Disclaimer: I do not own FMA.
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How to Stay Infinitely Warm at Fort Briggs
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Roy Mustang shoved his gloved hands under his arms in a futile attempt to warm himself. Even though he and his unit had been in the North for a few days, none of them were used to the cold and the Flame Alchemist swore he could still feel the beginnings of frostbite on his cheeks. "If Olivier asks where I am tomorrow morning," he began, turning to his subordinates, sniffling the entire way. "You can tell her that I'm using up all of the Fort's hot water in the shower. Seriously, how can she stand this every day? We've only been here for three days and I think I'm going to have to ask the doctor to amputate my feet."
Riza Hawkeye stood beside him, frowning and just barely keeping herself from rolling her eyes at her Colonel's drama. "Sir, it's not that cold out here. And besides – we're in a heated area right now."
"Lieutenant," he turned to her and shivered for effect, ignoring her statement. "I don't know how you can stand this – by all means, tell us your secret." Riza's eyebrows upturned at him when he just gave her a cheeky grin, before shaking her head.
"I just don't find it as freezing as you five do," she shrugged, going over some paperwork at the desk in front of her to distract her from the frozen-brained men of the room. As much as she would have liked to go somewhere else in the Fort, the Major General of Briggs had asked the small group of Easterners to congregate in the room in which they all were so that they could further discuss the matters of why the Mustang Unit was even in the North. Riza was annoyed with the fact that Olivier was late for her appointment, but then again she wasn't about to spout her mouth off to the ferocious Ice Queen when she did in fact arrive – whenever that was.
"Maybe it's a woman thing?" Breda offered the group jokingly. "The doc and Major General Armstrong don't seem to have any issues with the temperature, either. It only makes sense, right?" The men of the room laughed good-naturedly, while Riza sighed and glared at the pen in front of her.
"Hey, Colonel," Jean called at Roy, who directed his attention to the Second Lieutenant. "If you're so cold, maybe a little cuddle will warm you up. What do you say?" Havoc jumped up from his seat then and outstretched his arms to his superior officer teasingly. "C'mere now! Give ole Havoc a hug, Mustang!"
Roy simply pushed the younger man away with a loud laugh. Riza sighed as she signed a document in front of her, trying to tune out their voices but failing utterly. The five men continued to banter casually for the next half hour and in that time, Olivier still didn't show up and Lieutenant Hawkeye was nearly half done with her paperwork for the day.
Where is that woman!? Riza thought to herself, annoyed. Maybe she got caught in a snowstorm or something? The Lieutenant tried to rationalize the Major General's uncharacteristic absence – she was normally a very punctual person, so to be nearly an hour late for something she had scheduled was beyond abnormal for the Armstrong heir.
It seemed as though Riza was not the only person getting irritated with Olivier's lack of presence either, for her comrades began to complain, as well. Even little Kain Fuery, who like to keep his mouth shut most of the time, was speaking up about his boredom brought on by waiting for their commanding officer.
It got to the point where the ever-impatient Roy Mustang stood up from lounging in his seat and made his way towards the door. Riza side-glared at him as he waltzed out of the small room, silently berating him for leaving his post so casually. "Sir, I don't think you should be leaving. Major General Armstrong could arrive any second now."
"Except she won't, and I know it," he told his adjutant matter-of-factly, hands on his hips and smug smirk gracing his features. "That's why I'm taking the liberty of finding her myself – so my fellow comrades won't have to wait any longer in this unforgiving cold!"
"Ah, we know you just wanna go cuddle with the General, Colonel," Jean waved his hand at Roy, "go get some of that special womanly heat for yourself, if you know what I mean." He winked at the Flame Alchemist then, who just chuckled along with the others before opening the door that led to the walkways that lined the base of Briggs. An icy wind blew in from space, causing everyone – even Lieutenant Hawkeye – to shudder and grumble.
The Second Lieutenant watched as Riza shook her head at the door after it clunked shut, her brow creasing grumpily, completely unimpressed with the Colonel's lack of work ethic. With Roy gone, it didn't take long for each man to file out of the room as he pleased, either tired of waiting for the absentee General or claiming they had better things to do be doing with their time. Before long, it was just Jean and Riza. Havoc continued to spy on his co-worker from his across the room, and Hawkeye, sensing his eyes on her, looked up at him and then at the door. With a raised brow, she asked simply, "Well, aren't you going to leave, too? Don't you have anything better to do?"
"Honestly, yes, I probably should be doing my paperwork like you, but other than that, nope," he gave her a large grin before lighting a cigarette. Out of everyone he worked with, he knew that Riza didn't mind in the least that he smoked indoors, while the others mostly made a fuss about it when it came to enclosed areas. The Lieutenant sighed, frustrated, at his answer, but returned to her work like it had never happened, before being interrupted by a random shiver coursing through her small frame. Blinking at the blonde woman, Jean asked, "Are you cold? If you want, I could turn up the heat in—"
"No," she commanded, holding a hand up to restrain him. "I'm fine, thank you."
Frowning at her curt reply, Jean hopped up from his spot and walked over to her and kneeled down in front of her desk. "You know, you don't have to act all professional and distant all the time. I mean, you're among friends, aren't you? And besides, the Colonel's not even here – so you don't have to drill through the paperwork." Riza looked up at him and before she could catch him, he tapped her on the nose playfully. Giving her another wolfish smile, he finished with, "So relax a little."
Riza sighed and reaching up, pulling her hair out of its barrette, allowing her long blonde hair to cascade down her shoulders freely. Jean blinked at the sight – he had never really noticed how pretty she was with her hair loose – while she raked her fingers through her tresses. Looking away when she eyed him oddly, Havoc caught her shiver once again despite her protest just seconds earlier about being perfectly fine. "Why can't you just admit you're cold and let me turn up the temp in here?"
She glared up at him and folded her arms across her chest, "I'm not cold, all right? Now I have some work to fini—"
"Then why do you keep shivering?" he inquired, eyebrows cocked in amusement when she regarded him with a huff. A goofy grin spreading over his features, he carried on with, "What? Afraid Mustang might try to cuddle you instead of Olivier?"
"What? I don't particularly care what the Colonel does with other women, Havoc," she clarified, though he could easily point out how her tone had changed when he brought up the Major General and Roy's supposed actions with her.
"Hey, now." He walked around her desk until he was behind her, before slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Cuddling is a very affective form of transferring body heat, I'll have you know." Jean's face brightened then, as though an idea struck him, and without any warning, he put out his cigarette, bent down and scooped the Lieutenant into his arms with ease, laughing the entire way.
A blush blossomed on Riza's cheek, and she began to protest, which only served to entertain Jean further. Walking them over to the sofa on the other side of the room, he sat down and placed her on his lap, strong arms encircling her tightly. Riza kept her arms crossed and she stared away from his grinning face defiantly, but her head twitched to the side in question when he said, "See?" a few moments later.
Blinking at him, she repeated back, "'See' what?"
"You haven't shivered once since I've had you here with me," he noted, smiling smugly to himself.
Riza allowed for her formal act to finally fall, and with a smirk, she retorted, "I don't think I enlisted your help for warming me up, now did I, Lieutenant Havoc?"
Jean simply laughed in response before bringing their faces so close together his forehead was resting against hers, their noses were bumping and she could feel the slight stubble of his chin on her skin. "You still seem to be enjoying it," he replied cheekily, lips quirking up in a cute, lopsided fashion.
Riza allowed a smile to grace her features and knocking her nose against his again, she inquired, "Are you flirting with me, Lieutenant?"
Jean's eyes scoured her face before landing on her lips and then flickering up to her eyes again, his steely gaze intense and unwavering as he watched her. Riza caught the look he was giving her with a devilish grin on her part. "I do believe that was an affirmative," she answered her own question with a short laugh. A few more moments passed, and Jean licked his lips, still staring intently at his higher up. It was only when she finally relaxed into her position on top of him that Lieutenant gave into his urge and kissed her. It was soft as he waited for her possible reciprocation, but deepened when she recovered from her shock and pressed her mouth against his. Lacing his fingers in her hair, he heard a noise escape her mouth that went straight to his groin, and despite his desires, his respect for her and the very real possibility of the Major General walking in on them prevented him from acting on his whims.
When they pulled back from each other, he couldn't help the smile at the small sigh that fell her lips. Riza looked down at the man holding her with half-lidded eyes and then blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Yeah, I'd say I'm sufficiently warmed up now." Jean's smile simply grew at her words.
As the time passed, Riza forgot all about her paperwork and her lack of warmth, instead favouring lounging about the small sofa with Jean and stealing kisses whenever she saw fit. When the pair got to the point of lying down on the couch, Riza atop Havoc's chest with one of his hands holding her to him while the other idly fiddled with her hair, he asked her quietly, huskily, "So is cuddling still all that bad?"
Riza smiled down at him before placing her head on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. "I guess not..." she finally conceded, rolling her eyes when Jean leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. The pair went silent then, content with the idea of just lying their together in the quiet serenity that only Briggs could provide them with.
It was only hours later when they were walked in on by the others – Major General included – and caught snoozing away that they separated. And despite the fact that she was several hours behind on her paperwork and both she and Jean were lectured by Roy about "fraternizing", Riza found that those next few nights at Fort Briggs might actually be enjoyable if Jean was to be by her side.
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Author's Notes: Yep, I ship Havocai now. And actually, surprisingly hard. Royai's still my forever OTP, but holy ship, Havocai's risen in the ranks over these past few days! FMA is one of the few shows (along with LoK) where I ship all of the canon pairings (because Royai is canon, OKAY) along with a good handful of the non-canon ones. Like, I ship Al/Winry, and to a small extent even Roy/Olivier – I just think they would have a hilarious relationship! XD
