Care
By Henrika
Henrika- Wanted to make this a chaptered story, but I could never find the right place to break it off. So in turn, we have a long one-shot. In which I torture Roy. Just what you all wanted! Anyways, I'm particularly fond of the fact that I managed to mention Armstrong in a funny way in this story. Tell me what you think. Enjoy and Review!
Oh, and I finally saw a subbed version of the FMA movie after finally managing to get hold of the subs for the end of the series. Both were...interesting. I think it was Basser who made the comment about Hoho-papa and I totally agree. I will be buying both the sub series(once it comes in a box set) and the movie when it comes out, but I couldn't help myself.
Since that has nothing to do with this fic, onwards!
"You look a bit flushed sir. Are you feeling alright?" Hawkeye asked as she leaned around Mustang's shoulder to set down paperwork that needed his attention. "Colonel!"
"Hmm?" Roy finally seemed to notice she was there. "Yes, Lieutenant?"
"I asked if you were feeling alright?"
"Oh. Ah. Fine."
"Are you sure? You don't look too good."
"Probably just a hangover. Would you mind getting me a glass of water?" Hawkeye sighed, holding in with supreme effort a lecture about how stupid it would be to come to work drunk while she fetched him a glass of water.
Roy pinched the bridge of his nose hard, trying to ignore the dull pounding forming at his temples. He had felt fine that morning and he hadn't remembered getting drunk or even having more than a few glasses of liquor the night before. Riza returned to his side.
"Drink this." He gratefully gulped down the cool water, letting the liquid soothe the fuzzy, tight feeling in his throat. Though he nearly choked when Riza suggested, "Maybe you should go home Colonel. We can finish up here."
"Are you sure?" He asked, after pounding his chest a few times.
"Yes. You're useless if you're not concentrating and it would be better or us all if you paid attention to your work. Go home and rest." Mustang had deflated at the 'useless' comment, but suddenly the thought of going home and sleeping in his warm bed was appealing enough to perk him up.
"Alright Lieutenant. Call me if there's anything important or urgent that needs my attention. I leave everything in your care." It hit Mustang what that meant (no more paperwork today!) and he barely managed to hide the smile that threatened to spread over his entire face. Hawkeye looked at him suspiciously, as if knowing exactly what thought had just crossed his head, but she waved him off. He left, not paying too much attention to the fact that the edges of the room seemed a little fuzzy.
#&#((#)()#(#(#)(
Roy woke feeling overly warm; like the first instant that he snapped, before he directed the flames toward their target. He tried to sit up, but something very strong held him firmly to his bed. He realized that it was his bed and he settled back, trying to remember how he had gotten there. A cup was pressed against his lips and his head was lifted. Something cold slipped down his throat and he swallowed reflexively, feeling that it was entirely too much effort. The cup was taken away and he sighed as his head was let back down against the pillow. He heard a voice speaking, but his head felt like it was packed with cotton, and nothing made sense.
He attempted opening his eyes with a bit more luck. His room was mostly dark (which he was grateful for because it soothed his headache), save for his bedside lamp and a nice medium-sized fire crackling in his fireplace grate. My…fireplace. Roy both loved and hated that fireplace. It was a nice trick when he brought the rare woman back to his home (usually he'd stay at their place) to light it with a snap, but he hated it when it reminded him of Ishbal and it spent most of its time cold.
The two light sources pooled around the figure by his bed; who was soaking a rag in a washbasin. He tried to remember who the person was, but the familiar name eluded his hazy mind. The rag made its way to his forehead and the figure spoke. "'Bout time you woke up you bastard. You were beginning to scare me."
Bastard? Roy thought. Who do I know that would call me…? His train of thought abruptly broke as his eyes began to focus on the person. Blonde, pony-tailed hair that was slightly black at the ends, black long-sleeved shirt, a thin white bandage that was looped carefully around the head, and impossibly golden eyes. The name popped into his head. "Full Metal?"
"Oh good. You know who I am." Roy thought the response was strange, a mixture of relief and sarcasm, but he wasn't positive what that meant. "How are you feeling?"
Mustang was still trying to get past the fact that this was Edward. Here. In his home. Showing concern for him. Roy wondered if he was dreaming, then decided that if he was dreaming, he would be surrounded by beautiful women. No, this was a hallucination, a nightmare, a…
"I asked how you were feeling Colonel." Edward said, slightly annoyed at being ignored.
"Oh, right. I feel…hot. All over."
"You have a pretty high fever.
"Oh."
"Get some sleep. I'll be right here if you need anything." Ed picked up an open alchemy text that had been spread over his lap and Roy closed his eyes, still wondering if he was hallucinating.
Roy woke again feeling slightly light-headed and he groaned. The rag returned to his forehead and it returned to him that Edward was the one behind it. He looked to his left as the boy rested a cool metal hand against his wrist. "Do you want some water?"
The dark-haired man nodded and he was offered a cup, which Ed helped him to hold while he gratefully gulped down the liquid. "Thanks."
"No problem. Now do you want to tell me why you bothered to go to work when you were sick?"
"I was perfectly fine this morning." Roy protested.
"Yeah. Riiiight." Ed added every bit of sarcasm he could muster into those two words. "That's why I found you swaying in the streets."
"What?"
"You were tripping over yourself on the sidewalk. You probably would have fallen into the street and got run over if I hadn't of come along." Ed said cheerfully. "In fact, you were lucky it was me that came along. You would have killed anyone else."
Roy took note of the singed hair that he had noticed earlier. "I attacked…?"
"Yeah. You did. You didn't know me and I finally had to drag up some underground water to douse you."
"Ah…sorry." The sincere apology startled Edward for a moment, but he regained his composure rather quickly. Roy wondered if the boy had picked that up from him.
"Anyways, I called Lieutenant Hawkeye and she say she'll take care of things. She was actually the one who sent me over to your home in the first place. She said you always call my reports important." He frowned. "Though I think you're lying because you already know everything I do."
"They're both true." Mustang said.
"Hmmph."
"Where's Alphonse?"
"Over at the dorms. I sent him back before we made it to your office. I didn't want for him to have to wait around."
"You're very considerate of him." The words slipped out of Roy's mouth before he could think about them.
Edward just looked at him strangely. "I should be." He said quietly before changing the subject. "Do you feel up to eating? No, better question; do you have food in this house? I've never seen a house that looked so nice and unlived in."
Roy bristled. "Where are my gloves Full Metal? I have a feeling I won't miss you this time."
"Easy. I'm kidding. So can you stomach soup?"
The sick man nodded. "Lower kitchen cabinet on the right."
"Got it." Edward stood, placing a bookmark in another alchemy book from Mustang's library; which left Roy to wonder whether he had been asleep that long or whether Edward just read that fast.
There was fire everywhere, yet he couldn't feel anything.
And then it broke in, like each one of his senses had been intertwined with the flames.
He heard screaming. He tried to turn to find out where it was coming from, but he couldn't move. He saw a form outlined in the orange swirls.
He saw several forms.
And he recognized them. All of them.
He recognized his friends, his co-workers, casual acquaintances, and his family.
He saw the blood on his gloves and the flames rising as he saw that he was snapping.
He tried to stop, but his body would not listen. The screams continued to rise in his ears.
He saw Riza outlined in the flames next to his feet. She was beautiful, perfect, pristine…and staring lifelessly at him with her white dress curling up as the flames began to race along her slim frame. The screaming didn't stop.
"Mustang!"
He snapped, unable to stop. He couldn't cry; the tears evaporated in the heat.
"Roy!"
He snapped.
The screams rose even louder in his ears.
A sharp pain struck him across the face and "ROY!"
He realized he had been the one screaming.
When Roy woke yet again, cursing himself for drifting off and shivering as he remembered Riza's pale face in the firelight, it took him a moment to notice the mouth-watering aroma curling lazily in front of his nostrils. Once he did, however, notice the scent, his stomach reminded him of just how hungry he was. He tried sitting up slowly and was overjoyed when he didn't flop back. He considered standing up as well, but his legs stubbornly refused to take that message.
Resigned, he sat back against his pillows and waited for food. He didn't have to wait too long before Ed appeared carrying a steaming bowl, two large mugs and a tall glass of orange juice.
"Hey, who said you could be moving around?" Edward demanded as he set the tray across Roy's lap, taking one of the mugs and sitting back down in his chair.
"I'm perfectly capable of giving myself orders Full Metal. In fact, I'm so good, I'm able to do it for you too." Ed's hand gripped a little tighter on his mug, but he miraculously kept himself from commenting. Roy found it odd that Ed didn't rise to his bait, and briefly wondered if Ed had been the one to snap him out of his fever nightmare and whether the younger man had done anything after that but he couldn't remember and the promise of food erased most thoughts from his mind. "Chicken noodle, orange juice, and…tea?"
"I know you're a coffee person, but it'll be too hard on your stomach right now." Roy blinked. That was…rather thoughtful of Ed. Roy attempted to pick up his spoon and was rather dismayed when it fell from his grasp and clattered back onto the tray. He would have tried again, but Full Metal had already picked up the utensil and dipped it in the bowl.
"I don't need you to spoon-feed me." The elder man said sullenly.
"If you don't cooperate then I swear I will call Major Armstrong to come take care of you. I'm sure he has a passed-down family tradition for nursing people back to health."
"You wouldn't."
"Try me." There was a pause in which Roy contemplated the threatening promise in his subordinate's eyes.
"…Fine." He submitted; letting Ed feed him. To be honest, it felt kind of nice being taken care of. His eyes again raked over the bandages ringing Ed's forehead. "You've been fighting."
The younger alchemist fingered the bandages. "Another dead end on the stone."
"That's not an explanation."
"You didn't ask a question." Ed replied simply.
"Humph." The rest of the meal passed in silence as night fell.
Roy woke feeling strangely rested and realized as the sun streamed through his window that he had slept the entire night through. He also realized that his right arm was rather numb and he attempted to wriggle it free from the weight pinning it without success. Squinting his eyes against the sunlight, he immediately saw the reason for his discomfort.
Edward was tucked neatly on top of his forearm; instead of the boy's usual sprawl over every bit of available space. Roy always blamed the boy's short complex for that particular quirk. The blonde had his arms resting rather comfortably across Roy's; he had even been so considerate as to sleep on his auto-mail himself, rather than let the heavy metal appendage rest directly against the elder man. Roy wondered whether Ed had done that on purpose, indeed, whether he had meant to fall asleep on Roy's arm. Roy shifted slightly, trying to find a comfier position, but the motion set Ed stirring.
"Oh, you're awake." The boy said, mumbling slightly as a yawn caught him in mid-sentence. "Your fever broke in the night, so you should be fine now." He paused. "With some more rest." He tacked on, in a manner that reminded Roy of Riza. It was around that time that Edward noticed where he was resting, specifically who he was resting on.
Roy suddenly wished he had a camera to capture the priceless expression on Ed's face as he hastily leaped back into his chair. "Something wrong Full Metal?" He asked casually, though he couldn't quite hide his smirk.
"Shut…up." Ed ground out, rather annoyed at the sudden situation. "What can you handle for breakfast?"
"Toast, eggs, coffee?" He asked hopefully on the last item.
"Orange juice for you." Ed said savagely.
"Why? It's not my fault that you find me comfy enough to use as a pillow."
Ed stamped off to the kitchen, muttering about "idiot colonels" and "should have left the bastard in the street!"
Roy, wincing at the pins and needles that announced the return of sensation in his arm, managed to grin. Despite Edward's frustration with him, the boy was still here taking care of him. He certainly had brought loyal people to his side.
And with that kind of care, he was going to have to think of ways to get sick more often.
Having Riza nurse him while she was wearing a mini-skirt (it wouldn't be right to upset the sick person by not fulfilling such a small request) sounded very appealing.
Henrika- As always I manage to sneak Roy/Riza into the story. Anyone know what the contraction Royai is. I know "ai" is love in Japanese, so Roy love? Then why is itjust for the Roy/Riza coupling?