens on your shoulder."
Riza raised her head. "But.."
Roy placed his finger on her lips. Silencing his pretty aide. "Shh.. You make mistakes and so do I. However, we just have to learn to let it go." He cupped her chin and looked into her amber eyes. As he slowly lowered his head and place his lips on hers.
How was it? Hope you enjoyed it. It is kinda a sequel for 'Visiting Havoc is Fun' (I'm not getting reviews for this one..sniff..) The part where Roy said the animals love him was inspired by the story 'Snow White and The Eight Dwarves' by N.C. Stormeye.
Comments and Critiques are highly appreciated.