Tuesday
Nobody was quite sure if Edward had slept on that couch all night, or if he had just gotten there earlier in the morning before everyone else, but they had found him in nearly the same position on the couch when they all peeked in early the next morning. At first Hawkeye had thought about waking the blond up, but decided against it. At least for now.
It wasn't like there was anything for Fullmetal to do anyways. The General was still off on his leave of absence, meaning Ed had no assignment for all week. They had tried to get him to sign paperwork, but that had failed miserably.
Sighing, Hawkeye quietly closed the door to the Generals office behind her after checking in on the blond. Then she turned and headed back towards her desk to sign the paperwork that had been neglected all day yesterday. That bastard was going to pay when he got back to work on Monday. She was very tempted to show up at his house and point a gun at his head and threaten him to return back to work, but something gave her the feeling that he wouldn't be at home much this week if he was 'trying to avoid females'. It meant he'd be trying to avoid a certain angered blond too.
That hunch had been correct it seemed, because not two feet away from the office doors a figure headed her way caused her to stop walking. Lifting a hand, she saluted the General as he approached, "Sir, May I ask what you are doing here on your day off?"
A chuckle escaped Roy as the Lieutenant spotted him. So much for sneaking around and not getting caught. It worked out though, because he needed to speak to her and seek out some womanly advice. He was sure she had some of it, hidden deep under that tough exterior that would make any man question if she had a feminine bone quirk in her at all. "Lieutenant Hawkeye, may I have a word?"
"Of course, Sir."
As soon as she had answered, Mustang had stepped towards his office doors and was about to open them when a hand slapped itself against the back of his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sir."
Roy hissed, clutching the side of his head and narrowing his eyes at Hawkeye. "That was uncalled for." He grumbled, waiting for an explanation from his subordinate. It was his office! What could they possibly have done to it while he was gone?
"Fullmetal is sleeping." She answered, a small smile appearing on her lips.
A single eyebrow lifted, questioning what he had just been told. Though it wasn't completely unbelievable. Edward spent a lot of time sleeping on that couch even when he was there. The blond was lazier than anyone else he had ever met. Looking back at the door, he quietly opened it and stuck his head in just enough to peer inside. Sure enough, there the normally obnoxious Edward Elric was, peacefully snoozing on the couch as if he didn't have a care in the world.
With a small sigh, Roy ducked his head back out and quietly shut the door as to not disturb his favorite little blond. He didn't even notice the huge mess that was on his desk, or the Eiffel Tower of staples that was glued onto the desk either. The broken clock on the floor went unnoticed as well. Probably for the best as well, because if he had seen all of it, then all hell would have broken lose in an instant flat.
"Sir, you had a question for me?" Hawkeye interrupted, breaking Roy from his thoughts.
"Oh, yes Lieutenant."
------
After the General had disappeared once again, Hawkeye made her way back towards her desk. Upon arrival, a surprise was sitting on her desk, in the form of a dozen red roses in a glass vase. She was sure that it hadn't been there earlier when she had left her desk to go and check up on Edward.
Where had it come from?
Pursing her lips in thought, Riza dropped herself into her chair and sighed. Reaching out, she picked up an envelope propped up against the side of the vase and carefully ripped it open. Retrieving the card inside, she flipped it open and read the neat handwriting inside:
My dearest Riza
Take these roses and card as a confession of my love to you
And at the same time, answer me this:
Will you go on a date with me this Saturday?
Jean
Quite honestly, Riza was at a loss for words after reading the card. Even after reading it multiple times, she wasn't quite sure what to think of it. She was so engulfed in her thoughts that she failed to notice that the very man who had given her the card and roses was making his way over to her desk, with Breda and Fuery in tow.
"Wooaah, check it out! Who's the secret admirer, Hawkeye?"
"Wow! Someone must really like you!"
Hawkeye jumped slightly, lifting her eyes and looking up at the three men as they all swooned over her roses. She wasn't quite sure what Havoc was trying to play at, since he had given her the roses in the first place. Extending her arm, she stuck the open card in the man's face, "Do you take me as an idiot, Jean?"
Blinking as the card was shoved into his face, Havoc took it and held it out slightly so that all three of them could read it. A second or two after beginning to read it, the cigarette in his mouth suddenly dropped out and landed on Hawkeye's desk, earning a disgusted look from the Lieutenant as she leaned over to flick it off her desk.
Havoc looked absolutely horrified, his face brightening as he stammered out, "I-I didn't…write this!"
"Man, talk about smooth writing, Havoc!" Breda commented, slapping the other man on the back and laughing.
"That takes guts! I knew you were going to ask her out, but damn!"
If possible, Havoc's face brightened more while finally returning his attention to the woman sitting behind the desk, waiting patiently for him to explain himself. "I didn't do this, I swear! This isn't even my handwriting, Hawkeye! I swear!"
"So you don't want to take me out on Saturday?" She asked as she leaned forward, plucking the card from the embarrassed man's hands and stuffing it back into the envelope before setting it down on her desk. "I'm not sure I'd want to go out on a date with someone who can't come clean about their feelings anyways. Don't even dare try and ask me out later when you feel like you can risk your manly pride when your friends aren't around either, Jean."
Breda winced, "Owwch. Now or never, Havoc!"
"I swear, I didn't write that, or put those roses there! But I was going to ask you out. Will you go out with me on Saturday anyways?"
Leaning back slightly in her chair, Hawkeye nodded her head and smiled. "See, that wasn't too hard, not was it? Let me know before then what time you're going to pick me up at." Glancing back over at the roses, an amused expression crossed her face as she realized where the roses must have come from. "I think I know where the roses came from anyways.."
"Who?" The three asked, simultaneously.
"General Mustang stopped by earlier."
"I'm going to kill him. Man, I need a cigarette.."
------
"Lieutenant Hawkeye?"
"Yes, Falman?"
"My apologies..but..it seems Black Hayate got out of your yard and has been roaming around the streets all day. Fuery managed to catch him while on his break and brought him in.."
Leaning over her desk, Hawkeye peered over the edge and down at the black and white dog that was sitting faithfully beside Falman. Reaching behind her back, she pulled out a gun and pointed it at the dog, "Now you won't be doing that again, now will you, Black Hayate?" She mused. As soon as the gun had been pointed, the dog had scurried back behind Falman's legs and whined loudly.
"That's what I thought." Riza hummed, placing the weapon away and smiling sweetly. "Ah. I know. I'll go ahead and let Fullmetal take care of him for the day.."
"Is he still sleeping in the Generals office?"
"Not for long!"
Getting up from her desk, Hawkeye walked around the side and looked down at her dog. "Come!" Snapping her fingers, she then walked towards Mustang's office, the scraping of nails on the hardwood floors assuring her that Black Hayate was following behind closely.
Pushing the doors open, she pointed at the sleeping form of Ed and gave her order. "Get him."
What followed next was the black and white dog bolting towards the couch, leaping up onto the sleeping form of Ed. There was a groan, and a swipe of an arm towards the dog that was now standing on him. "GET OFF!" Shrieked the male, ignoring the fact that his arm hadn't hit anything, missing the large dog somehow.
What he couldn't ignore was the fact that now Black Hayate had started a full assault on his face, licking and spreading his saliva all over his face in an attempt to wake him.
"Seriously, what the hell!?" The irritated blond screamed, gold eyes snapping open while his hands shoving at the dog to try and keep him away from his face. A groan escaped Ed as he noticed the familiar black and white dog, who he had seen countless of times around Central.
"I've got a job for you, Ed. Watch Black Hayate today, and keep him out of trouble."
Snapping his head to the side, his gold eyes narrowed at the Lieutenant, who he swore was smirking at him. "What?! I'm not a dog sitter!" He snapped at Riza. There was no way he was going to baby sit HER dog all day. Sure, he didn't have anything better to do, but he knew absolutely nothing about taking care of any sort of animal.
"Oh, don't worry. He isn't very demanding. Just make sure you take him out every so often so he can do his business. Make sure to take a bag when you do. I don't want to be the one getting in trouble when the messes aren't cleaned up after." Before Edward could argue any more, Lieutenant Hawkeye turned on heel and sped out of the office, shutting the door behind her with a soft click.
Edward groaned, "Fuck, this is going to be a long day.." Looking back over at the dog, who was now sitting on his stomach, Ed reached out and scratched him behind the ear. "You're a dog, so you like to sleep, don't you boy? Let's take a nap." Rolling over and throwing an arm around the dog, he pulled Black Hayate down into a laying position and proceeded to fall right back asleep, cuddled up with the dog.
------
A soft whimpering was slowly dragging Ed out of his deep slumber, along with a gentle tugging at his sleeve. Grumbling, he rolled over and covered his face with an arm, attempting to block out the noise that was trying so desperately to awake him.
Black Hayate was relentless though, with nature calling and a stomach rumbling. He needed to go outside and do his duty, and then be fed! Grasping the red coat inbetween small jaws, the dog began yanking at it. He had waited long enough, damnit! Growling loudly, Black Hayate tugged harshly, shaking his head side to side. The fabric ripped suddenly, a tearing noise causing the blonds eyes to snap wide open.
He did NOT just rip his favorite coat!
Abruptly sitting up, his gold eyes turned to look down at the dog, which was now sitting and holding the piece of red fabric in his mouth, tail wagging at Edward. A frown formed on his lips as he turned himself, placing both feet firmly on the ground. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of the fabric and yanked on it, trying to get it out of the dogs mouth.
Black Hayate took it as a game of tug-of-war, a growl emitting as his teeth tightened on the red fabric.
"Seriously? Okay. Whatever. Fine! Keep it!" Ed huffed, tugging once more on the fabric before releasing it. The dog could keep it, for all he cared!
Satisfied with his new prize, the black and white dog turned and padded over to the large oak doors. Black Hayate lifted a paw and began scratching his nails against the surface, whining and looking back over at Ed.
Grumbling, Edward slipped on his boots before making his way over towards the doors, "Okay, okay. I get it. I'm up. We'll go get you some food.." Opening the door, he waited for the dog to prance out before he followed suite. Shutting the door, Ed continued mumbling to himself as he walked after the dog, who had taken off down the hall with the piece of his red coat in his mouth still.
------
Roy had long returned home as the clock ticked on past 4:00 P.M. At the moment, he found himself lounging on his couch, a pad of paper on his lap and a pen in hand. For the past hour he had sat there, contemplating ideas and scribbling anything possible down onto it. Most of the things he had written down had been crossed out, or little notes were written beside them such as 'Ed would kill me', and he was sure that Ed would if he went with some of the ideas.
Why in the hell did everything have to be so complicated when it came to Ed?!
Growling in frustration, Roy crossed yet another thing off the paper. This was completely useless. There wasn't anything else he could do, though. Hawkeye had told him that she would be over around 4 to see what progress he had made, and to lend him her advice. Roy was looking forward to her arrival, but with a grain of salt. He was absolutely sure that he'd get a mouthful about the roses that he had left, along with the fake note from Havoc that he had left with them.
A knock on the doorway suddenly broke his train of thought, causing his head to tilt towards the doorway. "It's open!" He shouted, the thought that it could have been Ed not even occurring to him. Luckily the door opened and in stepped Lieutenant Hawkeye, along with Black Hayate. Tilting his head, Roy squinted and tried to figure out what was in the dog's mouth.
Was that part of Ed's coat?
"Fullmetal watched him today. He slacked off though, so Black Hayate put him back in line.." Hawkeye informed Roy, filling him in on what had happened earlier that day.
A chuckle escaped Roy's lips, "It seems you've trained him well, Lieutenant."
"Thank you, Sir."
Beckoning the woman over with hand, Roy prepared to go over his possible ideas with her. Most of them were shit though. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Riza made her way over to the couch and sat beside him, yanking the paper out of his hands before he could even sat a word to her. A second later and the pen was taken from his hand as well, and she began circling certain things on the paper and writing numbers next to them.
Roy watched in silence, attempting to peek over at what she was doing, but getting smacked on the head by the pad of paper as soon as he leaned closer. With a huff, he looked over at Black Hayate, who was standing by the couch and wagging his tail. Moving a hand, he patted the empty space next to him on the couch and watched as the dog wasted no time in joining him on the leather couch.
"Okay I'm done." Riza announced a few moments later, interrupting Roy and Hayate's bonding moment. The dog had cuddled up beside Roy, laying his head in Roy's lap while he was petted.
Looking back over, Roy looked at the messy piece of paper and waited for Riza to explain what all her little notes and numbers meant.
"Okay. I circled things that Ed would like, first off. Chocolates are simple, but we both know that he likes chocolate..a lot. I think you were on the right track. I think a dinner would be cute, and simple. Also..how to feel about putting together a photo album?"