Won 2nd place for fma_fic_contest's week 104: turn a cliche on its head. Alternate manga ending AU.
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There were stringy bits of meat left in his teeth. Envy could feel a particularly stubborn gathering between his lower left molars, refusing the will of his tongue and staying firmly in place. He couldn't get anything done, the feel of it was so distracting.
"Is there a reason you're fidgeting?" Lust paused in adjusting her blouse in front of the mirror.
"Somethin' in my teeth." Envy shifted on the edge of the bed, legs crossed delicately at the ankles. "Filet was undercooked, I think."
Lust mouthed the word, undercooked, and curled her lip. "You're disgusting. Now, tell me – one button undone, or two?" She tugged the blouse down, one thin brow raised in question.
Head tilted to the side, Envy frowned. "Three." Lust rolled her eyes.
"I'm going to a military ball, you heathen. Not a brothel."
"Coulda fooled me," he grinned. Lust unbuttoned her blouse two down and left the room – but not before taking a swipe at Envy's head, the resounding smack satisfying enough to put a smile on her face.
"Bitch!" Envy called after her, one hand rubbing at the back of his head.
He'd wasted enough time playing with Lust. Father expected him. In fact… Envy pulled out the scratched up silver watch, flicking open the lid. Father had expected him twenty minutes ago.
"Damn," he muttered, and hurried off down the hall.
The white doors were as grand as they ever were, but tonight, they were especially lovely, adorned for the ball. Envy pushed through them, sneering. Parties, he thought.
What a waste.
"Dad," he greeted, giving an exaggerated bow before his father's throne.
Father curled his fingers over the long marble arms, sitting up a bit straighter. He was still moving stiffly, unused to his new body, but Envy could see his improvement. "I hear you were quite busy last night, my son," Father said, the familiar voice, dry as the desert, sounding strange from the deceptively young mouth.
"I was just taking care of the leftovers," Envy said casually. Inside, he was preening, pleased that Father finally took notice of his good works.
"There were parts we could still use," Father began.
"Metal bits?" Envy guessed. "I left them in the doc's work room. You want me to move them?"
"No," Father said, adopting a bored expression. "I merely wanted to see that you hadn't eaten them. You've been rather gluttonous as of late."
The implied criticism struck Envy straight where he knew his heart should be. He looked down. Had it been Gluttony himself, Father would never have said that, Envy thought with no small amount of bitterness. But Envy took a few bites of something exotic by human standards, and he gets scolded?
"I apologize," he said stiffly. Father waved him away.
"I expect to see you at the festivities," Father's voice crept through the cracks in the doors as they closed.
Envy scowled.
Eternity with these fools promised to leave him dull, to leave him bored and misunderstand and underappreciated. The world was sadly more interesting before the war, and coming from Envy, that was saying something.
It was with that thought that Envy gleefully skipped down the main corridors of their family home, past the personal quarters and down the stairs to the room across from the workroom.
He'd left the lights on after his last visit, just for his guest's enjoyment. Some days, the shrimp was more companionable than on others. Last night had been one of those moments.
Dinner had, anyway.
"Morning sunshine," Envy announced, knocking loudly on the wall. Fullmetal groaned, the single eye left in his head rolling toward the open door. He no longer bothered trying to drag himself away. He might, Envy thought, had he any arms, but Envy had taken care of that early on.
"You didn't eat your food," Envy said, allowing disappointment to infect his words. "I made it for you. Be a little more grateful, why don't you?"
Fullmetal opened his mouth, tried to speak – the only thing that came out was a pathetic gnnnghh sound, barely even human. Envy grabbed the plate from the floor, kicked the stool over from the corner of the room, and squatted down in front of the alchemist. "Here, I'll help."
"No," Fullmetal croaked, the first word he'd offered in days. Envy patted his cheek.
"It's no trouble," he said with a smile. "We've been over this, Shrimp. Open wide." The meat was fetid, had been sitting in the cell for days, a product of Fullmetal's own being. When Envy ripped off the first chunk and pressed it against the squirming alchemist's lips, he said, "As self-sustaining as you humans are, you're still managing to starve yourself. Are you really that stupid?"
Fullmetal squirmed so hard at that, he managed to flop himself onto his side, bracing himself by the stump of his arm. Envy grabbed a fistful of his dirty, matted hair and pulled Fullmetal right up into his face. "I help you out, and this is what you do? Filthy, disgusting huma—"
And then the little shit had the nerve to spit right in his face.
Envy shoved him so hard he went flying into the wall and collapsed into a heap on the floor. "See if I help you any time soon," Envy hissed, already in the doorway. "See if I don't just let you die!"
As he moved to close the door, he saw blood trickling out of the stump of his guest's left arm, the stringy remnants of muscle and fascia steeping in the new pool. If he left now, Fullmetal would die. Envy thought on that, then on the other guests he had lining the cells, each ready and waiting for his attention.
Envy closed the door on Fullmetal, leaving the stupid fuck to drown in his own blood, if he could even manage that. Gluttony could have the rest.
He wasn't that hungry, anyway. He'd had quite the meal last night.