Hello! Hope you're doing fine.

First of all, thank you Transparent Space for your lovely review! I really appreciate the time you take to leave me such a kind comment; thanks! Also for commenting on the team and not just Royai - would you like to read do more including them or nah?

Hope you enjoy!

In Which Roy Is A Proper Gentleman

Roy roused from his dozing when the front door's lock rattled. Hayate – his ears having perked for a minute now – scrambled off the bed to reunite with his owner. Roy turned over where he remained in bed to glance at the crack between the curtains. The sun had vanished. The sky was not yet black but neither red anymore, the cessation of dusk telling him how it must have been well past working hours. It was late in summer, the days becoming shorter again, but the night still only announced itself towards ten or eleven pm.

Boots scattered in the entrance, feet dragging while her voice carried her exhaustion. Softly, it rang to greet her excited puppy. Riza had been working on clearing away debris of a number of collapsed buildings alongside the rest of the team. The Colonel had been meaning to help them, regardless of how everyone kept complaining about him slacking off while 'helping', but with the cause of the destruction still unsolved, he had been chained to his desk. Any excuses for his adjutant to stay behind in the office with him had fallen on deaf ears.

Today, he had received the news of the rubble to have almost been taken care of, seeing as multiple men had reported a lack of evidence regarding the origin of the demise of said buildings. Luckily, no civilians had been harmed since the old warehouses had not contained any accommodations, but the circumstances remained puzzling.

Right now, however, he was by far more concerned about his Lieutenant's collapse than that of a couple of bricks.

And she did collapse, returning from the bathroom with heavy steps, falling face first into the sheets. He had to chuckle, though his brow furrowed in pity. They had not even been allowed to stay home on Sunday, so the Colonel had pulled out all the stops to grant the unit – most importantly his own team – a day off as soon as the task was completed.

With a slightly amused smile, he watched Riza heave a sigh where she looked as if she should not be able to breathe, the blanket crumpled in her face. Hayate jumped up at the end of the bed, licking her ear, making her twitch.

With a grumble and not least effort, she raised a tired arm to stroke his head, then kept him out of her face as she struggled to sit up.

"Go on, to bed," she instructed, and he obeyed, hopping back off the bed to retreat into his own in the corner. Still smiling, Roy lifted the blanket invitingly. Blinking at him through the newly descended veil of darkness, Riza crawled upwards. The mattress sighed as she slumped back down, this time on the pillow. He plucked at the blanket that was stuck under her legs and she retracted them, if only slightly.

Propping himself up on his elbow, he reached over her to tuck her in. She remained unmoving until he laid down, his heart swelling when she snuggled up into the crook of his body.

"Did you finish?" He asked in a low voice. She hummed in response, too tired to speak, and he interpreted an affirmation to his question. His smile returned. "Then you'll be happy to hear that tomorrow's off," he said. She sighed vocally, somehow telling him that she already knew. He craned his neck to kiss the top of her head.

She was not one to complain, that was for sure, but he could feel the way her shoulders stayed tensed, most likely still on fire from all the physical work she had been doing over the past days. So he decided not to be needing his sleep as much as her, gladly offering whatever he could. Roy started by sliding his hands along her arms, repeatedly, testing how much pressure would be welcomed. The small noise emitting from the back of her throat told him to be headed in the right direction.

She really was exhausted, but he found he preferred physical exhaustion to mental exhaustion – there was never a cure for an overload of office work, and it was not as satisfying as a definite aim in mind, the results so perfectly visible by the now cleared off area.

His hands traced down, started again at her shoulders, then travelled down her in a pyjama shirt clad arms once more. They continued along her sides, stroking down her ribs to the hem of her shirt where they skimmed the waistband of her knickers (it was summer after all) only to find the marvellously supple skin of her stomach. Her flat stomach. Her too flat stomach for someone who had eaten dinner.

"Did you eat something tonight?" He murmured above her ear and she merely gave a small, vague sound again. He sighed, planting a kiss on her temple while his fingertips resumed to draw soothing patterns over her stomach. "Then I'll make you breakfast tomorrow," he offered, "anything you want," he added, feeling his heart to be skipping a beat when her lips stretched into a smile against his collarbone.

Contrary to common belief, the Colonel was not as useless as they said when it came to cooking. True, he was no chef and the number of dishes he prepared on a regular basis could be counted on two hands, but those meals were rather good, having been perfected over the many years of his lazy bachelor life. And pancakes were his supreme discipline. His mind wandered momentarily, trying to remember whether she had confiture or whether he would have to run out to the shops as soon as they opened.

Refocusing on his actions, Roy ran two fingers over her ribs, this time feeling the warm skin against his own. He alternated between rib and the space below the next, making his way up, the dorsum of his hand brushing the underside of her breast when having reached high enough, so he followed the line to her back, repeating the motion all the way up to and over her shoulder blades. He skipped the scarred tissue he was responsible for.

Riza sighed deeply when he increased the pressure on her shoulders. He should have expected them to be hard as stone. He stoked down from the side of her neck a few times before halting.

"Riza," he whispered, gently pulling on her shoulder while scooting away. Understanding, she gave another hum, then a pressed breath at having to move. Instead of just dropping to her front, he heard her shuffle with her arms, wrists brushing his chest while she worked – so he realised – to unbutton her shirt. He aided her when she struggled while not moving too much, so he sat up, pulling on the sleeves to release her aching arms. He placed it nearby but she did not seem to take notice.

Carefully, gently, he sank down to sit on the small of her back and she gave a groan of content at the weight forcing multiple vertebrae to pop. Leaning forward, Roy began with mere strokes, assessing the knots and tensions with the tips of his fingers before delving into them with the heel of his hand. He took his bearings by the noises she made, each moan directing him to yet another node, each of them undoing themselves as he expertly kneaded and massaged.

Riza sighed more than she breathed, her torso practically liquifying into the mattress. A long groan escaped her as he got off her, and she peeled one eye open to give him a smile. Were it not for her constant vocal approvement, he would have deemed her asleep, seeing as she did not budge a millimetre once he was done. Too exhausted to even circle her now entangled shoulders.

Only when he settled back in did she move. Roy had not yet collected the blanket to cover them when she turned, nuzzling back into him, shoving her head beneath his. He smiled fondly. Gathering the sheets, he pulled them up to drape her naked torso. She drew away when he put his arm around her, and he had to bend his neck to give her a quizzical look in the dark.

Having her chin tilted upwards, Riza's eyes gratefully shone at him. Then they fluttered closed. His heart hammered with giddy happiness when he noticed the slight parting of her lips, immediately taking the invitation to press his own against them. Even without having eaten, she tasted like heaven. Like evening air and toothbrush mint and just Riza. It was like her smell, so utterly and entirely Riza that it knocked his socks off time and again.

Had he not already, Roy now felt more than rewarded. She fell asleep before long, but when dawn came and went, giving way to an early morning's sun, he felt his heart skip too many beats to count when her sleepy lips suddenly reappeared against his.

"You're not one to sleep in," he teased when being awoken in the single best way he could imagine – her in his arms. And being kissed, of course. Not that there were no other ways the dirty section of his brain could come up with that were admittedly enjoyable when waking up, but he did not think there to exist a more wholesome feeling than that of knowing his Lieutenant to be safe, unharmed and right there in his embrace.

"And yet, I feel as if I could sleep for days…" she yawned, frowning at the cawing of her previously unused voice. Averting her gaze, she started to realise not to be wearing anything but knickers, the lightest of blushes tinting her cheeks. "Thank you for yesterday,"

"Anytime," he promised, kissing her forehead to ease the frown.

"And for walking Hayate; I don't think I could've taken another step unless into bed," she sighed, chest expanding against his where he knew her to be attempting to hide it by pressing into his shirt.

"You won't have to today, either" he assured. His smile widened when hers formed, head raising to meet his eyes.

"Really, thank you," Riza inhaled, stretching her neck and his heart leapt into his throat when her lips rose up to peck his. Gods, she was powerful, no matter how drained, she could still knock him out in the gentlest of ways.

He responded, naturally, and his blood boiled when she poured her gratitude into him, not breaking away but kissing him again, moving her lips in time with his, his heart in a frenzy when her hands trailed up his neck to run along his nape, leaving hair standing on end. He groaned when her hand found his hair, raking through, sending that coursing blood of his into areas he was not in control of.

His hand skimmed her back, encircling her waist where he caressed the soft flesh. It enticed a faint moan to fall from her lips, and his mind did not even have the time to burn the sound into his memory when he sensed her tongue on his lower lip. His stomach looped more than once, his own tongue darting out to dance with hers, his pace by far more eager than she had anticipated. But she answered his plea with a similar keenness, this time being the one to earn a low groan from the man who had shifted on top of her.

Her leg hoisted, one slim foot drawing along his calve to his thigh. His insides were twisting wildly, jolting and spiralling with agitation when she broke away. Panting, he stared down. Her eyes needed another moment to peel open, and his disappointment singed into exhilaration – not least arousal – at the look she bestowed upon him. He cursed inwardly at how easily he became putty in her hands.

"I'm sorry," Riza wheezed, her face a deep red when he admired the way her chest rose and fell. "I don't think my legs are up to that yet," she apologised, her foot having dropped almost as soon as it had lifted. He had not noticed. Because her voice still circled in his mind, echoing on and on. Yet. He wanted to whoop at the top of his lungs.

Instead, Roy flashed a charming smile. Running his hands down her sides appreciatingly, he lowered his head to capture her lips again, this time in a mellow manner. The light smacking of parting lips was music to his ears, her face and body nothing short of a work of art. A chef d'oeuvre, right there for him to admire and adore, but he would wait. She was always worth the wait.

"Then how about breakfast?" He proposed. Sinking back down, he grabbed the tip of the blanket to gentlemanly cover her. Her smile widened at that, and while one hand kept it up to cover her breasts, the other sought out his, reinviting it to touch as he pleased. Something he never rejected.

"You don't have to," she said. He grinned when she shivered at his touch, the feathery line he drew up her flank entailing goosebumps to rise.

"It's my pleasure," he assured, kissing the tip of her nose. She took his breath when fleetly stealing his lips again, apparently still hungry for something other than breakfast. And boy, was the feeling mutual. He was aware how her craving rather sided with love than lust, desiring the security and comfort of his arms around her – not that he was not overjoyed to grant it. Still, the offer was there, and he would patiently await the right moment. In the meantime, he would grudge no pains when it came to the recovery of her overstrained muscles, both for the journey and the destination.

For now, Roy got out of bed. Ascertaining that there was not enough confiture left, he hustled down the street to buy a whole collection of different fruit jams, his smile broad as he returned, finding a soundly sleeping bundle that was his Lieutenant in bed.

Hope you liked it! I'm also working on some mission Royai in case you'd be interested in checking that out.

Have a good day!