Disclaimer: Don't own it.
Thursday evening found Roy in the middle of a poker game at the office. Fuery, Breda, Havoc, and Falman had pulled their chairs from their desks and positioned them around Roy's desk. Normally, this would have been a highly risky move, since Havoc, Breda, and Falman were supposed to be working, but Hawkeye was scheduled for off-base work and wouldn't be back for another hour or so. Fuery was stuck at the office until she returned since he had volunteered to watch Hayate for her, and Roy had decided he had nothing better to do that night. He knew, though, that she would try to suggest that he should have done some of the paperwork that had been moved to the floor to make room for the cards and mugs.
"I fold," Fuery mumbled as he threw down his cards for the umpteenth time. He stood up and stretched before picking up his mug. "Anyone want a refill while I'm up?"
"No, thanks," replied Breda, grimacing at his own mug. "I'm barely through this one. This stuff is nasty!"
"The colonel and I have told you again and again to switch to coffee, so it's your own fault for not listening to us," Havoc retorted, handing his mug to Fuery. "Speaking of coffee, there should still be some in the pot. Could you top this off for me?"
When everyone else had answered, Fuery took the two mugs and headed down the hall. The four remaining players laid down their cards glanced around the table.
"Ha! Diamond straight! Take that!" yelled Havoc, jumping up and pointing a finger at Roy, who had won practically every round all night.
"Congratulations," Roy said, absolutely deadpan. "Now maybe you can start to pay back some of the money you owe me from the last game?"
Havoc's shoulders sagged. "Aw, come on, Colonel! I really need this money!"
"You also really need to pay me back." This argument would go nowhere, and Roy knew it. In the end, Havoc would keep the money and Roy would be left unpaid. As it was, Havoc not only owed him for the last poker game they'd played, but had never given Roy his share for the Warehouse 13 incident more than two years ago. He was about to bring this point up when something hit him between the eyes. "Second Lieutenant Havoc, did you just throw a card at me?"
"Er … yes."
Roy lifted his right hand from where it had been resting on his desk and set his fingers together, ready to snap. There was a dangerous glint in his right eye as he glared at Havoc. "I suggest that you get back to work." He paused, but no one in the room so much as breathed. "Now!"
With a startled cry, Havoc ran out of the office, leaving only the smell of his cigarette and the empty chair across from Roy's in his wake. Breda followed him in much the same manner a moment later when Fuery returned with the refilled mugs and Black Hayate, who had been running about the central green. Looking confused, Fuery set the mugs down on Roy's desk, careful not to spill any of the steaming liquids. "What's going on?"
Falman smiled. "Second Lieutenant Havoc's losing at life once again, and Second Lieutenant Breda noticed your friend there." He nodded his head towards Black Hayate, who stood with his forepaws on Roy's left leg while the colonel scratched under the dog's chin. He stood up and stretched, and then moved his, Havoc's, and Breda's chairs back to their respective desks. "I should go get some work done, too, before First Lieutenant Hawkeye gets back." He smiled at the two men and the canine before heading out to find his co-workers.
"I guess I'll just leave Lieutenant Havoc's coffee on his desk," Fuery mused. Slowly he made his way across the rough green carpet that covered the office floor and set the chipped ceramic mug down on Havoc's desk. He sighed, moving back to put his own chair in place before taking a sip of his tea.
"If you want to go home, Master Sergeant Fuery," Roy said, bending down to pick Hayate up, "I can take care of the dog until First Lieutenant Hawkeye gets back."
"Oh … Ah … Erm…" was all Fuery could manage to say. His eyes moved back and forth across the room as his mind searched wildly for some excuse to stay with the pup.
Roy smirked. "Don't worry. I promise I won't do anything to affect the dog's loyalty."
"Well…"
"Nor will I attempt to train him to sign my paperwork for me."
Fuery sighed again. "If you're sure, Colonel …"
"It's not a problem."
"Thank you, then." He put away the few remaining papers on his desk and turned to go. He looked back toward Black Hayate and the man in whose lap the dog was currently curled. "Colonel, why are you here so late anyway? Your shift ended two hours ago, with mine, and you're usually rushing out the door as soon as it's time to quit."
Roy shrugged, keeping his attention on the ball of fur lying on his thighs. He didn't raise his head to look at Fuery. "I had nothing better to do tonight, so I thought I'd put in some overtime." In retrospect, he realized this probably wasn't the best thing he could have said, since no one, including himself, could remember the last time Roy Mustang had put in overtime, but Fuery merely stared at him for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and exiting the office. Truth be told, Roy wasn't sure why he was still here. He simply didn't feel right about leaving before Riza returned.
Black Hayate raised his head and barked when he realized that the hand on his back had stopped moving. Roy smiled and resumed petting the dog. "Few people would think you're as spoiled as you are with Riza for an owner, you know that?" he asked the pup. "Especially if they'd been in the office the day she decided to take you in. I don't think I've ever seen Fuery so scared. But she's got a soft spot for you, more than anyone else I've ever seen her with." Dejected, Roy mentally included himself in that category. While it was true that they had become close friends, Roy didn't think that Riza felt as much for him as he did for her. He still rejected the word love from his thoughts, though he had been doing it less and less since his discovery a few days ago. Hayate barked again, almost in a comforting, reassuring way, encouraging Roy to keep up his hopes.
As if cued by her dog's bark, Riza strode briskly into the office, but paused when she saw Roy still sitting at his desk. Hayate jumped from Roy's lap onto his desk and yipped happily at his mistress, tail wagging. Riza made no move toward the ecstatic puppy, but merely stared blankly at the man behind him. "I didn't expect you to still be here, Sir."
Roy simply shrugged in response to her unspoken question. He was tired of announcing his recent lack of a social life, outside coffee with Riza, of course, but that wasn't something he was prepared to let other people know about yet. "Since I am here, though, could I walk you home?"
"No, thank you, Sir. I still have a few things to pack before I go, and there's a car waiting for me anyway."
Immediately Roy noticed the cool edge to her voice, as well as her insistence on calling him 'sir,' even though they were alone in the office. He frowned, his brow furrowing, causing his eye patch to shift slightly. "Is everything alright, Riza?"
"Everything is fine, Sir. You can go home." She had stopped looking at him by now and walked over to her own desk. She reached down for a box that Roy hadn't noticed until now. She began opening drawers, pulling out the few personal items she kept at the office into the box, among them her favourite pen, which had been a gift from Roy after the King Bradley incident, and a spare leash for Black Hayate. When she began emptying her store of extra gun cartridges, Roy practically jumped from his chair and ran over to her, ignoring the dog at his heels.
"Why is there a box, Riza?" When he pretended not to hear him and continued moving the cartridges, he put his hands on her shoulders and spun her, forcing her to face him. He worked hard to suppress the fear and panic that was growing in his mind. "First Lieutenant Hawkeye, answer me!"
"The box, Sir," she replied, her voice even colder than before, anger shining in her gold-coloured eyes, "is for my personal belongings. Since I'm being transferred to Lior, I'll be needing them there with me. Now, if you'll unhand me, I need to go to the car so I can get to the station in time for my train."
Roy wasn't prepared to let her go yet, though. His mind reeled, trying to process what she had just said. She was being transferred. If this was true, why hadn't he been notified? What was the reason for the transfer? Why only Riza? Why hadn't she told him? Finally he decided to speak, though his voice was somewhat strained. "When did you get the notice?"
"Two days ago. Sir, I need to catch my train, and there are still items at home to be picked up."
He had one more question for her. "Why didn't you argue the order?"
The anger was even more apparent in her eyes now. "I'm not in the habit of arguing your orders, Sir, and you yourself signed the transfer paper." His grasp on her shoulders loosened immediately, but she had turned away before the shock showed itself in his good eye. "Hayate, heel!" she commanded, picking up the box and heading for the door. The dog followed happily, not understanding what was going on. Riza paused for a moment in the doorway, but didn't turn her head. "Goodbye, Colonel."
Roy stared at the doorway after she left, his hands still warm from when he had grabbed her. He mentally cursed himself over and over, telling himself that if he had only done what she'd always asked of him, that he read the papers on his desk before he signed them, she wouldn't have just walked through that door for the last time. Almost robotically, his mind occupied, he pulled out the chair in front of him and slumped into it, placing his head in his hands on Riza's desk. As his mind worked madly about the situation, his thoughts running in a thousand different directions, he never once banished the word 'love' from his thoughts.
A/N: Have a cliché …or six or seven! I can't believe I just wrote all that. That last chapter was a masterpiece compared to this. I had absolutely zero inspiration for this chapter, but it had to be written. I hate plot. Plot screws everything up, don't you agree? There also seems to be a lot of shoulder action in this chapter… Everyone's shrugging and no one knows why! The next chapter will be better, I promise. I actually have ideas for that one, but I couldn't get to it until this one was done. Hopefully there weren't any grammatical errors or anything. I seem to be sleepwalking through life lately, so nothing really registers in my mind if I don't pick it up immediately.
That being said, I'm subtly starting to slip in things from the manga, as well as the novels. Speaking of which, if you haven't picked any of them up yet, DO SO NOW! I got the first one from my library last week, and you have no idea how helpful it is to your writing to actually read something in story format that is CANON (not that I don't love reading fics!). The first novel is The Other Brothers Elric (though that episode title's changed to something else now…but that's what I know it as, and you all know what I'm talking about), with the Warehouse 13 story as a bonus at the end. That last bit was awesome in my opinion, but then again, Episode 37 is my favourite, so I'm partial to anything relating to it. As far as manga goes, I've now read up to Volume 5, and I have this to say: WHERE HAS ALL THE CONSISTENCY GONE! What was once Lior is now Reole (um, ICK! Who the hell came up with that!), and Ishvar is now Ishbal (okay, so this was a change for the better, but I'd still prefer consistency).
And now, Aindel's question of the … well, I suppose the fortnight, since I seem to update every two weeks: Who exactly IS Mr. James Herbert? His name was on the letter that Mustang brought with him when he went to see the Elrics about their father (Episode 3, I believe). Aindel imagines Roy Mustang being a pseudonym for James Herbert, and then runs screaming at the thought Let me know your thoughts on the matter in your review!
In other news, I got my grades for first year today, and they're looking pretty good! Plus, my birthday is this Sunday (go legal drinking age in Canada! … even though I don't drink…), so this is shaping up to be a good week for me. Now if only I could get a job…
To my reviewers:
Anne Packrat – Thanks! I think the snarkiness comes from my own attitude (the 'S' in my name stands for 'Sarcasm,' one of my nicknames. I would string two scenes together, except that I never have more that one scene taking place on the same day, and it rubs me the wrong way to string two different days together. I'm weird that way (among other ways!)
Cles – I'm glad you liked it! Now if only I could convince myself that it was good …
Shadow Dreamer 27 – Great! Warm and fuzzy is exactly what I was going for!
PrincessLuckyCML – Thanks! And I'm probably going to keep my pattern of updating every two weeks.
flOofymikO – Thanks! Your review reminds me of a friend of mine, actually. And fluff makes me go SQUEEE too!
Loyalsoul – Thank you!
KTRose – Yes, I must. But fluff will return soon enough, I promise. I don't do angst. Or character death, but that's another story…
Brickwall847 – Uh….you know, I'm not sure that much sugar's good for you. But I will take some of that dough! Yay chocolate chip cookie dough! And you're right, it wasn't "me," except when it was, so I plan to fix that. Eventually. Maybe…
xTheDarkAngelx – I know! It's sad. But I hit him again in this one!
Mae-ta – Um….thank you….I think…
Ultimate Procrastinator – You're probably done your geography homework by now (if you're not, shame on you! Do your homework!), but hopefully this helps you to procrastinate with something else. Just don't forget to do it altogether. Because that's never good, and actually affects the mark that goes on your report card.
Until next time!
Aindel S. Druida
PS. Other random question: If the military ever did decide to get another dog (Riza said something about testing animal use in military endeavors), what do you think it would be named?
