Author's note: Thank you once again to Turtlequeen2 for all of your help with this chapter. Sorry for the long wait everyone, I hope that you will enjoy this chapter.
Envy, currently disguised as Mark Stone, walked through the halls of Central Headquarters, careful not to scowl as he explored the building. A few days had passed since he had spoken to Rosette and he was annoyed that the woman had given him the slip. How in the hell was he supposed to "woo" her if she was never around?
As if his thoughts had summoned her, Rosette opened the door and exited one of the filing rooms. She was wearing an army uniform and was holding the large stack on her lap with her chin, with more files stuffed in at her sides. The young woman appeared to be nothing more than a pack mule on wheels as she closed the door behind her and carefully rolled down the hall off in a world of her own.
The homunculus heard a door close shut, stopping in the middle of the hallway when he saw Rosette rolling down in his direction. He took note of her military uniform and found himself thinking that it was ill suited for her. However, shaking such foolish thoughts from his head, he was just glad to have finally spotted her.
In silence, she rolled down one hallway, then another as though she was looking for something or someone. Finally, she seemed to find what she was looking for and tapped in a door politely. "Sir, I have those papers you asked for. May I come in?"
At a sound Envy couldn't hear, Rosette opened the door and entered the room. When she remerged, her load had lightened a little, as the two files on either side of her were gone.
From what Envy could deduce, the job the young woman had had something to do with filing papers and delivering them to other higher-ups in the military building. He wondered if it had anything to do with Colonel Mustang since King Bradley was still supposedly punishing the man.
The next stop led to the heavy stack of papers on her lap being delivered, this stop seemed to cheer her up, because she smiled and noticed Envy for the first time. "Hey Mark, is that you?" She asked, wanting to make sure she remembered right.
Envy nodded his head, forcing himself to smile even though he was mildly annoyed that it took her so long to notice his existence. "Yes," he replied, moving over to stand beside her. "I see that you've been put to work, Rosette..."
"From what I was told, everyone made a mass plea to the Fuhrer to give me something to do to get me out underfoot. Roy hates the uniform though. The Fuhrer had to point out that no one would even consider molesting a woman wearing the uniform before he finally let me wear it."
"Ah, I see," the homunculus remarked. "It is true, though..." He forced himself to let out a laugh. "No man would ever be stupid enough to improperly touch Second Lieutenant Hawkeye, for example."
"Not unless they wanted to die anyway." The redhead agreed, pausing to rub the back of her neck. "I know it's just make-work until the library's rebuilt, but I didn't want to look ungrateful, that's why I couldn't say hello earlier. If I'd moved my mouth, the stack I was holding would have gone flying."
Envy blinked, finding himself feeling slightly better at the fact that she had noticed him after all. "So, you did manage to see me earlier..." he murmured.
Rosette looks apologetic. "I would have waved, but I'm still learning my way around and I didn't want to loose track of where I was. Lieutenant Hawkeye gave me a map but..."
The "man" shook his head at her. "No, it's fine," he assured her. "You had a job to do."
She smiled in relief. "I need to check my bag and make sure it's empty. If it is, I'll be on break. What about you?"
Envy flashed a smirk in her direction. "I have nothing else planned for the rest of the afternoon," he responded. "I did most of my paperwork this morning."
Rosette blushed. "I haven't eaten yet, have you? If you have, you don't have to keep me company if you have other things you wanted to do." Her shyness was almost painful, already expecting rejection from this handsome 'man'.
The homunculus took a quick moment to admire the woman's blush before replying. "Now why would I dare to turn down an offer like that from a beautiful woman such as yourself?" He let out a small laugh, adding, "Like I already said; most of my work's done."
Her blush deepened. "You are very kind." Rosette replied quietly, rolling smoothly at his side. Clearly, she didn't see herself as beautiful.
Envy secretly found himself enjoying the blush on her face as they headed to the cafeteria together. Though, it was clearly obvious that she wasn't used to being called "beautiful." 'Heh... Obviously, this means that this human will get more bent out of shape by compliments...' he mentally snickered.
Before they got to the cafeteria, she stopped. "Would you please wait here for a minute while I check the bag and make sure they know I'm going on break?" Rosette asked Mark very politely.
Blinking out of his dark thoughts, the homunculus nodded his head. "I'll be here," he assured her in a gentle tone.
Her smile of gratitude looked like a beam of sunshine as her gray eyes lit up. "I'll try to be quick." Rosette promised, opening the door and rolling inside as fast as she could.
Envy thought to himself after watching her enter the room she needed to go in. The woman's innocence perplexed him. For such a naive looking human, she had a rare brightness about her that he had never encountered before. He then inwardly growled at himself. 'That's only because I don't directly interact with individual humans that often!' he told himself, not wanting to believe that he was softening for Rosette.
Two minutes later the redhead came back out, looking a bit flustered. Seeing Mark though, Rosette nodded. "I'm free and clear Mark. Let's go eat!"
Putting his actor's smile back into place, Envy led them a few more paces until coming upon the cafeteria door and pulling it open for her like the proper gentleman would do.
Her smile of thanks was a gift as she quietly rolled inside, being careful to stay out of the way as much as she could.
Envy walked into the large room behind Rosette, shutting the door behind him as he went. He tried his best not to pay any mind to her smile, convincing himself that she was just another annoying human he had to win over for his leader's master plan. The homunculus stared at all of the male soldiers in the cafeteria, seeing how intimidating they all appeared in comparison to Rosette's fragile state. While she appeared bright and full of eager energy, the rest of the military men already looked fatigued and jaded. It was like seeing a rose in full-bloom while being surrounded by a garden of thorny vines.
As they were in line to get their meals, Rosette's cheerful chatter and honest smiles earned both of them extra goodies when the ones serving the food saw that they were together. They didn't tease the redhead, maybe afraid to spook her back into her shell, but judging from the glances they sent him when the girl's attention was elsewhere- they approved the seeming match.
The homunculus seemed pleased at his ability to paint a picture of the two being a nice couple. He kept his thoughts to himself as the two went to find somewhere to eat in the rowdy cafeteria.
Rosette looked about to say something when somebody shot his hand out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back as her other hand went to steady her tray. Her eyes darkened in pain, but all she said was. "Please let go."
The dark rugged man tightened his grip, smiling at the pain that flashed across her face. "I didn't know they allowed dolls in the military down here. Who do you belong to girlie?" He smirked.
Annoyance flashed through Envy's eyes as he set his tray down on an open space of the nearest table. He knew that it wouldn't bode well for anyone if Rosette's wrist got snapped while she was away from her brother. Deciding to make his presence known, he stepped forward. "I believe she told you to let go of her," he stated in as calm a voice as he could muster.
The man eyed Envy, then smirked. "You know who this girl playing dress up belongs to?"
Rosette sunk her teeth into her lip to keep from whining in pain, and wisely stayed silent.
Thinking that it would possibly get the man to back off, Envy answered, "Colonel Roy Mustang."
The man laughed almost tugging the redhead out of her chair. "Pah, I outrank him."
Rosette hissed in agony as her shoulder dislocated with a pop with the force of the man's pull. 'Ow!' She mentally cried out.
The homunculus heard the clear pop of bone and felt his annoyance turn into anger. This bastard was going to end up getting him roasted alive! "Is there something you want with her?" he demanded.
He smiled at Rosette. "Just want to have a little chat that's all." Although he said 'talk', clearly it wasn't talking on the guy's mind. "After we are done you can have your turn enjoying her company."
Envy's eyes narrowed even more, moving forward in one quick movement and placing his hand around the man's wrist and squeezing tight enough to make the soldier let go of the young woman. "I don't think I'll allow you to do that," he growled.
Rosette sat back up, her face white with pain and her numb left arm hanging limply at her side. Still she backed up with her right hand quickly enough to get out of harm's way.
"Why you little-!" The man growled, trying to punch Envy with his other hand.
The homunculus knew that the human was no match for him. Without blinking an eye, he snapped the man's wrist and moved his head to avoid getting punched in the face. In the same turn, he used his strong grip to flip the soldier over his body so that he would smack into the wood floor hard.
Rosette's mouth dropped. 'Not to self: do not get Mark angry with you!' She thought as she probed the injury with her free hand.
Envy let go of the military officer's broken wrist, staring down at him with cold rage still burning in his human disguise's eyes. "Are you quite finished? I am," he remarked.
The man just groaned and rolled over in pain.
By the time the entire fiasco had ended, the cafeteria fell eerily silent. Every person in the room aside from the three involved in the fight were all on their feet, looking at the group in stunned shock.
Before long, the doors slammed open, revealing a stern looking Fuhrer with his bodyguards on stand-by. The silence that settled through the onlookers turned into gasps of shock. It was a rarity to see their leader out in the open.
Swallowing hard, Rosette saluted in silence with the rest, doing her best to hide the pain.
"At ease, soldiers," King Bradley ordered, not wanting them to stand staring at him the entire time he was in the room. He walked forward, stopping directly in front of Envy and Rosette. With his one eye, he glanced down at the woman's limp arm before sending a glare at Envy, acting as if it was partly his fault.
Envy was clearly not in the mood to be lectured by his "sibling" but knew that it would be suspicious if he glared back at what was supposed to be his "leader." He made himself grow a more calm expression. "I apologize for the mess that happened in here, Fuhrer..." he murmured out between gritted teeth, hating the fact that he was forced to bow to him as he did so.
Rosette gulped. 'The Fuhrer's mad, what am I going to tell Roy? He's going to be pissed at me..." She panicked
The Fuhrer's sights turned on the young woman. "What has happened to you?" he asked, his tone inquiring, but also giving away that it was more of an order for her to answer than just a conversational question.
"Mark and I were getting some lunch when he-" She pointed with her other hand to the guy leaning against the table now. "-stopped me. He said: 'I didn't know they allowed dolls in the military down here. Who do you belong to girlie?' Mark tried to help, but when the other guy pulled me towards him, my arm got dislocated Sir." She somehow managed to smile. "It's not serious milord." Although Rosette claimed that it wasn't a serious injury, it clearly hurt judging by her pale face.
The King could tell that she was just trying not to trouble him. Calling one of his bodyguards forward, he ordered him to make sure that Rosette was comfortably back into her chair before pushing her to the infirmary. "Once we get you there, I'll have a talk with you and this young man," he remarked, looking back at "Mark."
Knowing that her ploy hadn't worked, Rosette sighed. "Yes sir. Shouldn't my brother be called?"
"I'll send someone to tell him in a few minutes," Bradley assured the young woman as she was pushed out of the cafeteria.
"Thank you very much Sir." The redhead replied softly.
After a few minutes of pacing passed, everyone was within the large infirmary, watching as Rosette was placed onto a bed and began to get her arm examined.
Meanwhile a nervous officer tapped on Roy's door. "Colonel Roy Mustang?" He asked, shifting from one foot to the other.
Roy, who was still chest deep in paperwork, rose from behind his desk, thankful for the distraction. Walking to the door, he pulled it open and glanced down at the messenger. "Are you here to deliver a message?" he questioned.
"Your sister... there are an accident. The Fuhrer requests you to come to the infirmary at once." The man stammered like a schoolboy.
Within a matter of seconds, the calm expression on the young soldier's face turned into one of rage. It was as if someone had flicked a switch in his brain. His eye twitched once before he growled out, "W-what?!"
"Th- there was a fight in the cafeteria and your sister got hurt during the fight." He stuttered in fear.
The colonel stepped out of his office and slammed the door shut behind him. "Who was in this fight?" he demanded, glaring down at the officer. His right hand idly reached into his pants pocket to feel for his gloves.
"I don't know sir. I was only sent to get you."
Roy had a feeling that if he had already been wearing his gloves, the poor messenger would have been suffering from first degree burns by now. Letting out a growl of frustration, he stomped past the frightened officer with a hardened expression in place.
Rosette was biting down hard on her lip to avoid cursing, her other hand fisting the sheets to avoid hurting someone as her shoulder was being poked and prodded.
Mustang practically barged down the door into the infirmary as he searched for his sister. When he was in front of the small group, his expression of rage subsided slightly once he saw the Fuhrer standing beside Rosette. "What's going on here?" He half-snapped to his sister.
The redhead flinched, then hissed sharply. "My shoulder isn't broken, just dislocated Roy." She was trying to make light of it.
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?!" he replied with a slight snarl in his tone, ignoring his commanding officer's presence for the time being.
"I didn't get burned." She replied. "Mark and I didn't even get to eat yet!"
The colonel's anger abated slightly when he heard Mark's name. "Who is this 'Mark'?" he immediately asked.
Rosette apologized to Envy with her eyes, but answered her brother. "Roy, this is First Lieutenant Mark Stone. Mark, this is my brother Colonel Roy Mustang."
Envy, who had been watching the interaction silently by the Fuhrer's side, stepped forward to give his "superior officer" a slight bow of respect. Looking up at the simmering fury in Roy's eyes, he knew that it wasn't best to anger the man. "I had managed to bump into your sister a few days ago when she was having difficulty finding her way to the cafeteria," he explained. "We met again today by chance and decided to have lunch together when this happened..."
Rosette looked between the two, trying to gauge the reaction to each other, ready to play peacemaker despite being in agony.
Roy's eyes narrowed slightly, feeling annoyed that he had went a few days without knowing of this sudden development. "So, you had something to do with Rosette getting hurt?" he questioned.
"He was trying to protect me Roy, the crater in the cafeteria was caused when Mark made the other guy eat dirt for putting his hands on me." Rosette jumped in, yipping in pain. "Ow!"
Envy cast a glance at the woman at the sound of her yelp. "You should lay down, Rosette," he told her in a gentle tone. "I can deal with this on my own."
Shooting a glance at Roy, Rosette shook her head. "I'm fine."
The Fuhrer observed all of the conversations that took place in silence before clearing his throat. It never ceased to amaze him at how close the colonel and his sister were. Envy seemed to be doing a good enough job handling things on his own, minus the fact that his stunt could have cost him his cover. "Colonel Mustang," he suddenly beckoned.
Roy, who was prepared to say something to Rosette, immediately turned his attention to King Bradley. "Yes, Sir?" he asked, forcing his voice to calm after letting out a breath.
"I can see the anger in your eyes," the king observed. "I can tell that you're willing to kill the man who laid their hands on Rosette."
Surprised, Roy's eyes widened, not expecting the Fuhrer to say something so openly blunt and to the point.
"That is why I will not tell you who did this to her," Bradley explained. "I do not want you to place your position of power in jeopardy nor do I want you to burn down this building in the process."
Mark coaxed her to lay down, to anyone watching, he looked just as angry as Roy was.
"However..." the Fuhrer began. "Now that we know how dangerous it is to let Rosette wander around alone, I have decided to assign her a bodyguard..."
Both Roy and Envy looked at the King with wide eyes at the same time.
"It only happened once milord!" Rosette protested, gritting her teeth as she started to sit up to better fight her case. "My shoulder is only dislocated, an easy fix."
"I will not allow for you to take another risk like that," the Fuhrer said in a hardened tone, staring at the woman after noticing the bruise starting to encircle her wrist. Anyone who heard him speak knew that what he said was final and that there was no use arguing.
Roy was annoyed at the fact that now he would have to worry about if the bodyguard was treating her correctly. "If I may ask, did you already have someone in mind?" he questioned.
King Bradley felt a small smirk come over his features as he nodded his head. "He's standing in front of you," he answered.
Envy, who was glancing at Roy, immediately turned his head back to stare at his "brother" so fast that his neck almost snapped in the process. "Me?" he asked in an incredulous tone. Well, this certainly wasn't in any of his plans...
"Yes," the aging homunculus replied with a nod of his head. "It's obvious that you are very strong and also care much for Rosette's safety."
Rosette finally got tired of this and sighed. "This is gonna hurt..." She muttered to herself before reaching up with her other hand to grip her shoulder. Shutting her eyes, the redhead took a deep breath in and- before anyone could stop her- jerked her shoulder back into the proper place. "Snickers! I forgot how much that hurt!" Rosette panted, managing not to curse.
Roy's eyes snapped towards his sister. "Rosette!" he cried in a scolding manner, clearly worried about his sister.
"Hm? What? I told you it was an easy fix." The redhead looked calm as she rotated her shoulder carefully, her eyes measuring as she watched herself.
Bradley watched the exchange, figuring out how independent she was. He also was amused at how she had purposely made up a word so that she wouldn't have to curse in front of him.
She smiled at Mark as she tested her hand to make sure everything was back to normal. "All fixed up, nothing to worry about." Rosette's voice was cheerful again. Looking back toward Bradley, however, her mood shifted yet again. "Will Mark be my bodyguard only on the grounds or in the city too?" She asked.
Bradley looked at Envy who still appeared to be surprised by his sudden declaration. "He will be your bodyguard for both occasions..." He didn't bother to hide the smirk that spread onto his lips as he continued staring at the homunculus in disguise. "Unless Lieutenant Stone objects?"
Envy shook his head to regain a serious expression. "...I have no objections to it, Fuhrer," he replied.
Rosette smiled shyly at Mark. "Thank you, I'll try not to be a burden."
The homunculus turned to give Rosette a smile of his own. "I would be honored to be your bodyguard," he responded.
She fought the urge to blush when her stomach growled. "Since my arm is fixed, and our earlier meals are non-edible by now, want to try again to get some lunch?" Rosette asked, ignoring the Fuhrer's pleased chuckle in front of them.
Roy bristled, finding himself irritated that so many decisions were being made at once without his input. He cleared his throat so that everyone's attention would be directed towards him. "I appreciate your concern, Fuhrer, but are you sure that this is the best course of action?" he questioned.
The Fuhrer kept his smirk in place as he nodded his head. "You obviously can't watch over Rosette all the time since you're still under punishment due to last week's stunt," he remarked. "If you want to avoid having her getting harmed again, it would be best to assign someone to her that cares about her state of being just as much as you do."
The colonel heaved a sigh, knowing that his leader had a point.
As the two men were talking, Mark was helping Rosette back into her chair. It appeared he didn't mind his 'duty' at all and was being very attentive to the redhead. Was the Fuhrer was making an attempt at matchmaking? To outsiders, it certainly seemed that way.
Roy closely observed Mark's "caring" way he had helped Rosette back into her chair and how his sister seemed very interested in him. Returning flirtations was enough to displease him, but knowing that the two mutually liked each other bothered him even more.
Happily, Rosette saluted the Fuhrer. "May we please be dismissed now Sir?" She asked politely.
Bradley gave the young woman a nod of his head. "Yes, you can all be dismissed," he replied in a "fatherly" tone.
"Thank you very much, let's go Mark. I heard your stomach too; I know it wasn't just mine!" Rosette beamed. "Bye Roy!"
"Mark" returned the smile with one of his own. "Do you need help rolling back to the cafeteria or can you do it on your own?" he asked.
"I'm fine now Mark." To prove it, she spun in a doughnut before rolling towards the door. She was just showing off for Mark.
The Fuhrer seemed to be amused by Rosette's actions as he strode out of the room with his entourage behind him.
Roy only appeared to grow more annoyed and paranoid as he watched his sister show off for her apparent "crush."
Looking over her shoulder at Roy, she smiled and added, "I'm going on a shopping trip tomorrow so I'm barrowing your wallet brother."
Envy heard Rosette's innocent, but honest remark and couldn't help but let out a small laugh, noticing the semi-depressed expression on the colonel's face.
Rosette opened the door and held it open for 'Mark' and Roy. "Are you hungry Roy? I could bring you something after I eat if you wanted."
The colonel shook his head, still trying to get over the newest arrangement made for his sister.
"Okay, I'll check on you at dinner then. You think we'll get lucky Mark?" She asked her companion as they left. She didn't seem to notice or care about the dark bracelet-like bruise on her wrist.
Envy nodded his head at Rosette's question. "Let's hope so," he remarked. However, as he walked beside the woman, he glanced down at the bruise around her wrist and felt himself grow inwardly upset for reasons he couldn't even explain. 'I should have killed that bastard... Or at least found out what his name was so I could kill him later...' he growled.
When they got to the cafeteria, everyone gave them a wide berth. This didn't help Rosette's nerves, but she chatted with 'Mark' brightly as though nothing at all was amiss. She treated him as a well-mannered guest that she was hosting. The only sign of her nerves were the slight trembling in her hands.
The homunculus found himself enjoying her company more than he would have liked to imagine. He acted well as her new "bodyguard," making sure that no one got too close to her with bad intents.
They sat alone at the table, a fact which Rosette politely ignored. "So what do you like to do when you aren't on duty Mark?" She smiled. "You must be very popular."
Envy, who had already thought up a number of things to tell her for such an answer, replied, "I often go out around town just to spend time in the fresh air." To Rosette's "popular" statement, he only laughed. "I'm not as popular as you might think I am."
"That would surprise me; I would think that you and my brother were rivals by the way that you were sizing each other up. I tease him a lot, but that's just to keep him humble. Though tomorrow I fully intend to go to town when we go shopping, I need a new typewriter..." Rosette sighed. "I tried to sneak mine along, but that didn't work very well and it broke."
Part of him grew amused at how she believed that he had some type of long history in the military. "How did your typewriter break?" the homunculus couldn't help but question, genuinely curious.
"The person I was traveling here with wouldn't let me bring it, so I tried to hide it in one of my suitcases. Nice thing about being female is that nobody blinks an eye when you seem to over pack." She shrugged and took a bite of the meat.
Envy nodded his head upon hearing her words. However, he found himself pausing when he heard her remark about the person she was traveling with. "...You didn't come here by yourself?"
"No, my parents were trying to arrange a marriage for me. Roy didn't like that idea at all and demanded to meet him. Apparently he couldn't hold his tongue and offended my brother."
"What?" Envy scoffed, half-jokingly. "Did the colonel roast him alive?"
"I guess so, I honestly don't know, Roy met him and I never saw him again."
The homunculus was lucky he wasn't drinking anything or he would have surely spit out at her answer. The look on his face was that of shock. "...Well, at least now I get why Fuhrer Bradley is concerned about his temper..." he murmured.
Rosette was glad that she had glossed over the truth slightly. "Roy is a protective man when it comes to the people closest to him."
Quickly recovering himself "Mark's" expression grew more serious. "I understand," he murmured. "This is why I must do my best to ensure that I won't end up being replaced as your bodyguard..."
"The Fuhrer trusts you, and he doesn't strike me as a man who does things lightly or without reason. He seems to like me I think..." Rosette said between bites of apple.
Envy found himself chuckling after he took a bite from the bowl of cream soup he barely touched to begin with. "I think King Bradley likes you much more than you think," he guessed.
Pausing, she put down the remains of her apple and eyed the soup. "Is that good? And how so?" Rosette asked, breaking off a piece of bread and toying with it.
The homunculus nodded his head to answer her first question. "As long as I've been here, I've never seen the Fuhrer treat a military employee or the relative of one with such familial respect. It's almost like he's treating you as his daughter," he explained in an honest tone, speaking as if it were already obvious.
Dunking her bread into her soup, she tried it that way, turning it thoughtfully in her mouth before nodding as though in approval at the taste. Once she had swallowed, Rosette frowned slightly. "I wonder why that would be considering I only met him once. Roy never mentioned that he had ever spoken of me to his colleagues in any of his letters... I would hate for people to accuse either of them of favoritism..."
"Mark" frowned slightly, knowing that she was quite observant for a human. "Well, even so, he is the Fuhrer," he remarked. "I believe you'd be the one being in more danger if people started tossing that term around."
"A pawn is only in danger if she doesn't know that she is a pawn." Rosette pointed out. "As long as I stay close to my brother and try not to rock the boat too much I should be okay. It helps that I'm not interested in a military rank or power, I'm just trying to be helpful."
Envy resisted the urge to drop his jaw. 'Dammit! Pride was right!' he cursed, growing annoyed. 'She'll definitely be a nuisance if she isn't being watched over...'
Cocking her head, she smiled happily at 'Mark' and continued to eat her soup before she spoke again. "I hope you aren't disappointed, but I'm not a very important person, although I'm flattered that you say the Fuhrer thinks highly of me. Personally, I'll just be trying to stay out of his way."
The homunculus took another bite out of his food before giving her a small smile through his disguise. "Why would I be disappointed with that?" he asked. "It's not as if I met you, expecting to talk to some female general."
True, but the fact that a nobody like me gets a bodyguard instead of a more important person isn't going to make other people very happy." Rosette pointed out calmly. "It's not going to help that a job such as this one will not help your career any."
"'Bookstores'?" Envy echoed. "You don't shop for jewelry or something else of that nature?"
"Despite what my adoring brother thinks I know that I'm not beautiful, let alone pretty, why would I buy such things just for vanity? The authentic things cost more money than I have. Books can be read over and over again and never go out of style. Besides, looks fade, the mind never does unless you are a real featherhead." Rosette pointed out, and then she shrugged. "I would rather spend money on useful things like books, a typewriter, and writing supplies."
"Mark" took good mental note of this, surprised that she wasn't as vain as most human women were. He smirked in response. "I see..."
"Maybe someday if I become a famous writer and need to develop an image in order to be taken seriously looks will matter more to me, but not right now. The only image problem I need to worry about right now is my hair…" She finished her meal quietly.
"Why your hair?" Envy pondered with a raised eyebrow.
Last "Roy doesn't like the fact that I had to cut my hair. He wants me to grow it back out again." Rosette explained. "My brother says I look too much like a boy having my hair short."
The homunculus frowned slightly. "I don't think anything's wrong with your hair as it is now," he remarked.
She smiled. "Thank you very much, but if the Fuhrer sides with my brother I think that we are both sunk."
Envy stood up after knowing that he wouldn't eat anymore food. "Do you want me to take your tray up for you?" he offered politely.
"Yes please, thank you." Rosette smiled. Looking towards the door, she suddenly frowned. "Excuse me for just a moment Mark." The young woman said, driving towards the door where Hawkeye was standing.
The homonculus nodded and took the trays up. Removing the trash and leftover food before setting the trays back where the dish washers would have access to them, he idly watched the interaction between Hawkeye and Rosette.
Looking upset, disappointment was clear in her gray eyes even as she nodded and saluted her superior officer. Rosette was frowning as she rejoined 'Mark'. "Well, Roy just told me that my work was done for the day and I was to return to his quarters."
Envy saw the disappointment in her eyes and also inwardly felt upset that their time together would end. He mainly assumed it was due to having nothing else to do if she wasn't around to mess with. "That's fine.... I suppose I'll have to see you tomorrow when you work then," he replied.
"Yes you will Mark... Thank you for defending me today." Rosette smiled, offering him her left hand to shake. With a grin, she added. "Make sure you wear your comfortable boots tomorrow, you'll need them by the time I'm done."
The "man" smirked, taking the young woman's hand into his own before pulling it up to his lips and giving the skin a very brief kiss. "I'll be sure to," he assured her, letting go of her hand in the process. "Goodbye, Rosette," he then added. After watching the young woman leave, Envy frowned. 'Something tells me that shopping with this strange human will be an interesting experience...'