In sickness and health…
He was sick, she could see in his eyes how he would follow her every move with a strange slowness. It made her heart ache and her throat constrict, seeing someone so alive in such a state, especially someone she loved so much.
Their comrades apparently didn't notice and that just made her mad. How could they not see what was going on? He always ran to help them, to protect them and they couldn't notice his sickness? She knew she was the person that knew him the best, but, honestly, couldn't they be a little more observant? She huffed when he denied any kind of food or water, because she thought he could get a little better if there was anything in his stomach, but apparently he was having none of that, making her madder than she already was.
She brought from the cafeteria hot chicken soup, but at the sight of it, he recoiled and she had to take it back.
She didn't know what she should do… He couldn't go home and be by himself… What if he got worse? What if he needed to go to a hospital and no one was there to help him? The image of him, alone, under a blanket shivering made her stomach lurch and she had to stop herself from hugging him and telling him everything was going to be alright.
She almost made it through the day, but when he dozed off and started whimpering, she could no longer suppress her fear and kneeling beside him, she brought him against her chest, nuzzling his head with her own.
"Hawkeye, what are you doing?" Havoc asked, surprised at her actions and she turned a sour face toward him.
"He is sick and none of you, lazy men, noticed it!" she roared and he recoiled, like her voice hurt him. She looked at him, apologetically, and he closed his eyes again. "He is always helping and never asks anything in return!
"Well, that would be hard since he…" started Breda, but Riza stopped him with a furious glance.
"What the hell is going on in here?" someone asked from the door and everyone looked back to see Colonel Mustang walk leisurely through the office.
"Apparently, Black Hayate is sick…" Fuery piped in, from behind a tower of files.
Mustang looked to his Lieutenant that was patting the little dog's fur softly and to the men that were looking at her with shocked expressions. He had to suppress the laugh that almost erupted from his mouth: they could be so blind, for them Riza Hawkeye was a strong and slightly disconcerting woman, that made them work their asses out until everything was done, that could shoot like no one and give her life for them… but until now, none of them had ever seen her sweetest part, the one that would only come out sporadically…
"It was probably the cookies I gave him…" Mustang said, while sitting at his desk lazily.
Riza's head shot up, with her eyes ablaze, daring him to repeat his words.
"Someone gave them to me, but I don't like cookies with fruit, so I gave them to Hayate… He really liked them, since he ate the whole package…" Roy informed and he saw the woman's hands fisting dangerously.
For some moments, the other men though she was going to explode and kick their superior in the gut, but after breathing deeply and grabbing the dog against her chest, she got up and looked him in the eyes.
"I will spend the night with him giving him hot tea and it's better that tomorrow he will be okay or else…" she said, trailing in a threatening way that made the men shiver.
Mustang swallowed hardly and learned two things that day: first, he would never give Black Hayate cookies ever again and second, it was possible to be jealous of an animal, since, as sure as hell the puppy would remain the only male in Riza's bed for as long as she remembered his little stunt.
Clueless Roy is so funny! That man never knows when to be quiet...