Title: Expertise
Author: ceasefire
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Jean Havoc/Riza Hawkeye
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1111
Warnings: One tiny mild sexual reference.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Fullmetal Alchemist, Arakawa does.



There were very few things men chose to notice about the appearance of the women in their lives; most of the ones they did notice tended to centre around the areas that were of most ‘masculine interest’. However, when First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye walked into the office one Monday morning the mind of Colonel Roy Mustang must have been a little more attentive than usual, because he looked up from the piece of blank paper he was doodling on with his pen and blinked. Havoc made no immediate reaction, but soon gave her a comfortable grin and a gesture of welcome.

“First Lieutenant, you’re growing your hair long,” Mustang said, still unable to stop staring.

Hawkeye blinked and nodded, subconsciously fiddling with one blonde strand that had fallen from behind her ear. Her hair looked to be at that annoying stage where it was a little too short to tie up, but a little too long to look sleek enough to be left hanging loose.

“I’m sorry that I had to leave it down today, Sir, but at this time it’s being a little unmanageable...”

“On the contrary Hawkeye, I’m glad you’re growing it out,” the Colonel smirked, and Hawkeye sighed.

“Petty flattery is for the weak-minded and the self-righteous, Sir.”

“You hurt my feelings,” he sniffed, “I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks it’s a good idea...”

Mustang’s eyes darted around the room, looking for backup, and they eventually fell on Havoc, who was reclined in his chair with a cigarette in his mouth and a small stack of papers in his lap.

“Lieutenant Havoc!”

Havoc promptly jumped in his seat and almost swallowed his cigarette. When he had stopped coughing up the charred remains of the tobacco leaves he’d inhaled too quickly, he rasped, “Yes?”

“Do you think the Lieutenant growing her hair out is a good idea?”

Riza and Jean’s eyes met for a fleeting moment, and then Havoc gulped down a lungful of air and shrugged.

“I don’t know... am I supposed to?”

“Come on, Havoc!” Roy prompted, “You must have an opinion!”

“Don’t bring me into conversations about things I know nothing about!” Havoc replied, looking flustered.

“With all due respect Sir, I don’t care one way or the other what either of you think,” Hawkeye sighed, beginning to proofread one of the very few documents her superior had completed, “Something tells me that neither you nor the Second Lieutenant are all that involved in the area of feminine style. And I request that you please make an attempt to get a little more work done before noon.”

Mustang scowled and returned to the small mountain of paperwork on his desk. Hawkeye returned to scrutinizing the document and Havoc sighed; he really hated it when the Colonel dragged him into things like this.

-X-

When he got back to her apartment that afternoon, Riza was studying herself in the small mirror hanging on her wall, and Havoc grinned.

“Why did you decide to grow your hair anyway?”

“Edward and Alphonse had a friend in Risembool with long hair,” Hawkeye said, tucking her hair behind her ear, “And I thought that it didn’t look too bad. I didn’t quite realize how annoying it would get while it was growing, I suppose.”

Havoc smiled as she walked over to him, and he gathered her into his arms and looked at her carefully.

“I don’t think you look that bad.”

“I look like I’ve just crawled out of bed...” Hawkeye smirked and reached up to give Havoc’s messy blond hair a playful tug, “Like you, in a way.”

“Touché. You women can be so cruel,” Havoc grinned and then leaned down to place a soft kiss on her neck, “Oh, and after work today I asked one of the secretaries-”

“Not out on a date, I hope,” Riza gave a small smile as Havoc directed her over towards her bed until she was sitting on it.

“Well, she was cute.”

“Jean...” Riza eyed him sharply, and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“I didn’t, I swear! You’ve set me firmly on monogamy!”

“I should hope so,” she replied, unable to hide the small smile on her lips.

“Anyway, I asked her if there was anything that would help you keep your hair out of the way, and she recommended these,” he said, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a packet of plain, brown bobby pins.

Riza tried not to laugh; the poor guy looked so proud of his discovery, so she accepted the gift and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

“Thank you.”

“Well, I figured it was still too short for a clip... maybe I can buy you one when it gets a little longer.”

“You’re such a professional on this subject, Jean,” she smiled as his lips once again found her neck.

“I do what I can,” he grinned as he pushed her back into her pillows and kissed her again.

-X-

Havoc’s shift started late the next day and he slept through Riza getting up to leave, so when he walked into the office he was actually surprised to see that Riza had taken advantage of his ‘gift’ and pinned her hair out of her face.

“Lieutenant Havoc, could you make a little bit of effort to tidy yourself up before you come into work?” Mustang grumbled, running a hand through his own unruly mop of dark hair in a manner he was apparently supposed to find impressive, “First Lieutenant Hawkeye always makes an effort to tidy herself up, but I don’t even think you brush your hair when you get out of bed of a morning!”

Havoc grinned, sat down at his desk and refused to look at Hawkeye for fear of laughing. When he’d got up that morning, he’d found a note on the kitchen table, and had been unable to find a brush or comb anywhere in the house... taking the note carefully out of his pocket, he gave a soft chuckle as he read it again.

“I like it when you look like you’ve just crawled out of bed.”

END

Notes: Aah, nice little fluffy piece for these two; they needed fluff after all I wrote for them was angst. Felt a little weird in some places, but it eventually worked out. :D Any comments?