When Amara rose to consciousness again she felt a warm, contented feeling throughout her body. The pounding headache had disappeared and she was rather glued to the mattress in relaxation. Her eyelids flickered open to morning light streaming in the window again. She frowned slightly. Clearly she'd been asleep for a while, so did that mean she'd slept all day and all night into the next day? She pondered this for a moment before an unpleasant dropping sensation shot through her stomach.
How many days did she have left before the exam?
She poured over the last few days in her mind and then felt a wash of panic. The exam was the day after tomorrow! She sat bolt upright in bed, panting slightly. Her gaze darted around the room. Then it occurred to her to wonder where exactly the homunculus had gotten to.
"Envy?" she called uncertainly. There was no answer. She frowned. Had he broken his promise and run off? "Envy, come here."
After several moments of silence, her frown deepened. Where on earth was he? Slowly, she slid out of bed, stretching her stiff limbs and grimacing over the uncomfortably rumpled state of her jeans and turtleneck. She tugged at her own sleeve and cast a glance around the room. Then froze. Her laptop was missing from the desk.
Her eyes widened slightly. What the hell? If he had done something to her laptop there would be hell to pay. She needed it for studying!
She hastened down the hall. When she spied him seated on the couch in the living room, relief crashed over her. But the feeling followed by puzzlement. The laptop sat in front of him on the coffee table and he had an absolutely horrified look on his face. He appeared frozen in place, eyes wide with something very like horror.
She blinked several times. "Envy?"
He didn't move, or even blink. Raising an eyebrow, she crossed the room and sank down next to him carefully. She peered at the laptop screen and a single word jumped out that caught her eye that made her throat constrict. "Edvy." She slowly glanced at the homunculus next to her. He still hadn't moved. Swallowing nervously, she reached out and snapped the laptop closed. Envy blinked as if suddenly released from a spell. He turned to stare at her, expression still disturbed.
She raised her eyebrows. "Why were you reading fanfiction?"
He stared at her for a moment before he finally spoke. "What. The hell. Is wrong with you humans?" his voice was a little hoarse.
She raised her hands a little defensively. "Don't lump me in with Edvy fans. I don't get off on yaoi. But seriously, look at yourself. You're practically begging for it by picking such a girly form."
He continued to stare at her.
Finally she rolled her eyes. "Why are you so bothered by this? I thought you said you 'enjoyed the best of both worlds'?"
He blinked slowly before his expression grew exasperated. "I don't care about that. Why the hell would they pair me with the pipsqueak?!" his voice cracked slightly, "What the fuck? How is there anything appealing about the little blonde runt?!" He glared at her.
Amara's own eyes widened and she stared at him in blankly, trying to wrap her head around his reaction. Finally she managed to find her voice. "Ok let me get this straight…you aren't upset over being painted as gay. You're just upset about getting paired with Edward?"
He nodded stiffly, still glaring at her. She continued to stare at him, an odd expression on her face. Finally he raised an eyebrow. "What?" he sounded slightly defensive. "I'm a shapeshifter. I'm not constrained by sexuality."
She slowly nodded. "Right..." The word came out a little squeaky. "Well, I hate to break it to you but as far as I can tell, Edvy is pretty much your most popular pairing."
His eyes narrowed further and he growled slightly.
She leaned away from him nervously. "Don't take it out on me. I don't even write fanfiction!" The way he was glaring at her was making her supremely uncomfortable. Then she saw his gaze move to her laptop. She gasped. "Don't you dare!" she cried, leaping up swiftly.
He shot her an irritated look. "What?" he snapped.
She scooped up her laptop, cradling it protectively. "Don't take it out on my laptop."
His expression darkened and he rose as well. "Why don't I just take it out on you then?"
She shivered slightly, taking a step back. "Don't you think that'd be kind of counterproductive?"
He continued to glare at her and took a step forward. She took another step back and he continued pressing forward. A moment later he had backed her up against the wall near the front door. She hugged the laptop tighter and cringed slightly at the hostility radiating from the green haired sin.
At that moment the telephone on the wall near her head blared out a ring, causing her to flinch. Envy's glare flicked to the telephone and she could've sworn she heard him give a resigned sigh before reaching out and picking it up.
Amara's eyes widened. Was he seriously going to answer her phone?
"Hello?" he pressed the phone to his ear. She felt a surprised thrill to hear Enver's voice coming out of his lips. She watched his expression grow to a slow smile and felt a prick of unease.
"Rachel. Yes, this is Enver," he replied to a voice on the other end of the line. Amara frowned, clinging to her laptop one-handed and reaching out in an attempt to snatch the phone away from him. He easily caught her wrist in his free hand, smirking tauntingly at her. "That sounds like fun. We'd love to join you," he said.
"What?" she hissed, eyes widening.
"Oh Amara was sick yesterday, actually. She was in bed most of the day. She's doing much better today, though," he explained gravely. Then his smirk returned in full force. "Yeah, I'll be sure to do that," he replied, tone ever so slightly smug. Amara gritted her teeth in consternation. What on earth were the two of them talking about? "Alright, sounds good. We'll see you around seven then," he said. Then he pulled the phone away from his ear and hung it up.
"What the hell?" Amara demanded.
Envy smirked. "I've been ordered to take very good care of you."
Amara glared flatly at him. "Not funny. What did you agree to go to at seven?"
He snorted. "We're going out for drinks to the usual bar that the two of you go to. Wherever that is." he turned away and strolled back into the living room.
"What?! I am not taking you out for drinks! No way in hell!"
"Unfortunately for you, I'm not giving you a choice in the matter." Envy glanced at her sidelong. "Your apartment is boring. I want to see more of your world."
Amara stared at him flabbergasted."No way! I can't trust you not to get us into trouble!"
He grinned at her. "You're right. You can't."
"I'm not taking you anywhere!" she spat, glaring daggers at him.
He rolled his eyes. "Either you come willingly, or I'll drag you there by force. And don't you think it would be rather difficult to explain to your friend why I'm dragging you to the bar bound and chained?" His tone was suspiciously innocent.
She stared at him for several moments. Then finally she hissed, "I hate you," before turning and storming down the hall to her room.
She returned the laptop to its desk and sank into the computer chair, resting her head in her hands. What on earth was she going to do? She needed to study! But at this point it was starting to look like a lost cause. She'd barely touched the final unit, let alone reviewed everything she needed to. The thought of going to an exam without having learned all of the appropriate material was mind-boggling. On a course like this, it sealed her fate. She'd never pass at this point. A crushing wave of despair washed over her. She was totally screwed...
Her cellphone buzzed on the desk. She glanced at it distractedly. Why was her dad suddenly texting her so frequently? Then again, she'd never responded to his last cryptic question. But really, why did he think she would know anything about prosthetics? She couldn't fathom where the topic would even come from. With a resigned sigh she snatched up the phone and opened the message.
Amara…would you ever consider babysitting?
The coppertop stared down at the phone blankly. She was starting to wonder if someone had stolen her father's phone and started prank texting her. Fullmetal Alchemist, prosthetics and babysitting… What the hell?
"You aren't planning on studying all day, are you ginger brain?" Envy called from the living room, effectively distracting her from her father's mysterious communications.
She let out a low growl of frustration. "Leave me alone you jerk! I'm going to fail this exam because of you!"
"Then why are you bothering to study?" Envy appeared at the bedroom door, a skeptical expression on his face.
Amara wilted. "I don't know…"
"So what are you going to do to keep me amused?" Envy crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame.
She shot him a dark look. "I dunno. Maybe I'll go find a flame thrower and attempt to re-enact your death scene."
His expression slipped into a flat glare. "Not funny."
Amara snorted. "Maybe not …but it'd be immensely satisfying."
Envy rolled his eyes. "You couldn't kill someone if your life depended on it."
Amara cocked her head thoughtfully. "I think it would depend on the situation..."
"Whatever. You still haven't answered my question."
Amara stared at him. He wasn't going to let this drop. And blowing up and attacking him hadn't worked very well last time… She might as well just give up on the idea of studying. It clearly wasn't going to happen. But how was she supposed to entertain him…?
"How do you feel about board games?" she asked uncertainly.
He raised an eyebrow. "No."
Amara frowned, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "How about a movie and popcorn?" she asked hopefully.
He blinked. "…come again?"
A grin crept onto Amara's face. Bingo.
"I never thought I'd say this. But those creatures make the pipsqueak look tall."
Envy was staring at the screen with an expression of puzzled curiosity. Once he'd gotten over the novelty of the moving people on the screen and had been utterly enraptured by the chaotic fight scene in the beginning of the movie, he'd sat back on the couch and watched skeptically as Bilbo Baggins explained the various details of the Shire and the Hobbits living there.
Amara grinned slightly. He was actually taking it better than she'd expected. If he wasn't gagging and fleeing the room at the innocent naivety of the Shire, there was a good chance he'd survive through the whole movie.
"What did you say this was called again?" he asked.
"The Lord of the Rings." She reached into the bowl of popcorn in Envy's lap and contentedly munched the buttery kernels.
"Why rings? Why not something a little more badass?" he demanded.
"Like what? Philosophers Stones?" she asked dryly.
Envy shrugged. "There had better be some half decent villains in this. That Sauron guy got wiped out way too easily."
"The ring wraiths show up pretty soon," Amara reassured him.
"Ring wraiths?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Just watch the movie!" she retorted. There was silence for several minutes.
"Are there going to be more battle scenes like there were in the beginning? 'Cause I don't know how much more of this fluffy crap I can take."
Amara rolled her eyes. "How about I skip ahead to some action?" she suggested.
"Yes please!" he sounded desperately relieved. Amara blinked, and then turned to stare at him. He frowned. "What?"
"…You just said 'please.'"
His eyes widened slightly. "No I didn't! Hurry up and skip ahead dammit!" he snapped, eyes focusing back on the screen.
"...Right." She wasn't at all convinced, but she nevertheless obeyed.