Inevitable

By, pinoykengumi7

Disclaimer:I don't own Full Metal Alchemist or its characters.

Rating: K+

Pairing: Roy Mustang x Riza Hawkeye

Genre: Humor/Romance

Summary: Roy and Riza really didn't need the dodgy, matchmaking skills of Hughes. It was inevitable that they'd get together anyway.

--Duckii Mustang

—

If anyone saw Colonel Roy Mustang, their image of him as a confident, handsome, dashing man would instantly be shattered.

Why?

Well, he was staring wide-eyed at First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye with his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, as if he was imitating a goldfish swimming in water. And when he wasn't imitating the golden wonders of the fishbowl, he was stumbling over his words in an attempt to carry on a conversation. Or more like an argument.

"Wait, why are you here? I thought that the woman I was meeting was a gentle, docile lady—"

"Are you suggesting that I am not a lady of those attributes?"

"Of course! Any woman who shoots any man who attempts to make a move on her is in no way gentle or docile."

Riza bit her tongue. It was partly because of him that she decided to pursue this line of work.

"I thought I was here to meet a well-mannered gentleman who knew how to appreciate women and the things that they do for the one they love, and in addition to that, one whose mouth wasn't a trash can, but I was sorely mistaken." Riza looked like she wanted to say more but there was no further outburst. "I'm leaving."

"Lieu—, no, Hawkeye, wait," Roy paused and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It felt like there was a lumberjack hacking at his heart and his throat felt constricted. "…Please?"

Riza just stared at Roy in response, watching her colonel imitate a goldfish again.

Her words had stung him. Hard.

Well, his words had probably hurt her a lot as well, but he wasn't particularly thinking about that at this very moment.

All he had wanted to do was compliment Riza on how good she looked when she wasn't dressed in military rags and he had gone and badmouthed her without even intending to, and now he was stuck with her again not knowing what to say. Just how had he gotten himself in this situation anyway?

Oh yes, that was right. Maes Hughes.

He was the catalyst by which all this confusion had all started.

—

Roy Mustang looked out of the window that sparkled with its utter cleanliness, briefly commending himself on the good job he had done on cleaning the windows instead of doing his paperwork. He watched as a bird freely soared in the cloudless sky and envied it, wishing to be out in the peaceful open instead of being cooped up in this poor excuse for an office because—

"EVERYONE, LOOK AT ELICIA!! SHE JUST HAD HER FIRST PIANO RECITAL AND DOESN'T SHE LOOK ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS??"

—because it was just too easy for Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes to barge in and interrupt the quiet room with his endless pictures of his only daughter that he obsessively doted over.

Roy automatically reached for a glove and donned it in preparation for eliminating the photos that were now scattered around the office. He smirked as he heard the click of the pistol belonging to First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye behind him and knew that she was taking aim at the feet of the bespectacled man who was distributing photos of his daughter to Roy's subordinates. Roy watched with amusement as she skilfully fired a round; of course not with the intention to inflict harm upon him, but to see him jump from subordinate to subordinate as if the floor was peppered with mines. When Hughes approached Roy's desk, Roy didn't hesitate to burn the photos that were unceremoniously shoved in his face.

It could almost be called a daily ritual, in which Maes Hughes would come in and show off his pictures, and Roy and Riza would respond by telling Hughes what they thought of his obsessive compulsive attitude towards his daughter by sending flames and bullets his way. It would normally result in a very smug looking Colonel and First Lieutenant, contrasting with a very depressed Lieutenant Colonel who occasionally was on the verge of crying. In fact, one could even say that it had become some sort of a game to relieve them of the sombre nature of their job, even if it was just for a short amount of time.

"Roy, you big meanie. What did you do that for?" Hughes reached into the breast pocket of his uniform and pulled out more photos and looked at them, starry-eyed. "At least I developed a hundred more copies just in case this happened."

"And what's this?" Roy suspiciously picked up a yellow sheet of paper that had managed to escape from Hughes' grasp.

"Why Roy," Roy shrunk back as a smirk appeared on the man's face. "It's about time you started dating seriously, so here's a list of potential candidates for you to date."

"And may I ask why it's only Lieutenant Hawkeye's name that is on here?"

"Because I think she's the only one highly suitable for you?" Hughes shouted the words over his shoulder as he quickly made a beeline for the open door to avoid the bullets that whizzed past his ears.

"Honestly, that man… but maybe it is time for me to start taking relationships seriously. Ha! Who would have guessed, the great Flame Alchemist being serious in love." The Colonel creased the paper and skilfully folded it with such preciseness until a crane took form, all the while muttering to himself as if he had forgotten that Riza was close enough to him to hear his muse. "I wonder why my lieutenant is still single…"

As Roy stood up to go to the toilet, he failed to notice the slight tinge that had appeared on his most trusted subordinate's cheeks.

—

And that was exactly why Roy now found himself face to face with the only one highly suitable for him, according to his best friend. It wasn't because he had complied with Hughes' wishes, but because he had been tricked into it.

Yes, in hindsight, there was no way that Hughes would change his mind. Once he set his mind on something, he would keep at it until it was carried through. And it was just unlucky (or, he thought when he looked at the beautiful woman sitting in front of him, maybe it's lucky) for him that this time he and Riza were the victims.

END CHAPTER.

–

Finally fulfilling a request made by Mariela-chan (an eternity ago, so sorry!!), who wanted a fic where Hughes forces Roy and Riza to go on a blind date.

Review, please?