Just a little warning; the end is kind of weak... XD
Disclaimer; I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, nor do I try to claim any profit for publishing this work of fanfiction.
-x-
It was another sweltering evening in Central City, and Roy Mustang was stuck in his office yet again, almost suffocating beneath the piles of unfinished paperwork teetering haphazardly on his desk. The young Colonel sighed heavily for the umpteenth time, running his fingers through his jet black hair. Slyly glancing over, he noticed that his blonde subordinate was wholly focused on the paperwork before her, a stark contrast to his own procrastination. The only sound in the office was the scratching of pen on paper and the occasional rustle of a page being transferred from the surface of the desk to the stack of completed paperwork, which was notably larger than the one on Roy's desk. The rest of the team had all retired to their homes for the evening, leaving Mustang wishing he had at least tried to complete some measure of work before closing time so that he could return to his apartment, too.
Roy tugged at the uncomfortably tight collar of his stiff uniform, making a mental note to refrain from using starch on it during the summer months. He could feel his white undershirt sticking to his skin, the thin fabric absorbing all his sweat and clinging to his torso. Sighing heavily, Roy stretched for a moment and turned his attention back to Riza, a welcome distraction from his paperwork.
Her focus was devoted entirely to signing the various paperwork before her, diligently filling out the forms that Roy had "forgotten" to complete before their deadlines. Her bangs stubbornly hung over her left eye, and every couple of minuets she would try to tuck the offending strands behind her ear. They would hold for a short while, but slowly drift back to their previous position within a couple of moments. For some reason, Roy found this meaningless ritual entrancing, and the seconds became minuets before Riza finally turned her attention to Roy.
"Sir, are you going to stare at me all evening?" She deadpanned, her frustration well-contained, but not entirely concealed. "Or are you going to actually do your job?"
"Ouch," Roy winced as he clutched his heart in mock pain. "You wound me, Lieutenant! To think that I would do anything but my job—"
"As a matter of fact, sir," Riza cut in, venom dripping from Roy's title. "You have not yet completed a single page of paperwork in the past three and a half hours. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head down to the break room to make myself a cup of coffee. I expect you to be working diligently when I return." With that, the blonde sniper stood calmly and stalked out of the room, closing the door none too gently behind her.
Huffing in disappointment at the loss of his eye candy and chief distraction, Roy picked up his pen and began signing papers, not bothering to look at them more than needed. As his pen scratched across the paper, his mind drifted to the blonde who had left so suddenly.
She was always at his back, his faithful Hawkeye, always there to cover him or make sure he stayed on the right path. Roy sighed and shifted the signed page to the slowly growing pile of finished work, his mind focusing on everything but the work before him.
He evaded his work so he could be scolded by Riza and subsequently spend the remainder of the evening with her. He spent his free days flirting and taking other women out to dinner to make her jealous, to see that bolt of envy shoot through her auburn eyes for the briefest moment, to know that she wanted to be the woman on his arm. It was selfish and cruel to play with her heart like that, but that was all he could bring himself to do, and all the law would allow him to do. Roy huffed again and stared out the window, clicking his pen again and again.
He was such a selfish bastard. Riza gave everything she had to help him, to remain by his side and protect him as he strove to accomplish his goal, and how did he repay her?
By using childish maneuvers to play with her heart.
Oh, he knew he was in love with her. Madly in love. He had never spoken those golden three words to any of his conquests, or anyone for that matter.
I love you.
He had said it to his reflection every morning before work, speaking to his shadow, his Riza.
He confessed it to the walls of his small apartment, aiming it at the figurative image of Riza plastered across the thin sheet rock and peeling paint.
Those three words tormented him; laughed at him as they went everywhere...
Everywhere except where they needed to go.
The office door swung open, startling Roy from his thoughts. Riza entered with a file under one arm and a mug of steaming black coffee in the other, using her back to press the door closed behind her. Only briefly glancing at Roy's desk, she decided she was satisfied with his small amount of work and strode to her desk, plopping herself and her things down. Almost immediately after settling into the chair, Riza went to work, taking a sip of her coffee every three pages.
The office was again filled with the sound of pen on paper, only this time in stereo. Roy's pen dashed across his own paperwork, signing page after page with almost no thought to them. He would finish his own paperwork, and then he would tell Riza.
He would tell her how much he loved her.
-x-
"Well, I'm done," Roy smiled weakly as he held the last of his paperwork to Riza, his hand cramping and fingertips stained with ink. Riza's amber eyes held a spark of glimmer in them for a moment, but it quickly faded and was replaced by a warm light.
"Well done, Colonel," she smiled, taking the manila file folder from his hands. "I'm quite proud of you." Roy straightened a bit at Riza's comment, his ego feeding like a half-starved wolf.
"Well, I am pretty wonderful," Roy drawled, Riza rolling her eyes as the egotistical man fixed his jacket.
"Come now, hotshot Colonel," Riza chuckled, passing a stack of paperwork to her superior. "Help me take these down to the secretary's desk."
"But of course!" Roy snatched the stack of files from his Lieutenant and even took some from her own pile. "Who says chivalry doesn't exist anymore?" Riza rolled her eyes again, choosing to remain silent and let her Colonel live in his fantasy as he opened doors and boasted about his greatness.
The trip to the secretary's was much faster that usual, due to Roy's constant chattering, and Riza found that it was pleasant to just listen to the sound of his voice and relish in his presence.
"Finally I can put these damn files down," Roy sighed heavily as he laid his stack on the desk. "I don't know how you do this every day, Riza. I'll have to do my work more often to spare you the pain." Riza chuckled as she put down her own pile of files on the crowded desk.
"I quite like that idea, sir," she smiled warmly. Roy smiled back brightly.
"Mind if I walk you home, Riza?" He asked, his eyes begging.
"Might as well," Riza said airily. "It does get quite boring walking home alone." Roy's smiled got even wider and he nearly skipped out the doors of HQ, happily strolling along with a bounce in his step.
"Riza, I want to tell you something," he said as they stepped onto the sidewalk. His blonde subordinate turned to face him, slightly startled by his suddenly serious demeanor.
"Yes, sir?" Roy visibly winced at the title.
"Now that we're on the streets, won't you call me by my name?" Roy's charcoal eyes sparkled like a child begging his mother for a toy, and Riza had to remind herself that he was nearly thirty to contain herself from giving hima pat on the head.
"Of course, Roy," she smiled, his name rolling off her tongue.
Roy smiled and picked up Riza's hand, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles. "Thank you, Riza." His eyes went up to meet Riza's, and that was when the woman realized she had stopped walking; they both had.
"Riza, oh my dear Riza," Roy sighed, still holding her hand. "I've held this inside for far too long, and I know it's so out of character for me, but I really need to tell you how much I love you." Riza needed no shushing, as she was in shock by the Colonel's straightforward confession.
"I love you more than anything, Riza," he continued, all seriousness. "You mean everything to me, and I wish no more than to let you know that you're the most intelligent, beautiful, and incredible woman I have ever met." Roy placed another kiss on Riza's hand. "And I would be honored if you would be my girlfriend." Noting her stunned silence, Roy smiled inwardly and gently tugged at her wrist, the pair continuing down the sidewalk, Roy sparing Riza the prospect of being directly in the spotlight.
"I-I don't know what to say," Riza said carefully as they walked on, very aware of her reddening cheeks and the calloused hand inside hers. "You know I've never been much with words." Roy let out a hearty laugh.
"I do more than enough talking for both of us, Riza," he chuckled. "And I don't need an answer if you're not ready to give one." Riza was thrown aback by Roy's pure honesty, and her heart raced madly as she wondered how to carry out her answer.
Gathering her courage, she stopped walking and turned to Roy, the raven-haired man noticing and following her lead. Her cheeks an uncharacteristically shade of crimson, she took his other hand in hers, but still didn't look him in the eye. When she finally did, Roy was surprised at the intensity of her amber eyes.
Riza boldly leaned forward, placing a kiss on her superior's lips. The pair stood in the center of the sidewalk for more than a few moments, sharing a kiss between two pools of yellow light. When they separated, both smiled at the other and continued down the street hand-in-hand, no words needed.
Riza didn't care to point out that her apartment was in the opposite direction.
-x-
"Man, Hawkeye's late!"
Havoc nodded at Breda's observation, lighting the cigarette in his mouth and propping his feet up on his desk, lounging as he smoked.
"So is the Colonel, although that's not much of a surprise," Havoc said, the lit cigarette between his lips bouncing with every syllable. "So this is interesting; I live in the same apartment complex as Mustang, and I saw he and Riza go in together when I was on my way back from the bar. As far as I know, she never left."
"Well, shit!" Breda exclaimed excitedly, drawing the full attention of Falman and Fuery. "He finally got the balls to make a move! I bet he and Hawkeye went all ni—" The office door opened and Breda clamped his mouth shut, the two officers in question stepping in. The men noted the polite way Mustang let Hawkeye in first, and Havoc was the first to notice the shared looks they passed as he did so.
"Congratulations, chief!" He cried, swinging his legs off his desk to leap to his feet. "We knew you'd make it!" Riza rolled her eyes.
"I wonder," she said, her stare making Havoc sit down with a guilty expression on his face. "Have any of you even begun your paperwork, or have you all been gossiping like a bunch of schoolgirls all morning?" The men in the room collectively turned their gazes away and blushed as manly as possible in their current situation, whereas Roy just laughed.
"How could they not talk about their handsome Colonel being in a relationship with their beautiful Lieutenant, my dear Riza?" Roy pulled Riza closer to him by her hip, gently nuzzling her neck. "We're just too perfect." Havoc snorted.
"Chief, as happy as we are for you, I think I speak on behalf of the whole office — save Riza, of course — when I say no snogging and or nuzzling when other officers are present in the room."
The whole office erupted into laughter, and everyone went back to their daily work happier than ever.