The man's hair was even more tousled than usual when he came out of the bathroom. The few grazes on his jaw line showed the haste in which he had shaved, while his light blue shirt was crumpled and messy. A deep yawn echoed out of his mouth as he stretched outwards, walking along the deserted corridor with little haste. A detour to the left had him stood outside his own office, before he opened it and stepped inside. The desks of his subordinates were bare and clear save for their own little assignments and papers. The Colonel strode on to his adjoining, private office. Inside was a second desk, bare and unladen with work. This room was used only for meetings and formalities; and also his current bedroom. He yawned again, moving to one of the larger cupboards without haste. Stripping his shirt off, he bunched and threw it to his chair, before reaching in and selecting another shirt.
Briefly, he looked down to the standard issue military pants, before back to the spare pair in the cupboard. Quickly, he stripped away the pair he wore, swapping them for the clean set. Fastening his belt, he started as the door of his office swung open. "Sir I- Oh..." Riza Hawkeye stood in the doorway, her blonde hair bound classically behind her head with her fringe swept to the side. Her bag strap rested on her right shoulder, her right hand holding it lightly, while her left hand rested on the door handle. She blinked, staring at her topless commander almost dumbly, before she seemed to regain her composure. "Excuse me sir, I shall wait outside." She quickly back stepped, pulling the door closed with a soft click.
Roy blinked at the door, before he rolled his eyes and pulled on his shirt. Buttoning it up, he quickly pulled up his uniform jacket, shrugging it on and fastening it as he walked into the shared office. His lieutenant was stood by his work desk, her back to him while she looked out of the windows with a slightly pensive look. Coughing to clear his throat and to get her attention, Roy set to work on smoothing out his tousled locks. Riza jumped, before she composed herself to face him. "Forgive me for barging in on you Colonel." She began, before he cut her off with a wave of his hand.
"Don't worry about it Lieutenant." He lowered his hands, before sliding them into his trouser pockets. "How come you are here so early?" He asked lightly.
"I'm not early sir." She said simply, before pointing up to the clock mounted on the wall. Mustang frowned, before turning his attention up before looking horror struck at it. He groaned, before turning to the door. "I need to go get breakfast. I'll be back in a bit." He threw the door open, running down the corridors. The morning rush was hell to get served in the canteen; by the time you got served there was nothing nice left. He leapt a small flight of stairs, cursing himself as he stumbled before regaining his balance. He could hear people calling greetings to him, but he pushed on. A final skid around a corner saw him stifle a curse at the line waiting to be served. The people near the back chuckled thinly at him, well aware of the colonel's tendency to over sleep, and also at how he will have barrelled down to get food. "Tough luck Colonel, looks like you're late again." Someone muttered, much to Mustang's displeasure. He turned, spinning on his heel to storm back to his office.
- Hawkeye looked up as the door opened, raising her eye at the disgruntled Mustang as he let the door swing closed. "Too late?" She watched him with amusement, managing to hide a grin as he dropped into his seat with a scowl. "Damn lines. Higher ranks should be allowed to go to the front." He complained, pulling a face as his stomach growled audibly.
Riza rolled her eyes, before she reached into her bag with a sigh. She pulled out an apple, before tossing it across to the man who caught it with surprise. "Lieutenant?"
"You get in a mood when you're hungry, and are harder to force to work." She said mildly, before pulling out a report to rest it on her desk. Her pen in hand, she began to idly fill in the boxes. Mustang looked to the apple, then back to the girl with a smile. "Thank you Lieutenant." He bit into the apple, his grin widening at the sweet crunchy fruit. "Don't mention it Colonel."
As Roy bit down again, the door swung open to admit a bleary eyed Havoc, a beaming Breda, and a quiet Fuery. The Colonel leant forward, resting his elbow onto the desk while keeping a hold on his apple with his hand and teeth. Staring at his three subordinates, they all shifted uncomfortably while he chewed the apple audibly. "So gentlemen." The Colonel's voice was smooth and calm, though they all squirmed even more. Riza looked down, shaking her head with a soft smile. "Do you care to explain to me why you are all so late?" Roy raised his eyebrow, looking to them all individually, before he settled his gaze on Havoc. The man straightened, before rubbing the back of his neck. "Well y'see chief, I kinda ova slept." He muttered, avoiding his commanding officer's eye.
"I see." Roy mused, taking another bite of apple before fixing his gaze on Breda.
"Havoc gives me a lift to work." Breda muttered lamely.
"Didn't you think to walk?" Mustang raised an eyebrow, speaking around his apple.
"Well uh... It's quite far... I don't have a car..." The large man rubbed the back of his head. Mustang nodded once, before fixing his gaze on a terrified Fuery. "What about you Master Sergeant?"
Fuery jumped, before fixing his gaze on Mustang, his eyes wide behind the glasses. "There's been a commotion in the barracks Colonel!" He squeaked.
"What kind of commotion?" Mustang said smoothly.
"There uh... was a theft of a watch. We were all held under suspicion until the watch was found under the guy's bed." The words came out in a quick flood.
"I see... Alright you three. Get working." He pointed to their desks, before placing his half eaten apple on his desk and picking up the large pile of papers. Walking behind each of them, Roy dropped a large pile in front of each except for Riza. "You each have just gained extra work. I expect it all completed along with your own assignments." He said, before settling back into his leather chair and retaking his apple in hand as he leant back comfortably; no work to clutter his desk as he grinned. Riza frowned at him, before returning back to her work without a word.
The room was filled with the sound of pens scratching over the forms - except at Mustangs desk. The Colonel was slouched back in his chair observing his subordinates as they did his work. Occasionally Hawkeye's disapproving eyes met his, but she said nothing. The only time anyone spoke was when a paper aeroplane hit the side of Havoc's head. "Whoops," was all the man said, ignoring the indignant stares of Havoc and the furious scowl of Hawkeye. Roy leant back forwards over his desk, fingers fiddling with paper once more before he jumped as Hawkeye dropped a pile of papers directly beside him.
"You see to be lacking in things to do." Her voice was full of annoyance.
"Not really..." His fingers quickly screwed up the second aeroplane, the ball of paper sliding to the side into the bin. His hand slid to the forms he had been presented, before he groaned at her. "Aww c'mon, this is the hard stuff." He complained, almost like a whining child.
"You're a big boy now Colonel." The woman retorted as she returned to her desk, pen in hand once more. A string of angry mutters followed her as the man picked up his own pen, staring to the paper with dismay. Quiet snickering erupted from the other men's desks. They were abruptly silenced by a fiery glare.
He leant forward to begin filling in the forms, doing it at a steady speed for all of a few minutes, after which his attention began to wane. Deciding the forms were no longer a priority, he began to twirl his pen around his fingers, eyes boring into the paper intensely. "Tell me lieutenant, why I'm filling in papers concerning the Eastern province." Mustang looked up to Hawkeye with a raised eyebrow, pen twirling continuously.
"Because that's your job, Colonel," She replied, voice as sharp as her glare. She signed the bottom of a form and swiftly moved on to the next. The men were silent and carried on, they were accustomed to his complaining and her reprimands. Mustang glared up at her, before his eyes flicked down at the paper again. "But we don't have anything to do with the East now!" He complained, not impressed he was still doing work from his old sector. "I mean c'mon, we're in Central, in charge of other dealings. Who's even in charge over there now?" His tone was incredulous, though he half forced it to help stall for time.
"Lieutenant General Grumman, sir," She said curtly as she focused back on the stack in front of her. "Stop whining and work. Complaining about it isn't going to make it disappear."
"Well why isn't Grumman doing it?" He sat upright, looking over to his lieutenant as if she had all the answers. Leaning forward again, Mustang's elbow came to rest on the desk while his head rested on his palm. Resting his pen on paper, it looked for a moment like he intended to actually continue working, but it was short lived when he began to instead try to balance the pen to stand upright on its point. "It's not like we send our papers concerning Central to him, so why does he send his stuff to me?" He muttered darkly, his gaze burning into the pen as it refused time and time again to balance.
Hawkeyes pen clicked harshly against the wood of her desk as she put it down with more force than intended. "That's because Central is military command, Colonel. Now stop acting like a child and do your work." Her tone was restrained, but her annoyance at him was clear. Fuery tore his gaze from his work to warily look between the two. Mustang glanced up to his subordinate with a raised eyebrow, before he sighed in a defeated way. It would be pointless to argue with her. His eyes glanced back down to the paper and suppressing a groan, he began to meticulously fill in the appropriate boxes; muttering darkly under his breath at the whole 'unjust' situation. Hawkeye resumed her work with a small, satisfied smile. Breda looked up at him with a disappointed frown, before hunching back over the papers crowding his desk. Typical, the Colonel would pick a fight and then give in at the end, just when it was getting interesting too.
- Mustang leant back with a contented sigh, before his chair slid back with a loud scrape. The three men and woman turned to look at him as he made his way to the door, humming merrily. "Where you off to Chief?" Havoc asked mildly, to which Mustang just turned and grinned.
"I'm going to beat the lunch rush." A slightly gleeful tone entered his voice, before he swept out through the door without another word. Havoc turned to look at the others with a perplexed look.
"But... Why is he buying lunch?" Normally, Mustang just spent the lunch break in his office or out, not normally in the canteen. Breda shrugged.
"Dunno, but I'd better get down there fast too." He dropped his pen down, shuffled his papers back into a fairly orderly stack then jogged off in Mustangs trail.
The man he was tailing was already a good distance away from his office, having jogged down the corridor at a steady pace. He took the same route as he had that morning, though with more grace this time. When he stopped outside the canteen, he was pleased to see there were only a handful of officers in front of him. Quickly, Mustang joined the queue, his nose eagerly sniffing the air to catch the pleasant smells of cooking food. A loud grumble from his stomach reminded him of the neglected breakfast, making him all the more eager to get to the front. When he finally did, Mustang looked to the food on offer with a slight dismay. Fish. He hated fish. The smell was repugnant, making him cover his nose and look away unimpressed, hunger soon leaving him at the prospect of fish. Selecting instead a simple sandwich and fruit, he slid along quickly to the till, away from the repulsive odours. He did stop long enough however to snatch up a drink and a slice of cake, moving then quickly to hand over the money as the woman held out her hand with a bright smile. "We missed you this morning Colonel, did you oversleep again?" Her tone was playful, though it still made Mustang grimace; even the girls in the canteen knew he overslept? Does everyone lack the capacity to keep their mouths shut?
"Yeah, it was a long night last night." He muttered an excuse, slipping away quickly with his food, declining the odd offer to join a table and instead mooched off to the far end of the tables, sitting alone and, in his opinion, far away from the awful smell of fish; though the distance was definitely exaggerated.
Breda quickly joined him. His heavily laden tray thumped down on the table, opposite Mustang. Much to the man's dismay, Breda had opted for the fish. "Sup boss?" He inquired upon noticing the disgusted glare he shot his lunch.
"I can't stand fish." Mustang's voice was low and dejected, eyes never leaving Breda's plate until he slid along the bench, further aw away from the large man. "It's nothing personal Breda, but that thing stinks and turns my stomach." Mustang looked down to his own sandwich, suddenly less keen to eat it, but he took a bite none the less. "How come you're down here so early?" He asked lightly, raising an eyebrow at Breda.
The man laughed and wolfed the haddock down while Mustang watched him with a slightly open mouth. Barely half a minute later, he scrubbed his mouth with his sleeve and set his fork back on the table. "Just wanted to beat the queue. Now how come you're down here at all, it's not like you."
Regaining his composure, the colonel took another bite of his sandwich, chewing it slowly as he considered the question. He swallowed it with a shrug. "I didn't want to go out, and I don't bring food with me." He neglected to mention the fact he rarely left the Headquarters, though knowing the gossips it was likely he already knew. "Besides, why shouldn't I eat down here with everyone else?" Another bite of his sandwich, eyes glancing across to the now busy canteen, though nobody came to sit as far away as he had.
Breda swallowed a mouthful of potatoes. "It's just a surprise to see you eating in the canteen, that's all." He paused with his laden fork in front of his mouth and looked at the steadily growing queue with relief. "Another late night?"
Mustang smiled secretly, eyes on the final half of his sandwich. "Yeah, I guess you could call it that." He chuckled to himself, before quickly demolishing the rest of his sandwich, though not with the same amount of speed that Breda displayed. He cracked open the lid on the bottle, taking a great swig of water before glancing over to the man. "What makes you ask?" He leant forward onto the table, his elbows resting lightly near the edge as he picked up the orange on his tray, fiddling with the fruit until he broke the skin, beginning to peel it.
Breda nodded over to the till, where Hawkeye was paying for an apple. "Ah, just observing. I'm guessing you didn't have breakfast 'cos the Lieutenant doesn't forget things." He shovelled another mountain of food into his mouth.
Following his gaze, Mustang raised an eyebrow at his subordinate. "No, she doesn't... Though she should have said that she'd rather have kept it." He muttered, more to himself than to Breda. "I'd have bought something else this morning, or bought her one back..." He frowned, before turning his attention back to the orange. "Remind me I need to buy an alarm or something Breda... I keep oversleeping." Dropping the peel onto his tray, the man prised the segments apart to eat them one at a time.
"Will do, Colonel." Mustang nodded at him, before picking up his left over cake slice and standing.
"I'll see you back upstairs, don't be late this time." He called over his shoulder while walking away from the canteen buzzing with the talk of the men and women assembled.
- The Colonel re-entered his office half an hour later with a quiet yawn. His hands were in his pockets, his posture slightly slouched and his eyes bored. Thudding down into his chair, he looked up to see the others gone, before his eyes glanced back to his clock. There was still time before lunch ended. He frowned, before leaning forward again to resume the tedious task of filling out the forms. The others slowly trickled in, Fuery first and Havoc last, all surprised to see the colonel working during his break. They each extended a cautious greeting to which Roy muttered back at them, glancing up to each. Hawkeye's was punctuated with the sound of an apple core dropping into the bin. He yawned, shifting the way he hunched over the desk before finishing one paper with a flourished signature. It joined the pile, before he looked down to the next one and the smaller pile now left with a light look of suffering. His pen continued to scratch on the papers, though it was slower than he would have liked, but had no will to gather enthusiasm.
Hawkeye cast him a pity filled glance and wordlessly took a thick file from the top of his stack of work as she passed his desk. She quietly sat back at her table, pen in hand, and got to work. He stopped writing, before looking up to her with a soft blink. "Thank you Lieutenant..." He said, looking back down with a gentle smile before continuing to sign and fill in the boxes. However, he soon stopped before frowning down at some of the details of the form. "Lieutenant, is this right?" He asked, holding the paper out to her with a frown.
She took the sheet from his hand, took one look, then corrected a few mistakes and handed it back. "Yes, sir."
He made a small noise of disagreement in his throat, taking the paper back with a frown. "I could have sworn that the Silver Alchemist was involved..." He scanned the details again, before a look of understanding cross his face. The paper returned to his desk while he flicked through the remaining pile, pulling another sheet out and scanning it swiftly. "Never mind Lieutenant, different dates." He muttered, before putting away the second sheet, returning to the first. His pen scrawled across the paper slightly more quickly, his face creased into a frown of concentration.
- Some time later, Mustang stretched, lowering his pen with a contented sigh. He leaned back in the plush chair, feet coming up to rest on the desk as he folded his arms behind his head. Havoc leaned back as well, though didn't raise his feet. Hawkeye glanced to the side, shooting both men a poisonous glare. Havoc leaned forward, a nervous cough clearing his throat as he crouched over a sheet of paper. Mustang however, ignored the glare, instead closing his eyes as he smiled. The papers on his left weren't all gone, though the pile was significantly diminished. Interlocking his fingers, Mustang rested them on the back of his head with another small sigh.
Fuery stood up meekly, clutching the papers before he walked to Mustang's desk. "Uhm... sir?" He glanced to the desk then back up.
"What is it Fuery?" The Colonel just sounded bored.
"Where shall I put these papers?" Fuery held them out as Roy opened his left eye to look at the man before him. One hand came from behind his head to wave generally at his desk.
"Just stick them somewhere out of the way." He replaced his hand and reclosed his eye. Hawkeye suppressed a sigh and peered up at the paperwork in the young man's arms.
"They need to go to Storch's office, Fuery." He nodded in acknowledgement, muttered his thanks and scarpered off to deliver the forms.
Hawkeye glanced at Mustangs reclined form, particularly his boots, with disdain. "Colonel, you're getting dirt on your desk."
The man raised en eyelid with discontent, looking to the top of his boots with a sigh. His feet came away from the desk, arms however staying where they were when his foot came up to rest on the edge of the desk, propping him backwards. "Thanks for the heads up Lieutenant." He said with a smile, before his eyes shut again. "How come we've got forms going to Storch?" He asked with a frown, opening his eyes though remaining leant back.
"He and the Fuhrer are at Eastern Headquarters this week. His work's being handled by Internal Affairs, they've got Yakovlev keeping things together from his office," She explained, though her tone showed she had expected him to know. The man scowled, but refrained from complaining for which she was grateful.
A yawn followed instead, before he sat back forward normally. "How are you guys doing?" He asked mildly, going back for the stalling approach.
Havoc sat up and flexed his fingers, thankful for the reprieve. "I guess I'm nearly done, just got one or two things left." A grunt and a nod from Breda indicated he had a similar workload remaining. Mustang nodded, before he leant a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it as his eyes focused on the clock on the wall. He inhaled deeply, holding the breath before he let it out through his nose quickly. "Alright gentlemen, and lady." He straightened and stood, arms stretching out to either side as he walked to their joint work desks. "I think we can call it for today." He strode behind them all, inspecting the work on their desks.
"What about these left over forms?" Breda raised the few sheets left over to the Colonel who just glanced down to them.
"I'm sure you can take them home and finish them, don't you?" His eyebrow raised as he walked back to lean on his own desk, arms folded on his chest with his left foot crossing over his right, toes resting on the floor. Hawkeye began to shuffle the papers on her own desk, sliding them into her bag with a light frown. Mustang grinned, before he went past each of their desks to pick up the finished piles of work, leaving them all on his own desk in separate piles. "Sir?" Hawkeye's voice was questioning, and also slightly suspicious.
"I'll drop all of these off to their places," he glanced to the piles with a light frown, before turning back to Hawkeye. "That is, if you wouldn't mind tell me where they are to go." His tone was sheepish, hand rubbing the back of his head with a wry grin. The woman sighed, rolling her eyes before she walked to his desk to look over it with a critical eye. "Yakovlev, General Clemin, Yakovlev, General Hakuro," She pointed to each in turn, before her finger hovered over his own pile of work with a slightly wicked grin. "I'll let you figure out where these belong." She turned, gathering the rest of her things from her desk to place in her satchel hanging from her right shoulder.
"Aww Lieutenant, you know I'm useless with paperwork!" The Colonel called to her, his face mortified at the prospect of hard work.
"And also in the rain," Riza called back over her shoulder with a light smile, her hand turning the door handle as she looked back to her colleagues. Havoc and Breda exchanged sly grins and chuckles at the shamed Colonel's expense, then stopped when he regained his composure. He picked up the relevant papers, before heading to the door. "I'll catch you guys later." He muttered darkly at the men, before walking through the door held open by his Lieutenant with muttered thanks. A second set of footsteps behind him made the man glance back lightly to his following Lieutenant. "What's up?" He asked lightly, turning ahead as he heard the girl step quicker to walk beside him.
"Nothing Colonel, why do you ask?" Her voice was cool and slightly smug.
"No particular reason, I was just wondering why you were following me. Don't trust me to deliver some documents?" He replied smoothly, although his tone was slightly mocking, though Riza couldn't tell if it was to her or himself.
"The exit is this way, sir. I leave this way every night." Her voice was slightly amused, sharp eyes picking up on the fierce red that the tips of his ears burned.
"I didn't realise Lieutenant." The reply was short, quick. Riza smiled, shaking her head unseen by her commanding officer.
They walked together along the corridors, making idle small talk that eventually bloomed into a story by the Colonel. He chuckled at the punch line, joined by the light hearted laughter of Riza.
"How did he even manage that?" She asked incredulously.
"It took a great deal of skill." He joked, grinning easily.
"Or a great deal of stupidity." She pointed out, before stopping in the corridor. "I'd best leave you to it sir, you've already gone past Storch's office and Hakuro's." The girl smiled faintly at the man who looked oddly uncomfortable.
"Yeah... I wasn't paying attention." He muttered, before turning to walk away from her with a raise hand. "See you tomorrow Lieutenant." He called back.
The girl turned and continued walking, shaking her head faintly with a light smile at the Colonel; he was so easy to read, she didn't know why he even bothered to try and lie to her.