Name

"Livia. Hey, Livia!"

Envy blinked, focusing in on the speaker. "Oh, sorry, Hughes," they said, adding a feminine giggle at the end of their phrase. "Must have been daydreaming."

Hughes smiled. "Better get out of that habit before you're actually posted somewhere, kid. There's no room for daydreamers in the military, at least if you want to advance at all."

"You're right." Envy brushed back a loose strand of hair, tucking it behind their ear. They- or 'she,' at the moment- had picked a body that was not all that different from their usual form (after all, the way that they normally looked was cute as all get out, and they didn't enjoy staying in any other form for long), but it was still frustrating dealing with certain aspects of this form… such as unwanted attention from many of the men at the academy.

At least they didn't need to deal with any harassment with Hughes, which was the reason why they chose to sit with him. The annoyance of listening to him ramble about his girlfriend back home was a small price to pay to avoid blowing their cover and killing some fool who dared to take a pass at them.

"Made any friends yet?" Hughes asked, smiling kindly in Envy's direction.

Honestly, no. The few 'friends' that Envy had made, including Hughes, had been for practical purposes only. Most of the time, Envy had been trying to seek out the attention of the alchemists among the soldiers, sucking up to them whenever possible, trying to figure out who was worth trusting.

One lucky alchemist would be given the Philosopher's stone. Envy just hadn't decided which one yet.

"Eh, not really. I'm kind of shy," said Envy, staring down at their plate.

"Well, we can't have that!" Hughes glanced around the cafeteria, his eyes falling on anyone who looked remotely lonely or, at least, who was standing by themselves. His gaze finally rested on a thin young man who sat alone in the corner of the room. "Hey, Kimblee, come over here!"

The man eyed them warily, then slowly approached them. "May I help you, Hughes?"

"Just wanted to introduce you to someone," said Hughes. "Livia, this is Solf J. Kimblee- he's a second year- and at the head of his class, I might add."

Envy struggled to hold in a giggle- they'd never heard such a pretentious name in all their life.

"...first year, and she's having trouble making friends," Hughes was saying to a clearly uncomfortable (at least to Envy's eyes) Kimblee.

"I"m pleased to make your acquaintance," said Kimblee, lips tight in a forced smile. "Now, if you'll please excuse me… I have… somewhere to be…"

Hughes glanced amusedly after Kimblee's retreating figure. "He's an alchemist, you know," he said. "Heard it through the grapevine that he's going to be applying for state certification soon."

"Oh, really? Doesn't seem like the type," said Envy offhandedly, thoughts running through their head. It depended on how capable he was, but Solf J. Kimblee seemed worth pursuing. A withdrawn personality made it more likely that he wouldn't betray any secrets that he was told- but did he have the nerve to use the Philosopher's Stone?
"Excuse me, Hughes," Envy said, pushing back their chair from the table. "I've got somewhere to be."

"Oh. Well, okay, then! See you round, I hope?"

"Um… yeah," Envy said absently, mind already set on the new task ahead of them. "See you round, Hughes."

They left the cafeteria behind them and turned down the hall, following the alchemist's path.

Solf J. Kimblee. Perhaps the man behind that awkward name would be a human weapon up to the homunculi's standards.

I feel kind of bad using Hughes here… but I really do feel like he would try and be a friend to the shy folks at the Academy, including Envy.

Livia is one of the only names out there that actually means "envy," so that's why I used it for Envy's female soldier form. Since I see Envy more on the female side of things, this form is what they will be using most of the time in this story when they're not in their preferred form. Just imagine fem!soldier!Envy, and that should about do it for how 'she' looks.

Thank you for reading, and a huge thanks to PointlessKnife for following and favouriting. It really means a lot! I'm really glad to know that people are enjoying this story (and maybe the ship might get more people writing for it? Hint hint).

Thanks again!