Something About You

Part two

Al trotted down the stairs the next morning, fixing his ponytail just right and stopped short when he saw Ed. His brother had about ten books open in front of him, plus the papers he'd been keeping notes on. They were all at the breakfast table where he was munching away, still apparently trying to sort out things in his head.

"Um...Brother?"

"Morning, Al." Ed said, looking up. "Sleep good?"

Al shrugged and rubbed the back of his head as if he was still really tired, smiling dazedly and sleepily. "And where am I supposed to sit amongst this mess?"

The older alchemist looked at the table for a moment and laughed. "Oops. Sorry about that." He closed a few of the books he thought he was done with and moved them next to his chair.

"Thanks." Al picked up a cup of tea and sat down, sipping it with a small wince at the flavor. "All the tea in Germany is so...not my ingredients."

Ed sighed in reply and rubbed his forehead, going over a paragraph for the fifth time and barely heard his younger brother. "Eh ... nothing here is really that great at all ... "

Al spoke, feeling a little embarrassed. "You're really beating yourself up over this, aren't you?"

Ed peered back up again after scribbling something down. "Hmm? ... Al, I'd said I'd find us a way home, and I will."

The other blonde nodded and took another sip of the potent German tea. Ed scribbled a bit more down on his page and finally sat back in his chair, slamming the nearest book closed. "I can't help it. I have to go find more books. These just don't have all the information I need."

Al gazed out the window and down to the streets below, biting his lip. "I'll go with you."

"Are you sure?"

The younger alchemist nodded, not being able to hold his brother's gaze for too long before a slight tinge of pink appears on his cheeks. "I'm sure."

Ed bit his lip, the thought crossing his mind that he seemed to do that alot around Al before nodding slowly. "Alright, but stay close to me, okay?"

Al's nodding sped up rapidly. "I wouldn't dream of wandering the streets alone."

Ed quickly made his way to the university library, checking every five seconds to make sure that Al was right behind him. He was almost tempted to hold his brother's hand if it wouldn't have looked strange to others and make him blush like crazy. Al kept up with his brother, but he didn't want to be too close ... his body, although he had been in it a few years now, still reacted strangely occasionally around Ed and he didn't want to be too suspicious. The older alchemist brushed his hand against Al's as he checked for the last time before coming to a halt at a table and sighing, looking away so Al couldn't notice his face turning a little pink.

"... if I leave you right here, will you be okay? I have a lot of books to look up."

Al cleared his throat and scratched behind his ear quickly with the hand that brushed against his brother's, trying to ignore the heightened tingling. "Um...I can't help?"

"If you want to, you can... I just didn't want you to get bored or something ... " Ed stated before beginning to look around the room at the various bookshelves. Al nodded and began to browse the bottom shelf, sitting gently on the floor.

Neither of them noticed a small puddle of dark smoke that looked almost like blood landing directly behind Ed, in a pattern that looked like it'd already fallen and dried there before. Ed froze for a second, a strange feeling coming over him, and turned around slowly, staring at the floor. "... Al ..."

Al looked over to his brother, his eyes widening at the stain on the floor and the drops still slowly falling after it.

A familiar voice came down chokingly above the two of them. "Well, now, I didn't even have to send invitations for a family reunion."

Ed looked up in surprise and hissed out his words. "What the hell are you doing here, Envy?"

"Just sort of hanging out." The remains of Envy's body started hacking immediately after the statement. "Ah, so my body doesn't like the bad humor.."

Al winced at the sound as Ed spoke. "Funny, Envy, this is really a time to be kidding around ..." He glanced back at Al to make sure he was alright.

"Hmm, and just what might be going on for you to come at me with that angry face?"

Al nodded at his brother and climbed in so he was under the circle, looking up at Envy himself.

Envy cackled. "Is that Alphonse?"

Ed put an arm slightly in front of Al, protectively, deciding to not answer Envy's question. "I just want to know why you're here."

The homunculus raised an eyebrow skeptically and shrugged, his image fading in and out whenever he moved a lot. "Stuck."

The older blonde almost smirked, still glaring. "That has to suck."

Envy sneered back. "Indeed."

Al tugged on his brother's pant leg, whispering, "Now isn't the time to be mentally killing each other."

Ed nodded at Al, turning back to Envy with the same uncaring expression. "So what do you want me to do about it?"

"What makes you think you're so special that I would WANT you to do something? You came here." He coughed again, his voice more raspy than usual. "And so help me, I can't control that."

"You didn't have to bother me with your nonsense ... I'm just a little more than busy."

Envy smirked knowingly. "Trying to find a way back."

Al bit his lip and tapped his fingers on the floor, staring at them.

"... what's it to you?" Ed frowned up at Envy.

The homunculus felt his smirk widen to spread almost maniacally across his constantly fading in and out face. "It's nothing to me."

"I figured." Ed rolled his eyes. "Why don't you leave us alone then?"

"Mmkay, fine, I guess you don't want to go home."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Al chuckled. "It means he knows how to get back."

"Aha! One of you has a brain."

"Hilarious today, aren't we?" Ed grumbled, his eyes narrowing. "Wait, why would I believe you anyway?"

"Well, you need a Homunculus, don't you? Everyone knows that."

The younger alchemist stood up and went in front of his brother. "We were trying to find a better way since there wasn't one at our disposal."

"There is no other way."

"Too bad they're all dead. Except you. And you're mostly dead anyway." Ed folded his arms.

"Quite. Which means that you'd need to learn quite a different transmutation circle if you wanted to use me."

The older blonde paused, looking at his brother and back at Envy. "This isn't some kind of trick, is it?"

Envy coughed for about a minute before stopping. "Look. I am sick of it up here. I want to get down, but I can't. I would honestly rather die than stay here a minute longer." He stopped and smirked to himself. "But I'm not about to hand myself to you on a silver platter unless you're willing to do some work, Eddy."

"UGH!" Ed shuddered at the nickname, frustrated. "You're a serious ass, Envy ..."

"Have fun trying, you two. If you can find the correct circle, I'll let you use me to open the gate without a single complaint. On my honor as a half dead lying Homunculus."

"... I still hate you. Let's go, Al."

Al bowed a little to Envy but not too much, knowing one of them had to be kind enough to thank him for his ... almost help, and followed his brother.

A/N: Don't like, don't read! Thanks for the reviews, sorry I'm so slow! ^^;