a.n.: I got this idea from a scene in MARS where Kira cuts her finger. The dialogue’s punctuation is intentional, Roy is stating, not questioning. This fic really didn’t like me, the first time I tried to write it, Riza ended up crying her eyes out in the bathroom. --‘’ sorry, I know this isn’t much better, and I am not entirely sure why I am posting this.

Disclaimer: If I owned FMA…

To say the least, it was a very hot day in Central. The sky sang blue, not a single wisp of a cloud to block the vicious sun. The thermostat read 110 degrees in the shade. Roy’s iced coffee melted faster than he could drink it. The office fan was on full blast, and the occupants of the room huddled miserably in small puddles of sweat by their desks. Nobody talked, and nobody moved, save the occasional turning of a page or signing of a paper. Falman was his normal stoic self, Fuery dabbed at his forehead with handkerchief, Breda grumbled incoherently, Riza was out delivering reports to some general or another, Havoc stared limpidly at the clock, willing the second hand to move faster, and Roy merely hunched over his desk with an expression of utter and complete misery,.

The door drifted open with a rather pathetic click, as opposed to the general slamming that it was usually subjected to. Lt. Hawkeye, who looked as crisp as ever, walked slowly into the room, carefully balancing an armload of paperwork, which she placed on the colonel’s desk with a thunk.

“Hawkeye.”

“Yes sir.”

“What is that.”

“Paperwork, sir.”

“And why is it on my desk.”

“It requires your signature, sir.”

“Lieutenant, do you have the slightest inkling of the temperature today?”

“I believe it was around 115 degrees or so, sir.”

“Exactly. I can’t even make sparks it is so humid. Every breath is more liquid than air. Half the office called in sick so they could spend the day in a cold shower.”

“I fail to see how this affects us, sir. You do not require sparks to sign paper.”

Roy would have sighed, but found he did not have the energy to. It was useless to argue with the Lieutenant, that was one thing he knew after 15 years. As she handed the topmost sheet to him, and he grabbed it a little too roughly. She winced, and examined her finger, and Roy’s keen eyes picked up a trickle of blood.

“Are you alright?”

“It is just a paper cut, sir.”

“Let me see.”

Riza held out her finger, thinking he was going to bandage it. Instead, he pulled her hand closer to him, and stuck her finger in his mouth.

Although it happened to be the hottest day in a decade in Central, the office nevertheless froze. For a half a second, so did Riza. Then Havoc fell out of his chair, and she snapped out of it.

The slap rang through the office, as everyone else remained still.

“Sir, with all due respect, you should know me better than to think that seduction would get you off the hook. Now do your paperwork.”