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Amestris Academy was a massive secondary school. It sprawled over almost twenty nine thousand square metres, not including the massive soccer and football fields, or the small portables that dotted the back lawn. The school was laid out almost like a plus sign, with three floors, and north, south, east, and west corridors. Between the roughly two thousand two hundred students, the instructors, the coaches, the administrators, the after school program runners, the special educators, an extra twenty people if you counted the kids up in daycare while their mothers and fathers studied and the caretakers that watched them. All together, there were, at any given time of the school day, there was two thousand and five hundred people on the school grounds at any time.
And Envy didn’t know a single damn one of them.
And this ridiculous damn class schedule made absolutely no sense.
“3N05, what or where the fuck is 3N05?” They hissed to themself, standing in the middle of a nearly empty hallway. Most people had found their classes and settled in already, only a few stragglers closing their lockers and moving around. Before long, the hallway was deserted. Envy was still glaring at their map when a quiet tap tap tap echoed around the hall.
“Uhh.. Are you lost?”
Envy turned to glare at the person who spoke. He was wearing a sleek red coat and black skinny jeans, blonde hair tied in a loose braid, and leaning on a cane on his right side. Envy raised an eyebrow.
“No. I'm fine. That's my class.” They said, pointing to the nearest door. The guy looked at the door and gave a faint smirk.
“That is a ninth grade band class.” He informed. Envy absolutely did not blush.
“I meant the one next to it. Screw off, I have to learn about.. Neapolitan, or something. Don't you have your own class to go to?” They said, flustered.
“Ooookay. That's a dessert. And that's a math classroom.” He informed. “Come on, hand it over.” He sighed, stepping forward with a little tap of his cane and stealing the class list from Envy’s hand. “3N05. That's English with Sheska. I have that next too. Come on, I'll show you where it is.” He handed the papers back and started walking away. Envy stared at him for a long moment before grumbling and following.
“The number system here is a little weird.” The blonde informed. “It's three parts. First number is the floor, then the wing, the the class number. So 3N05 is third floor, north wing, class five.” He stopped in front of a set of silver doors and pulled a key from his pocket, turning it in a lock. The doors slid open.
“What kind of spoiled school has a fucking elevator?” Envy muttered, eyeing it before following the kid on.
“The ones with multiple floors that have students with disabilities who can't go up and down staircases?” The guy said bluntly, jabbing a button. “I'm Edward, by the way. And for the record, only the kids who need the lift can use it. Gotta have the key.” He showed off his own before tucking it back in his pocket.
“Oh.” Envy muttered. That made sense, they supposed. Their eyes were drawn to Edward’s cane again. He decked it out so it almost looked steampunk-ish, painted silver plates fitting together with small gears between them. The elevator dinged softly and opened up again, and Edward stepped off. He pointed out the signs over the halls, stating if one was a northern hallway, eastern, and so on. Once they were in the right hallway, the numbers on the doors made it easy to find the right classroom.
“Ed, you're late.” The teacher sighed, almost before they were in the door. Envy supposed they heard the cane echoing on the hallway.
“Sorry, had to help the new kid. ” Edward said. He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Envy, before heading to his desk. Sheska looked up and blinked.
“Oh. Hello. You're..” She looked down at his papers.
“Envy.” They interrupted before the teacher could find their name on the page. Sheska gave a confused look, but nodded and made a note on the page.
“Alright. If you've got your books, there's a seat by the window.” She dismissed, before returning to the lecture their entrance had interrupted. Envy picked their way between the desks to get to the one the teacher had indicated. They ended up diagonal from Ed, who was seated one seat over and two seats up from Envy.
“As I was saying, the media has much power over how we remember literature, whether positively or negatively. Adaptation to film can be the best or worst thing for a story, as it could immortalize the greatest points of a book and inspire later generations to read them, or they can destroy any or all interest in a story.” Sheska explained. “For example… Winry.” She called on a tall girl with a blonde ponytail. “What is the first thing you remember about.. The Wizard of Oz?”
“The Emerald City!” Winry chimed brightly.
“Wonderful! But, did you know that, in the original book by L. Frank Baum, the Emerald City was not made of emerald? The Wizard had everyone wearing green tinted glasses that were locked on their heads, claiming that they were to protect his people from the light shining off the emeralds.” She explained brightly, hands clasping in front of her. “Does anyone else have any examples? Yes, Alphonse?”
“What about I, Robot?” Alphonse asked curiously. He looked like a smaller, younger Edward, Envy noted absently. Sheska’s face fell at the comment, into a blank, unamused stare.
“We don’t talk about I, Robot.” She simply stared at them for a long, icy moment before her smile returned and she clapped her hands together. “Anyway! This will be your next assignment. Everyone is going to pick a book that has been adapted into film, tv or movie, and write a report on what was changed, what was left out, and how the adaptation affected it. You can work together, but everyone must do their own work and hand in their own report. We have ten minutes left in class, so everyone please hand in which books you intend to use, so no one does the same project.” She announced. “As soon as you have your idea, come on up and let me know. Edward, just raise your hand.” She added kindly. Envy saw Ed give her a grateful smile.
As the class dissolved into murmurs as they started discussing their options, Envy pulled the large headphones from their bag and pulled them over their head. Plugged into their phone in their pocket, they made sure to turn the music down a bit as it started playing. They stared down at their notebook absently, pencil eraser tapping against the page as they scanned over their schedule. Lunch next, thank god. After that.. Physical Education with.. Mustang? What kind of name is Mustang?
As the class drifted to a close, Envy stood up and went to the front desk, silently handing over a paper with their selection. Sheska gave them a bright smile. The bell rang, and Envy went back to grab their bag, slinging it over their shoulder. From the corner of their eye, they saw the little Ed - Alphonse - go over to Edward and offer a hand to help him up.
“I’m fine, Al. My leg feels better.” Edward dismissed with a bright smile.
“You need to take it easy, brother.” Alphonse sighed, but he didn’t make any move to help Edward or support him as they made their way to the exit. The blonde girl, Winry, joined them, ponytail swinging as she animatedly discussed her choice for their assignment.
“Oh, do you think they’ll have chocolate milk today? They always run out so fast.” Al mused. Envy followed the shoving crowd toward the stairs, a little surprised to see Edward passing by the elevator for the staircase. Alphonse and Winry immediately flanked out to his side and behind him like a faux guard, walking slowly beside him like they were making sure no one bumped into him. Edward took the stairs slowly, putting both feet on each step before moving to the next one.
“Ugh, why would you waste your money on that? It doesn’t even taste like chocolate, it just tastes like feet.” Ed complained loudly. Envy turned down their music from their pocket, slowly making their way down the stairs behind the group. The crowd would probably lead them to the cafeteria.
The rest of the day, thankfully, went smoothly. After a surprisingly decent lunch, Envy went to the large gym. Mr. Mustang had them doing wind sprints, which was utter hell, but at least they didn’t have to talk to anyone. After that was a very long and very boring history class with Falman, a tall man with grey hair, who was constantly squinting. Finally, Envy was free to go home.
Of course, they didn't. They went to the school library and signed out the book they needed for the english assignment, and a couple others. Sheska, who apparently doubled as the librarian, was sitting behind the desk, smiling kindly at them. Once envy had their books, they parked themself in a back corner, headphones over their ears and feet kicked up on a table. They stayed put until the library closed at five, before reluctantly packing things away. they finally left the school grounds, catching the bus back to the other side of the town. After nearly an hour on the bus, and another fifteen minute walk, they walked up to the rundown old house where they lived.
The house was an old one story in a dilapidated neighbourhood. envy was pretty sure the other houses on the street were either abandoned, condemned, and possibly one crack house. they weren't sure, but they had suspicions. The door screeched when it opened, the floor creaked under each step, and the toilet didn't have a lid, but it was theirs. they stretched out their arms over their head, yawning widely, before dropping their bag on battered couch near the door. a puff of dust exploded from the cushions.
"What should we have tonight, Gluttony?" They mused, looking down when the massive cat started winding between their feet. It wasn't Envy's cat, it just sort of showed up. Glut looked up with a rat hanging from his mouth, tail swishing behind him in satisfaction. "Yeah, lucky you, you can eat stuff raw." Envy muttered. They wandered into the tiny kitchen, looking around before deciding to go with something simple. Lunch had been decently filling, at least. Throwing together a simple ham sandwich, Envy ate quickly before crawling onto the mattress on the floor, pulling the blankets around them. It wasn't much longer before they fell asleep.
***
"Hey, Shortstack."
The wheelchair rolling down the hall jerked to a stop. Envy saw Edward's shoulders slowly rise and fall with a deep breath, before he turned himself around, tilting his head back to glare at envy.
"I know you're new here, so I'll try to be nice, but don't call me small. Bad things happen.” He warned. Envy raised an eyebrow. They put one hand at the top of their own head, before moving it down the steep decline to Ed's, stopping just over their fringe. With the height of the chair, they were only about three feet tall at the moment.
“I mean.. You are kind of short.”
“Don't call me little!” Edward growled, fists curling up into fists. Envy snorted.
“Calm down. Here.” Envy shoved the steaming coffee in their hand toward Edward, who raised an eyebrow.
“What's that for?”
"You helped me yesterday. I don't like being in debt to anyone."
“You aren't in debt to me, it wasn't anything big." Edward snorted.
"Just take the fucking coffee." Envy insisted. Edward raised an eyebrow at him before taking it.
“There any milk in here?"
"No. Heard you bitching about that the other day. Grabbed some sugar packets, though." Envy answered, handing them over when edward made grabby hands. He carefully held the coffee between his legs as he ripped six of the packets open, pouring them into the coffee.
"I hate milk." Edward said honestly. "It tastes like feet and makes my stomach cramp up."
That.. was weird. Envy watched as Edward fit the lid back on his coffee and took a sip, shoving the garbage packets into his backpack hanging off the back of his wheelchair. It took Envy surprisingly long to realize that one of Ed's pant legs was hanging baggy and empty, his leg supported on a little cushioned pad.
"D'you need help?" Envy offered awkwardly after a moment, gesturing to the handles of the chair. It didn't look like he could push himself around with the coffee in his hand.
"Huh? Oh, no, check this out." Edward leaned over the left side of his chair, sliding the coffee into a piece of plastic hanging off the frame. He twisted the bottom so it tightened around the cup, before releasing the brakes and rolling away. "Schedule is shifted today, you know that?" he asked as Envy started walking beside him. They didn't have to slow their pace much to keep up with Edward, they realized. He was pretty fast in that thing.
"Uh.. Yeah. It's English first today, right?"
"Yup. That means gym is last block. Lucky me. Mustang is going to shit himself."
"You're in Mustang's class too?" Envy frowned. He hadn't been there yesterday. They paused when they reached the elevator, watching Edward lean over to dig his key out of his bag. When Edward rolled himself into the car, he spun around and looked at Envy expectantly.
"Well? Come on, you're with me, it's fine." He shrugged. Envy raised an eyebrow, but walked into the elevator with him, jabbing the button for the third floor. "Yeah, I'm with Mustang. Guess you're there too? I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, got to bail out of the last half of the day."
"Is this the part where I'm supposed to ask what happened with the..?" Envy waved at the chair. Edward snorted.
"I'm surprised you didn't ask about the cane yesterday. Most people do." He put on a simpering face and whined. "'Oh, you poor boy, what happened to you?' Or worse, the ones who bitch you out for it." He grinned as the doors opened, rolling out of the car.
"Not my business." Envy shrugged. "Liked the paint job, though. Did you have to order that?"
"Oh, hell no. Alphonse did that. My little brother, he's in our English class. He skipped a grade." Edward said, clearly proud of his brother. "I kept complaining about how boring everything looked, so he decorated them." When they reached the classroom, Sheska quickly popped to her feet.
"Envy, do you mind helping me?" She asked politely, picking up the chair from Edward's usual desk. Envy raised an eyebrow, but picked up the desk at her instruction. They were both set aside into the corner, before Alphonse showed up out of nowhere with a table. It was about the size and height of a desk, but the legs formed a U at the bottom and were closer together, so when edward wheeled himself into place, he could pull up right to it, the legs tucking beneath his chair neatly. He pulled the brakes on and smiled at them.
"Thanks." He said brightly, shooing his brother away when he tried to help him get his bag. "I'm fine Al, you already did all the heavy lifting."
"Technically he did." Alphonse said, gesturing to Envy as they settled into their own seat.
"They." Envy corrected as they pulled their books out. Alphonse blinked at them, and they braced themself for a tirade as usual, but instead he just smiled.
"Oh! Sorry about that!" He said cheerily, returning to his own seat. Envy blinked.
"Uh.. No problem."
"Alright everyone, books out please!" Sheska called from the whiteboard. "Today we're going to go over proper formatting and phrasing of a resume and college application."
Class was long and boring, and there wasn't much for Envy to do besides take short notes and mentally complaining that they didn't have much to add to their own resume. After English, they had a math class, which was also boring. Envy was pretty good at math, thankfully, so once they'd scrawled out their answers, they were able to sit back and pull on their headphones, ignoring the other students around them.
Finally, it was time for lunch. Envy went to the cafeteria and grabbed a small container of fries, showing their student ID to the lunch lady. She typed something on her computer before nodding and allowing Envy to leave. Now they just needed to find somewhere where they wouldn't be bothered...
"Envy! Hey, Envy!"
"Spike head!"
Envy looked around in confusion when someone started shouting their name, until they saw Alphonse standing by a table in the corner, waving his hand in the air. Edward's chair was parked next to him, the short blonde grinned and trying to flag them down. Confused, Envy walked over to their table.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Sit with us." Alphonse invited brightly, gesturing to the seat across from him.
"Um.. Okay." Envy stared at them both for a long moment before awkwardly shuffling into a seat.
"We're not gonna murder you." Edward snorted. "Seriously, it just looked like you needed somewhere to sit. Might as well sit with your friends." He shrugged as he picked up the burger from his tray, taking a massive bite. Ketchup smeared across his cheek. Envy stared in silence, a fry lifted halfway to their mouth.
Friends?
"Ed, did you break Jealousy?" Winry popped up from nowhere, a cafeteria tray with a salad and bottle of juice in her hands. She settled beside Alphonse at the table, looking around the table expectantly. Her comment, at least, made Envy snap back to attention.
"It's Envy." They corrected. "They don't mean the same thing."
"Sorry. I'm just teasing." Winry smiled. she frowned faintly when she saw Envy's little container of fries, tilting her head. "Is that all you have?"
"Yeah." Envy shrugged, grabbing another fry. They raised an eyebrow at winry's concerned look. "What?"
"Well, it's.. not much." She said quietly.
"'s all I could afford." Envy muttered.
Winry frowned a while longer, before she perked up and leaned over to dig in her shoulder bag, pulling out a granola bar with berries in it. "Here!"
"Oh, hang on!" Alphonse smiled and grabbed the orange from his tray, splitting it in half and handing part over to Envy as well. Edward twisted around to dig in his bag, before silently offering a little box of apple juice. Envy blinked, staring at the food being piled in front of them, before looking around at the three.
"I don't need that stuff." They muttered, shifting in their seat.
"Yes you do." Winry scoffed, smile not wavering. Alphonse gave a soft look though, reaching across to squeeze Envy's wrist briefly.
"It's no trouble, seriously. We always bring extra food. You think better with the right vitamins in your body. Take it, please?" His face was ernest and genuine, golden puppy dog eyes pouting at Envy. They stared for a long moment before huffing and picking up the orange.
"Thanks." They mumbled.
"No need." Alphonse brightened up when Envy ate a slice of orange, returning to his sandwich.
"Did you even eat breakfast?" Edward asked curiously when Envy destroyed the orange and protein bar in under five minutes.
"Slice of toast." Envy shrugged. It took a moment to realize that the three of them were staring at them in shock.
"Don't your parents tell you to eat? Or send you with a lunch?" Winry asked in concern. Envy snorted.
"I'm emancipated. I live alone." they stabbed the straw into the juice box, expecting the usual concerned stares and simpering. They actually startled a little when Edward snorted.
"Why do we keep collecting fellow orphans?" He asked, looking at Alphonse and Winry. They both looked a little concerned, until Envy grinned. There was a stilted moment, before all four of them were laughing. It took a few minutes for them to calm down, the three across the table still chuckling on and off.
"Hey, welcome to the club." Edward said, leaning over to tap his soda against Envy's juice box.
"Thanks, I guess." Envy rolled their eyes. "Mom was gone and father was a deadbeat, I'm better off alone." They shrugged.
"My parents died when I was really little." Winry offered. "They were doctors in the war, they didn't come home. I was six."
"Our dad was a deadbeat." Edward said, nibbling at the last bit of burger on his plate. "Lost mom in a car accident two years ago."
"They didn't give you guys a foster?" Envy asked curiously.
"Tried to. The three of us ended up applying to live together on our own. Al and Winry both have jobs, and the inheritance and life insurance are enough for us to stay alive."
"I get a bit of cash from the government every month." Envy shrugged. "This is the nearest school that I haven't been expelled from yet, so they put me here. I managed to get on the lunch program here so i get forty bucks in credit every month. Not a whole lot, so the.."They lifted the empty cardboard contained with a shrug. "Most of my money goes to rent anyway."
The bell rang before they could continue the conversation. Envy pushed themself to their feet, gathering up the garbage from the table. They had history next, which was long and boring as usual. Things didn't get interesting again until they walked into the locker room for gym, sitting on one of the benches to pull their gym clothes from their bag.
"Hey Spikes."
Envy looked up to see Edward rolling up beside them, parking his chair at the end of the bench. They raised an eyebrow as they pulled their shirt off, tugging on a loose tank top.
"Why do you keep calling me that?"
"Have you seen your hair?" Edward laughed. "Sorry, I'll stop."
"No, it's fine." Envy shrugged. "I've never had a nickname before."
"Well, you have one now. All my friends end up getting them. I don't use normal names." Edward chuckled as he changed his shirt out. He leaned down to flip up the foot rests of the wheelchair, before carefully standing on his leg and transferring to the bench. Envy scooted down to give him more space.
"Not to insult your manliness or anything." Envy said, glancing pointedly at Edward's empty pant leg. "But do you think you're going to hop a marathon or something?"
Edward snorted. "Just wait for it." He grinned, wiggling out of his pants and yanking a pair of shorts on. Envy caught a glance of his residual limb before looking away in favour of finding their hair tie, gathering their hair together and tying it behind their head. Edward pulled a smaller bag from his backpack, shifting on the bench a little.
"Do you have to do that out here? Go into a stall or something."
"Shut the fuck up Kimbly." Envy snapped before Ed could start to rage, glaring at the teen sitting across from them.
"It's gross."
"It's just a fucking leg." Envy scoffed, rolling their eyes. "Grow up." They glanced at Edward, who looked annoyed, but was ignoring Kimbly, rolling a sort of sleeve onto his leg. "You good?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. People are morons." Ed shrugged. "Y'know, I actually did used to run events. Never did a marathon, but I did lots of those kiddie 3Ks or 5Ks. I was pretty good."
"Not anymore?"
"No." Edward gave Envy a wide grin. "Now I'm fucking great."
"Ed!" They both looked up when Winry appeared, one hand over her eyes. She peeked through her fingers to make sure it was safe before grinning and holding out a large box. "Here. I had to remember where your locker was." She laughed a little. "Do you need any help?"
"No, Win, I'm fine. Thank you." Edward grinned. He set the box on his chair and carefully pulled the lid off. Inside was.. a tube. With a bit of metal sticking off. Envy was confused until Edward set the tube against the sock on his leg.
"Oh, it's a leg!"
Edward snorted, grinning at them. "It's a running leg." He corrected. "My new prosthetic. I just got it finished yesterday. Finally finished all the tests and adjustments for it. Mustang isn't gonna know what hit him." He pushed himself up to his feet, pushing down on his prosthetic. He bounced a little in place before looking at Envy expectantly. "Come on, last one out has to run an extra lap!"
Envy shook their head and looked at Winry. "Is he always like this?"
"Oh yeah. He's been waiting for this for six months. He kept breaking his old legs because he was too rough on them." Winry laughed. "Keep an eye on him for me, would you?"
"I'll try." Envy shook their head and followed Edward out to the track, finding him bouncing excitedly at the edge of the track.
"Today we will be running laps." Mustang called once the entire class was out, hands folded behind his back. He was ex-military, according to the gossip, and he certainly acted like it. "Key word being run! I do not expect to see anyone walking this track. One lap is one kilometer. The slowest of you should be able to complete the course at least nine times before the hour is up. Elric, you-"
"I'm fine." Edward piped up, almost vibrating with his excitement. Mustang looked a little ruffled at being interrupted, but nodded.
"Just don't strain yourself." He reminded. "That goes for all of you! Water breaks are allowed, but I do not expect to see any of you slacking off. Keep your heart rates up!" He stepped to the inside of the track and motioned for everyone to line up. "Stretch out, you have three minutes."
"Hope you like eating my dust, Spikes."
"I think I can beat the one-legged shorty." Envy smirked. Edward growled.
"Don't call me little!"
"Okay, okay." Envy shook their head, amused.
"If you're so cocky, why don't we make it interesting?" Edward suggested. Envy raised an eyebrow. "If I win, you have to come for dinner tonight so Alphonse shuts up. He was whimpering like a puppy about you all through third period. He worries." He explained at Envy's confused look.
"Alright.. And if I win?"
"You say that like it's a possibility." Ed grinned. "But fine. You win and I won't let Alphonse follow you home with a pile of blankets."
Envy snorted as they were called to line up, shaking their head. "Okay, fine." They agreed. It couldn't hurt anything. Mustang shouted for them to start, and they both took off running down the track.
When the class was called to a stop, Envy and Edward both ignored the whistle, both dead sprinting toward the marker for a completed lap. Mustang kept screeching his whistle at them, but neither stopped until they crossed the line, Edward managing to inch a few steps ahead. Edward had to jog to a stop thanks to his leg, but Envy immediately collapsed onto the ground, panting from exertion.
"You. Are. Not. Human." They huffed when Edward appeared to lean over them, a smug grin on his face.
"Nope. Technically I'm a cyborg." Edward laughed, shaking out his leg. "Come on, help me inside. I think my leg is falling off."
"Which one?" Envy laughed breathlessly, rolling over to stand up. They let Edward put an arm over their shoulder, helping him hop inside.
Once Ed was back in his wheelchair, he rolled himself over to the showers in the change room, stopping by the drain. He pressed a button on his leg and slowly pulled it off. leaning it against the wall. As he pulled the sleeve off his leg, he tipped it over, letting a puddle of sweat dribble out. Envy couldn't help a snort.
"Wait, was your leg seriously going to fall off because you sweat too much?"
"Yep." Edward laughed a little, wheeling to the sinks. He grabbed some paper towels and wet it in the sink to wipe off his leg, then drying off the inside of his sock. Envy left him to his business as they changed back into their regular clothes, deciding they could shower at home. "Don't go running off Spikes, we had a deal!" Edward called victoriously from where he was getting changed. Envy rolled their eyes. They pulled the deodorant from their bag and sprayed some on, shoving their gym clothes back into the bag as well. Once Edward was done, he tucked his leg back into its box, rolling over to put it in one of the lockers.
"These things are normally emptied overnight, but they gave me a permanent one to stash this thing in. Much easier than trying to carry an extra leg around every day." He explained. "Come on, we're meeting the others in the front lobby." He wheeled over to the exit. Envy fell into pace beside him, hands in their pockets. "I think it's my turn to make dinner tonight. Poor you. You allergic to anything?"
"Nope. Why poor me?"
"Because Edward can't cook." Winry teased, appearing beside them. She was practically bouncing as she followed them down the hall. "Alphonse is going to take over tonight. We'll need to go shopping, though, I think we're low on some things. Is that alright?" She added, looking at Envy. They shrugged.
"Yeah, sure. Can't say no to free food, can I?"
Alphonse eventually joined them at the school entrance, and the four went down to the bus stop. Edward had to wait for the ramp to lower so he could wheel himself up, locking his chair in place at the front of the bus. When they got to the store, Winry grabbed a shopping cart, Alphonse pulled a binder from his backpack, and Edward pulled an envelope from a locked pocket on his bag.
"Okay, we have seventy dollars left for this week."
"We need more milk and ground beef."
"Hang on, I think that's on sale."
Envy followed the trio in a bit of a daze, watching as they chattered back and forth about shopping lists and budgets. They definitely had their shit together, much more than Envy did. While Alphonse and Winry were discussing what size milk jug they needed, Envy's eyes wandered. They grinned after a moment, pulling the door open to grab a small container of chocolate soy milk. Once everything had checked out and been bagged, some of the bags hanging off the back of Edward's chair, they tossed the box to Edward.
"Hey squirt, drink up." Edward frowned. "It's soy milk. Might be better for you." They offered. Edward eyed them suspiciously, before pulling the straw off and poking it through the hole, taking a tentative sip. He grinned brightly after a moment.
"Holy shit. That's awesome." He laughed a little and twisted the box to look at the brand. "Hey, Al, can we afford some more of this?"
Once Alphonse went back to grab a jug of soy milk for Edward, apparently rejoicing that Edward would drink something resembling milk, they got back on the bus to go to the Elric/Rockbell house.
"Can we have stew?" Edward requested once he'd rolled up the ramp and into the kitchen, helping to put away the groceries. He immediately poured himself a glass of his soy milk, earning a pleased smile from Alphonse.
"Yeah, sure. Wanna help me chop some onions?"
Alphonse got Edward set up at the kitchen table with some onions to slice. When Envy offered, they found themself parked next to Ed, a pile of potatoes in front of them and a peeler in hand. Winry was sat across from them, grilling Edward on how his leg had functioned for him that day as she peeled and cut carrots. Everything felt.. quaint. Quiet and calm, like they had a handle on everything and knew what the other was doing.
"Look, I'm just glad he's drinking milk, he can have as much as he wants." Alphonse laughed when he gave Edward another refill on his drink.
"Soy milk doesn't count, it's from a plant." Winry grinned.
"Soy milk is real milk." Alphonse paused long enough to set a glass of water in front of Envy, who gave a mildly confused thanks.
"It ain't real milk unless it comes from a titty." Winry said, managing to keep a straight face before she snorted and laughed. "I'm sorry, I saw that on a t-shirt." She giggled. "Carrots are done!" She added brightly.
"Awesome!" Alphonse gathered the bowls of veggies that they'd prepared, tossing them all into a pot. It didn't take too long before he was putting bowls down in front of them. Envy took a tentative bite.
"Hey, that's actually pretty good."
"Of course it is. Alphonse is a great cook." Edward laughed. "And it costs, like, five bucks for just this. We can show you how to do some budget stuff if you want."
"Sure." Envy agreed after a moment, giving a little shrug. Once they were done eating, Envy found themself dragged into the living room to watch TV, since 'only heathens don't own a television'. Edward got up to get a glass of water halfway through an episode of Game of Thrones. When he returned, he put the glass on the table before flopping over the edge of the couch, landing with his legs over the arm and his head in Envy's lap. Envy looked down at him, before just moving their arm out from beneath his shoulders. They let Envy crash on the pull out couch when they realized how long of a trip it would be home, insisting that it wouldn't be any trouble to them. As Envy stared at the ceiling that night, listening to the sound of soft breathing, they couldn't help a little smile.
Maybe having friends wasn't so bad.