59Another Tumblr writing meme. Combine a Hospital AU and Coffee Shop AU.
Royai Collection
Chapter 63
Coffee Shop AU
Dr. Hawkeye used to be content with the coffee in the break room and didn't want to buy in to the hype about the Coffee Shop across the street. However that changed the day the coffee pot was broken and she was left with little choice than to buy overpriced bean water. Then she saw the reason behind all those smiles and hourly coffee runs at the nurses station and it had absolutely nothing to do with coffee.
It had everything to do with the guy serving the coffee.
Roy Mustang was the man who slow roasted the beans and created caffeinated concoctions. He was also a man who wore an apron well and had a smile that she could just drink up instead of what he was serving. He also promptly asked for her number and she wrote down 9-1-1 and told him to call if he found himself in need of a visit to the ER.
He smiled and accepted her challenge and started writing down his personal diagnosis of his 'health problems' that required her medical attention down on her coffee cups. Everything from 'racing heartbeats' to 'daydreaming about raising a puppy with you' found it's way onto her cup in black sharpie. It made her smile and she was surprised when she found out the other customers just got their names on cups.
Then one day Roy found himself in the ER with burns from a coffee cup that had been thrown at him by an angry customer: Some asshole in a fedora who didn't appreciate his name being written Zolf Jay Kimberly. She treated him and noticed many other scars on his body that made her wonder what kind of violence a barista could get into.
When the police arrived for a report, Riza checked his medical records. Nothing. No admission records at all and those injuries were professionally doctored. She saw stab wounds that look like a surgeon sewed them back together. Things weren't adding up, and she was even more perplexed when the Coroner materialized out of the basement and came to check on her patient.
Dr. Knox was not a friendly man, yet he stayed with Roy for a few minutes, double checking her work and bandages and then left. When she returned to Roy he was eager to leave and get back to work. She signed his discharge and decided to check up on him later after the coffee shop closed.
When her shift ended, Riza went across the street and into the alley behind the store. The shop had been closed for at least fifteen minutes and she assumed Roy must have been cleaning and would leave through the rear of the building. She was not expecting to see him packing coffee bean bags into his trunk. They look full. That was not right.
When he went back in the store Riza ran around to the trunk and felt around in the bag. She felt beans, but also something metal? She pulled the piece out and saw medical grade stainless steel….automail?
"Dr. Knox hates to see good parts go to waste, especially when they could be used in the more rural areas where people can't afford automail."
Riza froze in place. Her curiosity may have gotten the best of her but she was confident in her ability to defend herself, especially after that creep Barry stalked her a few years prior. So when she turned to look at Roy, she made sure he didn't have a gun and then relaxed a little. Her own gun was strapped to her thigh, under her skirt if she needed it. "You're stealing medical supplies?"
"It's only stealing if the person is still alive." Roy said and admired her for her bravery and how perceptive she was. "Protocol is to remove it prior to the body leaving the morgue so the funeral home doesn't sell it, something that's been an issue in the past. Protocol is to just take it off and not send it with the body. No logging. No recycling. No records. Just don't let it leave on the body. It's considered medical waste when the family asks, but the hospital just thinks it's trash."
"That's a horrible waste." Riza said and looked down at the piece of automail that was probably part of a hand. "It can be cleaned and reused. The wiring not so much, but the metal?"
"Dr. Knox feels the same way. So he gives me the pieces and I ship the coffee with the parts needed. It's helped a lot of people." Roy explained. "So the question is Dr. Hawkeye, do you want to go to dinner with me or take me to the police station."
"Dinner." She said and walked over to grab the next bag from his hands. "And for you to read your damned discharge paperwork and stop aggravating that burn."
"I didn't read that." Roy snorted and locked the back door. "I hate paperwork."
