Chapter 3. Envy was NOT Fine

Envy sighed and twirled a pen through their fingers. They were perched on the end of Wrath's desk with one foot flat on the desk, knee just under their chin, and the other hanging off the edge.

"Envy!" Wrath snapped from the doorway.

"What is it old man?" Envy sulked, not taking their eyes off the pen.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have work to do?"

Envy gave an exaggerated sigh and launched themselves off the desk with their characteristic agility.

"Ugh, leave me alone."

Envy stomped past Wrath wishing their bare feet would make a louder noise to emphasise the point. They stomped all the way down the corridor before assuming a disguise, and even in the skin of an unremarkable soldier they still received a wide berth from the other soldiers in the command centre.

Envy hadn't wanted to see Wrath, but since Lust's murder, Envy -though they would never admit it- was often lonely. Lust had been the easiest of all their siblings for them to get along with, she was patient and always had time for Envy, no matter what manner of foul mood they were in. Now, instead of going to sit near Lust and slowly be drawn into a conversation by her, Envy spent a lot of time traipsing around trying to fill the gap they didn't even really realise she had left.

Still, one thing Envy could admit easily was that Wrath had lost all their respect after refusing to avenge Lust. Going to his office was a mistake, and Envy knew that if Father heard how they had just spoken to him there would be hell to pay.

Envy looked around, aware they had been walking without a purpose. It appeared they had somehow retraced the steps to Kimblee's old quarters. With a shrug Envy pushed the door open and curled themselves up on one of the plush chairs. Envy smiled wistfully, as they remembered the last time they had been here… with Kimblee. Now there was someone who understood.

Ugh, disgust washed over Envy and wiped the smile of their face. Kimblee was nothing. Just a pathetic human. He was up North now anyway, not Envy's problem anymore. He was nothing.

XXX

Kimblee could taste blood in his mouth. The ache in his side was fading and he knew that was bad. He had slipped in and out of consciousness several times during the journey. Now the train had stopped and Kimblee didn't know why, they weren't in a station.

A surge of adrenaline coursed through him as he heard voices round the corner.

"Hey, you! What happened?!"

"Hang in there!"

"What are you doing on this train."

Uncharacteristic anger built up inside Kimblee.

"Who told you that you could stop this train?" He raged, grasping to pull one of the men in close.

He could see concern in the eyes of the men. That wasn't good. Maybe this was it…

"Yes.. that's right… death is coming." Kimblee could hear the mania in his own voice, it was unbecoming, but his grip on reality was fading.

"He who brings death sees death every day. It means nothing to me. Only work where I can risk my soul has any beauty. How glorious it is…" The corners of his vision were moving closer together and black spots swam in front of his eyes.

I guess I'm done…

XXX

Envy was not okay. They flung the phone across the room with such force that cracks appeared in the wall.

"Arhhhh!"

What was the solution to this? Rational thinking was not Envy's strength in times of emotion. Despite their intelligence most of their bad decisions were a direct result of an emotion Envy was unable to process.

Do I need to go up there? Envy wondered. Kimblee was his responsibility after all. The image of Wrath's mocking laugh if they had to admit their pet human had failed was haunting. Envy clawed at their face as if they could somehow tear out the internal debate.

There was no other choice, they would have to travel North to see this situation right.

XXX

By the time Envy arrived outside the hospital they were feeling very ill tempered. The chill in the air penetrated through the swathes of thick fabric wrapped around their slender frame and Envy was sure they would never feel warm again. To make matters worse, they knew it was time to shed the not-warm-but-far-less-cold layers to assume a disguise to get inside.

Envy's scowl was etched onto their face as the flickers of red winked out, leaving a middle aged woman in their wake. Envy hated being old, every fibre of their being craved to be young and cute and everytime they had to assume a disguise such as this it filled them with an irrational fear that people would see them like this. Which of course they would.

Shaking snow off their newly created military uniform, Envy stepped inside and purposefully strode past the main entry desk.

"Um, excuse me Ma'am, can I help?" A voice called behind them. Envy gritted their teeth and ignored the unintended slight.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't want to bother you. I already know where I'm going. I'm with the military." Envy gestured toward the corridor heavily guarded by military soldiers. Fawning to these humans made their blood boil, but Envy was in character and merely smiled sweetly.

"Ah okay. He's… uh. That is to say, I'm not sure he should be receiving visitors right now, respectfully, Ma'am."

Envy inhaled slowly.

"Well this can't wait. A soldier can't always chose to receive orders when it's convenient." Envy tapped the stars on their shoulder indicating their superior rank and began walking again. The woman's protestations faded out of earshot and when no footsteps followed, Envy assumed the issue was resolved.

XXX

Envy was feeling apprehensive as they approached the door to the private hospital room. The extent of Kimblee's wounds hadn't been fully explained but the overall impression they had given Envy on the phone was that it did not look good.

"Sir!" A soldier called, stepping aside and holding the door open for Envy.

The door swung shut behind them. The inside of the room was dark and quiet but for a faint hum of machines. The stench of death and blood hung heavy in the air.

"Kimblee." Envy hissed.

The alchemist stirred and gave a slight moan, but otherwise made no sign to show he had heard.

Envy reverted back to their preferred form with a crackle of red.

"Kimblee." They tried again in a more familiar voice.

There was no response.

Envy stood back, hands on their hips, to survey the damage. Kimblee's pale skin was now paper white, sweat was beaded on his forehead and the shadows under his eyes looked more like bruises. It made Envy uncomfortable to look at.

A feeling sparked in the pit of Envy's stomach, they felt sort of sick but not the usual sick-with-disgust feeling.

Envy perched on the edge of the bed and toyed with the wires which were keeping him alive. One swift pull and Kimblee's lifeline would be destroyed.

He was so… fragile.

It was almost peaceful, sitting here in the dark listening to Kimblee's slow breathing. Envy laid a hand over his chest unsurely, taking comfort in the rhythmic beating. They supposed they should stay until he woke up, and he would wake up, if he didn't Envy would kill him themself.

Envy curled up on the corner of the bed with one hand still resting lightly on Kimblee's chest. It had been a long time since they had been so calm. They didn't even realise their eyes had started to close.

XXX

Sometime in the hours before dawn Kimblee became aware that he was not alone, there was a pressure on his chest which had not been there before. His eyes flickered open, a hand? Kimblee turned his head slowly and saw a mass of black hair atop a small figure nestled next to him.

Is that… ? Envy?

Kimblee found he wasn't as surprised as he should be, but he didn't have the energy right now to understand what that meant.

XXX

Sunlight was just beginning to spill into the room, when Envy awoke. They blinked a few times before leaping up off the bed with wild eyes.

Kimblee was still unconscious. Good, Envy thought, there was no way they could explain this to him. What had they been thinking?

Envy was in such a rush to leave they barely remembered to assume the disguise they had worn on entering. They hurtled back through the hospital as quickly as possible without drawing attention to themselves and didn't stop until they were safely outside.

Leaning against a wall, Envy paused to catch their breath. It was snowing again but they were too consumed by other emotions to even feel it.

Nothing about the situation was okay. Envy wondered if they should go back inside and just finish what Scar had started. They couldn't afford distractions, and whatever last night had been, it was definitely a distraction.

Envy shook themselves. No, it was only a distraction if they let it distract them. And that would only happen if it meant something. Which it didn't. So it was fine.

Envy thought of Lust, she would always tell them to take advantage of the calm, after all, her life had been even longer and more full of challenges than their own. 'Envy, dear, you need to learn how to be still,' she would say whenever they were impatient, or frustrated.

That's all they had been doing, making the most of a moment of calm.

He meant nothing. Envy was fine.


A/N So not sure if this chapter made too much of a leap and I thought about re-writing parts of it but I decided to leave as is. After all it's a Kimvy fic, so it's got to have a few moments where they actually seem to like each other :3 … Hope you enjoyed it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of the characters.