Edward Elric was naked.
Naked?
Edward Elric was naked and sitting on the bed beside Envy.
Wait...you said naked...
Edward Elric was naked and sitting on the bed beside Envy – smiling.
No...no we still haven’t sorted out the naked bit yet...
“Feel better?” The Alchemist asked, dusting his fingertips lightly over the Sin’s shoulder. Envy stared back at him, completely and utterly dumbfounded.
What. The. Fuck?
How did he suddenly get on this bed, this – he looked about quickly, inspecting the dimensions – particularly large bed. It certainly wasn’t the one he was used to – Izumi’s spare bunk seemed to consist of nothing more than a rectangular pallet with legs and a thin, lumpy mattress thrown on top. The room was different too – warmer, lighter – and somehow the Sin had mysteriously acquired more furniture.
Also, how did he end up in the company of one Edward Elric – last seen A) Clothed, and B) Not friend?
Not that kind of friend either! Had he been drinking?
The Alchemist furrowed his brow a little, sensing the unease in Envy’s reaction.
“Well, it’s not often you fall into a dead faint in the middle of the kitchen floor,” He continued. “You had all of us very worried!”
Envy caught his breath in a loud gasp that made Edward jump.
“Wha? I what? I fainted?”
“Yes..” Ed lifted a hand to stroke the side of the Shape shifter’s cheek. Envy’s eyes followed the movement, widening in shock and repulsion on contact. The Sin stuttered a little blindly, before it dawned on him that – by the way his skin prickled into goose bumps as the cool air breezed over him - he too lay similarly nude.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” He choked, noticing that for some reason his limbs chose not to respond to his brain’s frantic signals that urged him to cover his body or at least try to move away. “Wait...All of us? How many people are in here?”
“Just me,” Edward shook his head a little in amiable vexation. Envy studied his face for a second – searching for some measure of mirth, some clue that this was all a joke. That, in a moment, the others would run into the room shouting ‘Busted!’ or ‘Fell for it!’ or something equally as ridiculous, take a photo of the pair then use it as a bribe to make Envy do whatever they wanted.
But nothing happened. The room was entirely silent save for the sounds of Envy and Edward’s breathing.
Of course if embarrassment were a noise and not simply a noun, Envy would be making a terrible racket at this point.
Once again, the Sin tried to squirm away, but found his body simply didn’t want to hear about it. Instead he was forced to lie still, unmoving under some form of hypnotic Elric-spell and as Edward let out a gentle chuckle, he was gripped by a terrible compulsion to shiver blissfully. Envy, horrified, fought for self-control but soon realized – not without some apprehension - he was finding the sound rather pleasant.
“Alright,” Envy frowned a little in concentration as he tried to mentally unravel the mystery behind the scenario. He’d chosen to ignore his traitorous body for the time being – decided that he’d rather work out what was happening first. “So why are you naked?”
Ed laughed out loud this time and the sound fluttered over Envy’s nerves. He dared his eyelashes to bat coquettishly.
You just try it, you bastards...
“Because it’s hot!” The Alchemist leaned over and rolled his hips forward so he was lying on his side. From his position, Envy could literally see everything about Edward he’d sworn he’d never want to see again after their brief encounter in the hotel. The Shape shifter flicked his eyes away quickly and returned to focusing on the blond's face.
“And why am I naked?”
“We thought it must have been the heat that had gotten to you,” Ed explained. “Since you were out in the orchard all day. I told you the temperature in Dublith is different to Central, but you never listen! Anyway, I thought you’d be cooler like this-”
“Am I a Homunculus?” Envy interrupted.
“A what?” Edward seemed confused. He removed the hand from Envy’s head and used it to steady himself – draping it in front of his stomach and pushing his knuckles into the mattress. Envy bit his lip as he looked over Ed’s shoulders. Something seemed amiss – a detail that he was so used to looking at, he’d almost forgotten it was there.
“Am I pregnant?” He continued, his eyes still tracing the Alchemist’s clavicle.
“Uh, no... But I think you’re probably delirious,” Edward arched a single golden eyebrow arched in amusement. “What on earth did all that come from?”
Indeed, where did it come from? Envy drew in a breath as he grasped just what was odd about Ed’s appearance. The Automail was missing. Not just from his arm – his left leg was also devoid of any kind of metallic enhancement. So if Ed wasn’t Fullmetal and he wasn’t a Homunculus or - the Sin looked down past his slender ribs to his now flat, taut stomach – knocked up, then this entire scene must be...
It had to be...
“I was dreaming?” Envy tried, helplessly.
“I hope so!” Ed smiled again. “What a strange imagination you have!”
Envy weakly twisted his mouth into a mirroring grin.
Imagination... Right.
What the Elric boy didn’t realize was that he was the actual fantasy and not the curious events Envy had listed. It was obvious. Aside from the physical evidence of Ed’s limbs and Envy’s humanity (he really didn’t have any other explanation for what he was in this dream) the only time Envy thought he’d ever see this much of Edwards skin again it was when it would be several feet away from his body as the Sin peeled it from his flesh with a dull blade.
Envy had not dreamt before. Like most human experiences, Homunculi were left out once again when it came to unconscious figmentation. They had imaginations, of course – which they often used to a vicious and wicked degree – but that was only part of their waking psyche.
The Shape shifter sighed. When would the weirdness stop? Though the idea of dreaming seemed terribly odd, he decided to go along with it since he really didn’t have much idea of how to get out.
Anyway, while he was here he wasn’t two sizes larger than normal about the waist – nor did his back, stomach or head hurt. In fact all of the tightness and aches had gone completely – nearly fooling him that his immortal body had restored itself. Yet he knew that wasn’t so – for although he was feeling a lot less sore than before, he was also feeling a lot more... responsive.
“However,” Ed continued, after a short pause as his gaze drifted languidly over Envy’s form. “There’s nothing wrong with a bit of creative thinking. In fact, I did a little myself while you were asleep...”
“Oh?” Envy called his bluff, tilting his head a little so he was looking up at the blond with a curious expression.
Edward winked and sat up again, reaching over to the nightstand where a large bowl sat – nearly taking up the entire surface of the top. From within it he pulled out a cube of ice and, flicking his eyes back to the Envy’s, twiddled it about in his fingers above the Sin’s chest. Small, icy droplets fell onto the white skin, causing the Shape shifter to gasp.
“I told the others I was going to put all of this into a bath to cool you down, but I think this is nicer, hmm?” Edward let his hand fall onto Envy’s stomach and ran the bleeding ice over his torso – the chilling trails of water dribbling a liquid cat’s-cradle over his flesh.
Envy shuddered at the sensation – even more so when Ed bent over to follow the trails with his warm tongue. However, when he popped the ice cube into his mouth and turned his attention to the Sin’s right nipple, Envy’s body bucked with a nervous spasm – his muscles were totally unused to any kind of sensitive touch.
The Blond seemed to ignore this and continued teasing the nub with his tongue before he pulled back and blew on the skin, causing prickly jolts to roll throughout the Shape shifter’s flesh. His other hand was caressing Envy’s thigh – stroking up and down the smooth limb with his fingertips. But as it neared his groin, Envy’s breath hitched and his nerves flexed again.
How embarrassing!
Although the Shape shifter’s form was well over a century old, it had never been subject to any kind of sensual touch. Envy’s brief encounter with Ed had not begun with any manner of foreplay – Edward (drunk, drugged and otherwise) had basically been ready to grease the zip of his fly the moment the Sin’s whore character touched him. Envy only had a matter of minutes to climb on board before the whistle went off.
Any later and the joke wouldn’t have been as funny.
In hindsight he realized he probably should have just given him a blowjob. He didn’t have any experience in performing one, but he was sure he could work it out. It was the same thing with intercourse – Envy ad-libbed with nothing but the simple knowledge that people of opposing genders fit together a certain way. That was it. Whatever Edward had experienced at the time, he could only hazard a guess.
However, he felt that now the guess was turning into more of a researched theory.
The Sin let out a soft moan as Edward pinched the nipple between his thumb and forefinger – shifting his head so his cheek rested beside Envy’s. The Shape shifter could feel Ed’s breath huffing softly against his skin; his hair tickling the sides of his neck, his mouth close over the fleshy lobe of his ear and pull gently.
There was a hint of teeth, a whisper of tongue – then heat shot through his body, pooled between his legs and Envy felt hardness press up against his belly. He shifted his hips uncomfortably, the new sensations causing some troublesome unease, but when Edward nibbled a row of gentle bites up to his mouth; when Edward pressed his lips to his, when Edward kissed him, there was nothing else.
Nothing...
Inside that kiss was a little world in itself – a plethora of feelings which had never the chance to penetrate through Envy’s drab, numb Homunculus skin. Summer, warmth, sweat, honey, gold, leather, cotton, shoe tread, earth, leaves, apples it was all there – the intensity almost made the Shape shifter pass out again.
Suddenly Envy wanted to keep these lips – glue them to his – make them stay. He hated feeling this need, but something greater was overriding his old feelings, forcing him to enjoy the play. Their tongues danced a moist tango – Envy’s following Ed’s lead clumsily - tracing wet patterns over the insides of their mouths. Edward's hands had moved again to clasp Envy’s sides – to get a better hold of the creature who was in turn trying to manipulate himself into a complicated macramé about his person.
With a lusty rumble in his throat – something between a laugh and a moan, Edward removed one of his hands, steadying the writhing white body beneath him with the other, and leaned over a little – fishing inside the bowl of ice once again. Envy ignored this and concentrated on entwining his ankles further about Ed’s waist in order to draw the blond closer. He liked the feel of their skin rubbing together – the hot friction of flesh against flesh.
But when Edwards hand moved down near his thighs again, Envy wasn’t too sure he liked the new twist on the situation.
Ice. Coldness. Pressing, melting on his erection – circling the tip of his shaft in slow, agonizing twirls. Envy’s muscles leapt again and he nearly head-butted Ed as their kiss broke and the Sin pushed back into the pillows, wild-eyed but desperate not to show his virginal panic.
“Uh..!”
“Shh, relax. You’ll like this, I promise.” Ed let up the pressure on Envy’s ribcage and instead caressed his collarbone, running his fingers softly along the ivory flesh. Then, with expert precision, he dotted small kisses and bites down the length of the Sin’s torso until he reached the trampolining area below his navel. “You are acting strange today though, I must say..”
Envy brayed a short, wobbling laugh but gasped as Edward gripped his hips and dragged him roughly to the end of the bed – climbing off himself to stand on the floor. The ice trailed down a little, skimming back and forth in a crescent between his thighs before finally it came to rest between his buttocks – slipping up and down gently in the crease. The Sin’s knees jerked and pressed together, but Ed forced them open again, leaning in so they couldn’t be closed. The blond levered his hand underneath Envy’s pelvis and tilted him a little, carefully sliding the long stem of ice in a place where Envy knew things weren’t suppose to go.
The action was heralded by a surprised yelp from the Shape shifter, yet this time he did not try to push away. Perhaps...Well, perhaps he might enjoy it. All in all, this was only a dream, right? And it really wasn’t so bad...
Edward grinned as his partner relaxed and he slid the long, rounded shard in further – coaxing more gentle moans from the Sin’s mouth. Envy lay still at first as the ice maneuvered inside him, then carefully – almost as if they had a mind of their own- his hands crept up his sides, inching nearer to his groin.
If you can’t beat ‘em, beat yourself...
Envy’s fingers, shook and twitched in a fanatical kind of way as they clambered slowly over the rise of his hips in effort to touch himself. It wasn’t something he’d done before, something he’d even thought to do before, but within this dream – this opium-laced drug of a dream - he felt bold enough to experiment. It didn’t matter that he was choosing to indulge in such an intimate act in front of the boy who was probably his greatest enemy - Envy was totally lost in the swarm of feverish sensations and reactions his body was producing. Muscles, nerves, flesh – they were all burning and flickering about under his skin – trembling, tickling torturing.
Oh yes, sex was indefinitely a weapon. And the wounds were biting and burning with heady intensity. How could he have missed such a thing?
Edward withdrew the ice and replaced it with his own hard, weeping member, making Envy moan loudly at the comfortable assault. Not that it hurt, it just took him by surprise. He liked the feel of it - pressing against him insides, full and warm – and let out another excited cry as Edward shifted his hips. But to enter him like that? Wouldn’t it hurt? Surely something like that should hurt? Shouldn’t it?
Supposedly things didn’t hurt in dreams... But why does it feel good then?
The Sin shoved the thought aside, hurriedly. Well who cared what it was supposed to feel like outside of his mind, he certainly didn’t care. He was panting – not at all ashamed of his wantonness – pressing the pads of his feet into Edward's firm backside. He had pretty much forgotten that it was Edward riding him - his treacherous imagination had taken the reigns of his mind and would not let anything else destroy the pleasure as it rocked over him in rippling waves.
Ed gripped the Sin’s slender hips and quickened his pace, while Envy closed his hands around himself and stroked in time to the rhythm as the ice melted on his belly. Both forms of touch caused the Shape shifter to writhe, squirming in pleasure. He felt a pressure, a divine weight build within his groin and moaned louder as it increased and became almost unbearable. Edward gasped as his entire body tightened in climax and soon, soon the world began to spin, his breath lifted and....and...
Greed’s favourite part of Envy was his ass, indefinitely.
Smooth, illogically pale, near transluscent, and so very deliciously fuck-able. Of course, Envy was so goddamn boney, his tiny, inadequately cushioned backside was almost the parody of a proper set of cheeks. But this mattered little to Greed, who happily ran his fingers through the sticky mess of blood, semen and sweat that slicked a wet, gooey concotion over the ashen skin of said derriere. Envy screamed at him in muffled indignation; the true brunt of his livid fuming staunched by the saliva-dripping ball gag wedged in his mouth. Greed laughed as his older brother struggled in his bonds; the thin, waxy roped cutting deep into his skin as he fought against his odd positioning.
“Ahh brother,” The Greedy One ran a tongue over his teeth, breathing heavily with lust. “You’re cute when you’re tongue tied, but even cuter when you’re hog-tied...”
He didn't have the guts to kill. Not anyone.
The Fox knew when the hunt started, that was what had kept him safe from the dogs all this time. Fingers on strings, Naruto had found ways of manipulating the system to keep his intentions safe; certainly, people might have suspectedhim, but those people were kept close enough to render them powerless. The instance he caught the scent of mutiny, Naruto knew, above all else, to flee.
He didn't have the guts to kill. Not anyone. And they knew it, respected it.
There wasn't much keeping Naruto human now, failure after failure had punctured holes in his control - the fox seeping through into various instances of Naruto's persona. His anger had become rage, his tenacity, addiction. Abandonment issues were engulfed by too strong a need for retribution, obsession fuelled rebukement - Naruto rarely participated in missions with his peers; indeed, Naruto rarely participated full stop. His desire had doubled, trebled - become something of a beast itself - and Naruto fought his urges enough to be careful around sweet-smelling, warm, pink-haired things. Sakura did not suit shiners and blood did not make for good rouge, despite the practicality.
He didn't have the guts to kill, not yet.
The fox hadn't pushed him that far, but it would inevitably and Naruto knew then that he had to rid himself of the only thing, the only attatchment he possessed which would undoubtably force the fox out of its den once the dogs teeth held it. They'd understand - those ones who knew.
"I thought you hated city living," he stated gruffly, picking at a spot of peeling paint on the doorframe. He'd closed the door, but he still stood within the close boundaries of the wooden struts. He didn't feel welcome yet, but he knew better than to expect any nuance of hospitality on his host's part. Sasuke simply didn't have the face for it.
"Inner city." Sasuke replied shortly, his gaze as flinty as ever, despite his body's resemblance to a skeleton tree. He huffed, blowing his long, lank bangs out of his eyes. Naruto noted how much like Itachi he was looking nowadays. "I said inner city."
"Specifically," Naruto fought the urge to roll his eyes. He couldn't really - they were glued to Sasuke; Sasuke's eyes, Sasuke's chest, Sasuke's arms. Couldn't have moved them if he wished to. The fox inside growled a little, unsure of what it was up against - Naruto didn't feel this ways around people, not that he knew. This was a cupboard that hadn't been opened in many years and one he hadn't a key to. "Always about the specifics, aren'tcha?" He paused a moment, before nodding curtly at the bundle cradled against Sasuke's chest. "She looks like you."
"She would," Sasuke joggled the curled up, scrunched up weight of baby in his arms and pressed his lips to her thick neck. "I made her, after all - that bastard's genes were probably to decrepit to even give her an eyelash like his."
"He's seen her?" For a moment, Naruto felt a twinge of sympathy for Orochimaru. The bastard was evil incarnate through and through, but still, the kid was his. Unlikely that he was even around for the birth now that the Akatsuki was on his case. They'd nipped off his tail several times in the past months and Naruto doubted he'd had time to let it grow back.
Then again, he was a snake, not a lizard, right?
"He was only up for one show of grunting and groaning." Sasuke raised a thin brow. "And that was at the opening. Ticket office, even." He looked down finally, breaking his glare to offer his sleeping daughter a quiet smile and another affectionate nuzzle. Naruto felt a juvenile jealously rise, along with a sharp, tight feeling in his crotch. "He never knew her." Sasuke continued. "And he won't. I doubt you'll ever hear much from him again."
"No love lost." Naruto cleared his throat before padding closer, a strange, wonky smile tilting his features. Stripes bend upward, grinning on their own. "Better off without him, anyway."
"That's what I said about the other bastard." Sasuke, turned away a little, sheltering the infant with his shoulder - consequently having to glare a little over it, which further warmed Naruto's appetite. "But after him, there was nothing."
"You've got her now." The blond interjected, motioning lightly. Sasuke only scowled harder.
"Yeah, and for how long? I know why you're here, Uzumaki. I don't get a slap on the hand this time. Konoha doesn't kill their own."
"I know that." Naruto looked down, finding that scuffing his bare toe against the rough concrete - crudely disguised as a floor the strategic positioning of a curling, ratty shred of lino - was strangely comforting. "I also know it wasn't your fault."
"That's your opinion," Sasuke sniffed. "Doesn't mean the elders think the same. They're scared shit of you now, but they're still as myopic as ever - they won't see the truth - "
"They might be lenient on you to sate me." Tanned shoulders bounced, causing the long tails of Naruto's ANBU tattoo to wriggle like tiny black asps. "They do things to please me..."
"Like enlisting you in the Special Forces?" The other snorted. "Easier to get rid of you if they give you more challenging missions."
"Always thinking of me, huh?" Naruto cocked a brow. "And you're supposed to be a challenging mission?"
"I know you won't kill me unless I hold your hand."
He had to get rid of him, it wasn't a matter of pride, of love. It was a matter of survival
"You wanna die that bad?"
"Uzumaki." Sasuke rolled the name about on his tongue - tasting each syllable before he spat it out, following with a chaser of: "Naruto. Idiot. Do I look like I want to die?"
"Yeah," Naruto sucked his lower lip in and out between his teeth, feeling the chapped skin catch a few times before he seized that and gnawed on it instead. "You do."
How else could he explain it? Sasuke had a baby - a beautiful baby girl of whom he'd created, carried and birthed as only a perfect hermaphroditic androgyne as himself could - he had something to live for, he had another mission. But that was how it was for Sasuke - he simply moved from mission to mission; whether that mission was revenge on his murderous brother or bearing and caring for an infant. He didn't live, he survived. And he knew it. He couldn't swallow it any more.
"It won't solve all your problems, you know." Naruto warned him, reaching out to take the child, nuzzling her dark, damp head along with Sasuke's lingering fingers.
"I trust you." Sasuke offered him a smile so gentle, Naruto could have sworn it was a mirage.
"What are friends for, huh?" The blond placed the baby on the moth eaten couch cushion and stepped away, watching silently as her mother admired her - rubbing the visage of her into his memories. "You wanna say goodbye properly?"
"I've already done it." Sasuke cuffed his hair out of his eyes again, trying not to notice the heat gathering in the corners. "No coddling. She doesn't need it. She doesn't need to remember me like this."
"Sasuke..."
"Neither do you." Sasuke moved closer to his ex-teamate, his blond - removing a small knife from his pocket to push into his palm. He didn't doubt Naruto had plenty of kunai already, it was simply the last ellipses before the point was made.
"I've got plenty of good memories already." Naruto tried to smile as his fingers worked a variety of ancient seals - tapping over them with ruthless, emotionless efficiency before he held them up to Sasuke's throat. "I can share them with her. There were more good points about you than you probably want to admit."
"You're right." Sasuke replied as he wrapped his hands around Naruto's wrist, tightening them enough to pinch. "But... thanks."
Naruto's eyes flashed, lightnening against a pallid grey sky of indecision.
"I love you."
"You're a fool." Sasuke replied.
"I know that. Say it back anyway."
"Now you're just an idiot."
"Obsessive." Naruto leaned in as his fingers touched flesh and sizzled angrily. Sasuke drew in a tight breath. "Obsessive compulsive... But I got to save you in the end, right?"
"Amen." Sasuke choked, before the white seals burnt through his flesh, flooding down his throat - blocking his air. He clutched his friend for a moment, pushing the pain aside to throw the slightest smile Naruto's way before he stiffened and collasped into the blond's arms; fading into the fathomless blue of his eyes as his life left him.
Naruto touched his middle briefly, before he gently laid his friend down on the floor - fingers gliding over Sasuke's eyelids to close them. He could smell the dogs already.
