Set just before Conqueror of Shamballa.

Yayasuki: Chapter 7: I had SUCH a ball with this one, I'm glad you like it. Ed is such a dork (and so am I :D)

Chapter 10: Yaaay mindblowing! Unless it's literal in which case oh noes mindblowing.

Chapter 11: Tough love indeed. But I doubt there's ever really any other kind with Ed and Envy :/ And thank you very much! I have no plans to give up on them any time soon, I've got ideas galore. Just keep checking back – and the themes themselves are on my profile, so you should give them a try!

13. Warmth

The castle was freezing, but Envy didn't feel it. There was a benefit to having scales after all – who knew?

But it wouldn't have made a difference anyway. The reason he'd worn such skimpy clothing in his favoured form was that he didn't feel the cold – or the heat, or the rain.

With an internal sigh, he coiled himself tighter, trying to figure out what to do with his time. He couldn't exactly go hunting Hohenheim in this form, could he? He'd expected to be able to shift when he got here at least!

The door creaked open, an unexpected sound that shot through the heavy, oppressive silence of the castle like a gunshot. Envy started, tail scraping against the cobblestones, then growled, "Who dares enter my castle?"

Hey, if the locals were dumb enough to be superstitious, he might as well play on it.

However, the voice that answered belonged to the least superstitious person Envy knew. "Save it for the sheep. This is as much your castle as it is mine, asshole."

If his limited vocal cords had been capable of it, Envy would have groaned. If he hadn't been a dragon, he would have been much angrier, but there was something about being trapped in a horrifying ugly and useless form that made simple things like revenge much less appealing. "You…aren't dead?" he said slowly, forcing each word from his animal throat.

Edward snorted as he strode into view. Brown didn't suit him at all, was Envy's first thought. It didn't have the ridiculous vibrancy that Ed thrived on. "No, unless this place is hell." He stopped. "Well, well. Let me guess – you can't shift?"

"…Fuck you."

A smile tugged on the corner of Ed's mouth. "I've never been cussed by a dragon before. Man, you're an ugly piece of shit right now."

Envy bared his teeth in a clear warning. Nobody called him ugly! "I could eat you."

"But you won't."

"Why?"

Ed raised his prosthetic arm, an ugly, misshapen thing that had absolutely none of the automail's grace. "Indigestion."

Envy snorted, laying his head down on the stone floor. Talking was becoming easier, he noticed – it appeared to be a matter of practice. "I can always spit it out."

The blond took a few steps forward. "You know, this is the closest I'm ever going to get to a dragon."

"Because they don't exist. Fuckhead."

Ed ignored him, laying his flesh hand on Envy's snout. "You're the only one."

Envy had a witty rejoinder in mind, but it fled as a strange feeling crawled up through his scaly skin, winding through his alien body. It was coming, he realized, from the hand laid so innocuously on his muzzle.

Warmth.