AN: i love happy royai sm ;_; they truly deserve it (esp after everything i've done to them in fics lmaooo) and it's a joy to write them like this 3

i hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Riza rose almost automatically from her bed when the alarm went off. Hayate protested in her warm and inviting bed, not ready to rise at five o'clock in the morning. She was halfway to her bathroom when she stopped for a second, finally waking up.

"I have a day off today," she muttered to herself. She blinked once, brain finally catching up with what day it was. "I have a day off today," she said louder, a smile breaking out on her face. She quickly visited the bathroom then quite literally jumped back into her bed, pulling an irritated Hayate against her body with a happy sigh. With the duvet pulled right up under her chin, she sighed in contentment and fell back asleep almost instantly. While Riza would have loved to have savoured the moment some more, it was honestly such a joy to be able to fall asleep again and sleep past five am.

The next time she awoke it was almost noon.

With a long and incredibly satisfying stretch Riza lay back in her bed, feeling well rested for the first time in months. It was unheard of her sleeping past eight o'clock in the morning – she'd been an early riser her whole life – but she must have needed the extra rest.

Lounging for another half hour and scratching her pup behind the ears absentmindedly, Riza thought about nothing in particular. It was bliss.

It was all interrupted as she checked her phone, but the brief moment of peace had been a godsend.

"Where have you been?" Rebecca asked. She was clearly exasperated but there was a hint of concern in there too. Riza felt herself stiffen slightly at her tone. The only reason she noticed it was because, for once in her adult life, she felt relaxed.

When it came to her, Rebecca was always either exasperated or frustrated, but it was done with love. Riza being stuck in her "backward ways" and also apparently "living under a rock" was incomprehensible to her oldest friend, but she still loved her fiercely and accepted Riza for who she was regardless. After mentioning some pop culture reference that Riza didn't get, Rebecca would roll her eyes, but smile and explain it to her, showing her some short video or picture. She was Riza's biggest supporter and she would never forget that. She didn't have many, never had, and those who stuck around, Riza would always remember.

"Sleeping," Riza replied.

"… sleeping? Until noon?"

"I know, right?" Riza grinned.

"Has hell frozen over?"

"I wouldn't know, I'm not there. Look out your window, can you see any ice?"

"Oh, ha ha." Riza smiled, able to picture Rebecca sticking her tongue out at her for that comment. "How come you were asleep? Weren't you working today?"

"Izumi gave me the day off."

"You? A day off? I didn't realise you were aware of the concept."

"Oh, ha ha."

"Seriously though," Rebecca replied, time sincere. "I'm happy for you. You needed one and if anyone deserves it, it's you."

"Thanks, Becca."

"Okay, so more good news to add onto that. The music manager of Ignis contacted me this morning."

"Oh?" Riza asked, smoothing her hand over Hayate's fur, only half paying attention as she smiled at Hayate's adorable yawn, followed by a sigh.

"Yeah, they want you to play again, either Friday or Saturday. Sunday is also available if you'd like it, but he explained that those two are their biggest nights and they want you to play it."

Riza's hand stopped. Hayate's head popped up, turning to look at her with his big eyes, begging for more scratches.

"Really?" Riza asked in disbelief.

"Yeah!" Rebecca exclaimed in excitement. "Riza, they love you – and rightly so, I might add – and I definitely think you should take this up."

"I mean… Wow. Yeah. Let's go for it."

"Brilliant!" Rebecca replied, sounding elated. "What day suits you?"

"Um, let me check my diary." In half a daze she left the comfort of her bed and entered her living room, picking up her bag and pulling the diary from within. She was working Friday until closing but was off on Saturday. Momentarily distracted, Riza thought about how she would need to ask Izumi for a shift that day. She was only working four days this week now with these impromptu days off –

"Riza?"

"Sorry, I just had to find it." This is what you love. Focus on that instead. "I can do Saturday. Is that okay with them?"

"They're desperate to get you in again, I'm sure that will be perfect."

"Oh. Okay." That concept was still foreign to her, someone actually really wanting to hear her perform.

"I'll text you the guy's number if you want to discuss it with him?"

"Um, yeah, sure. Why not?" Riza shrugged.

"Okay. Oh, I'm so happy for you, Riza! It's about time you got the recognition you deserved!"

Riza felt herself soften at her friend's compliment. "Thanks, Becca."

"Okay, I have to run. My lunch break is over. I'll send over the guy's number and you can phone him."

"Thanks, Becca. Bye."

A minute later a text lit up her phone and Riza sat on her couch, psyching herself to make the call.

"Maes Hughes," a voice answered the phone.

"Um, hi. My name is Riza Hawkeye. I played on –"

"Riza! Hey!" he replied very enthusiastically. "How are you?"

Taken aback by the question, she paused for a second. "I'm great. Thank you for asking. How are you?" she added quickly as an afterthought. When she spoke to people in this man's position before it was all business, not time for pleasantries. This was already a nice change of pace.

"Oh, brilliant! I'm so glad you got back to us. I spoke to your manager and offered you the Friday or Saturday slot. Which would you prefer? There's also the Sunday available, however we would rather you took one of the others as they are our busiest, for your own sake, of course. There's no pressure. I totally understand if you have commitments already, that's fine, just let me know. So, what do you say?"

Riza blinked as he ended his excited ramble. She hadn't been able to get a word in edgeways.

"I'm working on Friday, so would Saturday be all right?" she asked politely.

"That would be perfect!" he exclaimed. "Oh, fantastic. My manager – Roy – absolutely loved you on Saturday, and that's a hard thing to come by," Riza felt herself blush at the compliment, the good-looking man popping into her mind's eye unwarranted. She was so pleased Maes couldn't see her face. "So, I was thinking of offering you a regular slot, if that's something you would be interested in?"

Oh my god. "Um, yeah," Riza replied in a rush, eager. "Absolutely." The voice in her head was telling her to hell with sleep, she would perform for them anytime – she loved singing that much.

"Excellent. I look forward to seeing you soon."

"I can come down today," she blurted out without thinking.

"Sorry?"

"I mean, if you want to hear me live again before Saturday." That voice was screaming at her not to squander this opportunity. After a brief pause she feared she'd overstepped herself.

"Really?" he asked, excitement lacing his tone. "You would?"

"I have a day off today," she explained. "If you want to be sure before Saturday then I can."

"Oh my god. Yes please, if you wouldn't mind! How does two sound? You'll be paid, of course, and lunch will be on the house."

"Oh, that's very kind but –"

"Don't mention it! See you at two, Riza!"

"O – Okay. See you at two."

"Bye!"

She flopped down on her bed. Hayate moseyed on over, pressing his nose against her cheek, body curling around her body.

"I have a gig on Saturday," she grinned. Hayate huffed in response, tail wagging furiously when she turned to look at him.

Maes burst into Roy's office with a flourish and a grin.

"Hey, Maes."

"Guess who I just booked for Saturday night?" he boasted, sauntering into the room to lean against the desk with a pleased as punch look on his face.

"The Seven Sins?" They'd played for them once and their energy was incredible, it was something else. Roy would have liked to bring them back, but schedule restraints stopped them from coming to an agreement on a date.

"No," Maes drawled. "A certain Miss Riza Hawkeye."

Roy couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. "Did she agree?" he asked, moving his attention from the budget report in front of him to the expense report from the last month.

"She most certainly did. I also invited her down for lunch to discuss an agreement."

"Agreement?" Roy asked, finally looking up from his paperwork with his brow furrowed in confusion.

Maes winked. "As manager of live music, it's my job to make sure I provide you with the best. It was my intention to offer her not only a contract – after hearing her sing, of course – but I never said that would be on Saturday night."

"So, she's coming here today for lunch for a gig?" Roy asked, lifting an eyebrow. "There's no one here, Maes," he reminded his friend.

"There doesn't need to be. I mentioned that we may be able to come to an agreement about a consistent slot once I'd heard her sing in person, and Miss Hawkeye offered to come down here herself."

"Oh. All right, okay. That's –"

"Brilliant!" Maes beamed. "Okay, I'll go and organise the set.

"Don't you think –"

He was already out the door.

Roy blinked in surprise. He felt like a tornado has just passed through his office, leaving news in its wake for Roy to digest it all after it was gone. And while this impromptu gig was a surprise, it was a good surprise. At least he'd be able to have a proper conversation with Riza now, the other night had been rushed and charged with excitement. If she was going to be a regular, he would like to get a feel for the woman, see what she was like personally.

Two o'clock came around a lot quicker than Roy thought it would. He'd been pulled from pouring over more budgets and expense reports by a shout from Maes.

"Yeah?" Roy called back to his friend, distracted as he finalised the last of the report he'd been working on all day.

"Miss Hawkeye is here." There was a hurried request for him to just call her by her first name and Roy smiled to himself.

"Okay, I'll be down in a second."

Walking down the stairs to the main part of the bar Roy composed himself. He'd stretched after sitting at his desk for so long and in his haste to greet his guest, it had left him slightly flushed.

"Miss Hawkeye," he greeted with a grin as he approached her and Maes. They'd taken a seat at a table, but the first thing Roy noticed was a little dog underneath it. He grinned at the pup, coaxing it out from underneath, extending his hand for it to sniff. Cautiously, the Shiba edged out and greeted this new stranger, tail wagging excitedly. Its little head cocked, eyes closing as Roy scratched him behind the ears.

"It's Riza, please," she stated. "And I hope you don't mind," she apologised hurriedly. "I couldn't leave him alone for too long and my apartment is quite a distance from here. I can always take him outside –"

"That's quite all right," Roy grinned up at her before returning his attention to the small dog. Once he stopped with his scratches, the dog looked up expectantly at Roy, waiting for more. "He's a lovely little thing."

"Thank you," she breathed, obviously relieved that Roy didn't kick her dog outside. Besides, he loved dogs. He'd grown up with them and had always wanted one now that he had his own place, but it wouldn't be fair to poor animal when he was touring.

"What's his name?"

"He's called Hayate," she stated, her cheeks turning slightly pink. Roy thought she must feel slightly embarrassed by the name, and it was an endearing sight. She was endearing. Again, she was dressed in a sports hoodie, jeans, and trainers. It was so different from what he was used to – the extravagant outfits female artists normally wore, the perfectly crafted hairstyles, and thick makeup. Riza's face was bare of any makeup and Roy noted that she didn't need it at all. She had naturally beautiful face that didn't need to be painted. In Roy's opinion, he felt the same with all women, they didn't need makeup at all, but he could understand and sympathise with why they wore it. Turning his attention away from her beauty in fear of blushing at his thoughts, he also noted that her hair was tied up in a messy bun atop her head.

"Hey, Hayate," Roy greeted, giving him another pet. There was a very subdued yip from him in response. The dog chose to rub himself against Roy's legs when he stood, already accepting him as a friend.

"He's a very friendly dog," Riza revealed with a proud smile at her dog.

"He's lovely."

"So," Maes interjected suddenly, giving Roy a very pointed raise of his eyebrow. He'd been watching the whole exchange, and, in all honesty, Roy had forgotten he was even there. "Lunch first?" he ventured.

Riza quickly tried to protest their offer of free lunch. "Honestly, I'm all right, just a water will be fine with me –"

"Please, it's the least we can do for dragging you all the way out here," Roy pleaded with her. "Think of it as a thank you for agreeing to come here today." He knew she'd offered, but he was still grateful. He still couldn't get her voice out of his head and her EP was still in the hi-fi at home. He resisted the urge to smile when he spotted another slight blush cover her cheeks at his praise.

"No, it's okay –"

"Jean!" Maes shouted.

"Yo!" came the bartender's reply as he poked his head around the door to the kitchens.

"Three plates of chips please, and three passionfruit mocktails."

"Coming up," Jean replied with a salute.

"Sorry for assuming," Maes grinned. "But will chips be all right with you? The kitchen doesn't technically open until four o'clock and Jean may be a skilled bartender, but his skills in the kitchen leave a lot to be desired. Luckily for us, he can cook a mean plate of homemade chips without setting the whole place on fire."

"That…" she looked slightly bewildered and Roy could sympathise. That was his constant feeling while conversing with Maes, especially when the man was excited. "That would be lovely, thank you."

"Okay, good," Maes grinned. "And, Jean's passionfruit mocktail is to die for," he stated dramatically. "I don't know what he does but no other has ever come close to it."

"I'd be honoured to give it a try," Riza told him.

After lunch, Maes left them to set up the sound system so Riza could play some songs. Roy noticed that she seemed slightly nervous about the whole affair.

"I know Maes can be a handful," he told her with a chuckle, expression sympathetic. "But he really does mean well. I apologise for his behaviour. I've known him for about fifteen years and still to this day I'm left bewildered sometimes."

"No, it's quite all right," she reassured him. "He's lovely, I just… didn't expect it, that's all. It's nice," she added, eyes meeting his with a genuine smile.

"I'm glad."

Conversation flowed easily with them, never a break in between their topics. At one point he had her giggling away with him as he recounted tales of his childhood with Maes and how this bar came about. He didn't let on that he was a famous singer. Riza still didn't really seem to grasp that concept and he was loath to break the spell. She was a delight to talk to and treated him like he was a human being, not someone who was high up on a pedestal, untouchable by all, because of his success. He'd worked hard and yes, he'd become rich from it, but it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. A lot of long days and nights, tears, and energy – to the point he would sleep for fifteen hours because of the exhaustion – had gone into his success. Roy didn't want to taint this budding new friendship/partnership with that darkness just yet.

And he tried to ignore the flutter in his chest as he heard her laugh, tried to repress the feeling in his stomach when she smiled at him, but she was a very beautiful and attractive woman. However, what drew Roy to her most was her personality. She was witty, sarcastic, and incredibly funny. She was so sweet and polite too, constantly thanking him over and over for giving her the opportunity to perform. Roy told her not to mention it, that it was a pleasure to have her, and this time he didn't ignore the flip in his stomach when she blushed at his compliments.

He would compliment her all day if it meant catching her bashful smile and rosy cheeks.

"You two ready?" Maes asked, a knowing look on his face.

"Oh, yes! Sorry, I'll get set up," Riza uttered in a rush, as if remembering why she was there. It appears the both of them had forgotten why she was here today. With a click glance behind Riza to the clock on the wall he realised they'd been sitting talking, alone, for over an hour. He hadn't even realised. Maes' pointed look and the wink, followed by a grin, that he hid from Riza told Roy that he'd noticed it too.

But Roy didn't ignore him, he didn't roll his eyes and tell him off, he just smiled – rather smugly – back at his friend. He wasn't ashamed of what he'd spent his afternoon doing. She was truly a joy to talk to and Roy would love to get to know her a little more. He would tell Riza that outright too, if she asked.

The performance was incredible, as he'd expected. There was a different feeling in the air as it was just the two of them, plus Jean and Heymans who had come out from the back to listen. Heymans was their head cook who had just arrived for the day to begin prepping the food when they begun serving at five. On a Monday – and through to Wednesday – the bar didn't open until then, but on Thursday through to Sunday they opened for lunch at twelve.

This time it was more intimate, and Roy felt blessed to have heard it.

Again, Roy noticed the nervousness about Riza, and couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"I'm not used to playing for so few people," she admitted when he'd shook her hand and praised her performance an hour later.

"But you've played in front of so many before," he stated gently, not intending to belittle her feelings, he just wanted to understand her reasons.

"I know, but with them I know that I have a lot of people to look at and I don't need to focus on just one. With less… It's like there's more pressure." She laughed to herself. "Weird, right?" she asked quietly, gaze dropping away from him, as if ashamed.

"Not at all," he told her. He'd been there many times. Playing to thousands was easy because it was such a large number, his brain couldn't comprehend that this many people were here to see him. Playing to a handful was so much different, and – like it had been for Riza – the place can be silent, and the artist can have nothing to go off. There's limited energy from the crowd and Roy could never truly feel sure if they were enjoying it or not while he was singing. "I completely understand," he added, giving her a soft smile.

Maes chose that moment to swoop in and remove Riza's attention from him. They walked away from the stage, Maes with his arm around her shoulders as he excitedly told her that he couldn't wait to hear her on Saturday. He handed her an envelope with her payment – and as expected, she tried to refuse. Roy found himself smiling, amused, again, as he begun to dismantle the stage. They would need the extra room for tables tonight and the live music wouldn't be on again until Friday evening, so everything was put away during the week.

"Thank you." She was extremely grateful as she left, taking a happy Hayate along with her. "I'll see you both on Saturday?"

"We look forward to it," Maes beamed.

After a brief farewell, Maes sauntered up to the staged with a smirk on his face.

"Yes, Maes? Can I help you?" Roy asked, amused at his antics.

"Oh, nothing," he replied, idly brushing his hands over the back of the chair Riza had vacated. "Just excited about our new possible business deal. I don't need to ask to know you are too," he winked.

"It will be good for the bar, and for her."

"Hm, and for her, eh?"

"Maes," Roy admonished, but didn't hide his smile.

"Just don't do anything stupid. Don't' ruin it," he replied, clapping Roy on the back amicably. "So, basically, don't be yourself," he laughed, walking away as Roy shook his head. The smile had yet to leave his face and anticipation coiled in his stomach at what this might become. It was too early, far too early, but he couldn't help but hope that things might… progress between himself and Riza. He definitely liked her, and she appeared to like him, shooting him genuine smiles all afternoon. They made the corner of her eyes crinkle as she laughed, and Roy found he was quite taken with her.

So, yeah. He was excited. If it didn't work out, that was fine. All he knew was that he liked her and would like to see where it went.

After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.