Roy flicked his pen again in annoyance. He couldn't concentrate today; there was too much on his mind. The paperwork was piling up and he'd barely made a dent in it since this morning. He sighed in exasperation as he finally managed to fill out another sheet before returning distractedly to flicking his pen.
They'd been hearing the tap of the pen against Roy's fingers for hours on end and, although no one wanted to be the one to say it, it was distracting everyone else in the office and they just wanted it to stop. As usual, though, when no one wanted to deal with the colonel and his eccentricities, Riza was silently elected to take care of the problem. She raised an eyebrow at the men around her who, as usual, needed her to be the one who always confronted him. Although, that might be why she was the only one of his subordinates that he actually listened to. The men furtively watched her approach the colonel's desk while trying to appear uninterested and busy with their own work.
"Maybe you should take a break, sir."
The pen stopped flicking as Roy raised his head. He wearily gave her a half-smile. "If I stop now, I'll never get anything done."
She glanced at the small pile of completed papers on the side of the desk. "With all due respect, sir, you've barely done anything in the first place. The way I see it, if you take a break now, you should be able to accomplish something when you return; or, you can continue at the pace you're going now and be here all night. Either way, you've so far behind that you've got a long night ahead of you."
As he was about to respond, she added, "Oh! And Edward will be coming by later with his report for you. Perhaps you should take a break now so that you can deal with any sarcasm he decides to throw at you this time."
With a sigh, he put the pen down and leaned back to stretch his arms over his head. "Maybe you're right, Hawkeye. I honestly don't feel like dealing with Fullmetal right now. And if I look at this paperwork any long, I'll probably go crazy." He stood up and stretched again. Walking out of the room he muttered, "I need some coffee."
With his departure, there was an almost visible release of tension in the of the men quickly got back to work, but Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Feury glanced curiously at the 1st lieutenant, who was still standing by the desk. When she noticed that they were watching her, she strode back to where they were sitting before they could start to gossip, as they were prone to do. As soon as she thought that they would actually do their work, Havoc asked quietly, "So what's the deal with the colonel today? I mean, I know he's a procrastinator, but isn't this a little much? Even for him?"
Breda gave a knowing grin. "Wonder who it is he's supposed to meet tonight. She's gotta be drop-dead gorgeous to keep his mind that preoccupied!" He laughed shortly.
Feury shook his head vigorously. "But that can't be it! He has women all over him all the time! It makes no sense that he'd be anticipating a night with another woman that strongly! It's gotta be something else…" He looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Do you think maybe he's sick? Something's been going around the office lately." He nodded with conviction.
Falman sighed. "So the colonel's having an off day. Is it really that important why? I'm just hoping we'll still be here when Fullmetal gives him that report!" He grinned. "That'll be a sight to see. And I bet Ed'll give him hell!"
The men kept talking for a few minutes until they noticed Riza's silence. Breda looked at her with a bemused grin. "Don't you have anything to say, Lieutenant? I know you've got some ideas floating around in that head of yours. C'mon! We could use a woman's intuition!" He laughed a little to himself, hoping he could entice her to join in on their fun.
Riza stayed quiet for a few more moments, looking at Breda, her facial expression never changing, though her voice became softer. "Today would have been Major Hughes's birthday."
Their faces fell slightly as the source of their amusement disintegrated. They fell silent, not sure what to say as Roy walked back into the room and back toward his desk. They watched his expression, somewhat guiltily, as they thought they saw him stare off for a moment in their direction. As soon as he sat down, however, he immediately started in on his growing pile of papers again. They stared for a few moments as his hand continued to glide over sheet after sheet, then returned to their own work.
Soon after the sun had set, the subordinate officers finished their jobs for the day and one by one left the office. Roy was still working furiously on his endless stack by the time Riza was the only one left in the room. She signed her name a final time and walked slowly over toward Roy. He appeared to be engaged in his work and not to notice her, but she knew better. She lightly touched his shoulder. He stopped writing. "You should go home early, sir. The paperwork can wait."
He raised he head slightly in response. "I still need Fullmetal's report."
She smiled slightly," I'll handle it just this once."
Roy shook his head slowly. "And this'll still be here when I get back." He gestured to the incomplete pile. "It'll just leave me with twice as much to do tomorrow. I'll leave once I get the report." He put his hand on the one resting on his shoulder reassuringly. He was well aware that Riza knew what was bothering him and he didn't want her to worry. "Besides, I'm sure Black Hayate could use some company."
Knowing this was one argument she couldn't win, Riza nodded, staying as she was until Roy's hand slipped from hers and returned to writing. She slowly moved away from him, gathered what little she'd brought with her and walked to the door. "Good night, sir." He raised an hand in acknowledgement and was left alone with an overwhelming amount of incomplete paperwork.
Roy groaned to himself when he looked at what awaited him for the rest of the night. He flicked his pen again in annoyance, reaching for the next paper.