It was a sleepy spring day at East Headquarters, the warm breeze coming through the window hinting at a long, hot summer that would no doubt come far sooner than everyone wanted.

For now, though, most soldiers seemed to be content taking excessively long lunch breaks and sniffling over their paperwork.

"Sir, I hardly think sleeping is the most efficient use of your time."

Groaning, Roy pulled himself and peeled a piece of paper off his cheek. He had been so close to catching up on the sleep he missed the night before. There were times he wished his lieutenant was less efficient. Rubbing his eyes, he reached forward for his coffee, realising too late that it was painfully empty.

"Care for another cup of coffee, Lieutenant?" he said, standing..

"Thank you."

She smiled as she watched him go, shaking her head softly as she grabbed one of his stacks of paperwork and brought it back to her desk, looking over the first few pages and grabbing a new pen. Boots echoed down the hallway, stopping at the open door to the office. Riza looked up, surprised that the Colonel would have returned so quickly. Coffee runs generally took him the better part of fifteen minutes, tnd that was assuming he didn't fall asleep in the break room.,

"Lieutenant Hawkeye. Everything going well, I trust?"

She fought to keep her expression neutral towards the newcomer as she stood to salute. "Good morning, General Raven."

He leaned over her desk, smiling far too wide to be genuine and hot breath beating against her face.

"I have a proposition for you."

"I'm rather swamped at the moment, General, so I'm afraid I will have to decline," Riza replied, sitting down and picking up her pen.

He frowned, eyes narrowing into slits as the grin dropped from his face, "You'd be a valuable member of my staff. A general's personal aide generally ranks Captain or Major. Are you aware of that, Lieutenant?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand, General," she said, faking innocence with almost sickly sweet clarity, "Why are you telling me that? I'm only a lieutenant. Obviously I don't qualify to be your assistant."

"A soldier of your caliber ought to get into Central. It may even give you an edge when a general steps down. The more personal connections, the easier it is to move up in ranks. There aren't many connections to make in East City," Raven replied, knuckles rapping against the desk as he winked at her. Riza's eye twitched at chills rolled down her spine, the only giveaway of the repulsion she really felt.

"I'm afraid the air in Central doesn't agree with me. Doctors said the corruption was bad for my health, sir."

"Is there a problem, General Raven?"

She dared a short exhale of relief as Roy, hands free of coffee, entered the room and saluted Raven stiffly.

"None whatsoever," the older man replied curtly, glaring at Roy before walking out of the room, "You train your dogs too well, Mustang."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, sir. I've never owned a dog in my life," Roy replied, voice soft and clipped. He had never responded well to challenge.

Riza sighed, continuing on with the paperwork.

"That's the third one this year," Roy murmured, placing his hand on her shoulder and squeezing softly, a quiet expression of thanks, "You could be a general by now, Hawkeye."

She shrugged, focusing on the final paragraph of the sheet in front of her. Roy smiled and returned to his desk, the message delivered. Heaven only knew why she stayed with him, but they both knew she would never leave.

Sorry for the formatting issues! Thanks to several different people for pointing it out :) I'm far too lazy to go and actually check, but you know who you are so thanks a bunch for telling me!