I do not own FMA. Enjoy!
Riza had become accustomed to the fact that all of the things she did around the house were thankless jobs. She didn't expect those two words from her father at this point, nor did she even expect him to notice that there was any reason for him to utter them. After her mother died, when he suddenly threw himself into work and she found herself having to take care of them both at the age of ten, those first few times something she did for him was met with silence stung more than any cut she'd ever received, but just as her cuts would scab over, so did her feelings, until she didn't even wait for a reply after bringing something to him. Hesitating or lingering where she wasn't wanted would only hurt her more, in both an emotional and physical sense (along with becoming more withdrawn, Master Hawkeye had become much more temperamental, and oftentimes the only times he ever turned his attention to Riza was to lay his hands on her if he felt her presence was particularly annoying that day).
It wouldn't be for another six years, not too long after Roy Mustang came to study alchemy, that Riza would hear those words in her own home again.
It was an unseasonably cold night for late September, and the stars seemed to be crying, maybe mourning the warm summer weather, as heavy rain poured outside. The house's insulation was terribly lacking, something that Riza had neglected to tell Roy out of the assumption that she wouldn't have to for several more months, and she couldn't help but feel guilty about that. As an apology (an apology only she knew she was giving him), Riza made him a hot cup of coffee, slowly and carefully going up the stairs to his room so it wouldn't spill.
She cracked a small smile at the sight of Roy huddled on his chair, his feet and arms the only things uncovered in the mountain of blankets from his bed that he had managed to wrap himself in, his focus on his work still strong despite the nippy temperature.
Riza silently left the cup on his desk, turning towards the door without hesitation out of habit, forgetting for a moment that Roy wasn't her father.
She remembered immediately, however, as soon as he spoke.
"Oh, thank you, Ms. Hawkeye."
She froze right then, one hand hovering over the doorknob as she registered what had been said.
"It's not trouble, Mister Mustang," Riza murmured, grateful that her back was already to him so that he couldn't see just how surprised she was over his words, those words that were so common to him, words that were so precious to her in a way that he would never understand. She hurriedly left the room, shaking her head as she felt the beginning of tears prick her eyes, brought on by the feeling of pure happiness she felt deep in her chest.
'Someone tells you thank you and you're ready to cry? How pathetic can you get?', her thoughts admonished, wiping her eyes and finding some busy work to keep her mind off of the experience.
And yet, in that moment, she felt that long forgotten scab inside her start to bleed.
The longer he stayed, the more those words or something akin to them were said to her, and the less extreme her reactions became. Just like underexposure had made her used to silence, this sudden amount of being thanked, of being acknowledged, got her too used to companionship, to having someone there to talk to.
In the back of her mind, Riza knew that Roy couldn't stay forever. Sooner rather than later, he'd have to leave, and her scab would return, and she'd only be worse off for it, because she'd tasted being needed, being acknowledged for how hard she worked and how much she did.
Those potentially harmful thoughts stayed in the deepest part of her subconscious, however, a practice she knew wasn't the greatest if she was ever going to cope in a healthy way to being left by herself when that day came. She lived moment to moment, the parts of her day when she got to hear those words of appreciation being the ones she made sure to remember vividly.
If she could just keep those moments locked into her memory, Riza figured, maybe it would dull the pain of him leaving.
At least, so she hoped.
AN: It's been a hot minute, hasn't it? I could talk about what has transpired in my life in the past year, but that's honestly time consuming and boring and I'm not sure many of you care. Basically, 2016 has been a much better year for me than 2015 was by a longshot, and I figured what better way to get 2017 off to a good start by rebooting this series, so to speak. Since Thanksgiving was yesterday in the USA, I thought this prompt was a good one to use to bring this collection of one-shots back to life. I have another chapter already written out, I just need to type it, so it could come as soon as next week, but definitely expect another update before the end of the year. Thank you for sticking with me, and I hope any new fans enjoy what is to come. I wanna get back into writing and into the Royai community in genral, so here's hoping I'm welcomed back with open arms. Until next time, have a great day!