Draped in Wires
by. Poisoned Scarlett
Theme 066: Wistful Thinking
Roy had never thought about tying the knot with any woman in his life. He had always been a free spirit, always comfortable and well-received in the red-light district of Central City. He had always had a gaggle of women tailing after him, often beautiful women with curves in all the right places and enough boldness to spend nights with him without expecting anything in return. In his career, in his experience, settling down and trying to regain a semblance of normalcy was asking to be shot.
Hughes often came to mind when he let dangerous thoughts like those cross his mind. He would always remind himself with his memory: to settle down would be to bring heartache to a family. He remembered Gracia and their little girl and just how hard it had been to reestablish themselves without Hughes and any idea of marriage and children that he entertained would obliterate and, in its place, a solemnness would ensue.
"Baphhhhhh," Nick gurgled, clapping his small hands. His bright golden eyes twinkled as they met Roy's unusually severe black ones. "Whaaaa—booo!" He babbled, reaching up at him with a cheerful smile. He was small in his arms, smaller than a baby his age should be in his opinion, but he was ultimately a baby. He was what Roy had always entertained in the back of his mind – a legacy, in this case Full Metal's legacy.
"Now, now, settle down," Roy softly admonished when Nick tried to grab the shiny badges on his chest. "Full Metal will be back soon and he'll take you off my hands…"
"Mnngghhh," Nick gurgled, as if annoyed by this, and Roy couldn't help the smile that lifted his lips. He sank back in his chair, letting the baby settle comfortably in his chest, and his feet came up to rest at the edge of his desk in the way Riza often scolded him not to. He titled his chair so he had a view of the city and he let his thoughts roam freely once more.
He lied when he said he had never thought about tying the knot with a woman. He had, on two every separate occasions, thought such taboo thoughts. But he knew she would never accept his proposal if he summoned the courage to do it. She was not that type of woman, the domestic type, and even if she was, in her line of duty, she would still respectfully reject his proposal and they would never speak of it again.
Riza Hawkeye was that type of person.
She would put her heart away and rely solely on her mind, her body, to keep her going. He couldn't count how many times she'd had to put her heart away for her country. That heart, kept so carefully hidden away, was what he craved to own the most in this world. But it was something far-fetched, something that should only be entertained in his dreams. Riza Hawkeye belonged to no one but her gunfire, her nation, her duty, and it should stay that way for the sake of simplicity.
"Sir, I've got the papers—!" She cut herself off when she noticed the infant in his arms. "Is that…?"
"Hm? Ah, good afternoon, Riza!" Roy greeted and nodded. "This is Full Metal's brat. Winry put him in charge of him for the day while she pampered herself with Sciezska and Rebecca, I believe."
"Ah, well, she certainly does deserve it," Riza agreed, her surprise fading. "I've brought the papers you need to overlook directly from Heymans. He said it's urgent."
"It's always urgent," Roy bemoaned while Riza plopped the papers down on his desk.
"Get them done, sir," Riza lightly warned. "The sooner the better." She saluted and turned to leave when his voice brought her to a rigid stop.
"Have you ever thought about it?"
"Thought about what, sir?"
"A family of your own."
Riza paused to compose her answer but found she had nothing to say anyway. The words were taboo. She only smiled sadly and turned to face him, giving him full view of her rueful smile. Roy watched silently as Riza gazed at Nicolas' content face. "Some of us aren't deserving of such things."
"Everyone is," Roy softly said.
"Not everyone, Roy," Riza shook her head. "You know better than that." She left afterwards, her steps faint echoes down the hall.
"So it seems," Roy murmured to himself and his arm tightened around the infant that dozed happily in his arms. "So it seems."