Uwah... Envy is scary here. O.o I know that I may very well end up in an asylum, posting stuff like this... oh well. enjoy!

Disclaimer: Are you TRYING to remind me how much I UTTERLY FAIL to own Envy or Wrath? T.T For shame, you.

Warnings: Umm... abuse. Not described in detail (tho I would have loved to!) but still present. Not too much... in fact, really NO sexual stuff. (I guess my fic idea of Envy raping Wrath will have to come later... but this is all clean, guys! -sweatdrop-) However, this DOES imply (says it pretty directly, in fact) that Envy has feelings for Wrath, so... "If no like, no read!" condensed form. My fingers are tired.

-Recommended Listening- i. e. what my brain was hooked on while I wrote this- "Just Like You Imagined", by Nine Inch Nails (NIN)

Equality. Yin and yang. Never the dark without the light. Envy liked those concepts, liked to apply them to himself and his emotions. Happiness... followed by anger. The blank dullness of eternal life... coupled with the blinding hate for his father. His vicious joy at killing humans, then cold sorrow for his miserable fate. It was all these emotions, pushing up inside him, that made him complete.

Lock them up, let them free, always in equal measure, never in extremes. He went back and forth, miserable and anguished, cocky and cruel. Oh, yes... it was in this way he had survived for four hundred years...

But a new emotion had recently joined the menagerie of others. Was it love, tenderness, a desire to protect? Whatever the hell it was, it creeped him out. He locked the foreign emotion in the deepest tomb he could find, pushing it away from his soul. But it fought its way up anyway, unbidden, bringing with it the evil twin of sadism.

Wrath would never know why Envy loved to hit him so, what sort of sick pleasure he derived from the boy's pained shouts... but Envy knew very well. Those screams drowned out the cries of his shriveled heart, struggling to be heard. The images imprinted in his brain of Wrath's bloody deaths covered up the ones his mind produced, of the beautiful body wrapped around him...

The whole process of having to induce emotions and suppress others was slowly driving him insane. Not on the outside- not to any observer, no! Envy was normal, or as normal as a homunculus could ever be... still. He weakened under the constant stress. To his relief, he gradually found that in the dark, being near Wrath wasn't quite as painful.

His daily schedule grew as follows:

Day: Much too much light. To keep mind off how incredibly nice Wrath's hair looks in the sunshine, hurt that wretched child. Make sure he stays away. Push it down, all of it, the urges to kiss and cuddle...

Night: A long day of strain over. The heart gently unwound during the moon's visit, allowing minimal contact-- holding the kid when Sloth's gone, talking with him softly. Or even just being in the same room together.

Wrath never resisted Envy's embrace, even after the hardest of beatings earlier in the day. He never tried to run away or stop Envy, either, when the blows came. He just sat there... like a doll. Envy was frustrated by his lack of emotion around him. After all the torment Wrath put him through... shouldn't the kid have to feel some of the pain, too? (Pain... locked up inside, a hideous monster struggling to get out. Envy would have screamed, had he dared.)

One night, after a few months... Envy had to ask.

"Do you hate me, Wrath?" he asked, staring the boy down, not sure whether he hoped for a yes or no. Wrath had to consider.

Did he hate Envy...? The man had caused him so many injuries, always acted scornful and shunned him... but late at night he opened up to show a gentle and understanding side. It was Wrath's nature to hate, and he did: hated everybody, without question. But could he say he hated Envy as much in particular...

"No." Wrath looked up at Envy questioningly, trying to see in the dim light his reaction.

The reply shattered Envy's internal prison, all his emotions breaking free at once. Love- reaching forward, putting an arm around Wrath. Hate- yanking the arm in roughly. Fear- cradling Wrath close. Vengeance- wrapping the other hand around his neck. Indifference- watching as Wrath struggled against the strong grasp. Sorrow- heart crushing as blue-violet eyes clouded in death. Numbness- setting in as he released the dead child.

A pause while Wrath regenerated and focused on Envy. Then,

"Do you hate me, Wrath?"

There could be no question about it.

"Yes."

"Good," Envy answered with a hard smack to the boy's face. Wrath collapsed onto the floor as Envy turned and casually pressed his foot down on Wrath's throat.

He had never felt any love for this creature. A feeling of vindication rose as Wrath gurgled helplessly.

That's right. Hate me. Hate me with all your (pure, twisted) heart.

For he knew that as long as Wrath hated him, he had a reason to hate himself, too.

-Fin-

So, what you think? I'd be very happy and grateful for your opinion. Thank you for your time! -bows-