Waking up proved to be a difficult task for the man who had drank himself to sleep last night; Roy Mustang groggily tried to rise from his chair as his back screamed out in protest from the harsh treatment it had received over night. However, admitting he should be more careful about his sleeping postures was almost like admitting he was growing old, and Roy Mustang was hardly even thirty yet so he prefered discarding the idea of even thinking of himself as old.
Roy went to the bathroom to wash his face a handful of times to see if that would help, but while it did help a bit at making him look less sleepy, anyone who closely observed could see that Roy's hangover was far from over. The whisky had been a very bad idea as he realised the clock's hand slowly moved towards dangerous hours that indicated he was late, Roy could only groan at the sight.
He would have to leave without a single bite of food in his stomach so he prayed lunch would arrive rapidly once he'd start working, but who was he kidding, work made everything feel like it arrived much more slower than it did.
"Mmm.."
Roy remembered he had an unplanned guest as he heard groggy moans from the couch that only welcomed a pile of blanket. Most likely, the person under had decided to just create a shield out of the blanket. "Fullmetal." Roy called out a first time to the young boy hidden under the covers as he poked the blanket fort. Only a faint grunting was returned so Roy tried again. "Oi, Fullmetal." Still no answer besides the soft mountain shifting slightly.
"Fullmetal!" Edward seemed to have as much problems waking up as he did, but he didn't have the time to deal with that specific problem so he issued what could have almost sounded like a military order that seemingly worked as Edward fell off the couch in fear while Roy moved away. "Uwaaah! The heck's wrong with you, jackass?!" Edward shouted without thinking as he tried to untangle himself from the blanket he had been so tightly wrapped in. As he finally poked his head out of the blanket, it was covered yet again by cloth as Roy threw his usual black clothes on the boy.
"Hurry up and get dressed, I'm late for work." Roy noted, assisting the boy out of his fluffy hell. Though as soon as Edward saw Roy, his sullen mood returned and he only meekly nodded to Roy's words. Roy would have been bothered if only he didn't plan on forcing Edward to talk sooner or later; preferably sooner.
The boy quickly returned in his black attire with sparse drops of water still dripping from his face. He was making his braid as he nodded towards Roy that he was ready to go, and Roy grabbed his coat to lead Edward to his car.
The rain had thankfully settled down for the most part, though it still gave work to the wiper blades as Roy drove more carefully than usually. He had waited to see if the kid would say anything but Edward only looked out the window as if refusing to see Roy so it seemed Roy would need to take the initiative.
"Fullmetal." He started and the boy only returned a sigh as he looked at Roy, seemingly not as grumpy as he was the previous day as the aching in his limbs had finally calmed down, at least for the moment.
"What?"
"Now, do you feel like explaining yourself?
"About?" Edward replied with an empty voice as his glance returned to the window; he had fully realised that Roy would probably not stop nagging him if he kept quiet, so the boy decided to take another approach.
"Why you haven't been sleeping or eating."
"I'm perfectly fine, Colonel, if that's what you're concerned about."
"Is that why you fell asleep in my office despite wanting to kill me only a week back? I can't say I'd ever allow myself to fall asleep in enemy territory." Roy retorted to Edward's nonsense that even the boy was aware of as he moved uncomfortably. "...I was taking a short nap." Edward bit his lip, as if anyone would qualify seven hours as 'short'.
"Fullmetal..." Roy growled as he stopped at a red light, turning around to see the rebellious teenager that wouldn't even give the respect of looking at his superior officer. "Answer the damn question."
Edward only spared a side-glance to his superior as he crossed his arms together. "Answer mine first." Roy wanted to interrupt Edward to point out he had been the one to ask first, but Edward lifted a hand to cut him off. "Why is the great, egocentric Colonel Mustang worried about my health?"
At least the boy was getting more talkative compared to yesterday, so Roy only sighed as he replied whilst hoping he wouldn't start sulking again. "If you must know, then it's because I have a duty to ensure the well-being of my subordinates."
"A duty, huh..." Edward snorted slightly as he unbuckled the seat belt without warning. "You don't need to babysit me just because of that, we both know I've never needed it. It'd be a shame if such an ambitious Colonel like yourself dragged himself down with that sort of dead-weight, right?"
What he said struck a chord in Roy. It frustrated the hell out of him but Edward was right: The military man Roy was was not supposed to burden himself with affection for his subordinates; for it would only serve as weaknesses in the stairs to reach the top he had slowly built himself over the years. Besides, as long as it wasn't causing any negative effects on his military duties, his lifestyle was his own to choose. Roy allowed for Havoc to smoke even though he was fully aware he was only killing his lungs, so why not let Edward do as he wishes as well?
"Very well." Roy replied in such a chilled manner that it disturbed Edward who suddenly turned around to see the Colonel with his eyes back on the road. "You may continue to ignore me with that attitude of yours. I only expect you to fully obey the orders I issue to you without back-talking, Fullmetal."
"Is that so?" Roy hadn't noticed, but Edward was grinding his teeth as he opened the door of the car to leave and slammed it back shut, gradually retreating under the rain. Roy, on the other hand, was clicking his tongue in frustration as he drove to Central Headquarters.