Author's note: Hello again, sorry this chapter took so long to get up! Once again thanks to Turtlequeen2 for all of her help with this chapter. Unfortunately however- Turtlequeen2 and I have decided to go our separate ways due to personal issues on her end. I haven't given up on this fanfic yet. My good friend Inu-midroko has agreed to work with me on finishing this story from here on out. Please enjoy the read and look forward to the next chapter in a few months time!
After a few more days had passed, Pride sat in his office, looking down at various forms of paperwork before casting a glance at his new office occupant. Now having her own station to work at within the spacious room, the woman was studying an alchemy book for her upcoming examination. He wanted her to feel at ease since, apparently, she was being badgered about the breakup between her and 'Mark'. There was, of course, an ulterior motive to this kindness. Pride wanted to be absolutely sure that Envy wouldn't have the opportunity for a 'chance' encounter with Rosette again until the redhead felt steady enough to handle it without cutting herself.
As if sensing she was being watched, Rosette looked up and smiled wanly at the Führer, the dark shadows looking like bruises under her steady but spiritless gray eyes. "Is everything all right?" She asked quietly, putting down the book and flexing her bandaged hands gingerly. The redhead always spoke softly now since 'Mark' was gone.
Pride nodded his head, now realizing that he had to answer her since he was caught staring. "I'm fine," he remarked. "Are your studies going well?"
"Somewhat." She replied. "It's hard to make sense of it all when one book contradicts another."
The homunculus nodded his head. "Alchemy has many types of theories just like any other type of science..."
Rosette tapped her fingers restlessly on the book. "I can't help but feel like I'm climbing the wrong tree reading all of these..."
"What do you mean?" the Führer asked.
She turned her face away, looking uneasy now. "It's hard to put into words, it's just a gut feeling that says 'this is not your path'."
"What do you think is your path then?" Pride questioned, sounding curious.
"That, I don't know." Rosette studied her hands. "All I know is that my kind of alchemy is different from other people's. It can't be measured on the same scale. Every Alchemist has a different 'voice' that makes their alchemy stand alone. They can't be compared because no two people can do the exact same thing exactly the same way. True, everyone was given the same rule book, but every person has their own unique view."
King Bradley was surprised to say the least. It would be harder to conform her since she was already independent with her alchemy.
The redhead shook her head. "These people are all on their own path, but their 'voices' do not harmonize with mine. I found my own way to do alchemy and Ishballa hasn't stuck me down yet, so I must believe that He approves of my method... I hope."
Pride's eyes widened in realization. He couldn't believe it took him this long to figure it out! The reason her entire outlook on life was so different from others was because she practiced the religion from Ishbal!
Shaking her head again, she went back to the alchemy tome and opened it with a bandaged hand with a sigh. "I've kept you long enough from you work, Sir. My apologies."
Pride felt annoyance build up since she had called him "sir" instead of the term of endearment he encouraged her to call him. Clearing such thoughts from his mind, he then noticed the dark circles under her eyes. "...How much sleep have you been getting?" he pondered.
A flinch told Pride that his aim struck gold. "I haven't been sleeping well," she admitted quietly.
The homunculus's eyes narrowed. "And why not? What's been keeping you up?"
There was a second flinch. "You'll think it's foolish."
Pride's eyes narrowed even more. "Try me."
"I... I feel like I'm being watched, and I know it's not Roy. During the day I don't feel it so I know I'm safe then, but at night..." She bowed her head. "More than once I've woken out of a sound sleep knowing someone is there but not seeing anyone when I turn on the light to see who it is. Can't sleep after that."
The Führer felt his fist tighten. He knew it wasn't just her being paranoid. "Do you want me to put more guards in place to make you feel more at ease?" he asked, trying not to look too upset in front of her. He knew he would have to talk to a certain annoyance later today.
Wrapping her arms around herself as though she were cold, she shook her head. "No, I check all the locks every time, and I haven't found anything. I haven't told Roy because I don't have any proof, and he hasn't calmed down yet."
Pride almost growled, hating that she was beginning to doubt her own sanity. "Either way, I don't enjoy seeing you come in here when you're not feeling well," he remarked. "You need to rest."
"I'm scared that if I try to take a nap then He will start watching me then too. He always watches me sleep. Not even my room was safe once he told me who he really was..."
The Führer felt silent for a moment until he came up with a suggestion. "What if I was in the room with you while you slept? If someone is watching you, I'm sure I would find out quickly and dispatch of the annoyance." After all, he did have the "ultimate eye."
She looked both lost and hopeful at the same time. "You'd do that? But... What about Roy?"
"What about him?" Pride replied. "If it's the only method required to ensure your health, why would he oppose it?" Besides that, the colonel did work under him. "If you don't want to go through with it to risk angering your brother then all you're going to do is end up getting sick."
She looked away and swallowed hard as she considered this. For a minute, the strain the redhead was under was plain to see. "All right. Thank you."
The homunculus nodded. "I expect you to be in your best shape when you work here."
"I know... Father... I just didn't want to put anyone on a wild goose chase." Rosette replied quietly. "After all, the locks were intact and I never saw anyone."
"Even so, I dislike seeing you so worked up over something so concerning," Pride replied, also mentally glad that she had called him father again.
She nodded. "I'll tell Roy tonight."
Later that night, an exhausted Rosette yawned as she made herself comfortable on Roy's old couch in her worn and most comfortable brown pajamas. She was tired enough that she ignored the stern disapproval she felt coming from the Führer and the annoyance she felt from Roy at having the Führer playing a lowly guard dog. In seconds, she was fast asleep and barely felt Roy tucking the covers in tight around her with his ungloved hands.
Roy stood up and glanced back at the Führer who was now narrowing his eye at him. Despite how irritated he was at this situation, he couldn't help but ask, "Is there something wrong, Sir?"
"Why is Rosette wearing such worn clothing?" Pride pressed.
The Flame Alchemist huffed. "She says that those are the most comfortable of her pajamas."
"And you've never tried to see if she could find better quality clothing that would be just as comfortable?" the homunculus asked.
"She won't let me." Roy growled.
Well, this was an annoying development. "What about the couch? Doesn't she have an actual bed?"
He shook his head. "She's never been here for a stay longer than a week, and won't hear of taking my bed."
Pride let out a breath to calm his irritation. He couldn't very well get mad at Roy because it seemed like the man felt the same about the situation as he did.
Roy looked pissed, but kept his voice down. "I am going to kill Mark if he comes near her. How dare he shatter her fragile heart for his amusement! She was just starting to feel like she could settle here and have a life again and now..." He almost growled and it showed in his next words. "That son of a biscuit eater made my little sister cry..." Roy wasn't going to swear in front of her if he could help it. Asleep or not, he wasn't going to teach her that kind of language by example.
King Bradley's hand tightened at the mention of Rosette crying. This made him wish that Dante had punished Envy even more than she had.
The Flame Alchemist ran a hand though his hair. "I'm going to get a drink and catch up on some family matters. The key is on the table. I really hope she's not right though..." He shook his head. "I might ask around and see if I can find some nice young men who are scared to death of me who I wouldn't mind seeing her with. Get her mind off that cad."
Pride nodded. "That would be a nice gesture..." he remarked. Of course that would be if he approved of the match as well.
"If they are scared of me, they won't dare hurt her. She can't take another blow like that. I'd rather be the one choosing her husband then watch her go though this again."
The homunculus almost growled upon hearing those words. Damn Envy's idiocy!
Nodding shortly- but not saluting- Roy left his quarters after wishing the Führer "good hunting." Rosette looked at peace on the couch under the dim light of the lamp.
Pride pulled out a chair next to the couch and looked around the room, trying to pick up on any moving shadows from outside of the windows. As soon as he caught a twitch of a shadow from outside, he stood up and decided to investigate. Before leaving the house, Pride checked to make sure all of the windows were locked and locked up the ones that weren't. Once he was outside, he made to look as if he were leaving the lawn before turning to move to the backyard. Keeping silent, it wasn't long before he heard a rustling against a nearby window. Narrowing his good eye, he moved fast and drew his sword without blinking, moving it so that it pressed against the man's neck. "Hello," he greeted in an irritated growl. "I see that you've taught yourself how to pick locks now, Envy."
Envy's eyes widened, not expecting Pride to be in the house. "Dammit..." he growled, stopping what he was doing in order to stand up and face the younger homunculus.
"You are making the young lady very unhappy in there, Envy. You aren't as clever as you might think," he snarled at his sibling. "If your plan was to drive her mad, it nearly worked."
The homunculus maneuvered himself so that he was away from the sword before speaking again. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded.
"Think about it; feeling you are being watched every night, but finding all the windows locked and never seeing anyone there?"
Realizing what Pride meant, Envy frowned. "Well, it's not like I can see her at any other time," was his defense.
"Are you going to keep on twisting that knife, Envy?"
"Well, now considering that you're here watching over here, I guess I can't do much now," the older homunculus growled.
"I couldn't let my 'daughter' be torn apart like that, could I?" He snapped back
Envy raised his eyebrow at the remark. "It doesn't seem like I'm the only one who likes Rosette more than they should," he commented.
Pride's only answer was to kick his 'older' brother. Hard. "Are you going to leave?"
The homunculus cringed lightly as he got back up from the ground. He looked at Pride, clearly not believing the urgency in his tone. "So how do I know that this wasn't your idea to look over her just so you could just watch over her yourself without Mustang's interference?"
"Because people were starting to ask if she was being beaten the way she jumped at every little sound while slashing her hands open. Not just one hand, but both!" Pride snapped curtly. "She seems completely at ease when it comes to harming herself..."
Envy's eyes narrowed. "She's still doing that?" he growled before he could stop himself.
"Yes. She'll use anything handy if startled. She gave Sloth quite a fright once." He didn't seem amused however. "If she keeps this up, her hands will be scarred too. So far I haven't seen her cut her arms at all..."
The older homunculus let out a breath to calm himself after hearing such bad news. It wasn't like he intended for Rosette to harm herself!
Pride looked towards the door. "I'm going back in case she wakes up, but she looked to be in a deep sleep."
Noticing the door Pride was glancing at, Envy used his fast speed to beat out the unsuspecting homunculus into the house and shut the door quietly behind him. He knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it later, but was suddenly determined to see Rosette now. Walking into the front room, his eyes widened when he notice how much her appearance had changed since she had left him.
Biting back a curse, Pride took a single stride towards the door, then stopped as a thought occurred to him. Rosette had almost driven herself insane with the doubts she had. She needed to face her fears before she did herself a truly great injury. He had a feeling Envy wouldn't hurt her, and besides, it would boost his credibility up a notch as well.
On the couch, fast asleep, a content-looking Rosette was curled on her side, snuggling deep against the cushions. The thick bandages around her small hands smelled strongly of the salve Dante had made at Pride's request. In the dim light of the room, it actually looked like Envy's intended had gotten into a fight and came out the loser. She'd also lost weight and wasn't wearing the bracelet anymore.
Envy frowned when he noticed the missing bracelet but put it to the back of his mind when he noticed the girl's state of health. Walking closer towards Rosette, he knelt down and carefully ran his hand over a bandage, wanting to see the true extent of the damage.
When the bandages were unwrapped, Envy could see several cuts on her palms in various stages of healing. Some of them were shallow, but there were two or three recent ones that looked pretty deep and painful. Frowning in her sleep, Rosette tried to pull her hand away in reflex.
The homunculus's eyes narrowed at the sight of the cuts. He hated seeing her in such a fragile state, knowing that a lot of it was his own fault. He then carefully covered up her hands again before pulling his arm back. Wanting to speak with Rosette, Envy made a grab of her hands so that she couldn't cut herself when she woke up. He then shifted so that he could kiss her gently against her lips.
Drowsy from sleep, she kissed back until the fog cleared from her eyes. She stiffened in his embrace and all color fled her face, but showed him no resistance. "So I wasn't crazy..." Rosette muttered softly as he freed one hand and reached for her glasses and slid them on her face for her.
Envy pulled back, but kept her hands in his grasp, glad to see her awake. "...Can you assure me that you won't go crazy with your roses?" he sternly asked, not planning on letting go of her until she said so.
She nodded slowly, flexing her bandaged hands. "What did you do to the Führer?"
The homunculus pulled his hands away. "He's a bit...tied up at the moment..." he lied. "Don't worry, I didn't kill him."
She flinched, but looked relieved nonetheless. "Was there a reason you woke me up?" Rosette felt this was a safe question to ask.
"I wanted to see how your health was..." Envy explained. "And I've honestly missed seeing you." The homunculus sighed. "I don't mean to cause you anymore harm than I've already done so I don't plan on staying here for too much longer."
She nodded, rubbing her unfeeling leg as she sat up on the couch. "If you start running now, you might make it halfway around the world before my brother and adoptive father get you."
It took all of the young man's willpower not to snort at the name she gave Pride. Envy got to his feet. "I'm still keeping to my word, Rosette," he reminded her. "I've already died about a dozen times for you."
She turned whiter and swallowed. "What?" The redhead sounded shocked.
Envy was kind of glad that she was shocked at his declaration. Shaking his head, he pulled out a small box and handed it to her. Inside it was a silver necklace, fashioned to match the bracelet he had gotten her before. "You don't have to wear it, but it would be nice if you did..." he murmured before quickly kissing her cheek and pulling away again.
In a daze, the redhead took the necklace out of the box and held it to her throat. The emeralds blazed with fire in their simple setting, shining against the worn brown pajamas she wore. "Wow..." Rosette managed out, her heart pounding and her tongue thick in her mouth.
"I thought about getting a ring, but I thought you might have cut through your hands with that surprise..." Envy admitted quietly.
She flexed her fingers, but kept the necklace in place. "You don't know my size..." Rosette shook her head and swallowed slightly.
The homunculus reached for the necklace and fastened it around her neck before carefully moving so that she sat on his lap. He had to admit that he was enjoying her dumbfounded expressions. "The next time I visit... I'm going to bring you home," he murmured to her, glaring down at the couch they sat on.
"Say what?" Rosette choked, turning her head to look at Envy, feeling his warmth at her back.
"You heard me," Envy firmly replied.
She leaned back, her gray eyes were slightly glazed over. "You hate this?"
"Yes," the homunculus bluntly replied. "You need an actual bed."
"There's only one bed here, and that's my brother's." Rosette replied, feeling his arms tighten around her.
Envy frowned. Didn't Mustang ever offer her his bed?
The redhead took a deep breath while cradled against him. "Are you waiting until I sleep again?"
"Well, that would be my preferred method..." he responded.
She fought against her heavy eyelids "You are being nice... thought you'd be mad..."
"'Mad'?" Envy questioned. Of course he was upset that she was away from him but he didn't find it to be smart to take out his anger on her with the only time he could spend alone with her.
"That I uprooted the plans of your fellows." She murmured sleepily.
"Well, even though you did that, it didn't change my opinion about you," the homunculus replied. His expression grew serious. "Nothing will change my mind about making you my bride." With those words, he gave her another chaste kiss before pulling back and murmuring, "Sleep."
Unable to resist the soothing hand that was hypnotically stroking her forehead, Rosette fell fast asleep again, still cradled in Envy's arms.
Once Rosette was asleep, Envy carefully stood up with her still in his arms so that he could lay her back down onto the couch. Making sure that her eyes were still closed, he then placed the covers over her and tucked her in, gently taking off her glasses and placing them on the side table. Looking over her sleeping body, he sighed again. He didn't like the fact that he didn't know the next time he could speak to her.
Pride watched from the doorway. "How heavy is that necklace?" he asked. "I'll need to keep that for her when she wakes."
The older homunculus walked away from Rosette before deciding to speak, not wanting to risk waking her again. "It's light," he answered. "I made sure not to get anything that could weigh her down."
He raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you didn't get her a collar." As he spoke, Pride waked over and tucked her in a little more.
Envy's eyes narrowed at Pride's remark, but decided not to say anything back, lest he wanted to start another argument.
"You better go before Lust sticks her nose in. Gluttony won't keep his mutts off Rosette."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," the other homunculus remarked before heading towards the door and leaving the property. The last thing he needed was to kill Gluttony for touching Rosette.
As soon as Pride was sure Envy had left, he steeled himself before leaning over and shaking Rosette urgently. "Rosette, Rosette! Wake up!"
The redhead pried her eyes open with effort. "Father? You are safe? Good..."
Pride nodded his head. "Are you alright?" he then asked, showing genuine concern. Even though he knew that Envy wouldn't dare harm her with him so close by, he just needed to make sure. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"He came to see if I was okay, and to say..." She swallowed and put her hand on the necklace. "That he hasn't given up his plans on marrying me."
To be honest, Pride had already figured out that much on his own. Of course, he couldn't tell Rosette any of that. Instead of saying that, he frowned. "This is alarming..."
She nodded. "He didn't like my sleeping on the couch either; I thought it was going to blow up..." Rosette murmured sleepily.
It was then that the Führer took an interest in the necklace around her neck. "Could I see that?" he asked her, truthfully wanting it off of her in case it constricted her while she slept.
Drowsily, she nodded and rolled over after a minute of squirming so that the Führer could reach the clasp. "Sleep in?"
"Well considering that your rest keeps getting interrupted, I would make it an order that you sleep in so that you can get the proper amount of sleep," Pride murmured after taking the necklace off of her.
A muffled 'thank you' could be heard before she passed out in sleep again.
King Bradley watched Roy pace like a lion trapped in a cage. It was annoying to say the least, but couldn't entirely blame him for doing so. Once it had passed mid-afternoon, he was also concerned that Rosette hadn't woken up. "I think it would be best if we let her sleep herself out since she finally feels safe..." he suggested.
"She's slept almost all day, I can't get her to eat or drink anything," Roy replied, watching her breathe for a minute. "She's never like that; she always wakes at sunrise."
"Well she has had a long week," Pride pointed out. "It's no wonder that it has taken a toll on her body."
"Are her hands healing up?" Roy glared at the bandages on her hands. "Any scarring?"
The Führer shook his head. "Luckily, there isn't enough for permanent scarring."
This didn't seem to make Roy feel any better, since his dark glare only intensified as he eyed his sleeping sister. "You and I are going to have a very serious talk about cutting when you wake up, little sister..." He rumbled threateningly.
Pride frowned, also pondering what the cutting could lead to if it wasn't properly controlled.
Rosette frowned and suddenly wiggled out of the blankets, stretching herself out and opening her eyes, wincing when her back cracked. "Wow. Hi," she said after a minute after grabbing her glasses.
The young woman was met with a heated glare from her brother. "We need to talk," he stated.
"Bathroom first. I was out for a while; you're lucky I didn't mess up your couch!"
"Fine," the Flame Alchemist replied, waiting for her to get situated.
With a bit of effort, the redhead got into her chair and flew towards the bathroom, shutting the door tightly.
Pride smirked. "Think she knows she's in trouble?"
Roy growled slightly. "She's not getting lucky today," he murmured. "I'll make sure of that."
About ten minutes later, Rosette came out of the bathroom, her short red hair neatly combed and she had changed out of her pajamas. "I can't believe it's past noon. Either of you could have woke me up." She said as she hugged each of them hello.
Unable to help himself, the Führer hugged her back. "I told you to sleep yourself out," he reminded her.
The younger man kept his expression hardened after he pulled away from the hug she had given him. "If not for him, I would have woken you up," he admitted.
"Well, you'll be happy to know I wasn't crazy, Roy. He was visiting me." She rarely- if ever- used Envy's name.
Roy was caught off guard by this. "What?" he snarled, his eyes blazing.
Rosette flinched. "I'm okay, Roy."
"I swear if he touched you..." the alchemist growled, leaving his sentence hanging.
"Does holding me in his lap and kissing me awake count?" She asked nervously.
"You didn't tell me that part, young lady." Pride put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
The redhead flinched. "Father, he didn't hurt me," she repeated.
Roy's jaw dropped at her remarks before his eye twitched. "T-that... bastard!"
Jumping under the Führer's hand, she nervously reached to undo the bandage on her left hand- the one that had the deeper cuts- and swallowed. "He gave me a present, too," Rosette said quietly.
The state alchemist continued to glower, wondering how much more the woman would tell him before he grabbed a hold of his gloves again.
Untying the knot, Rosette took a deep breath. "It was a necklace. He said he was going to buy a ring to match, but he didn't want me to impale my hand or swallow my tongue."
"A ring?" Roy echoed. "You mean like an engagement ring?"
"Or a wedding ring," she said, freeing her hand from the bandage and picking off the dried salve from one of the larger cuts.
The older man growled, hating to see the sight of Rosette's cuts. "This has to stop."
"It wasn't my idea to have him chase after me!" Rosette shot back, stung and thinking Roy was blaming her for Envy's ongoing pursuit.
Pride let go of her shoulder with an apologetic rub and took her unbandaged hand in his. "Rosette..."
"Of course I know it wasn't your idea!" Roy snapped back, unable to help himself due to his temper. "But pushing you to the point of unintentional cutting whenever you're scared isn't going to help the situation!"
"It makes me feel..." she paused, looking for the words she wanted. "…safely in control." Rosette knew that sounded lame, so she tried to explain. "Like you and your gloves." The redhead eyed his hands nervously in emphasis.
With a sudden flash of insight, Pride realized that Envy wasn't the only one Rosette was nervous about. "There's a difference there, Rosette."
The young man frowned. "But you're already dealing with enough physical damage as it is... Inducing more isn't going to help the situation." His gloves may have been dangerous but it didn't cause him to hurt himself in the process.
"Roy, he knocked the Führer out last night! He could have done anything he wanted to me and I couldn't have stopped him. The only reason I wasn't hurt was because he feels the same way about my abilities as you do and didn't want me to panic." Rosette swallowed. "I don't want to feel that way ever again."
Pride twitched, and tightened his grip on her hand. "Rosette..." He warned. "You said you weren't scared of him."
The Flame Alchemist growled again. He only wished that he knew where Envy was so that he could kill him and his sister wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.
The redhead tried to draw her hand back without success. "Father... I am all too aware that any kindness he shows me, no matter how small it might be, is a choice on his part- not his nature. He-" She paused, trying to find the words she wanted "Is different from the others. Something was denied him, something he needed more than anything else. It twisted him and made him want to lash out in other to make others feel his pain."
"What do you mean by that?" Roy demanded, wondering if she was trying to defend the homunculus.
"I'm saying he hates the others of his kind. I am a tool He's using to piss them off and make them turn on each other." Rosette shrugged. "They hate the idea of our relationship as much- if not more- than you do, Roy."
"Is that supposed to make me want to kill him even less?" the colonel asked. "Because it's not working..."
"I'm saying that I'm not letting my guard down around him. As long as I can cut, he'll stay away." Her lips quirked in a not-quite smile. "He won't have a choice."
Pride let go of her hand only to hug her almost too tightly. "You shouldn't have to ruin your hands just for that."
Roy's eyes narrowed. He definitely agreed with Pride on that note. "I can't let you continue to do this. It's getting too ridiculous. Causing harm to yourself won't make the problem go away."
"Better to myself than to you or Father," Rosette shot back.
"Why does everything have to be on yourself, Rosette?" Roy replied. "You're taking on far too much on your own."
"Because someday I will need something in return, and I don't want to go into universal debt. The more 'credit' I rack up now, the better things will be when- not if- I need them. I need everything I can get when He comes to retrieve me." Her voice was bleak.
"The hell he's taking you!" the colonel snapped before he could stop himself.
Still in her father's arms, she looked at Roy. "He'll kill this city just to get to me, Roy. All of you are bugs in his eyes. I killed him, Brother, and all he did was laugh and kiss me until I couldn't breathe!"
"I highly doubt he'll live after I roast him fifty times over..." Roy growled.
"He moves a lot faster than you do Roy."
"So what do you expect me to do? Let him take you and do whatever he wants to you?" Roy demanded. There was no way he'd let that happen.
"He won't hurt me... for now, anyway. It will buy you time and it might even help, provided he takes me into the snake's den and not his own lair." Rosette sidestepped the question easily.
The Führer cleared his throat quietly. "Rosette you don't have to act as bait." He sounded genuinely concerned about the redhead. "I think based on what you said that we already have time because the homunculus seemed to want only the best for you considering the gift he gave you."
He then stiffened up again upon hearing about the "gift" for the second time. "...What about this gift?" he demanded.
Rosette sighed, realizing that her brother's brain was recircling the earlier subject again- having been told about the necklace but hadn't been able to see it yet. Removing her hand from her 'father's' she rolled over to the side table and picked up the intricate silver necklace with it's center emerald blazing in the light as she held it in her fingers.
Roy was surprised at how expensive the piece looked but was also disturbed at how serious the homunculus seemed to be in terms of winning Rosette over. His eyes only narrowed at the necklace.
Trying to lighten the mood, Rosette gave what she hoped was a smile. "I think He thinks that I have too simple a taste palette, but..." She put the necklace on the table and rolled to her bag, retrieving the bracelet without prompting and placing it next to the necklace. Cocking her head, she studied them. "From a distance they match, it's not until you are close that you see the necklace's detail."
Pride made a slightly strangled noise. "This is hardly-!"
"How many gifts has he given you?" the colonel asked, his voice almost dropping into a growl.
"Just the necklace, but he picked out the bracelet- paid for lunch that day too- occasionally he'd bring me flowers, but I don't know if you'd count that," Rosette replied, looking puzzled. "Why?"
"When he was posing as "Mark'?" Pride pressed.
"Yes, I picked out a watch for him too that day, but I don't know if he still wears it. I was a bit distracted last night..." Her eyes clouded at the memory.
Roy shook his head. "He must be really invested in you for him to spend so much money," he commented.
"I don't know about that..." Pain flashed across her face. "It was only a cover until He told me what he really was. It was just orders, most likely." Bitterness leaked in her voice before she could stop it.
"That bastard..." Roy growled. He didn't like the tone in her voice one bit.
"Excuse me, I need a drink." Before Roy could stop her, she fled the room and into the small kitchenette.
The Flame Alchemist ran a hand though his hair. "She's not used to running away... maybe the cutting was more than she let on... I think she's almost at the breaking point."
Pride frowned at this news. He knew that Roy knew what he was talking about. "We have to prevent her from completely breaking then," he stated.
"Drop the Alchemy exam. She won't be in the Army officially; I only got her in to allow her to work at the Central library after it's rebuilt. My sister isn't cut out for Army life," Roy said. "Rosette doesn't have it in her to hurt people."
The homunculus fell silent for a few moments, thinking over a few ideas in his head before replying. "Even so, she needs to know the basics of alchemy and at least attempt to follow the rules." He paused again. "If she becomes a state alchemist, no one can say that she's kissing up to other officers. Everyone would have to treat her like an equal and it prevents another Mark episode."
"You were the one who threw them together," Roy growled quietly.
Pride suppressed a sigh. "I was thinking more about the time when an officer dislocated Rosette's arm."
Roy's growl subsided into a grumble. "I know she doesn't look for trouble, but it seems to love her a great deal..." He thought about this. "Make her take a day or two off every week."
The Führer nodded. "Done," he replied. "I would prefer it if she got more rest anyways."
When Rosette returned, she had a plate of sliced apples... and a fresh cut on her finger. "You need to go shopping Roy, I'm eating the last apple." She said.
Roy glared at her. "You need more than that."
Pride stood in silence, listening to the two argue for a few moments as he took note of the cut on her finger. Once the two took a moment's pause, he cut in. Seeing that she only had an apple, he questioned, "Are you unable to eat because of your nerves?"
Rosette looked surprised, but reluctantly nodded. "Apples don't burn as much and I ate all the bread already."
The Flame Alchemist glared at Rosette. "I knew you ate it all..." He muttered. "Melons are better than apples; they are mostly water."
"I don't want to fall in again!" She shot back. "Small person, small bladder!"
The homunculus could only raise his eyebrow at the small exchange between the two.
"Not my fault you don't look!" Roy stole a piece of apple the Führer had forgotten about.
"I shouldn't have to! You should have more than enough manners to put it back the way it was," Rosette replied, moving her plate away while nibbling on another piece herself. "Anyway, what's the plan for the afternoon?"
Pride thought to himself for a few moments more before suggesting, "First, we should get you something else to eat. Then I would suggest getting you new clothing."
"I have clothes already, and food won't stay down right now," she protested.
Despite her protests, King Bradley reached into his front pocket and pulled out his wallet before taking out some money and handing it to the colonel. "Be sure to get her something that will make her happy."
Roy's eyes widened, but he took the money without comment. "I know just what to get," Roy replied, pushing his little sister out of the room.
As soon as the two left, Pride's eye narrowed. Envy was going to face his wrath once he got his hands on him. Unable to contain his burning rage, he pulled out his sword and looked towards the old couch. Without much effort, he sliced through the couch through the center, completely splitting it in half.