Disclaimer: I do not own the wonder that is FMA... I only own Arturo, my OC.
Thicker than Rain
Chapter 2: An Unexpected Visitor
"Life brings many unexpected obstacles. It's how you deal with them that make you the kind of person you are."
~O~O~O~O~O~
Roy sat asleep at his desk. His arms were folded comfortably over his chest and he used a rather large, heaping stack of unfinished paperwork as a footrest.
Hawkeye had the day off, and all seemed to be running smoothly.
His subordinates were all at their posts, leaving him free to flirt on the phone all he wanted... if he chose to, of course.
Oh yes... life for Colonel Roy Mustang was very good...
He gave a lion-like stretch and yawn, and his eyes lazily drifted to the doorway as slight movement caught his eyes. The familiar face of his Lieutenant peeking through the crack of the door startled him.
"Sir... do I really have to keep tabs on you constantly?" she asked, as she eyed his 'foot rest,' "Obviously, you haven't finished it... have you?"
Roy fixed his position, returning his boots to their proper place on the floor and sat up straight.
"Well... I was distracted." He admitted, giving her a sheepish smile, "You can understand that, can't you?"
He looked up at her hopefully... but Hawkeye's face never faltered.
"No Sir, I don't get distracted. You know that." she replied firmly, "And you shouldn't either; how will you reach your goals if you put off even minor tasks such as paperwork?"
The Colonel stood and sighed.
"Now please, Sir, get back to work... It's starting to pile up." Hawkeye continued firmly.
She pushed him back into his chair with her gaze, and he gave another sigh, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly.
He stared back at his desk, stifling a yawn.
As Hawkeye stood over him, he desperately scanned his desk for a place to start.
From bills, to subordinate requests, to sick day applications... they all covered his desk in organized piles... but one stood out.
A yellow envelope sat on top of one of the piles... where his boots had been.
He reached for it, and his eyes widened as he spotted a familiar name printed on the document.
Under the stern gaze of his Lieutenant, he read it.
"From the Office of Lieutenant General Arturo Ligue," it started.
Roy nearly groaned with agony.
"Well, who is it from?" Hawkeye inquired.
Opening the envelope, Roy kept reading.
Hey Little Roy! I just wanted to tell you that I'm popping to check on how you're running East Headquarters! Yeah, that's right! I'm coming for a visit! You better be excited to see me, and have cake! Anyway, I'll see you in a week!
Your cousin and Superior Officer,
Lieutenant General Arturo Ligue
Roy fell back off his chair, nearly hyperventilating.
Hawkeye glanced at him, seeing his marked change of expression at a simple letter.
"Is everything all right, Sir?" she asked, disturbed at her superior's reaction.
"A-A Week?" he yelped, "That BASTARD is coming... in a WEEK? How could this happen?"
"Who's coming in a week, sir?" She asked, growing impatient with his over-reactions.
"My cousi-... The Lieutenant General..." Roy admitted, his face devoid of all color.
"Arturo?" Hawkeye asked, her interested suddenly peaked.
Roy scrambled to his feet, eyeing her suspiciously.
"H-how do you know Arturo?" he questioned.
His expression showed both a fierce irritation and a fear to hear her answer.
"H-he's just an old friend..." Hawkeye responded, suddenly looking extremely uncomfortable, "Besides, I met him the last time he came to do an inspection..."
Seeing her unease, Mustang decided not to push the topic any further. He didn't like seeing the usually stern Lieutenant uneasy and nervous... Something about it disturbed him, but he nodded in satisfaction to her answer.
"Um... okay..." he responded, fishing desperately through his mind for something to say, "I wonder what he's going to say... God... how in all of Amnestris could this happen?"
~O~O~O~O~O~
Roy Mustang didn't sleep well that night... he stared at the ceiling of his apartment, his thoughts lingering in the past.
He hated when his cousin came down from the North. It was totally unnecessary.
The bastard knew full well that he could do his job... What was the reason this time?
Was it for money or was it actually for a break from the harsh conditions at Northern HQ?
The Colonel's mind was buzzing with possibilities as he pondered his cousin's true intentions. Something just didn't seem right about it.
"Hawkeye would probably say that I was just being paranoid..." he thought to himself with an amused chuckle.
Even thinking about the Lieutenant helped to calm him as he gathered his thoughts.
"Okay... I have a week... I can handle this... I just need to prepare myself mentally for his visit... I'll be fine and he'll be gone before I know it..."
He repeated this over and over to himself as his eyelids finally started to grow heavy and he fell asleep.
~O~O~O~O~O~
The next morning, Roy Mustang entered the office looking rather disheveled, unshaven and wrinkled...
But despite his shaken appearance, his flaming eyes showed that he was nothing less than irritated.
Hawkeye watched him with disapproval as he staggered in.
"Sir, are you feeling well?" she asked, going over to him.
Hints of concern lined her delicate features as Roy heaved a sigh.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant… I just had a long night. I was…thinking…" he mumbled as he stifled a yawn.
Arturo's voice echoed in his head,
"Well, I hope you didn't hurt yourself doing it, Little Roy!"
"Curse that bastard…" he added.
Hawkeye overlooked his comment and foul language, as she spoke.
"You were thinking about your cousin's visit, weren't you?" she inquired, already predicting what the answer was going to be.
Roy nodded groggily,
"Yeah…" he replied, "But what else can I do?"
It was Hawkeye's turn to sigh.
"Sir… you're over-reacting over this. He's just coming to do a routine check of Headquarters. All of the higher-ups do it. It's just like last time." she explained calmly.
"Lieutenant…nothing is ever routine when it comes to my cousin…" Roy grumbled, "and last time was hell…"
Images of him being called the "Little Coach" as he was tied to a chair and a gallon of water was being poured over his head… not to mention the cheering of the gathering crowd…
All of it shot through his mind like a horrible, waking nightmare.
His hands trembled, and he had to clasp them together to even dull the tremors.
"Unless it comes to tormenting me and making my life a living hell hole… he's never routine… he's corrupt like all the others…" he muttered as an afterthought.
"Well Sir… as you try to keep your mind off your cousin's arrival, why don't you start on your paperwork, and I'll go get you some coffee." Hawkeye suggested, "You look terrible."
Roy bobbed his head,
"You're right, Lieutenant…" he said, as he absent-mindedly went to close the door behind him.
As he shut it, he was expecting to hear the click, when something jammed it.
"Hey! What's the matter with this-"
The door pushed him aside, as a man stood in the doorway…
He had green eyes and black hair with white streaks running through it, which divided into three distinct braids: two black and one white in the center of his neck… and that oh-so-familiar smirk.
"Hello, Little Roy," the sarcastic voice greeted, "Long time, no see…"
Roy's face was instantly drained of what little coloration it had.
"B-but… h-how…? Why? I-I thought it was a WEEK!" he stammered dumbly.
The Lieutenant General looked down at him from the few inches that he towered over his cousin.
"It was a week…" he said, at first looking puzzled, but his expression slowly changed to amusement and realization, "You were putting off your paperwork again, weren't you?"
Roy's hands instantly clenched into fists, and he let out an animalistic growl that gave a new meaning to the term 'dog of the military'.
"No."
"Well, check the date of the letter." The older man said, eyeing his cousin like a wolf.
Roy nodded, pulling it out of his pocket.
He scrutinized it… every second, he prayed that he had been wrong... but as his cousin said, the letter was dated a week ago.
God dammit…
"Didn't I tell you, Little Roy?" The Lieutenant General laughed, "Or do you need a clarification on that too?"
"Well, it's not my fault I… lost it, Arturo…" Roy answered, trying to keep his flaming anger in check.
"So… you're disorganized too, then…" his cousin said, his eyes gleaming with mal-intent.
It was obvious to everyone in the room that he was having way too much fun with this… it was like watching a lion with a mouse in his paws, dangling it by the tail as the small rodent tried to fight feebly back… you only had to wait for the kill.
Roy was at a loss for words,
"No! I run my office just fine! Stop being such an asshole!" he barked.
Arturo laughed again, harder this time.
"You can't talk to your Superior Officer like that, Colonel… Remember, I'm a Lieutenant General and a close friend of the Fuehrer." He said, "I could have you court-martialed at the snap of my fingertips."
He gave a demonstration as wisps of blue electricity swirled around his fingertips with an enviously delicate ease.
Several of the female officers that were delivering papers to the office stopped and gave a look that made Havoc's eyes fill with tears at the remembrance of his lost girlfriends.
Roy however, just looked absolutely miserable.
"Fine…Lieutenant General…" He said, giving an exaggerated bow of respect.
"Lieutenant General Bastard…"
Arturo smirked,
"That's more like it..." he said with the typical Mustang smirk, crossing his arms over his chest with a distinct satisfaction at the minor victory.
Roy grumbled, turning his back to his cousin.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Why don't you get started with that stupid, routine check of yours?
Hawkeye watched and gave a shake of her head, though he was entertained by the older man's presence.
"I suppose you'll do your paperwork on time now, Sir?" she asked.
Roy shot her a glare as Arturo gave another hearty laugh and made his way over to the blonde Lieutenant.
Riza smiled at the familiar face and gave a respectful salute.
"Lieutenant General… I haven't seen you in a long time." she greeted, giving him a tender smile, "How have you been?"
Arturo smirked as he took her hand gently and kissed it like a true gentleman.
"Never better." He answered, his voice trailing off with a slight purr.
It was a move that had won him dozens of Central and Eastern Women… and one specific one from the North a long time ago.
Roy's eyes bulged out of his head and, as everyone in the office looked on, his jaw dropped. A new emotion came over the womanizing Colonel, and it blazed in his ebony eyes.
He glanced between the two of them, practically choking on his own speech.
Was that a blush on her cheeks? Was that a dancing glint shining in his eyes?
He knew exactly what was going on, and he didn't like any of it.
Stomping over, he pushed the pair apart.
"Don't you have a check to do, Sir?" Roy snarled.
Arturo just waved him off,
"Not now, little Roy… the grown-ups are talking…" he said, turning back to the Lieutenant, "I'm sorry, my dear… what were you saying?"
Roy looked at him with a dropped jaw, and was just a few millimeters from searing the Lieutenant General's head from his body.
Hawkeye noticed immediately, as she always did, and she glanced at Roy, then at Arturo.
"I was just saying… I really think you should get to that check of yours, Sir." She said, "I'll have some time to talk to you later… and we can catch up… but I have work to do myself."
Arturo smiled at her fondly and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Of course, Lieutenant… of course." He answered, as a crimson blush spread over the Lieutenant's cheekbones and the bridge of her nose, but she comfortably returned it and Roy felt light-headed.
"Th-that's it!" he snapped, "Get out of my office!"
He pulled Hawkeye close to him, much to her surprise.
Arturo just looked at him, shocked… but the traces of a smirk were still evident on his face.
"A little possessive are we, Colonel?" The Lieutenant General taunted, "That's not proper behavior for a higher ranking officer in our great military."
Roy rolled his eyes and scoffed.
"Great military, my ass…" he said to himself, "You and all those other corrupt monsters… well, things will change when I'm in charge…"
His train of hate was only broken by Hawkeye's steady hand on his shoulder.
"Sir… shouldn't you get the Lieutenant General set up in a temporary office?" she asked.
Mustang chuckled.
Oh Riza… always keeping me on track…
"You're right, Lieutenant." He answered with a forced calm, "There's an empty office down the hall… if you'd be so kind as to escort the Lieutenant General…"
He dug through the messy clutter of his desk and pulled out a key, handing it to Hawkeye.
The Lieutenant saluted him obediently, and then looked at Arturo.
"I'll show you to the office, Sir." She said, as Arturo nodded, looking gratefully to Hawkeye.
He then glanced at Roy and gave another smirk,
"Thank-you, Lieutenant… And I'll see you, Little Roy!" he said, "Don't put off your work, okay? It's a good way to get demoted."
"Just…get…out…" Mustang growled, as Arturo opened the door, allowing Hawkeye to step through first.
"Right this way, Lieutenant." He said, smiling fondly at her.
Riza smiled and walked past him.
"Thank you, sir." She said, and the door closed.
Roy slumped in his chair, exhaling deeply, as though he had been holding his breath the entire time.
The Colonel could already tell… it was going to be a long week…
((A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and alerts, they really inspired me and made my week! So... since you've met my OC, tell me what you think? Love him, hate him? Flames are welcomed! ))