It was lunchtime before everyone had sorted themselves out. Edward and Alanza were very glad to be moving about on their own two legs again. However, the suits of armor had been restricted to Mustang's office and the general office of his subordinates to prevent confusion.
There was much confusion to be had, regardless. The human Alphonse managed to not laugh in Mustang's face the first time he saw him, much to the other Alphonse's relief. Edward might not have much regard for the Colonel, but Alphonse did have respect for the man. When they had returned back to the base, Hawkeye was in the middle of "convincing" the colonel that he wasn't in the middle of an elaborate dream. Such convincing apparently involved use of a firearm.
Once things were marginally sorted out, Edward, Edana and the human Alphonse vanished off to do some research, leaving Mustang to look after Alphonse, Alanza and the other Edward.
Roy shuffled his papers and tried to look busy. The armor-bound Edward unnerved him more than he wanted to admit. Both the Edward and Alphonse armors were seated in his office, back against the wall with several books out of the on-base library scattered around them. They were very busy and he didn't disturb them.
All the same, he found it distracting that there was two Alphonse-armors at work in his office, so he rose and headed towards the door.
Alphonse raised his head then. "Colonel?"
"Ah, I'll be back in a few minutes, Alphonse." He nodded at them, then slipped through the door.
Hawkeye glanced up at him and frowned as he closed the door behind him. "This is the third stroll you've taken this hour," she said pointedly.
"He's just nervous," Alanza said. She had been standing beside Fury and they had been talking about rewiring the radio he had in pieces on his desk.
"Excuse me?" Roy said, not expecting someone else to intrude into the conversation.
Alanza ducked her head, and Roy realized it was a small bow of apology. "Sorry, sir."
"Well, you're right," he said with a sigh, running one hand through his dark hair. "This entire situation is beyond me."
"I think it's beyond everyone, sir," Hawkeye said in her usual dry tone.
"You should try connecting those two," Fury said, drawing Alanza's attention again. She huddled over him, fiddling with the wires.
"Have you thought about where you're going to put them for the night?" Hawkeye asked, returning her attention to her typewriter.
"Where I'm going to put them for the night?" Roy repeated, slightly confused. "I thought they were going to-"
"They can't stay in the barracks," Hawkeye said calmly.
"They can't stay in the barracks," Roy repeated almost at the same time, the realization already dawning. "Dammit, where am I going to put them, then?"
Hawkeye smiled slightly. "I knew you wouldn't think about that," she said calmly.
"It would have to be someone trustworthy … someone off-base, but still close enough to the base that they could get to and from headquarters with very little problems…" Mustang was musing aloud, now.
"I took the liberty of calling someone who I thought would fit that description," Hawkeye told him. "They'll be in later this afternoon.
"Good, good," Roy said, very glad that he didn't have to think about it anymore. "I'm … I think I'm going to go for a short walk, Hawkeye."
"Yes sir," she said. "Don't forget, I need your reports signed off by five o'clock this evening, sir."
"Yes, yes, I won't forget." Roy paused at the door, glancing over in surprise when music abruptly blared from the formerly broken radio. "Right," Fury was saying. "See, I told you that you could fix things without resorting to alchemy!"
He shook his head and slide quietly out the door.