Whoohooo! Royai Day!
This peice was originally submitted for RoyaiFanClub's contest and I wanted to upload it up here for today too. Enjoy!
The flower was beautiful, with blue petals that gradually faded out to white near the bud. The stem was cut short and the leaves were already dropping, but it was still the sweetest smelling flower she had ever smelt.
Riza Hawkeye was just confused as to why her father's student thad just shoved it in her hands looking unsatisfied. She did not know Roy Mustang too well; she ate meals with him, had some short conversations, and he never objected to helping her out with chores. But they had never actually spent a lot of time together and she didn't know why the blushing trainee alchemist had handed her the flower.
"Uh… thank you?"
"My mother's dead!" he blurted, before turning an even brighter shade of red and looking at the ground.
"Oh, well, I'm sorry…" This was a thoroughly out of place conversation. She felt sorry for him—Riza herself had never known her mother—but it was a very random comment. How was she supposed to react?
"What? Oh, it's fine, I never really knew her, but that's not what I was trying to say! Um, my father."
"You're father's dead too?"
"Well, yes, but no! He used to tell me stories." If the boy got any redder, she would have to plant him in the garden and see if he would be able to make the tomatoes grow.
"He would always try to find a flower that were more beautiful than her. He used to drag me to flower shops trying to find the perfect flower, but he could never find it."
"What do I have to do with this? Do you want me to say it's beautiful, because it is. It's the prettiest flower I've ever seen."
"No, I was trying to find one prettier than you."
"Oh."
Well that was extremely rude. The flower was very beautiful, but why would he bring it up, brag about finding plant life prettier than her? She didn't really doubt the truth of the statement— she had seen pictures of her mother and Riza was nothing compared to her— but that was still extremely rude from someone she thought was a gentleman.
"I thought I had found one, but it's not." He frowned, looking disappointed. Riza frowned also, trying to understand what he was saying. When he saw the look on her face, he turned red again and stomped away.
"You're just too pretty!"
Riza stared at the boy's turned back, his words ringing in her ears as she fingered the flower's petals.
"Sir, why on earth are we going to a flower shop?"
"I've already told you, I'll tell you when we get there!"
Riza Hawkeye sighed exasperatedly in Roy Mustang's direction. He was being utterly ridiculous. The hospital had finally let him out and instead of going home like he should, he insisted on her driving him to the flower shop. She had tried to convince him, but nothing she said would change his mind.
"This one, Riza, if you wouldn't mind."
He had also picked up the unsettling habit of calling her by her first name when they were alone together. Usually they tried to keep it professional no matter the circumstance, but he seemed to have grown an attachment to her name.
She parked neatly in front of the shop and Roy climbed out of the door and hurried in.
"Sir!" she protested, hurrying after him.
He was already searching though the neat bouquets, soaking them up with his newly healed eyes. After the first few dozen he walked up to the cashier and politely asked for help finding "The most beautiful flower you have."
The woman led him around, showing him a number of flowers, all of whom Riza thought were beautiful. However none of them seemed to be good enough, as his face would fall after everyone. They passed through the petunias, lilies, daisies, and roses, but he wasn't satisfied with any of them. Finally the cashier gave up and told that if he didn't like any of the ones she had already shown him, she couldn't help.
"Which one do you like best?" he finally asked Riza after the woman had walked away, annoyed.
"Why is this so important?"
"Humor me, please. Which one is your favorite?"
Sighing, she led her superior through the maze of flowers before coming to a simple flower with blue petals that faded to white closer to the bud.
"This is my favorite, sir."
Roy frowned at the flower and plucked it out of the bouquet. Riza tried to protest, but he shushed her and held the flower up. Without another word or action he shook his head and dropping it in her hands.
"I knew it."
"What did you know sir?"
Roy smirked.
"That I would never be able to find a flower that could match your beauty."
Then he turned on his heel and walked to the car. Riza stared at the Roy's turned back, his words ringing in her ears as she fingered the flower's petals. Then he called out without looking in her direction:
"You're just too pretty!"