Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist.
Characters: Gluttony and Lust-centric.
Series: Invidia.
Chronological Order: Sandwiched between First and Second, takes place at some point after the creation of anime's Lust, but before Judgment.
Spoilers: For Lust's identity in the anime. And a tiny speck of plot for Redemption, but I don't know if you'll catch it. So, not really. This can be read separately from the main series, no background needed.
Beta: None, all mistakes my own.
Rating: PG-13.
Genre: Gen.
Pairings: None.
Feedback: Very welcome!
Quote: "People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster. " James Baldwin.
Word Count: +/- 1 360.
Notes: An idea I had today, something that wouldn't fit the bulk of the main story. Just a bit of thought on Gluttony's view of Lust and Envy.
Invidia: Innocence.
"People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster."
He's old. Not nearly as old as Envy, who's the oldest of them all – who probably older than time – but old enough to have seen her name on half a dozen different faces before.
He doesn't quite remember, he's got a very bad memory as it is, but he feels Lust used to mean something else, something more. There were others before him, others he never knew because they outlived their purpose far too often; he doesn't know how many Lusts there were before him and Envy will never tell, but even so, compared to those he did know, this Lust is something strange, something precious.
The very first Lust he met was pretty. Perhaps the prettiest woman he has ever seen, but she was faulty, and so she ended at some point. Her beauty was her worst asset, even someone as slow as him could see that, and her trivial pursuit for humanity had left its mark on their Master.
Gluttony hadn't seen it, but he heard it when Envy disposed of her, and once more, her name was vacant.
Gluttony is aware he's childish; he's aware of a thousand little things no one ever bothers to ask him, because it's generally accepted he's stupid and slow, but he's fine with that. That's how things work, after all. He's supposed to follow and consume, no one cares if he thinks or not or what.
Maybe Envy cares, but Envy's always too busy with whatever Master wants at the moment to really pay him attention the way he would want him to, would need him too.
He wants someone to follow, because thinking is so very tedious and no one cares if he does, anyway, so it's better to take orders and obey.
The second Lust, he remembers, the second Lust gave him that. She was small and childlike, unfitting to her name, but powerful and useful and his Master had let her stay… for a while. He remembers her laughter some times, when he sees something amusing – something amusing enough to ignore the craving for a moment – and wishes she would be around to share it with her. That Lust always had a joke to share with him and she cared enough to wait for him to answer her questions, even if he took too long to do it.
But like the others, that Lust was faulty, and when Master gave the order, Gluttony watched Envy rip her apart, wondering for a moment who would he follow now that she was gone.
Eventually a third Lust came, one that took very seriously upon his namesake. That wasn't a Lust he enjoyed spending time with, because he was Master's toy and Gluttony had learned very early to never ever touch anything that was Master's. He wasn't a she, anyway, and Gluttony didn't feel interested in him at all.
For a while, he followed Envy and tried to be quiet, until that third Lust bored his Master and was disposed of.
Between that time and the birth of the next one, though, his first real task arrived, and his Master forced the Hunger into something tangible. He doesn't remember well what happened then, except that he hurt when it stopped and only Envy and Lust where there when he awoke.
The fourth Lust was so quiet… She would smile often and pat his head, her voice a small silbant whisper that belied her terrible power. Gluttony had heard her screech only once, but his ears had buzzed and bled for days afterwards. She then made him promise to never interfere with her work again, because she hated it when he got hurt.
The fourth Lust, unlike the three before her, had cared about him.
She's the one he remembers best, because she was the last thing Envy killed before going to sleep. Those were very lonesome days, Gluttony remembers with a shudder, days when Envy prowled around them with a sneer and a taunting word, so unlike Envy it was scary.
Gluttony had never been afraid of another Sin before.
Eventually Envy awoke, though, and chose a new Lust. One for Gluttony, he said, so Gluttony would stop sulking and actually do his share of work.
It was the nicest thing someone has ever done for him and to this day, Gluttony is very thankful for it. The fifth Lust was a very caustic creature, snide and ugly inside as she was pretty outside, but she was Gluttony's, and he took care of her.
She had to go once Master realized she was loyal to him rather than her, but Gluttony didn't really mind it. She was tasty too, in more ways than one, and he doesn't regret having eaten her to prove his own faith.
Master has always taken care of him, for better or for worse, even in those ugly times when she raises the Hunger and there's nothing he wouldn't give to make Master happy.
When Master's happy, no one dies – except humans, but humans are meant to die anyway so it doesn't matter.
The sixth Lust was a very brief failure that Gluttony vaguely remembers as she tried to kill their Master. He can't even conjure the shape of her face anymore, but it might have something to do with the fact there wasn't much left of her after her outburst.
That, if anything, served to remind everyone who was in control, and why.
For many years afterwards, their little family found itself reduced to five, rather than seven, as Greed had been sealed away and their Master didn't want another Lust. Those were lonely years, too, though he had Envy to look up to, and a never ending line of Sins that very rarely lived more than a decade.
One day, however, Envy called him and both left for the desert, to an abandoned settlement where a Homunculus was said to be. Gluttony was mildly hopeful and very hungry, and he had even considered asking Envy to, just for once, let him have his share of failure.
But Envy didn't kill their new sister and Gluttony didn't eat her. Instead, they fed her, and as her long, sensual limbs stretched and a malicious glint appeared in her eyes, Gluttony felt devotion develop almost instantly.
Ever since, he hasn't been away from her.
This Lust is pretty, the prettiest in a queer way he can't really name; She smiles at him, in a way that lights up a room in a macabre dead light and pats his back. Gluttony follows her as he has follow others before, purposely ignoring the strange sense that this is the last time he does so.
Lust wants to be human, to be able to feel and taste and be in ways Gluttony doesn't understand, because he has never been human before. But her lovely features turn brilliant when she talks about the past and what she could do when her heart beated in her breast, so he nods when she asks, and promise to turn human alongside her, if it'll make her happy.
Lust, this Lust, is special, so very special, Gluttony is scared of what he feels he could do for her.
Envy makes a random remark, and Lust laughs in amusement. It's always like that between them, sort of friendly, sort of snide, but so very welcome. He's not jealous of Envy. Envy's older and wiser and he knows what's best. Gluttony's never jealous, because he knows that's no good. Jealousy is useless. Envy, on the other hand, is lethal.
So he sits back and wonders, waiting patiently for Lust to come back to him. She might share things with Envy that she doesn't share with anyone else, but she always comes back to him.
No matter what happens, Gluttony knows she'll be back. He doesn't want to think what would happen if she didn't.