I love having a large buffer :D
Buffy crossover – I've only ever seen one episode, but the monsters from that episode were so fucking creepy that I wanted to use them in SOMETHING.
GBlackwell: I'm glad you like that one :D Apparently subtlety is one of my weaknesses, so I'm trying to work on that. I used the first anime because I thought the mother-figure thing would be really really offputting to both of them. Thanks for reviewing I'm glad you're still reading!
Also, if anybody's interested, I've started another multi-chapter fic, but one without pairings. It's an AU that switches the roles of the homunculi and the main characters – Envy and Wrath are the ones who attempt human transmutation, Selim and King Bradley are the automail mechanics, etc. It's called 'Hero of the People' and it's written through drabbles. Check it out if you like AUs and homunculi!
31. Tight grip
They had a common enemy.
Ed's heart beat fast and furious in his throat as he processed this thought. He, Edward Elric, and Envy the homunculus – had a common enemy.
He opened his mouth to say as much, but only air came rushing from his throat. Of course. Their voices were gone. He kept forgetting that.
Envy looked past the edge of the bin they hid behind, and then pulled his head back. There was sweat running down his pale face, and Ed realized he'd never seen the creature scared before.
Creature. No. What they were running from – those were creatures. Limping, lolloping, misshapen beasts in the tattered remains of straitjackets, and their masters – gentlemen with twisted grins and coroner's suits and feet drifting barely off the ground – those were creatures.
Compared to them, Envy seemed almost human.
Envy hissed something, and then rolled his eyes. His voice had also been stolen, locked away somewhere. Instead, he looked at Ed, holding the gaze. Then, he reached down and grasped the blonde's automail hand, clasping it between his own.
He was saying one word over and over again, and focusing on Envy's thin lips, Ed realized what he was saying.
Alchemy.
He shook his head. There were at least seven Gentleman, and who knew how many more of their henchmen? He couldn't get them all with anything. And with the running they'd already done that night, he didn't have the energy.
Envy frowned, but after a moment, seemed to understand. He grasped Ed's other hand, holding it in a tight grip, and then brought both hands up to rest on his collarbone.
Ed could read his lips again, although the repetition was still needed.
Use My Stone.
He closed his hands around Envy's, relishing the tight grip and the security it gave him in this silent world.
He'd save both of them.
He'd save Al, and Winry, and the Colonel – all of them.
Thank you, he tried to say.
Envy understood.