A/N: Just a short, kinda silly thing done cos mebh asked me to and cos I haven't done a daemon fic in ages. I don't think this is as funny as what mebh had in mind but oh well, I hope everyone enjoys it anyway. As usual, I do not own fma etc etc.

Havoc glanced up to find the source of the noise staring him in the face with cold blue eyes. Ariadne continued to growl at him, her teeth bared and her fur standing on end. He sighed.

"Ariadne, please get your front paws off my desk." Havoc glanced over to the back of the room where Mustang sat, his head bent over a stack of reports, seemingly unaware of his daemon's activities. Sunlight streamed in from the window behind him but Mustang seemed to be operating under his own, highly localised, storm cloud. Havoc supposed he couldn't be blamed- the day had not been going well for the colonel.

The morning had began badly enough when a cracked coffee pot had spilled all over the colonel's hand, scalding him and- Havoc suspected Mustang considered this the more serious offence- depriving him of his morning dose of caffeine. The larger than usual stack of reports awaiting the colonel had been a second setback, an administrative error leading to over half of them needing to be completed by the next morning. Then had come Ed's monthly report. The boy had swept in like a tiny blonde storm front, his little golden monkey daemon knocking papers off desks and even going so far as to pinch Ariande when discussions with the colonel became heated. Ed's latest excursion into righting the wrongs of far-flung rural Amestris had ended up costing the military several hundred thousand cens in reparations and, as usual, the blame would be placed firmly on Mustang's head. Ed had been surly and unapologetic throughout; a standard of such conversations. Havoc was frankly amazed that Mustang hadn't slapped the boy.

If only Hawkeye were here... he thought, watching as Ariadne turned her attention to Maya, his daemon. The red setter looked up at the leopard with sleepy eyes, refusing to rise to the bait, but Havoc could feel her annoyance. He glanced up at Mustang just as the colonel raised his head. Mustang met his gaze with unrepentant eyes, clearly aware of his daemon's behaviour but doing nothing to stop it. Havoc counted down the hours in his head until Hawkeye returned from her errands. She would soon be able to sort this nonsense out.

Ariadne snapped at Maya's tail and his daemon finally lifted her head, growling a low warning. Havoc shushed her, stroking Maya's fur to calm her down. Interactions between daemons were typically relaxed among the team but Mustang was still his boss and on a day like this he didn't think the man was in the mood to let anyone forget it. Maya snuggled closer, gazing up at him with baleful eyes. Ariadne slunk off, her long tail knocking a stack of papers off Havoc's desk as she turned. She gazed back at him and Havoc could swear he saw a hint of a smirk on her feline face.

"Ari." Mustang's voice rang out in the quite room. Irritation still simmered low in his voice but, more than that, he sounded tired. "Leave Havoc alone." The brass had been putting Mustang under more and more pressure recently and the antics of the team's youngest recruit were not making things any easier, Havoc understood. He just wished Mustang's daemon wouldn't take it out on the rest of them.

Ariadne hissed as she walked back to Mustang's side, settling under his desk with a decidedly petulant air.

There was a knock on the door. Without waiting for acknowledgement, it was flung open and General Gran walked in, flanked by soldiers on either side. Their daemons hid behind them as was customary when in the company of a superior officer but Gran's boar stood proudly in front, staring at Ariadne with her small, dark eyes.

"General Gran," Mustang rose from his seat and saluted, walking over to stand before the general. "I didn't know you were in East City, Sir."

Gran snorted, acknowledging Mustang's salute after slightly longer than was considered polite. "Just a routine inspection, Colonel, nothing for you to get worried about..." he paused, running an appraising eye over the office. Havoc kept his head bent over his pile of papers, not wanting to meet his eyes. "I should hope."

Mustang swallowed. Ariande had come out from under the desk now and she stood by her master's side. Havoc could practically see Mustang's hand shake with the need to reach out and comfort her but to do so would be an unmistakeable sign of weakness.

"If there is anything I or my team can do to assist you during your stay in East City, Sir, we..."

Gran held up a hand, cutting Mustang off. "As a matter of fact, there is, Colonel. It seems your State Alchemist reassessment is coming up very shortly and the Fuhrer has asked me to oversee your exam personally."

Ari whined, an almost imperceptible sound but one that Havoc was sure every person in the room heard. "Sir," Mustang began. "I was under the impression that General Grumman-"

"Normally, Colonel," Gran interrupted Mustang once more. "The reassessment would be supervised by your direct commanding officer; that is correct. However, as this is only your second assessment since your assignment here..." Havoc heard what he wasn't saying. Your first assessment since the end of Ishval... "And given your... less than optimum performance last year, the Fuhrer decided that it would be best if another State Alchemist were to be present, in order to give a more thorough evaluation of your abilities."

Every muscle on Ari's body was shaking now. She pressed up against Mustang's leg, her teeth bared and her fur on edge. Havoc could feel Maya longing to go up to the leopard and offer comfort and a quick glance around the room showed that his teammates' daemon's felt the same. But they could do nothing.

"I had hoped, Sir," Mustang's voice was quiet but filled with steel. "That I had already proven my abilities to the military's satisfaction." Across the room, Havoc heard Fuery stifle a gasp. Even after two years, this was the closest Mustang had ever come to mentioning the war.

Gran narrowed his eyes. He laughed, a sound devoid of all humour. "Be that as it may, Mustang, those are the Fuhrer's orders. I shall expect to see you on the parade ground tomorrow at ten hundred hours, without fail." He motioned for the soldiers to leave and started to head towards the exit. At the door he turned back to the colonel.

"I happened to run into your young protégé on my way here, Colonel... it seems the boy has once more managed to disgrace the military's reputation and waste State Alchemist funds. I have told him I expect to see him tomorrow afternoon for a full report and whatever disciplinary action I decide is necessary."

Ariadne spat, her claws scraping the wooden floor and Mustang closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath before responding. "With all due respect, Sir, I would have preferred it if you had come to me before talking to my officers directly... as his commanding officer it is my responsibility to discipline him and, with someone as young as Fullmetal, a consistent show of authority..."

"Ha!" At his side, Gran's daemon whinnied with amusement. "If you can't keep him in line yourself, you should never have recruited the boy, Colonel! You're too soft with him, is your problem. If you deem it necessary, you may be present tomorrow, but I will be speaking to Fullmetal myself. Good day, Colonel." The door swung shut behind the general. The room was silent as the echoes of footsteps grew steadily fainter.

Mustang collapsed into his chair, his motionless figure a stark contrast to his growling, spitting daemon. Ariadne launched herself at the door, butting her head against it and scratching at the wood. She paced back and forth across the room, clawing at the sofa and snapping whenever any of the other daemons came too near. The snow leopard continued to pace and growl under her breath for several minutes as the rest of the room sat in awkward, embarrassed silence, no one daring to meet Mustang's eyes. It was a common and often amusing occurrence for a daemon to reveal its master's true feelings despite their best attempts at concealment and Ariadne was notorious for it. Hawkeye had assured Havoc that the colonel had greatly improved his ability to control Ari over the last few years but it seemed that he still hadn't fully mastered the skill.

Finally, Ariadne settled down under Mustang's desk once more, only the periodic growl and scratching at the colonel's desk letting the team know that their leader had not yet managed to let go of his anger. Of course, it was foolish to hope that he would have done so; Havoc had known Mustang to sulk for days over even minor slights so an insult against his capabilities such as this would surely not be so easily forgiven.

Minutes ticked by in silence, only the sound of Mustang's angry scribbling filling the room. Havoc tried to concentrate on the form he was reading but his eyes kept drifting back to the clock. Four in the afternoon... Hawkeye said she would be back by half past four...

Finally, the clock's hands eventually arrived at the awaited destination. A few minutes past four thirty there was another knock on the door, much softer than the one only an hour earlier. Hawkeye walked in with Theo at her side, a stack of papers under her arm. She paused in the centre of the room, sensing the tense atmosphere.

"What's going on here then?" She asked. Hawkeye glanced over at Havoc who shook his head slightly. You don't want to know... he mouthed. She walked up to the colonel's desk, giving a salute that Mustang acknowledged with a quick wave of his hand, his eyes never leaving his papers. Hawkeye's mouth narrowed into a thin line but she said nothing. Theo padded over to where Ariadne lay, still twitching and on edge, underneath the desk. Ariadne came forward to meet him, her teeth bared slightly although her shoulders were hunched. The leopard and the Alsatian came nose to nose, staring at each other while their masters watched on. Hawkeye wore a calm expression on her face while Mustang looked increasingly apprehensive.

Ariadne hissed, snapping at Theo. He barked back, looming over the smaller daemon. Theo gave a low growl before falling quiet, staring down at Ari. She whined, all her bravado and irritation suddenly gone. She crept closer to Theo, rubbing the side of her head against his neck. He gave her an affectionate lick in return.

Havoc glanced over at Breda and the two of them exchanged looks of amazement and half-hidden smiles. At his desk, Mustang had gone red and was looking up at his lieutenant with a distinctly apologetic air. The tense atmosphere had evaporated completely, with only a few scratch-marks on the furniture to show for it ever having been there. There was still the question of Mustang's assessment and Ed's talk with General Gran to worry about, but at least now Mustang would be able to deal with those things with a clearer head.

At least Ariadne won't be throwing a temper tantrum like that again... Havoc thought, stroking Maya's head. Not with Hawkeye and Theo around to remind Mustang who's really in charge here...

Thanks for reading guys. :)