route_1065 | And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

[It's that time of year, again. Scar preferred this happening when the weather wasn't so damn cold and wet, but he still has little heart to complain about the goings-on in this world. He frowns when he takes notice of a child standing among the trees, looking dazed and confused. He's not going to just leave him there.]

Did you just get here?

[He has yet to take note of the markings running along Wrath's body, the identifiers of what, exactly, he is.]

_{[The snow is... interesting. Wrath has literally never seen anything like it before. When Scar makes his presence known, the young Homunculus is in the middle of kneeling down to poke at the powdery white stuff curiously.]

[He doesn't need to stay warm, so the cold isn't bugging him, but it's still NEW AND WEIRD.]

[He looks up sharply, though.]}

--yes.

Who're you?

[Scar is just wondering why he isn't freezing half to death when he notices the markings running over the boy's body.

Homunculus.

He hides his surprise with a small frown. Would this child recognize his name? He doesn't know his face, so that's a good start. But Scar doesn't want to lie...]

You may call me Scar.

[Miriam the Skitty bounces to Wrath's feet, sniffing at him.]

_{[Yeah THIS IS NOT A PRACTICAL OUTFIT FOR.... any situation really, but at least he doesn't have a body temperature to maintain.]

[Of course, his eyes light up in recognition when Scar actually mentions his name.]}

OH!

_{[THAT Scar. The guy with the scar. The Scar from the plans. That Scar.]

[... Wait, is there information he should be keeping secret? UH OH. He wasn't briefed on this!]}

... Hi.

_{[... FORTUNATELY FOR WRATH, there is a convenient pink distraction sniffing at his feet. He lifts the one bearing his Ouroborous brand out of reach, but looks sort of delighted.]}

Oh! It's furry!

Edited 2014-11-28 20:00 (UTC)

[That reaction is enough to clue Scar in that he, at the very least, isn't entirely a stranger.]

Do you have a name?

[Scar has a few guesses, but he isn't going to jump to any conclusions, nor is he going to give away any of his knowledge of the homunculi without knowing a bit more about this boy.]

Uhhh...

_{[Shit. Should he have a fake identity? Envy does that. Envy has, like, three hundred fake identities. And so does Pride! ... Well, okay, Pride only has one fake identity, but it's a super important one. And he has a human name for that.]

[So he totally should give a human name right now.]}

Uh...

_{[okay okay DON'T MAKE THIS WEIRD, WRATH. YOU CAN DO THIS.]}

... Uh...

Angry!

_{[.... OH NO THAT'S NOT A NAME THAT'S JUST A SYNONYM.]}

--I mean, TIM.

_[Whew.]

[Once again, there's no external reaction from Scar, in spite of the obvious lie. Angry... Wrath? This must be Wrath, then. And he could have sworn he caught a glimpse of an Ouroboros on the bottom of the boy's foot.]

Tim.

[Child or not, Scar isn't going to stir up trouble with a homunculus whose loyalties he isn't even certain of.]

Do you need help?

_{[You would be correct, sir.]

[Wrath isn't very good at this whole secrecy thing. He hasn't had hundreds of years to hone his spying skills. Or even a lot of practice at all yet, really.]

[So he AVOIDS EYE CONTACT and drops to his knees to pat Miriam, in that sort of clumsy inefficient way that a child who's never actually had affectionate contact with an animal would.]}

What kinda help?

Food. Or even some shoes, before your toes fall off.

[Because he isn't going to treat him like a homunculus, in spite of what is already obvious.]

_{[It's so obvious. My god. Wrath sucks at incognito. Which is even more evident when he first looks up at Scar as though he suggested getting him a pet rock and a parasol.]}

But I don't--

_{[OH. Right. Secret identity. Humans like food, and shoes. Wrath is actually rather fond of food, or at least he'd enjoyed what little he'd had when at that... house that he doesn't like to think about anymore, but he doesn't need it and he hasn't had any since leaving there. Shoes, on the other hand, he sees no point in whatsoever.]

[So instead of TOTALLY GIVING HIMSELF AWAY, he exchanges 'need' for--]}

I don't like shoes.

Shoes are stupid.

_{[THERE'S GOTTA BE HUMANS OUT THERE WHO DON'T LIKE SHOES. There's nothing weird about that at all.]}

It doesn't matter how stupid they are, if they keep your feet warm.

[He reaches into his bag and pulls out a granola bar to offer it to "Tim." Earn his trust.]

_{[Oh. Maybe... that was the wrong thing to say.]

[Oops.]

[But his attention is next snagged by the SHINY FOIL RECTANGLE that is being held out to him.]

[His experiences with human food have pretty much just been 1) meat and 2) that's really it, so this object is particularly perplexing and he tilts his head at a bigger angle than most humans would find comfortable without even thinking about it.]}

What's that?

Food.

[Scar takes the wrapper off and pockets it before holding out the bar for Wrath (Tim) to take. Does a homunculus even need to eat? Scar doesn't think so. But this is just what he would do if he found any child wandering on its own.]

_{[Food? No WAY. Scar is totally pulling his leg. That's shiny and metallic, and humans can't eat that stuff. Gluttony can, but not huma-- .... ohhhhhhh.]

[Curiosity now successfully piqued, the young Homunculus reaches out to take the granola bar. HE HAS LITERALLY NEVER SEEN THIS SORT OF FOOD BEFORE.]

[IT'S STICKY.]

[AND SMELLS SORT OF SWEET.]

[It's going in his mouth.]}

Come on.

[Scar nods down the road when the boy stuffs the bar in his mouth. They might as well get to civilization.]

And don't choke.

_{[Wrath has never tasted sugar before.]

[EVER.]

[And while granola's got nothing on the more-indulgent treats of the modern age... it's nuts for someone who has no idea what 'sweet' is supposed to taste like. That granola bar is GONE, son.]

[He's licking the remaining stickiness off of his fingers when Scar turns to go.]}

--Where're you going?

_{[He starts to follow-- surely as one of the seven, it's his duty to keep an eye on one of their chess pieces. And besides, he might have more of those shiny foil rectangles.]}

[Scar somehow isn't shocked that the bar is gone within a moment, but at least he's convinced the boy to follow.]

Back to town. You aren't equipped for the coming winter.

_{[He's just ACTING like he was convinced to follow, like a normal innocent human child. In REALITY he's cunningly lulling Scar into a false sense of security so that he can monitor him without suspicion! He's such a good spy.]

[So he hops along through the snow after Scar.]}

Equipped?

What kind of equipment do I need?

_{[That girl with all the tools and automail had used the word 'equipment' a lot...]}

Should I have a screwdriver?

[That almost cracks a bit of amusement on Scar's face.

Almost.]

No. You simply need clothing that will make sure you don't freeze to death.

[For all Scar knows, the kid is going to be gone by the time this hullabaloo is through. But if he isn't, homunculus (enemy?) or not, Scar isn't going to let him be stranded in that... whatever he's wearing. His resistance won't last, once things are back to normal.]

_{[Wrath frowns, lower lip protruding.]}

I have clothes, though.

_{[Yes, Wrath, your CROP TOP AND TINY SHORTS are absolutely appropriate apparel for outdoor winter activities.]}

You have clothes that are usually referred to as a swim suit in this world. You need a jacket.

[A jacket, real pants, socks, boots...]

A swim suit?

_{[But he's not swimming. He practically never swims. Except when Mommy does that cool water thing. But that's more like floating. She'd never let him sink.]

[But man... Scar Man really won't let up about the clothing, will he? Maybe this is a sacrifice he'll have to make for the sake of seeming human. It's ANNOYING, but he'll do it. For the team.]}

I guess I'll wear a jacket. If that's what everybody else does. Us humans like doing the same thing as everybody else.

_{[YOU'RE ALL SHEEP. I mean.]}

Mmm.

[Us humans. Oh God, this child...]

We'll find you proper clothes, and perhaps you can have another bar.

_{[I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT BUTTER HUMAN (tm)]

[Wrath had been sort of wrinkling his nose at the thought of having to pile a bunch of other pointless layers on top of what he's already got, but when Scar mentions the 'b' word, he perks up.]

[BAR? IS THAT WHAT THAT SHINY FOIL RECTANGLE WAS CALLED?]}

There's more?

There are if you agree to put on shoes and a jacket.

[Scar isn't even certain why he's doing this. He should just call Lust, ask her if she knows about the boy.

But he's not about to do that right now.]

And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

HELLO GARBAGE CHILD MEET HOBO DAD

HELLO HOBO DAD

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