Fic - Research for Fun and Profit
Aug. 30th, 2011 11:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessTitle -- Research For Fun and Profit
Author--![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cornerofmadness
Recipient:ladyeldaelen
Disclaimer -- Arakawa owns all
Rating -- PG-13
Characters/Pairing -- Sciezka, Hughes, a couple OC’s
Timeline/Spoilers --set within chapter 14-15 where Hughes assigns her a ton of research
Word Count 2,214
Warning none really
Summary It’s a typical day at work for Sciezka
Prompt - Sceiszka. A day in the life of our favorite bookworm.
Author’s Note -- written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fma_ladyfest Hope you like it. Thanks to evil_little_dog & bay115 for their help
XXX
Sciezka swung from a chandelier, landing deftly, sword drawn to face her enemy. Well, technically rogue Areugian Count Fryou did all the swashbuckling, but this was one of those books that made her feel like she was right there, doing the things the protagonist was. She had barely slept at all. The final chapter took over breakfast, not that cereal was all that exciting.
She snatched another book off the shelf as she headed out to the bus stop to get a ride to work. Working for Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and the military wasn’t quite as exciting as working at Central Library, but at least she could do this job without losing her concentration and getting fired. Besides, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes was really nice and she was grateful to him and to the Elric brothers for helping her get the job.
As she plopped down at the bus stop, she discovered the book she had grabbed came from the huge box of books she had gotten at an estate sale was on the fundamentals of automail port placement. It wasn’t quite as fascinating as she might have hoped for, but still, she was so busy reading she almost missed the bus. The one thing she hated about buses was that she got motion sick if she tried to read. The good part was it was a very short ride.
Clearing security, Sciezka walked down the hall fighting the urge to crack her book open again, but she had made that mistake once before. High ranking officers didn’t find it amusing if you blundered into their oh so important personage in her experience.
“Hi, Sciezka,” Wendy, the phone bank operator, called out.
“Hi.” Sciezka didn’t have to ask if Hughes was in. He was sprawled against the phone bank animatedly talking.
“Already?” Sciezka grinned, nodding toward him.
Wendy rolled her eyes. “He and Colonel Mustang gossip like old ladies at the market. I’m not even sure how the Lieutenant Colonel keeps track of all the women Colonel Mustang is with and how the colonel has energy to do anything else.” She shook her head. “And military lines still are not supposed to be used like this, but does Lieutenant Colonel Hughes ever listen?”
Sciezka laughed. Even here in Central, Colonel Mustang’s reputation with women was legendary.
“Tell Elizabeth to let you have fun this weekend.” Hughes was saying then he waved Sciezka over. “Hang on, Roy, and don’t you hang up on me. Sciezka, I need you to see if you can find me all the news articles you can on these dates and incidences and pull all the books on the list.” Hughes fished a scrap of paper out of his pocket and flipped it to her.
“Of course, sir.”
He nodded to her then turned his attention back to the phone. “Seriously, Roy, you need to take Karen and Jacqueline to the Limelight this weekend. You’ll be surprised by what you hear. Take Elizabeth, too. She’s probably game for a party.”
Sciezka’s eyebrows climbed. What kind of women did the colonel know? Sciezka’s mother always despaired of her daughter becoming more social, but Sciezka couldn’t imagine going out with a girlfriend and sharing a man.
Casting a glance at her list made Mustang’s loose women fly out of her mind. Just how many books and newspapers did her boss want? She looked over her shoulder at Hughes, but he had out a picture of his little girl, describing it to the colonel in painstaking detail, oblivious to her. Sighing, she went to find what the man wanted.
Sciezka had a dedicated area of the base archives to do her work. There was nothing in the way of real light in the basement room and the air was hot, dry and still, smelling of dust and the mildew that braved the dryness to fox the books. Sciezka didn’t really mind the room so much. When she was surrounded by books, she was lost to everything else. That said, she hated going into the paper archives. Very few people ever did, so dust built up in there until even her eyes itched and her nose wiggled but into the archives she had to go.
Squinting to read the fading labels to find the newspapers Hughes wanted, Sciezka felt as if someone was watching her. She cast a furtive glance into the dark recesses, looking for what, she wasn’t sure. Sciezka had heard rumors that the archive was haunted. She had been told the place was once a hospital a century ago and the archive was in what had been the morgue. Before that it was where the condemned faced a firing squad. People swore you could feel the terror of those about to die and see bloodied, bandaged patients walking the walls. She hadn’t done the research to see if any of the rumors were true but she was convinced that the place was haunted.
Naturally, Hughes’s list would keep her in the hot, haunted dungeon of an archive half the morning, if not longer. One by one, Sciezka lugged the newspapers out to her work station. If there was a ghost, she wished he’d put in an appearance so she could put him to work.
Once the newspapers and magazines had been gathered, Sciezka had to run up and down stairs and through stacks after stacks of books. It was lunch time before she finished assembling Hughes’s entire list. Sciezka surveyed what was left of her desk and voiced the only thought in her head. “Hughes is a monster!”
Sighing, Sciezka surfaced from her work area, pausing in the stacks to grab a book so she could save the automail book for the bus. Hughes was always pretty secretive about what he was doing so she didn’t feel right about taking one of the books he’d assigned to her just in case he didn’t want anyone to know.
The cafeteria was packed as per usual. Sciezka’s plans of sitting down and reading the Armstrong family history that she plucked off the shelf – a volume that noticeably stopped with the man who was probably the major’s great-grandfather – were dashed when she saw Dottie, the late General Gran’s adjutant, now working for Hughes and Armstrong.
The adjutant waved at her frantically. “Whoo, hoo, Sciezka, come join me.”
Sciezka sighed. There was no way of ignoring that without being rude. Giving up on the family history, she took her egg salad sandwich and disappointing-looking veggie medley over to Dottie’s table. “How are you?”
“Great. Did you hear what happened to Jennifer Cherrington?” Dottie asked.
Sciezka took a bite of her sandwich frantically trying to remember who that was. Dottie wasn’t a gossip – Gran would never have tolerated that from all accounts – but she was in love with radio shows. Dottie never quite understood why Sciezka preferred books to the shows. “Can’t say I have. Which show is she on?”
Dottie shot her a disappointed look. “From Now Until Forever. James left her at the family register and ran off with Lacey Spangler. Can you believe it?” She didn’t wait for Sciezka’s reply, bowling right along with only a momentary pause to sip her juice. “I always did think that James was no good. She should have stayed with Kenneth. He’s so dreamy. I wonder if she’ll go back to him now.”
“I guess you’ll find out,” Sciezka replied, failing to pretend she cared.
“I can’t wait. Oh, here’s something you might be interested in. Gerald Watson will be in town signing his book, you know, the one they made into that scary movie?”
“You mean the one with the girl inheriting a haunted house?”
“That’s the one,” Dottie agreed brightly.
Sciezka smiled. She had liked that movie so much she had gone to see it twice. “I would like to meet him and read his book. Where will he be?”
“At Alfred’s and Sons. I’m sure you know where that’s at.”
Sciezka nodded. She was pretty sure she knew where all the book stores were in Central. “Thanks, I do.”
“I hate to cut this short, but I need to get back to work.” She patted Sciezka's hand.
“Thanks again, Dottie.”
Sciezka waited until Dottie was out of sight before opening the book to learn about Alphus Ransom Armstrong and his wife, Permelia who were apparently the first Armstrongs to do anything of note. One uninspired lunch and Armstrong adventure later, Sciezka returned to her work area. Hughes was there, scanning one of the newspapers she had procured.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were waiting, sir.”
He waved her off. “Just got here. I figured you were at lunch. I see you found everything.”
Sciezka eyed the pile, still wondering just how fast he thought she could go through that mess. “Yes, sir. What exactly am I looking for?” She figured that was why he was here now, to give her some guidance as to what he was after.
“Yes, and a quick note as to the details. I have meetings from now until forever,” he sighed. “Or at least, it’ll feel that way. I’ll be back in the afternoon if I don’t get hung up.”
“I’ll get started.”
Hughes nodded then headed for the door. “I’ll look into getting paid overtime for you.”
“Thanks, sir.” Sciezka shook her head. He didn’t even ask if she wanted overtime. Well he did know about her sick mother and probably assumed that she’d want the extra money, or, Hughes was a slave driver. Either way, she’d best get on with it.
Hughes poked his head back in when she was indulging her natural love of researching a topic she found fascinating, devouring everything she could get her hands on. This time, it was the murder of Japik Arce, a Creatan mayor for one of the disputed borders, an interesting yet gruesome case.
“It’s a half hour past quitting time, Sciezka. Overtime starts tomorrow. Go on home. We can tackle this one in the morning,” he said, with a sheepish grin. “Sorry I didn’t make it back.”
Sciezka shut the newspaper up. “No problem. Here, you’ll probably want to see what I’ve found so far.” She handed him her notes.
“Thanks.” Hughes tucked them into his jacket pocket. Sciezka wondered if he’d possibly have time to read them at home. All of his time seemed to be spent taking photos of his daughter. Sciezka didn’t mind seeing them. Elicia was a cutie. “Have a good evening, Lieutenant Colonel.”
“Thanks, you, too, Sciezka. I need to make a call when I get home. My little angel wants to talk to her Uncle Roy. Isn’t that precious?” Hughes beamed.
“Oh yes,” she agreed, though Sciezka wondered if Colonel Mustang could really want to hear a three year old babble at him or did Hughes just like torturing his friend? She looked in his eyes and decided it was the latter.
They said their goodbyes and Sciezka headed back to the bus stop. The automail book hadn’t improved in excitement levels since the morning, but at least it was something to do. Bored, Sciezka glanced out the window to let her mind process the idea of tissue resection and spotted a banner on Central’s Best Books proclaiming a clearance sale.
It was only five blocks from her house, convenient really, so Sciezka got off at the next corner and jogged back to the book store. It didn’t matter than she had so many books she could use them to build the walls of a sizeable house. It was physically impossible to ignore the allure of a book sale.
Central’s Best had tossed the clearance books into bins, making it harder to see what one might want to buy, but she wasn’t deterred, digging in with enthusiasm. Before she knew it, Sciezka had spent over an hour picking out two sacks of books. The sun had begun to set, but this part of town never worried her.
Instead, after a boring breakfast and a bad lunch, Sciezka decided to treat herself to her favorite restaurant that was on the way home. She tried to read a rather torrid romance during dinner, her mind filled with wildly erotic images, but it didn’t quite drown out the ugliness of her research for Hughes. Her mind kept flashing back to the research, wondering why Hughes wanted to know all of what he had assigned her. He probably wouldn’t tell her.
Stuffed with roasted chicken and a slice of pie she knew she probably shouldn’t have gotten, Sciezka loaded up her books and a doggie bag and headed the several blocks back to her place. Depositing the books on a pile of more books, Sciezka glanced around her home. It needed dusting, but her shoulders ached from lugging the books. Housework could wait.
After brewing some tea, Sciezka drew a bath. Putting her research out of her mind, she sank below the bubbles, tea cup balancing on the lip of the tub, and went back to her romance. It was a nice ending for her day. Tomorrow, she’d dig into the research anew and that excited Sciezka. Mentally thanking the Elrics and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes once more for her interesting job, Sciezka melted into the romance, completely content.
Author--
cornerofmadnessRecipient:
ladyeldaelenDisclaimer -- Arakawa owns all
Rating -- PG-13
Characters/Pairing -- Sciezka, Hughes, a couple OC’s
Timeline/Spoilers --set within chapter 14-15 where Hughes assigns her a ton of research
Word Count 2,214
Warning none really
Summary It’s a typical day at work for Sciezka
Prompt - Sceiszka. A day in the life of our favorite bookworm.
Author’s Note -- written for
fma_ladyfest Hope you like it. Thanks to evil_little_dog & bay115 for their helpXXX
Sciezka swung from a chandelier, landing deftly, sword drawn to face her enemy. Well, technically rogue Areugian Count Fryou did all the swashbuckling, but this was one of those books that made her feel like she was right there, doing the things the protagonist was. She had barely slept at all. The final chapter took over breakfast, not that cereal was all that exciting.
She snatched another book off the shelf as she headed out to the bus stop to get a ride to work. Working for Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and the military wasn’t quite as exciting as working at Central Library, but at least she could do this job without losing her concentration and getting fired. Besides, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes was really nice and she was grateful to him and to the Elric brothers for helping her get the job.
As she plopped down at the bus stop, she discovered the book she had grabbed came from the huge box of books she had gotten at an estate sale was on the fundamentals of automail port placement. It wasn’t quite as fascinating as she might have hoped for, but still, she was so busy reading she almost missed the bus. The one thing she hated about buses was that she got motion sick if she tried to read. The good part was it was a very short ride.
Clearing security, Sciezka walked down the hall fighting the urge to crack her book open again, but she had made that mistake once before. High ranking officers didn’t find it amusing if you blundered into their oh so important personage in her experience.
“Hi, Sciezka,” Wendy, the phone bank operator, called out.
“Hi.” Sciezka didn’t have to ask if Hughes was in. He was sprawled against the phone bank animatedly talking.
“Already?” Sciezka grinned, nodding toward him.
Wendy rolled her eyes. “He and Colonel Mustang gossip like old ladies at the market. I’m not even sure how the Lieutenant Colonel keeps track of all the women Colonel Mustang is with and how the colonel has energy to do anything else.” She shook her head. “And military lines still are not supposed to be used like this, but does Lieutenant Colonel Hughes ever listen?”
Sciezka laughed. Even here in Central, Colonel Mustang’s reputation with women was legendary.
“Tell Elizabeth to let you have fun this weekend.” Hughes was saying then he waved Sciezka over. “Hang on, Roy, and don’t you hang up on me. Sciezka, I need you to see if you can find me all the news articles you can on these dates and incidences and pull all the books on the list.” Hughes fished a scrap of paper out of his pocket and flipped it to her.
“Of course, sir.”
He nodded to her then turned his attention back to the phone. “Seriously, Roy, you need to take Karen and Jacqueline to the Limelight this weekend. You’ll be surprised by what you hear. Take Elizabeth, too. She’s probably game for a party.”
Sciezka’s eyebrows climbed. What kind of women did the colonel know? Sciezka’s mother always despaired of her daughter becoming more social, but Sciezka couldn’t imagine going out with a girlfriend and sharing a man.
Casting a glance at her list made Mustang’s loose women fly out of her mind. Just how many books and newspapers did her boss want? She looked over her shoulder at Hughes, but he had out a picture of his little girl, describing it to the colonel in painstaking detail, oblivious to her. Sighing, she went to find what the man wanted.
Sciezka had a dedicated area of the base archives to do her work. There was nothing in the way of real light in the basement room and the air was hot, dry and still, smelling of dust and the mildew that braved the dryness to fox the books. Sciezka didn’t really mind the room so much. When she was surrounded by books, she was lost to everything else. That said, she hated going into the paper archives. Very few people ever did, so dust built up in there until even her eyes itched and her nose wiggled but into the archives she had to go.
Squinting to read the fading labels to find the newspapers Hughes wanted, Sciezka felt as if someone was watching her. She cast a furtive glance into the dark recesses, looking for what, she wasn’t sure. Sciezka had heard rumors that the archive was haunted. She had been told the place was once a hospital a century ago and the archive was in what had been the morgue. Before that it was where the condemned faced a firing squad. People swore you could feel the terror of those about to die and see bloodied, bandaged patients walking the walls. She hadn’t done the research to see if any of the rumors were true but she was convinced that the place was haunted.
Naturally, Hughes’s list would keep her in the hot, haunted dungeon of an archive half the morning, if not longer. One by one, Sciezka lugged the newspapers out to her work station. If there was a ghost, she wished he’d put in an appearance so she could put him to work.
Once the newspapers and magazines had been gathered, Sciezka had to run up and down stairs and through stacks after stacks of books. It was lunch time before she finished assembling Hughes’s entire list. Sciezka surveyed what was left of her desk and voiced the only thought in her head. “Hughes is a monster!”
Sighing, Sciezka surfaced from her work area, pausing in the stacks to grab a book so she could save the automail book for the bus. Hughes was always pretty secretive about what he was doing so she didn’t feel right about taking one of the books he’d assigned to her just in case he didn’t want anyone to know.
The cafeteria was packed as per usual. Sciezka’s plans of sitting down and reading the Armstrong family history that she plucked off the shelf – a volume that noticeably stopped with the man who was probably the major’s great-grandfather – were dashed when she saw Dottie, the late General Gran’s adjutant, now working for Hughes and Armstrong.
The adjutant waved at her frantically. “Whoo, hoo, Sciezka, come join me.”
Sciezka sighed. There was no way of ignoring that without being rude. Giving up on the family history, she took her egg salad sandwich and disappointing-looking veggie medley over to Dottie’s table. “How are you?”
“Great. Did you hear what happened to Jennifer Cherrington?” Dottie asked.
Sciezka took a bite of her sandwich frantically trying to remember who that was. Dottie wasn’t a gossip – Gran would never have tolerated that from all accounts – but she was in love with radio shows. Dottie never quite understood why Sciezka preferred books to the shows. “Can’t say I have. Which show is she on?”
Dottie shot her a disappointed look. “From Now Until Forever. James left her at the family register and ran off with Lacey Spangler. Can you believe it?” She didn’t wait for Sciezka’s reply, bowling right along with only a momentary pause to sip her juice. “I always did think that James was no good. She should have stayed with Kenneth. He’s so dreamy. I wonder if she’ll go back to him now.”
“I guess you’ll find out,” Sciezka replied, failing to pretend she cared.
“I can’t wait. Oh, here’s something you might be interested in. Gerald Watson will be in town signing his book, you know, the one they made into that scary movie?”
“You mean the one with the girl inheriting a haunted house?”
“That’s the one,” Dottie agreed brightly.
Sciezka smiled. She had liked that movie so much she had gone to see it twice. “I would like to meet him and read his book. Where will he be?”
“At Alfred’s and Sons. I’m sure you know where that’s at.”
Sciezka nodded. She was pretty sure she knew where all the book stores were in Central. “Thanks, I do.”
“I hate to cut this short, but I need to get back to work.” She patted Sciezka's hand.
“Thanks again, Dottie.”
Sciezka waited until Dottie was out of sight before opening the book to learn about Alphus Ransom Armstrong and his wife, Permelia who were apparently the first Armstrongs to do anything of note. One uninspired lunch and Armstrong adventure later, Sciezka returned to her work area. Hughes was there, scanning one of the newspapers she had procured.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were waiting, sir.”
He waved her off. “Just got here. I figured you were at lunch. I see you found everything.”
Sciezka eyed the pile, still wondering just how fast he thought she could go through that mess. “Yes, sir. What exactly am I looking for?” She figured that was why he was here now, to give her some guidance as to what he was after.
“Yes, and a quick note as to the details. I have meetings from now until forever,” he sighed. “Or at least, it’ll feel that way. I’ll be back in the afternoon if I don’t get hung up.”
“I’ll get started.”
Hughes nodded then headed for the door. “I’ll look into getting paid overtime for you.”
“Thanks, sir.” Sciezka shook her head. He didn’t even ask if she wanted overtime. Well he did know about her sick mother and probably assumed that she’d want the extra money, or, Hughes was a slave driver. Either way, she’d best get on with it.
Hughes poked his head back in when she was indulging her natural love of researching a topic she found fascinating, devouring everything she could get her hands on. This time, it was the murder of Japik Arce, a Creatan mayor for one of the disputed borders, an interesting yet gruesome case.
“It’s a half hour past quitting time, Sciezka. Overtime starts tomorrow. Go on home. We can tackle this one in the morning,” he said, with a sheepish grin. “Sorry I didn’t make it back.”
Sciezka shut the newspaper up. “No problem. Here, you’ll probably want to see what I’ve found so far.” She handed him her notes.
“Thanks.” Hughes tucked them into his jacket pocket. Sciezka wondered if he’d possibly have time to read them at home. All of his time seemed to be spent taking photos of his daughter. Sciezka didn’t mind seeing them. Elicia was a cutie. “Have a good evening, Lieutenant Colonel.”
“Thanks, you, too, Sciezka. I need to make a call when I get home. My little angel wants to talk to her Uncle Roy. Isn’t that precious?” Hughes beamed.
“Oh yes,” she agreed, though Sciezka wondered if Colonel Mustang could really want to hear a three year old babble at him or did Hughes just like torturing his friend? She looked in his eyes and decided it was the latter.
They said their goodbyes and Sciezka headed back to the bus stop. The automail book hadn’t improved in excitement levels since the morning, but at least it was something to do. Bored, Sciezka glanced out the window to let her mind process the idea of tissue resection and spotted a banner on Central’s Best Books proclaiming a clearance sale.
It was only five blocks from her house, convenient really, so Sciezka got off at the next corner and jogged back to the book store. It didn’t matter than she had so many books she could use them to build the walls of a sizeable house. It was physically impossible to ignore the allure of a book sale.
Central’s Best had tossed the clearance books into bins, making it harder to see what one might want to buy, but she wasn’t deterred, digging in with enthusiasm. Before she knew it, Sciezka had spent over an hour picking out two sacks of books. The sun had begun to set, but this part of town never worried her.
Instead, after a boring breakfast and a bad lunch, Sciezka decided to treat herself to her favorite restaurant that was on the way home. She tried to read a rather torrid romance during dinner, her mind filled with wildly erotic images, but it didn’t quite drown out the ugliness of her research for Hughes. Her mind kept flashing back to the research, wondering why Hughes wanted to know all of what he had assigned her. He probably wouldn’t tell her.
Stuffed with roasted chicken and a slice of pie she knew she probably shouldn’t have gotten, Sciezka loaded up her books and a doggie bag and headed the several blocks back to her place. Depositing the books on a pile of more books, Sciezka glanced around her home. It needed dusting, but her shoulders ached from lugging the books. Housework could wait.
After brewing some tea, Sciezka drew a bath. Putting her research out of her mind, she sank below the bubbles, tea cup balancing on the lip of the tub, and went back to her romance. It was a nice ending for her day. Tomorrow, she’d dig into the research anew and that excited Sciezka. Mentally thanking the Elrics and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes once more for her interesting job, Sciezka melted into the romance, completely content.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-09-03 05:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-03 06:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-05 03:56 am (UTC)So naturally I thoroughly enjoyed this. You can write more Sciezka anytime, as far as I am concerned!
no subject
Date: 2011-09-05 04:07 am (UTC)thanks
no subject
Date: 2011-09-07 07:46 am (UTC)It was well worth the wait. The little details are wonderful. I especially like the descriptions of the archives. The smells and dust and itchy eyes were a great touch. (And so true!) Not to mention dry hands from handling that much paper!
I love this!