Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There were a lot of emotions running high.

Relief.

Guilt.

Finality.

Uncertainty.

Though he was surrounded by bittersweet celebration, the tension in Edward Elric’s shoulders didn’t ease until he and his brother had boarded the train back to Resembool.

Alphonse fell asleep quickly, which didn’t surprise him. His body had undergone a lot of neglect. He was emaciated, exhausted, and he wasn’t even ready to get solid foods in his system yet. Most of their friends had wanted him to spend time in the hospital, but after everything they’d gone through, both brothers were ready to go home and settle down.

He claimed that was the main reason they were leaving Central so quickly. To give Alphonse time to rest and recover, and to work on his own atrophied muscles. They would be back for a visit before anyone knew it, he promised.

Unknown to everyone but a select few of their closest allies, though, Edward had other reasons to hurry back to the countryside. 

They sped through the city, and as the land outside the window became more rural, the former alchemist opened his jacket to pull out a jar.

“Can I come out now?” the creature inside asked, violet eyes glaring at him with a bitterness that was almost funny on something so small. Edward would have probably laughed if he didn’t know Envy was still very much a threat and very much angry with him. 

“Not yet,” he replied, situating the jar beside the window in an effort to give the homunculus a view. “I told Colonel Mustang I’d keep an eye on you. I’m at least gonna get you to Resembool without giving you a chance to run off.”

Envy glared at him.

It was nothing short of a miracle that Edward had even convinced Mustang to let Envy live, so he didn’t pay the annoyance any mind. They’d wasted time on it - although Edward was angry about all of the atrocities carried out by the homunculus, he hadn’t been willing to just let them die. They were a person. A person who had been created to do harm, had never been given any choice in the matter. The only homunculus that ever dared to do anything other than what their Father told them had been Greed, and Edward had no doubt that the punishment had been death or worse.

He thought they deserved a chance to be free. To become who they actually were without the threat of their father hanging over their head.

Besides, issues with one’s paternity were something he could relate to.

“You know, you have a lot of attitude for someone who owes their life to me,” Edward commented, leaning back in his seat and looking out the window. Sunset was approaching, and the countryside was darkening. Overnight train rides were hardly his favorite, but it would get him home faster. That was all that mattered. “A thank you would be nice, you know.”

“I’m not going to thank a pipsqueak that’s keeping me captive in a jar.”

Edward’s eye twitched in annoyance. He took a breath to keep it down, trying to remind himself that he’d probably be pretty annoyed about being in this specific restraint too. “The jar’s what’s keeping you alive. You’re gonna have to tolerate it.”

Envy scoffed, but didn’t say anything else to argue. Edward relaxed against the train seat a little, resting his head back on his arms. His mind wandered, and his attention turned from the window to his sleeping brother - gaunt cheeks, his blond hair thin and frail as he was. 

For the first time in years, his brother was vulnerable. He had to worry about him, his health, whether he had the strength to handle anything. He was fragile, and it made a lurch of anxiety hit Edward’s chest. His hand tightened a bit on the top of the jar unconsciously.

They were heading back to Winry. She was even more fragile. At least Alphonse had some knowledge on how to fight - they’d trained together long before losing their bodies. Edward knew Winry was strong and could handle herself, but he was bringing a homunculus home to her.

He took a breath and closed his eyes, trying to even out some of the anxiety he was feeling and focus on resting. If Envy decided to throw away their shot at freedom and attack anyone, let alone someone Edward cared about, he would make them regret it. And he was pretty sure they were smarter than that. Envy may have been arrogant, but they’d certainly taken enough hits to their pride recently to settle down a little. At the very least, they weren’t suicidal.

He’d seen the fear in their eyes when they landed in his hand. The desperation in their voice when they begged for help, to not be left at the Flame Alchemist’s mercy. For good reason, they were terrified of Mustang, and Mustang would be more than happy to finish the job if he had even the slightest of reasons to. Envy knew that.

They were a lot of things, but they definitely weren’t stupid.

“Resembool,” he heard the creature muse after a moment, and he blinked before looking down at them. They looked a little calmer, a little more thoughtful. “That’s in the Eastern Area, isn’t it? Not far from Ishval. No wonder your friend’s parents went running to the battlefield. It was in your backyard.”

Edward’s shoulders tensed, and he looked away from Envy to stare straight ahead. “If you’re trying to get a rise out of me, it’s not going to work. You really need to stop pissing people off for fun.”

“I’m just speculating ,” Envy replied, sounding a little offended. “ You need an attitude adjustment, not me. It’s not my fault you’re so easily offended.”

He rolled his eyes, and rested his cheek on his fist before looking back toward the window. It was going to be a long train ride, but hopefully it would be worth it.

They arrived in Resembool a little after midnight.

Winry and her grandmother had waited up for them. All of their attention went right to Alphonse near immediately, and Edward sighed a little in relief, relaxing his tight grip on the jar. He seriously doubted that either of them would be very receptive to a homunculus in their home right this second - he would need to discuss it with them at length.

He didn’t really expect Envy to stick around, either, and he knew that he couldn’t put up much of a fight without his alchemy. Edward was really putting a lot of trust and faith in someone who’d tried to kill him before, and without anything holding them back from doing so now. Their fear of Father didn’t have any control on them, now that he was dead.

Still, he saw something in their eye when he protected them. He’d made up his mind not to kill them, and it wouldn’t be much of a life stuck in a jar, would it?

Deep in thought as he walked up the stairs and into Pinako’s spare bedroom, Edward nearly forgot that the homunculus in the jar was very much awake and present. “ Now are you going to let me out of here?” they asked, their voice tight. Not with anger, though, with… something like skepticism.

“Not quite,” Edward answered, pulling them out of his coat and sitting down on the bed with the jar in his hands. He studied the little green creature inside, as if he could read their expression worth a damn like this.

Those violet eyes could give a lot away, he’d learned.

“So what, are you just going to keep me prisoner here?” Envy asked, shifting their position to sit and look at him more properly. They definitely didn’t sound happy, but there wasn’t nearly as much anger behind their words as Edward expected. They sounded more… defeated. Exhausted.

Maybe it was the small size, but they made it very hard not to feel sorry for them. Mustang had insisted that they were just trying to manipulate him, guarantee their own survival so they could come back and kill another day.

Edward didn’t think so, though.

He suspected there actually was that much to pity about a being so lonely.

“No,” he answered simply, leaning back on his good hand. “I just want you to give me your word that, after I let you out of here, you’ll never hurt another person again.”

Envy was quiet for a few long moments, staring at him with a gaze that suddenly turned much more intense. A shiver ran up his spine - it felt like they were looking right through him, searching his very soul. He held his ground - he knew that they weren’t a threat to him right now, and he wanted to believe that they were good for their word. He just needed to make sure - to get that last bit of reassurance that he wasn’t making a mistake that would cost yet another life. Even one would be unbearable.

“I won’t,” Envy answered after a few moments of uneasy silence. They didn’t move from their sitting position, as if they didn’t expect for him to really follow through on his promise. Edward felt a pang of guilt and pity in his chest - they really hadn’t been given a lot of wiggle room by the world, had they? No room for the kinds of mistakes he’d been allowed to make over the course of his life.

Maybe it was true that the attempt at human transmutation should have never happened, that someone should have been keeping a closer eye on him and his brother - but regardless, he could never deny that was their mistake. Their choice. Nothing Envy had ever done was theirs - everything had to follow the wishes of their father, the plan they never signed up to be a part of. They were a shapeshifter; had they ever truly had an identity of their own, anything that wasn’t just jealousy?

What would they choose to do, now that they were free? Edward had no idea. He seriously doubted Envy had any kind of plan, either. At least whatever they went out and did now was their choice, their decision to make. It wouldn’t be right to deny any person their free will.

“Are you going to be okay?” Edward asked, studying the little green creature a moment.

Envy’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll be perfect ,” they hissed. Not exactly what he meant - he wasn’t asking about their plans for their behavior. He furrowed his eyebrows, another wave of pity hitting his chest. Powerful as they were, the homunculi must not have lived very easy lives.

After a moment longer of hesitation, Edward unscrewed the lid of the jar, and Envy wasted no time in leaping out onto the wooden floor. The moment they hit the ground, they shifted and grew before his eyes into the human form he’d become much more familiar with. Their hair fell over their shoulders, and they turned to look at him with wide, almost surprised violet eyes.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could even get a word out or figure out what that something was supposed to be, Envy had taken off. They sprinted to the wall, wrenched open the window, and jumped right out. Edward followed behind them, but by the time he looked outside, they had already found their way to the road and taken off running toward the plains. Their speed was inhuman and uncanny, as if they hadn’t just recently been set on fire repeatedly.

For a few long moments, Edward watched them go as they disappeared over a moonlit hill - tense and hoping that he hadn’t made the wrong decision. He sighed and pulled the window shut, wondering if he would ever see them again, if he would ever get to know the person he’d just set free.

For whatever it was worth, he hoped so.

Chapter Text

Three weeks passed with no incident.

Edward talked to Winry and Pinako about Envy, and they had been surprisingly understanding of the whole thing. Pinako was used to weird people with questionable pasts coming in and out of her house, considering Hohenheim and the chimeras. Winry was a little more skeptical, but she said she trusted Edward’s judgement. Big steps happening from all directions here, he supposed. Now he just needed to wait and see if they ever turned back up.

A week after they returned to Resembool, Winry left to go back to Rush Valley and finish her apprenticeship. She still had a few years to go, she said, and she finally felt comfortable going out of town now that everything was over. Edward still called her every morning and every night. The distance made him feel a little uneasy after everything, but he trusted her and everyone she worked with.

In the meantime, Edward was content to spend most of his time at home.

Alphonse didn’t have the strength to do much of anything yet; he got a little better every day, but his body was still recovering and he was still getting used to being in it. Edward, bound by his older brother duty to take care of him, was determined to stick by his side. It took up a majority of his time and attention, even though there really wasn’t much to do besides sit by him.

One night, he cleaned up after dinner and walked outside to throw some garbage out. As he stepped off his porch, he tensed, feeling the distinct and familiar twitch of someone watching him. Edward looked up in the direction he thought the feeling was coming from, and caught just a glimpse of long dark hair disappearing behind a nearby tree.

“Envy?” he called out.

There was no reply.

“I know you’re there.” Edward walked slowly toward the tree in question, his hands held up in surrender like he was approaching one of the many stray cats Alphonse had tried to adopt over the course of their lives. “Take it easy. I won’t try anything if you don’t. What are you doing here?”

He didn’t even reach the tree before he noticed their shadow moving, and they stepped out in front of it. Envy looked at him with narrowed violet eyes, still looking just as skeptical as they had last time Edward saw them. “You should be running for your life, pipsqueak. You can’t use alchemy anymore, right? You don’t stand a chance against me.”

“Right,” Edward replied, raising an eyebrow. “First of all, I’m still good at fighting even without it. You should know by now not to underestimate me.” Envy rolled their eyes, and he bit down a wave of annoyance. He was trying to get better at controlling his temper, but they seemed to thrive on pushing buttons. “Secondly, if you were going to try and kill me, you would’ve done it by now, wouldn’t you?”

They stared at him for a few more long moments before sighing heavily and crossing their arms over their chest. “Yeah. I guess so,” they replied. 

“I thought your brother was Pride, not you.”

Envy scoffed, and rolled their eyes. They didn’t seem inclined to say much. Edward suspected they were here to ask for help, but too proud to admit it. It was almost annoying enough for him to tell them to fuck off if they were going to be like that, but everyone started somewhere, he supposed. In a way, they were like a kicked animal. Too wounded by the world to even consider relying on anyone else. They’d never trusted anyone before - they probably needed a little help getting there.

They probably needed someone more patient than Edward, if he was being honest with himself. But this was just what they were both going to have to deal with. He sucked in a breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and willed himself to not lash back.

If he hadn’t been successful binding Alphonse’s soul to the armor, Edward might be a lot like them. He would sure appreciate it if someone extended him some grace, he supposed.

“I thought you would’ve left the country by now,” he started, trying to just converse with them casually. Maybe that would keep them from going right back on the defense.

“I can’t cross the desert without food or water.” Envy’s arms tightened around themselves, and they looked away, toward the way they’d run before. For a moment, Edward wondered if they might have considered trying. 

“I thought you were immortal.”

“Well, yeah, it wouldn’t kill me,” Envy scoffed, as if this was information everyone should know off the top of their heads.

“I don’t know how your immortality works.”

They rolled their eyes. “It wouldn’t be pleasant, though.”

Edward sighed a bit, pinching the bridge of his nose and thinking for a moment. He looked toward them, took in their appearance. It was hard to tell in the dark, but they did look a bit worse for wear. Dark circles under their eyes, a bit dirtier than they normally were when he saw them. 

“Do you have anywhere to go, Envy?”

He already knew the answer to the question. Their father was gone; their siblings either dead, possessing a Xingese prince, or reverted to a zygote. Of course they didn’t have anywhere to go; maybe they didn’t truly have a home underneath Central Command to begin with. Still, they seemed reluctant to admit it. They refused to meet his gaze, and their face twisted in further annoyance.

“Come with me,” he spoke, and gestured for them to follow. He turned back toward the house, and looked back toward them once he reached the porch; they were following, but at a distance. 

Okay. That was fine. They could move at their own pace; it might have been getting late in the evening, but Edward wasn’t exactly on a strict sleeping schedule. He left the front door open as he stepped inside and to the kitchen; if they wanted to follow him inside, they could. If they weren’t ready for that, it wasn’t like Resembool’s fields and farms were crawling with criminals.

There was still some stew left over from dinner, so Edward scooped some into a bowl and grabbed some bread from the pantry. When he stepped outside to give the food to Envy, they were standing stock still on the porch, staring past him into the house. They almost didn’t even seem to notice him until he spoke up. “Here. You must be hungry.”

Envy blinked at him, and then stared at the bowl of stew for a moment. Almost as if they were trying to figure out if it was poisoned - would that even hurt them? Regardless, they snatched the bowl from his hands and quickly started devouring it. Edward was almost impressed by the ravenous speed with which they shovelled massive forkfuls of food into their mouth - it nearly put Alphonse’s first foray into solid food to shame.

It took them only a minute to finish off the bowl of stew, and they wasted no time in shoving the bread into their mouth in only a couple of bites. There was a minute of silence, though the homunculus did look a little less exhausted with food in their system. “Thank you,” they spoke reluctantly, handing the bowl back to Edward. He appreciated the manners.

“Don’t mention it,” he replied, and stepped back into the house, holding the door open. “Now, are you gonna come inside or what?”

Their eyes narrowed. “What, am I a prisoner again?”

“What? No.” He was almost offended at the immediate negative assumption, honestly. “You can come and go as you please. I don’t give a shit what you get up to as long as you’re not hurting anyone. You just need a place to sleep, don’t you?”

Envy studied him for a while before relenting and walking after him into the house, hugging themselves tightly. He led them upstairs and into the bedroom; Edward watched as they sat down on the edge of the bed stiffly and took in their surroundings. He was relieved to have gotten them inside. It was a good enough start.

“Do you need anything else?” he asked as they settled in, backing toward the doorway. They raised an eyebrow at him. “Like, more food, extra blankets. Water.”

“No,” Envy replied simply, and gave the room another glance. “This is fine.”

“Okay.” Edward put his hand on the door, watching them for another moment. He was suddenly very aware of the risk he was taking by letting a homunculus who had tried to kill several of his friends and turn him into a human sacrifice live in his home, unsupervised. With his brother, unable to fight, asleep only a few rooms over. He sucked in a breath, and reminded himself that Envy hadn’t done anything to earn his distrust since the Promised Day. He was considering this a fresh start for them, and was willing to hope they would see it the same way. “Goodnight, then.”

They stared at him a moment longer, as if they were trying to figure out everything about him from one look. Eventually, they shrugged a bit, looking to the side and toward the wall. “Yeah.”

Edward fully stepped into the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind him and letting out a sigh. He pushed some hair out of his face, stretched, and started down the hallway toward his room. He’d never considered it his room, no matter how many times he and Alphonse visited the Rockbells during their time with the military. That was a new development; Resembool had stopped feeling like home after they lost their mother, but during their time away it had regained that status.

He hoped, eventually, it could become that for Envy too.

Chapter Text

In their hundred and seventy five years of life, Envy had not once felt truly safe.

They’d come close. In the time between their birth and the Elric brothers appearing on the scene, Envy had considered themselves nigh untouchable by the humans that made up the bulk of the Amestrian population. They fought dirty, they fought stealthy, and on the off chance things got sticky, he could count on one of the other homunculi - usually Lust or Gluttony - to clean up the mess.

Even then, though, there was always the worry that something would go wrong. Some plan could always go awry, some issue could always come up, and Father could decide it was their fault. Every conversation with their creator, every minute spent under Central Command - their “home,” where they should have been safest - held the silent threat of being unmade, reassimilated. There had been a handful of times over the years where the only thing that saved them was the inconvenience of replacing them.

Father was gone now, though. Dead. They’d watched from that stupid jar as he fell to a cocktail of his hubris and one very angry Edward Elric, who’d punched him to death without sparing a second thought to how ineffective every other hit had been.

They should hate him, right? They should hate the person who struck the killing blow on their creator. They should want to destroy him and avenge their father. But he was responsible for their survival - Mustang would have killed them if given another minute. More than that, he was responsible for their freedom. He was the reason they didn’t have to be afraid of being destroyed.

Envy owed Edward a debt that could never be repaid. They hated it. It made them feel sick, to be indebted to a human. Not only that, but they’d needed to come crawling back for food and shelter after only a few weeks of trying to strike it out on their own. It was frustrating. Humiliating!

Despite the fact that they’d spent months trying to prep him for human sacrifice, though, Edward had let them into the house without a second thought. Fed them, gave them a place to sleep. There was a part of Envy that bitterly wanted to think that this was some kind of condescension, like he didn’t expect them to be able to survive on their own and wanted to hold his charity over their head for the rest of his stupid little human lifespan. 

Logically, though, they knew that Edward Elric was not that kind of person. Throwing them out would be the smart thing to do, but humans had a tendency to do things that were downright stupid in the name of kindness. The Elric brothers were experts at it. It frustrated Envy, who had never experienced any kind of real loyalty or companionship. They’d gotten along fine with some of their siblings - trusted them to do a good job, even - but there had never been a real sense of community, of doing things for others without expecting anything in return. It had always been transactional. Give and take.

Humans just did things for each other. Offered and accepted charity like it was nothing. Envy hated that about them. Yet they wanted it so desperately, and here it was, being given to them. They thought it would be best to just run off and try to make it completely alone - it wasn’t like starvation would kill them. It would be deeply uncomfortable, drain their strength and energy until all they could do was lay on the ground in their pathetic true form, but at least they wouldn’t be asking favors.

Their stomach growled in what seemed like an immediate argument, and they curled in on themselves under the stupid thick comfortable blanket. Stupid body. Stupid inability for any living thing to just have limitless energy. They used to consider themselves so far above humans - they still did, because they had abilities and a kind of durability no normal person did. Now here they were, reliant on the kindness of one. Envy kind of wanted to kill themselves, if they were being honest.

A knock at the bedroom door interrupted their sulking.

At first, their instinct was to ignore it. Wait for the presence of Edward Elric and anyone related to him to disappear until they were ready to face the circumstances again. A second knock came shortly after, though, along with the question, “Are you awake yet? I brought you breakfast.”

Their first reaction was to say no. Then, fuck off. Unfortunately, their stomach growled, and they sighed heavily. Damn food, damn hunger, damn all of it. Their body mass being more than their appearance and the constant energy of shapeshifting had always resulted in them wanting to eat a lot - it was only becoming a problem now that they didn’t have the wealth of a nation and a thousand years of Father’s hoarded means to fall back on.

They growled into their pillow.

Envy got to their feet, approached the door, and opened it just a crack. Their closed curtains had saved them from the almost overwhelmingly bright morning light - seeing some of it in the hallway was enough to make them flinch. It made Edward’s bright golden hair and eyes look even more like they were on fire than usual. Unfortunately, as far as humans went, he was on the more beautiful side - Xerxan features did him plenty of favors.

They had half a mind to steal some of them next time they came up with a default face.

The smell of eggs and bacon distracted them from their annoyance, and they looked down at the plate of food Edward held with wide eyes. Envy supposed it wasn’t a surprise that the pipsqueak had a knack for cooking, given his prodigious background in alchemy - mixing ingredients to create something new was kind of his strong suit. They stared at him a moment, trying to glean if the offer came with some kind of catch, before relenting and taking the plate.

They made their way back over to the bed, not bothering to shut the door behind them. Humans liked to use food as a peace offering to talk things out, right? It was a strategy they were familiar with - they’d used it themselves a number of times, trying to get information. Being sweet and friendly and giving people things they wanted tended to be more effective than torture, albeit less fun. If Edward wanted to try and get information out of them, though, he was about to be bitterly disappointed. Anything they could offer, any answers about the plan to use Amestris to make a philosopher’s stone, was worthless now. The plan died with Father. They had no reason to continue his grim legacy.

They were the grim legacy, they supposed. Them, Pride, and Greed, and neither of their surviving brothers were likely to remember their father fondly. Pride was nothing more than a fetus last Envy saw him, and Greed had never been loyal as far as offspring went.

It was bitterly poetic, they supposed, that the three vices that were truly the first homunculus’s downfall were all that remained of him.

Edward sat down next to them, and the feeling of the mattress shifting under his weight startled them out of their thoughts. They brought some of the eggs to their mouth, and hummed a little in involuntary satisfaction - admittedly, it was pretty good. They tried to eat at a slower pace than they’d destroyed the stew with last night, and the former alchemist was quiet, letting them do so in peace. It was appreciated, but they kind of wished he would go away and come back.

“What have you been up to the last few weeks?” Edward asked, casually, like they were friends. Envy swallowed down the urge to laugh at him. He said they should try to stop pissing people off on purpose, right? They were grateful enough to give it a shot, if it meant eating more of this cooking.

God, I’m pathetic, they thought to themselves, poking at their food with a fork as their appetite suddenly dissipated. Another suicidal urge struck them - they tried their best to ignore it. “None of your business,” they grumbled, stabbing another bite with a gesture that bordered on violent.

“Just trying to chat,” Edward replied, a little defensively. Good! Predictable as ever. He couldn’t control that temper for long. Envy wanted nothing more than to dig their claws in and keep biting and snapping and wearing down at his mental energy until he gave up on trying to help them. They wanted to push him further and further away, make him hate them.

That was all humans were good for, right? Hate. Constantly fighting each other, hurting each other, taking delight in the suffering they left in their wake. Envy embodied one of the sins that had followed humanity from its inception - they were intimately familiar with the jealousy that led into all kinds of other crimes. There were a million words one could use to describe a man like Kimblee, but the one Envy would probably go with would be honest.

The broiling anger faded after a moment, though. They were too tired, even after sleeping through the night, to stay angry.

“I was wandering,” they admitted after several seconds of silence.

“I’m kind of surprised you haven’t left the country by now, to be honest.”

Envy snorted. They’d thought about it. “Crossing the border isn’t easy without the connections I used to have,” they replied, setting the plate of food on their lap so they could lean back on one hand. “Even if Wrath isn’t in his stupid leadership position anymore, things are still pretty tense on all sides except east, and I can’t cross a desert without any food or water.”

“Wow, I wonder whose fault the border disputes are,” Edward replied, a bitterly sarcastic tone Envy hadn’t really been expecting considering how gentle he’d been with them thus far. War must have been a sensitive topic for a guy who knew so many survivors of the Ishvalan conflicts.

They made a mental note of it. Whether it was to avoid the topic or to more effectively push his buttons remained to be seen. “All we did was exploit feelings and urges that were always there,” they replied, picking up a piece of bacon and popping it in their mouth. “Sowing strife and discord is what my siblings and I were created for. You wouldn’t hate a dog for barking, would you?”

“No. That’s why I wanted to save you.” Edward lifted his legs and crossed them; the sun glinted off the steel and carbon of his automail just a bit. They’d never gotten a good look at where the prosthetic ended and human flesh began before; scars marring his skin were just barely visible between the metal and cloth. “You never had an option other than to hurt people, did you?”

Envy scoffed. “What, do you think you can domesticate me? Train out my nature and expect me to be all demure and soft and sweet?”

The former alchemist laughed, and the sound made Envy’s cheeks burn bright pink with rage. Or embarrassment - the two feelings were nearly interchangeable for them. “Nah, Envy, I’d never expect you to be demure, soft, or sweet,” he answered, leaning back on his hands. “I don’t think hurting people is really your nature, though. I mean, Lust said you’re made of most of the same stuff as humans, right? You’re an intelligent creature with thoughts and feelings. A lot of thoughts and feelings.”

“Don’t make fun of me, pipsqueak.”

“Don’t call me pipsqueak. And I’m not making fun of you.”

Wow, discovering enlightenment really made the guy more mellow, didn’t it? Normally, he’d go flying off the handle when reminded of his stature. Envy was irritated by it. Humans weren’t supposed to change. They were supposed to stay stable and predictable and easy to manipulate. They wanted to throw a tantrum, throw things around and stomp on the floor until they fell through. Doing that would just mean letting Edward win, though, so they stewed silently.

“What’s your damn point, then?” they asked, stabbing the last of their eggs with the fork and hearing the slight crack of the porcelain plate chipping. They didn’t have it in them to care, but Edward did wince slightly, so they took it as a small victory.

“My point is that you deserve to be your own person. You deserve to be who you choose to be instead of just whatever your creator wanted for his plan. And I’m curious to see who that person you end up being is.”

Stupid human. There wasn’t anything else to Envy, in their professional opinion. They were just a remnant of a time and a plan long past now; there was no other point to their continued existence. They didn’t even know why they cared so much about staying alive. 

Still.

They wouldn’t dare admit it out loud, but the sentiment was appreciated.

Chapter Text

The chorus of a thousand souls that came with every Philosopher’s Stone had steadily turned into a background hum over the course of Envy’s life. They scarcely even remembered that the screams and whispers were even there.

Sometimes, though, they became very loud. They were certainly loud enough to drown out the quiet sounds of the countryside at night. Envy turned from one side to the other, they tried covering their ears with a pillow, they even tried counting each individual voice like they were counting sheep. Nothing seemed to work - nothing seemed to quell their build to a deafening roar.

Eventually, Envy gave up. They kicked their blanket off with a heavy sigh, resting a hand over their forehead and staring up toward the ceiling. They didn’t know how to cope with a new feeling starting to build. Guilt. Awareness of the hundreds, maybe thousands of lives within them, cut short and repurposed into something new. Something unnatural. Something that drug out their suffering, their fear, their torment for hundreds of years.

Each and every one, a pathetic human. A lowly creature, only given purpose by becoming a piece of Envy’s whole. Yet they were all individuals, all members of the species that had taken them in, shown them the first kindness they’d ever experienced. Kindness was a weakness, wasn’t it? A disadvantage to be exploited! People would rush into danger like they were eager to die in the name of doing the right thing. Because they were part of a community. Because they cared.

The sentiment was sickly sweet. Cloying. Envy had always rolled their eyes at it, and yet they couldn’t deny that they’d always longed for it. For almost two centuries, they’d been bitterly jealous of humans and the way they cared for each other.

Now it was given to them. Envy was fully aware that it was most likely a conditional offer. Edward Elric felt sorry for them. He would live for such an insignificantly short span of time, would burn out like every other star within the century no matter how bright and hot he shone. He had only a fraction of their power - barely a decimal point, now that he had no alchemy and a sorely atrophied arm. Yet he had enough that he felt like he could pity them.

Yet they couldn’t turn it down. It was addictive. It felt good to be wanted, to be invited, and to be taken care of and treated well. Envy groaned in frustration thinking about it, and rolled over so that they fell from the mattress and landed on the cold hardwood floor with a dull thud.

Laying on their back, they tilted their head to look toward the door. They had been living with Edward and his brother for the last two weeks, but they had never once left the spare bedroom they’d taken up residence in. This might be their only chance to wander around for a while.

Envy got to their feet, stretched, and wandered quietly to the door. They cracked it open, wincing a little at the creak of the aged wood and rusty hinge. For a family of engineers, the Rockbells had really let some of the maintenance in their home go.

They wandered slowly down the hallway, not sure which room belonged to Edward. The first door they tried, on their left, opened with a silence that they were quite frankly jealous of. They poked their head in, and their eyes settled on a shape asleep on the bed; they squinted, looked a little closer, and realized that it must have been Alphonse. His hair was much too short, and his build was smaller.

They were a little surprised to learn that the brothers no longer shared a room. They’d figured the two of them would be attached at the hip for the foreseeable future. Maybe it had something to do with that human concept of privacy. Envy supposed they valued their own.

As quietly as they could, they shut Alphonse’s door and continued creeping down the hallway. They winced every time their weight caused the old wooden floor to creak, but reached the next room over without incident. Thankfully, the figure asleep in this room was undoubtedly the pipsqueak. Edward slept with his limbs sprawled out, half under the blanket and half on top of it, with his golden hair fanned out against the pillow. He snored softly, twitching occasionally in his sleep.

Envy tiptoed toward him. They stood at his bedside, watching him sleep peacefully - his cheeks ruddy, a bit of drool escaping the corner of his mouth. They tilted their head as they looked down at him. He had an enemy in his house, and yet neither he nor Alphonse thought to lock their doors? They just chose to sleep totally exposed?

Then again, Envy wasn’t really an enemy anymore, they supposed.

No, they were a charity case. Why would they be afraid of them? 

Envy’s brow twitched in annoyance, and they glared down at the sleeping Edward. His throat was exposed, and though his fingers twitched with an unconscious urge to fight, Envy knew he would be laughably easy to overpower right now. Their touch so light it was almost ghostlike, they traced the tips of their fingers along the exposed length of his throat. His skin was sunkissed, warm to the touch. The back of their hand brushed against golden waves; silky soft.

Did he even know how infuriatingly beautiful he was? They wanted nothing more than to wring every wheezing breath from that gorgeous throat. As quickly as the urge appeared, though, it faded, and was rapidly replaced with guilt. They pulled their hand away, moving to sit down at the edge of the bed. Edward continued sleeping peacefully, none the wiser.

Seeing him so at ease was almost making Envy feel like they could relax.

After a moment’s consideration, they dropped the idle concentration keeping them shaped like a human, nearly disappearing into the blankets as they took their smaller true form. They curled up just past his feet, sighing a little at the warmth of a shared bed. It was comfortable.

Comfort ing.

Enough so that Envy didn’t even realize they were drifting off until the sound of a scream roused them from their sleep.

They jumped to attention, leaping down from the bed and staring with wide eyes as Edward thrashed and sobbed and cried out. They could make out that he was calling his brother’s name, kicking and swinging his arms as if he was fighting off an unseen enemy. The former alchemist was moving around so much that it took them a second to get a good look at his face and realize that, though his features were twisted in fear, his eyes were still closed.

Envy recognized a night terror when they saw one. Loathe as they were to admit it, they were no stranger to them - it was part of why sleep was so difficult to achieve. At least the lingering feeling of their eyes boiling whenever they closed had stopped haunting them.

They looked around the room; surely the kind thing to do would be to wake him up, right? But Envy seriously doubted Edward would react well to waking up from a night terror and then finding out a homunculus had been in his room. He probably wouldn’t even believe that they were just sleeping. It was easier for humans to trust their own than monsters, after all, and Envy was acutely aware of every action they’d taken while working under their father.

The giddy excitement of every fooled human, every manipulated emotion, every domino they toppled over had faded. It was being replaced by something else now - something heavier. They couldn’t say they enjoyed the feeling, or the knowledge that it would take an awful lot of time to get anyone to treat them with anything less than guarded suspicion.

Their mind wandered to Mei.

They couldn’t help but wonder how she was doing.

Before Envy could figure out how to handle Edward’s night terror situation, the bedroom door was opened and Alphonse was hobbling inside on his cane. They ducked under the bed so he wouldn’t see them, and listened with no small amount of curiosity as he quickly approached his brother’s bed. This must have been a routine for them. Envy didn’t quite have a handle on all the details, but they knew only Edward slept during the years Alphonse had armor instead of a human body.

“Brother,” he heard Alphonse whisper. “Brother, it’s okay. It’s just a dream. Wake up.”

It took a moment of quiet coaxing from the younger Elric, but Edward did pop awake with a gasp. Envy heard the weight on the bed shift, and guessed he must have sat up. “I’m sorry,” Edward whispered, his voice hoarse. “Fuck. I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” Alphonse replied, his tone gentle - like he was talking to a frightened animal, or a child. Envy suppressed the urge to roll their eyes, and tried to remember that their standard of condescending may not have been average. “I’m right here. We’re safe.”

“I know.” Edward replied, sounding significantly calmer. Still on edge, though, just a tinge of anxiety on the edges of his voice. “Thanks for waking me up.”

“Don’t mention it.”

A moment of silence passed between the brothers. Envy suppressed a sigh, tapping the fingers of their little hands against the wood of the floor as they waited for Alphonse to leave so they could scuttle back to their room uninterrupted. They may have been small and hopefully easily missed in the dark, but the Elrics were sharp. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t be noticed.

“I’m sorry, Alphonse,” Edward spoke in a whisper, even quieter than their prior conversation, as if he would rather die than be overheard. Pinako slept downstairs - if not for Envy under the bed, there wouldn’t be any risk of that to begin with. “Can you stay?”

“I was hoping you would ask,” Alphonse responded, and Envy listened as the weight on the bed moved around again. They heard Edward shuffle to the side, and the light creak of the mattress as Alphonse pulled himself up to lay down beside him. After a minute of silence, they could hear Edward start to snore again. Shortly after, Alphonse’s breathing deepened and slowed.

Finally, Envy scrambled out from under the bed and to the bedroom door. As they stepped into the hallway, they shifted back to their preferred form and looked behind them; both brothers were sound asleep, looking peaceful. Much more relaxed in each other’s presence than apart.

For the first time in a while, they thought of their own siblings. Could they honestly say they trusted any of their own family to have their back? To keep them safe, comfort them when they were afraid, and truly support them like that? Lust, maybe, but she had been the first of them to fall. It had been nearly a year since they heard her voice.

A new, empty, gripping feeling settled over their chest, and they were so unfamiliar with it that it took them a moment to recognize what it was.

Grief.

It was unlike the anger, the indignation that had been there when they first found the ashes that used to be their sister. This was an ache. It hurt to know that, no matter how good they became or how much they managed to cozy up to the humans, they had lost anything they could count on before. They would never be this close with her. They had never even gotten a chance, because despite their father calling his creations his children, he truly had no idea how family bonds worked. Everyone was a colleague, competition, or collateral damage.

Maybe Greed had been onto something after all. Envy hadn’t really spoken to him much, and now he was all the way in Xing with the prince. He’d always seen the value of finding company, though.

Just another thing for them to envy, they supposed.

Chapter Text

Although he knew, logically, that it wasn’t exactly how trauma worked, Edward couldn’t help but feel annoyed by the time he woke up at how badly the failed attempt at human transmutation still affected him. A stupid mistake when he was eleven, doomed to follow him around the rest of his life. It didn’t feel very fair, but then, the world wasn’t a fair place, was it?

He woke up with his brother’s head on his shoulder and sunlight streaming in the window. It was another quiet morning in Resembool - he still wasn’t quite used to those, accustomed to the hustle and bustle of Central City, the sounds of cars and people talking a few stories down the moment the sun came up. It was quiet in the countryside, other than the sound of wind rustling grass and leaves, the gentle creaking of a house that was starting to show its age.

When he first became a state alchemist, Edward had struggled to get used to living in more populated areas, the total lack of quiet. Even in the desolate tundra of Briggs, the howling of wind and the sounds of a military base had filled the air. Now, he was struggling to get used to a world at peace again - it made him feel restless, anxious, like he needed to get up and get moving.

The danger he was working so hard to prevent had passed, though. He was no longer a member of the military, honorably discharged - it was a little difficult to justify a state alchemist who couldn’t transmute. For the most part, it felt nice. He’d longed for the opportunity to just be normal again. Now that it was here, though, he was having trouble getting accustomed to the idea of being bored.

He might as well check and see if Pinako needed anything, right?

Edward tried to shuffle out from under his brother without Alphonse noticing, but before his brother’s head could even hit the pillow, the younger had woken up. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I’m getting up, but you can go back to sleep if you want.”

Alphonse hummed a little, thoughtful. “What were you dreaming about last night?”

The question made Edward’s shoulders tense, but he saw no reason to avoid answering it. It wasn’t like it was a new nightmare to him - to either of them, really. He had recurring night terrors about a number of his past traumas, but losing their bodies was easily the winner. “When we tried to bring Mom back,” he answered simply, and Alphonse nodded in understanding.

“Envy was in here last night. I was worried they might have hurt you.”

Whatever he expected to hear, it definitely wasn’t that. Edward blinked, leaning back on his hands a little. “No, they didn’t hurt me,” he replied. “What were they doing in here?”

“I don’t know.” Alphonse sat up and reached for the cane sitting against the bed, pulling himself up with it to stand. “I heard you screaming, so I came in to help, and after I laid down with you they ran out from under the bed. They were in their little green form. It was kind of weird.”

“Huh.” Edward leaned back on his hands, thinking. He was a little surprised they would choose to be that small and vulnerable again - and, though he was confused about them sneaking around under his bed in the middle of the night, if they didn’t hurt him then no harm was done, right?

The former alchemist got to his feet, looked around the room to see if anything was damaged, missing, or otherwise out of place. Other than the unmade bed, which was his own fault, the room was completely untouched from how it had been the night before.

So Envy had been in here to… watch him? Sleep? Either way, it was unusual for a homunculus that had been mostly reclusive over the two weeks they’d lived here. It felt like it could be a promising start, so Edward didn’t think he wanted to question them on it. He’d just have to go about business as usual, pretending he didn’t know about their presence.

“I’m gonna go ask Granny if she needs help in the garden or something,” he spoke up again after a moment, grabbing the blanket to half heartedly throw it back into position on the bed. “Want to join?”

“Yeah!” Alphonse replied enthusiastically, a bright smile on his face, and together they made their way downstairs.

Edward didn’t hear much from Envy over the course of the day. They didn’t even answer their bedroom door when he came to drop off breakfast, lunch, or dinner - but there was an empty plate left in front of the door whenever he came back upstairs, so they were at least eating.

They would talk to him when they were ready, he supposed.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, Edward got so caught up in trying to translate a book about alkahestry that Ling sent him that he barely realized it was getting late until it was almost midnight. He cursed quietly, set the scroll safely in his bedside table, turned off the lamp, and tucked himself under the blanket to try and get as much sleep as he could.

Moments after he closed his eyes, though, the door opened and a bit of light leaked in from the hallway. Edward froze, his first instinct to be afraid as a shadow that was too tall to be Alphonse silently approached him. He closed his eyes as they got closer, and it was only once they leaned over him and a strand of hair brushed against his arm that he realized it was Envy.

A few seconds of silence passed. If Envy moved, he couldn’t tell; they were soundless, not even breathing, their soft hair still resting on his skin. The feeling disappeared after a moment, as did their shadow blocking the light from the hallway; Edward opened his eyes, and they were gone.

He was about to climb out of bed to try and catch them in the act of leaving, but before he could, he felt the blanket and mattress at his feet shift as something else climbed onto the bed. It settled into a ball between his feet, not unlike a cat, and Edward remembered what Alphonse said about Envy being in their true form the previous night.

Maybe they really were coming in for some sleep? Some comfort?

If they left as soon as Alphonse entered the room, then they probably didn’t want to be seen resting at his feet. Edward wouldn’t let them know he was awake, lest he scare them off. Still, he wished he could tell them that it was alright; they could depend on him, and didn’t have to hide that they wanted his company. He’d been sharing a bed with his brother since he was a baby, and to this day he slept better when someone was beside him. It made him feel safer. More secure.

They were clearly more comfortable when he didn’t acknowledge them, though, so he would let them sleep at the foot of his bed in peace.

After a few moments of silence, Edward heard a noise that sounded like a gentle snore. It repeated a handful of times, so he sat up as quietly as he could to look at the homunculus. They were curled up with their tail against their forehead, their little limbs holding it tight, their giant eyes squeezed shut and the edges of their mouth fluttering just a bit with their breath.

He hadn’t realized it before, but they were kind of cute. Their hands were even as chubby as a baby’s. He wondered, if he slipped his finger into their hands, if they would grip it or bite it off. Probably the latter, but a man could dream.

Gently, he slipped his hand under their body, scooping them up in a careful hold. They were warm, their skin surprisingly soft. He lifted them slowly, praying they wouldn’t wake up; thankfully, they seemed to be deep in sleep, sighing softly. They unfurled, nuzzling their face into the palm of Edward’s hand, and his heart melted a little.

I knew you weren’t all bad, he thought to himself, not willing to even whisper and risk waking them. He brought them up to the head of the bed, set them down on the pillow beside his before laying down with his face next to them. They stirred a little, shifted and sighed softly in their sleep before settling into their new spot.

A feeling that wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to him began to spread through his chest. At the very least, he was comfortable calling himself fond.

It only took him a few minutes to follow Envy into sleep.

The shallow ocean of liquid weighed down his pants, seeped into his shoe and sock, and made it a little difficult to continue on his way with a torch held high. Edward tried not to pay too much mind to its warmth and thickness - he already knew it was blood, and if he gave too much thought to how very much there was it wouldn’t do anything but make him queasy.

Gluttony’s stomach was new, as far as settings for his nightmares went. Still, he was aware enough to know it was just another manifestation of some of the many traumas he’d survived in his adolescence. Ling wasn’t here, and he couldn’t see the scattered portions of the Xerxan mural anywhere. It was just… nothing. Darkness.

“Ling?” he called out into the void. “Envy?”

There wasn’t even anything for his voice to bounce off of - it just travelled through the quiet expanse for a moment before fading away. He sighed, shifted the torch into his other hand, and carried on. He would have to run into something eventually, right?

Time seemed to stretch on and yet to condense. His stomach began feeling gradually emptier, but he wasn’t sure if that was simply the way the failed portal worked or if it was an indicator of how much time was passing. His limbs felt heavy, his eyelids heavier, and yet Edward pressed on.

Eventually, he thought he could see something massive. He crept closer to it, and noticed that it slowly rose and fell as if it was breathing - just a couple more steps, and he recognized the hulking form of Envy. It had been a while since they were in this particular monster form. He hesitated a moment - long enough for them to realize he was there and turn their head.

“You alright?” he asked as he closed the distance between them. He had no idea which version of Envy this was - if it was the one who had tried to kill his friends and sacrifice him for the better part of a year, or if it was the one who had been living with him for the past week.

“There’s no way out,” they replied, their voice solemn and flat. Devoid of energy.

“There is,” Edward replied, taking on a gentle tone as he lowered his torch. “I just need to use your Philosopher’s Stone. I can transmute myself to make a real Portal of Truth, and--”

“Not what I meant, pipsqueak,” Envy snapped, and Edward bristled. He sucked in a breath, reminded himself to be patient.

“What do you mean, then?”

“I’m not like you. My existence is purely for the purposes of my creator. Without him, I’m nothing. I can’t come up with any goals of my own.”

“You still have to try. You have free will, so you always have the option.”

Envy scoffed. “Sounds exhausting. I don’t want to deal with it.”

“Nobody does, but we do anyway.” Edward shrugged. “Nobody asks to be born. We all just kind of get thrown into the world by our parents and have to figure out how to live our lives. You’ll discover something that makes you happy, like everyone else.”

“How can you be so sure?” Envy asked, narrowing their eyes.

“Just a hunch, I guess.”

Chapter Text

Envy woke groggily from the most sound sleep they’d had in months, maybe years.

They stretched out on the soft surface, their little body shaking just a bit with the effort. Their tail unfurled, and brushed against something warm - near immediately, they jumped to attention, turning as quickly as they could to face whatever it was they’d touched.

Edward Elric slept peacefully, his steady breaths pushing a strand of loose blond hair in and out of his face. His hand curled lightly around them, not quite touching, but apparently ready to react nonetheless. Envy wondered if he was prepared to catch them, or to protect them. Given their own track record, Envy was ready to assume the latter.

They got up, ready to try and make their exit before Edward could wake up - he must have noticed that they were asleep in his bed, because they doubted they could end up in this position while both of them were asleep. Before they could jump down, though, the former alchemist’s hand had closed around them, holding them in place. His eyes didn’t open, nor did the rate of his breathing change.

The pipsqueak was keeping them close on instinct. Envy wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or concerned for their freedom. Edward had promised he wouldn’t make them go anywhere or do anything against their will, but humans tended to go back on their promises, didn’t they? The Elric brothers didn’t exactly have a reputation for that kind of backhanded nonsense, but the homunculus had been double crossed before, both by humans and their own kind.

They tried to squirm out of Edward’s grip, but even with his arm weakened by years of non-use, he sure knew how to hold on tight. Envy sighed and rested their face against the palm of his hand, staring at him as he snored peacefully. He looked so calm, so secure.

He really was putting a ridiculous amount of trust into a monster, wasn’t he? Envy couldn’t deny that about themselves, no matter how much they wanted to, but Edward seemed to think they were his equal - just as much of a person as he was. They… appreciated it, as loathe as they were to admit it. They liked that Edward didn’t just assume the worst about them. They couldn’t remember the last time someone who knew their identity gave them the benefit of the doubt.

They relaxed a little into his hold, nudging their head into his fingers and feeling the way his grip loosened as he must have realized they weren’t going anywhere. It was… endearing, almost. Envy very nearly believed that he cared, and that was enough to make their heart warm a bit. Maybe they could stay here a little while longer, just to see if the pipsqueak woke up.

Envy closed their eyes and felt themselves drifting off again after a few moments of being still. Unfortunately, this time the peaceful stillness of the morning was not meant to last. A blaring ring from a phone in the bedroom woke Edward up with a jolt, the human’s grip on them tightening for just a moment before he cursed quietly and let go.

“Shit, sorry,” Edward murmured to them, and hurried to the dresser where the phone sat. He huffed a little as he picked up the receiver, and spoke flatly. “Rockbell Automail, this is Edward speaking. The engineer isn’t available right now. Can I take a message?”

They weren’t expecting the cold spike of bitter jealousy that hit them. Envy had only been gone, what, a few weeks? And Edward’s little girlfriend already had him working for the family business? They bristled a little as they shapeshifted back into their chosen form, crossing one leg over the other and glaring toward the window with a wrinkled nose.

As Edward paused to listen to the person on the other end, they came to the horrifying realization that they were thinking about the human like they wanted him.

“Uh, no, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Edward spoke again, his tone a little less flat and a little more nervous this time. Envy glanced his way with a raised eyebrow, and he was briefly looking at them. “Really, Co-- General, I have it under control.”

Envy’s blood ran cold.

Even just the idea of Mustang made their skin tingle with heat that had long healed away, their blood and bile feeling a little hotter. Dread was supposed to be cold, but to them, it was a boiling, blistering hot that made them feel like they might vomit. They tried to listen in on the conversation a little closer, wanting to know every excruciating detail. This could be life or death for them - they thought they deserved to be in the know.

Despite leaning closer, they couldn’t make out much of what Mustang was actually saying. They thought they heard the words dangerous, untrustworthy, and unpredictable in there, which was fair enough, they supposed. Still, it put every nerve on their body on edge. Envy didn’t want to ever feel that much pain again - whether or not they survived it, they didn’t think they could bear it.

“I think it’s for the best if you don’t come anywhere near them, General. Sorry.” Edward’s voice was a little less nervous and a lot more firm. The confidence with which he spoke once he felt he had to made Envy’s head tilt, a little of the tension beginning to leave their shoulders. They got the sense that he was sticking his neck out for them a bit; using the fact he was Mustang’s friend and the knowledge the country owed him to protect them.

The Elric brothers really are odd, they thought to themselves, pulling their knees up to their chest. They couldn’t help but pay attention to the morning sun shining on his wavy blond hair, making it shine like a halo around his face. Those fiery golden eyes almost seemed to glint as he scowled a bit at the phone, beginning to pace back and forth. Envy admired the way he looked in a loose old tank top, the worn fabric accentuating slight curves and bunching up to expose patches of sunkissed skin.

No. They refused to be attracted to Edward Elric. They puffed out their cheeks and looked toward the wall instead of him, still doing their best to listen in on his conversation.

“I know you don’t trust them. Trust me, General, I have things handled. Yes, I understand.” Edward was sounding more and more exasperated the longer Mustang kept talking. It would have been amusing, if the stakes weren’t so high for Envy. They were sure he was just waiting for a chance to finish the job, and they had no doubt he would take any infraction as an excuse to do so - even if he had to make one up. They said they would be on their best behavior - it was their only chance at surviving. They didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

How laughable, that Edward offered them freedom and now functionally held their entire life in his hands. Their continued existence relied on him vouching for them, at least as long as Mustang lived. They wondered for a moment if they should try and cross the desert into Xing after all.

“Look, if you want things here to end well for everyone involved, then you need to trust me to handle Envy.” They had zoned out for a moment - it was only the firm, stubborn tone of Edward’s voice that snapped them out of it. It was odd to have it aimed at keeping them safe. “Send Hawkeye if you need to make sure everything is fine, but if I see you in Resembool, I will kick your ass.”

With that, the former alchemist slammed the phone back down with a heavy sigh. Envy leaned back on their hands with an eyebrow raised, watching Edward’s face carefully as a frustrated flush began to fade from his cheeks. “I thought you weren’t in the military anymore,” they commented, trying to keep their tone flat to hide how unsettled they were. “Why do you still have to deal with that guy?”

“He’s my friend, I guess. Going through the shit we did on the Promised Day has a way of tying people together for life.” Edward shrugged, and approached the bed to sit down next to them. Those sharp golden eyes studied them carefully - the pipsqueak could be quite the hothead, but when it came down to it, he was on the more intelligent side of the human spectrum. It felt like he could see right into their soul with just a look. “Plus, he wants to make sure you’re not causing trouble. Which is understandable, I guess. You did do a lot of fucked up shit.”

Envy scoffed, resting a hand over their chest and rolling their eyes. “I said I would be on my best behavior, didn’t I?” They couldn’t even pretend to take themselves seriously.

Edward rolled his eyes, but apparently didn’t feel the need to say anything.

They chuckled a little, and shrugged. “Honestly, though, I haven’t been getting into trouble since the Promised Day. It’s like you said when you brought me back here. There’s no point in it anymore.” Envy frowned, and looked toward the window - they hadn’t even been outside since making their way to Rockbell Automail. They’d forgotten how blue the sky could get. “I’m a tool without a purpose now.”

The human’s expression turned a little softer, a little more concerned as he looked at them. It made their skin crawl, to be pitied. They were ageless, immortal, and had abilities no human could ever dream of! Yet they were apparently lesser, and the worst part was, they believed it.

They couldn’t help that jealousy came more easily to them than anything else. It was their first instinct - it was familiar, it felt right, no matter how frustrating and illogical it was.

“I don’t think that’s true,” Edward spoke up after a moment, once again breaking them out of the spiral they’d started going down. “You’re a person, Envy. Doesn’t matter if you’re human or not. You can make your own choices now, without your father forcing you to do atrocities.”

They thought about saying that they weren’t forced to do anything - that humans were so insignificant to their father and themselves that they’d agreed to kill them and watch them go berserk without sparing it a thought. That wasn’t entirely true, though. 

The first time they were sent to cause a bloodbath, they’d watched the despair and grief on the face of their victim’s wife, and they’d felt an ache as they realized that nobody would react like that if they were never seen again. The second time, they took the role of a wife. They spent a month in that position while their siblings set up the rest of their plan, and they loved every second of it - they couldn’t have cared less about the man if they tried, but they enjoyed the attention - they adored feeling wanted.

Then, they killed him, and saw the confusion and betrayal on his face when the wife he loved so much took everything from him.

After that, they took a particular delight in their job. Envy wasn’t stupid; they knew they could never experience the kinds of bonds that humans had. They told themselves that humans’ love for each other was a weakness - that, no matter how desperately they wanted it and how bitterly jealous they were of a species that got to experience it, it never resulted in anything good.

And it felt so good to watch them suffer for it.

None of that was going to get him on Edward’s good side, though, and Envy meant what they said about there being no point in hurting anyone now. When it was in service of a goal, they were happy to do it. Otherwise, it was just mindless waste. They had to figure out what else to do with themselves, which was easier said than done.

So many damn choices. How did any human ever get a thing done?

Envy wrinkled their nose a little bit, and shrugged. “I guess that’s the benefit to being created without a purpose. You can’t have a predestined role if your existence was entirely an accident. I don’t know how to be… without expectations, I guess.”

“Well, you’ll learn.” Edward leaned back on his hands and looked up toward the ceiling a moment. “It might be on a smaller scale than you, but a lot of humans do end up considering something their purpose and their reason to live. Leaving it behind you makes you feel lost, even when you should just be happy. Humans survive it. So will you.”

Envy nearly scoffed at him, but his voice sounded a lot more serious for a moment. Older, even. They raised an eyebrow as they studied the human’s solemn expression carefully. Then again, if they put it in perspective, Edward had been working toward the same goal for almost the entirety of his miniscule lifespan. He was certainly speaking from experience.

Maybe the two of them weren’t so different after all.

Envy had to hold in a gag at the thought.

Chapter Text

Alphonse was steadily regaining his strength. He was starting to gain a little weight, and the muscles in his limbs grew stronger every day; according to Granny, he might even be ready to spar ( lightly ) in a few months. He worked hard at his recovery - a little too much, if you asked Edward, but he hardly had any room to judge after he forced himself to recover from two traumatic amputations and two automail installations in a quarter of the average time for a grown adult when he was only eleven.

Still, when the brothers took their long morning walks through the fields of Resembool, he relied on a cane when the walk became too strenuous, and needed frequent pauses. Edward didn’t really mind - after spending most of their young lives in a rush, it felt nice - if a little unnatural - to slow down and take it all in every once in a while.

The peace wasn’t often interrupted, but Edward had a sneaking suspicion that it couldn’t last forever. Unfortunately, that suspicion was proven correct when he spotted the familiar proper posture, blue uniform, and blonde hair of former First Lieutenant, now Captain Riza Hawkeye. She saluted them when she saw them, even though they were no longer in the military; both brothers returned the gesture. It would feel wrong not to.

“I guess I did tell the general to send you if he needed to check in,” Edward sighed as she closed the distance between them. “How are things in the military, Captain?”

“I’m only partially here to see how Envy has been behaving,” Hawkeye answered; a bit of the formality had left her shoulders and voice. “I’m also letting you know that Major General Mustang and I have been transferred to Eastern Command effective tomorrow. With Fuhrer Grumman taking office, it was in need of a new commanding officer.”

“Mustang got promoted two ranks?” Alphonse asked, leaning a bit more of his weight on his cane. “Last we heard, he was Brigadier General.”

“There’s been a lot of reorganizing, now that we’re clearing out Bradley and his loyalists. That means a lot of moving around the ranks.” There was no small amount of exhaustion in Hawkeye’s voice as she spoke, and Edward couldn’t help but sympathize. He didn’t doubt that the rest of Mustang’s inner circle was hardworking and determined, but Hawkeye was his closest subordinate for a reason. 

Edward considered himself lucky to call her a friend. Still, he couldn’t help but be annoyed at the knowledge that she and Mustang would only be a brief train ride away for the foreseeable future. The general was a man best experienced in short bursts, Edward had grown to realize over the years.

“Well, congrats to both of you on the promotions,” he huffed, trying not to let the annoyance leak into his voice. There wasn’t really any reason to get frustrated yet. “You really don’t have to worry about Envy. They haven’t been causing problems.”

“They’ve been really quiet, actually,” Alphonse added. “I don’t think they’ve left the house once since they moved in. They just stay in either the spare bedroom we gave them, or with Brother.”

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow at that, looking Edward’s way. “You’ve been getting along?”

It was an innocent enough question, but it made the former alchemist’s cheeks burn a little regardless. It definitely wouldn’t be inaccurate to say he’d been getting along with the homunculus - in fact, that might be a bit of an understatement, considering they were now sleeping in the same bed regularly. A symbiotic relationship, Edward told himself; their presence kept his nightmares at bay, and for whatever reason, they seemed comforted by his protection. It was only natural he’d end up growing fond of them, considering the circumstances. He could give himself a little leeway.

What he couldn’t explain away with the circumstances, though, was everything else. He felt comfortable around Envy. He enjoyed talking to them, watching their face as they spoke, listening to the sound of their smoky voice. He flushed whenever their fingers brushed against his, felt like he could explode when they shifted back to their preferred form and rested their head against his shoulder. His gaze had begun to linger on them whenever he thought they weren’t looking, and he frequently caught himself daydreaming about running his hand through their silky hair or resting it against their abdomen.

Edward had been trying to convince himself that he wasn’t allowed to be attracted to Envy. The budding feelings in his chest made it difficult to follow the rule. This was something he never wanted Mustang or Hawkeye to find out - friend and hero of Amestris or not, he was pretty sure the general would turn him to ash if he found out about Edward’s newfound affections.

“Yeah, we’ve been getting along,” Edward replied after what he hoped wasn’t a suspiciously long silence. “Turns out they’re not so bad when they’re not being ordered to kill people. I don’t think you or the general have much room to judge on that front, do you?”

Hawkeye didn’t give much of a reaction, but guilt still hit Edward when a moment of silence passed. “I’ll remind you that the Ishvalan War of Extermination only started because of Envy’s actions. We’re all responsible for the blood on our hands, but the homunculi bear more than their fair share.”

“Captain, if you were born for the express purpose of tearing humanity apart and had the threat of death if you failed held over your head your entire life, do you think you would be much better?” It wasn’t that Edward blamed her for her skepticism, or even thought she was entirely wrong. Envy did have quite a lot to make up for - but they would also live a very, very long time. They could afford to take it easy first. He just thought they were in desperate need of some empathy and benefit of the doubt.

“I’d like to think I would be.” Brown eyes studied his golden for a few long moments before Hawkeye sighed. “But I can see where you’re coming from. Just… be careful, alright? You know what they’re capable of, and without your alchemy…”

“Without my alchemy, I’m just as tough as I was before.” Edward flexed his right arm, instinctively trying to show off his automail, and winced when he inadvertently proved her point instead. Giving up alchemy was one thing - he’d dedicated his entire life to the science, and the loss of it ached more than he’d let himself acknowledge so far.

He knew he would be fine without it, and that he wasn’t weak - his teacher had trained him in martial arts just as fiercely as she had in alchemy. The loss of his alchemy, he could survive, but the loss of his automail? The muscles on his flesh and bone arm had atrophied to almost nothing, and it didn’t take much to leave it so tired it ached to the core. He couldn’t use it for much of anything; he would be back to normal in no time, so he couldn’t say he was ungrateful to have it back. Still, he had to acknowledge that having neither alchemy nor automail made him pretty useless in a fight.

“I know you are, Edward,” Hawkeye sighed, and rubbed her forehead a moment. She sounded tired; it caught him off guard, made him freeze and feel guilty for a moment. As quickly as the exhaustion crossed her face, though, it disappeared, and she reached into her briefcase a moment. “It’s okay to need a crutch, though. You wouldn’t be the first soldier to come back from battle needing a little help while they recovered. I also came here to give you this.”

There was a little glint of the sun against polished silver as she pulled a handgun out of the briefcase. Edward tensed as he looked at it; she held it out to him, and then looked to Alphonse as she nodded toward it. “I think I’ll be fine without a gun, Captain,” Edward spoke, hoping his attempt at a casual tone would mask how nervous he felt thinking about ever touching a gun again.

“I have no doubt. I’m just asking you to take it as a last ditch measure. To give the General and I some peace of mind.” Her tone was laid back enough to put Edward just a little more at ease. Golden eyes stared uneasily at the weapon for several moments before flicking up to meet brown; Hawkeye just kept looking at him with a steady, reassuring expression, her mouth curved upward slightly in a smile. 

He hesitated for a moment longer before closing his weaker hand around the grip and lifting the gun. It felt appropriately heavy as he tested its weight; he was sure it would be no problem for his left arm, but he wanted to make sure he thought twice before using it. Slowly, he brought it closer to him, before promptly unloading it; the ammunition went in one pocket, the gun in the other. That seemed to be enough for Hawkeye, who nodded curtly and closed her briefcase.

“Now, is it alright if I come over? I’d love to give my regards to Dr. Rockbell.”

Edward didn’t feel uncomfortable leaving Hawkeye downstairs to socialize with Pinako and Alphonse as he made his way back to his bedroom.

Envy had been staying there more often than not, at least the past week or so since Edward spoke on the phone with Mustang. They had yet to show any interest in socializing with anyone besides him, only retreating to their own room when Alphonse came in. For the most part, they were quiet, but there were moments where he could really see them starting to relax, becoming less generally unhappy and more like their old snarky self again.

It was nice to see. When there weren’t world ending stakes, Envy could be a fun conversationalist when they wanted to be; they bickered a lot, but if Edward was being honest, he kind of enjoyed it. 

He entered the room expecting to find them at ease and unaware, but instead, they were already on high alert. They perched on his dresser, long fingers tightly gripping the windowsill as if they were ready to jump out and make a run for it again. Violet eyes glared coldly at him, which surprised him enough to make him pause in the doorway for a moment.

“I thought you said the general was going to stay away from me.”

They spoke in a low, flat tone, dripping in venom. The slightest shift in their position, a little closer to the window, betrayed the fear they tried to disguise with anger. Edward approached them slowly, his hands held up in surrender like he was cornering one of Alphonse’s stray cats again.

“He is.”

“Don’t lie to me, pipsqueak,” Envy snapped, their voice a little louder. “I hear his favorite little subordinate downstairs. They’re never far apart. So where is Mustang?”

Oh. Of course they heard her voice - that made sense. Edward sighed quietly, grateful that they didn’t choose to just run away without a word; even if they were upset and afraid for their life, it felt like a sign that they trusted him more if they were willing to let him explain. “It’s just Hawkeye,” he replied as he came to stand in front of them. “She and the general are based in East City now, so she just came by to check in and see how Alphonse and I are doing.”

Envy seemed to believe him, because some of the tension started to leave their shoulders, and the glare in their eyes began to soften. “How long is she going to be here?”

“Overnight at the longest, I think. The train ride isn’t very far.” 

The homunculus nodded slowly before unfolding their legs, their feet brushing against the wood of the floor. They positioned their hands to push off the dresser, but paused a moment. “And she’s not coming up here, right.” It was phrased as a question, but spoken more like a demand. 

“She’s not,” Edward reassured them, stepping out of their way. His word seemed to be enough for Envy, who hopped down from the dresser, the wooden flooring creaking in protest of their hidden weight. They stepped past him without hesitation, making their way over to the bed; they collapsed on it face first, and Edward joined them after a moment, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Right. Because the pipsqueak is going to protect me, right?” they asked - the term pipsqueak was progressively starting to make Edward’s blood boil less, feeling more like a term of endearment. Edward smiled a little; they leaned on sarcasm and being a little rude, but he was starting to learn not to give in to their attempts at pushing his buttons.

“Yeah, Envy. I’m not gonna let anyone come near you that you don’t want to see.”

Chapter Text

It was difficult to relax, knowing that Hawkeye was just downstairs.

She hadn’t come up once, as Edward promised. He went down to have dinner, brought Envy up a plate like always, and told them that she would be staying the night and leaving first thing in the morning. They trusted Edward enough to know he was telling the truth - at least, the truth as far as he knew it.

He was somewhat more honest than the typical human, though - him and his brother both. Envy had no doubt in their mind that what Edward told them was exactly what he heard from Hawkeye. What they did doubt was Hawkeye’s honesty on the matter.

The human must have picked up on their unease, because even though he would normally be long asleep by this hour with the half moon high in the sky and the rest of the little town of Resembool resting for another long day of farming, Edward stayed awake with them. Humans needed a terribly inconvenient amount of rest just to function, and here he was, wasting some of those precious hours making sure they felt safe and comfortable.

It might be endearing, Envy supposed, if it wasn’t also working. When they managed to laugh a little at something the pipsqueak said, they realized that he really did reassure them - and it was terribly annoying. They couldn’t remember anyone ever making them feel safe - not like this, anyway. No human had ever truly terrified them before - only their Father had that distinction before Mustang came along, and nobody could ever hope to protect them from him.

Except they didn’t need to be protected from Father anymore. He was dead.

Edward Elric, the very same human that was now protecting them from Mustang and his lackeys, killed him. The pipsqueak pacifist that had to be coaxed into even trying to aim for a kill had done away with a homunculus containing a god. What could he have been capable of, if his moral code was more aligned with a typical Amestrian soldier’s?

Envy wasn’t sure whether to salivate or shudder at the thought of it. At the end of the day, though, this was the Edward the world got - and, they supposed, the one it needed. Compassionate, driven, tight in his morals, protective of his friends and family and now a single homunculus left adrift in the world.

He was so full of anger, and he was right to be! The world had been neither kind nor fair to the Elric brothers. Abandoned by their father as infants, and then losing their mother within a year - Envy may not have had a childhood to speak of, having come into the world not too different from the way they were now, but they were vaguely familiar with how much care and attention juvenile humans needed. Edward had honed that anger into something terribly productive, though. Intelligent, strong, and so caring that Envy had to wonder how he had so much room in his heart to give so much of a shit about everything.

It was so different from the jealous rage and spite that drove most of Envy’s life, and that frustrated them, but at the same time they were increasingly glad for it. They were grateful, even, that he stayed upright despite the yawns that practically took over his entire body every few minutes and the way he had begun to slump against the headboard of the bed, struggling to keep himself awake.

There had been a few times, before the power struggle in Liore that set everything in motion in earnest, when Envy had watched Edward and Alphonse from afar to try and learn some more about the sacrifices’ habits. The Fullmetal Alchemist, barely a teenager at the time and already a fully fledged member of the Amestrian military, had spent a frankly impressive amount of time sleeping - more than ten hours, on a typical night. Now, it was looking like he’d barely get five by sunset. Part of Envy wondered if they should chide him for it and make him get some rest. The rest of them was scoffing at themselves for even thinking about worrying for his health.

Humans were so stupidly delicate. One wrong move, and Edward could get sick and die in a week. The thought had once made them a little giddy - the knowledge they would outlive any such fragile creature and see a world that was beyond them.

Now, the concept of losing Edward so soon filled them with dread. His mother had barely made it to her mid twenties, and fragile health could be genetic, couldn’t it?

The quiet anxiety spiral must have shown on their face, because Edward took notice, watching them with analytical, concerned golden eyes and a small frown. “I told you Hawkeye won’t be coming up to bother you,” he spoke up, adjusting his position on the bed and pulling his knees up to his chest. “You don’t have to look so scared, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Envy flushed, their cheeks tinting a light inhuman purple that they hoped was hidden by the shadows of the room. They were barely thinking about Hawkeye anymore, but admitting that would be more humiliation than they could bear. They were inching toward accepting that Edward was growing on them, but they weren’t anywhere near telling the pipsqueak himself.

“I’m not scared,” they shot back, wincing a little at how defensive their tone came out. Edward gave him a look of sympathy that implied he thought Envy was desperately trying to save face. Which they were - but it was annoying and embarrassing that he noticed so effortlessly nonetheless. “That pitiful human doesn’t have anything that could hurt me. I can fix up a bullet wound no problem, remember? If she tried anything, I’d kill her in two seconds flat.” 

For a moment, they fantasized about it, nearly shivering as they imagined how the general would react to finding his favorite subordinate dead on the ground in front of the pipsqueak they both trusted. Then, they recalled the horrible, guttural way he screamed for her when her throat was slit, the desperation and fear and rage in his voice. He loved her. That human weakness, that vulnerability was something that could be channeled into a wrath not even their younger brother could hope to compete with.

If Envy killed Hawkeye, it wouldn’t matter if it was an act of self defense, even if Edward vouched for them - which, in the event of killing someone that didn’t stand a chance against them, was a big if. Mustang would skewer them and roast them like a pig. They swore they could smell their flesh burning and their muscles melting, all sloughing off their bones in globs of gore--

“Envy?”

They blinked, and their gaze flicked back to Edward, the stream of thoughts silencing and the smell quickly disappearing. Envy looked down at their hands to make sure their fingers hadn’t been reduced to bone, and realized that not only were they fine, they were also shaking. A bit embarrassed, they hugged themselves around the middle in an effort to hide it.

Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and now the pipsqueak was worried about them. He scooted a little closer to them on the bed, brows furrowed and the edges of his mouth tugged downward. Eventually, they couldn’t ignore the urge to look anymore, and they glanced toward his eyes - expecting to find pity, which might just push them to end it all.

Instead, they found something else. Something softer, something… more rooted in understanding than condescending. “Don’t look down on me,” they demanded shakily, leaning away from him slightly. Whatever this signal he was giving them was, it was unsettling. They could only remember seeing it a handful of times before, from Lust, when she was witness to their smart mouth earning them a punishment from a particularly annoyed Father.

“I’m not,” Edward reassured them, breaking them away from the past yet again. His hand - thin, frail, flesh and bone yanked from the Portal of Truth because this kid was crazy and strong enough to pass through it three times and get back what he lost with his life intact - rested atop one of theirs, and they wondered if he was this warm the entire time.

“I’m just… sad, because I know how you feel,” the former alchemist continued after a moment’s silence, blurted as if he’d been trying to figure out what to say and finally given up in favor of something simple. “I’ve never been set on fire over and over again, but I have things that haunt me, too.”

Envy knew. They remembered very well the nightmare that terrified him badly enough to react in his sleep - that was the kind of terror and suffering only earned through personal experience. Still, trying to save some semblance of dignity by hiding behind cruelty, they scoffed and flipped their hair over their shoulder, looking away and toward the window again. They felt so vulnerable, so exposed with their feelings so easy to read and even comprehend - they pretended, that was their thing, and they were letting the mask slip so thoroughly. 

“Oh yeah, like what, pipsqueak? You afraid of the dark or something?”

Edward rolled his eyes, but much to their surprise, didn’t snap back, didn’t push them away like they still expected him to. He couldn’t keep the annoyance from slipping into his body language or his voice - but he was clearly putting in effort, which was… almost reassuring. He was trying. For something he wanted, the naive part of Envy hoped.

Oh, how they yearned to be wanted as they were.

“I think about when my mother died holding my hand when I was four. The creature my brother and I created trying to bring her back, watching it suffer. Almost losing my brother, too. Losing two limbs and just caring about getting him back. Failing to save a girl I saw as a little sister. Almost dying a ton, losing friends. Getting impaled on an icicle. Things like that.” He shrugged a little, speaking with a casual tone that told Envy he, too, was trying to save some dignity.

Was it embarrassing, how much they had in common with this human?

Humans were supposed to be beneath them. 

Even with Envy trying to argue with themselves, though, at some point they needed to be honest. Edward had always been right - they wanted to have something real.

They craved more of it. All of it. They were tired of being jealous, of yearning for this kind of connection - the kind of free, full life a human got to experience. They struggled to get along with their older brother when they were both under their father’s thumb, and they hated to admit the cause - envy and greed were two sides of the same coin. Whatever one of them wanted, the other had to have. They wanted to take everything anyone else had - almost ached.

If Edward was offering someone who loved them, who understood them?

Well, they had no real reason to not just take what they’d always wanted, did they?

Envy lurched forward and pressed their lips against Edward’s, both of their hands going to grip his tightly - worried they had misread the signals, that he would fight back. He’d once broken the damn shrimp’s arm and swallowed him without a second thought, but now the idea of being forced to either hurt Edward or leave made them a little sick.

Fortunately, they had nothing to be concerned about, it seemed. Edward was tense for a moment before quickly melting into the contact, his face leaning toward them and his lips parting slightly. Their hands went from his wrists to his hips as they tugged him closer, slipping their tongue against his briefly, body pressing to his. He gasped a little at the adjustment, letting out a tiny sound that was almost a moan.

Envy pulled away after a moment so that Edward could breathe, wanting to see the look on the former alchemist’s face. He did not disappoint, his eyes wide and pupils dilated, mouth slightly agape. His entire face was so red that the homunculus wondered if he would pop a blood vessel. They couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of them, the feeling of warm lips on theirs - on their lips, not anyone else’s - sticking in a light tingle for a few seconds. It left them feeling light, ecstatic, and so did their amusement and affection at the way his expression went from shocked to absolutely mortified.

It was a bit delightful, for him to be the one getting embarrassed and flustered. They’d always found this side of him terribly cute, if they wanted to continue being honest with themselves.

“I’m glad you really do like me, pipsqueak,” they commented, crossing their legs and leaning back on the bed. “I was worried you were pretending for a while there.”

“That’s not-!” Edward sputtered, leaping to his feet and somehow turning redder, the flush spreading to his chest and shoulders. 

“Lying to save face is supposed to be my thing, you know,” they teased, and he groaned, covering his face with his hands and turning so that he was no longer facing them.

“I’m tired,” Edward blurted out, tugging on the blanket; Envy moved off of it so that he could take it, and he stumbled backward as he pulled a bit harder than he needed to, making them laugh aloud again. They couldn’t get a glimpse of his face, but the tips of his ears almost looked burnt as he climbed into bed beside them and promptly cocooned himself in the blanket, his face covered.

Envy was now at ease enough that they didn’t mind lying down next to him, looking at the pile of blankets with a small, fond smile on their face. 

There was a part of them that was certain they’d ruined things between the two of them by making a move. For now, though, they were able to ignore it and finally drift off to sleep.

Chapter Text

In the wake of his first real kiss - of it being with Envy, of all people - Edward’s mind raced too much for him to fall asleep despite how exhausted he’d been just a few minutes prior.

He faced away from the homunculus, staring at the wall while he considered every possible facet to the issue at hand. He couldn’t just get mad at Envy for kissing him - no, that wouldn’t make any sense, and would probably be counterintuitive to what he was trying to do here anyway. It wouldn’t do any good to shove them away so hard their relationship might never recover.

That begged the question, though - what was Edward trying to do here?

Redeeming them was something he wanted to participate in, sure, but it wasn’t exactly something he could force by doing anything other than befriending them and showing them that humans could be good, were worth trying to get to know and join. It was a process that was mainly up to Envy themselves, and so far, they were doing an alright job at it.

He wanted to help them. To be around them, even. Edward couldn’t lie to himself - he did find them attractive, and the more time he spent with them, the more he stared a little too long and fantasized at night about what kinds of things a shapeshifter could do in bed. His face burned bright red as he thought about it, even in passing, and he turned slightly to look over at Envy.

They had fallen asleep, their face peaceful and absent of its usual arrogant mischief, a strand of dark hair stuck to their mouth. Their cheeks were ever so slightly flushed, their pale skin almost glowing in the moonlight. For a moment, Edward was struck by their beauty, enough to forget what he was just so worked up about. He’d caught them asleep in human form before, but it wasn’t a common occurrence - it was one of the few things they preferred to do in their true form, presumably so they could slip away.

The former alchemist hesitated for a moment before reaching for their face, gently brushing that strand of hair out of their face and behind a pointed ear. Envy’s face scrunched up for just a moment, and Edward worried he woke them - before he could try and apologize, though, they sighed softly and nudged their face into the palm of his hand.

Oh. They’re cute.

Edward stroked their skin with his thumb, marvelling at how soft and unblemished it was - he supposed he should have expected it, considering they picked what they looked like and could be frequently vain about their appearance, but he was surprised to find they were completely hairless; the lack of a light layer of peach fuzz on their face was the most inhuman thing about them.

He rested his head on his pillow, watching them sleep for a few moments before he remembered what he was supposedly upset about. They’d kissed him, completely out of the blue! He was willing to accept that a friendship was forming between them, but they’d skipped ahead about five steps and thrown him right into the fire. 

Just a few months ago, they were at each other’s throats. Envy had killed one of his friends, tried to kill multiple others, and intended on wiping out the entire country so their father could eat God. For fuck’s sake, they’d pulled the trigger on one of the worst genocides since the fall of Xerxes. Edward didn’t think they held the entire blame any more than Hawkeye or Mustang did, but it was still a bit of a quick turnaround to go from hating humans enough to delight in killing them to kissing one in a few months.

It was either a good sign of some rapid progress or a trick. Edward couldn’t trust Envy completely yet - not with his heart or his body, anyway.

He had to begrudgingly admit, though, that he wanted to.

So badly.

Edward’s face flushed, and he let go of Envy to rub at it, as if that would do anything to make the blood stop rushing to his cheeks. With a heavy sigh, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up; at this point, he doubted he’d be getting any sleep at all tonight, but he needed to clear his head.

He grabbed his red jacket from where it sat discarded on a chair - it was a little ragged now, stitched together in a few places because he no longer had alchemy and couldn’t claim to be all that good at sewing. It was as warm and comfortable as it had always been, though, so he didn’t hesitate putting it on and tiptoeing out of the bedroom.

Envy might be a little upset with him in the morning if they found out he wandered off after promising he’d stand guard and make sure they were safe, but he was sure it’d be fine.

He crept down the stairs and out the door, shutting it behind him. The house was quiet, and the guest bedroom door was open just a crack - he assumed that meant everyone but him was asleep. He figured that was the case, but he was glad to be certain.

It was now late summer, the air beginning to cool during the night as cold breezes from the north began making their way across Amestris. Edward tightened his jacket around him a little, glad that his automail ports weren’t aching in the chill just yet; it never got really cold in Resembool, and snow that stuck to the ground only really happened once every few years thanks to their proximity to the desert.

Briefly, he wondered what summers up in the Briggs mountain range were like. Maybe he and Alphonse would have to pay a visit; surely his brother would be okay to travel by next summer, right?

He wandered down the winding road, only halfway aware of where he was going; he was a little distracted, looking up toward the expanse of stars in the sky. Years spent travelling, mostly sticking to urban areas like Central City, made him miss how beautiful it could be at night. It was already starting to calm him down, leave him a little more sleepy than he was when he walked outside.

This wasn’t his first time making it down to the cemetery at night. He stepped past the familiar short fence, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked past rows of headstones he’d long memorized. The way to his mother’s grave was a part of him by now - he’d spent countless hours sitting beside it, talking to her, reading his father’s notes, thinking. It felt like an obvious spot whenever he had something new to process, more instinct than anything else.

What he didn’t expect was to find someone else there.

His shoulders tensed a moment, as he didn’t recognize the figure there in the dark; he relaxed rather quickly, though, when he realized it was his father standing there. Edward was a bit surprised to see him, sure, but he doubted any ulterior motives were at play. He still resented his father for the very lonely and unsupervised childhood he and Alphonse had, and for the pain their mother went through yearning to see her beloved husband one last time - but he at least understood why Hohenheim was absent now, and his help during the Promised Day had at least earned Edward’s respect.

He didn’t think he’d be calling the man Dad anytime soon, but… he was getting there.

“I thought you were going to Xerxes,” he commented as he approached his father, looking to the grave they were both there to visit. It had been eleven years now since Trisha died - Edward, having been only five when she got sick, barely remembered her voice. He had to cling to what he did recall about her - her smile, her kindness, her love.

He wished she were here instead of Hohenheim. Her advice probably would have been a lot better. Alas, Edward needed to live with what he could get.

“I finished what I needed to do,” Hohenheim replied simply, a little awkwardly. “I didn’t miss your birthday, did I?”

“Huh?” Edward blinked, confused - if he was being honest, he forgot that it was coming up. Alphonse’s first birthday out of the armor had already passed in the early summer - the doctors had cleared him for just about every solid food a couple of weeks beforehand, and so they spent the day taste testing just about everything, including Winry’s best cake recipe that she came home from Rush Valley for the weekend just to bake. All birthdays had been promptly pushed from Edward’s mind shortly after. “Uh, no. It’s next week.”

“Sixteen already,” Hohenheim sighed, sounding wistful. “You’re already practically a man.”

Edward bristled a little. “I am a man,” he responded. “I’ve been the man of the house since I was four, remember? I’ve served in the military.”

Hohenheim just smiled at him sadly. “I’m sorry, you’re right. You’re a fine young man, Edward.”

Edward had half a mind to gripe about how difficult Hohenheim’s stupid depressed attitude made it to be angry at him, but he didn’t think that would be very productive. What would it accomplish, really? “You might as well go back into the desert for a few more months,” he replied, glaring at his father. “You already missed Alphonse’s birthday. That’s the one that matters.”

Hohenheim looked surprised for a moment, and then deeply, profoundly sad. “I thought his birthday wasn’t until the fall,” he sighed, looking toward Trisha’s grave. “I must have been thinking of when your mother told me she was pregnant. I’m sorry. I’ll find a way to make it up to him.”

Edward sighed heavily, and rolled his eyes. He knew Alphonse probably wouldn’t even care about the missed birthday, and would just be happy that their father was still trying to be present. “Whatever,” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “How long do you plan on sticking around this time?”

His father winced, and he was a little glad for it. In Edward’s opinion, it was a fair question. “For good,” Hohenheim answered, his tone earnest. “I’m sorry, Edward. I know I haven’t had very many opportunities to show it, but you and your brother are my world. I always planned on coming home to Resembool to be a family again when my transmutation circle was complete.”

Fuck you, you’re not wanted here, the former alchemist wanted to say, but with a heavy sigh he realized that Hohenheim probably did deserve the chance to at least try. “You’re probably staying at the Rockbells’, then, right?”

“Well, you did burn down my house.”

Edward rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll rebuild it eventually,” he replied, waving his hand. “You should know that there’s an… additional occupant to the house.”

Hohenheim raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t ask him to elaborate. 

“One of the homunculi is living with us now,” he explained, and winced a little as Hohenheim’s eyes widened in shock and disapproval. “Envy. They’re harmless, I swear, so you’d better not bother them, alright? Nobody cares about your opinion about it, so keep it to yourself.”

“Ed--”

“I said nobody cares about your opinion,” Edward snapped with a huff. This walk to relax wasn’t doing much in terms of helping him calm down - but it was making him want to go back to sticking by Envy, so at least there was that. Problem solved, he supposed.

Hohenheim pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head momentarily before picking up a briefcase he’d left beside the headstone. Edward noticed a bouquet of flowers that had been placed at the base too, and the anger broiling inside him started to calm a little. “I suppose that makes four of the dwarf’s children that made it out of the Promised Day alive, then,” he commented, before nodding toward the road. “Shall we go, then?”

His father began walking through the rows of graves, and Edward followed him. Envy, Greed, and Pride - now just Selim - were still around, he knew that much. That made three. But…

“What do you mean, four?”

Chapter Text

Envy stared down into the red hot liquid Greed had been dissolved in, worrying their lower lip between sharp teeth.

Father had controlled the seven homunculi with an iron fist, using fear as his primary motivator since Pride was created three and a half centuries ago. Greed was the only one of them who had been brave or stupid enough to try and escape his control, and now, he’d paid the price for it.

He’d run away when Envy was still very young for a homunculus, but they remembered how he’d tried to encourage his siblings to join him, particularly Lust. All five of them at the time had scoffed at the idea, been too afraid, but Envy and Lust had been quietly rooting for him and his newfound independence. Some good that did him.

“Envy.”

The sound of Father’s voice made their shoulders tense, and they quickly turned to face him. He sat in his throne as he always did, apathetic yellow eyes burning circles into their skin. He terrified them; Envy had been on the receiving end of his wrath many times. The creation of their youngest brother had only been a few short decades ago, and the first homunculus’s children had been his outlet before then. He’d been less angry and more annoyed since, but his attention was still unsettling.

“Yes, Father?” Envy replied, respectful, trying to hide their unease. The flat look their creator gave them offered no insight into his thoughts. Anxiety bubbled up in their chest, threatening to boil over, but Envy would do their best to keep it down - at least until the conversation was over.

“Neither you nor any of your siblings are considering defecting, are you?” Father’s eyes narrowed. Suspicion. The fear doubled; Envy’s artificial heart pounded in their chest.

“No, Father.” They did their best to keep their voice steady, hoping he was convinced. They were telling the truth, but that didn’t always mean they would be believed. “I would tell you right away if I heard anything about it.”

The stern expression remained on Father’s face a moment before turning into a more pleasant smile. This did nothing to ease Envy’s nerves. “Good,” he spoke, sounding pleased, and finally they began to relax. “We’re very close to the Promised Day, and can’t afford any more complications in our plan. I trust you’ll stay on track?”

So much for relaxing. “Yes, Father,” they replied. “I understand.”

Envy woke up alone.

The unpleasant memory made it difficult for them to adjust to the quiet, peaceful Resembool night for a moment. The light from the moon was just enough for them to read the clock - it was a few minutes after three in the morning.

Edward’s jacket was gone. He wasn’t in the bed or the room, and if he’d felt the need to add an extra layer, he might not even be in the house. Bitter betrayal began building in their chest. He’d promised to stay nearby and protect them, but the second they weren’t watching him, he up and left?

Had he snuck out to see someone else?

The very thought left them so jealous that they began to seethe with rage. It very briefly crossed their mind that they didn’t really have a right to act like they were getting cheated on - they had only kissed Edward the once, and he’d gone out of his way to end any conversation there. He’d returned the kiss, sure, but Envy was vaguely aware that humans his age were responsive to moves like that on an impulse. Not that they were much better, but still.

What if he’d avoided discussing the kiss because he wasn’t interested? What if he caught a midnight train to his girlfriend in Rush Valley because he was too disgusted to be in the same room as the ugly little green monster that kissed him?

Jealous rage and insecurity swept them up with the destructive force and speed of a hurricane. They shook, gripping Edward’s sheets so tightly that the fabric ripped ever so slightly. They were going to kill everyone in this house. Gut all three of them and take their corpses south to see Edward and Winry’s reactions before they killed them, too. Slowly and painfully. Then they’d crush their Philosopher’s Stone and end their miserable existence once and for --

Envy’s spiral was interrupted by the sound of footfalls in the hallway.

No matter how hard he tried to walk quietly, Edward’s heavy steel and carbon automail leg meant he moved with a series of light thuds and creaks. Almost immediately, Envy felt a little silly about their meltdown, wondering why they’d felt the need to assume the worst right off the bat. They heard Edward bid someone goodnight, and then watched the doorknob turn - they closed their eyes as the door opened, pretending to be fast asleep.

The homunculus listened as the former alchemist shut the door behind him and approached the bed. They could feel his golden eyes boring into them as he stood there a moment, and then his hands took hold of his - unfurling their fist, laying it flat on the bed. Their heart gave an unfamiliar flutter as his fingers lingered on theirs for just a moment.

They heard him sigh softly as he let go and made his way around the bed, settling in on his own side. After only a minute, he began to snore softly.

Envy opened their eyes again and turned over to look at him. Edward faced away from them, shoulders rising and falling with his steady breaths, wavy blond hair fanned out over the pillow. He had relaxed so quickly, maybe hadn’t even been on edge since he walked into the room - he had no idea that, just minutes ago, Envy had been fantasizing about how gorily they could kill him and the people he held most dear in the world.

Guilt was becoming more and more familiar to them, but they still didn’t like the heavy feeling as it settled into their chest and pooled into their gut. Edward had offered them a great kindness by forgiving them for everything they had done; they knew he was the type to hold a hell of a grudge. And here they were, willing to throw it away over an assumption. He gave them a lot of trust by allowing them to live in his home and sleep in his bed, so maybe they should try offering him some in exchange?

A little hesitantly, they reached out, letting some of Edward’s silky hair run through their fingers and fall back to the pillow. He exhaled softly in his sleep, adjusting just a bit, and they froze for a split second before deciding to be a little bolder. Their fingers traced along the scar tissue along his shoulder and what little of his side peeked out from the tank top.

Envy once thought less of humans for how fragile and slow to heal they were compared to homunculi. Now, though, they were starting to see the appeal of that particular imperfection. Everything Edward had been through - every moment of pain, every fight, every effort to bring back his brother’s body - was mapped out on his skin. It was beautiful; it showcased that he was a survivor.

They couldn’t help but admire him. But want him. The idea of hurting him now - of any harm coming to him whatsoever - made them feel a little nauseous.

They didn’t just want to be protected - they wanted to protect him, too.

Envy moved quietly and carefully as they scooted a little closer to Edward, wrapping an arm around his middle and gently grasping the arm underneath him. He mumbled and twitched in his sleep, hands going to unconsciously lay on top of theirs, and their heart gave another flutter.

art by scanlans-and-shorthalts.tumblr.com

Once they started holding him, they didn’t think they could get enough. Envy pulled Edward a little closer and laid their leg over his hip, trying to be mindful of what they knew was a sensitive network of scar tissue and connecting points for his automail. Edward sighed quietly in his sleep, and the last little bit of tension left his body. He was comfortable in their arms - he felt safe. 

A few months ago, Envy might have laughed at him and considered him stupid for it. Now, it was the highest honor they could possibly ask for. They rested their face on some of his hair, and watched the back of his head as he slept.

Affection was not, necessarily, an alien concept to Envy. They felt some for their sister - enjoyed her company, disliked seeing her hurt, and it still ached in their chest every once in a while when they thought about her for more than a few seconds. Attraction wasn’t new, either. They’d had sex with a good number of people for the sake of blending in with the community of whatever human they were impersonating, and several of those people had been quite appealing to them, handsome or beautiful and stirring up an aching need within them.

Romantic love, though?

That was new.

That was intimidating.

Stories they’d read told them it was this soft, warm thing, butterflies in the stomach and a longing for a kiss and shit like that. Envy had come to the conclusion that all that was true, sure. More than that, though, it was almost violent in the way it gripped their chest, burning almost as harshly as Mustang’s flames had. As evidenced by their immediate need to fantasize about violence when they thought things with Edward wouldn’t work out the way they wanted, it occupied their entire mind, their entire body.

It was their first time experiencing a want like this, which probably explained at least some of its intensity, but that only made it more unsettling. It was uncharted territory. Envy had no idea how to navigate or process any of it. They didn’t even know how to go about getting what they wanted - how were they supposed to say hey, pipsqueak, I’ve suddenly found you occupying every thought for every waking moment of every single day, and I want you, is that okay? without either coming across as way too desperate or being seen as insincere. Either would get them a bad reaction. 

Envy already knew Edward was the best of all humans, and since the Promised Day had to begrudgingly admit to seeing him as an equal to them. Whether Edward saw them as an equal was another question, though. He’d shown respect to them and their personhood and even gave the impression he was fond of them. But they also couldn’t quiet the worry that they were a charity case, given nice things in exchange for not going off the rails and killing people again.

They sighed. “You should’ve just let the colonel kill me, pipsqueak,” they whispered, nudging their forehead against the back of his head.

Still fast asleep, Edward didn’t grace them with a verbal response. Instead, he pressed his warm body back against theirs, gently holding their hands close to his chest. They were now thoroughly spooning the human, and he seemed downright pleased about it, letting out a contented little sigh and letting his limbs sprawl a bit; one of his thighs nudged between theirs, effectively pinning their own leg underneath him. His hair was so thoroughly in their face that it was almost annoying.

Then, they heard the sound of him murmuring something softly in his sleep.

Something that sounded an awful lot like their name.

Their heart skipped a beat and, overwhelmed, they buried their face in his hair against the back of his neck. Envy curled tightly around Edward, allowing themselves to enjoy his warmth, the feeling of his hands still holding onto theirs. They were more than happy to take that as a sign that not only were their feelings toward him completely acceptable, they might even be reciprocated.

Whether or not the human was ready for that was something they could wait for. For now, just the hint was good enough for them.

Chapter Text

The sun was shining into the bedroom when the sound of snoring stirred Envy from a dreamless sleep; they were a little irritated, but the feeling of someone very warm in their arms quickly made them soften. Edward was still fast asleep, curled up with his back still pressed against them and gripping their arm tightly. The small puddle of drool on his pillow might have disgusted them a short time ago, but now, they somehow found it endearing.

However, unfortunately, the heat his body was giving off was absolutely overwhelming. As much as they would have loved to continue holding the human until he woke up on his own, they didn’t think they could handle his temperature along with the heat of a summer morning. They shuffled out of his hold and hopped to their feet, stretching and glancing around the room.

Edward was usually the one feeding them, and it was rare for them to leave the upstairs bedrooms. Maybe they could change that a little and run downstairs to find their human some food; a glance at the clock told Envy it was late enough in the morning that Hawkeye had almost definitely left for the train station by now, and it sounded quiet outside of the bedroom. They opened the door as quietly as they could, creeping out into the hallway and down the stairs.

They were relieved to find the kitchen with ease - internally, they promised themself that if they were going to keep sticking around, they needed to wander the house at night so they could get used to navigating it. Admittedly, they were a little hopeless when it came to cooking - they rarely, if ever, did it themselves, even when they were in disguise - but they began rummaging through the cabinets in search of something quick and easy nonetheless.

As distracted as they were by their search, Envy didn’t realize someone was entering the kitchen and approaching them from behind until they noticed a shadow towering over them. They froze with their hand around a can of soup, turning their head to see who it was.

Envy had never had the displeasure of meeting Van Hohenheim face to face, but they were well aware of who he was. His square jaw and flat, almost stern expression were a dead ringer for their Father’s, although the wisps of straight hair that fell down his back were tied back into a low ponytail and were a gold that matched his son’s rather than the white that the first homunculus’s had become over time. They had worn his face enough times at the behest of their creator that they didn’t mistake one for the other, but looking at him still made their shoulders tense.

For several long seconds, human and homunculus stared at each other, golden eyes looking into violet as each tried to discern the other’s intentions. Envy doubted Hohenheim had much interest in hurting them, not when his son was around to vouch for them, but he knew a man so old and so influential in the study of alchemy would be more than capable if he perceived them as a threat.

“You’re Envy, right?” Hohenheim’s voice didn’t make it any easier to try and gauge what he was feeling; the question was free of emotion, his eyes remaining analytical. If they were a little less prideful, Envy would be squirming, but for now they bristled.

“Right.” They tried to keep their tone equally flat as they responded. “I live here because your son invited me to. I’m not going anywhere, and I promised not to hurt anyone.”

“So he told me last night,” Hohenheim responded, before finally stepping past them to reach into the pantry himself. They quickly moved to the side, watching cautiously as he dug around until he found a bag of flour. “As long as you maintain your end of the agreement by not bringing harm to any person, then I’m not going to fight him on it. I knew your creator for a very long time, and I knew exactly what he was jealous of. If anyone can help you get to some kind of solution, it’s Edward.”

A solution to their jealousy? Now that was a novel idea. Envy scoffed, ignoring Hohenheim gathering other ingredients as they continued looking around the kitchen. Surely there was a saucepan in one of these cabinets. “I may be created from my Father’s envy, but he and I are not the same. I was never his equal. You were the only one that he ever considered to be, and I did a pretty poor impression of you, apparently.” Remembering it made their skin crawl, and they subconsciously rubbed their arm with the can. “And I wasn’t stubborn enough to die, either.”

“That’s the case with any child. You may have inherited part of your father, but that doesn’t necessarily predestine you to follow in his footsteps. That is up to you, and you wouldn’t be the first of the dwarf’s children to carve your own path, either. Your sister and your brother have both done fine.”

Envy wasn’t sure if they would consider Greed’s current situation of being stuck sharing a body with a human fine, but they supposed that was his business, not theirs. They only had one sister, and Lust had spent her entire life in service to their Father, just like the rest of them; as far as they knew, the destruction of her Philosopher’s Stone at the hands of the damn general meant she couldn’t be recreated. If she could, surely Father wouldn’t have taken long to do it. She was loyal and an invaluable part of their operation; they didn’t function nearly as well without her.

“Are you senile, old man?” they asked with a scoff, turning their attention back to rifling through the cabinets. Finally, they found the saucepan they were looking for, and set it down on the stove. “My sister was the first of us to die, a full year ago. I doubt she ever even met you.”

As they emptied the can into the pan and turned the stove on, they looked back toward him, watching as he frowned and adjusted his glasses. “I met a young woman in Liore after the Promised Day with a rather obvious ouroboros tattoo on her chest. That’s the mark of your Father, isn’t it?”

Envy tensed, violet eyes narrowing. It definitely did sound like Lust - their family mark in the same place felt like too much of a coincidence. But Father wouldn’t recreate her without the other homunculi around to witness it, he was too prideful for that - and they were pretty sure that Lust wouldn't go however long it had been without seeking out her siblings. “You’re lying,” was the conclusion they eventually reached as the soup in the saucepan began to simmer.

“Why would I lie about this?” Hohenheim asked, putting his own gathered ingredients on the kitchen counter - far too close to the stove for Envy’s comfort. They bit their lip, staring down at the soup. “Misleading you about a deceased relative would be cruel.”

Their temper was starting to boil over - they fantasized about shifting their arm into something sharp and sticking it right between Hohenheim’s stupid ribs. They wanted nothing more than to watch the light leave his eyes and feel his warm blood turn cold. Envy swallowed thickly; they couldn’t hurt him, but fuck playing nice. They doubted Edward would care, considering his own distaste for this man.

“Lying to your wife about coming home and leaving her to die alone was cruel, but you didn’t seem to mind doing that,” they snapped, internally delighting as Hohenheim winced and frowned. “But you’re kind of a serial abandoner, aren’t you? My Father, your wife, your sons. That’s all I know about you. Quite the reputation you’ve built.”

Hohenheim simply stared at them a few moments before sighing and shaking his head, turning his attention to his cooking. A little annoyed he’d worked them up without even giving them the satisfaction of knocking him down, Envy quickly transferred the hot soup to a bowl before hurrying back upstairs. They resolved themself to leaving the room as rarely as possible again, wishing Edward didn’t live with so damn many other people.

Then again, they could always try striking out on their own again. Take on a new face and a new name and make an effort to blend into some other nowhere town that Mustang would never think to check. If Marcoh could do it, they could probably manage, especially if they stole some food to tide themself over for a while…

Upon opening the door and seeing Edward stretch with a yawn, though, the thought quickly left their mind. Golden waves shone in the late morning sun, his shirt hiked up just enough for them to catch a glimpse of the slightly paler skin of his stomach, his face all scrunched up a moment before relaxing back into an expression that looked only half awake. His eyes blinked open to look at them blearily.

He was so cute that Envy wanted to pour the entire bowl of soup down his shirt. Instead, they set it down on the nightstand.

“Thanks,” the former alchemist mumbled before picking up the bowl and bringing it to his lips. Envy felt a little dumb for forgetting a spoon, but clearly he didn’t mind using his hands.

The homunculus plopped down on the bed beside him, the metal springs of the mattress straining under their weight. Edward shot him a glare as he bounced and the soup nearly spilled; they ignored it. “Hohenheim’s a real bastard, isn’t he?” they asked, and Edward made a noise of agreement as he took another sip of soup. “He tried to convince me Lust is still alive. I saw the ashes of her stone myself.”

The human was silent a moment, busy swallowing and thinking, before he responded. “He told me that last night, too,” he replied. “I was thinking about taking a train to Liore to see for myself. It’s not that far, I shouldn’t be more than maybe a night, but I need to check with Alphonse first.”

If the pipsqueak thought the claim was credible enough to look into, then Envy couldn’t just let him go without them. Lust was their sister - the only friend they ever had until Edward came along. “I’m going with you,” they declared, getting to their feet. Even if Hohenheim’s claims were just lies - Envy wouldn’t get their hopes up until they’d seen her with their own two eyes - Liore was a pit of violence when they last saw it a year ago, and Edward didn’t have alchemy anymore. The thought of anything happening to him filled Envy with dread.

“Settle down,” Edward sighed, setting the bowl down to rub his eyes. “We’re not going anywhere yet. Like I said, I need to talk to Alphonse first and make sure he’ll be okay for a couple days.”

“Then when?” Envy whined, not caring if they were being impatient.

“Tomorrow. The day after, maybe, depending on what needs to be taken care of here.” Edward stretched again before getting to his feet, glancing at them briefly. “Oh, come on. Don’t look at me like that. You’re, what, a thousand years old? You can handle a day.”

“I’m a hundred and seventy five,” Envy huffed, a little insulted. They thought they were very cute and youthful despite living twice as long as most humans would. “Whatever. Just don’t take too long.”

Edward rolled his eyes and walked over to his dresser to ruffle through it in search of something to wear, as if he wasn’t just going to put on his usual tank top and cropped jacket. “Were you and Lust close? I thought the seven of you were more like coworkers than anything.”

Envy shrugged. “We were basically just coworkers, mostly. Lust was… different, though. She helped me learn how to act more human when I was born. I learned by copying her.” They remembered, distantly, the sound of her laughter whenever they tried a new form she thought looked uncanny. They’d been embarrassed at the time, but now they’d give anything to hear it again. “Then Gluttony came along, and only she really had the patience to look after him. I was never really close to him, I thought he was annoying, but the three of us were kind of like a family unit.”

The human nodded a bit, thoughtful. If there was anything Envy thought Edward could understand, it was care for a sibling; as far as they knew, he and his little brother had been attached at the hip since infancy. It seemed they were right, or maybe he was just waking up more, because when he spoke again he sounded a little more certain.

“We’ll definitely head to Liore soon, then. I promise.”