Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ The Bluebird's End Series ❯ Perchance to Dream ( Chapter 1 )

It wasn't unusual for Ed to fall asleep without changing out of his uniform these days. Nor was it strange for him to wonder where he was when he started to wake up. Since Al's... disappearance, he didn't really care much about anything, and in a sense Roy and Riza had 'adopted' him to make sure he functioned at least semi-normally.

However, it was unusual for him to slowly blink awake to find himself staring at black cloth and porcelain-white skin. Something in the back of his mind told him this was a bad thing, while another part insisted on closing his eyes and going back to sleep since he wasn't dead yet. The part arguing against more sleep won out... sort of. Instead of jumping up and generally freaking out, Ed rolled his head slightly so he could look up and see if the lap belonged to who he was thinking it belonged to.

Still, he was groggy enough that he had to ask: "Hm? Envy?"

The dark-haired homunculus frowned down at him. "You're so rude, o-chibi-san. I come all the way here just to visit and you're sleeping. You have no manners."

Okay, maybe it wasn't really Envy. "Sorry," Ed mumbled quietly before closing his eyes again. These dreams were starting to become more realistic, but if Envy was going to appear in them he should at least act like himself.

An annoyed sigh reached his ears, and he could almost swear that he could feel fingers carding through his hair. This dream-Envy was actually... well, kind of nice, which was good considering that Ed didn't really like dealing with the real Envy. Especially with everything that had happened only a few short months ago; sometimes he forgot and called for Al when he arrived home, only to collapse into crying fits when he remembered that his little brother was never going to be there again.

Dream-Envy was talking again: "You could at least pretend to be happy to see me, chibi-chan. If they knew I was here, there could be trouble for both of us." The hand in his hair paused for a moment before the gentle strokes began again. "It probably still hurts, doesn't it? The feeling that nothing has changed but the reality that everything is different now. I would say I understand, but, heh, I don't."

Now that sounded more like the real Envy. He briefly debated on whether he might actually be awake before opening one eye again. It still looked and sounded like the homunculus he knew and loathed, but it wasn't trying to kick his teeth in or bore him to death. It was strange, but at the same time an odd dream was better than memories.

"You're an ass," Ed grumbled, rolling onto his side and nestling closer to the dream-Envy.

"Yep," came the almost cheerful reply before the homunculus shifted the pair of them; when he was finished moving Ed was lying across Envy's legs, head resting against the much older male's stomach. Envy resumed petting him once he was finished moving, and Ed felt himself drifting towards deep sleep again. "But I still missed you, chibi-chan. Life is boring without you around. Wrath is a pain, Lust is still whining about wanting to be human and Gluttony... well, yeah. I'm risking everything just to be here right now."

"Must suck," the alchemist murmured, eyes drifting closed once more. His only reply was a throaty chuckle and what may have been a hug.

It was bright out when his eyes fluttered open again. He was surprised to find himself in his bed, his jacket thrown over the chair and his boots on the floor by the door. Ed couldn't recall making it that far before collapsing; the last thing he remembered was coming home, sitting down on the couch, and having a weird-ass dream where he and Envy had a semi-civil conversation without punches being thrown.

He groaned softly as he pushed himself up. Mornings were bad anymore, with no improvement in sight until he arrived at headquarters where Riza would pretend not to fuss over him for a good twenty minutes. Ed shook his head to clear his thoughts, only to pause and frown. When had he taken his hair down?

He glanced over at the table by his bed, eyes snapping fully open. His hair tie was there, but so was a headband. This would have been odd in its own right, if not for the inverted triangular symbol that was almost as familiar as his own name.

"What...?" he said aloud, knowing that he wasn't going to receive an answer; the room was empty save for himself, after all. Ed picked up the headband for a moment to make sure he wasn't imagining it there. After assuring himself that it was real, he placed it back on the table and quickly got ready for the day. He hurried out of the room; for the first time in what seemed like forever, Ed felt he had a reason to be alive.

He never noticed the shadows in the corner melting into the homunculus that had visited him in the night. Envy smirked and shook his head before retrieving his headband, slipping it back on without batting an eye.

"Good to see you back to your old self, o-chibi-san," he said to the empty room. "Looks like things might be interesting again after all."

owari