Pre-notes
Hello there! Welcome to chapter two my loves!
I'm not too terribly happy about this chapter, but I simply cant place what's wrong with it. I wasn't in the right mode when I wrote it, so blah. I have edited it so many times and I still feel slightly blah about it, but what's done is done. Please don't let it get in the way of continueing to read the story. I like to think later chapters make up for a few bad days. More notes at the end.
Warnings: Violence
Nothing I won't give – Chapter 2
"Hey Kiddo...I'm home..." Envy said after he shut the door to his dormitory apartment. Wrath, who had been curled on the couch watching television, leapt up and ran over to his older brother. He wrapped his small arms around Envy's waist.
"Hi Envy. I missed you!" He said through the material of Envy's denim skort.
"Missed you too, squirt. Anything interesting on TV?" He asked when Wrath finally let go of his legs.
"No nothing. Boring old re-runs of the same shows all day. Bravo has a new project runway at seven, want me to record it?" Wrath said, climbing back onto the couch and his pile of pillows he had assembled.
"Please do, I don't know when I'll be able to watch it, but you know I'm addicted to that show..." Envy laughed as he began to undress from his school fashion. He pulled on a pair of very short cut-off sweatpants and a gray wife beater that fit his body like a second skin. Even in grunge-clothes, Envy felt the need to try and look cute. When dressed, he moved to the kitchen, absently preparing a meal from what little they had this close to the end of the payday.
"Hey...bro-bro..." Wrath said, a little more quietly than he had previously been speaking. Envy sighed. Wrath using 'bro-bro' meant one of two things usually. He had gotten into trouble or he wanted something special.
"Yeah?" Envy replied slowly.
"Promise you won't freak out, kay? I kind of had a visitor today..."
"Wh...what?! Who??" Envy gasped.
"He was a student! A boy named Alphonse. He has a big brother too, one named Ed. He saw me outside because he was walking around during school hours...I was just taking the trash out, I promise...He said he wouldn't do anything that would make us get separated though...Brother are you mad? I really believe he meant it..."
"Probably did. Al's not a bad kid, just be careful that he doesn't get seen too. Did you let him in the house?"
"No, you said I couldn't...?" Wrath ended it like a question as he turned to watch his brother instead of the television set.
"Okay. You can let him in if he ever comes back. I don't want him sitting outside the door talking to you, it looks weird. I don't mind you having a friend, Wrath. Okay?" Envy said. 'who am I trying to convince? Wrath or me?' he thought to himself. He finished preparing food and gave Wrath a full plate, moving into the bathroom himself and eating nothing. In the bathroom he took his headband off, splashed water on his face and pulled his hair up into a hair band directly on the top of his head. No-one knew this was the actual secret to keeping his hair the way he did, every night he would tie it up in a ponytail in the center of the top of his head. He laughed at himself. He was cute, even though he looked kind of like a girl going somewhere to exercise. He stepped back out, cleared Wrath's already finished plate and set it next to the pot in case the child wanted more to eat.
"You gonna be okay here alone?" Envy asked, squatting in front of his little brother to ruffle the boy's hair.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Can I watch your RENT dvd?" Wrath asked, adding a small pout to insure he got his way.
"Of course...Be back at eleven okay?" Envy said, giving his brother a quick hug before standing and slipping barefooted into a pair of white sneakers.
"Okay. I'll be asleep."
"Goodnight sweetie." Envy said, and with that shut and locked the front door.
--
The light from the back-door of the cafeteria cast an eerie glow around Izumi Curtis at night as she stood waiting in the doorway. She was a well-built woman, standing to intimidate with her arms crossed across her chest. She had long hair dreadlocked and pulled into a ponytail and wore a simple button-up shirt and black pants.
"Your late, Envy..." She said. Envy swore. He thought he was way out of view when she had spotted him. It was just no use trying to ninja around Izumi.
"Sorry...class ran long and then I had to try and find something edible left over to fix for Wrath." Envy muttered, his excuse petering out under Izumi's glare. The woman softened though, and turned to walk into the building. That was Envy's signal to follow.
"How's the little imp? She inquired, turning on lights as they walked in the back-ways of the kitchen area.
"He's doing okay I guess...He made friends with some kid that was walking around the grounds today. One of the transfers from the school that burned down, Al's his name I think." Envy opened a supply closet and grabbed a mop bucket, hauling it over to a sink to fill it with hot water and dish soap.
"Al Elric?" Izumi asked as she returned to her normal duty of dishes.
"Yeah, I think that's it." Envy replied. He finished filling the mop-bucket and set to work on the counters first with the soap-water and a rag.
"You can trust him with Wrath...Al wouldn't do anything to harm someone who is also a 'little brother'." She informed him. "I used to be good friends with those boys' families." She said as she watched the black-haired teen scrub vigorously. No-one could ever say he wasn't a hard worker.
She had hired Envy part-time herself to help with the after-school cleaning. It was some trick getting him hired with no interview so the school board didn't know he was working there, but she knew he needed the money. Much as the school provided a home, shelter and education for the resident kids, they still had to eat. In addition, Envy had to pay for Wrath's online classes so he could continue to get an education without being discovered by CPS. There was no other way for her to help him other than get him to work for the school without the school knowing. Plus, she believed, it did him good to be humble around someone...to trust someone. She studied him when she was sure he wasn't looking. It seemed like Envy would probably never show this side of himself to anyone at school, sweating and scrubbing and getting his nails dirty and his clothes stained. He concentrated hard when he worked, night after night. It was probably the only structure the boy had, and he clung to it. Izumi wanted badly to help him, but she also knew that only time would give her an opportunity to do something good for the two of them. 'I'll know when the time is right...until then I just have to stick close and keep an eye on them.' She thought to herself.
--
"Goodnight! thanks for your help, remember, payday is in two days so I'll take you off campus for the usual shopping, okay?" Izumi whispered, giving Envy a quick hug before waving goodbye and driving off towards her house off the campus.
"Goodnight, Izumi...thanks." Envy said, equally quiet. He trudged home, dreading the mountain of homework he would have to work on when he got back. He began to work over the studies in his head. By the time he got to the dorms he had a pretty good idea of what to complete and what could go left undone. At least he had given up on math. One failing grade wouldn't kill him if he made up for it in other classes, so he didn't have that stress...He sighed and opened the door. Three hours worth of homework done he finally retired, pulling his shirt off and climbing into the bed where Wrath already had himself wrapped tightly in the covers. Envy curled himself against the warmer body (which caused wrath to try and squirm away in his sleep. Apparently Envy was colder than he thought he was. When they had both settled into comfortable positions, Envy noted that his little brother's breathing was a little strange, but he let it go, falling into a slightly troubled sleep.
The sleep didn't last though. A strangled sound woke Envy a short three and a half hours. He sat up, trying to figure out what had made that strange noise...it sounded like...He looked around wildly for his little brother...Wrath was no-where to be found. Envy stood and ran into the bathroom, and sure enough, there was his younger brother bent double over the toilet. He was dry-heaving by now. Wrath whimpered a little as his stomach convulsed and he coughed again, nothing coming from his mouth.
"Wrath! Are you okay?" Envy said, dropping to the floor and gathering his pale younger brother into his arms. The boy was shaking from the vomiting. Envy tried not to get sick too as he attempted to calm Wrath's dry heaves. After several minutes of cooing and trying to relax the youngster he grabbed a rag and wet it, cleaning Wrath's face and flushing the toilet. He laid his brother down on the couch and brought him a glass of water. Wrath, on the other hand, just laid there slightly dazed.
"Sip, okay? Don't gulp...Just try and drink a tiny bit..." He said softly, stroking the boy's black hair and sweeping a few strands from sticking to Wrath's sweaty face. Wrath nodded and sat up.
-
"What do you mean I can't call in sick? I just threw up my breakfast! Damn your stupid. No I mean it, your really stupid. You have got to be fucking kidding me! I can't be expelled for calling in sick to school! I want to speak to the-Hello? Hello! BITCH! don't fucking hang up on me!!" Envy slammed the receiver down. He had to be at his first class in thirty minutes and Wrath was still puking every half hour since six that morning.
"You can't stay can you?" Wrath rasped from the couch-bed Envy had made comfortable for him.
"No...they won't let me. Do you want me to call Izumi? I still have her cell number...she might come over and-"
"No, I'll be okay. someone might wonder why she's here and come after me. I'll be okay until you get off. I will just watch TV or something..." Wrath said, trying to smile.
--
The slamming of the locker was a warning to everyone, stay the hell away from Envy today. If Envy ever had a bad day, it was today. Wrath was sick, somehow or another he had gotten food poisoning. Envy had to go to class or risk getting expelled. Apparently one sick day was all he needed to get kicked, which would leave him and Wrath on the streets. The administration had screwed him, and Wrath was at home trying to take care of himself while Envy sat through class after class. This day couldn't end well.
Today he wore a white tank, cropped but very loose. It hung off one shoulder. The white material was spattered with red, made to look like blood (or perhaps it was? Several rumors had already started about that shirt of his). A pair of stretchy black shorts reached his knees, a denim wrap torn to shreds was pulled over it and several chains jingled around his neck. His combat boots clunked down the hallway.
Students ran to get out of his way as he stalked down the hallway, trying to get to his class, which was ironically on the other side of the campus. He didn't want to run, but being late would be a pain. He was halfway across the schoolyard when the bell rang. He uttered several swearwords and with a look that could kill began to run across the field. He reached the other side, running up yet another set of useless halls. He shoved a freshman down on his way, hissing more swearwords in the poor boy's direction. Voices sounded behind him, words like "freak" "spaz" "psycho" dotted around back there, but he didn't have time to deal with them. He hauled the door open, bending a hinge. He stood panting as the teacher stared at him.
"Mr Na-
"Call me N.V. god Dammit. I don't go by my slave name."
"Mr. N.V. Care to explain the tardy?" The teacher's smug tone seemed to scream 'See, you are a useless piece of shit, just like I always tell everyone.' the statement was written across the superior's face.
"Your classroom is across the fucking world from my god damn locker." Envy spat, stalking into the classroom and taking a seat.
"You are not allowed to use offensive language in my classroom, do I make myself clear?" The teacher growled.
"Crystal..." Envy snarled back. That teacher needed to be taught a lesson. At this point, anyone who got between him and his brother was just a target though. Class was difficult, Envy had no concept of math and it quite simply pissed him off. He would fail, definitely. He never expected to succeed. Finally, after an eternity the bell rang. He was up and towards the door in an instant, but a firm hand gripped his wrist tightly. Envy hissed and turned to meet the teacher's gaze.
"You are going to stay here until you get this concept, I will not have a failure in my class. Do you understand?" Something about the man's tone made it sound like a statement instead of a question. His breath wreaked of tobacco...he was beginning to leave bruises on envy's pale skin...Spots were swimming before Envy's eyes...it had been a while since he lost it. He dropped his gaze to the floor.
"I want an answer, boy...or should I say bitch? Faggot boys like you will never amount to anything." The man lifted Envy's limp wrist above the boy's head. Minutes passed. "I SAID ANSWER ME." The man barked. Envy's head snapped up. His expression had changed though. Instead of the hateful scowl he held, his eyes were calm, his thin lips smiling. His amethyst orbs burned with a passionate hatred that boiled away under the icy surface of expression.
"You...are truly retarded." Envy said, grinning wider. He twisted his wrist in the man's tightening grip. It made a sickening crunch beneath the beefy fingers, causing the superior to drop hold of the teen as if he had suddenly caught on fire. Envy let his arm fall and then brought his wrist back up. It was twisted at such an odd angle the teacher's stomach gave a lurch just to look at it.
"My god, I think you broke my wrist. I tried to tell you you were hurting me...I tried but you wouldn't let go. I cried out, telling you to let me go, that I wasn't comfortable with this physicality but you wouldn't give in. Then, you slapped me and I flew into a desk..." The teacher's eyes widened. He reached out to stop Envy but it was too late, the boy had already let himself fall dead-weight into a desk, putting a huge, bloody bruise on his pale cheek. He stood again and smiled. The teacher backed up, starting to shiver at the way the freakish child forted the pain away with a grin. 'this kid is...crazy...' he thought to himself, stumbling as he tried to back away.
"You! You broke your own wrist..."
"That's not the way it will be remembered now is it. I could make it worse you know..." Envy grasped his swelling wrist with his other hand and twisted further, laughing as he did so.
"STOP!! WHAT DO YOU WANT??"
"Your suffering. Never get in my way again..." Envy kicked a plastic chair with all his anger, putting a hole right through the seat and bloodying his leg when he withdrew it. And with that he limped away from the classroom towards the medical ward (the school, he noted, had a fully operational mini-hospital). It would only take an hour or so to patch him up, and they would send him back to his dorm so he could take care of Wrath. It beat being at school for another five hours.
--
"Did you hear about Envy's rampage?" Winrey whispered to Sheska. She had stopped the girl in the hall in between classes and pulled her into the girl's restroom. It was hard to be friends with someone in a different grade, but she always managed to find Sheska
"No...what happened..." The brunette bookworm said, glancing around nervously.
"I'm not too sure, some say he beat himself up and laughed about it, blaming it on the teacher...some people are saying it was some weird S&M stuff he was doing with the math teacher for our grade...all we knew is his wrist is badly broken, his face hit a desk and a chair has a hole all the way through the seat...Their saying that he's going to stab anyone who asks him what happened." She said excitedly.
"Winrey...I know that that job for the school paper requires you to dish the dirt but why are you on Envy's case all the time? He...didn't even hurt me or say anything that horribly mean the day I ran into him..." Sheska said softly, feeling a little badly for the subject of all this talk. She didn't like gossip much.
"Are you kidding? He was about to smash your face in!" Winrey said, waving her arms around as if Sheska was mad for even suggesting Envy was going to let her off the hook They stepped out of the bathroom and into the crowded hallway. Sheska watched Winrey run off to her next class. On the other hand, Sheska had a free period to visit the library. She turned and began to make her way to the third floor. Sheska was simple to look at. A long brown skirt brushed the ground and maroon boots covered her feet. A maroon blouse with long sleeves and a beaded pattern around the neck adorned her top half. Her hair wasn't fixed in any way, just combed and her amber eyes shone from under square lenses. She walked along, not shying from anyone, or drawing near to anyone. Truly, she seemed a very neutral girl.
--
That Sheska girl walks into the library. She doesn't know I'm here...then, no-one really does. It's easy to hide on the second-story that surrounds the main floor, no-one comes up here. All the books up here are educational ones that have nothing to do with anything they test on here so they are completely useless to anyone going to school here. It's a perfect place to watch people and sit alone for a while. So there she is...she walks so shy, but not from anyone in particular. She looks like she hasn't got any friends she wants to be with right now. I think I know why everyone is talking about me 'almost' going off on her. It's Rockbell, that demon-woman. She makes me so sick. Her blond hair and blue eyes...her gorgeous figure, her girlishness. We started hanging out in middle school. She was the coolest person I had ever met. Confident, girly but tough, pretty and best of all nice. Mother even liked her. She thought we were great friends together. Winrey had dolls, I loved to play with them. Winrey had pink things, I loved them. She had lace in her room and made cookies at home...Everything was so perfect...until high-school.
We started out in a different school, but she found out that there were people she shared interests with. Some other people who liked mechanics and things like that. There was a fight. Winrey knew I had a temper, she had seen me break things and hurt myself when I was upset about my brother's father and my mother. I guess her friends said things about me...about my temper when they would catch glimpses of it. Winrey had come to accept it as a fact about me. The others saw it as something new...and scary. That was the start of the deterioration...then there was the femininity concept. Somehow it became un-okay for me to like girls things. She didn't want to be seen with me when I wore a skirt, or a cropped shirt. She didn't want to let me borrow her makeup to experiment. She no longer wanted to talk about boys, or clothes. Finally she asked me if I wanted to learn how to fix a car. I joked with her, saying something like 'Oh, no, that stuff is far to masculine for a chick like me.' she laughed it off, but she stopped talking to me after that.
We transferred at the same time for different reasons. With a new school I thought maybe we could reconnect together...wrong-o. It created a further rift, and even worse when my Mother died. I began to get more stressed. I had more fits...there was more hurting, yelling...I began scaring kids in the school. At the end of freshman year, she joined the school paper, and for lack of a more ready target she began writing about me, the 'dangerous' psycho at our school who beat people up and had major hormonal mood swings.
Now she's trying to poison some bookworm freshman against me. I don't know what I did, but whatever it was it lost me my only friend. It makes my heart feel like it's slowly burning away. I sigh and dangle my feet on the balcony. I'm skipping math. The teacher can't say anything anymore.
Envy glanced at his bound wrist. It hurt. It didn't hurt when it happened, Envy was too far gone at that point to feel. He did now though. Ever time he wanted to move a finger or turn his arm...it was amazing him what all connected to the wrist. He stood and walked down the stairs, headed for the door. He heard his name called and looked around wildly, bringing his good hand up in a fist to threaten anyone who dare approach him.
"Envy..." The voice said again. It belonged to Sheska, he realized with surprise. He didn't respond except to glare at the girl who sat at a table reading. She looked up at him and spoke. "Don't...let Winrey get you down. She's a little crazy right now...I hope she gets out of this phase soon. You two used to be friends right? don't...let her way of being...taint the way you think of all friends." She said before turning back to her book.
'Does she honestly think she can just address me? I'll beat her bloody!' Envy thought automatically trying to get himself upset about it in order to keep it from happening again. He couldn't, however, harm someone who hadn't caused him an animosity. What would his brother think? Deeper in his mind though, he was wondering how come she wasn't afraid of him.
--
"Hey brother?"
"Yeah Al?" Ed replied. He was lying on his back on a couch, reading a book in his hand. He was obviously relaxed at home, wearing only his boxers and a wifebeater. At school he never so proudly displayed his right arm and left leg. They were always covered. He didn't want that kind of attention. His prosthetics were top of the line, the kind that you could cause movements in by moving certain muscles in your remaining tissue. That didn't change the fact that they were strange metal and plastic-made limbs that weren't' the same color as his skin and made him look like a cripple. His brother, the only person he was comfortable seeing his prosthetics.
"What do you know...about the kid they call Envy?" Al inquired. He was laying on the floor, flipping through an oriental trading company catalog.
"I know only rumors Al. Okay...that's a lie. I know he likes to wear very little clothes, skirts mostly. I know he hates me. I know that the other kids all think he's bad news. I know he's probably anorexic...I know winrey has a pretty harsh grudge against him...and I know that the first two weeks of school he was playing mostly harmless pranks on me for some weird reason." ed summed up, setting his book on the back of the sofa face-down to hold the page. "Why? You hear something?" Ed asked.
"No...Just wondering. Everybody at that school talks about everybody's business...It's kind of unnerving."
"Why do you think I don't tell anyone there about this." He motioned to his non-flesh arm and leg. "We go to school to learn, not to socialize. People like Envy and Winrey are just the same, so caught up in the drama of social life they forget that their going to school."
"What do you suppose drives someone like that?"
"Like who, Winrey or Envy?"
"... Envy I guess..."
"I don't know...I know if I didn't control myself as much as I do, I would probably end up doing what most of the rumors say he does. The memory of Mom is hard to keep." Ed said softly, staring at the ceiling now.
Al nodded, but he didn't stop thinking about it. Maybe he could do something to help out...all he could do was try. He knew it was trouble to get involved in the affairs of others...but Wrath...that kid needed help, and he guessed that Envy probably did too. He wanted to help wake winrey up, too. He just wanted to effect some change...He knew it might be his undoing, but it was in his blood. 'Mom...you were the same way, huh?' Alphonse thought to himself.
--
Post notes!
Well, There you have it Please join me for Chapter two oh and here, disclaimers!
I DONT OWN! Nor do I pwn, pawn, ownx0r or haz FMA. I simply play with the characters. I also don't own the song the title is named after, by Vic Mignongna (Who is the MOST AWSOME! I adore him. Aaron Dismuke is my fav, but Vic is the shiznit. Anyway, please note each chapter has a song title for the chapter name! And every song is very carefully selected to pertain to the chapter! And they are all from my playlist! I plan to continue this trend.
Please review, I give love to those who do (I'm very diligent to talk to my reviewers. I love you guys so much! If you have anything critical to say, please say it! I love to improve!
Next chapter: Chapter 3 – The Kids are all Fed up
Life looks hopeless. Envy is not himself when he's this way. Terrible things begin, can Envy cope? Will he even remember who he is when he thinks fighting for his life? A broken cafeteria table, a horde of cheering students and a frightened teen, The kids are all fed up.