One More Time

[Shula Brighton]

Even rebuilt with minor alterations, Central HQ was much the same as it had ever been for the year Shula had known it. The hallway floors were still rbight, clean and glossed to look nice. The secretarial pool on the first floor still knew all and knew Shula quite well, and were more than happy about the box of mini chocolate chip muffins she dropped off on her way in. The original offices were gone, but it was funny walking there now. On the second floor she passed by where her office used to be for the Adjutant General department, the plaque on the door now listing a bunch of people she wasn't familiar with. Further down the hall she passed where Acra's office had been when she'd first met him and called him out on his fib of not being a Major when he was really a Warrant Officer. Up to the third floor, off to swap out a few things in Spade's new office that he so rarely saw since he did most of his work from home that he could get away with and only came in weekly.

Shula had errands to run in Central today anyway, so stopping into Central HQ to swap out a few things for Spade wasn't a problem, especially since she was sending occasional messages to him to let him know she was fine and not going to vanish again. Out of uniform, the off-duty General popped behind Spade's desk, giving a quick wave to the unit secretary on her way in. His new office was really quite nice, and the fact that the prayer rug she'd given him had made its way to his wall like he promised had made her very happy. It was strange to think how far things had come. When she'd promised him that rug, he was crying and holding her as she struggled not to die. And now? She was somewhere between whole and the brink of madness under a thick mask of happy that very few could see past, recent events still haunting her dreams and eating at her conscience. But things were better, now, for the most part. She wasn't dying and that had been proven if not horrifically. The rug would stay on the wall and she'd never see him cry for her again if she could help it.

Thin fingers tapped at his keyboard, scanning in a few files and uploading them for him under her name, the girl singing quietly as she worked. Sometimes it was more than a little annoying having the main system be hours away from where they were, and more annoying that some things just had to be done on Central's systems to have the right authority, even if she was the one doing it. Ah well, at least it got done. Shula bounced lightly, saving things as she stood up, checking over her work. Yep. Just about done, then to finish up local errands and head home!

"Is there a man out there? Someone to hear my praaaaaayer? Gimme gimme gimme a maaaan after midnight! Won't somebody help me chase the shadows awaay! Gimme gimme gimme a maaaaan after midnight, take me through the darkness to the break of the daaaaay!~"

[Hans L. Reinhardt]

Central HQ. He had rarely visited the original and yet now, he found himself more frequently in the new building. He had been given the tour of the new building when it first opened, and occasionally brought other politicians in for a better understanding of the military side of things. Today... today was a different kind of day. Hans leaned against the doorjamb of the office that would rightfully go to the Fuhrer. Except there was no Fuhrer. Just a Chancellor. Hans wasn't playing the politician today, however. He wore his blue jeans and sneakers, a nice dark green sweater completing the ensemble. The room before him was bare, except for a desk. Yet he could see that it had been given more elegant furnishings than the other offices. Befitting the high status. It made his stomach turn uncomfortably. The past few Fuhrers hadn't exactly been good to the people of Amestris and Hans didn't enjoy following in their footsteps. Turning he glanced down at the construction worker who stood somewhat nervously beside him. “Make it into general offices... or storage areas. I don't care which. There isn't a Fuhrer anymore.” The worker nodded frantically and slipped past Hans into the room to begin taking measurements... or doing whatever it is construction workers do.

Hans walked away with a small sigh of relief. Now, he could go HOME! He was looking forward to spending his day, not busy with meetings, but stretched out in his armchair, finishing his book. As he walked through the hallway of offices on the third floor, he was paused mid-step by the sound of singing. Feminine singing... from Spade Aeries' office. Okay, what? He approached the door somewhat cautiously, wondering what it was Spade was doing in there this time. He was surprised to see not Spade, but another HQ head singing and bouncing in the office. He let out a low chuckle. “Miss Brighton! I must say, it is a surprise to see you in Central.”

[Shula Brighton]

Few things in life were honestly funnier than catching someone by surprise, and at both Central and South HQ, even with her rank, Shula had quite the reputation as the ultimate squeak toy. Shula hadn't expected anyone to drop in and say hi; she'd stopped and said hi to everyone she knew to say hi to. The Chancellor was someone she still wasn't used to. There was quite a lot of bigness to him. His large size, his larger voice, and even the large, commanding presence he had were all still very new to her. It was a little intimidating yet captivating, and the kind of commanding charisma that she honestly wished she had.

A soft, airy laugh bubbled upward as Shula looked up at Hans, standing up and tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear. Central had been Shula's home for almost a year, but now that she'd rooted herself in so solidly at South she seemed so out of place in Central HQ- especially in the denim-blue and white sari that wrapped around her playfully. If the tones of blue were tweaked just a little, they'd almost be the same as the uniform she wore dedicatedly to work. "Chancellor! I suppose surprise is a thing to be shared."

She looked the tall politician down and up and up. He was dressed rather casually today, just like she was. Guess he was just popping in? That, or there was a move for Casual Fridays that she hadn't heard of yet. The papers stacked together in her hands and slipped into a folder as she shut the computer down, taking care to lock Spade's desk back up for him. Well, her work here was done, so now at least she had some free time. Stepping up nearer to Hans, she smiled warmly, tucking the folder under her arm. "I had some errands here to run, so offered to pick something up for Spade while I was nearby. So what brings you to Central HQ? Setting up an office in this building?"

[Hans L. Reinhardt]

“Hans, please. Or if you must continue on with formality, Mr. Reinhardt. Chancellor is for when I'm wearing the suit.” Hans chuckled, staring down at the young woman. She seemed a lot more relaxed than the last time he had seen her. But he supposed the party at the gardens in South had been just as nerve-wracking for her as they had been for him. “It was very kind of you to offer to help Mr. Aeries. From one general to another, eh?” His eyes twinkled and he let out a short booming laugh. He might be old(er), but he wasn't dead. He knew why Spade was now telecommuting from South City. Frankly, Hans was happy to see love blossoming and was willing to overlook it. As long as Spade kept up on his work, which so far, he had.

He removed himself from the doorway, beginning a slow walk down the hallway. He heard Shula's footsteps beside him and slowed down a little more to account of her short legs. He looked casually at the various offices doting the hallway. He was getting better at learning the names of the people behind those desks. One day, he would have them down solid. But there were a lot of names and his time for memorization was somewhat less than usual. “Tearing down an office, actually. The Fuhrer's office...” He shook his head. “It does no good being there. It will be a storage room or more offices. I'm also attempting to learn the people here. As this will be my primary contact with the military, I feel I should at least know the people who make up Central.” Some of the people in Central were warming to him and others he knew he still intimidated. “Any tips to win them over, Miss Brighton?”

[Shula Brighton]

"Alright... Hans." shula's smile warmed to the brightness it always had when she was at Central and terrorized her coworkers by flooding their cramped offices with her natural sunlight. Even fighting with the dark shadows that hid in her heart and ate at her smile and her sleep, Shula had always been able to push her light up that much brighter when she was with someone else nearby, her smile never faltering.And it was nice that even after the country had so dramatically shifted that she'd be allowed to be on a first-name basis with the Chancellor, at least in some cases.

Things were saved, locked and tucked under her arm, the tiny woman walking around the desk to join Hans to leave the office, when something in her brain autopiloted, fighting the urge to look like a deer in headlights. “It was very kind of you to offer to help Mr. Aeries. From one general to another, eh?” That look. That laugh. Guess her little secret wasn't so secret, but dammit if her body and brain didn't have the oddest quick chat in the span of a heartbeat.

*bzzzt* Body, this is Brain. Body, do you copy?

*ssssk* Roger, this is Body. Whatcha need, Brain?

*bzzzt* A small alert came up but the Act Casual sequence is nonresponsive. We are stuck on pause; I repeat, we are stuck on pause.

*ssssshk* Copy that, engaging Blush Recovery Mode. Activating Prickles!

Something squeaked within Shula, the back of her neck and face tingling as she fought the small blush that moved up and out, her hands fidgeting with the file as she moved to just beside Hans.

Initiate Blurts!

Aye, Initiating Blurts!!

"Oh, yeah, it's no problem I do this all the time, after all I've been working for him for over a year now and even when it wasn't my job I was still all over the place running errands and stuff for him-" At that moment she realized she was talking too fast and not particularly about anything. Dammit, she needed to recover from that and make it seem natural. There was only one thing that came out.

Release the Head Laugh!

A small, trilling (nervous) laugh escaped, trying to make everything that just popped out in the span of four seconds seem completely normal and fail miserably. Damn you, recovery mechanisms; you suck at this. But as Hans answered her question, things quickly went back to a more legit state of normal, Shu's body and brain thankful that a new subject card had been played. "Tearing down an office, actually. The Fuhrer's office... It does no good being there. It will be a storage room or more offices. I'm also attempting to learn the people here. As this will be my primary contact with the military, I feel I should at least know the people who make up Central.” Ohhhhh. Yeah, that made sense, and she couldn't blame him for not wanting to take Hild's old office when he'd worked so hard to make a point that he wasn't a Fuhrer and wasn't anything like past leaders. It'd be counter productive, and it was really a good show that he wanted to get to know the people who worked for him, at least well enough to know WHO was working for him. “Any tips to win them over, Miss Brighton?”

Shula looked around at the other offices in the hallway before looking back up tp Hans, her tiny steps small and fast as they tried to keep up with his long strides. "Well, you're doing better than I did when I started at South a few years ago at least. But there's still a few in my own office I haven't entirely gotten through to yet." She thought for a minute. How did she start to get in good graces with the people here at Central when she was finally transferred and after they'd stopped picking on her as much? Habitually bringing cookies and sweets helped a lot, but she rather doubted that the Chancellor had enough free time to regularly bake cookies and bring them to the offices to much while listening to gossip. Buuuuuuut... "Honestly I've found the best thing has been keeping everyone as my equal and being completely accessible both on and off hours. I know your schedule might not allow for that, but maybe getting to know a few of the people here on a more friendly level, that'll help open tings up between you and the other personnel here in small batches?"

[Hans L. Reinhardt]

Hans chuckled drily. It was simplistic enough. Be available. Be willing to open up and discuss with them. Make friends. Why did he feel like after many, many years out of the system, he was entering high school again? Everyone here was a tight knit group and had their own bonds. And here comes the big, new kid to disrupt everything. Which was entirely not the case. He just wanted to understand his people, so that he could do the best he could do to help them. But Shula had a very distinct point as well... his schedule really didn't allow for chum-time at any hour of the day and night. There had to be a way. Maybe he could obtain a phone for people at Central to contact him directly? Not an emergency line, but a line just to reach him if they needed to. He could be opening himself up to pranks and such, but how else was he going to show he meant what he was saying.

Removing himself from his current reverie, he looked down at Shula again. “An excellent suggestion, Miss Brighton. As you've worked in Central in the past, tell me, who do you think would be the easiest ones to starting approaching?” It would definitely be easier to make friends with the soldiers at Central if he was friends with one of the friendlier types. Er... yes. That makes sense. Or something along those lines.

[Shula Brighton]

Of all the ironic things, asking Shula for advice on how to make friends was one of the funniest; despite her being one of the friendliest people around, it had taken her a few years to get the swing of thigns since her first eighteen years were spent in seclusion. As she and Hans walked down the hall, Shula looked around. “An excellent suggestion, Miss Brighton. As you've worked in Central in the past, tell me, who do you think would be the easiest ones to starting approaching?”Though a lot of the name plates had changed and departments held new people in them as their military was still trying to recover from the massive losses, she knew there were some people who were still arund and that had never left Central for the battles since that wasn't their job. And of the people for Hans to meet to start to get to know people, they would be the most helpful.

"I think I know just the two to start with," Shula said with a smile, turning down a different hall once they'd hit the second floor. "Before I started making rank, the only people I felt comfortable with were in the secretarial pool. And then even after I started moving up and changing offices, I found out staying close to them kept me in the loop for everything going on in Central HQ, and around the city. Intel is good for what's going on in the world, but if you want to know what's up with your people? Ask the people who keep their lives organized!"

Shula stopped outside of a small office in the middle of the second floor hall, knocking lightly before walking in. The secretaries of Central were like a small hive, scattered around the building. Down in the lobby were the receptionists who called things all over the offices as people came and left and called with general appointments and transferred calls. Department and private secretaries dotted all over the building for higher-ranking officers, and the various departments, calling back and forth and keeping everyone in the know about appointments and visits if they were important for others to know. But at the hub of it all was this office, where all the information came, officially or not. The secretaries in this office office were pretty much HR, and if you needed it or wanted to know, they could find it. From paycheck issues to meeting with foreign dignitaries, it all came here. Shula cleared her throat politely, the two women in the office looking up and seeming stunned to see Shula there.

The noises women make when happy are many things, and quiet usually isn't one of them. There wasn't even time to duck, dodge, or do anything but brace herself as the two bounced up and glomped the tiny General happily, practically squishing her between them. After a moment thye calmed down, and Shu looked up at Hans. "I'd like you to meet Samantha and Gloria." Samantha was tall, plumping, and wore just little hints of bright purple eyeshadow over her giant smile. Gloria was Xingese and entering her early thirties, her smile sharp and giving an impression of knowing a lot more than she should. Shula looked to both women. "Girls? Our Chancellor is wanting to get to know the staff here at Central a little better and know more about them. Think you can help him out?" While Shula had worked there it had been almost a daily ritual for one or both of them to pop by her desk and share what was on the news feed. Sure, you could look at it as gossip, but it wasn't just random rumours, and helped Shula keep tabs on things that might have come as a surprise. Mrs. Pisarski and Ms. Chang looked up at Hans and nodded.

"Not a problem!"

"We've got you covered."

Shula's two secret weapons. Happy, bubbly, and knew almost everything on everyone in the building. And they were now at Hans' disposal.

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