Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist does not belong to me.

Hairclip

As an alchemist and a high-ranking militant, Roy Mustang had the innate capability of noticing minute details as they form into bigger pictures. It was a required knack.

So then, why couldn't he figure what was so off with his First Lieutenant? He scrutinized, he assumed, he stared (the latter which got the worse end of Riza's attitude), and carefully laid out the details that he acquired about her after so many years of knowing her.

By noon, four hours into his confounding, Roy had eliminated possible explanations. It wasn't anything superficial, for Riza Hawkeye was a woman beyond enhancing appearances. He knew her plain yet admirable beauty to be stronger and much more significant than anything makeup or perfume could create. At least after so long he could be credited to knowing that much about her.

Of course, Roy could just ask her if something was different about her today, but he was a man of dignity and pomp, so admitting that he could not see what was different about his lieutenant was simply unacceptable. Besides, what kind of man doesn't notice things about a woman he's seen every day for the past numerous years? Below the obvious embarrassment would lay guilt at not being able to tell even so much of a slight difference about Riza.

But something was off, and work be damned until he got to the bottom of this.

Unfortunately, his subject matter wouldn't have any of it.

"Colonel Mustang, are you listening?"

Roy snapped to and looked at Riza, whose patience with him had apparently run thin. "Did you say something, Lieutenant?" he asked, outwardly resisting any facets of blatant scrutiny.

Riza dropped a stack of files in front of him—adding more to the pile he had previously discarded—leaned over and said, "I suggest you finish your work unless you wish to have a late night tonight. You have been like this since you arrived this morning and frankly sir, I will not put up with it anymore."

Roy smirked and quickly signed the first page of the towering bundle. "Don't worry about me Lieutenant. I'll get these done today."

Riza sighed and cast him a withering glance before walking back to her desk. "The sooner the better, sir."

Soon thereafter he dismissed her heed of warning and went back lollygagging, glaring at the back of Riza's head.

What could it be, what could it be?

It surprised Roy that this issue aggravated him so much. If it wasn't something obvious, then there was no reason for him to delve into her slightly changed appearance. But the problem was already addressed, and the only logical thing to do would be to get to the bottom of it. He also wanted to conquer his guilt to be able to know even the smallest of details about her. As her Colonel or just Roy, it didn't matter much as long as he fully familiarized himself with his second in command. He kept detailed accounts of the important things in his life, and with him staring at her as she moved to and fro about the office, she had unknowingly pushed herself to the top of that list.

When Riza stood and walked to the opposite side of the office, displaying nothing and everything mysterious, Roy grit his teeth in annoyance and heard a crunching of some kind. Looking down, he realized that he broke the pen he had been twiddling between his fingers and sighed, throwing it in the waste bin. He reached for another pen in the penholder, but found none at hand. He swore that there were always extras in there, but he was out on his luck today, it seemed.

More annoyed at the adding problems (which will no doubt attract the unwanted reprimand from Lieutenant Hawkeye), he looked towards his officers.

"Does anybody have an extra pen?"

His officers looked at him, then to the pens they were using for their own paperwork. Riza shook her head at his lack of preparedness and one more excuse not to complete his work. After a minute of silence, Roy huffed. "Can someone go get me one?"

Fuery got up. "I'll go get one, sir."

Havoc grinned at Roy. "You feeling okay Colonel? You look a bit on edge today."

The other men followed up on Havoc's assessment with scrutinizing eyes, making silent conjectures. Roy's brow twitched. "I'm fine," he told them, the curtness of his voice making them turn back to their work.

Riza walked up to him instead and stared down at the straight line of his mouth and his scowling eyes. Roy refused to look up at her, not in the mood to guess her volume of annoyance with him. He himself was annoyed with himself for letting this affect him so much, but more so annoyed at why it was affecting him so much.

After a short while her hand held out a pen—in fact, the very pen that had gone missing from his holder—and he stared at it before raising his eyes.

This prompted him to blink one, twice, before realizing the verity in front of him. His pen had been utilized as Riza's hairclip all morning.

Riza simply stared at him, offering him his pen. Her lips were pressing against each other in an attempt to fight off the smile at her Colonel's expression.

"You needed a pen, sir?"

Refusing to look and act like a moron furthermore, Roy cleared his throat and accepted the pen. With a downward turn of his mouth, he quickly adopted a staid look that belied his astonishment.

"What a change, Lieutenant."

Riza sighed and cut a strict eye on her pup napping next to Roy's desk. "Black Hayate seems to find it amusing to take all my hairclips and bury them. He took the last one this morning; I hope you didn't mind me using your pen."

Roy shook his head.

Riza didn't say anything more and turned to walk back to the opposite side of the office. The movement swayed her hair free from its self-held knot and the golden strands seemed to evaporate all other light. Roy heard his officers' surprised remarks on Riza's sudden change, but certain words fell short of his ear as his own rushing mind pursued the thought that this was the first time he's seen his First Lieutenant look so . . . feminine.

As Riza ignored the blatant stares from her coworkers, Roy ignored his own thoughts of what Riza and beautiful equaled to. After a second thought, Roy subtly lifted the pen and the delicate scent of Riza's shampoo flittered into his nose.

Black Hayate came around the desk and nudged under Roy's slack hand. Roy looked down and pet the dog's head in secret appraisal of his newfound burying habit.