I do not own FMA. Enjoy!
Riza Hawkeye wasn't the type of person to let her guard down easily. She'd always been a cautious woman, and the fact that her job required her to always be on her toes meant she had little room to relax, if any at all. Even during times where little danger was present, she never looked at peace, never seemed to completely let herself be at ease. There was always a hard edge in her eyes, a look that told anyone that she was seconds away from grabbing her gun and doing whatever it took to protect the people she cared about. She had no qualms with this part of her personality- this was who she was. This was what made her Riza Hawkeye, and just one of the small parts of her that had endeared her to so many.
More specifically, what had endeared her to Roy Mustang.
Roy loved her deeply, had probably loved her since they were teenagers but didn't quite realize it until a while after the war. Oh, but he was fully aware now. Fully aware that his love went beyond the kind of love you would have for a sibling or a friend, that the sort of love he had for her would get them both in trouble if he ever showed even a fraction of it at the wrong time. So, until the day that he could make the two of them untouchable from the laws and give her the kind of happy future she'd mentioned after her father's passing, he'd have to settle for quietly cherishing any moment he had with her and keeping her safe when he could. While the fact that she seemed to possess an abundance of dedication was something he admired and respected about her, there were times when Roy just wanted to see her relax, for her to finally be at peace for just a few moments.
One of those times, for instance, was tonight.
It was late- a quarter to one in the morning, and it appeared they wouldn't be getting back to Central for another hour or so. They'd already been traveling in this train for the past five hours, having had to go to a faraway town to get information about a case. Roy was getting exhausted, and he knew that Riza was feeling the same way; he'd already caught her nearly dozing off twice, only to see her head snap up and her eyes focus on the window in a vain attempt to keep herself awake. He looked at her half lidded eyes with a sigh, deciding to call her out on what she was doing.
"You should rest, Lieutenant," Roy said, tone formal with just the softest edge around it to let her know that he was getting concerned. "We won't be getting back in town for a while, after all."
He watched as she seemed to think about his words, frowning when she shook her head and turned her gaze back to the window. "I have to protect you, sir. I would rather be killed myself then have you be executed in your sleep because I couldn't protect you. You get some rest, colonel- I'll be fine," was her reply, which only made slight annoyance bubble up in his chest. Still, he knew Riza well enough to know that she was one of the most stubborn people he had ever known, and to also know that, when it came to her want to protect him, she would sacrifice anything to ensure his life would be as long as possible. Giving a slight nod, he decided to follow her words and closed his eyes. He had just barely dozed off, however, when he felt a sudden pressure on his shoulder, causing him to jolt awake and look to see what it was. His surprise was then changed to a slight amusement when he saw what it was.
Riza, either on accident or on purpose, had seemed to fall asleep, her head coming to rest on his shoulder as she rested. Roy took the rare opportunity of having his subordinate so close to him to examine her features, especially since they were so relaxed. Her mouth was slightly agape as she breathed softly, an action he distinctly remembered she'd also done as a kid when she would fall asleep on the nights he studied in her room. Her hands were resting on her lap, turned in a way that her palms were slightly up and he could see the calluses that marred her otherwise perfectly smooth, ivory skin. If it hadn't been illegal for him to do so, and if he was sure that doing so wouldn't cause her to wake up, Roy would have taken one of her hands, would have gently stroked her palm and the outside of her hand to feel the warmth of her skin. He shook his head as more romantic thoughts came racing into his mind, reminding himself that it would still be a while before he could even try to plan for those thoughts to become reality. It was then that he noticed that Riza's hair was still up in its usual style, a grin forming onto his face as he thought of what he could do. He couldn't just leave her hair like that, after all- he had to make sure his subordinate could rest comfortably, right? He casually yet slowly reached behind her head and took her hair out of its clip, putting it in his jacket pocket for later. His hand lingered on her hair for just a few moments longer than necessary, trying to imprint the feeling of Riza's hair into his senses in case he ever needed to be reminded of it. After a few seemingly long moments, Roy finally put in hands back in his lap, taking another look at her expression and smiling softly before closing his own eyes. Just before falling asleep, he swore to himself that he'd see that expression again.
The next time, though, he'd be the one to put it on her.
Special thanks to Bailey (aka Bayhawk) for giving me this prompt and encouraging me to post this as part of "68 Intricacies"! It was a very wise choice, at least in my book~ I'll hopefully be able to update soon, so I'll see you guys later!