Aaaargh! Sorry for such a late update, my teachers are hating on me ;A; Either way, THANK YOU MY LOVELY READERS! I love your reviews and your story alerts and your favorites that happily fill up my inbox ^o^ But most of all, I love you guys! Though, I have a warning for this chapter: Envy's language does get a bit out of hand. But only for a bit!
Now, after that long author's note, I not-so-humbly present you with Chapter 10! Enjoy, my chiblettes~!
-Chapter Ten-
Envy and Ed made their way back to the school grounds, only to turn in another direction to go to the local park. The sign on the iron fence proclaimed, "Lakeside Sanctuary; No littering or unauthorized feeding of the animals." It was early evening by that time; Edward's phone told him it was exactly 5:16PM. The air was a bit chilly for September, but nonetheless Envy exhibited no signs of being cold. A healthy breeze swept through the tall oak trees that lined the asphalt path the two walked on, rustling the leaves and scattering twigs that lay on the ground. The leaves had just started to turn, giving the park a slightly yellow color. A light scent of rain was in the air; Edward guessed its origin was the lake that stood at the center of the lush sanctuary. Envy found that there could not have been a more perfect day.
"It sure is quiet," Edward commented. "It's kind of nice." Envy looked at him, and gave him a small smile.
"It's fabtastical," he agreed. The blonde chuckled. The two continued to walk in silence, gradually making their way to the glassy lake where gazebos were dotted around the edges. Ed noticed that almost all of them were occupied by couples or bigger groups of friends; he came to realize how incredibly homosexual he and Envy looked together. Yet, something inside of him told him that there was no reason for him to be embarrassed by that fact.
The setting sun's light glittered across the stagnant lake, unaffected by the blowing wind. Envy searched around the border of the body of water, and upon spotting an empty gazebo, he pulled Edward by the hand to go into it. Each of the wooden structures were relatively far apart, but Envy felt a bit self-conscious about executing his plan when he was surrounded by other people. However, he was reassured by the fact that the blonde had no problem with it.
"Hey, Envy?" Ed called, causing the black-haired boy to immediately respond due to his heightened heart rate.
"Yeah, Ed?" He responded.
"Aren't you a bit cold? I could give you my jacket, or something," he answered, the volume of his voice decreasing along with his confidence in the sentence. Envy chuckled.
Trying to pull that move on me? He responded inwardly, chuckling.
"Didn't I tell you before? I'm hot-blooded," he said simply, leaning his elbows on the edge of the gazebo wall that faced the lake. The blonde blushed, but then he loosened his braid to feel the wind whisk through it. He sighed in pleasure. Envy stole a look at the boy, watching his golden hair whip around in the wind. He had never seen it down before; at least, not from what he could remember.
"I love windy days like this," he said, turning to Envy. The black-haired boy nodded, feeling the wind brush through his messy hair as well.
"Same." Was his response. The two stood in silence again, just staring out towards the lake and watching a couple of ducks swim by. A thought came to Envy's mind; one that would speed up the process leading up to his big plan that he refused to disclose, even in his inner monologue.
"So, O'Chibi-san," he began playfully. "What was that project you were assigned in Creative Writing? You never told me." He saw the blush rise on Ed's face. "Can you at least tell me the subject?"
"N-No, it's too personal..." the blonde responded embarrassedly.
"Aww, come on, Ed. It can't be that personal if you're expected to hand it in and perhaps read it aloud," Envy reasoned, attempting to use logos on the analytical blonde to get his way. Edward considered this.
"But still, it's just... kinda embarrassing, that's all," Ed responded, still stubborn. However, what Ed didn't know was that Envy actually knew what the assignment was: he had overheard Lust and her acquaintance Lan Fan talking about the project the latter was assigned, but he feigned ignorance just so he could coax Edward into saying it, thus leading into the next step of his plan. It was a bit sadistic, but Envy never cared about being seen that way. He quite enjoyed that image, if that could be said.
"Well, at least tell me the general topic," Envy pressed, edging a bit closer to the blonde.
"...emotions," Ed responded reluctantly, keeping it as ambiguous as possible.
"What kind of emotions?"
"Emotions that you feel."
"Feeling emotions? That's so weird, I would've never thought!" Envy responded sarcastically, grinning to let Edward know he was kidding. "Is there a specific emotion?"
"Yeah," Ed remained incredibly ambiguous and secretive. This was going to be harder than Envy thought.
"What is it?"
"A... relatively good emotion." Envy was losing his patience. He stepped right next to Ed, swung his head in front of Edward's eyes, and stared right into his soul.
"And the name of that emotion would be?" He asked, not blinking. The boy with golden eyes stared back amusedly, slightly smiling and blushing at the same time.
"It's something you might not have heard of, it's called love." Ed responded with a bit of sarcasm. There it was. With just a stare into the eyes, Envy had seduced the smaller blonde into saying what he wanted.
"Oh? What kind of love?" Envy pressed on, continuing to stare into those golden, glittering eyes.
"I can't tell you that, Envy," the blonde smiled, regaining his stubbornness and starting to tease the impatient teen, who was practically in front of him now.
"And why's that?"
"It's tooooooo personal," he responded coolly, yet Envy could see the blush rising on his face again. He would have to press further. And that meant he would have to get closer. Not that he minded, of course.
"Ah, Envy..." Ed voiced, as Envy placed both his arms on Ed's shoulders, left and right respectively.
"Tell me, my little Mark Antony, who refuses to disclose information to the audience with the intention of only making them want it more," Envy grinned.
"You're such a Shakespeare nerd," Edward joked.
"I'm proud of that fact, too," Envy said, not removing his arms from the blonde's shoulders. "Now tell me, before I get angry and flip a shit in front of everyone here and embarrass you." The words were threatening, but something about the tone in his voice told Ed that the spiky-haired boy wouldn't do such a thing. Then again, he really, really didn't want to risk it.
"It's a creative writing project about..." The heat rose to his face, causing him to lose a bit of confidence. But Envy boosted it again.
"Uh huh?" He asked, moving his face a bit close to Ed's.
"It's about a first love," the blonde finished, averting his eyes and blushing like mad. Shiiiiiiiit... he thought, disappointed in his failure to remain stubborn. Envy's eyes lit up as he began to move closer to his goal.
"Is that so?" Envy grinned, removing his arms from Edward and leaning them behind him on the ledge. "What're you gonna write about? Fiction or non-fiction?" The thing about this question was that Ed hadn't fully considered it. So, he responded truthfully.
"No idea."
"Seriously?" Envy responded, disappointed.
"Yeah." Envy hadn't expected this. What he did expect was a selection of one of the two, which then he would ask what would be the subject, and then... the resolution of his plan. But now, he had to do like an actor in a fast-failing show and improvise. He decided to get right to the point. While he was thinking, Ed moved next to him and was staring dreamily out at the lake again. Envy turned around to face the lake as well.
"Hey, Ed?"
"Yeah, Envy?"
"Remember this morning, when I said I wouldn't kill you because you were paying for the date?" Edward nodded, turning to look at the boy whose own face was starting to turn pink.
"Yeah?"
"Well... that wasn't the real reason I wouldn't kill you." He turned to the blonde, whose eyes were sparkling with excitement.
"What's the, um... real reason?" Edward asked, hardly holding back the excitement in his voice.
"The real reason... is because I li-" Suddenly, an overly loud ringtone emanated from Edward's pocket, startling the two into almost screaming. The blonde fumbled around a bit, grabbing his phone from his pocket, and answered it.
"Hello?" He asked, turning away from Envy, who was absolutely furious on the inside.
HOLY FUCKING FUCK! I WAS SO FUCKING CLOSE AND THEN THE FUCKING PHONE RINGS! FUCKING FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK! He thought viciously, with the anger creating a scowl across his face.
"Oh, hey, Al," Ed said into the receiver, going off into conversation. That cockblock... Envy thought horridly. "You're going out for dinner? With who?... Ah, I see. Uh, well, I'm with Envy right now so... Oh, he can come? One sec." The blonde turned towards the black-haired boy, with a very apologetic look in his eyes.
"Envy, would you like to -"
"Yeah, whatever," Envy said sharply, but immediately regretted it when he saw the hurt look develop in those golden eyes. The owner of them nodded sadly, and said into the phone, "Yeah, we'll see you there. What time?... Ah, okay. See you soon, Al." He clicked a button on his phone, and replaced it in his pocket. He didn't turn to Envy yet, but he could feel the boy's violet eyes bore holes into his back.
"Umm... are you, um... are you okay, Envy?" Edward asked nervously, afraid of another bark that could come from the boy he was so infatuated with.
"... yeah. I'm, uh, sorry I snapped at you, I just..." Envy began. "Uh... I'm just sorry." The surprise from the profuse apologies caused Ed to spin around to face Envy.
"It's okay, but are you sure you're okay?" The blonde asked anxiously. Envy stood up straight, and approached Edward.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said simply.
"... okay. But... what were you about to say?" Envy's heart thumped, causing him to blush a bit.
"I... it's nothing. I'll tell you later," he responded, disappointed that the moment he was waiting for was ruined by Ed's younger brother. It seemed that he would have to improvise again. He sighed in an Edward-like fashion, and then took the boy by the hand. "Where're we going for dinner?"
Edward blushed, and said, "Some place around the school. It's sushi, so... do you like sushi?" As if in response, Envy's stomach growled. Ed chuckled at the perfect timing. At that moment, the blonde took the initiative to pull Envy by the hand out of the gazebo and through to the end of the park. Envy still held a strong sense of irritation, but even so, he couldn't ignore the warm feeling in his heart that was caused by the sheer fact that his little blonde boy was willingly holding his hand.