Forty here refers to the metric system 'cause metric system.

Chapter 19

Tape. They had marked the floor with tape for his bare feet to find the way. A long line along the halls, more branching off to the living room and bedroom. Inside the living room was an inner and outer circle for dancing – so they wouldn't have strayed too far and ran into the wall. The wall, not the furniture. Havoc had helped Roy cramp it all in the kitchen. The cardboard boxes from her flat were stacked in the bathtub.

She wondered how much Havoc knew; whether he had been in on the intention behind the whole brouhaha or merely kept some dirty assumptions to himself. Not that he would have been entirely wrong.

Roy carrying her to bed had been as hilariously silly as it had been frightening. She couldn't have resisted him. She hadn't wanted to either.

Riza's legs ached but at the same time, her body hadn't felt lighter in months. Not since they had transferred to Central and maybe even before the war. The raging storm inside her mind had quieted to a tolerable extent.

Her fingers twitched, curious yet nervous to find the ring she still wore on a necklace. It was lovely. And it really was a wedding ring.

She reached out a hand to touch his.

She knew she should have thought of him as her fiancé now, but since they couldn't get married anyway, she didn't bother with logic. Reason had long made itself scarce anyway, and it stayed far away when her palm came to rest on his bare chest. He was beautiful when he slept without the usual frown of concern.

Her hand rocked up and down when he took a deep inhale. His lids twitched. Like every day, he opened his eyes with that fraction of hope that refused to die. His resulting scowl vanished once he registered her hand on his chest.

"Mmh, good morning," Roy hummed lowly. His smirk told her just how perfectly well he knew the effect the timbre of his voice had on her. Riza sighed with content when he gathered up her hand in his, pressing his lips to her knuckles. She responded with a kiss to his shoulder.

"Did Jean bring them too?" she couldn't help asking, playing with the ring around his neck. She was shocked enough by how she hadn't noticed Havoc smuggling in a bag. Candles and tape simply weren't interesting enough for Hayate to go digging around and tip her off.

"Oh, no," Roy murmured. His arm around her drew her in closer, the tip of his finger circling on the naked skin of her waist. "I had them made a long time ago. Do you remember that night you came to pick me up early but I wasn't at the Honey Bone at all?"

"You'd staggered three blocks away, completely drunk."

"Only I wasn't – I had to pretend because otherwise you'd have gotten suspicious at how I came straight from the jeweller."

"But that was…" Riza's brows creased, memories flashing by rapidly.

"Right after my promotion to Colonel," he finished for her. "I guess I just didn't have the guts to ask, and then the whole thing in Liore kept us kinda busy… I was ready to pop the question that time you refused my orders when I went to see the Fuhrer. Of course, he had to ruin it all by taking you hostage on the same night."

"We had only just escaped death by Gluttony; we were at war with the very head of our country and you were thinking about marriage?" Riza huffed, though not without amusement. That romantic section of his brain must have run amok again. She wouldn't tell him, but at least to herself she had admitted long ago just how much she loved him for that.

As much as she balanced out his temper, he filled her practicality with passion.

"I'd been thinking about it for nearly three years," he reminded. "I felt a little guilty, snatching you from the market like that without being able to offer you a proper relationship…" The patterns on her back slackened.

Wandering up with her hand, Riza cupped his face to turn it her way. It made her smile when his ministrations resumed more eagerly with every kiss she slowly plastered on his lips.

"As if there's ever been another choice for me," she said against him.

He hummed, shoulders relaxing. "I'm glad."

"Me too." She smiled. Then pecked his lips again. He stroked her cheek, finally trailing down to her ring.

"You know, I briefly considered dropping by with it when I had my car loaded with flowers." He twirled the ring between his fingers. "I was almost ready to hurl some at Bradley's face, but then I called you first and well…"

"The reason brain kicked in."

"No, but the thought of you most likely kicking me out onto the cold street did," he chuckled. It made her smile widen. "You didn't tell me what the doctor said yesterday," he remarked. She raised a brow when at the same time, his hand had wandered downwards to fondly massage her rear.

"That's not really what's on your mind right now, is it?"

"There are many things on my mind," he said. His strokes continued, but she realised how he was purely enjoying the softness of her body.

"Like…?" She circled a finger on his chest. She didn't know why she hadn't stopped with the suggestive undertone when he had. It was one of those rare times Riza was glad that he couldn't see; couldn't see the blush rising to her cheeks.

Because in all honesty, she did know why.

"Like how I'd have loved to see you in a white dress," Roy murmured. A sorry frown creased her brows. "Like how my mother would smack me up the head for what took me so long," he continued, making her giggle. "Like how I love the sound of that," he gave her a tender smile, "and how this already feels so close to the real deal," he breathed, the tip of his nose touching the bridge of hers. She tensed slightly under his increasingly affectionate hand, reprimanding herself for the stuttering of her breath.

He was charming, enchanting even. Worst of all, he knew he was.

"It seems to me as if you have a one-track mind though," he teased – with his words as much as with his hand. Riza clenched her jaw when her stomach twisted, her skin tingling. She swallowed, realising how she must have hitched up her leg around his as a lever to reach his face. Or for other access related reasons she fiercely denied. "Since we touched on that topic…" His voice was lowering as much as her breath was quickening. Her fingers dug further into his chest. "May I touch you?"

"What makes you think you'd have to ask?" she rasped. She wanted to curse at how hoarse she sounded, but reconsidered when feeling his body respond just as eagerly. He narrowed his eyes at the chuckle bubbling in her throat.

"Common Sense? Basic curtesy? Undying respect for my most precious Lieutenant?"

Any witty reply she could have formed was cut off when with his next move, he ceased all teasing.

Clack, clack, he made his way up the steps to the front door. It had sounded too exaggerated; to purposeful, but he shrugged it off. The Colonel's hearing was better than ever but surely, he must have been otherwise engaged. Not that Havoc was hoping for them to be… otherwise engaged.

Securing both crutches in one hand, he rang the doorbell. Hayate barked. Havoc peered down the street when no other noises came, but sure enough, there was the car. The shutters were still down though, or perhaps down again. Why would they do that, unless they weren't home? He leant into both crutches, considering letting go of one to ring again when finally, the lock clicked open.

"Jean." Riza blinked up in surprise.

"G'day, milady." He grinned.

"Your bag?" she hit the nail on the head.

"Sorry, I should've announced myself – I hope I'm not interrupting," he said when she made room for him to enter.

The smirk in his tone faded into puzzlement. The whole place was plunged into darkness. She closed the door behind him, rendering both blind for an instant. He heard the quiet swishing of her feet where she made it over to the living room. The light flickered on, guiding him. "Am I interrupting…?" he wondered out loud.

"We were just having lunch," she explained. In the dark? He hobbled after her into the somewhat dimly lit living room. The lightbulb was dying, or maybe it was just that bad.

The couch was back in place. So was everything else. The tape was gone as far as he could tell, though the lines in the hallway remained.

"No cheating, Lieutenant." Came Roy's voice from the kitchen.

"I'm not cheating," she grumbled, though with a certain fondness in her tone. She handed Havoc his bag.

"Cheating at… lunch?"

"He's preparing it," she illuminated – by far too vaguely for Havoc to get the picture.

"Right." He frowned. "Hey, would you mind if I used the bathroom? My taxi driver's a real sweetheart but she also doesn't go any faster than forty so I'm afraid I won't be home till six or so," he chuckled with a hint of desperation.

"Uhm," Riza stopped herself on the verge of agreement, "of course, go ahead," she then said. Havoc briskly turned to hide his smirk. What incriminating things would he have found if she hadn't apparently seen to them beforehand? It wasn't even the fact that they were 'hiding' a liaison to him – heck, they could not be having one at all and he'd still believe they did. What intrigued him by far more was what there could be to hide – he knew Hawkeye owning sexy underwear was less probable than Amestris being a democracy.

Still, they had come this far.

She intrigued him. That heart-breaking night at the hospital, the preparations the Colonel had made Havoc help with for the past evening… Havoc was proud that they trusted him so much. Naturally, he had no interest in getting involved with Hawkeye – she was never going to leave Roy, she would become Havoc's superior again and, frankly, he had overcome that initial crush that probably the entirety of the team had had at some point in their early career under Mustang.

What interested him was her person. He had gotten a decent look into the tribulations on her mind; he could tell to a certain extent when she was masking her unease or discontent. Outside of the kind, deeply scarred woman that so little people got to see however, he knew nothing. No habits, no likes or dislikes, no ways of living. The bare minimum.

They weren't just colleagues anymore, but he was scared that if he brought it up, she would become self‑aware and rebuild the walls they had fought so hard for her to let down.

So Havoc had decided to become more observant.

He hadn't dared to peek into the boxes of her things when he had carried them into the bathroom, but he couldn't say he hadn't been tempted. She was modest, that much was certain. She cared little about someone else's opinion or even her own well-being. She would never own anything economically valuable, but that raised all the more questions: what things were precious to her? What souvenirs of the past did she keep?

To what lengths did she go to please her commanding officer?
Havoc slapped his face when lace lingerie resurfaced. Taking the towel, he dried his face, then his hands. He really needed to find a date; at least a one-night stand.

No, he knew he wouldn't be any happier afterwards. He had seen far too much sweetness lately – what he needed was someone to whom he could give all that love he had been hoarding for so long. Someone to stay.

Another minute went by until he was certain they had gone back to 'lunch'. The snail of a taxi driver hadn't been a lie, but Havoc was stretching his bathroom visit on purpose. He wanted to find out how the hell they ate without being able to see as much as their own noses. And how the Colonel blindly 'prepared' lunch.

"Hmm… honey, and is that… cheese?" Riza's voice travelled from what must have been the kitchen. She had turned off the light again, Havoc apparently forgotten. Not that he minded, ears perked. "You come up with the wildest things," she giggled. She giggled.

"I'm telling you, it's a real dish," Roy defended himself. He didn't sound offended in the least.

"Cheese and honey on bread?"

"Baked cheese and honey on bread," Roy corrected. The wiggling of his brows was audible in his tone. "In Aerugo, you eat it with this." Something rustled, but no cutlery ever clinked.

"Salad?"

"Don't listen," Roy pouted, making her giggle again. "I told them not to put it in plastic…"

"Did you wash this?" she deadpanned. She didn't insist when there was more rustling and then a somewhat muffled inhale, followed by light crunching.

If anyone – literally anyone – who wasn't the Colonel at this exact point in time had tried to shut up Riza Hawkeye with a leaf of lettuce, she would have sent a bullet straight through their brain. Only this was Roy and it seemed they were too caught up in their clandestine afternoon flirt to even question all those things Havoc quite actively noted.

It almost made him want to delay his scheme…

A knife clanked lightly on wood, then thudded where it was placed down. "Hold your breath; don't spoil the experience," Roy was saying.

"The experience…" Riza snorted with amusement. "Are you sure I'm not supposed to hold my breath because it's spoilt…?" she teased. She must have given in anyway, back to humming pensively. "Salmon and lemon and… more bread?"

"What kind of bread?"

"I don't know, it's— hey, wait, don't just—" She broke off into another set of giggles. "That isn't helping, I be able to tell—" She kept laughing. The table rattled, Roy's chuckles mixing with grunts of

"Eat the sourdough, woman."

"It's sourdough— mmpf," Riza was cut off. "Fouwdow," she managed from behind a chunk of bread.

"That was cheating," Roy delightedly accused. The knife thudded against wood again, accompanied by rustling and clinking where he searched the table.

"You gave it away though," Riza laughed.

"We're going to need another knife, this one doesn't cut it."

Havoc wanted to roll his eyes, but was distracted by that admittedly adorable – and more than rare – laughter of hers. Yep, they were too far gone if a pun that terrible cracked her up.

"Okay, this is your last chance to earn dessert," Roy announced.

"What do you mean 'earn'? I'm the one shopping for groceries here," she protested, still only through amusement.

"Not this one – I ordered it alongside all this." Roy must have gestured at the food on the table, something neither of them could see. "Also did Havoc get his best piece stuck under the toilet seat or what's taking him so long?"

"Oh, I forgot he's here." Riza's chair scraped across the floor as she got up in slight alarm. Havoc's grin broadened where he stood still down the hall.

"Anyway, try this Brie cheese."

"I'll go ask; maybe he hurt himself."

"But your last guess."

"You just told me what it is," she chuckled, receiving an unbelieving huff.

Havoc retreated quietly, waiting for her to have found her way down the dark hall. He flicked on the light in the bathroom.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you," he said when she heaved a sigh. The corners of his mouth tugged back up when he saw the light pink tinting her cheeks. "But here, I almost forgot," he lowered his voice, "I brought this." He produced a small yet thick book from the pocket of his coat. "I don't think it's all that exciting, but at least it's not just the alphabet," He handed her the braille kids' book. "Just don't tell him that it was me who brought it."

"I'm pretty sure he heard that," Riza muttered, accepting the gift nonetheless. The colour of her face darkened where she must have realised that they must have been audible to Havoc too.

Pretending that they hadn't been, he followed her back to the kitchen.

"Don't feed him that," Riza reprimanded something Havoc hadn't even heard, neither seen. "Hayate," she hissed when Roy apparently wasn't listening. Claws padded over. "Careful." Her hand landed on Havoc's wrist, pulling him slightly aside as not to stumble over a disappointedly retreating Hayate.

It made Havoc's heart skip a beat. Not because of her, but because he really missed a touch as gentle as hers. Never mind living together and sleeping in the same bed, but after such an agonisingly long time of either bulky men or ancient nurse ladies prodding him around…

"Did you want something to eat?" Riza asked innocently. It made him chuckle and then cry a little to himself. The world was cruel, but did it have to rub that into his face time and again. "Jean?" Riza sounded concerned. "Don't you like cheese?" she asked, only making him sniffle more. Confused, she hesitantly left him in the doorway to grope her way towards the counter.

"No, he doesn't want to eat," Roy cut in from within the darkness. "His taxi is waiting, remember?"

Riza stopped rummaging for a fork. Even Havoc's self-pity paused because he, too, had forgotten. Not that it mattered; Bernadette didn't mind waiting, as she always said. She was probably enjoying her fourth cigarette.

"Gods, I'm jealous…" Havoc bitterly whispered to himself.

"I can give you some for at home," Riza tried to cheer him up. He slumped against the doorframe in defeat, his heart throbbing.

"She thought you were jealous of the food?"
"Yes!" Havoc practically yelled into the receiver. "He was smirking, I know he was – bastard knows he's bloody lucky to have such a cute girlfriend…"

"Here we go…" Breda sighed on the other end.

"It's not like I'm giving the wrong signals – am I giving the wrong signals? I don't think I'm giving the wrong signals. I'm free as a bird. How am I the only one who isn't dating? I'm more handsome than Fuery," Havoc lamented, inwardly ranking his looks over Breda's too. "I wasn't even there to snoop, but damn, the last thing my ego needed was walking in on them eating cheese…"

"Now that's a metaphor I haven't heard before."

"It's not a metaphor – they were literally eating cheese, but like, in the most…" He raked a hand through his hair.

"Cheesy way?" Breda snickered. Havoc ignored it.

"They'd secluded themselves in total darkness and boy, do I bet you he was feeding her," he retold, remembering the lack of cutlery sounds until she had fetched some for him. "But even then, it was just so… genuinely sweet – it really hurts me, having to think about them returning to the office, all serious and frat-law-suppressed…"

"Just goes to show how much they sacrifice for one another – professional or not," Breda agreed. "We knew the stuff concerning the chief reaching his goal, but I get ya; she's just as devoted in private. You know," he continued when Havoc's silence told of puzzlement, "the blind eating thing."

"That's what it was?" he gasped. So then the Colonel hadn't planned some heated sex assault, he'd wanted them to be equal. And she complied – even now for something as mundane as having lunch. "It all makes sense now…"

"You only just figured that out…?" Breda was raising a brow.

"Aw, man…"

"You wanna wait a lil' longer with the plan?"

Havoc sighed. Then he straightened, readjusting the receiver at his ear. "No, we're doing this."

"Sure you can pull that off? Three weeks are gonna fly by…"

"I know," Havoc firmly replied. "But it's time. He's waited long enough."