AN: Wow, an update. FINALLY XD. I just felt like continuing this suddenly –sweat drops- . And thanks for all the reviews! You guys are awesome! –bows and throws cookies-

I hope you'll review again n.n Enjoy!

Central Prison

By SmexLemur

Chapter 2: Routines

Central was all about routine.

Every morning, guards would wake the children up at seven a.m. to get a shower and to get dressed. Breakfast was at eight—usually something horrid as the cook enjoyed making gruesome porridge-like breakfasts and at nine, they would be led by the guards outside for exercise, though not all at the same time.

In Central, there were different 'blocks', A, B and C. It usually went according to either age or how high the alchemic skills were—C was for the eldest children, who knew more about alchemy than any other person, and below that were the younger ones who had only experimented a couple of times. A were the girls, the smallest group and B was for the boys. Girls generally didn't have that much interest in alchemy, nor did they really have a lot of talent in it, so C didn't have any girls.

Block A would always go outside first, followed by B and then by C. By the time it was noon, they would be led inside again and would get some bread and (to Edward's dismay) milk. After that, they would get to spend their time a bit freely: there was a small playroom, a library, a room with television and radio or they could go outside and play there. At six, they would be led back to the cafeteria, where they would again get something horrid. The cook's personal favourite for this time of the day was undercooked meat, something which had cost several of the children their lives already. Edward usually did not eat it and actually had the guts to demand something healthier, like vegetables. He didn't like it personally, but he had to get in at least some vitamins. The cook didn't listen to him, but if he would tell it to Roy, the next day, they would all get something more healthier.

After dinner, they would have to go back to their cell until morning arrived.

The routine wasn't too bad—it was comfortable for most kids since the disruption of their lives had already done a lot of damage to them. Children weren't meant to be taken away from their parents at such a young age and certainly not to such a horrible place as Central—Edward was glad that there was at least someone who cared about them and who wanted to change Central for the better.

Central was different from normal prisons, it was less strict at least, though it certainly wasn't the best place to live in. The guards were perverts (most of them), the food was nasty, the cells were dirty, the clothes didn't get washed for at least two weeks… Well, these things partly were because the prison didn't have a lot of funding. Most of the money went to the guards, who got paid quite a lot for watching the children, since they hardly got to go home.

"Come on, shortstuff," Jean said as he opened up Edward's single cell.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE CAN'T REACH THE BED!" the blonde demanded as he passed Havoc, who chuckled lightly at the energetic boy. "Hughes!" he happily exclaimed when he saw the man standing next to the cell of the new kids. "I didn't see you yesterday, I thought you hadn't arrived."

"Hey Ed, nice to see ya again," the guard said cheerfully. "I stayed behind for a couple of minutes, 'cause there was this adorable little girl there who reminded me of Elysia and she didn't want to come out! Anyway, you wanna see the latest pictures I took of my cute daughter? Look, look!" he took out a stack of photos out of his pocket and started showing them to Edward, who sighed—he already had seen enough of the man.

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"Hey, you're Envy, right?" Edward asked the green-haired boy as he sat down next to him, a tray with the nasty porridge in his hands. Envy shrugged lightly, shoving a spoon full of it in his mouth.

"Yeah, and you're the shorty from yesterday," he replied lazily.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE COULDN'T EVEN BE SEEN BY LITTLE KIDS!" Edward demanded. He quickly threw a hand over his mouth as he glanced around—some of the guards might tolerate his behaviour, but most of them didn't. He could act that way around Roy, Jean, Riza, Maes and Fury, but there were many more who were just waiting for him to slip up. He looked around and sighed in relief when he found that none of the guards had really heard him.

"Chill out, Chibi, I didn't say all that stuff," Envy said, smirking lightly.

"My name is Edward," the blonde pointed out. "Not. Chibi," he gritted through clenched teeth.

"Whatever. Oi, Blondie!" Envy hollered through the cafeteria, earning glances from every kid and guard. The boy named Russell looked up, evidently already used to the nickname. "Over here!" Edward smacked Envy on the head.

"Idiot!" he hissed. "If you act that way around here, they'll beat you up." Envy shrugged.

"You do it too,"

"Yeah, and you think I don't get beaten up for it? Look, I get some privileges 'cause I help the guards out sometimes, but that doesn't mean they'll accept it from you," Edward said. "You really should be careful here."

"Whatever man, it's not like this is any better from death," the boy replied, before grinning as Russell sat down, followed by a smaller boy with blonde hair. "Finally man, you got groped by the guards already or something?"

"Shut up Envy," Russell muttered. "You should be more careful too, I don't think it's wise with all these creeps to walk around in that skirt," he pointed out to him.

"It's a skort, man, a skort!" Russell waved a hand.

"Whatever," he replied, turning to Edward. "Hi, I'm Russell Tringham," he stuck his hand out and Edward grabbed it.

"Nice to see one of you two has some manners," he said. Envy stuck his tongue out at him. "I'm Edward Elric, is that your little brother?" he pointed at the young boy who was eyeing his porridge with two raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, his name's Fletcher," Russell replied, nodding. "And Envy is…"

"Different?" Edward offered.

"Nah. I was looking for the word 'crazy'," the taller blonde said, grinning as he got smacked on the head by Envy. Edward grinned too—it was a lot nicer to have people his age here, he sure had missed that. "Anyway, you were the kid at the dock yesterday right?" Edward nodded. "And I have to come to you for questions, right?" Another nod. "Can I be in the same cell as my little brother? He gets scared and I don't really wanna leave him alone right now…" he trailed off. Edward blinked for a moment.

"Well, I don't know," he said, tapping his chin. "What block is he in? C?" Russell nodded. "Well, I guess you should ask Roy Mustang," Edward pointed at a black-haired man who was currently talking to Jean, in the corner of the cafeteria. The small blonde blinked as his eyes locked with Roy's for a moment and he blushed lightly, before turning back to Russell. "He's the head of block C, so he decides all that stuff."

"Thanks Ed," Russell said, taking a bite from his porridge. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Envy, who had fallen asleep, lying with his face in the half-empty bowl. "Envy," he poked him in the shoulder. No answer. "Envy!" he smacked him on the head. No answer. "Oi, palm tree!"

"Who are you calling a palm tree, Blondie!" Envy hollered, sitting up straight immediately.

"Envy!" a guard barked from the side. "Another outburst like that and I'll have to put you in isolation! So shut your trap." The group immediately shut up and continued to 'enjoy' their breakfast.

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"Going to the library again, Edward?" Roy asked, smirking. "Haven't you already read each book in there?"

"I have, so I'll start over again," Edward replied, shrugging as he headed to the library. Roy always offered to guard the teen when they could spend some time freely, since he didn't trust anyone else with the boy, besides Jean, Maes and Riza and they always were assigned to guard the playroom. "Hey, you think I could ask Bradley for more books? I mean, we don't have a lot anyway…" he trailed off. Roy shrugged.

"I suppose, but we don't have a lot of money to buy them. I wouldn't count on it," he replied. "And most kids don't use the library, you're about the only one who does." Edward slumped, lowering his face to the ground.

"I know, but it'd be nice to have some more books. You know I love reading," he replied.

"Well," Roy started hesitantly, his eyes softening at the defeated look of Edward. "I suppose I could talk to Bradley for you. I'm not guaranteeing anything though," he quickly added, seeing the sparkle in the blonde's eyes. He had no idea why he wanted to help Edward so much, nor did he know why he cared about this prisoner. He sighed—it probably was simply something like fatherly affection, even though it was hard to keep his eyes off the blonde lately.

Maybe he was just horny. Yeah, that was it.

"Thanks Roy!" Edward exclaimed happily, not noticing the fact that he actually used Roy's first name. The taller man did notice this of course and couldn't stop the warm feeling rising in his chest as he saw that happy grin of the boy.

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Envy was not a happy man.

At all.

Sure, he could've gone with Russell and Fletcher to the little kiddie's playroom. Sure, he could've gone with Edward to the library. Sure, he could've listened to Edward when he said to be careful in this place. But did he do any of those things? Of course not. Because he was Envy, infamous for his stubbornness.

It was as if he wasn't feeling anything as he was lying there on the cold, stone floor of the closet the guard had dragged him into. He was sore and covered in blood and he just knew his face was going to swell up from all the hits he had taken.

And to top it all off: his ass hurt like hell.

"You were a nice ride," the guard said, smirking as he threw the ragged and bloody skort in Envy's face. "I'm sure they'll find you in no time, so don't you worry about that." The guard gave him another grin, before he walked out the door.

"Welcome to Central, kid."

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