Title: Just Trust Me
Type: Oneshot
Pairings/Characters: Royai
DISCLAMER: I own nothing other than the fanfiction itself
Summary: He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut short when Riza placed a finger over his lips. "I trust you."
Roy and her father had both gone into town for their own undisclosed reasons, and Riza was not expecting them back until later that night. She had taken advantage of this opportunity to get some cleaning done without the two obtrusive men walking about the house. The young girl stood on the tips of her toes, placing a book back upon one of the shelves in the library, lost in her own world as she let the music coming from the record player flow through her body. She dropped back to the heels of her feet, letting her eyes slide shut as she reveled in her momentary safe haven. She began to hum the notes of the song lightly to herself as she spun, a fragile doll trapped within a music box.
Her reprieve was short-lived, however, for her hazel eyes shot open in surprise as she felt a hand grab her own and another snake across her slender waist to rest upon her lower back. "Mustang-san." Her words were not a question but a statement, and she wanted to slap herself for letting her momentary sensation of shock leak into her voice. She looked into his obsidian eyes as he smirked. She tried to pull away, but he held her in place. The look in her hazel eyes turned to one of defiance. "Let me go."
"Why?" Roy asked with a grin as he spun her.
"You weren't supposed to be back until later tonight." Riza twirled underneath his arm before he brought her back to his chest.
"I came home early." Roy stated the obvious.
"If my father walks in-"
"He is wrapped up in town at the book store. He told me to tell you he probably won't be back for dinner."
"I-"
"-have no reason whatsoever not to be having a little fun dancing with me." Roy finished her sentence before she had a chance to do so. He smiled down at her. "Just trust me."
Riza relented, letting herself slip back into the pleasurable sensation of the music and the even more enjoyable rhythmic steps she made as she moved in time with her father's apprentice. She felt her foot come to rest on something other than the floor, and she looked up at Roy, cheeks tinted pink. "Sorry." She said, removing her foot from atop his toes. Roy laughed, and she could not help but smile, too.
The warmth of the fireplace and the light streaming through the windows faded, and they were left with icy desert nights and only pinpricks of stars and raging bonfires to illuminate their surroundings. Improvised drums beat loudly against the silence of the night as the weather-worn soldiers rejoiced the victory of another battle. It was repulsive, Riza thought; how could they celebrate the massacre of thousands of innocent people? She shot a child earlier that day- her orders had been to leave no one alive. She was repulsive, in her own eyes.
She sat upon one of the crates that had been dragged around the fire and clutched in her hand a cup of amber liquid. One of her regiment had discovered a way to make alcohol, and it was flowing freely that night. She was underage, but she didn't care. No one did. This was hell on earth, and everyone knew it. No one would deny another soldier a simple pleasure that might help ease the nagging pain-
"You shouldn't be drinking that."
-or so she thought.
Riza needed only to look upwards as far as the chest of her new companion to see who it was. The gloves would have given him away if she had not recognized his voice, but how could she not recognize the voice that lived in half of her memories, not to mention dreams? Her gaze dropped from Roy and she stared into her cup, willing him away. She couldn't look at him, couldn't bear to be looked at by him, after what she had done. She was a monster.
A gloved hand reached down and grabbed the cup, taking it away from her. She still did not look at him. When he grabbed her hand, this was when she lifted her hazel eyes to his obsidian ones, fire reflected in the dark orbs.
"Dance with me."
"Major Mustang, I-"
"Just trust me."
Riza complied as if through instinct and rose to her feet, walking with him to the circle of bodies about the bonfire. Their forms began to move to the beat, their dance a far cry from the one they shared as children. They swayed in a manner far less innocent and with far more passion, their bodies closer together than Riza would have allowed had she been thinking clearly. However, her senses were clouded, lost in him.
It was mutually understood, without being spoken, why they were dancing. They were moving to the beat of the music to fend off the shadows and the demons that lay within them, to delay the nightmares even for a short time. They were both attempting to momentarily lose themselves in the presence of the other, to become so entwined in the idea of the two of them that it was impossible to dwell on their inner sorrows.
His hands rested low on her waist and her hands found themselves on his chest and shoulders, both soldiers completely disregarding those around them who were doing very much the same thing. No one cared about protocol in a war zone. There was too much of a risk of dying the next day not to live in the present, and everyone knew it. Even Riza.
Roy led her by the hand as they weaved through the tents, headed away from camp. They neared the abandoned building that was their destination, but as they strayed the light began to fade. In the newfound darkness, Riza felt her foot catch on a rock and she fell forward, only to come to rest in Roy's arms. She looked up at him, a sheepish smile on her lips. "Sorry." She said. He smiled down at her and helped her to her feet, taking her hand once more.
Roy leaned in and brushed his lips against hers before pressing them to the shell of her ear. "Quiet, or you will get us caught." He whispered. He pulled back and led her further away from the camp, and, as Riza followed, she was unable to rid herself of the warm, exhilarating sensation coursing through her veins.
The darkness lifted and the barren landscape vanished, replaced by buildings and roads and people. Central was a far cry from Ishbal. Riza strode across the office, placing forms on the empty desk of her teammates for them to tend to when they returned from their lunch break. The hour they were allotted had just started, and the four men had torn from the room as if they were running a marathon.
Riza had stayed behind to tend to the paperwork and to make sure Roy completed what was on his desk before she gave him more. She strode over to his desk, dropping the forms down hard enough to jolt the sleeping colonel awake.
Roy awoke with a start and ran a hand down the side of his face after sitting up. "How long was I out?" He asked before looking around the room. "Lunch already?"
"Yes, sir. You were asleep for about thirty minutes."
"Why didn't you wake me?"
"I just did." Riza said, fighting the small smirk that threatened to rise to her lips. She turned away from him and walked over to the bookcase, standing on the tips of her toes to reach the top shelf.
"Lieutenant?"
"Yes, Sir?" She asked, looking back over her shoulder.
"Do you want some help with that?"
"No, thank you, Sir." Riza said as she turned back to the bookcase. "Besides, you need to finish your paperwork." Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as the book was plucked from her hand and placed on the shelf in its proper place. She turned only to find Roy standing incredibly close to her, looking down at her with a smirk on his lips.
"Sir?"
"Do you remember when we were kids and I caught you dancing in the library?"
"You're procrastinating, Sir."
"Do you?"
Riza sighed. There was no winning this battle. "Yes."
"Have you gotten any better?"
"At what, Sir?" He couldn't really be doing this, she thought.
"At dancing."
He really was doing this, Riza realized. "I think so, but-"
"Prove it."
"Excuse me?"
"I won't believe you unless you prove it to me. Of course, if you would rather dance like we did in Ishbal, I wouldn't be opposed-"
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
Roy smiled. He took Riza by the hand and placed his other hand on her waist, stepping back a bit and finding that she followed suit with little resistance. He began to move to the music of a song he had known by heart ever since he first heard it hummed through her lips, and Riza was well aware of the inaudible tune they were dancing to. Roy let out a bit of a chuckle, and Riza looked up at him with a questioning gaze.
"You have gotten better. You haven't stepped on my foot yet - ow!"
"Is that more like it?" Riza asked in a slightly teasing tone as she looked up at him, the sole of her boot on top of the toe of his.
Roy let out a laugh and Riza joined him briefly, both soldiers blissfully unaware that the door had cracked open moments ago. Havoc had come back to retrieve some long forgotten item and now discreetly closed the door before running off to the dining hall, reveling in gossip far better than anything the cafeteria was serving.
A/N: So, I don't really like how I ended this, but it seemed to be the best way at the time. Rate and Review!
