Thank you for the reviews so far from beneath the lies, Cerulean San, Abra Cadaverous, DownMoon, Cheza the Flower Maiden and Sakura Sango. I swear those names sound familiar, so I'm pretty sure you guys reviewed my last Envy/Winry. In that case, welcome back!
Chapter Four: Guardian
In the last couple of days, Winry had practically lived in the hospital room where Edward was being kept. The doctors had pumped him so full of medication to keep him sedated that he hadn't even stirred in his sleep and Winry sometimes found herself checking his pulse to make sure he was still alive. It seemed that in the company of a sleeping Edward Elric, Winry was content to sit in silence and mull over her own thoughts and memories of the last week. Every once and a while, Al would pop in to check on her or deliver a tray of food from the cafeteria and now and again the Second Lieutenant she had met at Laboratory Five would drop by to keep her company.
Winry had discovered that the two officers she had followed to the laboratory had been Maria Ross and Lenny Brosh, both of whom were acting escorts for Edward by their supervisor, Major Louis Armstrong, who Winry had met brief and hoped to never repeat the experience. Not only had she found herself squished between his flexing bicep muscles in a sympathetic bear hug, but she found even his presence overwhelmingly suffocating. Despite all that, Winry had thanked him for watching Edward even though it was not her place to do so. She did manage to ask him why they needed escorts at all. Her own perceptiveness allowed her to come up with the answer before Major Armstrong had even uttered a syllable. "There's been some disturbing murders of State Alchemists recently…"
Of all the people who had visited the unconscious Ed, Winry could not have been more pleased to see Maes Hughes more often than none. He had dropped in several times to see whether Ed was awake, and in their first meeting he had offered Winry to stay with him and his wife, where she would be more comfortable than at the hospital. Though, hesitant at first, after Alphonse had told her that Hughes was a friend of his and Ed's Winry agreed. At first, she had felt like a burden to Hughes, but once she had met his wife and daughter she had fallen over the top in love with his family. Their hospitality towards her was unmatched by anyone she had known, and she had promised herself that one day she would have to repay the favor.
Today there hadn't been many visitors, and for that Winry was thankful. She had taken to sitting near the window that overlooked the courtyard of the hospital because she liked to feel the warm summer breeze on her face.
She had lapsed into periods of deep thought throughout the last couple of days. Most of them revolved once again around the mysterious stranger, who had suddenly reappeared in her life. Just when she thought she could move on and forget about him, he had surfaced. It was driving Winry mad. Not only had the memory of him taunted her like this for years, but now he had arrived to refresh it, restart the cycle he had created in the first place. How long would it be until she could forget about him again? Then, how long would it be until something sparked her memory and reminded her of him?
Once again Winry found herself thinking that things happened in threes. When would he reappear?
In some sense she was glad she had seen him. Not only had his appearance reminded her of how and why she was still alive, but it also proved to her that she was not going insane. He did have green hair and violet cat-like eyes! She had not imagined it! This only further solidified her theory that he was the same person to drag her out of the river. How many more people did she know with such odd natural coloring? But besides that, something else was still bothering her: the mystery of the brown-eyed fisherman with the prosthetic arm. She was still confused over that. Both men had now made a recent appearance, and Winry was still confused over the events that took place more than seven years ago.
Perhaps if she could manage to find the green-eyed stranger again she could get the full story out of him? That idea seemed more reasonable than it had a few years ago now that she knew he was real. Not only that but he was in Central, where she was currently staying. The chances of them running into each other were a lot higher than if she had stayed in Risenbool.
Though, not usually superstitious, Winry was starting to think that the point of her coming to Central had been to meet him again. It was a completely irrational thought, but Winry was desperately grasping at straws. After failing to help Ed and Al, and being more of a burden to them than anything, she found the only way to keep her from lapsing back into a state of depression was to come up with something else, another reason why she was currently sitting near the window of Central's General Hospital.
Winry glanced over at Edward as he slept peacefully and completely sedated, plugged full of needles and wrapped head to torso in bandages. Winry felt a swell of sadness in her heart. It just wasn't fair for him and Al to go through more than they'd already had just to get their bodies back. Even though Al had tried to explain the theory of equivalent exchange to her, Winry couldn't help but note that even after all their suffering they had received nothing in return. Since she wasn't an alchemist, Winry could firmly admit that the world just wasn't fair – there was no such thing as equivalency between humans, nature or fate, whatever that implied - being an alchemist made no difference.
With that thought, Winry couldn't help but be grateful towards the mysterious stranger. When she had been in trouble, when fate had had her at its mercy, he had saved her. Now, he had saved Ed. Winry could think of no better word for him than to call him some mysterious guardian. He still lacked the full identity of a person, so Winry had no other option. However, she was starting to convince herself that he was a guardian of some kind. Whether he was her personal guardian, who looked after her and those closest to her, or whether he appeared at certain times in everyone's life, saving them from disaster, Winry didn't know. All she knew was that she had no other way to describe him, but as a guardian.
She seemed to swell with happiness at the thought of having some sort of evasive guardian angel looking after her. Winry wasn't one given to fantasies, but after what happened two days ago, she just couldn't help herself. And he had been so kind when he had suggested they take Ed to the hospital. Not to mention, he had been incredibly fit, able to carry Ed with one arm. Winry hadn't failed to notice the abs and extremely taut muscles in his arms and legs, since his outfit had been rather revealing…
He was some strange version of a night in shining armor, a very strange version.
"Winry?"
Winry was pulled from her thoughts by a rough voice coming from the hospital bed. She jumped up as she realized Ed was finally awake and ran to his side, "Edward, how do you feel?"
Edward gazed at her in complete shock, "Winry? You're here?" he said, dumbfounded. Then, he glanced down at himself and timidly touched his side, where a major wound had been bandaged, "I'm in the hospital…" it wasn't really a question, but Winry decided to answer with a nod.
"You scared all of us," she said, "Do you remember what happened?"
"I don't remember anything after being kicked in the gut by some jerk who kept calling me runt," Ed growled. The memory seemed to get him going again, because he suddenly sat up in bed.
Just then, Alphonse entered with Winry's lunch. He almost dropped the tray in surprise, "Brother! You're awake!"
He placed the tray on the table next to the bed and looked as if he wanted to hug him, but decided it was best if he didn't. Instead, he said, "Do you feel okay?"
"I'm a little sore, but nothing major," Ed replied.
"Ah, looks like you're feeling better," said a voice from the doorway as Maes Hughes entered the room. He was shortly followed by Maria Ross and Lenny Brosh, who looked like they would rather be elsewhere. Edward immediately rounded on both of them, "What happened to Laboratory 5?"
Winry and Al exchanged a look, wondering why he would ask something like that if he had been unconscious for the entire thing. Sergeant Brosh reluctantly replied, "Someone set off an explosion inside the building and the whole thing is in ruins…"
"What!?" Edward exploded, making everyone around him jump back a few feet in surprise, "Damnit! It's all gone!"
He suddenly grabbed at his side, wincing in pain.
"Be careful," Alphonse said, "You'll open your cuts up."
"I was so close to the truth too," Edward continued. Then, he decided, "I can't be sitting in a hospital. I've got to get out of here and hunt down those -,"
"Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric, sir!" Maria Ross suddenly shouted, rather formally. Everyone watched in befuddlement, including Edward, who had the blankest expression written across his face that Winry had ever seen. "I apologize in advance for this!"
"Huh?" was all Edward could manage before he was suddenly, and brutally, slapped across the face.
Everyone in the room froze, save for Maes Hughes who was wearing a rather serious expression. His eyes were hidden behind the reflection of his glasses so Winry couldn't tell whether he was upset with Maria Ross or Edward.
Once Edward had gotten over the initial shock, Maria had started talking, "You've got to start relying on people around you or you're going to get yourself killed! It wouldn't hurt to trust adults a little more with the dangerous work, don't you think?"
There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at the scene. Then, both Lenny and Maria cried out in unison, "That is all! Please forgive our violence and bold comments to a higher-ranking officer, sir!"
Edward sighed, "N-no…it's my fault. You're right, but why are you being so formal?"
"State Alchemists' are equivalent to Majors in the army," Maria replied with a more relaxed tone. Beside her, Lenny nodded in agreement.
"I didn't get my state certification for that," Edward said, "and you guys don't have to be so formal around me either."
"Oh, so all those times were a waste, huh?" Lenny smirked. Maria's shoulder's slacked a bit.
Edward frowned, "Wow, what a quick change," he deadpanned. Then, he seemed to realize something. He looked over at Winry with a paled expression, "Winry, you're certainly looking nice today, heh heh…"
Winry found herself glaring at him, "I already fixed your arm while you were asleep. I assume you'll tell me how you damaged it in the first place."
She saw him swallow, and then he said, "Uh…I…I was in an all-out brawl."
The tension that settled on the room could have been hacked with a knife. Suddenly, Hughes decided to lighten it a bit. "So, about your trip to Laboratory 5, Ed. You said you found something inside. Why don't we use this afternoon to go over what you saw?"
"Don't you have work to do?" Edward asked, curiously.
"Not to worry! I left Sheska with overtime work, so I'm free all day!" Hughes replied, "Which reminds me, you're almost free of your escorts now."
"Really?" Edward grinned. Winry suddenly remembered the main reason for her being in Central in the first place. She had her own assumptions, and Armstrong had filled her in, but she wanted to hear it from Edward.
"That's what I heard," she said, suddenly. She could almost see Edward deflate at the sound of her guarded tone, "So, are you going to tell me why you have escorts?"
"I-it's…not a big deal," Edward excused simply, not meeting her eyes. Winry stared at him, her anger started to boil when she realized he wasn't going to elaborate.
"Oh, that's right," she frowned, extremely displeased, "You and Al never tell me anything anyway."
She heard Al make a little sound in protest. She could feel all eyes on her and she felt a little selfish, but her anger seemed to drive her forward anyways. She walked over to the door and just as she was about to leave, a hand was on her shoulder. She stared up into the brilliant green eyes of Maes Hughes. He gave her a soft smile and said, "You were present at the time of the explosion. Since we're about go over the events, its best if you stayed here so we can hear your side of it."
"Winry, you were there?" came Edward's stunned voice from across the room. Winry felt her heart rise in her chest. All her anger had evaporated as she realized she was suddenly now apart of something that had happened in Ed and Al's life. Not only that, but if they were willing to discuss the events from Laboratory 5 with her there then she would probably hear more about her green-haired guardian – perhaps she could finally find out who he was?
Maria Ross and Lenny Brosh had taken up their duty in guarding the door outside the hospital room. Winry had pulled her chair towards a small table where Ed was currently drawing pictures of what he had witnessed inside the laboratory. Alphonse stood next to him, leaning over him to get a better view. Maes Hughes watched from next to Winry, and Louis Armstrong had just recently joined them.
Edward had gone over the many details of his experience at Laboratory 5 from the time when he crawled through the air vent to the moment he was carried out. He said a lot of things Winry didn't understand that had to do with alchemy, she figured. Some of those things referred to 'sacrifices' and 'tattoo of the ouroboros'.
Suddenly Ed held up the last picture had just drawn and Winry felt her heart leap into her throat at the scratchy sketch of someone all too familiar. Edward, next words stunned her, "I don't remember anything after being kicked by this guy…"
Winry's eyes widened, as she gasped in disbelief, "Kicked? That's the guy who got you out of the building and brought you back to us. He's the one who saved your life."
"Save my life?" Edward spat, "He's a total asshole! He called me a runt four times!"
"You counted…?" Armstrong asked in amusement.
Winry found herself wanting to argue, but she didn't. Instead, she stayed silent and let the conversation continue between Armstrong and Hughes. So, the man she had started idolizing had been the cause of Edward's brutal beating…? Then, if he had wanted to kill Edward why did he bring him to safety afterward? Winry realized just as she had with the foreigner from Xing that she knew nothing about this strange character even though she had started painting a glorified picture in her head. The chances of her vision of him being true were starting to dissipate. This revelation disappointed her, but she still had the desire to know more about him, to try and disprove it if she could.
"There are too many mysteries for it to be an ordinary experiment," Armstrong was saying.
Hughes nodded, and added, "I'd like to look into it some more but the Laboratory is in ruins. I wonder if the State Library would have anything, or the court-martial chamber…"
Winry was lost. She figured she had missed half the conversation during her muse. She gazed down at the rough picture of the green-haired stranger and it stared back with a wicked grin that Edward had managed to draw across its face. Something bothered her about it. She couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly.
She picked up the picture of what Edward had called the 'tattoo of the ouroboros'. She remembered seeing it on the side of one of that man's thighs. She wondered if it held some sort of meaning.
"Ed, what does this symbol mean?" she asked curiously, holding it up for him to see. Hughes and Armstrong temporarily paused in their conversation to hear Edward reply, "In theory it represents the cycle of life, totality…"
Winry could tell he was beating around the bush with his answer, hoping to discourage her from finding the truth, but she knew him way too well to stop there. "And in alchemy?" she persisted.
Edward seemed to hesitate, but everyone was waiting on his answer, even Al, it seemed. "In alchemy the serpent is still symbolic of the cycle of life and totality, but the star in the center represents immortality, or the undying."
There was a silence where Winry put the picture back down on the table and stared blankly in thought. Tattoo of the ouroboros, a representation of the undying… none of it made any sense to her, but the more she thought of it the more she felt she should look into it. She couldn't help but feel that this was the reason she had made a sporadic trip to Central.
"I think I saw that tattoo on that guy's leg," she said, "Ed, what does that mean?"
Edward just shrugged and Winry could tell he was hiding something from her. However, it didn't seem to bother her this time. She was sure that if Edward wasn't going to talk someone else would, and if they didn't she could always look it up in the library. There has got to be a book written on the ouroboros somewhere. She was even certain that Edward might have talked about it at some point in his alchemy training years ago. Too bad she hadn't paid attention.
"Hey, Al," Ed started, "You know, we haven't been to Dublith to visit our master in a while. I think it might be a good time to do that."
Alphonse nodded in agreement, "You're right. We might even be able to ask her about all this."
"Already leaving? But, your wounds haven't even healed yet," Armstrong said in surprise.
Edward grinned as he replied, "I can't stay in this place any longer. It stinks of antiseptic and I'm so bored. Not only that, but Al and I have lots we need to find out. I can't just sit around knowing the answer is right around the corner."
Winry frowned when she realized this would mean more babysitting on her part. Wait, Dublith? She didn't want to go to Dublith! There was nothing for her in Dublith. She wanted to stay in Central where she could pick up more hints on the strange character from Laboratory 5, not go to some backwater town!
Then, something else popped into her head unexpectedly. Her heart started racing as she realized from the map Ling had been holding that the first station on the way to Dublith was…
"Rush Valley!" Winry suddenly said, excitement filling her heart as she dreamt of running through the main street of the automail town, surrounded by nothing but prosthetic shops and the best mechanics in town. She could learn something there. Perhaps she could even buy a full set of beautifully crafted tools to bring home. Oh, she could just imagine the shinning splendor of all the uniquely crafted designs she could lay her hands on. Just thinking of it made her mouth water.
She suddenly turned to Ed, all thoughts of her fascination with the symbol of the ouroboros and the guardian stranger forgotten, "You have to take me! You have to take me! Please, please!"
"What? This isn't a pleasure cruise!"
"Well, why not?" Al piped up, "It's on the way after all."
"Al!" Edward looked like he had been betrayed by his own brethren.
"In that case, Ed," Hughes said, on his way to the door, "I'll be leaving. I've got lots of work to finish up. Winry, you should stop by my place later on to say bye to Elicia. I'm sure she would love if you visited."
"Of course," Winry smiled widely.
"Anyways, take care. Drop in next time you're in Central," and with that Hughes left the room. Armstrong folded up the drawings of the ouroboros and the spiky-haired man and stuffed them in his jacket. "I'll start making a list of people who were working under Dr. Marcoh and see if I can't find out where they're currently staying. Maybe I can have a word with a few of them."
"Sounds good," Edward nodded. After Armstrong had left, Winry stood and stretched, "I'll run down to the station and pick up those tickets. You want to leave tomorrow morning, right?"
"Yeah… as soon as possible."
Winry left the hospital room and headed for the exit. She was in a new mode, determined to find the answers to her own questions. It was still early, and after picking up the tickets at the station the first thing she would do was head straight for the State library. Hughes had said something about being able to find information on the ouroboros there. Perhaps she could find a connection.
What a troublesome human. Envy had been watching Maes Hughes for only a brief period of time and had found out that the man knew more than he let on. He had spent some time watching and waiting for the right moment to strike. He had informed Lust of his suspicion, that perhaps Hughes was starting to catch on to their plan quicker than any of them expected. And so, when he had managed to sneak into the little meeting in the hospital room as Louis Armstrong, he had confirmed it for himself. He was lucky to have been able to snatch up those loose drawings of himself and Lust, otherwise more of the military might have made themselves familiar with their appearances. They didn't need spies breathing down their necks.
So, when Maes Hughes excused himself from the room, claiming to have work to do, Envy followed shortly after. He would have to signal to Lust to get ride of him before he discovered what they were planning.
Envy gritted his teeth. He never believed a human could be so meddlesome. He was even more surprised when Lust informed him he'd have to finish the job himself. Couldn't the busty sin do anything right? After having vented at Lust over her incompetence and getting hung up on, Envy decided he was grateful for the job. He hadn't gotten his hands dirty in a while and it would be a nice way to vent some of his pent up frustration.
After seeing that the Winry girl was starting to take interest in what and who he was, he had started getting angry. Why did she care who he was? Sure, she may have recognized him from Laboratory 5, but what did that matter?
Envy had wandered towards a deserted district of town. He could follow Hughes' blood trails from miles away. He was surprised the human had survived that much blood loss and was still running around. No matter, Envy would fix that.
Just as he expected, Envy spotted the worn down Lieutenant Colonel at a phone booth, desperately trying to get through to someone, King Bradley perhaps. Envy smirked as he imagined Wrath on the other end of the line pretending to be sincere and helpful. Sometimes Envy wondered how the younger sin could put up with the act twenty-four-seven. It sickened Envy just to associate with humans on a part-time basis, let alone have a fake family like Wrath did.
Envy's grin widened, maybe he didn't have the worse job out of the seven after all…
No, now that he thought of it, he probably had one of the best. Poor, stupid Sloth was stuck underground somewhere, couldn't forget about him. Envy snickered, and here he was about to knock off one of the main members of the military. No, Envy certainly had one of the best jobs – and he was the perfect candidate.
"Roy…let me talk to Colonel Roy Mustang," Envy heard Hughes gasp into the receiver. Envy snickered quietly as he heard Hughes start getting agitated with the person on the other end of the line. "I'm Lt. Colonel Hughes from Central! I'm calling from an outside line because of an emergency!"
There was a pause and Hughes growled, "What a bother!" He dug into his jacket pocket for a piece of paper and began reading some kind of code off of it. Meanwhile, Envy watched as a picture of his wife and daughter fell to the floor at his feet. He came to stand behind him, staring at the picture, and noticed Hughes stiffen at the feeling of someone close behind him.
Envy badly wanted to turn into Winry Rockbell and stun the hell out of the Lt. Colonel, but he decided if his plan failed he would fuck things up big time. Instead, he took this moment to shift into the woman from Laboratory 5, Maria Ross and drew a gun. He only had to cock it once for the sound to echo through the night, causing Hughes' breath to hitch. Envy resisted the urge to grin, and said, "Could you put down the receiver, Lt. Colonel?"
Hughes let out a shuddered breath and turned just a bit to glance over his shoulder at the intruder. His hand never let go of the phone. Envy was quick to notice this, "The receiver, please."
Hughes didn't make a move. Then, he said, "Second Lt. Ross…or not? Who are you?"
Envy found it rather amusing. How much had this human learnt, really? He didn't want to give himself away, but he was rather impressed and when he spoke it was in his voice, "I'm Second Lt. Maria Ross. Have you forgotten?"
Envy realized his mistake too late when Hughes suddenly said, "No, you're not."
He frowned, starting to get fed up with this little game. He wanted to just shoot the human already, but then his fun would be over too soon. He decided to wait and hear how Hughes had come up with his verdict so soon.
"Second Lt. Maria Ross has a mole underneath her left eye!"
Envy blinked, dumbfounded for a second before he mentally slapped himself. He laughed briefly and a wide grin crossed Maria Ross' delicate features, he was certain this look didn't suit her in the least. "Huh? Really?" he smirked, "I was careless."
It was more than that, and Envy would have to deal with his own internal problems later. Right now, he had a human to kill. Taking advantage of Hughes' stunned silence, Envy tapped a finger to his left cheek where he knew a mole had suddenly materialized. He savored Hughes' expression of shock and fear, loving every moment of it. "How's that?"
"What the hell?" Hughes gasped, "It's like I'm dreaming."
"Your quick wittedness brought the end of you, Hughes," Envy threw in for good measure. Might as well comment the poor sucker while he was on death's threshold.
"Hey now, give me a break," Hughes said, voice softening slightly, but still tense. Envy caught the movement of his right hand and his lip turned up mischievously. He looked down and took in the details of the picture as thoroughly as he could in the few seconds that he had, "I've got a wife and daughter waiting for me back home. There's no way…I can die here!"
As expected, Hughes had spun around, a blade pinched between his right index finger and thumb, about to strike. He froze on the spot as his eyes landed on Envy, who gave him a wide toothy grin. It would seem the image of his wife was up to par, "Perfect staging, right?" Envy gloated.
Hughes shook violently, unable to attack, rendered helpless by a mere illusion. Envy didn't hesitate to pull the trigger and shift back into his preferred form as his victim slouched to the floor of the telephone booth. He smirked. That had been so much fun!
"Human's are so foolish," Envy said, as he stepped over the dying Hughes to hang up the receiver, "Risking their lives for something so stupid…"
With that, he turned on his heels and left Hughes to bleed out.
Envy walked a good three blocks as the Second Lt. Maria Ross before he finally decided to shift back into his regular form, figuring that if anyone had witnessed the crime they would have seen Maria Ross instead of him. Now, to entertain himself for the evening… Lust had said the only thing he needed to do tonight was kill Hughes because he had provided her with so much information already. It was time for him to take a breather.
Just as he stepped from behind an apartment building near the heart of Central Envy heard a familiar voice, screeching loudly about something.
What the hell? When did his luck get this bad? Why did he keep running into the gearhead?
Envy spotted her screaming at the guard outside of the State Library about not being allowed in without a pocket watch, or something rather... He frowned. Why did she want into the State Library to begin with? There couldn't possibly be anything there that would interest her. Then, a thought it Envy square in the eyes.
He jumped back behind the building and pressed himself up against the brick wall as a plan formed neatly in his mind. Could the girl possibly want information on him? He had found her earlier interest in him a little odd when she had argued with the Fullmetal runt about what had happened at Laboratory 5, but he never expected her to go this far.
Envy smirked. What if she was searching for him? It made perfect sense since he had definitely taunted her a while ago in Risenbool, and just two days ago she had seen him in his true form. Knowing how foolish humans could be about some things, Envy wouldn't really be all that surprised if that was exactly what she was at the State Library to research.
Well, then…
He was free for the evening…
Ah, to hell with it! Why not?
It wasn't like he was going to kill her, although if Father did give out the order, he'd be the first to jump at it, seeing how she was a constant irritation lately.
Envy grinned as he shifted into the poor girl he had seen talking with Hughes earlier. He knew she was probably still at headquarters with overtime work, so it was safe to borrow her identity for a bit. Besides, Winry might only trust women after dark.
Envy walked out from behind the building. He couldn't get over why he had chosen higher heels than was necessary and wished he hadn't as soon as he found his calves starting to ache from the awkwardness. It couldn't be helped. He had already drawn the attention of Winry and the guard and now he would have to just put up with it.
"Um, excuse me," he said in the girls timid voice, "I couldn't help but hear your conversation. You're trying to get into the library?"
Winry nodded, "I didn't realize you needed a piece of State Identification to get in. What could a library possibly hold that's so important anyways?" Her question seemed to be more directed at the guard, who was looking at Envy as if to say "help me!"
This amused Envy. "You know, I used to work in the library. Maybe I could help you find what you're looking for?"
Winry turned to him with a reluctant look, "Well, you see…I don't really know exactly what book I want…I just need to find out a few things."
"You found the right person then!" Envy exclaimed, maybe a little over enthusiastically. He remembered this particular girl saying exactly this, "I've read every book in the library and I can recite anything in exact wording if you want me to."
Envy really hoped Winry wouldn't ask him to prove it.
To his luck, finally, Winry seemed to take his word for it. "Really?" she said in awe, "Oh…in that case, do you think you can remember anything called an ouroboros?"
Bingo…
…Just as Envy thought. She was trying to find out about him.
"Sure, but uh…" Envy made glanced at the guard, who was currently eavesdropping, and decided he would rather be in private than out in the street. He really didn't know what he was going to do now. He just wanted to fuck with her head again, but he would have to be careful about it. He didn't want to give any information about him and the other homunculi away
…or did he?
To be quite frank Envy didn't give a shit about the others except Father, mostly because only he had the power to kill him and in the most painful way possible. All Envy wanted to do was have a little fun. And he had to admit, he had a few questions of his own he wanted answered: like why he had screwed up his image of Maria Ross after he had thought of Winry Rockbell. He knew Ross had a mole under left eye, why the hell had he missed it? It wasn't like him to miss specific details, no matter how small. Many decades had taught him to be the most observant member of the homunculi, to the point of meticulousness.
Winry had started walking away from library, saying, "Why don't we drop into that little coffee shop I saw down the street?"
Envy grinned, though he had kept it minimal and not as psychotic, figuring it wouldn't have suited the girls features and would probably make Winry run for the hills. He nodded in agreement at her suggestion of the coffeehouse. He didn't have any money on him, but that wasn't a problem. He didn't like coffee anyways, and if he decided to have something he could always just sneak out and leave Winry with the bill. Usually that escape plan consisted of excusing himself to go to the bathroom, transform into some random stranger and then leave. Humans always seemed to hate it when he did that. It was always amusing watching them take it out on the poor friend Envy had decided to turn into. The friend never knew what the hell to make of it: "I wasn't even there!" was a usual response.
"So, my names Winry Rockbell," Winry introduced herself as they walked. She held out a small hand to him, "Nice to meet you."
Envy scrambled, trying to remember the name of the girl he was currently hidden inside. Why the hell was he having so many problems with memory lately? He took her outstretched hand and shook it briefly before letting go. "I'm Shesk – ah!"
One of Sheska's heels got caught between a crack in the pavement and sent the sin sprawling on his face. He hit the ground face-first with such impact he was sure his weight had created a new crack right beneath him. Envy heard Winry stopped and gasp, "Oh, are you okay!?"
Envy felt a familiar burn of embarrassment surface into his face and he was thankful he was playing Sheska, who was usually clumsy otherwise it would have looked off. He shook off the momentary shock. He couldn't believe he had just done that. Him of all people! Awkward as it might seem, Envy knew how to walk in heels! He had done it a thousand times before, pretending to be different women from the most graceful to the least. Why the hell was he having trouble now?!
He snapped out of his mental rant when he felt two small hands on his arm. The first thought that passed through his mind when he realized who was trying to help him was: don't touch me...
"Let me help you," Winry was saying as she gently pulled at his upper arm. Envy gritted his teeth at her futile attempt and stood up on his own. Her light pulls, he knew, would hardly lift his finger let alone his arm. The one and only drawback to his true form was the weight of it.
"Thanks," he said as he stood up, trying desperately to hold his voice steady. He was boiling with anger on the inside at his own embarrassment, cursing at himself for being so careless more than once that day. Envy suddenly removed his shoes and held them in one hand, sighing just as he'd seen Sheska do a million times, "That's better."
"You're going to walk in bare feet?"
"It's better than falling on my face again," Envy scowled. At Winry's expression he decided to tone down the anger a bit. It would certainly get him in trouble if he was caught.
They walked the remainder of the way to the coffee shop and Envy was pleased that it was close by. When they got a table, Winry ordered some fancy coffee drink Envy had never heard of before and when the waitress turned to him, he shrugged, "Sorry, I'm not having anything. I don't have my wallet with me."
"Go ahead, I'll cover it. You're helping me out after all," Winry offered.
Envy figured the escape plan could be thrown out the window now. He wondered why he had even said anything. He should have just ordered like he usually did in this type of situation. He forced a smile and ordered simple green tea. It was too bad, really. He had been looking forward to leaving Winry with a massive bill and then watched her confront Sheska about it later. Now that she had actually offered, there was no fun in it anymore.
"So, what is it you wanted to find at the library, Winry?" Her name had rolled off his tongue rather awkwardly and he almost winced at the sound of it. He took a sip of the hot tea to hide his expression of frustration to find that the tea was way too hot. Envy felt his mouth seer with pain, and lacking any sort of etiquette for the moment, spit it back out into his cup. He suddenly realized that what he'd done was something most humans, and homunculi alike, especially Lust, found disgusting, and as was expected he looked up and found Winry staring at him with a blank look on her face.
"Ouch…" Envy made a quick cover, "That was hot."
"Uh, okay, be careful next time," Winry replied.
Envy pushed the tea away for the time being, already fed up with how his night was going. First, he made a blunder with Maria Ross' camouflage, then he falls on his face and now he was making a fool out of himself. He was starting to think this whole idea was not such a great plan after all. He was starting to get pissed off with every mistake he made, and he was sure that if Winry hadn't have been untouchable he would have killed her by now to save himself from more embarrassment. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible and Winry was already starting to talk about her topic of interest.
"Sheska, do you know anything about alchemy?" she had asked.
"Only what I read in books," Envy replied, "What do you want to know?"
"Have you heard of an ouroboros?"
Envy made a show of looking thoughtful before answering, "Yup, I remember now! I read that it resembled totality and immortality…"
"So, if…someone has a tattoo of that what would that mean?" Winry asked straight out. Envy figured having dealt with the Elric brothers for most of her life had taught her to be direct and to the point. Good, the sooner this night was over the better in his opinion. He didn't need anything else going wrong. His tongue still burned…
He decided to play stupid on this one. "I don't know. It's just a tattoo, right?"
Winry seemed put out. "I guess," she mumbled.
Envy raised an eyebrow mischievously. This conversation was getting too boring for his tastes. He decided to fall back into what he liked to call 'teenage girl talk'. A mischievous smile broadened on his face as he asked, "Something on your mind? Or rather…someone?"
To his horror, Winry blushed. Envy couldn't believe the reaction he got out of that simple implication. He knew humans were idiots, but this was just unexpected.
"Well, to be honest with you," Winry started and Envy resisted the temptation to lean in a little closer to hear her better. A smirk was threatening to spread across his lips. "I met this guy a long time ago. He saved my life –,"
Yeah, that had been his first mistake…
"And I spent some time thinking about him, because I don't think I remembered everything correctly. That memory is still a little confusing…" she seemed to trail off and then snapped herself back on track again, "Anyways, he showed up again just a few days ago and this time he saved the life of my best friend –,"
First chance he gets, he's killing that little runt…
"And so I really want to find him again to thank him for everything. I feel like he's avoiding me, because you think someone who looks as odd as he does wouldn't be hard to find –,"
Fuck you, bitch. I like the way I look, Envy found himself thinking.
"This is going to sound stupid, but I feel like he's my guardian or something –,"
Wait, what?
Envy blanched. He just happened to be in mid-sip when he spat the tea out again. Thank god he had managed to get it all in the cup. Winry was looking at him weird, and he decided he should probably cover up his little reaction. "You actually believe in that sort of stuff?" he said, wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve. This probably wasn't a great idea, because he was getting another stare from her. He picked up the napkin instead.
"Well…" Winry frowned, looking down at her hands in thought, "I don't know what else to think. He's saved both Edward and I, and…this is silly, but I almost think he'll show up again at some point. I just hope I can get his name next time… I want to thank him for everything he's done. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be alive and neither would Ed..."
Envy almost snickered at the strange longing in her voice. If only she knew what he really was…That thought made his anger boil again. He had come to terms with himself several decades ago that the only real reason he hated humans was because he envied them. Their support for each other and their ability to forgive was something Envy didn't understand, and it made him feel small and stupid. On top of it, the homunculi never showed any of that emotion towards each other. He'd be damned if Lust or Wrath or even Father, for that matter, would forgive him for making any sort of mistakes. Death was always a final punishment, and it made him despise his own kind sometimes. The only thing he could do to make him feel better about the situation was turn those humans who originally cared about each other against each other. It made him feel satisfied that even they knew what hatred and anger felt like.
Envy found for some odd reason his anger, his hatred, his loathing had dissipated for a single moment, and all he could do was stare into the depths of his tea feeling empty strangely very alone.
Leonahari: So, that was an incredibly long chapter and I'm pretty certain all my chapters will be this long from now on. Oh, and I've magically managed to catch H1N1 (Swine Flu) since it's been going around my home town lately. It's just wonderful being sick...(sarcasm) So, if there are any issues with this chapter I blame it on the bug because I wrote and proof read it while I was half-conscious.
So, it really irks me how some people can get jealousy and envy wrong. Most use it exchanably in speech and writing. So, I'm giving a mini lesson because I too used to make the same mistake and found it embarrassing when I realized I had written my story (ie Of Bullets and Mercury) with that thought in mind. Also, this explains a LOT about Envy's character, which I had originally overlooked: Envy is the desire to obtain a possession or quality of another. It usually makes the person who is envious feel obsolete in comparison to the one with the desired possession or quality. Jealousy is actually the opposite of this. A jealous person often thinks that those possessions and qualities are owed to them. Usually a jealous person is constantly fearful of loosing what they already have to another person, and what they don't have they believe they should have it.
I hope that made sense, and if it did you will be able to see why Envy is called Envy and not Jealousy. That, and Envy just sounds a lot better :P
Oh, and my birthday is in a couple of days so you all better have Envy show up on my doorstep for some lovin', or else.........