By: Minuiko
Aha, I guess the only things I needed to improve in the last chapter were the descriptions? Um… well, I was mainly not satisfied with the chapter because I was writing it when I wasn't thinking clearly, and also, I thought that Ed let Al go too easily (not enough internal struggle), but… oh, well. Oh, and to Envy Algaliarept: I didn't misspell Phial. It's just Phial. It means exactly the same thing as Vial, though, and Vial is the more commonly used term, so that's okay. And about the lemon… well, a lot of people didn't want to see the GreedEnvy rape scene, so I didn't put it in. Rest assured, if Ed ever gets to try his hand, I'll put a lot more detail in it. XD
To everyone else: thanks for reviewing!
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Chapter 8&
"Damn it, Envy, swallow the damn thing," Ed said, gritting his teeth. There wasn't much of the antidote left, and not only was Envy's jaw a pain to pry open, but when he finally got the purple liquid in, Envy kept coughing it back out. He hoped that the dosage for the antidote wasn't the whole bottle because then they would be in really big trouble then.
Twenty minutes… Ed remembered Greed's set warning. It must've been almost that time, give or take a few minutes. Envy looked no worse, but then again, he'd looked like shit upon first glance and it would be a miracle if he could manage to look even sicker.
"Stop…Master… I'll say the fucking thing… Master… Master!" Envy was moaning, amidst his erratic breathing, and Ed really didn't want to hear more. How could he force the antidote in…? The answer came to him after a mere moment of thinking, but just the thought of it made him flush. The jaw was the most powerful part of the body… but that would mean…
"DON'T TOUCH THERE! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH THERE!" Envy was screaming, tears starting to fall from his face now. Ed stared for a second, slightly torn with both righteous anger and pity for Envy — he didn't want to know what he was seeing, because not only did it sound wrong, it must have been very twisted for someone as strong as Envy to start crying— but quickly got back to the task at hand.
"Shut up…" he murmured to Envy, then poured the remaining contents of the glass bottle into his own mouth. He was really glad that though they had planned for them to go together, Winry had backed out at the last moment for reasons she wouldn't say. Here goes nothing…
"I'm sorry! I'll be good! I swear! Just stop! I'll—" Envy's hoarse screams were muffled when Ed's mouth pressed firmly against his. Ed forced the antidote in— by mouth, he thought wildly— and kept it there until he was sure that Envy had swallowed. Then he let go, gasping, and wondered why he was blushing furiously like that when all he'd done was something that could've been called CPR. It was just a transfer of liquids rather than air. But somehow, he still felt as though he was taking advantage of the situation and using the fact that he couldn't get the antidote in any other way as an excuse to touch Envy— which he wasn't.
The effects of the antidote were immediate. Envy's breathing was still irregular, still gasping, but calming down, and so was his voice. He was murmuring incoherent things now rather than screaming. Ed wondered when he was going to wake up.
But Envy was still shivering. Instinctively, he pressed his left hand to Envy's forehead and almost jumped back with shock— it was burning. He couldn't use only one hand to feel his own temperature and Envy's at the same time, but that intensity of heat from a normal human wasn't normal. Ed blinked. He's… sick?
Well, of course. Feverdream, remember? They wouldn't name it that unless something like this happened with the hallucinations… I guess. But Ed wasn't good at this sort of thing— taking care of people and whatnot. Winry was an automail mechanic— close enough to a doctor. She helped people. She would be better for this. Better than him at any rate.
Slinging Envy over his back with unnatural ease, he proceeded to their hotel. He had several options to choose from. The obvious choice would be to wait until the fever died down before acting. Damn… and I was hoping to leave the country by today…
With Alphonse safely in their company. But that was impossible now. Ed gritted his teeth and reminded himself that it wasn't Envy's fault. He had only himself to blame for not thinking things out completely. He'd failed the first time around. He couldn't be sure that Alphonse would be kept safe. And it hurt. It hurt like hell. How could he face Winry? …How could he face Alphonse?
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"I thought I told you to shut up," the woman— Lyra?— hissed into his ear. Alphonse merely looked at her calmly and replied, "You did."
She gave him a slap in the face. It was brutal enough for him to feel the red imprint on his face. She then told him coolly, "Don't give me your cheek. Your dear brother gave you up for a whore. Did you hear that? A sex-slave means more to him than you do."
He felt daring, and tensed himself up for another slap as he returned just as frigidly, "That whore is your son."
"Who told you that?" Her voice had hardened almost imperceptibly, and she was eyeing him suspiciously, almost dangerously.
"I did," said a deep male voice. Greed had entered Lyra's study with them. It was a beautiful room, decorated with red tapestry and bright hangings, as well as a virtual library of books stacked on dozens of rows of shelves and neatly organized hand-written documents, but it had a certain feel to it that Alphonse didn't quite like. He had never been quite as studious as his brother, though he liked to learn, but this feel was different. Perhaps it was the woman who worked in the room, and not the room itself, that wasn't quite right. "Now, I wish you wouldn't manhandle my precious hostages like that, they're… well, to put it bluntly, precious."
Lyra gave Greed an unnerving smile and bowed with all the courtly graciousness required of her position. "I beg your forgiveness, your Majesty. However… I'd hoped that you'd have kept that little bit of information about my son confidential."
Her tone of voice was bordering on accusation, but to Alphonse's amazement, Greed didn't rebuke her for her commanding air; he merely waved it off, and explained, "I do what I want with my hostages."
Lyra's smile was straining. "I… see. Well, you know best, your Majesty. If you'll excuse me."
A deep curtsy and Lyra had walked out of the room, leaving Greed and Alphonse alone. Greed leaned over to meet Alphonse's eye. "You're a nice kid, but I'll tell you in advance. There's no one you can trust in the world, not even your own brother, and you can learn the hard way or you can take it from me. Even your closest friend can end up stabbing you in the back. That's just the way the world works. Live for yourself, and yourself only."
Alphonse squirmed under his gaze, trying to ignore his words. No. Nii-san is different. Nii-san would never betray me. He left me because I told him to. Doesn't that just prove that he'd do things no one else would for me? But inside, he knew that he'd been hoping that Ed would choose him despite what he'd said. He'd wanted Ed to make him his chief priority. Envy wasn't, couldn't be replacing him as his brother's object of affection, but Alphonse still had been torn by Edward's indecisiveness. Nii-san… does he mean that much to you? At the last second, Alphonse had decided that he couldn't be that bad of a person, to let someone die because of his selfishness, so despite everything, he'd still told Ed to go with Envy. He'd just hoped that he was making the right decision.
I'm not going to let him get to me…Alphonse inclined his head, and let Greed take him back to the crude hut. You— no, we— failed the first time… but I trust you, Nii-san. I know you'll get me out somehow.
Before he locked the door, Greed told Alphonse with a grin, "Your new name is Sloth. Oh, and one more thing."
His eyes flashed. "Hope is just an illusion. Give it up."
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"You're so reckless!" Winry screamed into his ear. "How could you get Envy injured like that?"
Ed winced but didn't back down. Technically, Envy wasn't injured, just ill, but arguing with Winry wouldn't help the headache he was quickly developing. He'd already explained the situation to Winry, and half of him was expecting her to turn quiet and angst because he hadn't been able to rescue Alphonse, but, thank god, she was as domineering as ever. He never thought he'd be thankful that she was bossy, but for the moment, he needed someone to decide what to do because he was sick of making decisions.
He was about to lay Envy, sweat and blood and all, onto the bed, but Winry immediately stopped him and snapped, "He needs rest, but first he needs a bath, and you're gonna be the one to do it! Stop looking at me like that! What are you, three? We need to wash him off, and I'm a girl, so it's logical that you—"
"Alright, alright, I got it," Ed muttered. Winry stared at him for another moment before sighing in exasperation and demanding, "This isn't about seeing him naked, is it?"
Ed squeaked, sputtering, "W-what the hell are you talking about? What makes you think—"
"I won't ask what happened, but I know you're mature enough not to take advantage of him in his unconscious state—"
"Get off it!" Ed yelled, his face threatening to outdo the bright color of his red coat. Winry sighed again and turned serious. "Alright, Ed. Just do it. We need to get him cleaned up, so, hop to it."
"I will!"
He hadn't noticed it before, but Envy was light, too light. He really needed to get the older boy to eat more. Ed proceeded to the private shower and turned the water on full blast. Adjust the dial to warm…
Now came the hard part. Getting Envy out of his clothes. They were plastered to him and dirty, too, but he managed to pull everything- well, almost- off. He left the shorts on— who'd want to wake up naked in front of someone they hadn't met for very long?— then carried it Envy, against his chest, into the water. He lathered a towel with soap, and rubbed it gentlyagainst Envy's skin— his back, his arms, his legs, every inch of bare skin that he could see— in circular motions, letting the water wash the residue away. He flushed yet again at the intimate contact, but reminded himself that this was, again, necessary and it wasn't his fault that he got stuck with the job.
He took a moment, as the water washed the soap bubbles off of Envy's back, to unconsciously admire his body. It really was too thin, but Envy somehow managed to tone that up a bit and make it seem attractive. It was strange. Ed had never thought of Envy like that until he'd held him against himself. Just touching him felt strange. And it then struck Ed that he'd never done so before Envy had been poisoned with Feverdream. They hadn't even had hand-to-hand contact. It was like Ed was avoiding him on purpose. Am I afraid of him?
But he's… Ed didn't want to think, but the thought came by itself. He really is beautiful.
"Oh god."
He dropped the towel. I'm… really attracted to him, aren't I…?
"Ed?"
That was Winry. "…Yeah?"
"Are you done? The shower's been running for almost ten minutes…"
"Just about."
He then paled. Envy's shorts were soaked through— making it even more of a pain to take off. And how was he planning on pulling fresh clothes onto Envy without taking his old ones off? I really am an idiot.
He called nervously, "Uh… Winry? A little help here?"
In the end, he'd still had to do the entire thing himself, with Winry huffing that they were both boys and that he shouldn't be so nervous in the first place and him being unusually complacent as he followed her exact orders, toweling him dry, redressing him, and tucking him under the covers and whatnot. Envy's breathing had softened, and Ed let out a sigh of relief— Envy hadn't woken up while he was bathing him; if he had, he didn't know what he would've done. Winry then told him that Envy had a temperature of one hundred and five and that they'd have to stay at least another three days. Ed couldn't complain. He had to think about Al.
It was laughable, really. It was true that for the moment, Envy was more important, and first things came first, but still,how couldhenot evengive Alphonse a second thought while he was sorting out his little problem? So he liked Envy. It was pathetic that it'd even taken him so long to figure that out. But Al should've come first. Al had always come first before. So what was so different now?
He didn't know, but there was something he needed to find out. Research was nearly impossible in a place like this, and he needed to put off rescuing Alphonse until he found out about it. He needed to know everything. About Greed, about Lyra, about the history of the land. Everything.
I need to get back to Central.
He would tell Winry abouthis decisiontomorrow.
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.: Tsuzuku:.
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… I like this chapter even less than the last one. It's poorly written and not serious enough and, well, just plain horrible. I had to get it out though, because 1) I promised I would and 2) school starts soon and I won't have any time later to write it out and post it, so, okay. I might reedit it later on.
Greed was much nicer to Alphonse than he was to Envy in the manga and anime too, so it's not too farfetched of an idea in this chapter, is it? I hope he's not too OOC xD;… oh, and Ed finally "kissed" Envy! Too bad it wasn't voluntary, but at least he knows he's attracted to Envy now. Alphonse is Sloth and not Pride because of reasons I don't want to list. I didn't want him to be Gluttony either, so… blehh.
I'm taking another vote. How old do you think I am? All ages are an option. Please be specific, with no more than a two-year range. Also note that this is just so that I can see what age-level I'm writing on (and maybe because I'm curious about what you people think of me). I'll reveal my age in the next chapter, but that's a pretty long way off. I'll be taking a break from writing for a long while, possibly until winter break because, you know, school. I'm sorry, but I'll be really busy with all the things coming up and I probably won't have a lot of free time to write. So I apologize in advance.