Okay, enough fluff. XD Also, this is a perfect example of how I will go to any lengths to be creative with a theme :P (Also FF is being a butt. If format goes to shit I apologize.)

Fairyboydammit: Sometimes I just don't feel like putting so much thought into plot, and I just want to make something pretty. And that's when fluff happens. Thank you for the review :) This is def. one of the ones I want to make into fanart, but I don't have the skill *sadface*

Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan: Naw, I don't think it makes me better, it's just a different style. I like to keep things subtle, but not everyone likes reading or writing that kind of thing. I can't wait to read your second oneshot :D and thanks for reviewing! (And I wanna write your giftfic alreadyyyy)

Chapter 72: The first section was incredibly fun to write. I'm tempted to transpose it into HotP because it's the kind of thing that would suit Will and Alex so well, although Alex would be snarkier. And Roy...Roy is just an awesome character. It makes me want to write RoyEd, except my RoyEd would be...weird.

74. Shiver

It was kind of funny. Envy had never thought he'd had much of a world, but when it came crashing down around him, it suddenly seemed invaluable, priceless beyond words.

"You're...what?" he asked weakly, not trusting his senses.

"I'm dying," repeated Ed again, staring at his hands - both flesh, both warm, both real, but at what cost?

Envy shook his head slowly. "I - I don't - how? Why?"

"It's the same thing Mom had, I know that much. I figure it's some sort of degeneration, but probably internal."

"You - you figure? Have you seen a doctor?"

When Ed shook his head, Envy was tempted to hit him. "You should be happy," said the blond in a quiet voice. "I'm your jailer. If I die, you're free - Al can't bear to keep anyone locked up -"

"How can you say that?" the homunculus interrupted, surprised at the emotion in his voice. Apparently Ed was too, at how he started back slightly. He leapt to his feet. "I'm not fucking happy that you're d-dying!"

Ed laughed, but it was hollow. "You wouldn't have minded so much a year ago."

"That was a year ago," mumbled Envy. They were silent for a moment before he spoke again. "Have you told Al yet?"

He shook his head. "Not going to."

"What? Why? He's your brother, he -"

"-will do everything in his power to fix it, even if it kills him," Ed finished, looking up at Envy with bright eyes. "I got to see him healthy and happy - I got to see him the way he's supposed to be. I'll be fine."

Envy couldn't think of anything more he could say. He'd spent a year under house-arrest in Rizenbul with the boys who'd defeated his family, destroyed all of them except for him and Pride, and he still didn't understand them. He still didn't understand their love for each other.

All he understood was that Ed was dying, and he couldn't stop it. He could stop a bullet, he could stop a knife, hell, he even knew how to stop poison, but he couldn't stop this.

Even if, for the first time in his life, he wanted to.

"You're shivering," he said finally, and it wasn't a lie. Ed was shaking slightly in the crisp autumn air - was it the cold, or the sickness already starting to take hold? Leaning in, he wrapped his arms tentatively around him, and felt him stiffen, and then relax. Envy rarely touched any of the members of the household on his own, but now he was burying his face into Ed's shoulders, trying to puzzle out how words could strike him to the heart.

Ed pressed his face against the top of Envy's head, arm rising to wrap around the slim boy's shoulders. Envy could feel him smile, and he realized that Ed was trying to comfort him.

It was so backwards.

Something slid down his cheek, and it wasn't until it fell past both of their bodies and shattered on the wooden floorboards did Envy realize what it was.

He was crying.

Somewhere along the way, Ed had become Envy's world.