Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist
Not again…
Mustang groaned inwardly as Hawkeye left another stack of paperwork on his desk. He lifted his gaze from the paperwork momentarily and watched her as she turned her back and walked back to her desk.
He noticed that the way she walked had a certain rhythm. She always walks with right foot first, followed by left over right. The distance between each step she took was even as if it was carefully measured. Her pace was neither hurried nor slow, but steady and never faltered. The perfect example of how a soldier marches. There was not much poise except efficiency in the way a soldier marches, yet she had somehow managed to add a touch of grace to it. He wasn't sure how she could do it.
For one reason or another, he didn't avert his gaze as she sat down at her desk and went back to her work. She continued to work diligently; he continued to watch her with his half-lidded eyes. When her golden bang occasionally slipped from her ear and obstructed her sight, she simply raised a hand to tug it back in place absently. And for a second, he thought she looked mesmerizing when she seemed so absorb in her work.
"What is it, Colonel?"
Hawkeye suddenly asked without looking up to meet his gaze. Her calm voice snapped him out of his trance instantly.
He wanted to smack himself hard for being caught off guard like that, especially by her. He knew he should've known better after working with her all these years. Nothing ever escaped her keen eyes. After all, she didn't become his Second in command for nothing.
Although he was more than a little embarrassed, he wasn't about to let his mask slipped. He was determined that he had a reputation to uphold. And so he dropped his gaze casually, pretending to do his work instead.
"Ah… nothing."
"Sir?"
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"Is there anything you like to tell me?"
"No."
He already knew what she wanted to ask but he hoped she wouldn't pursue the subject further. And much to his relief, she didn't. He then let out the breath that he didn't realize he was holding.
It was only then that the irony finally sank in that he, Roy Mustang, the womanizer, had just resorted to be a coward in front of a woman. He would have mocked at himself under different circumstances. But she was there. So he pushed back the thought and forced himself to concentrate on the paperwork instead for once. Silent descended between them and neither took the initiative to talk after that.
Before he realized it, he had finished his work earlier than usual that day without having her constantly reminding, shouting or threatening him with her gun to finish his work.
"I'm leaving, Lieutenant."
He picked up his coat and walked towards the door.
Hawkeye raised an elegant brow for her Colonel's unusual behaviour. But what surprised her even more was that he returned to the office shortly afterwards with a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Here. Don't work till too late, Lieutenant."
With that, he set that cup of coffee carefully on her desk. She looked up with a start, wanting to thank him but he had already walked out from the office without a backward glance. It was quite a while before she could compose herself and regain her calmness.
That night Mustang was whistling all the way home while Hawkeye was still smiling as she drank her coffee and returned to her work after that.
A/N: This is my first FMA fanfic. I hope I managed to keep both of them in character because they are my favourite pairing in FMA. Any comments and constructive criticism are welcomed and appreciated.