Envy was reading a book and idly changing his skin tone. It was a slow day.
Wrath wandered in with that glow of curiosity which can make even the most devoted parent cower. "Envy?"
"Twerp," Envy greeted the new addition to the ranks.
"I was wondering…" Wrath began. "You know how me and you and all the others have names of bad things?"
"I have a slightly different opinion, but for the purposes of gettin' you outta here, sure."
"Well, we also do bad stuff to the humans, right?"
"Yeah, kid," Envy grunted. There was an expectant pause, and Envy dropped the book onto his lap. "Look, is this goin' anywhere?"
"I was just thinking. The world operates by the laws of equivalent exchange, you know, that's like alchemy?"
"I know. Get to the point."
Wrath frowned. He really didn't like being brushed off. "Well, maybe whenever Greed picks a pocket, someone gives to charity, and whenever Lust does that adult thing you guys wont tell me about, a person falls in love."
Envy raised an eyebrow, and then either scowled or grinned; all his pointy teeth were showing. "So you think that every time you stomp a bug, someone saves a butterfly from a spider? That kinda thing?"
Wrath nodded his head, then caught Envy's expression and hesitantly shook it instead. "I mean, just, little things. Like every time Pride acts like an arrogant bastard, someone is all modest and stuff."
Envy began to see the possible humor. "Gluttony eats a cow and half the country passes on seconds?"
"Or Mommy doesn't do a chore and someone cleans the whole house!" Wrath exclaimed happily. "Or you-"
Envy cut him off smoothly. "You're saying that, by doin' all these crap things, we're really helpin' the world become a better place?"
Wrath titled his head to the side. "Well, we keep it balanced… Or, because we do things, other things happen that make it stay balanced…"
"How does that change the world at all, kid?" Envy said, laying back and picking his book up again.
"Well, we're…not making it any worse, at least…"
"Forget it, twerp. We're goin' to hell in a hand basket for damn sure." He turned a page and his skin bled to dark brown. "We're proof enough that equivalent exchange doesn't exist."