*Can you see the storm
getting closer now...*

Nine months, three weeks, and four days.

That is exactly how long he has been looking for her with no results.

He took the earliest train on the way to Novosibirsk, the largest city of Drachma therefore the heart of the country, and spend an entire month searching. After that, he resided in Polevskoy, a well-known town made for commerce and trade, but did not have any luck finding even a small trace of her. After leaving a dozen cities ransacked with his searching, he was now on his way to the one of the most desolate places in Drachma, a village-like town by the name of Saratov. As he shivered relentlessly against the biting cool, he couldn't help but feel angry at himself for doing this. Here he was, like a dumbass, trying to find someone who might not even be alive! All he wanted to do was high-tail out of there, return to Amestris, and move on with his life. And why not?! After the 175 years of anger and depression, he deserved to be happy too.

As a particularly large snowflake hit him square in the face, he noted to himself he couldn't just leave Drachma yet. Also, he knew if he left for Amestris, it wouldn't be to get 'on with his life'. He would still keep on searching for HER! The thought infuriated him to no end, and he sputtered out angrily at the snow which managed to get in his mouth. Since when did he become so imbecile-like, moronically, idiotically HUMAN?

Sure, whatever, I'm half human. That doesn't mean I have to ACT like such! I am shaming my homunculi brethren. If Lust even IS alive, she'd probably skewer me for trying to find her. Envy thought crossly to himself, as he rubbed his frozen-stiff fingers against each other in order to create some sort of friction-generated heat. After finding the act useless, he resorted to shoving his hands to the pockets of his black leather motorcycle jacket and buried his face into the fur lining of his collar in order to keep the stinging wind from his nose. Because of this troublesome human situation, he found out the hard way he couldn't keep prancing about with his normal skimpy outfit in the iceberg of Drachma. So for the first time in his existence, Envy had actually dressed according to the weather.

The black skin-tight crop top had been modified to a long-sleeved muscle shirt which still had the quality of appearing painted on (still awesomely sexy, he assured himself) and the skort had been done away with completely. The replacement used to be leather pants, but after noticing he was starting to have a similar fashion sense as the Fullmetal Pipsqueak, he done away with it as well and resorted to using dark-wash jeans with a thermal lining underneath it. He also wrapped a fleece scarf around his neck, as the turtleneck did not suffice to warm him enough, and wore a woolen beanie hat, since he couldn't stand the coldness in his ears. To top it all off, he used combat-style boots.

Since he was wearing everything black and with his skin so marble-white, he probably looked like Death on a stroll. His blood began boiling when an irritating question sprouted in his mind and he did not know how to answer it. Why can't I forget about her? He shut his eyes briefly as he trudged through the thick snow as a small voice spoke from a deep and dark place in his mind. A voice that started to speak after he came back from the gateway of Truth, and now more than ever, wouldn't EVER shut up. Because you can't. She's too important to let go.

What? That's not true! We were barely considered friends!

The half-homunculus thought the truth, as he knew very well the most Lust and him had ever been were acquaintances with the same goal...and tolerated each other because of it. Sure, she was the only person he actually had pleasant conversation on a regular basis, and he did get sort of mad (okay well now that he remembered, he was really frickin pissed) when he found out she was burned to death by that flaming bastard, but still!

Your tie to her might be non-existent to everyone in the world, but for you, it's the single most important one in your entire lifetime.

This definitely made Envy stop dead in his tracks in surprise. He thought quickly of all of the other people that he was present with a large amount of time, and felt nothing but irritation (Pride, Sloth, Wrath) and sometimes disgust (Greed, Gluttony). He never even thought of ANY type of relationship with any of them. And really, who else was there? He knew many, many people and he could safely say all of them hated his fucking guts and most of them would kill him within a heartbeat. Not exactly a very positive interaction if he said so himself. Still, he wasn't about to admit anything that dumb voice in his head was saying!

Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about, she's just a annoying old hag-
It's funny how you're trying to lie to your OWN sub-conscious.

He pulled a couple of strands of his hair in frustration, already done with fighting with the voice in his head, and stepped unknowingly into asphalt. Without noticing, he was already at the edge of a wide highway. This meant he was close to the town. Sheesh, it was about damn time. The snow only seemed to get thicker in the upcoming blizzard, making him practically blind to his surroundings. What was that over there? It seemed like a pair two bright fuzzy lights nearing closer. He squinted, in order to futilely guess what was coming to his proximity.

It seems like a pair of headlights, or something...oh shit!-

The deafening roar of the gigantic truck's engine and the loud minute-long honk bombarded his ears immediately, and the impact of velocity was so high, it literally swept him of his feet, making him topple to the edge of the asphalt highway and covering him with falling snow. His green hair splayed out completely in the ground, so he felt a slightly painful and terrifying feeling of the mammoth truck's heavy duty wheels running over his long hair viciously. He was very literally so damn close to the vehicle that he could actually feel the heat from the engine on his head. After the eight pairs of trucker wheels finished their massacre with his hair, his eyes didn't feel like they were about to pop out of their sockets. "PFFF!" He spit out a wad of dirty melting snow that had fallen into his mouth and struggled to maintain his heart from bursting out of his chest.

God, that was horrible. The pure adrenaline, and fear that coursed through his veins, and the pace his heart beat was so high, he was kind of surprised it didn't explode. Envy shuddered at the near-death experience once, and picked himself up, anger replacing his initial fear. With his fists closed up tightly, he roared at the growing distant truck.

"Вы мудак!идти ебать себя, гребаный ублюдок!" He screamed at the top of his lungs at the truck driver.

Sure, he hadn't been in Drachma for almost a century, and he was a bit rusty, but one thing he did know for sure is to curse in Drachmian and fluently. It seemed like the driver heard him as he slightly turned around and flipped the half-homunculus off with a very thick middle finger. In his impulsive rage, the sin formed a medium-sized snowball in his heads to throw at the speeding truck with all his strength. Granted, the action was pretty useless and a bit pathetic but hey, it managed to make his anger simmer down. If he was close enough for vehicles to be passing by, then he was bound to run into some residential places, or some SIGN of civilization. Then, he could see it. The cluster of small cabin-like houses about half a mile away southeast, and then if he narrowed his eyes far enough, he could see another cluster or neighborhood, about two miles to northwest. Saratov to his eyes, couldn't even be called a small town, as it was more like a deserted village. Soon enough, the ground grew firmer and he felt cement instead of just snow.

Now, people were walking past him and the sidewalk to the other side. A woman pushing a stroller, with a smile on her face, humming a cheery tune. A couple walking besides each other, giggling into their lovesick eyes. They were obviously new in the relationship. Everyone was happy, not having a care in the world. Damn those humans, seeing them made him get a sour taste in his tongue. Well, he wasn't here to stare at them murderously, no he was here to search for someone.

"Excuse me," He spoke in clipped Drachmian to a near passerby. She initially looked a bit startled, but smiled warmly at him like a close friend, which he found weird since she didn't even know him. "Yes?" She responded back to him in the same language, her eyes crinkling in friendliness. He took a second to quickly glance at her. Small woman with petite little hips, soft-looking curly brown hair, a pretty face and expressive eyes. She looked like a nice girl. He instantly hated her.

"I'm looking for a woman named Solaris. Do you know anything of her?" If he knew her like he thought he did, Lust was probably going by her undercover name. The stranger put a pensive finger to her lips, as if recalling the name from somewhere. For a split second, he felt a bit of hope flutter in his heart. Then she shook her head, shattering that hope in an instant. "Sorry, I don't recall..." He let out a sound that sounded like a combination of a grunt and soft growl. In frustration, he shook his head and briskly walked away from the woman, who grew more startled at the strange man's behavior. Meanwhile, Envy was contemplating his next move. He was hoping that just by showing up here, some weird act of destiny would somehow magically know where his ...am...companion was. Well, time to start knocking on doors like the desperate bastard he really was.

Now here he was, knocking on the fifteenth door already, expecting said person to not know who in the hell he was talking about and wish him luck finding her. There was a big difference concerning this house with all of the others. For one thing, it was gigantic, and it could be compared to an elegant castle. Another key distinction is the fact the residence was clearly constructed by stone bricks while the rest of the houses were build with wood and plaster. Overall, the place looked pretty impressive and it seemed only people of royal status could even afford this type of living. Nevertheless, he knocked once again about twenty seconds after his initial one, already growing a bit irritated.

This time an entire minute passed by, and he gave a furious impatient knock that threaten to knock down the heavy-set mahogany door from its hinges. After waiting for no more than ten seconds, he huffed to himself. "Screw this." Already halfway down to the steps, he suddenly heard a latch unlock and the loud creak of the same door opening slowly. He stopped in his tracks immediately. Warmth seeped out of the house, reaching his half-frozen ears and back.

"Yes?" The low sultry voice he had ingrained in his memory for almost two centuries spoke clearly, shattering the silence. He stiffened in shock, eyes widening to extraordinary proportions. It couldn't be...Maybe someone with a similar voice? He whipped his head quickly, making dark strands of hair slap his face lightly. As he barely turned, the woman spoke again.

"How can I help-" Her beautiful crimson eyes widened just like his were. She staggered back into the solace of her home, not believing her sight. Envy almost choked on his breath as his eyes traveled down her figure. There was no mistaking the curvy silhouette, the wavy raven hair, and luscious red lips. Like he analyzed her in surprise, she did the same thing. His dark violet eyes. muscular body, and his trademark evergreen long hair. Yep, there was no denying it.

It's you.

Both thought at the same time.

Silence once again enveloped the two, unable to say anything at the moment in their own stupor. As violet eyes bore into blood red ones, she finally got the courage to speak. "E-Envy?" Her voice came out much shakier than she planned to and she immediately winced at the weak tone. As her words broke the spell the green-haired sin was temporarily in, he slowly walked up the steps again, with each second growing closer.

"I can't believe it." He manage to say, a slight shimmer in his eyes that immediately entranced her. He grew closer still. "After all this time looking, and it actually paid off.." Envy gave a small stunned chuckle, hand involuntarily reaching out to his long locks in a disgustingly-nervous human way. What are you doing, idiot? Stop this behavior, right now. Do you not have ANY dignity? The busty sin in front of him could only stare at him curiously, fascinated by his uncharacteristic fidgeting. Now he was so close to her, they were seeing eye to eye. His mouth opened once again without his knowledge, and he immediately knew he shut clamp it shut but it seemed like it had a mind of its own.

"I thought I would never see you again, but yet here we are." Envy's eyes seemed to glitter with each word that he said, and she felt her hands trembling.

"...Lust."

.

*And the best is, no one knows who you are
just another girl, alone at the bar*