Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah… I don't own FMA… you know that… Only Arturo and Mr. Momo are mine. :P
Thicker Than Rain
Chapter 12: The Price is Right
"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power."
~ Unknown
~O~O~O~O~O~
When Roy entered the office the next day, it almost seemed like nothing in this world could go wrong. Under his arm, he carried a wooden box—one that was oh-so-familiar to everyone present—and on his lips, he whistled a tune… which was something the Colonel did only when he was in an extremely good mood.
"Good morning, Sir." Hawkeye greeted, holding the usual stack of papers, "You're in an awfully good mood today." Seeing her superior officer like this almost bothered her; something just didn't seem right, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Roy smiled widely at her, "Ah, Lieutenant, today may be a good day. A very good day indeed!" he said, then burst into maniacal laughter, holding the box in his hand.
Hawkeye just eyed him suspiciously, wondering if she should shoot him now or later…
She decided on later, since if she shot him now, none of his paperwork would ever be finished, and Arturo wouldn't be too thrilled hearing about the murder of his cousin… even though she did make him that promise.
"Why is that, Sir?" Havoc whimpered, looking over from his desk with tears welling in his eyes, "Did you steal my latest girlfriend? Please don't tell me that you took Molly away from me…"
Roy looked over at Havoc grinning. "No!" He said grandly, "Better than that! My cousin may be leaving today!"
Things grew quiet in the office and Roy looked around, curious as to why the world seemed to have stopped.
"Well, that's too bad," Furey mumbled, "The Lieutenant General was a big help this morning. He helped me look over one of my experiments on the field radio… He was surprisingly knowledgeable."
"Yeah, the Lieutenant General got me a pack of cigarettes." Havoc said, grinning, "And he introduced me to Molly. Oh, I'm so happy!"
Roy looked at each of his officers as they spoke up.
"Th-this morning?" he yelped in shock.
A young girl popped her head into the window of the office.
"He saved my kitten from a tree!" she cheered.
Roy turned around, completely taken aback. "H-how did you get in here? Children aren't allowed on the military base! What in all of Amnestris is going on here?" he demanded, "There's no way he could accomplish all that work in one day—let alone this morning!"
"Well, you see Little Roy, I had to get things done before I left… because everyone knows that you're the one who is going to win our little challenge, right?" Arturo said, smirking and leaning on his cousin's shoulder, weighing him down considerably.
Roy looked up and pushed him away in one quick motion. "Yeah, that's right!" Roy growled, "After this game, you won't know what hit you!"
Arturo laughed, patting his head. "We'll see about that, Popcorn Colonel, we'll see." Arturo said, pulling over a table and putting two chairs at each end of it.
Roy gawked, suddenly growing nervous. "W-wait…. We're playing…NOW?" he asked, as he tried to keep his voice from trembling.
Arturo looked at him, "Yeah, why not?" he asked, "You're not scared are you, Roy-boy?"
Arturo broke into the Mustang-family smirk once again, scrutinizing his cousin with challenging eyes.
Roy felt his palms begin to sweat, and he discreetly wiped them against his uniform pants.
"Of course not!" Roy answered arrogantly, "I just have work to do before we can play games. Mental preparation is key when going up against an enemy for battle!"
Arturo laughed, "No need to shoot back military strategies at me, Colonel." The Lieutenant General replied, "Besides, I doubt you make this much fuss when playing against Grumman. He's told me about your games… What was the record? 1 win, 15 draws and 97 losses… or maybe it was 98? I don't have the best memory, but… that's a lot of losses."
Roy seethed under his cousin's adjudicative gaze. "I'm not going to let you rush me into things, Artie!" Roy snapped, "Not this time! I'm going to take all the time I want and beat you once and for all!"
Arturo's fist tensed, but it disappeared quickly. He then stood up and coughed.
"All right, Roy." He said, still wearing that smirk as he leaned over the table to get in his cousin's face, "But I thought you'd want me gone as soon as possible…Your loss again, I suppose."
"The Colonel is right, there's work to be done around this office and getting distracted by a silly board game is no way to get anything accomplished." Hawkeye said, stepping calmly in between the two men.
Roy mentally sighed; once again, he found himself thankful for Hawkeye's existence.
"I say that you finish this game when everyone is off post and can watch it." She said matter-of-factly.
The Colonel felt his jaw drop as he looked at his Lieutenant with a betrayed expression.
Arturo just laughed heartily, pulling her into an embrace. "Oh Riza, I love the head that you have on your shoulders! Such beautiful brilliance stored in it!" He praised.
Riza blushed deeply though she looked at her superior officer apologetically, it seemed more out of embarrassment at that kind of public affection than anything.
Arturo released her as he coughed into the crook of his arm; his shoulders shook and his three braids jumped, as though they were startled by his sickness.
Hawkeye looked at him concerned, "I'll get you something to drink." She said, leaving the room and making her way to the water-fountain.
Roy bit back his irritation. He didn't like that hint of tenderness in his Lieutenant's voice, nor that hug.
She was aware of his feelings and he wasn't pleased with the attention she was giving his cousin… her ex-boyfriend.
The very sound of it made Roy wince with burning jealousy.
Arturo had beaten him to every girl he ever dated… why did she have to be one of them?
He shuddered and finally managed to gather himself and take a seat at his desk.
The small whispers of chatter that had broken out between his subordinates had finally stopped as Roy finally got to work.
Arturo watched his every movement, resembling a cat with feathers poking out of its mouth.
"Okay Roy… well, finish your work, and we'll finally have that chess game later. Don't get too nervous." He said, almost drawling.
He then made his way out of Roy's office, towards his own.
This was gonna be fun.
~O~O~O~O~O~
Hours passed quickly, though Roy didn't want them to.
He glanced at the clock every few seconds and until it got to the point where Hawkeye had threatened to remove it because he was being unproductive.
Once his shift was over—along with the rest of his team—everyone seemed to spring into action, setting up the chessboard and two chairs.
I guess everyone was looking forward to this, weren't they?
As if on cue, Arturo burst through the closed door of Roy's office, grinning like a celebrity as applause rang through the room.
Roy face-palmed, still wondering what undesirable circumstances he had gotten himself into.
He felt a pull and, stumbling clumsily, he realized that Arturo had pulled him tightly to his side and was grinning down at him.
"So Roy, are you ready to play some chess?" he asked sitting down.
Roy took his place adjacent from his cousin, giving a mental sigh.
"Yeah. I'm ready." He responded.
This is the moment… you can finally get him out of your hair and get things back to normal… for the common good and your own sanity!
Arturo looked at him casually, unaware of the mental pressure Roy was putting on himself.
He coughed again, looking slightly fatigued, but he smiled.
A sign of weakness!
"What color do you want?" his cousin's voice asked.
Roy looked down at the chessboard, carefully thinking over his decision.
"You can be white." He said, forfeiting the first move advantage.
I don't need it. I'll beat him.
Arturo looked at him, slightly startled, but slowly the right side of his lip curled back into that amused smirk of his.
"Okay Roy… suit yourself." He replied, pushing the black pieces in Roy's direction and setting up his white pieces respectively.
One by one, they settled down with a wooden 'clack', and soon the battlefield was ready, and the two officers were ready to do battle.
Arturo made the first move, moving one of his pawns two spaces up from its previous position.
Roy made his move after a few seconds of thinking. Both officers' brains were moving quickly and move after move, piece after piece the board became littered with scattered pieces of different shapes.
Rooks, pawns, knights, and the all too vulnerable kings all had their places strategically on the black and pine-colored squares.
The soldiers that filled the room crowded room all watched as the moves were strategically made and pieces were taken off the board like captives of war.
Arturo then leaned back in his chair, moving his bishop two spaces to his left and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Check."
Roy studied the board quickly, his ebony eyes scanning over every square, every piece, taking in the situation he was in.
Sweat dotted his palms and forehead as he suddenly felt in true jeopardy.
He then saw an opening and took out the bishop with his knight.
"HAH!" Roy cheered, but Arturo just countered it, taking out another one of his pieces.
"Check, Roy." The Lieutenant General laughed.
Roy's face turned pale, and he looked down at the board.
Damn… he's good.
The Colonel moved his piece, and watching his cousin's hand, Arturo moved and with one swift motion, the game was over… and Roy knew it.
"Check-mate."
The two words that rang in Roy's ears.
"N-no…i-it can't be!" Roy stammered, running his hands through his messy black hair.
Arturo just laughed, leaning back once again and coughing.
"Look at the board yourself." He wheezed, taking a sip out of the water that Hawkeye had brought for him.
Roy took the initiative and gave the board another look over.
He was right…
Roy lowered his head, realizing the defeat. It stung…badly. And the applause coming from his subordinates and the words of congratulations directed at his cousin didn't help.
Arturo stood up, shakily at first, but both of them were extremely stiff from their extended game, so Roy didn't give it too much thought.
"Don't worry, Roy… tomorrow will be a fun day! I already signed the papers for your day off!" he said, patting Roy firmly on the back, "And just for your knowledge, my record against Grumman is 56 wins, 70 draws, and 60 losses. He's quite a chess player."
That didn't help at all.
"Anyway, you can pick me up at my apartment at 800 hours sharp. The Lieutenant can give you the address." He said, smiling and making his way to the door.
He watched as the Lieutenant General made his way out the door, followed by the rest of his subordinates, except Hawkeye.
"Are you all right, sir?" she asked, looking up at him with those auburn eyes.
Roy couldn't help but smirk at her.
"Of course, Lieutenant. Why wouldn't I be?" he asked.
"Well, you just lost to the General." She said, "You seemed nervous about it… I know how you two have that rivalry."
Roy sighed.
Once again, she had hit the nail on the head.
"Don't worry, Lieutenant." He said, "I'll get over it… It's just one day with my cousin. I have warning, so I don't think it can be too bad."
Of course, that was a complete and total lie. He had no idea how bad things could get under his cousin's company… he'd probably end up in a ditch, stopping-dropping and rolling with mayonnaise covering his gloves.
Roy shuddered.
"Yeah…" he said, swallowing loudly, "It won't be that bad…"
I hope…
~O~O~O~O~O~
That night, Roy went to sleep with all sorts of horrors running through his head.
He could only hope that he wouldn't enter a pre-mature hell…. Because god only knew what his cousin was scheming.
((A/N: Hey! Thanks for the review and the faves! You like me, you really like me! T_T ))