c r i m s o n

a coat

interruption .

a dare, to the alchemist to try to do so again, and he had taken it . though, he'd taken it without realization, and he had done it day in and day out, for the past five years since the war had come to a conclusion .

in that duration of time, the sin had not seen the alchemist once, as he were tucked away into a solitary confinement cell, in the prison that were beside the fifth laboratory . he had no reason to visit, to bother with the alchemist . the one thing he may have that the sin had needed was a weak philosopher's stone, but he was not so bothered to take it .

besides, the stone was a sort of gift, even if it had felt the most impersonal that he were to give . it was not his to give, but he had done with it as he had pleased, anyway . and, in a return for that, he had received something from the male .

the day that he were gifted it, he remembered it fondly . it was about a week prior to the conclusion of the war . the sin had observed as it had waged on, the dusty and dull expanse easily being colored by blood . it did not matter to him, amestrian or ishvalan, it was the same and it was entertainment .

the only thing that had come as a shock to him that day were feeling of fabric brushing up against the pale skin of his shoulders, settling on his back . he were sat on a relatively large rock, perched high above the entertainment and out of reach of anyone . here he adopted his usual form, not so much bothered to pretend to be a solider and to fit into the army . everyone were too distracted to notice him, anyway .

well, everyone except kimblee .

the male, he had steadied himself at the homunculus's side, envy recalling the thin smirk that had tugged at the corners of his lips . no wonder the noise of his explosions had gone out minutes ago, as he were working his way up here . he was the only one to notice the sin, and the only one to acknowledge his presence .

to envy, it was a parting gift he had left him with, as he seemed unsure of his role in the final days of the war . whether he were to be killed or to live, to comply or to rebel . and, rebel was what he had seemed to do, as he had proceeded to care an unnecessary path of destruction in the war that envy had observed closely .

it was a shame he had to leave the sin so soon, for a cramped cell that offered him nothing but the cold and the dark . he had taken pity on all humans, but on this one, especially .

he were the one to distract him now, to occupy his thoughts as he huddled himself up in the white coat, the one that was slowly beginning to yellow with age . the edge of which were still dirtied, from it's dragging on the ground in the war . the fabric still held a faint smell of the man, one the sin had basked in for a few moments .

it was a scent that was rough, yet crisp and intricate . it was near a scent of burning, though a bit more complicated than that . it reminded him of kimblee, of his face just before he had set off a series of explosions . the violent glint that occupied his eye, the ominous smirk that had taken over his thin lips .

no, no .

he'd shaken his head as if to clear the thoughts, those of which that he had opted not to deal with, not as of now .

besides, no human had deserved to be thought about such as this, not even that alchemist in particular . he loathed humans, each and every one of them, and no one was an exception . not even kimblee .

though, he had to convince himself of this near every time he had thought of the man . every time he reminisced on the war, on the other's imprisonment, on the idea of visiting— of releasing him . and, each time he had thought like this, he had ended it with a firm  ' no . '

but, no was not enough this time, as his two pale hands had crossed over his chest, clutching at the fabric that hung on him loosely, him pulling in each side as a sense of comfort .

he'd deny it every time . if the thought had come up, it were dismissed immediately . if lust had offered him a tease about it, it were brushed off . but, deep down he knew it was true .

envy, the homunculus of jealousy, one driven by his hatred of humans, had so unfortunately began to miss one . and that feeling, though he tried, were impossible to be able to deny .