Two days, Envy mused. Greed nails me to the wall, intending to leave me there for who knows how long. Approximately one week later, Pride takes me off the wall, as though he is redecorating and has decided that the dead-sibling-full-of-spikes motif is a bit passé. Awkward shit happens, and then I go back to work. A day passes, a night passes, another day passes, night comes again, and Leander tries – and technically succeeds – in killing me, thinking I am Zolf Kimblee.

Two days is not a long time to most people. But to Envy, at a century and a half of age, two days is the blink of an eye. That was the difference between life and death for a human, and Kimblee was no exception. Envy had forgotten that, or perhaps deliberately ignored it.

Their fragility was definitely the second worst part of falling for a human. The worst part being falling for a human, damn it, but it was too late to stop it. If Envy had been harboring any last shred of denial on that note, the incident in the lab had dispelled it.

In the face of that, the thought of his death, the most haunting prospect was the question of what might have been. Envy realized that keeping things as they were between them would not preserve what they had, only waste what they might. The older Envy grew, the more it learned that things never stayed the same, whether you liked it or not. Things couldn't stay as they were, Envy could not help that. All it could do was try to make the changes it wanted.

It was what Father would do…

Envy felt a chill inside when it thought of its Father. What if he objected? Pride certainly had, and his opinions usually lined up with Father's on most points. Lust and Greed entered into sexual relationships with humans with impunity, but this wasn't just any human. This was Father's only loyal State Alchemist. Yes, he pulled the strings of many State Alchemists just like him, but that was a world of difference. True loyalty was beyond worth, as Father reminded them constantly.

If Father had any objection to a liaison between Envy and Kimblee, Pride would use that against both of them to the utmost extent. No, this was too dangerous already to take any chances. If Envy was going to even explore the possibility of being with him, the very least it could do was ensure nothing horrible happened to either of them as a result. It was complicated enough without that.

With that thought in mind, Envy knelt before Father's chair, preparing itself for the most humiliating and possibly painful interaction it had ever had with its parent.

"Speak." Father commanded, not looking up from the book he was perusing.

"I want your permission to…" Envy bit its lip nervously. This was the single most awkward moment of its life. "To take a…"

"A human lover." Father finished for Envy, slightly annoyed. "Do you think I'm unaware?"

"No, sir."

"Have you ever known me to interfere with Greed and Lust in such pursuits?"

"No, sir."

"Then why ask?"

"…I felt it best to take your opinion into account."

Father sighed, not looking up from what he was reading.

"I would rather you had not brought this to my attention. If you want my opinion, I find the very concept of my children coupling with inferior beings…disgusting. But if it's my permission you want, you have it. Lie with pigs and sheep for all the difference it makes to me."

Being forbidden would almost have been better. Envy turned and left, seeking out the one person who, all misgivings and doubt aside, would at least care if Envy were to copulate with farm animals.

.

A short while later, Envy stood in front of Kimblee's door, staring at it as though it had answers it was deliberately withholding. In reality, it was paralyzed with uncertainty concerning what would happen when it walked through that door, that alluring and terrifying world of possibilities it had, thus far, been willing to leave unexplored. Yes, Envy had wanted freedom to do this, but that did not make it easy.

When exactly did I become such a wimp?

Driven less by courage than disgust at its own hesitation, Envy raised its hand to knock – only to have the door pulled open from the inside, and it found itself face-to-face with the center of this whole dilemma just a bit sooner than it would have liked. Its insides squirmed, as if trying to escape the whole ridiculous situation even if Envy itself refused to do so.

"Hello." Kimblee said, by now so used to Envy turning up at odd times that he thought nothing of it.

"Hi…uh, can you…go back inside?"

"…Alright." He looked perplexed, but did as asked.

Well, this is off to worst start possible. Fuck it, too late to back out now.

Envy cursed its life, and then knocked.

"Ah, Invidia." Kimblee said, opening the door again. "What a pleasant surprise."

"Hey, are you busy?"

"No."

"Really? Not about to go out…?"

"No."

"...Come on, seriously."

"I was considering going for a walk, but that can wait. Come in."

Envy stepped over the threshold with the stomach-turning mixture of nerves and vertigo more appropriate to walking the plank then walking through someone's door. So many thoughts were raging war inside Envy's mind it was rendered immobile in the clash. It was not at a loss for things to say, simply unable to decide which to say first.

"I was rather hoping I'd see you soon." Kimblee said, unknowingly saving Envy the considerable effort of breaking the ice.

"You were?"

"You sound surprised."

"I mean…why?"

"Oh, just this minor detail of saving my life recently. Obviously I can't offer equal exchange, as your life isn't in peril for me to save, but I'd like to offer something, just as a token of gratitude."

"Offer me what?"

"Whatever you want."

Envy was at a loss for how to respond. Gestures of appreciation were entirely outside its realm of experience. Family members sometimes grudgingly acknowledged debt to each other, and the one who was owed never failed to milk that debt for all it was worth. And yet when gratitude was offered up freely, Envy didn't know what to make of it.

"I…it was nothing. Just one death, I have plenty more where that came from."

"Regardless of what it did or didn't cost you, it was worth quite a lot to me. Besides," he reached out and laid his hand against the side of Envy's face. With his thumb, he traced the path where blood had flowed from the sin's eye. "I'm no stranger to injury, and yet I can only imagine how much that must have hurt. So don't say it was nothing. That's unfair to both of us."

This was just Envy's day to be rendered speechless. It leaned into the touch, placing its hand over Kimblee's to assure it remained. How strange, to have its pain acknowledged. And at his touch, somehow the warring thoughts in Envy's mind were quieted. Suddenly things didn't seem so complicated after all, although maybe that was simply Envy's IQ dropping through the floorboards. It supposed it was not the first to discover that infatuation made one's head rather empty.

"If you want to do something for me, close your eyes."

Kimblee was at once consumed with a deep sense of foreboding, but there was nothing for it. He did as Envy asked. And Envy, just a bit braver for not having an audience, leaned up and pressed its lips to his.

"I was…I was wrong." Envy said, pulling away quickly as its nerve failed it. Those words were like tacks in its mouth, but they had to be said. "I was mistaken about…a lot of things. So give me another chance, okay?"

"May I open my eyes now?"

"Wh – oh right. Yes."

He did so, then stepped forward and enfolded Envy in his arms.

"I would give you another chance." He said, stroking Envy's coarse, wiry hair. "But you haven't lost your first."

Envy felt the tension go out of it like air from a punctured balloon, and it melted against him, resting its head on his shoulder. It was even better than Envy remembered, feeling him so close, so warm, which paradoxically sent a shiver up Envy's spine. It could get used to this, oh yes.

"And this is real? I'm not supposed to have made another wager concerning you, am I?"

"This is real. I guess this means you won your damn bet. Jerk."

"If I may ask, what changed your mind?"

Envy shrugged. "I just…like to touch you. When we kissed – the first time – even though I wasn't supposed to enjoy it, I did. I've never felt anything but disgust at the touch of another creature. Until you." Envy tightened its hold on him slightly. "I'd hate you for it if I could. And the thought that you might've died gave a sort of...immediacy to the whole thing."

"So I've corrupted you?" He asked with a sly smile.

"You have. Are you proud?"

"Immensely." His grin became a shade more wicked. "Although I've barely begun." He leaned down and kissed Envy once more.

.

(A/N: VALENTINES DAY UPDATE PPL! 'Cause I have nothing else to do *sobs*. No no, I kid, I just wanted to get this one done today. It's simply appropriate. Not sure I like the ending...or non-ending, rather, but I have decided that is a concern for a future chapter! And as far as Father is concerned, he's like an old-fashioned parent with a gay son. He'll accept it, but for the love of Truth, do not talk to him about it! DX Thanks for reading!)