Written for FMA Week, Day Four: Love.
(I decided to post them all in one fic, rather than posting them separately as I was doing before)
Two strong thumbs slowly circled around the knots in Riza Hawkeye's upper back. A whisper of a moan escaped her lips. "A little lower, and more to the left. Yes, right there." She relaxed into the hands, relishing the firm yet careful touch. She absently stared across the room, trying not to be too conscious of the still-unpacked boxes lining the walls of their new apartment. Black Hayate was sprawled out in the center of the room, his leg occasionally twitching in his sleep.
"You really need to loosen up, Riza."
"We can't all take naps at work, Roy." She had caught him sleeping at his desk both that day and the day before, but the click of the safety on her gun was always enough to jolt him awake.
"Is that permission for me to continue taking them?" Roy Mustang chuckled, continuing his ministrations on her back, careful of her scarred neck out of habit. It had been two years, yet he was still hesitant to touch it.
"Fall asleep again and the shot I fire will be so close to your face that you'll have to restart that mustache you seem to be trying to grow."
Roy raised his hand to his upper lip, stroking the short bristles that had started to grow there. "Fuhrer Grumman was excited about it when I told him. He said it's coming in nicely." His hand returned to Riza, this time focusing on her midback, near her spine. Her shirt was thin enough that he could feel the scarred skin beneath, long healed but forever changed.
"Fuhrer Grumman," Riza started, "has devoted more time and energy to our own wedding than we have."
"The man loves his granddaughter. Can't he do that?"
"The man needs to focus on a still-healing country. What need is there to make 'official' what the two of us already know? We don't need a certificate to tell us what we are to each other." Riza leaned her head against the back of the couch on which they sat.
"Grumman has already made an exception for us and waved the fraternization laws in our specific case. Without that, we wouldn't even be able to openly live together." Roy leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the base of Riza's neck. He hesitated for a moment. "Also, he feels that the public will be more receptive to a future Fuhrer who is married, rather than openly intimate with his bodyguard."
Riza whipped around. "What? He told you this? When? Is he stepping down?" Confusion flashed in her eyes.
"He told me a week and a half ago. He plans on making the announcement in a press conference after our wedding. He still has no plans on stepping down anytime soon, though; he just wants Amestris to see that his successor has been appointed, mostly for security reasons." Roy brushed his fingers up and down Riza's back as he talked, not making eye contact.
Riza stood and paced across the room, careful of Black Hayate. "But there's so much planning that this will require! Not to mention, you'll be more of a target now then ever before!"
"Then it's good that I'll have someone particularly skilled in watching my back constantly at my side." He stood and walked over to her, reaching out his calloused hand. When she took it, he pulled her close. "No one will be able to separate us again."
"Why didn't you tell me as soon as you found out?" She slid her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his chest, looking up at him.
"I didn't want to worry you." His onyx eyes were gentle, giving little indication of the horrors of the past that still lingered within them.
"When you love someone, their worries become your own. Your future is mine, Roy. What concerns you, concerns me." She buried her face into his soft cotton undershirt, inhaling deeply and catching the lingering scent of his cologne.
"Of course, Riza." Roy sighed, resigned. "I won't keep anything else from you." Roy kissed the top of her head and just held her for a few moments. He finally broke the silence. "I do have another concern, though."
"What is it, Roy?" Riza frowned. Had Roy gotten himself into trouble again?
"It's about Rebecca Catalina. I mean, really - Maid of Honor? At our wedding? I'd be much more comfortable with Rebecca not being present at the wedding at all, as I really feel that it would reduce my chances of being shot."
"Roy." Riza rolled her eyes.
"Or even in Amestris, for that matter. Can't we send her to Xing for a week, instead?"
Riza shook her head. "Not going to happen. If anything, I'm going to need her there to keep you grounded. I can only imagine how a soon-to-be-married soon-to-be-Fuhrer Roy Mustang will behave."
"Are you calling me pompous?" Roy feigned incredulity. "At the event when all of my dreams begin to come true, you want to reign me in?"
"Won't your dreams start coming true a week later, when Grumman makes the announcement?" Riza raised an eyebrow.
"Marrying the woman I love has always been part of those dreams. They start coming true with you."
Riza shook her head at Roy's romantic declaration. "I love you, too." She reached up and pulled his head down for a kiss. When they separated, she rested her head on his shoulder. "And Rebecca stays."
Roy sighed. "Fine. She can stay. Because I love you."
Riza smiled before kissing him again.
Thanks for reading!
Feedback is very appreciated (I like to know if it was good/bad/meh)!