splinteredstar | untitled fic (Reply)

so I was rambling on tumblr about how no one other than me ships Izumi Curtis and Olivia Armstrong from FMA, and managing to convince a few other people to my cause. I then got this message in my askbox:

duskwightscholar asked: izumi and olivia getting close after the armstrong-curtis-take-down-sloth-alliance. sig dying of something, izumi lays on olivia for support in these times because izumi loved him and misses him dearly, and olivia's been in love with izumi for a long time so yeah, but then a few years later izumi just flat out asks olivia out and ye"

And then fic happened. I do not have a title for it, but i like it anyway.

"…look, I…" She runs a hand through her hair. There are streaks of gray in it now. She crosses her arms. "I never thanked you for…" She waves one hand vaguely, but they both know what she means. "When Sig was dying."

It hurts, knowing that her amazing husband died before her - that she was the frail one, she was the one who broke herself, and Sig still died first. She’d spent months grieving, like she had after her child died, but it had been two years now and Sig had made her promise, damn it.

Oliver just inclines her head. Her own hair is tied back, for once, though bangs sweep over her eyes. “Thanks are unnecessary.” Izumi narrows her eyes. Olivier smirks. “But accepted.”

Izumi nods and drinks her tea. Alphonse sends it back from Xing, and it’s supposed to have healing properties. Izumi just likes the taste. Oliver is drinking coffee - black, with sugar. There’s a half-eaten cake between them, and a half-finished game of Go to the side. (Their score is tied.)

She notices, like she always has, as Oliver’s deep blue eyes trace over the line of her shoulders and the edge of her collar. But this time she doesn’t ignore it - this time she smirks back and stretches her arms up, rolling her shoulders and intentionally showing off her chest. It’s a risky move - maybe she’s read it wrong, maybe Oliver stares at her for some other reason, maybe Oliver was just being kind all those times she helped out - maybe she’s wrong and Oliver smiles softly for someone other than her.

Izumi grins to herself. She’s always liked taking risks.

Oliver’s deep blue eyes go wide and still for one moment, and her expressions shift like a snowbank in a blizzard. Izumi’s still grinning when Oliver’s face settles on some combination of curiosity and /anticipation/ and the General sets her coffee mug down very deliberately.

"I promised Sig that I wouldn’t spend my whole life mourning him," Izumi says, with the bright grin that the Elric brothers still spoke of in hushed whispers. In truth Sig had said something along the lines of "don’t you dare do anything stupid over me like get yourself hurt or go loopy or weep over me for the rest of your life, you hear?" but Izumi had known what he meant. "So I think I’m going to start dating again."

Oliver smiles very slightly. She has lines in her face, now, wrinkles that aren’t from smiling, but it makes her look dignified and distinguished. Izumi’s wrinkles just make her look harmless. “I see.” She leans onto her hand, her chin on her knuckles, and tilts her head. “Do you have someone in mind? I can do background checks on whoever you’re interested in.”

Izumi snorts, smiling wider. Oliver wouldn’t know how to be coy if someone tried to show her - this is an out, a chance for Izumi to leave things the way they are if she wants to. (She doesn’t want to.)

"Oh, I’ve got someone in mind." She smiles and her eyes trail over those perfect lips, the curves hidden under the harsh lines of uniform. Oliver lets out a breath and deep blue eyes slide half shut. "Are you free next week?"

As she watches, Oliver licks her lips. The simple movement makes Izumi want to kiss her, except they’d probably knock the cake off of the table and Izumi’d spent an hour baking it. “I can make time,” Oliver finally says, “And know some excellent restaurants in town.”

"Good." Absently, Izumi moves a piece on the Go board, and then chuckles at her next thought. Oliver raises an eyebrow. "I should tell the Elric boys. They’ll be /terrified./"

Oliver Armstrong laughs, and something warm glows inside of Izumi’s stomach like an array bursting into life.