Author's Notes: Welcome back, Team Mustang antics and Roy's ridiculous jealousy! Thank you all for reading!
54. O Child-sama
"Welcome to Eastern Command, Lieutenant Colonel Porter." That was the gist of what Riza said. There had been a few more pleasantries distributed between military officials, but for the most part, all she had done was welcome the new officer to headquarters, give a few friendly suggestions, and offer any help should he need it. She did that for anyone that was transferred to Eastern, regardless of their sex, if only because she could still remember how it had felt when they had first come here.
However, the men on her team had a completely different idea of what had gone down. As she walked over to the table in the mess hall that they were sharing, she caught sight of Breda and Havoc snickering with each other, Fuery looking slightly distraught, and Falman appearing to be simply confused for once. Roy, on the other hand, looked like someone had taken a huge bite out of his sandwich and given it back to him.
At first, Riza figured she would ignore their odd behavior, but when it didn't stop immediately, she found herself distracted from her lunch and becoming irritated with them. "What seems to be the problem?" Keeping her voice calm was important. She was not about to fly off the handle when it might have nothing to do with her. She chided herself on being paranoid, but even she couldn't help herself.
"You sure were talking to the new transfer for a while," Breda pointed out in what he probably thought was a very sly tone.
"And you seemed awfully friendly," Havoc added with a decidedly stupid grin.
"Do you know him?" Falman asked, a little more innocently than the other two.
"Do you like him?" Fuery burst out.
Roy said nothing but continued to stare her down.
Riza blinked. She'd begun to scowl, but Fuery had startled the scowl right off her face. "I merely welcomed him here, just as we all were welcomed when we were first transferred here. I don't know him, so I cannot ascertain on whether he's likeable or not yet." She shot Havoc a glare. The man didn't even flinch. That alone nearly caused her to scowl again. "And maybe I would be more 'friendly' if you all weren't complete asses at times."
Havoc had the gall to laugh. "Well you may have just been being pleasant and all, but it was pretty damn obvious that Lieutenant Colonel Porter had other things on his mind. All grins and laughs, touching you on the arm. I don't think his intentions could've been any clearer."
"He seemed professional enough," Riza replied stiffly as she picked up her sandwich. Still, Roy was quiet. She wished he'd quit looking at her like that. It was unsettling.
"The way he watched you when you walked away…" Havoc leaned back and whistled. "You would've shot him, Hawkeye – right on the spot. And you think I'm bad, oh boy."
Breda snorted. "Havoc looks downright subtle compared to him."
By now, it was taking everything in Riza's power to not flush or throw her food at the men sitting across from her. They were acting like children, really – and she wasn't going to be acting any better if they kept this up. And then she caught sight of Roy's face, and she nearly choked on her food. The Colonel looked positively wounded. He had an actual pout on his face.
Riza closed her eyes and sighed. "Ah, you all are hopeless. As if I would go for someone like that." When she opened her eyes, she smirked at them. "If he tries anything, he'll learn just how friendly I can be, hm?"
That seemed to take some of the tension out of Roy. Both Havoc and Breda laughed while Fuery dropped his shoulders in relief. Falman coughed into his hand and shook his head. As the smirk fell from her face and they all began to eat their lunch again, Riza swept her eyes over to Roy. He gave her a hint of a smile and then turned his attention to his food.
She didn't speak for the rest of their lunch and instead listened to the men's jumping leaps in conversation. She didn't mind joining in, but sometimes she liked to sit back and just listen. Her eyes did catch Roy looking at something behind her, irritation flickering across his face, but then she would shift so that she caught his attention and he would look away. She didn't need to look back to feel eyes on her. That skill came from being a sniper, it seemed. She ignored it nonetheless.
Once they were out of the mess hall and heading back to the office, Riza strayed behind Roy, as usual, as the other four men walked ahead of them, still deep in their conversation. "You know, I expect such petulant behavior from Edward, even Havoc sometimes," she said in a mild tone. When Roy shot a glare back at her, she made sure to keep her face straight as well, but he alone would know that she was teasing him somewhat. "I trust that you won't light up any of the new transfers, yes?"
"As long as they know not to touch things that aren't theirs," Roy replied tetchily.
Riza almost laughed, but managed to keep her expression as blank as possible. He made it so difficult to do that when he was in a childish mood. The man was in his late twenties, and yet he was impossibly possessive whether he realized it or not. He'd always been like that though. A psychiatrist might say that it had something to do with his being an orphan, but she just assumed that it mutated out of his desire to protect.
"I'm following you now, aren't I?" Riza told him, giving him a small smile.
For a tiny moment, a sheepish expression flittered across Roy's face, but then it vanished and his eyes turned ahead again. Riza shook her head. Such a child, at times, but she… Ah, well, it never annoyed her when it was about things like this.
