"Dammit! It's cold!" whined Havoc.
"Well what did you expect? It's winter," replied Hawkeye.
"Yeah, well, winters in Central shouldn't be this cold," he grumbled.
The gentle snow that was descending was melting on their bodies, but it was beautiful nonetheless.
The sudden breeze of winter chill swept over the street the two occupied, his scarf caught in the wind and her hair flailing. The wind snuck beneath his overcoat and sent a ripple of goosebumps across his body.
He growled, "I hate winter!"
"We should hurry and get to Headquarters then," she inquired.
He politely took off her coat and wiped it of any residue snow so he could hang it up. She shook her head a little to get rid of the water in her hair and preceded to make herself presentable. While Havoc unbuttoned his trenchcoat to hang it up also, he ruffled his hair to get it as dry as possible.
"It better not be like this when shift ends," he said, and followed Hawkeye to the office.
She opened the door, they both entered, and he closed it. Everyone was already there.
"Hey you two, it's very unlikely for you guys to be late, y'know," said Breda.
"And what? Like you're doing anything?" retorted Havoc, looking at Breda's laid-back posture.
"Lieutenants! Explain yourselves!" the two heard from their commanding officer.
"Ah!" They immediately stood to attention before Roy.
"Sorry, sir. But we were caught up in the blizzard outside," explained Hawkeye as she saluted.
"And why didn't you drive here?" questioned Roy.
"The engine was too cold to run, sir," she replied.
It looked like Roy was thinking about the response for a second. He sighed and laid back into his chair. "Alright then. But don't let it happen again, got it?"
"Sir!" They both replied.
Havoc frowned. His hand felt like spaghetti. He could feel his temples pulsing and a headache forming behind his left eye. 'I hate paperwork,' he thought bluntly. "I need a smoke," he dropped his head on his desk.
"Break is in half an hour, Lieutenant Havoc," said Hawkeye, not looking up from her papers.
He groaned. "Half an hour...?"
"Why can't we ever take a day off, Colonel?" asked Breda.
"Excuse me," said Falman politely, "But these are important papers that have to be handed to General Hakuro by 5 p.m."
"I never signed up for a desk job," said Breda.
And Fuery, always diligent to impress his boss, was working like a machine. Probably not even paying attention to the conversation.
"You'd better hope I don't get tendonitis," said Havoc, and resumed his work.
"Hey, hey. It's not like I wanna do this work either," said Colonel, who looked like he was going to fall asleep. "I'm a 'human weapon', not a 'deskman'," he said with a lofty tone.
"I sure as hell ain't any human weapon. But I didn't spend years in Academy to sit around doing paperwork," said Breda.
"That was the longest half-hour of my life," Havoc said to himself as he lit up outside on the steps. The smoke filled his lungs when he inhaled deeply, savoring the sweet taste of his flavored cigarettes. He exhaled just as deeply and sat down to relax for a few minutes. The cement steps were freezing his ass, but there was nowhere else to relax where he wouldn't be nagged at for smoking indoors. Damn smoking laws.
"You're going to give yourself lung cancer with those," said a voice from behind.
He immediately recognized the female voice. "Probably. But blame the guy who invented cigarettes with a strawberry flavor," he replied.
He heard footsteps walking towards him. "Smoking causes indelicacies in people."
Havoc felt a little offended at the comment. "Do you think I'm 'indelicate'?"
Hawkeye sat beside Havoc. "More or less," she replied openly.
"Aw, I think I died a little inside," he took another swig.
There was a short silence between the two officers. Hawkeye could smell the heavy tar in the air, and could hear the chattering teeth of Havoc. She herself was starting to get cold. Neither had any proper wear on themselves. The cold air moved like a slug down her neck. "Why didn't you bring something to wear out here, if this is where you plan to spend your break?"
"My jacket's still wet."
"Why did you come out here then?"
"To have a smoke, what else?"
"Smoking is a filthy habit, Lieutenant. It would do your health a lot if you stopped," she said gently. Havoc probably shortened his life by twenty years from smoking a pack a day. She really hoped he'd drop the addiction.
"Cutting something like smoking isn't a walk in the park. A few years back, I tried, didn't work out. It's in my blood now," he said while exhaling, a deft smoke ring floating from his lips through the air.
"It's in your liver too," she said a little brazen.
He sighed. Cool and calm Riza had a sense of humor. Where was the world going to these days?
He smoked his cigarette down to the filter and crushed the butt beneath his shoe. He stood up suddenly and announced, "I'm going inside." He turned and made for the door. Leaving Riza alone.
Five hours passed. The clock hit 6 p.m. Shift ended.
"Another day of nothing," Havoc said, and pulled his coat over his shoulders. He wrapped his scarf around his neck and prepared to face -19 degrees celcius. Coldest temperature it's been in a while now, in Central at least.
He told everyone to have a good evening as he left Headquarters. As usual, nobody even noticed him. He tightened his collar and walked out. The cold spilling into his lungs and biting at his skin.
"I hate winter," he frowned and walked out the gates towards home. Snow crunching beneath his feet and a small winter breeze whistling through the air. It was at times like winter, that he wished he didn't live to damn far away from work. Ten blocks to his apartment and a warm couch to lay on. 'Wonder what I should eat tonight...,' he thought distantly. He didn't have much at home, maybe he'd go out. 'Oh wait. Shit!' He rummaged through his pockets and got out his wallet.
"170 sens?!?" he shouted. "I don't get paid until Friday!!"
He panicked. No way he's going to make it from Monday to Friday on only 170 sens!
"Short on money, Lieutenant?"
Havoc shouted in surprise. He turned around to see Hawkeye standing behind him with a curious look on her small face.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" he said angrily.
"Did I scare you?"
"Of course you did!"
"Forgive me."
He waited for his heart to settle a little before he asked her, "What are you doing there anyways?"
"Walking home."
His eye twitched. "Well then why did you decide to creep up to me like that?"
"Well, we take the same route home. And besides, your screaming is hard to dismiss, Lieutenant," she said plainly.
He chose to ignore her sardonic comments and turned back to his nearly-empty wallet. 'Choose wisely, Havoc. Starve tonight or buy some food and starve tomorrow night.' He tried to recall what he had back home. But he guessed that everything he had was either rotting or molding. 'Shit.'
"So... You're short on money?" Hawkeye asked again.
"Yes, I am," he replied sadly and frustratingly.
There was a slight pause.
"Do...you want me to get you something?" she asked.
His brain seemed to trip on something when he heard this. 'Did she just...?'
"Uh. Pardon?" he asked, confused.
"Do you want me to take you out for dinner?" she repeated.
He looked at her in the eyes. 'Wow... She did!'
The look in his eyes turned to sincere. "Sure," he said gratefully.
She smiled at his acceptance. "Good. I know just the place."
She walked up to him and grabbed his hand. A blush dusted his cheeks. She started leading him away to wherever this place was. Her hand was smooth and lithe and really warm compared to his ice cold ones.
'Does this count as a date?' he thought.
He smiled and wrapped his fingers around her own to complete the bond.
'A date with the Riza Hawkeye.'
First story based on HavocxHawkeye fluff. Review and tell me how it was, please? Oh god I hope I did good!
