Sometimes people leave you, halfway through the wood.

[garbagechild]

Who: Alphonse Elric, Envy, Greed, and Wrath.
Where: An ill-fated bakery. All around Goldenrod. The freakin' basement.
When: August 11th onwards! This is a catch-all.
Summary: The world has been pretty good to the various monsters and serial killers hailing from Amestris, but one particular villainous wild child has yet to be rehabilitated.
Rating: PG-13 for talk of abuse, manipulation, brainwashing, all that good stuff.
Log:

Continued from here.

Comments

[exeggutorhead]

[No, there's no nets. Envy doesn't even make any sudden movements.]

Yeah, I can see that.

Hey, I got some good new kinds of chocolate since you left, you want some?

[Wrath not looking hurt is a good sign, and the timidity is probably to be expected. If he doesn't have to, he doesn't want to throw a bunch of questions at the kid right away.]

[And food? Food works.]

[garbagechild]

_{[While the wariness doesn't ENTIRELY disappear, Wrath does seem to brighten up a little. He nods.]}

Yes, please.

_{[Who the heck taught him these manners? Maybe he's just trying to be extra careful.]}

[exeggutorhead]

[Well that politeness sure is a thing. A new one. But hell if Envy's going to complain.]

[He will try to be as non-threatening as he can be, though. He has a good idea of why Wrath might suddenly want to be Extra Good.]

Okay, c'mon then, it's in the kitchen. Just follow me.

[He half turns, seems to come to some kind of decision, and then reaches to muss at Wrath's hair for the second time ever. That had worked the first time it happened! And it is a thing that Envy is able to do.]

[Without commenting on it because that is Not a thing he is able to do, he turns the rest of the way and leads Wrath to the kitchen, going to dig in the drawers for that chocolate.]

[garbagechild]

<sub>[OH DON'T WORRY ENVY. It won't last. But yes, for now he is actually VERY invested in being good.]

[His eyes widen when the older Homunculus' hand descends on his head again-- even if it's happened once and he knows what to expect, it's still new. But then he follows after Envy with a tiny smile.]

[Envy has obtained +1 wild-haired duckling.]</sub>

[exeggutorhead]

[Envy manages to find the chocolate bar--some kind of caramel sea salt thing that Wrath hasn't tried before--and unwraps it before handing over a square of it.]

[He flops down into one of the chairs around the table, hoping that Wrath will follow his example. Does Wrath know how about chairs? IT'S A MYSTERY.]

You didn't get in too much trouble because of all this, did you?

[garbagechild]

<sub>[WRATH KNOWS ABOUT CHAIRS. Gosh, Envy, have a little faith.]

[He climbs carefully into the one across from Envy, folding his legs underneath him before holding out his hands to accept the little square of chocolate. He remembers being rewarded with the occasional red stone like this. Probably not the most positive thing to associate it with, but those memories are tinted with the closest thing he had to good feelings while under Dante's thumb, so they can take what they can get.]

[Sticking it into his mouth right away, he shakes his head a little.]</sub>

No.

My new team-mates covered for me.

I was surprised.

_{[THAT KIND OF THING DIDN'T HAPPEN WITH THE HOMUNCULI, where having others screw up meant you looked better by comparison and therefore didn't have to worry as much.]}

[exeggutorhead]

[Envy waits a few seconds after Wrath has devoured the chocolate square before he snaps off another and holds it out.]

Oh, really?

[He's actually surprised too. Team Rocket hadn't ever seemed like it'd be a bastion of teamwork. But he's also incredibly relieved that they hadn't made Wrath's life worse in some way, or gotten him hurt.]

So everything was okay?

[garbagechild]

_{[He takes the next little chunk of chocolate quicker this time. Popping it into his mouth, he nods.]}

Mhm.

My new team-mates made sure I didn't get punished. They even made sure nobody knew I did anything wrong.

<sub>[Because not being able to fulfill a quota on account of being KIDNAPPED FOR TWO MONTHS still qualifies as 'wrong' in Wrath's head. In fact, he'd figured the biggest punishment would be for getting himself kidnapped to begin with. Dante wouldn't have seen that as an excuse-- oh no, she'd have seen it as a transgression.]

[Wrath chews thoughtfully for a moment, before swallowing and then looking Envy right in the eye.]</sub>

Ralph said punishments are different here, too.

_{[It's a bland statement, but in the context of THEM, it's laden with meaning. That someone entirely unrelated had unwittingly backed up Envy's claim held a lot of weight.]}