Once the visitors had taken their leave, Roy and Riza walked out to the lobby of the hospital, where the Lieutenant General was waiting with a small group of soldiers. Grumman walked over as soon as he saw them.
"Lieutenant, we can leave as soon as you get yourself discharged from the hospital and leave a message for your friend when she wakes up. I've asked the nurse to discharge you as quickly as possible so we can be on our way." He gave the instructions briskly before returning to his men.
Roy raised an eyebrow as Riza walked away. The Lieutenant General's reaction to stress was interesting. He could now see how a man as eccentric as Riza's grandfather could reach such a rank. As he puzzled over Grumman's success, Roy glanced back over at the main desk, where Riza was clearly getting frustrated with the nurse he had spoken with earlier. He crossed the lobby to see if he could calm Hawkeye down, it couldn't possibly be good for her to be that agitated.
"Excuse me miss, is something wrong?" He asked the nurse politely, putting a calming hand on Hawkeye's shoulder.
"Oh, not really, I just can't seem to find your Lieutenant's file." She simpered back at him, casting a sour look at the blonde standing next to him. Roy glanced at his Lieutenant, who merely looked over at him before glancing at the desk in front of the nurse. Roy got the message loud and clear.
"Is that all? Well, I'm sure you'll be able to find it. After all, the Lieutenant General did ask that you discharge the Lieutenant here as quickly as possible, right… oh, I'm sorry, I must have missed your name." He answered with a small smile.
"How foolish of me! My name is Sara. What's your name, Major?" She cast a triumphant look over at Riza, who smiled back politely. The poor nurse had no idea that she had just misinterpreted the insignia on Roy's uniform or that he was about to crush her hopes.
"Well Sara," Roy responded easily, "would you mind looking in the cabinet again? The file must be there somewhere." Sara rushed to comply, fully aware that the file was in fact not in the cabinet. Unfortunately for her, the Colonel had been made aware of that fact too. When she turned around he was handing a file from the desk to the woman next to him. Sara's only fleeting consolation was that he had moved his hand from the blonde's shoulder to pick up the file.
"Ah! I see you found the file. How silly of me to leave it there and not check." The nurse laughed uneasily.
"Indeed." Riza commented dryly as she signed the file and handed it back to the abashed Sara, who looked up at the Colonel hopefully. Mustang had already turned away, heading for the patient mailboxes. "Colonel, I gave the doctor a note for her when he was giving me instructions. We should report back to Lieutenant General Grumman."
Sara cringed as she heard the young man's true rank when his lieutenant called him. She watched with pure venom in her gaze as the Colonel turned to walk back across the white tiles of the lobby to his superior, the Lieutenant not far behind.
"Are you two ready to leave?" Asked Grumman, sending his men to get the cars with a wave of his hand. When they had left he leaned in to ask another question. "And do I need to refer that poor nurse to one of the hospital's psychiatrists?" A small smile crept on to Riza's face as she saw the traces of her grandfather's humor reappearing.
"Yes sir, we are ready to leave. And no sir, that nurse does not need to see a psychiatrist, she simply needs an attitude adjustment." She replied as the group walked out the front door of the hospital and to the waiting cars. Roy and Grumman climbed into the back seat of one car and Hawkeye settled into the passenger seat. One of Grumman's men came to drive the car, explaining that the other three men would take the other two cars.
The car ride was not long, but it was awkwardly silent. Roy, Riza, and the driver all knew Grumman well enough to carry on a conversation, but no one wanted to initiate one with so many people around. The atmosphere was so bad that the occupants of the car were all relieved to alight in front of their destination.
The building was clearly old. The stones were a bit weather-beaten, but the entire house was well kept. Riza had to gently jar her commanding officer as he stood, staring up at the house. It was not as big as the Armstrong manor, but Roy's eyes lingered on the well kept garden that seemed to surround the building, and the intricate wooden carvings that decorated the door and window frames, many of them adorned with worn Grumman family crests. He had seen elegant houses before, but the thought that this was Hawkeye's family home stunned him. It was quite a step up from the house he remembered staying in while he trained under her father.
"Are you two coming in?" Asked Grumman genially as he stood in the doorway, waiting for his guests.
"Yes sir." Responded the slightly dazed Colonel, before hurrying up the stairs to the door. Riza was not quite as fast in coming. She took a moment to ascertain how far she could bend her knees before walking to the stairs. The stairs proved to be more difficult than the walk to them. They were not particularly high or steep, but Riza had difficulty on all three steps up to the door. She put on a brave face, but she knew it was for naught. The two people that witnessed her climb knew her well enough to see through her mask, just as they had known not to ask her about her own injuries. When she reached the door, her grandfather ushered her in before he sent Roy in.
Roy started as he came into the front hall of the house. His first impression was of a tall room built entirely of black marble. The only feature of the room that was not black marble was the handsome white marble staircase running up the center of the room to a balcony in the second floor hallway. His awe must have shown on his face.
"Do you like it? You'll find that several of the main rooms have a chess theme. Not my decision, my ancestors', but the taste for chess certainly seems to be passed down with the house." Grumman explained, crossing to the foot of the stairs and placing a hand on the figure at the foot of the right banister. "See? These figures are the black king and his queen." Riza smiled at her grandfather's enthusiasm as she watched the men admire the room.
"Oh my goodness gracious! Elizabeth, sweetheart how are you?" A tall, elderly woman hurried to embrace Riza, her white hair streaming behind her. Roy turned to see who had entered the room. He was surprised to see a thin, tall, and obviously old Ishbalan woman looking Riza over to see all of her injuries. Riza brought her over to Roy.
"Colonel, may I introduce you to Mayaris?" She asked politely, waiting for Roy to nod before continuing. "Mayaris is an old friend of my grandmother's. She's been taking care of the Lieutenant General since my grandmother died. Mayaris, this is Colonel Roy Mustang, my superior officer. He is going to be staying too."
"Pleased to meet you at last, Colonel. I've heard a great deal about you in the last few months." Responded Mayaris graciously.
"Very nice to make your acquaintance, ma'am." He answered, slightly disconcerted at the idea of an Ishbalan woman being so cordial toward him. He had to wonder if she knew about his role, or indeed Hawkeye's, in Ishbal. He was brought out of this reverie by the Lieutenant General.
"I'm glad you're all acquainted, but that brings me to the rules I have for this house." Roy was all ears; he was keen not to displease the man in charge of Eastern Headquarters. Riza and Mayaris just looked at each other knowingly. "First of all I am going to require that we drop this ridiculous military formality. The four people here are Riza, Mayaris, Roy, and myself. I'm grandfather to Riza, Mister Grumman to Roy, and you old coot to Mayaris as long as we're here." They all shook their heads at Grumman's antics before Riza prompted him.
"What is the second thing, grandfather?"
"The second thing is mostly for you, missy. Shooting is only allowed in the shooting gallery downstairs." A look of disbelief came over Roy's face. Upon seeing it, Grumman laughed and explained. "I made some improvements to the cellars. You'll have to ask some of the guards when you meet them to show you what I've done. They all live in some rooms I put in down there. Anyway, my last rule is new and only for you two. I'm going to ask that you stay indoors until they make some real progress getting rid of the group that's after you. We don't want something to happen because you went out for a walk. All clear?"
"Yes." The two officers nodded, they understood the rules that were being instated.
"Yes, you old coot!" Mayaris crowed laughingly, "So, which room should I put Roy in?"
"What about the blue room at the end of the second floor hall?" He proposed.
"The shower in there doesn't work and I don't want to air out one of the third floor rooms if it's all the same to you." She explained to him.
"Well then, I guess the red room on the second floor is the only one left. Riza will just have to share her bathroom." Grumman solved the problem before moving on. "So, why don't we go into my study and play some chess and talk while we wait for your bags?" As they retired to the study, not one of them noticed the distinctly threatening presence pervading the house.
See? SEE? There is some cute Royai in here! There's some in the next chapter and then each chapter beyond that should have at least one Royai scene. PLEASE review!