Sicktember Day 5: Comfort Item (plush/blanket)
Word Count: 694
Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl
Rating: G/K
Characters: Riza Hawkeye
Warning:
Summary: Riza feels just a bit better when she has her pink sweater
Notes: Going off a headcanon that that pink sweater is her comfort item
Comfort Item
Perhaps it was silly, but Riza Hawkeye felt better when she had her pink sweater around her. She had found the sweater in a secondhand store. It was a light pink, soft to the touch, and had only the smallest of flaws in it. It had appealed to her instantly and she had bought it, taking it home and repairing it.
It wasn't an item to wear out. It wasn't something that she'd wear to the store, or out to meet a friend—Heaven help her if Rebecca ever found out she paid money for the sweater. It was meant for around the house, on cooler days, or it she just needed a little something around her shoulders.
Yet somehow, it had become a thing to bring her comfort.
It started when she would be up late, woken by nightmares or memories, and she would get up, force herself to her feet, and try to shake the nightmare from her. One cool night she grabbed that sweater to drape over her shoulders, and she found, to her surprise, that the weight of it and the feel of it helped. From then on, whenever she had a nightmare, she grabbed it.
It also helped on her bad days. Those were days when the memories were close to the surface, when she felt less present in the moment, when it felt like she was in a fog all day long and just struggling to seem as normal as possible. She grabbed out of instinct one time, after a long day at work, after changing from the uniform that didn't help her tell the difference between the then and the now at all, and she draped it over her shoulders. It felt soft and warm and familiar, and so unlike anything of her past. It helped her just to have it around her shoulders.
When unexpected visitors dropped by, she also found it comforting then. While the sweater itself didn't have a high neck, it was made, for whatever reason, to ride higher on the shoulders, actually coming up on the neck a bit. At home she didn't often worry about her back being covered. No one was there to see it, with the exception of Hayate. Sometimes, though, someone dropped by out of the blue, and when that happened, she was usually scrambling to find something to cover up with. Her sweater, with its tight knit that was thick enough not to be seen through, was perfect for that. She would put it on, or put it over her shoulders, and she knew that she didn't have to worry about anyone seeing anything.
The times when she was lonely, it was nice to wrap the sweater around herself as well. It felt secure. It felt safe. She had worn it a lot when she was under the watch of Pride. She knew that it didn't actually afford her any protection, but it just made her feel safer, and so it tended to be on her shoulders any time she was home.
And when she was sick or injured, just having the sweater on felt comforting too. It was like an old friend, a protector, and she just felt better with it on her. Even now, knowing she was safe, knowing that no one here would betray her trust, knowing that everything was finally, finally settled, she felt better having the sweater on and pulling it around her. Fuery had brought it to her, when she had requested that he bring her a few items from home. She had been more than happy to see it and slid her arms into it immediately. It brought comfort, and it brought desperately needed warmth. She knew that everyone thought that she kept it on because of how cold she was after losing so much blood, and there was some truth to that. But if she were honest, the main reason she wore it was for the comfort that it brought.
She tugged it a little closer around her shoulders and relaxed, letting it envelop her in its warmth as she listened to Breda quiz Roy on Ishvalan farming methods.