A/N: OMG - I can't believe I've finally gotten around to updating. It's only been for-EVER!
PRIDE
Roy Mustang prided himself on many things.
Whereas most men lamented about the futility of attracting women, Roy flourished.
His position as a State Alchemist, his affable charm and good looks, had afforded him an audacious sense of self. It was too easy to fill his evenings in company, where other men bemoaned their lonely struggle.
It was odd, however.
His usual tactics weren't working.
He looked over to the desk of his diligent Lieutenant. Her eyes were studiously trained on the report in front of her. On one corner of her desk, a neat arrangement of inbound and outbound trays of paperwork. On the other, a small, but bountiful arrangement of delicate, pale yellow and white Gardenia's, peeking prettily in a crystal vase tied with a ribbon.
The Colonel glided smoothly to Hawkeye's desk.
"Ah, Lieutenant," Roy gestured toward the floral display, "You didn't tell me you had an admirer?" he remarked with an eager grin.
Hawkeye glanced over, unimpressed at the arrangement, before returning to her work, "I don't know, sir."
"Do you know what kind they are?"
"No, sir."
"Gardenia's," he added helpfully, "They're a symbol for hidden, but deep love and–"
Hawkeye stiffly swept the flowers to tumble into a nearby waste bin at her side.
Roy fought down a cry of dismay, as he watched the arrangement land unceremoniously into the paper-filled basket.
The Lieutenant looked to the Colonel pointedly before commenting, "They won't last long here."
Roy had taken Hawkeye's meaning to refer to more than just the flowers.
The Colonel huffed, "They'll last even shorter in there–" he commented sourly, before bending to retrieve them.
He could deal with wounded pride, but the truth of her words settled uncomfortably between them, as he held the disheveled flowers protectively in the crook of his arm.