Summary: Winter solstice has arrived and Maes Hughes has invited Roy, Riza and the Resembool trio to a small, private party at home. Being Maes Hughes, he has developed a plan to make at least one of the two couples-to-be kiss... but he never imagined to get THAT kind of a result! - inspired by art by the incredibly talented theysangastheyslew on tumblr. Lots of Royai flirting.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa. This fiction has been inspired by theysangastheyslew's art on her tumblr on post/135645072687/ (shh she's amazing, check out her Deviantart MethodforMadness, too!). There's also a mention to another work of hers, try to find out which one it is :3 And a hint to a Disney movie because it just fit in XD
Kinda AU, too, since Hughes gets to eat Winry's apple pie (even though it's "off screen").
Also thanks to The Flame and the Hawk's Eye for helping me with one scene :)
Please enjoy!
Riza Hawkeye hummed approvingly as she she slid the last tray of unbaked cookies into her oven, set her timer to 10 minutes and ran the back of her hand across her sweaty forehead. Finally!
She had promised Gracia Hughes to bring some of her famous cookies over for their private, little solstice party, but as if she had been jinxed, right before she was about to call it a day, another batch of paperwork arrived in the office, effectively trapping her (and the Colonel) at work for another hour. Thankfully, she had already prepared the cookie dough the evening before, but even so she realized she was behind schedule as it was already 5 pm. The Colonel had promised to fetch her at 5.30.
She bit her lip uneasily. She needed to shower – she hadn't had time to do so right after work. But she still had to look after the cookies for another 10 minutes – there was no chance she'll be able to shower and get dried off before she had to take out the cookies. Ah, how she hated when her plans got messed up!
And as if that wasn't enough, a knock on her door announced the arrival of another unneeded obstacle for the night.
Startled, the blond woman turned to her hallway, hair in a mess and an apron still tied around her waist, and she looked through the door's spyhole before opening it.
"Colonel!"
She came face to face with the famous smirk of her superior who had donned some of his best clothes for the evening: black dress pants, a white dress shirt with a black tie around his neck, and he topped it off with black leather shoes and a burgundy colored vest.
"Good evening, Hawkeye," he replied, and looked at her from head to toe before he resumed, "you seem to be a little late."
"You seem to be a little early," she deadpanned, but quickly caught herself again, "I'm sorry, I am late. I still need to shower... you can ask the kids to come up, help yourself with some tea and cookies while I get ready if that's alright?"
"The kids?" Roy asked with a frown on his face, a frown that Riza now returned.
"Aren't Edward, Alphonse and Winry waiting in your car?"
"Oh," Roy's eyes lit up in understanding and he shook his head, "I offered them a ride but they didn't seem too thrilled to spend two hours crammed in the backseat with Alphonse's armor – they took a train earlier this afternoon."
"I see. Well then, Colonel," Roy's lips twitched slightly as Riza took a step back and invited him into the apartment with a wave of her hand, "please, make yourself at home."
Grinning, he took up the offer with a nod and strode into her hallway, but not without taking off his shoes before entering the living room.
"Could you do me one favor? I set a timer for the last tray of cookies. Could you take them out when the timer goes off?"
"I think I can handle that much," he answered with a smirk and took off his vest to hang it on one of the kitchen stools to prevent it from wrinkling further. That was when he looked around the room in confusion.
"Where's Hayate? By now, he usually would have jumped me."
"He's with Fuery," Riza shouted over from the bedroom where she proceeded to grab a few towels and the clothes she planned to wear that night, "he told me he would visit his family for a few days and since they live in the country, he proposed to take Hayate with him so he can breathe some fresh air and get some extended exercise."
She vanished into the bathroom after that, jumping under the shower immediately. As soon as the warm water hit her back and slid down her body, she relaxed. She felt the sweat being washed off her skin, the knots in her muscles being loosened by the warmth and a content sigh escaped her lips as she started to lather up her long, blond hair.
It was already 5.20 pm when a low click informed Roy of the fact that Riza was leaving her bathroom. He turned his attention to the doorway and saw her entering the living room, a slight smile on her face as she turned around once to show him her outfit.
Her hair was still up in a towel, having kept it out of her face to apply a layer of mascara and some rosewood colored lipstick – just a hint of color to enhance her already beautiful features without exaggerating them.
She had also managed to pull a soft, emerald sweater over her head turban that she accompanied with a beige shawl, threads of gold running through the pashmina. Her legs were clad in a long, practical black skirt, buttons still unbuttoned so they allowed Roy to stare at the long, creamy white leg beneath it.
"Lovely," he approved with a nod, though the corner of his mouth twitched again as he caught a glimpse of the thin, brown strap hugging said leg tightly.
"Aren't you exaggerating a little? This is going to be a private party - just a get-together between friends. No assassins allowed."
"You can never be cautious enough," she answered with a shrug and inserted the pistol she had cleaned and loaded the night before into the holster, "I'm your bodyguard, I need to look after you 24/7. Especially after you."
"Gee, thanks, Hawkeye," he grumbled in response, but he didn't dwell on it for too long as he got to see her bend over to close the buttons on her skirt.
After she finished, she straightened out and closed her eyes for a second to think.
"Cookies."
"I added them to the other ones in the tin can," Roy cut in and cleared the rest of the tea in the cup he had prepared for himself as he had been waiting for Riza.
"That was perfect, thank you."
Riza quickly stepped into the kitchen to fetch the tin can and put it onto the coffee table, right next to her handbag so she wouldn't forget them. She unwound the towel around her hair and tried to squeeze as much moisture out of her hair as possible before she returned into her bathroom, hanged up the wet towel onto one of the racks and looked into her mirror above the sink. Before she could grab her brush, Roy had materialized behind her and started combing her hair gently. Smiling to herself, Riza closed her eyes and relaxed while Roy untangled her golden locks.
"Thank you," she sighed as she saw the last strands of her hair run through his fingers in the mirror and he put the brush onto her sink again before squeezing her shoulders. "We should get going."
"Your hair is still wet. It's cold outside."
"It's alright. Your car is heated and I'll wrap my shawl around it on the way down. You on the other hand," she shot him a scrutinizing glance and opened the only cabinet in the room to pull out a small can of hair grease before she turned around, "you need a little tune up."
She opened the can and deposited it and the lid into Roy's hands. She dipped her right hand into the grease and rubbed it between the fingers of both of her hands to warm it up and spread it evenly. Standing on her tiptoes, she drew her hands through Roy's hair now, smoothing it back so it wouldn't fall into his eyes anymore. Unlike her, he didn't close his eyes; he made it a point to try and stare into hers whenever she shot a glimpse at his. She tensed a little when she felt his arms snake around her back lightly, but composed herself quickly to tap him on his shoulder with the back of her hand.
"I need more grease."
She grinned as he pouted in response and removed one of his arms from around her back to allow her to take some more grease.
As soon as she was content with her work – there were a few strands that still fell into his face, but no one ever managed to tame them, not even the hairdresser – she collected the can and lid from Roy's hands, screwed the lid closed and put it away again.
"Alright, let's go."
She stepped out of the bathroom and proceeded to grab her bag.
"Silver and gold don't match."
"Excuse me?"
Riza had already slung her handbag around her shoulder and looked up at Roy in confusion as he neared her. With his forefinger and thumb, he lightly grasped her earlobe and examined it.
"Your earrings are silver. Your shawl has gold in it. It doesn't match."
"Well," Riza huffed and she crossed her arms, causing Roy to let go of her ear, "I'm sorry, those are the only earrings I own and you know I never take them off. You knew that, and you still gave me this shawl as a birthday present and asked me to wear it tonight because it would 'compliment my hair'."
Her shoulders relaxed a little and her facial expression grew softer again. "You know they mean a lot to me."
"I do," he answered with the same softness in his voice and eyes as he grabbed his vest and put it on again, leaving it unbuttoned since he would take it off for the car ride again. Instead, he reached into one of the pockets and presented the contents to his Lieutenant.
"But maybe you could make an exception? I think the person who gave you your earrings would understand."
Riza rolled her eyes dramatically, but accepted the small satin covered box anyway. A look inside revealed a pair of emerald pearl earrings, the same color as her sweater.
A smile spread across her lips.
"Is that why Rebecca encouraged me to buy this sweater after I told her about it?"
"Me working with Catalina? You must be kidding me!"
Riza chuckled lightly and proceeded to remove her earrings carefully, placing them into the box that held her new pair of earrings.
"Well," Roy admitted with a side glance, a slight blush on his cheeks, "while I didn't tell her to encourage you to buy anything, I might have asked her what purchases you have made during that shopping trip of yours. And it was not a pleasure, believe me. Rambled on for an hour about her purchases before she told me about the three items you bought. Where does this woman take the money from to buy all that stuff?!"
Riza chuckled again, admiring her new jewelry in the hallway mirror, and hid her old silver earrings in a drawer of her side table.
"That's a secret even I haven't been able to disclose as of now."
Returning to Roy's side, she touched his cheek delicately and stood up on tiptoes once again to peck his other cheek lightly. "Thank you. They are beautiful."
Feeling the heat creeping into her cheeks, she turned around hide it from her Colonel's eyes and picked up the tin can with her cookies.
"Are you ready?"
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question?" Roy snickered, but he sobered up quickly as he saw Riza's icy glare.
"Uhm, I mean," he tugged her shawl over her head to shield it from the cold wind on the way down to the car, and snatched the cookie can out of her hands, saluting quickly, "yes, Ma'am!"
The ride into Central City was an uneventful one. While had started to rain on the way, it wasn't enough to slow them down, but enough to make most of the usual road users stay at home. Even though they had started their travel slightly behind schedule, they now were 15 minutes early, and so, Roy had a lot of time to find a parking spot and turn off the car.
Gentleman as he was, he quickly leaped around the car to open Riza's door and he offered her his arm to accompany her up to the Hugheses' house. They didn't even have a second to knock on the door or ring the doorbell before the door was hauled open and a grinning Hughes stood in front of them, wearing a dark violet dress shirt, black dress pants and a huge grin on his face. His eyes coincidentally focused on their locked arms which only caused the grin to widen.
"YO, Roy, Riza, come in, come in - and don't you dare let go of her arm!" he added as he saw the pair try to separate as they stepped into the warm house.
"If you want me to take off my shoes, I have to let go of her, geez," Roy grumbled, though he indeed let go of Riza only reluctantly. Sensing that, Riza bit back a smile and rather unladylike, as she still held onto her cookies, she got rid of her slightly heeled dress shoes by cautiously kicking them off and shoving them together with her naked foot. Gratefully, she slipped her cold feet into one pair of the slippers that had been prepared by the Hugheses for their guests.
"Shh Maes, I just put Elicia to bed - Oh, Roy, Riza, it's so nice to see you!"
Gracia Hughes appeared in the hallway, wearing an apricot colored simple dress, and she embraced Riza in a warm hug.
"Be careful", she whispered into the blonde's ear, "Maes has hung up mistletoes in every corner of the house. He sure as hell will try to get you and Roy to stand under them. He already tried it with Edward and Winry."
She pulled back again and Riza mouthed a quick "thanks" to her as she passed on her cookies to the woman.
"Thank you so much, Riza. Roy practically gloated over your cookies, I can't wait to try them. Please, go on into the living room. Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes."
"Can I help you with anything?"
"Oh no, it's fine!" Gracia waved it off with a smile and elbowed Maes's side, "I've got a husband to help me after all, isn't that right, dear?"
"Sure, my sweet sugar pie!" Maes answered, grasping her hands and pulling them against his chest as he dreamily stared into her eyes, lips pursed. "Your hubby-bubby will surely help you, my darling angel! We should-"
At this point, Roy pulled Riza away from them, knowing too well how long Maes's little 'brain lapses' as he called them could last, and they both entered the living room, in which they were immediately met by a large suit of armor, wearing a bright green sweater with stitched on kitties and light bulbs on a chain. As he also grew aware of the entering pair, he turned his head around so his 'hair' waved around, showing that a little red bow had been clasped into it.
"Lieutenant! Colonel!"
"Hello Alphonse," Riza responded cheerfully and Roy nodded at him with a smile. "How was your train ride?"
"It was very nice!" Alphonse replied enthusiastically and his big hands gestured along with his story. "We had a whole compartment for ourselves so we had plenty of room on the ride. The sun went down just as we boarded the train so it was rather quiet, but in a very good way. It gave us some time to relax and share stories, and when we ran out, we could simply enjoy the silence between friends."
"Nice? Good? Enjoy?"
Edward Elric had emerged behind his little brother, hot orange juice in one hand and a slice of apple pie in the other one that was missing a huge chunk – the one he was munching on right now.
"It was torture! Winry had baked Miss Gracia's apple pie and the smell of it spread through the whole compartment! It was so strong, even the hallway of the wagon smelled like apple pie! I couldn't flee it and she didn't even let me look at it! It was torture, I tell you, torture! You have no idea."
"I guess I do, Fullmetal," Roy stated, pointing at the woman next to him with his forefinger, "I sat next to her and her cookies for two hours. Freshly baked. Hell, even my clothes smell like cookies and I still haven't had any!"
"That's because they're for dessert, sir."
Roy only grumbled, but his attention was soon caught by Edward's wardrobe – a red sweater, adorned with white and golden gargoyles on the sleeves, making it seem like they tried to swallow his arms, and black cuffs.
"This is probably the ugliest sweater I have ever seen, Fullmetal."
"Yeah? That's because you have no sense for style whatsoever."
"Me?! You mean you have no style whatsoever. You wouldn't catch me dead in that atrocity."
"Even if you were dead, you're far too fat to fit into it with all the sitting around you're doing, procrastinating on your paperwork!"
"It's hard work and I don't have a gram of fat on my body! The only reason it wouldn't fit is because it is far too tiny for me."
"Why, you – OUCH!"
The young boy cowered on the floor now, his hands thrown over his head to protect the growing bulge on it. Winry stood behind him, panting hard, her trusty wrench trembling in her hand.
"Edward, he's your superior officer! Show some respect!"
Just like Edward's sweater, hers also was predominantly white and red, although her sweater was striped. She wore a light pink mini skirt, accompanied by black over-knee stockings. A red bow was attached to her otherwise loose hair, making her look especially festive.
Putting her wrench away in her handbag, she tilted her head up to face Riza and Roy.
"Good evening Colonel, Miss Riza. I'm sorry, I was helping putting Elicia into bed. She was about to wake up, but I somehow succeeded in calming her down again."
"It's alright," Riza assured her, and Roy also just waved off as he sauntered over to the punch table.
"How are you lately? I haven't seen you in a while."
"Great, thank you!" Winry replied with a gleam in her eyes, "Work has been pretty good and I haven't had to fix Ed's automail in a while which is always a plus."
"Hey!"
"I'm very glad to hear that, Winry."
"How are you, Miss Hawkeye? I love your earrings by the way – they are very beautiful. Are they new?"
"Thank you," Riza smiled softly and touched the surface of one of the pearls with her forefinger, "Yes, they are."
A mischievous grin spread on Winry's lips.
"Aw, they were a present, weren't they! Your face says it all! Who was it? Was it the same person that gave you your old earrings? If so, he really has a really good taste – unlike Ed."
"HEY!"
"Uhm, yes, they actually were a present, and indeed, by the same person who gave me the other pair of earrings," Riza zoned out a little, caught up by old memories that involved a train station, a fresh recruit for Military school, and a school girl that held a box with silver studs in her hand, but she shook her head slightly to clear her head.
"I agree, he has an amazing taste in jewelry and fashion."
Roy returned to her side and slid a small glass of punch into her palm. Winry threw him a short glance, nodding as she eyed his vest and dress shirt.
"Yes, I can see that."
The pairs' eyes widened in alarm, but before Winry could say more, Edward unexpectedly (and very involuntarily) came to their rescue.
"What do you mean I don't have a good taste?"
Winry analyzed him from head to toe and scrunched up her nose.
"Look at your sweater – it is heinous!"
"Gear-head!"
"Alchemy freak!"
A hand on Riza's arm and a warm breath in her ear drowned out the squabbling of the teens completely as Roy had leaned close to her to mutter into her ear.
"Wow, Fullmetal really has no way with fashion and women, does he?"
"Well, it is partially your fault, isn't it, sir?" She finally took a sip of the punch, savoring the taste on her tongue. "You started talking about his sweater."
"Look at it, it is atrocious!"
"That doesn't mean you just can-"
Loud shrieks, one feminine and one changing its pitch from deep to high in a second, interrupted the pair's discussion and forced their attention back to the arguing teens. Have they forgotten that Elicia was sleeping?
Both stood on front of each other with horrified faces, cheeks burning up and eyes glued to the green object hanging over them that was strategically held in place with a fishing rod by Alphonse: A mistletoe.
"Ha, Fullmetal!" Roy laughed, the smugness in his voice tangible, "Man up! Tradition says you have to kiss the lady under the mistletoe."
Unidentifiable grunts and squeaks came from the young alchemist as he turned his attention back to his childhood friend, mouth still hanging agape, opening and closing like a fish out of water while Alphonse had the time of his life. His armor literally clacked with the laughs that shook the young boy while he held the offending plant over his brother's head.
"Go on, kiss your little girlfriend! It's not that hard! I can give you tips if you want to!"
"Sir, you really shouldn't wind him up any more." Riza shook her head and closed her eyes exasperatedly.
"Aw, come on, Hawkeye, what will he do?"
"He won't do anything, but what goes around comes around."
Eyes still closed, she pointed with her forefinger to the ceiling, sighing slightly.
Roy lifted his head up, high enough to stare directly at the green thing dangling above them on a thin line that was fastened to a long rod – a rod that was being held up by a grinning, gleaming Maes Hughes.
"Yes Roy!" His smile grew only larger. "Man up! Kiss the lady under the mistletoe! You should know how it's done, right?!" As if it wasn't bad enough, Maes started to sing. "Go on and kiss the girl!"
Riza just shook her head and Maes cackled as he drew the fishing line in again.
"Seems like Roy can't man up either, huh?"
Seeing the fire in Roy's eyes, Maes gulped audibly and and hid the fishing rod behind his back quickly, a guilty smirk on his face – not, that it saved him anymore.
Staring daggers into his friend usually helped Roy in getting rid of the annoyance he felt, but somehow, today it didn't work. It didn't help either that Riza didn't seem fazed at all; she looked at Maes rather bored than annoyed and that only added to Roy's personal annoyance. Like she didn't care about kissing him at all.
Oh, she would care. And Maes would shut up forever.
Staring back at Maes, making sure he saw every single moment of Roy's, he put his punch glass into one of the side tables. His right arm took hold of Riza's left shoulder and his left arm snaked around her back before he flipped her around in a fluid motion, so she was tilted back, hanging in front of Roy's body, supported only by his arms around her as her center of gravity was way off for her body to be supported by her legs. She quickly put her glass of punch right next to Roy's, confusion written across her face, before his fingers entwined with her now free hand.
And then he kissed her.
The annoyance he had felt for his best friend surprisingly didn't show in the kiss at all. It was soft and tender, his warm lips pressed against and finally slipped between hers and her eyes fluttered closed. He drew his lips back ever so slightly before latching on again, sucking just a hint harder, but never in an obscene, inappropriate way – as far as a kiss in front of three teenagers and between two officers of the military could be appropriate at all.
Breathing in slightly, Roy caught Riza's bottom lip again, sucking lightly and tracing it with his tongue. He could taste the punch she had sipped a moment ago, and when Riza suddenly started to suckle on his upper lip as well, he could hardly suppress the groan that had built in his chest.
Riza's left arm sneaked up between their tightly pressed bodies, her fingertips just barely grasping the fabric of Roy's dress shirt in an attempt to cling at him, to ground herself, to not lose herself during the ministrations of this man. She was very glad that his arms supported her weight at that moment.
It seemed like hours had passed before Roy finally let go of her lips for the last time, panting slightly as he turned back to Maes who looked at them as shocked and open-mouthed as the three teens at the back of the room.
"Are you happy now?" Roy barked at his friend, unable to suppress the slight heat that rose to his cheek in response to his bold actions. Riza on the other hand was able to control her blood flow better and even managed to plaster another neutral, if not slightly annoyed expression onto her face to cover up the fact that she longed for another kiss.
"I'm going into the dining room now!"
Just as swiftly as he had spun her into his arms, Roy spun Riza out of his arms again and she cursed him for it. Her legs were still feeling like jelly after the kiss and she quickly grabbed the side table to keep her balance. Looking back into the direction Roy had stormed off to, she saw him turn into the dining room. Licking her lips and swallowing, she turned back to the teens, staring at her like they had seen their own parents make out.
In a way, they did, she realized.
"What?" Riza asked them now and they all closed their mouths at the same time, "I drank punch on an empty stomach. It's pretty strong."
She gulped again and tentatively let go of the table. She didn't lose her balance and she called it a success.
Wiping on her lipstick smeared lips, she looked back at Maes who wore a huge, shit-eating grin now.
"Uhm, I'll go check if Gracia needs any help. If you would excuse me."
With that, she wobbly followed the Colonel out of the room, already fearing Maes's outburst of happiness at the table later on.