Chapter 10: Going back
"I'll take you there."
The blonde head turned to look at him, golden eyes narrowing. "What?" Ed was already dressed, and was busy plaiting his flaxen hair into a messy braid.
Envy bent over, picking up the tray that had been knocked over during his scuffle with Roy. "I'll take you to the hideout." He repeated. He gently set it on top of a dresser.
"Why?"
Envy looked up, his eyes meeting liquid gold. "Do I need a reason?" He retorted, eyes and voice cold. The pharaoh glared for a moment longer, then turned and began pulling out a box from underneath the bed, setting it on the mattress before sitting next to it. He opened it, pulling out a cloth and a bottle of machine oil, intending to clean his automail after getting it wet from his shower.
"When do you want to leave?" He asked the thief, knowing it would be best to let him plan everything out. The Sin sat on top of a table, crossing his long legs underneath him.
"I'd like to leave tonight. Everyone's only there at night, sometimes, so it'd be best to arrive then. You'd have a better chance of catching them all that way." Ed nodded, waiting for him to continue.
Envy was silent for a moment, hesitating. "I don't want to bring a lot of soldiers with us." He quickly explained, trying to calm the defensive eyes. "It's a desert. There's no foliage to hide in, and you have a better chance of sneaking up on them if there isn't a whole army charging at them. A party that large would be spotted a mile away."
After a few more moments, Ed went back to his task. He heard Envy just barely breathe a sigh of relief, before he continued explaining his idea.
Edward nodded at the end. He understood the plan, and he had no problem leaving most of his men behind, because he didn't want unnecessary casualties. He was just afraid the thief would leave him and then he'd never find his brother again. After all, you can't trust a thief.
His automail arm gleamed in the sunlight, all the way up to his elbow. Unable to reach up to his shoulder, he unbuttoned the black jacket he wore, shrugged it off, and then pulled off the black tank top underneath it.
Envy stared. Although the pharaoh's body was toned, several scars traced across his abdomen from the automail surgery, another constant reminder of the past. There were also lighter scars from what must have caused the actual injury. When the silver metal gleamed completely, Ed lowered his arm and bent down to roll up his left pant leg. He stopped just above his knee, but caught Envy staring.
"What are you looking at?" he snapped.
The violet-eyed boy shrugged innocently, then turned around and leaned backwards until he was hanging upside down, eyes closed, hands locked behind his head. He listened as Ed continued to clean the prosthetic limbs, his eyes still closed.
Finally he heard Ed stand up. "Come on." The blonde said impatiently. Envy opened his eyes, and upon seeing the pharaoh waiting for him, he placed his hands on the ground beneath his head, doing a back flip to land on his feet. He followed the other out, curious as to where they were going.
Edward answered Envy's unspoken question. "We're going to the stables, and if there's anything else we need, we should get that too." Envy merely nodded.
They passed through the gardens, and Envy hung back a few paces as Ed went up and talked to Roy and the blonde woman. They both nodded and stood up, Roy turning around and leaving immediately, but the blonde stopped short.
She stared directly at Envy, her red eyes holding neither hate nor like. In a fluid motion, she had moved, and Envy found himself staring right at a gun, the safety clicked to off. "Don't try anything funny. You do and…" She let the threat hang in the air, but it had no effect on the thief.
Envy just stared back, his gaze as even as ever. The female's eyes narrowed, and she looked as if she could kill him without a second thought.
"Riza! Come on! We're going to be late!" Roy called back to her. Riza gave one last glare towards the green-haired thief, then turned and stalked back to the palace, where Roy was waiting. The two men who had watched her leave, felt the air suddenly grow lighter, easier to breathe.
"Wow." Ed breathed. "You're pretty lucky to even be alive."
Envy's face remained in an emotionless mask, even though his insides were quivering. First Roy, and then Riza. Did everyone hate him that much?
"She's almost as scary as Teacher. Almost." He added with a grin. Then his face shifted, becoming all business. "Come on. Let's head to the stables."
XXXXX
"Go ahead. Pick whichever one you want." Ed gestured vaguely around the large corral, where numerous horses were grazing. They all looked well kept and happy, their coats gleaming. Envy watched as several horses lifted their heads to look at the newcomers.
"Ohayo, Mom." A chestnut colored mare with hazel eyes had walked up to them, and the pharaoh wrapped his arms around her neck, burying his head in her mane. Her own head turned to gently grasp Ed's messy braid between soft lips.
"Yeah. You always could do it better." He murmured. His head rose from her soft fur, golden eyes softhearted. "Mom, I'm sorry. I know I promised to keep Al safe. But I'm going to protect him now. Can you carry me once more? I know I'm heavier than before." The mare snorted gently, and nuzzled his cheek in reply.
Unable to take watching the completely different blonde, Envy wandered around the field, running his hand along the horses' sides as he passed. Sighing, he sat down near the fence, staring up at the slightly pink sky. A black and white pinto stallion grazed slowly up to him, thrusting his muzzle under Envy's hand. The thief complied, rubbing up and down the horse's cranium.
The thief stood up suddenly, picking up a handful of long grass. He began to walk back to where he last saw the pharaoh, making sure the horse was following. The short blonde wasn't anywhere in the corral, so Envy peeked in the stables. Inside, he gaped.
Ed was standing inside a stall, gently brushing the mare's brown fur. Her ears were perked towards his murmuring voice, listening. Her head lifted as she sensitive hearing picked up Envy's footsteps, along with the other horse's. Ever so gently, she pushed Edward backwards, signaling to him that there was someone else.
"Is that the one you like?" he asked, still comforted by the mare's presence. His eyes didn't hold the same fire it usually did. He seemed calmer, happier. Envy nodded, letting the pinto horse pull the grass out of his limp hand. Ed's eyes widened in awareness. "Mom, this is…umm…" he trailed off when he realized that he didn't even know the thief's name, shifting uncomfortably.
"Envy." He supplied helpfully. He ignored the embarrassed blonde, and instead picked up a brush of his own and began to groom the black and white stallion. Silence fell between the two, staying until sunset, when Roy, Riza, and about twenty other soldiers arrived, clad in armor and ready to fight.
Riza had two pistols, one on each hip, and a gun slung across her back. Roy had his hands in the pockets of his blue outfit, most likely concealing his alchemic gloves. The blue attire seemed to be a uniform, as all the soldiers, including Riza wore it. The only ones who didn't wear it were Envy, Ed, and a black-haired woman who walked right up to Ed.
"I'm coming with you." She told him boldly. She wore black cotton capris and a sleeveless white overcoat that served as her shirt and fell to her knees. Under her collarbone on her left side was a red tattoo, the same marking that was on Ed's jacket.
"But Teacher-" He started.
"Don't argue." She snapped, and walked away.
Envy glared after her. Her black eyes had said what Riza had in words. To 'not try anything funny' or 'betray them'. He growled softly to himself, thoroughly pissed. Did nobody trust him? His thoughts transferred to Pride, and how that bastard had left him to be captured, not even lifting a finger to help, even after Envy had helped them all escape.
Lucky me. Envy thought. I get to go hunt down a traitor to retrieve a son of a traitor, with people who think I will betray them. How wonderful.
He was brought from his thoughts as Ed began to explain the plan to the others. When he finished, Envy stepped up.
"One last thing. When the hideout comes into view, keep to the left side and wait there. The main room is on the right; my room is on the left. That's where we'll be. I'll flash a light twice, then start coming towards us. When you first come in, we'll attack." He ended his explanation, searching their eyes for questions. He found none, as most wouldn't even look at him normally.
He shrugged, and led the black and white horse out of the stables, mounting the stallion without saddle or bridle. He heard the pharaoh say one last thing to his soldiers. "Wait about twenty minutes, then start to come after us. And don't worry. He won't do anything."
As the blonde led his own mare out, saddled and bridled with care, Envy readjusted his headband to rest lower on his forehead, to keep the sand out of his eyes. Without even asking each other, the two took off.
Turning his head ever so slightly and looking back out of the corner of his eye, Envy saw three people had watched them go: Roy, Riza, and Ed's teacher. Their eyes seemed to be trained on him, making sure he couldn't do anything as long as he was within eyeshot.
Envy snorted, and concentrated on making sure they wouldn't loose their path, the blonde pharaoh following him. An inaudible sigh escaped the thief, burdened with thoughts of complete trust from so many people.
Basically, Envy doesn't like responsibility. /Nods/ I know Ed's teacher is Izumi Curtis, but no one introduced her to Envy, so yeah, I didn't use her name yet. I think I did in chapter 2 or 3 ish…
So?! What did you think?! I think this is going along nicely. And I believe next chapter is the first one with a kiss in it/EEP!!/ It's nothing heavy, just something I decided would start the growing of affection in our two favorites' hearts. SO, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would like it very much!! And, I'd like to thank the people who still read this, despite my late updating of chapter 9. /Bows/
-- Editors Note!!
What's this?!?!? A kissing scene!!!! (Insert happy dance here). Finally, I must say! I've been waiting for ages to read one. And I bet all you readers have too! So, if you really want a kissing scene between the hot Ed and sexy Envy, Then PLEASE review! WE all love to get reviews, don't deny it I know it's true. Everyone who reviews is a ledged! Peace Far.
--Writer
Oh Panic! It's not huge! And your complement kinda makes me ashamed that it's not the super heavy make-out scene I know everyone wants. Waaaaah!!! I'm trying! I promise, this next chapter will start their relationship going. BTW, I'll eventually tell why Ed calls his horse 'Mom'. Next chappie, I think…