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Chapter twenty-eight
"You sure that the Old Fart isn't trying to chat you up?" Ed asked suspiciously as Riza helped button up his shirt. She saw that Al was finishing the last button on his own waistcoat. It was dark blue and suited him very nicely as the way it worked with the black trousers and the white shirt left him still looking like a well-dressed child instead of a young adult.
"I'm quite sure, Edward," Riza told him calmly. "Which tie do you want?"
Ed glared at her. "That wasn't a part of the deal. I'll wear the waistcoat instead," he said grumpily. "Why the hell do we have to wear something this formal to a dinner with only your boss and his Nan anyways?"
Riza finished with the last button and went over to the wardrobe to find the red waistcoat that they had bought earlier today with the rest of their formal wear. She didn't want to tell anyone, but they would have had to go to a second-hand clothes shop hadn't it been for the fact that her grandfather, perceptive as ever, had called her to his office alone about an hour after they arrived at the station this morning.
She had to say that she was still a bit exasperated with him for having failed to mention as she was transferred to East that her new boss just happened to be her grandfather's protégé. Actually, he hadn't really told her anything, but it had all been to let her make up her own opinion about the DCI without feeling pressured about his relationship to her grandfather.
But it also meant that he had visited "Nanna Mustang" quite a few times and shared with Riza that the old woman was very fond of receiving her dinner guests wearing their best. The fact that her boss hadn't told her about it, had made her sure that it was because he knew that her budget was still rather tight and didn't want to add any pressure on her.
Which was why her grandfather had handed her an envelope with fifty thousand cens and called it a gift because he now had a couple of great-grandchildren that he felt obliged to buy formal wear, as well as a moving in gift for Riza.
...Because he knew as well as she did that she had given her old dress to a second-hand store the day after finding Will because she had bought it for her first wedding anniversary, which made her stomach clench.
So now she had a brand new dress, a dark green one that went just above her knees in front and that only had one strap going over her left shoulder, a black belt around her waist with a small bow and the skirt of the dress was of the asymmetrical type that went lower behind than in front by about twenty-five centimetres. She had been sceptical about buying it because even if it was within budget, it was very far from her professional style of dresses.
She was holding up a pretty, dark purple dress that went to below her knees, the design simple and with long sleeves. Then suddenly she heard the patter of running feet behind her. "Try this, Riza!" Al said happily, Ed walking behind him.
She had looked at the dress, and yes, it was very pretty, but...
"I don't know, Al, doesn't it show a bit too much skin?" she asked carefully.
Al looked a little crestfallen, but then Ed stepped up. "Not really, and the back's closed. You should try this one, 'cos all the other ones you've been looking at tell most of those around you that you're a spinster and too much of one to be capable of having fun."
Riza stared. "You think it makes me look like a spinster?"
Ed frowned a bit with a nod. "Yeah. I mean, you ARE a cop, but you should be off-duty from time to time, don't you think?"
"...I'm not sure, Ed."
Ed sighed and walked all the way over to her. "You wanna hear what I think? I think you don't wanna have a dress that can be seen as something that'll make you look attractive 'cos you don't wanna risk falling in love and be hurt again. But that's stupid, 'cos you can wear a pretty dress that suits you and not let that bastard of an ex-husband rule your life anymore. You can't let someone like THAT control your wardrobe! So try our dress and see what you think and if anyone should even try to hurt you, then me and Al are gonna walk up to them and kick their shin. You're twenty-two and you should dress like it, otherwise you're just wasting your money." Then he had turned around and walked back to his little brother, blushing.
Basically, what Riza had learnt today was that Ed was A) getting protective of her, which was heartwarming, B) Ed was obviously relating to her experiences, and C) he was also completely right and she would have been a coward if she hadn't tried it on after that particular pep-talk.
Also, the boys had actively put in a lot of effort in finding her a dress. They had wanted to help her with something that must be highly uncomfortable for them. They were obviously trying to do something for her.
Basically, they try all they can not to be so, at least Ed, but they're adorable.
She had to keep herself from laughing as she went back to Ed, and instead kept her voice level and steady as she tried to find out a respectful way of explaining it to Ed.
She was interrupted by the two knocks on the front door.
"I'll get it, Riza!" Al said. "I'm done." Then he went out of the room to open the door as Mustang announced his presence so as not to scare Al to the same extent as he had this morning.
And in the meantime, she was doing everything she could not to think about the letter that had been waiting for her when they came home.
Roy looked down at Alphonse as the boy opened the door, smiling brightly, looking very stylish indeed. Hawkeye had asked Roy earlier to wait as she took the boys to buy formal wear at the end of the day. He hadn't complained as it gave him some extra time to prepare himself for the potential catastrophe that dinner would present. When Hawkeye had asked him right after returning from Grumman's office, he had relaxed some because he knew that it must have meant that her grandfather had chipped in and she wouldn't be stretching her budget more than she already did.
Roy smiled and ruffled the young boy's hair. "Hi there, kiddo. You're looking sharp today."
Al smiled, but then he looked a bit awkward. "Could you help me with my tie? Riza's busy helping Brother and I've only worn bowties before," he said shyly, holding up a black tie in his right hand.
"Of course, Al, let's go into the bathroom and I'll show you how it's done in front of the mirror."
Al lit up. He had been very excited after Roy had told them that his Nan was deaf, because it turned out that Alphonse had used to have a deaf friend who moved to West City last year, but it meant that Al was fluent in ASL and was looking forward to using it again.
And so Roy followed him into the bathroom and helped him with the tie, to which Al responded with hugging him in thanks. It appeared that with earning trust from Al came a lot of hugs because of what had happened to the Elrics and the kid sucked up the much needed affection like a sponge.
So Roy had Alphonse practically glued to his waist as heard the sound of shoes on wooden floorboards and turned around to find Edward in a surprising attire but not so much so with the choice of colour. "Looking good, Ed, it suits you."
Ed growled slightly. "Whatever. You're sure that the food's good?"
Roy smiled. "It's the best there is."
Then came the sound of high heels walking towards them and Sergeant Hawkeye appeared in the doorway and Roy knew he was damned. She looked stunning. Her dress was highlighting her curves in just the right way, her hair was hanging in a loose plait over her right shoulder and was the only thing covering it as far as he could tell, her high heels were just the right height and had a thin heel and covered her feet with a single cross and a strap of leather across where her toes began.
Question was if he should compliment her or move onto business.
"That's a very nice dress, Sergeant," Roy said, trying to go with a compliment that didn't sound like a pick-up line.
Because calling you a goddess is going to be taken the wrong way...
It still didn't mean that Roy wasn't half expecting his subordinate to start glowing and sprout wings.
Which was why he took in her dress and as quickly as possible focused his attention back to her face.
Her lovely, kind face that he would very much like to find out was as soft to the touch as it looked.
What the hell, Roy?!
This would end bad. This would actually go to hell and it seemed to be doing so rather sooner than later.
Hawkeye, however, gave him a little smile, making his stomach heat up even further. "Thank you, sir."
Roy smiled and nodded. "Shall we get going, then? My Nan's very excited about meeting the three of you."
Thirty minutes later, they were being greeted by his Nan, each of them receiving a very enthusiastic hug, the flat permeated with the scent of delicious food.
Her face transformed into one big grin when Al suddenly decided to present himself in ASL and she engaged in a long, silent conversation with the Elrics because Ed understood everything even if he couldn't exactly sign at the moment, but that wasn't a problem when she could read his lips. Roy took Hawkeye's coat and carefully hung it on the coat hanger. Any reason not to look at her was a good one. He could preserve his dignity for a bit longer that way.
Things went well through dinner. The food was, as Ed called it, awesome. The dessert, a chocolate mousse with flakes of white chocolate and a bit of chocolate sauce on top was very well received and conversation went very well.
Basically, everything went very well and Roy hadn't messed things up and managed to hide his blushes as a coughing fit, meaning that the redness in his face looked like something completely different.
They were invited to come by any time they wanted and the boys seemed to have benefitted from having their minds distracted from the meeting with Yoki next morning.
In fact both boys fell asleep in the car and Roy helped Hawkeye carry the pair of them up to the flat, Roy taking Al as he weighed more than his brother due to the missing arm. The Elrics were barely coherent as they were helped into their pyjamas, Al even needed help to brush his teeth too because his eyes crossed and he nearly stabbed the toothbrush in his own eye as his hand slipped.
And so Roy found himself brushing a child's teeth for the first time in his life, not exactly sure if he was doing it correctly. It was half past eleven after all and the boys had been up for eighteen hours. It was all intentional because if the boys were basically too tired to worry about the next day as they fell asleep, then they wouldn't keep themselves awake until three in the morning out of fear. Six hours of sleep were better than two and a half.
And so they tucked them in and bade them good night, only receiving a snore from Ed and a "goohmblbmm," from Al as they closed the door, leaving a little crack for Ed to open the door with his foot if necessary.
"Well, I guess I should make my leave, Sergeant, good night," Roy said, turning towards the door.
Then he heard a sniff behind his back and turned around in alarm to find Hawkeye standing there with tears in her eyes.
Definitely not leaving, then.
Roy took a couple of steps closer to her so that they were only standing half a metre apart. "Sergeant?" Roy asked in alarm.
She wiped her face with her hands, before looking at him pleadingly. "Could we... could we talk, sir?" Hawkeye asked quietly.
Roy carefully grabbed her elbow and led her in the direction of the kitchen, but she headed for the couch instead, and so he followed her and sat down next to her, pulling out a handkerchief from the pocket on his waistcoat. "Here," he told her kindly.
She immediately took it and brought it to her face to wipe it dry, even if she kept producing new tears. "He... he's getting m-married..." she whispered, making Roy's stomach clench. "It hasn't even been t-two months s-since the separation a-and he's engaged."
Roy felt anger begin to boil his insides and he held her shoulders. "That only says that he's a bastard and has nothing to do with you, Hawkeye," he told her sternly.
"He s-sent me a letter t-to tell me that a-as soon as the s-separation is over a-and the divorce is o-official, he's going to m-marry that w-woman," she cried quietly.
Disgust and worry were getting really hard to ignore. He also felt strongly for taking the next train to Central and punch that bastard in the face. And he felt guilty for not picking up on this the entire evening.
He moved his arms around her and pulled her forwards in a hug, when suddenly a pair of soft lips connected with his.
Roy froze. Hawkeye placed her hands on his cheeks, deepening the kiss and he reciprocated instinctively, the taste and feel of her utterly addictive, her scent filling his mind, his right hand finding her hair, the soft locks feeling like silk between his fingers...
Then his mind caught up to what was happening and he grabbed her shoulders and held her back, her hands still on his cheeks, looking desperately up at him. "Hawkeye, I won't... Not like this," he told her, feeling slightly horrified that he had let it go as far as he did.
Her eyes filled with something akin to fear. "Please ... I've s-seen the w-way you look a-at me... Y-you w-want to," she said pleadingly, tears still streaming down her cheeks.
Roy sighed, feeling his stomach clench as he tried to save their relationship which was already going to be wobbly as hell now. "Then tell me exactly why you're doing this."
"I-I... I just ... P-please let me f-feel a-appreciated... l-loved... j-just s-something... J-just something o-other th-than being r-replaced a-and told that th-the man I l-love... l-loved... th-thinks th-that he never l-loved me b-back..." Her voice was broken and wheezy with tears and heartbreak and there was just no way that Roy would take advantage of her like this. He could understand her, of course he could, but he couldn't do as she asked no matter how much he wanted to.
"No. Not like this. I'll stay here with you tonight, but if I do anything else then I'll be taking advantage of you and you deserve a hell of a lot better than that," Roy told her. Then he hugged her, placing a kiss on her forehead as she began sobbing into his shoulder.
He sighed heavily as he held her tight, closing his eyes.
And was completely terrified of just what would happen between the four of them now.