Chapter Text
1902
When Roy Mustang first arrived at the Hawkeye household, he had no idea what to expect. He had heard that some alchemy teachers were strict and put their students through grueling tasks, while others sometimes took a gentler approach. Despite setting up the arrangement to live with Berthold Hawkeye, he knew next to nothing about the man, besides his obvious mastery of alchemy.
Roy was surprised to see that Master Hawkeye had a daughter. When Berthold opened the door, he led Roy in with few words. As they entered the house and Roy got a very brief tour of where he was allowed, he saw a younger girl sitting in the kitchen. Her hair was cut short, and her clothes seemed to be a combination of items that were either too big or too small for her frame. Berthold noticed the boy had stopped to look, so he turned around and cleared his throat. Roy saw the girl quickly turn around, forgetting her work of chopping vegetables.
“This is my new apprentice,” he told her simply. Roy took a step forward and set his small suitcase down to offer his hand.
“I’m Roy,” he said with a small smile. She stood and approached, figuring it was only polite.
“I’m-”
“This is my daughter, Miss Hawkeye,” Berthold interrupted gruffly. “You’re not to bother her.”
And so Roy had kept his distance from her, not wanting to incur the wrath of his master (or Miss Hawkeye herself). She wasn’t hostile toward him by any means, but Roy didn’t exactly sense that she wanted his company. Every time he entered a room that she was in, whether to find a book or grab a quick meal, her demeanor changed. It seemed like she was just waiting for him to leave again. He wouldn’t learn until later that she was simply not used to having someone around, and didn’t know how to react to his presence.
He found himself getting lonely. Back in Central, it was busy and loud and crowded no matter where he went. It was something city-dwellers were likely to complain about, but the electric atmosphere had its charms, which he now missed. The novelty of the silence in the countryside quickly wore off, and Roy could only distract himself by diving further into his studies. He also had some daily chores, presumably things that his teacher didn’t want his daughter doing, like chopping wood and fixing up the roof.
Roy took it upon himself to make looking after Miss Hawkeye one of his duties as well. It wasn’t that she needed supervision or protection, but he thought it might warm her to him a bit if he made her life easier. Sometimes he would wake up early and start boiling water for Master Hawkeye’s tea, saving her a few minutes as she got ready to leave for school. Other times, he offered to help cook, and dutifully followed her quiet instructions as they made dinner.
One day, Roy was feeling significantly less useful. The weather had been dreary for days, culminating in a strong thunderstorm. It was rarely like that in Central, and he hated the mess that rain seemed to make. He was also at a roadblock in regards to alchemy; Berthold had given him a task that he simply couldn’t decipher. In all, Roy wanted the day to be over as quickly as possible, and sought out Miss Hawkeye to see if they might start dinner early so he could simply go to bed.
He couldn’t find her anywhere. She wasn’t in the kitchen, the parlor, or the study. Roy didn’t dare enter and check her bedroom, but there was no response to his knock at her door, so he assumed she wasn’t there either. Worry rose in his chest; she shouldn’t have gone out for anything, especially not alone in this weather. He looked out the window and realized that the heavy rain obscured his view past the field, but he could still make out the old barn. He realized the barn door seemed to be open, and that she must have gone out there for some reason.
Roy trudged outside, unable to find an umbrella to protect him. He moved toward the barn as quickly as possible, wondering what would have drawn her out there; they didn’t keep any animals and the building was mainly just used for storage. As Roy approached, Miss Hawkeye’s small figure came into view. She was sitting close to the wall, holding something that was squirming in a towel in her cupped hands. A few steps away from her was an orange tabby cat, laying on newspapers with a few kittens close by.
“Miss Hawkeye?” he said hesitantly. She was startled slightly but quickly recovered.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was worried so I came looking for you.” She considered him briefly.
“You’re soaking wet,” she observed.
“Well I thought you were out here and I couldn’t find an umbrella.”
“That’s because I took it,” she explained, tilting her head toward the door, where the umbrella was leaning against the wall. “Don’t you have a raincoat? Or a hat?”
“That’s beside the point. Just come back inside,” he told her. She ignored him and moved toward the cat, placing the kitten in her hands between its newborn siblings. She waited a moment, and saw the mother move closer to the kitten that had just been returned to her, encouraging it to finally suckle. Roy saw her sigh a bit in relief, and crouched down to sit beside her.
“Do we need to take them inside?” he asked.
“Animals aren’t allowed inside, so no. I just wanted to make sure they were all okay.” She looked a bit sad as she responded. “She’s just a stray, but she’s been staying in here and I realized she was pregnant.”
“Is there anything else you need?”
“No, I think they’ll all be fine for now. We can go back.” She stood and brushed off the dirt and hay that had accumulated on her skirt. Roy grabbed the umbrella, opening it to cover both of them.
“You don’t have to do any of this, you know, only what my father tells you to. You’re a guest,” she said gently.
“Exactly, I’m a guest,” he affirmed. “Which means I’m not going to take advantage of your hospitality by sitting on my ass all day.”
He paused for a moment, seeing surprise on her face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to use that language in front of you, Miss Hawkeye.”
“It’s okay, I’m just surprised you think that way. And you don’t have to call me that,” she replied. Roy gave her a questioning look.
“You can just use my real name,” she insisted. Roy hadn’t even learned her first name until a week into his apprenticeship. Her father had yelled it from upstairs in one of the few interactions he had seen between the family members. It was a pretty name, though. Uncommon, yet familiar, gentle, and feminine.
“Alright,” he agreed. “Does this mean we’re friends?”
She nodded shyly as they made it to the back door. Roy shook the umbrella out before placing it back in the closet. They heard movement from the other room, realizing that Master Hawkeye must have come downstairs.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome, Miss Hawkeye.”
She was about to correct him when she saw the grin on his face and a wink that she almost missed. Her father was in the next room after all, and Roy didn’t want to get in trouble with him just yet. Nonetheless, that was the last time he called her anything but her first name for a long while.