Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ The Problem With Shrimps ❯ 0800 hours ( Chapter 1 )

The Problem with Shrimps

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. If I did, hmmm…

Notes: In case you are actually wondering if the medical terms and processes mentioned here are true, well they are. The battery of tests, the medication and all the medical stuff; I got them all from actual experience.

Plot: Just got paid…on a Friday night. The Mustang-kumi celebrates their just-received salary on a dinner at a famous local seafood restaurant. They force everyone, even 1st Lt. Hawkeye, to join them. Unfortunately, our resident sharpshooter (and baby-sitter) didn't know that she's allergic to seafood.

 

0800 hours

Office of Col. Roy Mustang

Central Military Headquarters

Amestris

 

“Do you know what day it is, Fuery?” asked a pot-bellied redhead as he placed his feet on the desk in front of him. He looked at the bespectacled master sergeant who was, as usual, fixing a radio.

Kain Fuery looked over from his work to the stocky second lieutenant and shrugged.

“I don't know what day it is, sir,” he said respectfully, as was expected from an enlisted officer, and returned to his work.

Heymans Breda rolled his eyes and scratched his side lazily. Greenhorn, he thought.

“Honestly, practically everyone's waiting for this day to come up,” Breda said in a sleepy drawl. Catching sight of the chain-smoking Jean Havoc entering the office, he sat up straight and called him.

“Hey, Havoc! Do you know what day it is?”

The droopy-eyed Havoc turned his head to Breda's general direction and gnawed at the cigarette he popped into his mouth a few moments ago. Then, his eyes widened and he grinned. His posture straightened as he headed towards his desk. It is quite evident that the second lieutenant is fully awake now.

“Oh yes I do, Breda,” Havoc said with a smirk. After throwing his messenger bag to his chair, he declared:

“What a very fine day this is!”

“Excuse me, but is this the office of Colonel Roy Mustang?” said a gray-haired warrant officer in mock surprise.

“Someone's looking pretty lively today,” he remarked, seeing the chain-smoking second lieutenant's face full of glee.

“Did Marianne say yes, Havoc?”

At the mention of the name, Havoc's shoulders slumped in a defeated way and returned to moping at his misfortune.

Vato Falman sighed and said: “Then I take that as no.”

“But what made Havoc into a particularly euphoric man a while ago?” he asked as he placed his bag on his desk.

Fuery stopped what he was doing and looked up at the tall warrant officer. He carefully arranged his glasses and said:

“He and Breda thinks there's something particularly special about this day, sir.”

Falman's eyebrows knit for a moment and then, finally enlightened, exclaimed:

“Aha! But of course, it's pay day! No wonder.” he smiled as he began to plan on how to spend his salary. He bent down to get the small calendar that was sitting on his desk and started to flip on its pages.

“And today's a Friday as well. What a day this really is!”

“Seriously? I thought something better's going to happen today,” muttered Fuery as he reached for a screwdriver on his tool-box. Then, he paused. His eyes lit up and said:

“It's pay day? Wow, this is great news!”

Both Breda and Falman looked over at Fuery and rolled their eyes. Even Havoc looked up from his moping to stare blankly at the vertically-challenged master sergeant.

Suddenly, a scratching noise was heard from behind the office door. Breda's demeanor suddenly changed and started to quiver.

“Hayate, wait for me to open it up,” a female voice was heard from behind the door and the stocky second lieutenant's fears were confirmed.

The office door's door-knob turned and the only female member of Mustang's team entered the room.

First lieutenant Riza Hawkeye stepped aside to allow her dog, Black Hayate, to come inside the office and closed the door behind them afterwards. After hanging her coat on the coat-rack, Hawkeye looked across the room and said:

“Is something the matter, boys?”

She looked from one face to another until her reddish-brown eyes rested on Havoc.

“I thought we had already agreed upon the subject of the second lieutenant's love life?” she asked the other `boys' as she folded her arms.

“I-It was Falman's fault,” Fuery started to explain, trying his best not to look straight at the stern first lieutenant. Though he was trying his best to hide it, the youngest member of the Flame Alchemist's team was quivering with fear.

The tall warrant officer looked indignant. “It was my fault? Listen kid—” he was about to give the poor master sergeant a piece of his mind when Hawkeye cut him off.

“Proceed, Master Sergeant,” she said as she shot Falman a stern look. That seemed to shut him up.

The encouragement of the first lieutenant gave Fuery a little confidence and he continued his explanation.

“They were talking about how they were going to spend their salary tonight,” he frowned, then asked the first lieutenant: “It's today, isn't it sir? Pay day?”

“Let me check the calendar,” Hawkeye replied as she picked up the small calendar that was lying on her desk and scanned its leaves. With a small nod, she confirmed Fuery's query.

“And what does it have to do with Havoc in such a miserable state?” she questioned the men.

“Maybe something happened between him and the girl he's dating for days now, Marianne,” said Falman with a shrug. “I was just about to ask him if he's going to take her for a date tonight.”

The first lieutenant figured out the rest of the story for herself and sighed. Men, she thought.

“Well,” she said in her businesslike tone, “moping will not change anything. Let's get some work done, shall we?”

And with that, the subject was closed and everyone started to return to their respective seats. The first lieutenant gave her puppy a soft toy for him to pass the time by and picked up the first form at the pile of papers on the Inbox tray. The second lieutenants and the warrant officer started to read some paperwork while the master sergeant started to clean up his desk to start with his own pile.

For a few moments the whole office was silent save for the scratching of pens on paper and of nails on scalp. Then, the silence was broken when the office door creaked open. The Boss has arrived.