Them

There was something in this world which went by the name; desire. It was 'want' and a powder that drove people forward to do amazing, different things. Desire was a strong thought and a sneaky little thing too because it would implant your mind the wishes and hopes that you liked to see at the end but along the way, you might have hurt many other people that you had cared about.

It was three in the afternoon and the sun was blistering hot, outside the building shone white and everyone was carrying an umbrella across the court yard. A heat wave had just passed through the country just two hours ago, causing most of the residents in Amestris cursing or complaining to their neighbors about it. And by most, also include the residents of the Mustang office.

A swish following by a loud stuffy thump made Kain jump from his table slightly, he had been asleep due to the musty warm weather and that loud thump was just next to him. Kain opened his eyes slightly; he was able to see the sunlight beaming in from the window… wait, he was able to see the window? Kain raised his head fully, his desk was half cleared from the work he had from an hour ago. There were only four more piles of papers and one more file neatly placed at the edge, this was a strange sight to see and for kain it only meant that she had helped him.

"Lieutenant…Thank you…" he said, addressing the person who was standing next to his desk. There was box in her hands and in them was kain part of his work which she had helped in completing. Kain peered at her gratefully, to which the lieutenant nodded curtly with a hint of mild acceptance before going over to Breda's table. Breda was by far, napping as well; his blue uniform unbuttoned with a string of sweat droplets down the side of his head. This heat wave was not doing well with Breda's bulky size. Kain watched with mixed feelings as his superior began to gather the completed documents silently on Breda's table, he had known the lieutenant was a strong person who would never let personal feelings disrupt her work; but after what had happened earlier that day… how could she not be affected?

The lieutenant stuffed the last of the documents into the box and heaved it to the ground nearby, her expression stone cold. Kain could not figure out what was going on between the colonel and the lieutenant, because even to him the colonel was also out of his mind as well. But why is the colonel behaving this way?

A loud yawn broke into the silence of the office and kain knew that it was his cue to start working again.

Breda never did approve of Kain slacking off during work but allowed himself to bypass that law, Kain mused to himself as the large bulky figure began to rise. And it was Breda who dozed off before Kain did and how unfair that was.

"Lieutenant, you shouldn't have." Breda said unhappily when he too realized what the lieutenant had done for him and especially after that incident too, he pulled displeased and guilty look while buttoning his uniform up properly.

"It is okay, I've already finished." She said without looking at the both of them, and if she had; she would be surprised at how fast her colleagues' expression had changed. And the reason for being so was that she had never used such a normal tone when it came to work, usually she would sting them with a sarcastic remark about leaving work undone. Now, the lieutenant is behaving differently as well…

Kain was about to say something which might have made Breda kick him when the door opened behind them and to all of their surprise it was Falman. Breda was the first one to recover from shock,

"Falman? What are you doing here?" He asked unbelievably almost sounding as though Falman had risen from the dead; the latter raised his eye brows curiously. He crossed the threshold and closed the door behind him respectfully, "The colonel ordered me to return to the office to help you finish the work."

Falman ruffled his hair and glanced around the office, "Where is the colonel anyway?" he asked casually failing to notice that something was not right with his colleagues. Kain and Breda shot furtive glances at each other, and then back to the lieutenant who seemed to have frozen to where she had stood; her expression unreadable.

The furtive glances shooting back and forth was caught by Falman eyes who was catching on with the situation; there was something going on here He shot a meaningful look at Breda who shrugged helplessly, they had been trying not to mention the colonel to the lieutenant fearing she might snap if they did and now Breda were afraid that a time bomb had been set up without even being wanted to.

The lieutenant regained her suture quickly, her expression rearranged into a nonchalant one; "We don't know, Falman…" she said finally, "He will return when he wants too." Her words were firm and, that no one else dared to speak up or put forth any more question.

The rest of the day passed without troubles or talk, and the lieutenant left for home right on the dot after muttering a quick good bye which no one heard. Her colleagues on the other hand, stayed behind to fill in Falman about the earlier events; he had missed.

Breda had dragged a portable fan from the meeting room a floor below into their office and set it next to the sofa which his colleagues were resting in.

Kain sat closest to the fan, much to Breda displeasure. "That is my seat." Falman stared at his two friends and shook his head before cupping his hands over his ears.

"But I sat it here first." Whined Kain, he folded his arms and gave Breda a defiant look.

Breda bristled, "I am the one who carried it from the meeting room; give me some credit, will you?"

Kain ignored Breda and turned to Falman, "So I was saying, the colonel who had disappeared for nearly five hours came back to the office with…with…Women." He said after breathing out heavily, as though the mention of women would kill him.

"Kain, don't make me throw you out of the sofa." Breda flexed his muscles warningly, he had begun to sweat again; this heat wave is going to kill him but before that he had some unfinished business to deal with.

Falman put up his fingers to stop kain from talking, kain stared. Huh?

"Aw, man… Breda…" Kain groaned a second later; he was now upside down, glasses loped sided and his arms aching painfully. True to his words, Breda had thrown Kain out from the sofa and onto the carpeted floor and he was sitting in kain vacated seat. "I warned you." Breda said satisfied at his work and gave him a large grin. Kain adjusted himself to a seating position while rubbing his head soothingly, "I thought you didn't mean it." He said sadly and to everyone surprise; tears began to form in eyes.

"Hey, wait no. Don't you dare…" Breda said feeling more shocked then everything else, did he beat the younger solider too hard? Breda was starting to feel sorry for his colleague when Kain burst out in hysterical laughter a second after "Haha, I got you good didn't I?" His fake tears dried up quicker than the desert of Ishval.

Breda stared incredulously, "YOU! LITTLE…"

Falman watched amusingly as the older bulkier solider chased the younger mischievous one around the room, what a joke this is, the soldiers of Mustang's team behaving like children. And yet, it was this mysterious bond that held all of them together; Falman thought to himself before sipping the cup of cold green tea he had prepared for himself.

It was another hot summer five years ago, Falman had walked into the office and was greeted by a small solider by his desk.

"Private Kain Fuery reporting for interview!" The small solider reported with a tiny voice, Falman surveyed the guy and smiled at him, he was scrawny for his age but at the same time seemed to be radiating with unnatural optimism.

"So you will be our new colleague?" Falman asked casually but noticed the smile slide off the solider's face, "I'm not sure, Sir…"

Falman shook his head, and patted the little solider on the shoulders "Keep up your optimism and cherish it."

"Who knows, we might need a lot of laughter from now on…" Falman told the little solider, who seemed to have taken his words to heart.

True enough, Kain joined their ranks and Falman became his mentor; together they were pulling pranks on another colleague of theirs twice a week. And that was Breda…though he was not like them; the three of them became great friends through many arguments. Breda seemed to have a soft spot for Kain as Kain was the only one who could offend Breda and get away with it.

"So are the two of you done?" Falman asked offhandedly, with both of his friends sitting on either side of him. Kain had finally given in and let Breda have the premium seat and him taking the one furthest from the fan. Kain's face was filled with red swells while Breda's arm was full of dark blue bruises; the two soldiers shared a grin when they caught eyes with each other.

"Oh yes, did you hear; our photo shoot is this Friday?" Falman piped in after the excitement died done a few minutes later.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Breda and Kain. Falman was taken aback by their response as he scanned the shocked faces of his colleagues he had a sudden realization.

"Hadn't the colonel mention this to the two of you yet?"

Breda wringed his hands together nervously, "the colonel, huh…"

"Yeah, he…" Kain added in cautiously but stopped short when he remembered the event they were about to tell Falman.

Falman had a strange feeling, that this story might be a long one. "Tell me about it…"he insisted before taking another sip from his tea.