Seeing Red

Chapter 2

"Uh... ngh..." Envy slowly opened his eyes, consciousness coming to him almost begrudgingly, like it wanted him to keep sleeping forever. Of course, one couldn't escape when one was unconscious, so he kept his eyes open and took a deep breath, wincing when the movement pulled on his wounds. "Haaa..." He tried to take another, more shallow breath, but it yielded similar results. "Hnn..."

What are they going to do with me?

It was the question that had kept him up most of the night, and his nightmares had been filled with the many possible answers. Those answers would force him awake and leave him alone in the dark to contemplate the question for a little while before finally allowing him to fall back into an uneasy sleep. That sleep led to another nightmare, and the cycle repeated.

Needless to say, it hadn't exactly been a restful night.

I can hardly keep my eyes open... Envy let out a sigh and looked over at the single window on his right, wondering how much of the day had already gone by. Not that he could do anything about it. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. So tired... so cold... He was grateful for the blanket he had been given, even if he would never admit it out loud, but it was thin and only came halfway up his chest. Not to mention the fact that he was practically naked, and he doubted the Flame Alchemist needed to keep his home heated on a regular basis.

Grunting, he slowly pushed himself up onto his elbows, twisting his body and stretching himself out as far as he could. It took a couple of tries, but he managed to bite down on the blanket, pulling it toward his upper body slowly. I don't want my feet to come out... but if I can just—

"Envy, are you aw—"

Envy and Mustang stared at each other, the former opening his mouth and letting the blanket fall back down to the mattress. Mustang looked him over silently, shaking his head after a moment or two of bewildered staring. Envy swallowed thickly, not moving a muscle and not allowing his eyes to leave Mustang for a second.

"You're still cold." It wasn't a question, but there was a certain tone of disbelief to it.

Envy nodded once, saying nothing, watching and waiting.

Frowning, Mustang walked over to the bed and slid his glove from his left hand. Envy held his breath, pushing back into the mattress when the colonel began to reach for his face. Mustang turned his arm and continued to close the gap until the back of his hand came to rest on Envy's forehead in a surprisingly unpainful way.

"Well, you aren't running a fever." Mustang glared down at him, retracting his hand and gloving it once more. "You've walked around in the snow with next to nothing on and seemed perfectly fine. Why are you cold now?"

Because I'm too weak. Envy didn't want to say that, though. Because you burned too much of the Philosopher's Stone out of me, and what I have left isn't enough to support me. He didn't want to say that, either. Because it's cold in here, and I'm almost naked, in case you forgot. He definitely didn't want to say that.

Well, he did, but it wouldn't be in his best interest.

"Don't answer, then. I'll just add it to the list of things to cover during your interrogation." Mustang began to undo the straps on Envy's wrists, continuing as though his words hadn't just sent a fresh wave of terror crashing down on his captive. "Get your ankles out, and then get dressed. Make it snappy."

Envy snorted, the ironic turn of phrase not at all lost on him, and then sat up to do as he was told. He reached down and wrestled with the straps keeping his legs in place, focusing solely on the task of releasing himself and refusing to acknowledge where he was going next.