“My apologies, miss, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave -- this area’s restricted to officials only. I suggest turning back and cutting through the fountain area. It’ll be faster, anyways. Everybody else is thinking of going to the other side of the road, so you’d be caught in some heavy foot traffic.” 

A lone figure in the rain, he regards her with a finely rehearsed mask of professionalism, despite being utterly DRENCHED in chilling rainwater. Beneath that oddly serene and smug smile, he’s boiling with annoyance at the fact that Maes had decided to bail on him this afternoon, leaving the responsibility of examining the recent crime scene to him. Sure, it was an understandable emergency, but it’s terribly hard to find an ounce of sympathy when chilled to the bone. Thank goodness he’s done for the day -----

----- as soon as civilians would stop cutting through the BARRICADE TAPE.

“Hey, hey, before you say anything, this isn’t as bad as it looks, I swear. For the record, I am LEGALLY authorized to do this.” His voice begins to falter near the end as his grip slips on the metal fence. Maybe he didn’t think this through as much as he should’ve, but of course, one never considers the consequences associated with attempting to climb over a huge metal fence, until one is virtually STUCK. 

“So just pretend that you didn’t see this, okay? I’d show you my credentials, but -- aha -- I’m in a bit of an awkward position, as you can see.” Awkward doesn’t even begin to explain it. Roy Mustang, RESPECTED man of society, has now been reduced to a caricature of a monkey, one leg latched over the fence, with the other desperately clambering for solid footing. 

“Don’t take another step.”

His reflexes are quick for a man rumored to be nothing more than a lazy dog of the military -- a dog all dressed up and given smoke and fire for teeth -- the resultant mixture of blood and gunfire. It is a warning without intentions of a bluff; both hands are already clothed in the only weapon he’ll ever carry, vibrantly white even in the dim lighting. He can only hope that he will have no need of them.

“It’s not nice to attack somebody in the middle of the night. My doctor says I have horrible vision when it gets dark, you know. I’m virtually defenseless.”