Envy Vasilyev sat alone in his dorm room. Not a single light was turned on. He sat there in the room, with only the tiniest amount of light shining through the black-out blinds. The sun was setting. The rays of sunshine striped the hardwood floor. Envy stared at the wall opposite him, a blank expression on his face as he daydreamt. The clock on the wall chimed a haunted tune, echoing throughout the room. He could hear the clock ticking somewhere in the back of his mind.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
He reached into his backpack on the floor, pulling out a syringe. He eyed it, smirking to himself as he did so, flicking the syringe with his fingers.
Tick.
He pulled up the sleeve of his shirt, his porcelain-white arm almost glowing in the darkness of the room.
Tick.
He studied the many pinprick-like scabs on his arm, searching for a good vein to inject the heroin in to.
Tick.
Envy found a vein that had not yet suffered any abuse. He lined the needle up to the vein, the point of the needle pressing down ever so slightly.
Tick.
He pushed the syringe plunger down, the needle slowly disappearing underneath his skin. He let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. The clock seemed to stop ticking, or maybe he just couldn't hear it anymore.
Fifteen milligrams. Fifteen milligrams, and he was free.
Edward Elric walked down the long corridor of the dormitory building. There were twelve floors in this building, and of course, he had been assigned to a dorm room on the very top floor. It wasn't horrible – he didn't have a problem with heights. He was just hoping for something a little closer to the ground so he wouldn't have to deal with idiots pressing all sorts of buttons in the morning when he needed to get to his classes on time.
He pressed the button with the number "12" on it. It lit up, and he felt the elevator lift off of the ground. He waited, silently, looking down at his phone to see if his brother, Al, had texted him. No new messages. It wasn't a surprise seeing as how it was nine o'clock at night. Al had to be up for school in the morning. Ed's classes didn't start for another two days.
As he waited to reach his dorm's floor, he let his mind wander. He knew he was sharing a dorm with somebody – he just didn't know who. Ed hoped that it would be someone quiet and at least somewhat intelligent. He really didn't feel like dealing with any more idiots than he had to while he was at college. He had already seen a fair few frat boys on his way to the campus itself.
The elevator doors opened, and he stepped out of the small space, looking to his left. All he saw was the end of the hallway, a snack machine, and a soda machine. He looked to the right and saw a very long, carpeted hallway. There were so many doors in the hallway; he thought he would never find his room.
He dragged his suitcase along behind him, peering at the brass numbers on each of the doors. Finally, he found the one he was looking for a pushed open the door. Darkness consumed the room. Ed raised an eyebrow and reached into the dark room, feeling around for a light switch. He grasped the little switch and flicked it up, illuminating the dorm and everything in it.
Everything looked normal. There were two beds, one of them messy; the other one was very neat and looked untouched. He swung his suitcase up onto the tidy bed and started unpacking. A loud noise broke the silence, and Ed froze for a moment. He spun around in a circle, trying to find out what had made that horrific, rasping noise.
"Turn it off," a voice rasped.
Ed jumped when the pile of blankets on the bed next to his moved. A guy with long, black hair sat up very slowly. His eyes were so bloodshot, Ed couldn't even tell what color they were.
"What?" Ed said, confusedly.
"The light. Turn off the fucking light!" he said, eyes widening slightly.
Ed normally wouldn't take orders from anyone, much less someone he had just met. But something told him that now was not the time to argue with this new acquaintance of his. He flipped the light switch off and was once again enveloped in darkness. He heard some shuffling. A dim light appeared from beside his bed. The guy had turned on a lamp on the nightstand.
"Name?" he said quietly.
"Edward Elric…" replied the blond.
"I'm Envy."
"Pleased to meet you," Ed almost snarled.
"The pleasure," Envy narrowed his eyes at his new dorm mate, "is all mine."