A/N: Sorry for taking so long ot update. I wanted to have at least a chapter a month but...ya... Thank you, everyone, who has reviewed and supported my story. It was nice to see people waiting for the next chapter and all. Sorry I didn't get it out sooner.

Warnings: Profanity. Mentions of Sex.

Pairings: Envy x Ed, Russell + Ed

Disclaimers: Again I say-anything that sounds like its making money is automatically not mines.

Chapter 9: Snooze Control
I found myself thinking of Envy more.

This notion came to me in horrifying realization – one that inevitably had me falling out the bed in a befuddled mess of sheets this morning.

Thoughts of some kind of irreversible mental damage came to mind but were quickly thwarted when I concluded that my curiosity leaned less towards the 'I need to see you again' kind of way, and more towards the affronted 'just who the hell is this guy?' manner.

Yeah.

So it was no surprise that come Tuesday, I was up and watching out for him on my way to school. My seek-and-find game was comprised of no more than an alertness of the senses, standing on end just in case the simplest tell-tale sign could direct me to Envy's presence. Thankfully, my insanity was only temporary. The fates had other plans.

Tuesday was, and always would be, hall-marked by the revolting, yet unsurprising event of the girls' bathroom being flooded.

Now, I know you're thinking, 'What the hell's so momentous and memorable about a bathroom being flooded?' I'd think the same thing myself. Hell, I must've flooded my own bathroom on a good couple of occasions (all of which ended in my father's scolding, and maybe even a swift switch to my kiddy bottom). But the S.A. girls' bathroom being flooded was something totally different. It's something that will be remembered by the entire county for decades; something that will be frowned upon by the board for months. And something that outsiders will tie to our school for the sake of shameful identification for years ("Hey, isn't S.A. that place where-?"). But for the present day…it was a nightmare right out of 'The Ring', with a twist of 'Beetlejuice' and a dash of 'Joe's Apartment' for kicks.

I suppose I should get to the point.

In addition to the span of water creeping from under the door and a collection of S.A's female (and more pervy male) students exiting the bathroom (their reactions varying from pitying nonchalance to horror to sadistic amusement), a nice band of our school's bottom-feeders scurried from the recesses of the girls' bathroom. Yes. You heard correctly.

Big, bad, nasty, coffee-brown black roaches fled the bathroom, having been flooded out of house and home below the deceptively-clean tile floors. You could practically hear their non-existent screeches echoing through the halls just by the sight of the greasy things alone. Shivers were running up and down my skin all day; they were that disturbing. I, for one, made a face every time I saw a small band of roach refugees seeking shelter above the surface, or Jake gleefully squashing some under his giant size 13 Timberlands – the sickening crunch doing nothing for my appetite by the time lunch did eventually roll around. Well, it was either that or Informative Ivy telling me there was some kind of freaky roach motel/salvation army being housed in lunch lady Ellie's pots.

An upside though was the sick humor I gleaned in watching various girls screech or flee each time they saw one of the little greasy, coffee-brown black specimens skitter on by. I even laughed out loud as I witnessed one of the junior girls attempting to kick the thing away from her locker, only to cower in abject horror as it made a small 'zipping' sound and lifted into the air, its wings humming in what I assumed to be a threatening manner where she was concerned. The girl shut herself in her locker and, by the small taps a few minutes later, I could only guess she was stuck. Yet another crisis for the school staff to get under control.

Never mind that the bathroom was still flooding the halls and that, by fifth period, all of us were splashing and sloshing our ways through the halls, receiving irate glares from the deans who were obviously pissed and wanted desperately to take their anger out on us, but were afraid of being stuffed in a leaky closet somewhere. I'd say both the staff and board already had a lot on their hands.

My own set of surprises came as Envy and his little horde of dregs managed to collect at least two buckets of roaches (I don't wanna know how exactly they got that little project done) and proceeded to pass them out to the rest of the student body – willing or unwilling. I was tempted to mimic the earlier actions of that junior girl and stuff myself in my locker, but instead opted to slip into one of the many nooks and crannies our hallways hosted.

"Hey, madam, fancy seeing you! Would you like a roach to go with that exceptional espresso ensemble you're wearing?" – a screech as a roach was flung on said 'madam'.

"Hey, Tommy, looking good today!" – an upset sputtering erupted as about five were tossed in Tommy's direction.

"No, no, no…didn't anyone tell you apartment pests are so in?" – a horrified gasp as at least three were dumped unceremoniously down a girl's shirt. Hyperventilating and insane shrieking soon took affect not long after…in case you were wondering.

This little show of cruelty continued for quite some time. Somehow, I managed to stay out of Envy's sight – who I didn't fail to notice hadn't actually touched any of the roaches himself, but just simply dictated and encouraged alongside one of the other guys who I could recall being known as Avery.

"Eat it or wear it! Eat it or wear it! Eat it or Wear it!" two dregs unfamiliar to me sing-sang as they taunted a sophomore girl, before looking at each other with sly, conspiring grins and tossing a whole bucket up in the middle of the hallway as students flooded out of fifth period, the other group wielding the second bucket, AND another lugging a THIRD bucket followed suit.

A big, dotted, unnerving cloud of black-brown sang and spread through the hallway as the upset insects flew over the formerly-unknowing mass of students like a swarm of locusts (for the record, I believe locusts are just as terrifying)

"WEAR IT!" all the trouble-makers, whether it be dregs, rebels, goths, preps, or outcasts cheered.

After that, it was just chaos.

A weary sigh escaped my lips. I decided it best to go home then, making sure to make myself unseen as I slunk past an amused Envy, who just watched over the sight of students buzzing around to escape the nasty roaches.

The dean fled past me, dropping his glasses to skid across the hallway floor in his haste.

Apparently, the principal felt that this battle against these particular members of the insect kingdom was one already lost; it was time to retreat. The numbers were only growing in favor of the roaches as more of the floor below and the walls became flooded. They seemed to be appearing randomly, and I was sure the place would just collapse in on all of us.

I could hear the principal over the loudspeaker as I made my escape with other scuttling students.

"THIS IS A RAPID DISMISSAL! I REPEAT: A RAPID DISMISSAL. ALL STUDENTS MUST BE OFF THE PREMISES WITHIN THE NEXT TEN MINUTES! ALL OTHERS WILL BE ESCORTED!"

She didn't have to tell us twice. Before I knew it, students were bum-rushing each other to get out the place. Some chose to stay a bit behind and take further advantage of the chaos, hoping to test the limits of staff and security. I could hear Envy's laughter over everything else though. That was kinda chilling. Made me think back to my morning and wonder why on earth I'd be looking for a psychopath? Of all the things!

Such was my Tuesday.

(X)(x)(X)

Al was envious. Ed had no school for the rest of the week because the place had to be fumigated for termites…at least, that's what the county beacon said. Al smirked at the faulty cover-up, remembering Ed's animated retelling of the real story. If that weren't twisted, then Alphonse Elric didn't know what that was.

What was more twisted was that, in addition to a regular full week of school, Al also had after-school band/orchestra practices. The youngest Elric was so tired of that damned saxophone he was just ready to go and shove it up Mr. Polanski's fat, sweat-shop dictating, bald-headed ass. Dark thoughts such as these weren't very characteristic of the more diplomatic half of the Elric boys, but Alphonse was just too tired to care.

So it was no wonder that, despite the cold, Al was pretty happy to be taking a nice, relaxing walk home. It gave him time to reflect.

Ed is so lucky.

And his list of faults to find with Edward didn't just stop at envy…He was also starting to grow concerned for his older brother's ability to tell the truth and overall health.

Now…Al had never considered his brother in the light under which a liar was scrutinized, but lately, it seemed that there was no other light for the eldest Elric to be seen under.

Without meaning to, Al found himself suspicious of almost everything that came out his older brother's mouth these days; not that every single last thing that came out was lie or anything…but Ed was indeed lying about something big; something big that was making him nervous, tense and a bit reclusive. That something big could make up for the small number in which the lies came. Yep.

Jake had yet to see it; even though brother was lying to him too. Al hated how he came across bits of conversation and scenes he shouldn't. Listening to Ed lie his ass off about him bruising and such was just another one of the things he could've survived without hearing. Jake, a fellow member on his team, who accompanied Ed in getting knocked around the court during practice all day, actually bought this in his usual manner of denseness. After all that time, why wasn't Ed's body normally a collage of black and blue if he 'bruised so much over the small things'?

Al and Ed had always been very close as brothers, never really having a real reason to fight, other than the meaningless squabbles kids were prone to. As they grew into well-formed teens, they refined their friendship and rounded off their brotherhood into something to be admired by all those who witnessed.

This closeness meant that, while they didn't tell each other every single last detail of their lives, they made sure to tell each other about the big things, the big changes, the big events, the big losses, the big achievements: the BIG things!

That something big was just not a girl. It just wasn't. It could've been. But it was just not so.

Especially not after what I saw…

That was another reason why Al was upset with Edward. He shouldn't have had to find out like that. That was the worse possible thing that could happen. And the fact that Ed was trying to play things off as if nothing were going on was even more angering. But then, anger quickly dissipated into shame. How could he be so cross with Jake? How could he be so callous concerning Edward's welfare?

Maybe there was no reason for him to be mad at Edward. Of course there wasn't, was there?

Al sighed. It seemed he was letting temper get the best of him and forgetting his responsibilities to his brother. He couldn't help the weary feeling he felt creeping up on him in the presence of his elder brother. It wasn't a good sign, considering he had never been discontent with his brother's company before.

Maybe Ed had forgotten his responsibilities, Al thought somberly, his mind wandering back to the conversation he had with his brother the other day as he turned down his block.

How quick Ed was to give him answers without really giving any at all. Al had simply aborted the conversation under the pretence of fatigue. Well, it wasn't really a pretence, he was indeed tired…though of his brother's weird behavior more than anything.

Al had consulted his mother about it though.

She had simply set down her journal/memoirs and smiled a reassuring smile. "Your brother is just adjusting to high school in his own way. He might be a bit of a recluse for a while, but I'm sure once he's sorted out, he'll be fine again. Trust your brother, Alphonse."

Al supposed that was pretty easy to say. She hadn't caught Ed having sex with some boy in his bedroom when he thought no one was home. Ed wasn't lying to her yet. She wasn't seeing the small marks and scars and then being thrown for a loop by the practiced carefree grin that followed behind the sight of them. How could she know?

How could she not know? The previous thought was countered, making Al even more uncomfortable. It was one thing to doubt Ed, but mom too?

Al shoved his hands further into the pockets of his burgundy fall jacket and continued the rest of the short distance down the block to his house.

Mom is probably right though. This is just Ed's way of coping.

A few leaves danced across the path in front of him, hopelessly and pointlessly swirling and chasing after the next auburn, gold, green counterpart.

Maybe going out and getting screwed by other guys is the perfect way for Ed to cope. And I'm just too narrow-minded to see it.

(X)(x)(X)

Getting ready for church on Saturday morning wasn't as much of a fiasco in the Elric household as it was in others. You know…the whole absence of female specimens save Trisha Elric herself…who was organized and considerate enough to lay out her outfits the night before.

It was still a bit of a challenge though; the problem being Ed more than anything else.

"Edward Elric, you get up right now and go shower!" his mom burst through the door, frowning unhappily at her older son, who was still sprawled out and twisted among the eggshell-blue sheets of his bed, his mouth open and quiet snores drifting away, revealing that not a word of her admonishment had been heard.

The woman set her face in determination as she marched over to her son's bedside and tugged at the covers as best as she could. However…it seemed that, even though in his sleep, Ed was a force to be reckoned with; he tugged at the covers and further cocooned himself, a low grunt the only acknowledgement he gave. After a few minutes, Trisha simply let her hands fall to her side in exasperation and fixed her face in a 'so-you-want-it-that-way?' expression.

Edward's mother rolled her eyes, seeing it pointless and quite frankly, a bit nauseating to complete this task herself. "Al please, go wake your brother! I have to get me and your father ready!" she called down the hallway, not bothering to close the door behind her as she left.

A few minutes later, Al had taken her place in the doorway, a thoughtful expression upon his face as he pondered how exactly to go about waking his brother.

Obviously ripping away the sheets was pointless – look where it got Mrs. Elric.

The traditional method of ice just wouldn't work – mother had made the mistake of tugging and now, Ed's body was fully wrapped in his sheets.

Rolling was also a no-go – Ed was firmly planted in his signature body imprint, fetal position and all, right in the middle of the mattress.

After a minute, Al found his mind wandering back to option number two…with some slight 'modifications', it just might work.

(X)(x)(X)

An hour and a half later found the Elric family just entering Mount of Olives church just in time for divine service.

Ed cast sour looks at his brother now and then, still a bit sore with the younger boy for dousing him with freezing cold water like that. Al simply ignored his brother, satisfied with a job well-done and laughing it up with the saints who fawned over the two promising and good-looking young boys; the sons of 'that wonderful young couple', Trisha and Hohenheim Elric.

"We missed you two at church last week, Alphonse, Edward!" one of the elderly women cooed, placing wet, prune-spiked kisses on both boys' cheeks.

"You two look handsome as usual!" another gushed maternally, hugging both boys to her dying bosoms. "But you'd look so much more handsome if you did something to that hair, Edward! Maybe cut it…" A suggestion which was pointedly ignored.

Such was a Saturday following an absence at Mount of Olives S.D.A.

The church itself wasn't very big – but it wasn't that small either. It was just big enough to have a homey sort of affect, the golden pine staircases and humble pulpit supporting the glowing illusion of a saint's refuge. Of course, things in the church still were considerably new-looking, given the fact that the church had originally been established in this building at least fifteen years before.

Ed himself had practically been raised in this place, and couldn't count how many times he'd had to endure all sorts of church folk being entertained by his socially-graced mother in the Elric home. But he supposed it was nice to have pleasant old people around – because, of course, while some of the senior members of the congregation were ripe with the pride of their age, there were those who were just miserable…and inevitably rotting to the core, becoming sour specimens. The miserable group made up a majority of what were the church elders and deacons. And, as if that weren't bad enough – the pastor was a nutcase – who was of course adored by almost the entire adult populous of Mount of Olives. Such a sadness that the man wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

Al took his place at the church organ, leaving Ed with his hands in the pockets of dark-brown dress slacks.

"Well, I guess it'd be best to find a seat," Ed decided after a while, heading in the direction of the basement before one of the deacons or his mom could tug him away and prop him up in one of the front pews.

The blond planned on 'listening' to the church service from the basement where he could flip through his paperback cover of 'Set This House in Order' by Matt Ruff (1) and take 'note'. In Christian opinion, the book was quite unorthodox…but in the scientific opinion of a curious mind, the book was a sure fire-cure to boredom, and a hell of a way to get the old gears turning.

Overall, Saturday went about in its usual manner for Edward Elric – well, until some unexpected company dropped in.

Now, it's funny how one could attend a church for so many years and not have a complete inventory and profile of each and every member – but such is the case more often than not; whether it's because unknown church members prefer to fade into the cracks like actual church mice themselves, or because they just joined the organization recently, or maybe because one just wasn't paying attention.

Rest assured, whatever Ed's excuse was, it didn't buffer the shockwave that gripped him as Russell Tringham slouched across the hard-wooden concrete floor…It nearly sent him tumbling into the piano pushed against the wall to the left of him…he'd never fallen into a piano before…maybe it wouldn't make the falling routine seem as old as it most definitely was…

But his usual manner of crashing and burning didn't happen this time.

Ed simply looked up from his book in complete silence as the boy strode on, seeming not to notice him in his state of deep thought. It only took a second for those dark cobalt eyes to shift up to meet his own, question evident in the calculating azure depths.

Something about those eyes bothered him. They held a presence all too similar to the one that possessed Envy's own cloudy grey irises.

Maybe I'm just being nervous and ridiculous.

"Since when do you go here?" The words were flung rather haphazardly from Edward's mouth, but he was too enraptured by the sudden turn of events to regret and wish them back for their brashness.

Russell shook his self free from his daze, returning to the laid back nonchalance that was more his character than anything. "Now and then, when my brother and I feel the spirit, we show up," he said simply, his tone somewhat cynical.

Since when did sinners and tainted like them feel the spirit? Ed thought to himself, suppressing a shallow bark of laughter at the very notion of it all. If that were the case, he supposed that any week now, he'd see Envy and all his cronies stroll in through this church's hollowed doors, looking for the entire world like they had indeed found Jesus.

Ed couldn't contain the next snort of laughter and doubled over his lap as he tried to squelch the sensation.

"What's so funny?" Russell asked carefully, giving Ed a critical eye.

Ed shook his head, wiping the tears out his eyes. "Nothing," he finally replied. "I just found it an interesting thought to picture any of us 'feeling the spirit'."

Russell smirked. "I suppose you would say something like that," he began carefully. "You've spent so much time pretending to be something you're not that you'd find it almost impossible to see the real deal in others sharing your position," the enigma delivered unnecessarily, closing his eyes in thought, not really caring to gauge Ed's reaction or his expression. He knew what effect his words would and were meant to have.

Ouch. That was a low blow, if Ed ever heard it.

After getting over the sting, Ed glared. "And here I was, planning to apologize to you for being such a jackass the other day," the shorter blond snorted.

"Your apology isn't needed. You were walking on thin ice, I suppose."

Ed had almost forgotten just how condescending Russell could be – you know, in the whole collage of drugged up brotherhood, it was very easy to forget what an ass your only supposed ally could be. One supposed there wasn't much time to think about it though. But yet, here Edward was again, swearing he could hear Russell silently pitying him with the 'off' chance that what he'd just stated really was meant as a 'Your apology is worth nothing to a noble such as me'. That was just an off chance though. Really, it was.

"You have some right to judge, Russell," Ed growled, suddenly not feeling any sort of sympathy for the older boy.

Russell simply shrugged and raised his nose a bit higher in the air, not even having the decency to respond to the attitude he'd so obviously provoked in Ed.

Ed made a small 'humph' sound in the back of his throat, returning to his book and deciding that conversing with Russell wasn't one of his favorite things in the world to do. It never had even been close.

"It's nice to see you've been rested up though. Last time I saw you, you weren't doing so good," Russell remarked casually after a minute, his hands in his pockets and his gaze directed down at the other end of the basement.

"Yeah…this lady and her husband helped me out," Ed said, setting the book down and throwing an arm over the back of the chair so that he was almost sitting sideways.

"Really?"

The raising of an eyebrow from one, a nod from the other. "Yeah."

A yawn.

Silence: awkward, molesting silence.

"Russell?" the shorter blond began, turning over the jumble of ideas and words in his head, hoping they would make sense, hoping they'd mix themselves into a verbal elixir reasonable enough to sooth his tongue and rid his stomach of the demonic butterflies fluttering about teasingly…threateningly.

Russell eyed Ed coolly, a non-verbal push to continue what the boy was saying. Part of Ed couldn't help but wonder if he'd even answer what he was preparing to ask. Maybe there was no reason to ask him. After all – he was just as much of a victim as Ed was, right? He couldn't be an enemy in this situation. Edward Elric already had too many of those, it seemed. And if not enough to be enemies per say, then put simply – there were people after his ass.

Just as Ed pulled together the balls to push the question off his tongue, Russell made a small coughing sound in his throat. "If this is about last weekend, I felt it's best to leave the past in the past. You weren't aware of yourself." The older boy now had his arms crossed and was frowning as he leaned against the piano, coughing in a somewhat auspicious manner as Ed was about to retort.

A woman had led her kids downstairs to have their snack and so, for the moment, Ed's question would have to wait.

Especially since, by the time, he had gotten over the children's shocks of laughter Russell had practically fled and was now making his way back up into the sanctuary.

(X)(x)(X)

"What kinda shit is this?" Envy guffawed in disbelief as he held the shattered remains of a liquor bottle still attached to the soaked sticker label between his fingertips, eyeing it in a somewhat disgusted manner. He had marched over here after a nauseating morning of breakfast with Greed to expect a nice bottle of morning vodka or something else equally intoxicating. And what did he get instead? A bin filled with glass.

He'd been hoping for a nice binge session with Sole since Lust clicked her way up their front steps earlier that week and sprung a snake in a basket on them; or, in simple, non-metaphorical terms, brought bad news with food as her in. Lord knows, Envy wouldn't have bothered letting her in if he hadn't been so damned hungry that morning…

He didn't want to think about it though. He really didn't.

But here was this bin of glass, in Sole's house, telling him the place was liquorless. Oh cruel fates…

Sole looked over at his young, dark-haired companion, a wistful look in his already tired eyes. The lanky teen sucked on his bottom lip for a minute before finally replying, "I'm cutting back."

Envy threw the glass back down into the bin and planted his hands on his hips, a mocking grin already tugging at his face. "Bullshit," he half-drawled, half-yawned. "Ollie came home and cleaned the place out again, didn't he?" Envy laughed, watching as Sole turned a nice shade of red and mumbled as he pretended to busy himself in the little kitchen his apartment held.

"No," Sole pouted.

Envy sauntered over to the distraught blond, knowing better.

Everyone who knew Sole knew about his rich model of a boyfriend, Ollie Limensnozet, who toured around the world and left his very reckless and bored lover a whole crash condo to himself…one could only wonder if Ollie just didn't care what he did with his money (he was rich, right?), or was just plain stupid with it for doing so.

Sole's eccentric bed companion randomly came home now and then to scold his lover about what exactly he did in the apartment, and made a tradition of emphasizing his stand against reckless substance abuse with the prompt trashing of any alcohol, drugs, and other 'unfavourables' found. Sole would tolerate this for the usual whole week Ollie stayed, pretending to be content with movie nights made of curry tofu and 'Funny Girl' (which was pretty funny the first two times but lost its charm soon after the third viewing), the closest he got to a high being the inhalation of the organic ginger candles and lemongrass body-wash Ollie left all over the place.

Needless to say, by the time Ollie left and Envy cruised on by, the blond was not his usual rowdy self, the hype brought on by his weekly – no – daily experimentations and alcohol being drained, all for Ollie and his tofu.

Envy hopped up to sit on the counter behind where Sole continued to move like a zombie in front of the sink, the dishes being stacked in the cabinet as soapy as ever.

The dark-haired sin embodiment whistled and shook his head, snickering to himself. "I sure hope the sex has gotten better if you're looking this bad after a 'romantic' week with our dear Olive 'Lemondrop' Snooze." Envy yawned, kicking out his feet and throwing his head back to hum annoyingly.

"For fuck's SAKE, Envy, I only wish it was that good!" the taller boy all but sobbed, stiffening and dropping a soapy dish disdainfully to splash into the water.

"I told you, you should call me for a threesome some time. I bet Olive Lemonsnuggles would really love that."

More snickering on Envy's behalf, a glare on Sole's. "Don't be fresh, you freaky little fucker," he spat.

Envy hissed with his tongue between his teeth, snatching his hand to his chest as if he'd been burned and letting his head fall exaggeratedly to the side. "Realllyyyy, Sole…" he drawled. "You get so cranky when you're not fucking or drinking or sniffing or…well, you get the general idea," Envy simpered, pouting and then rolling his eyes when it seemed the older boy was ignoring him. He knew he did cross a line there though. Even if Ollie were a bit...different, in an eccentric sort of way, Sole was still rather fond of the guy.

That's an understatement, the dark-haired boy snickered to himself.

And let it be known that the blond would rather die than think of Envy seducing the man and having to watch his two favorite bed partners enjoy each other...even if Sole were enjoying himself right along with them.

He's so transparent at times. Really no fun at all…Envy's mind observed, taking in Sole and his jerky movements – a sure sign that he was angry but not too pissed.

Envy really hated matters of the heart...

...and since the boy also hated to be ignored, he chose to take the route of denial and feign uninterest, propping his chin up in his hand and resting his elbow upon his knee.

Boo on Sole and his boyfriend issues.

Bored grey eyes framed by long, thick lashes flickered to the kitchen window at the other end of the small cooking quarters. There wasn't much scenery except for a few delis and bakeries – the most interesting piece to look at being a Geico billboard with the gecko in all of its reptilian, green car-insuring glory.

Envy just barely noticed the sharp, silver stare focused on him not long after the water's rushing stopped. Let's keep the keywords 'just barely noticed' in mind here.

Sole took this rare opportunity – in which Envy's mind wandered – to study the boy.

In all truth, he could honestly say he'd never found a bed partner more appealing than the 16-going-on-17-year-old sitting on the counter in front of him. Envy's appealing wasn't an exotic sort of appealing, or even the beautiful sort that you find on the cover of magazines, or in the personalities of those pure (because lord knows, Envy was not pure). It was simply just-what-it-was appealing. His face had fine, almost feminine, yet handsome features. Smooth and not yet marred, save for the occasional bruises he'd picked up in the constant war that was the teen's life. And then on top of it, he was graced with a lithe porcelain, toned body and well-formed limbs that moved fluidly, swiftly.

It would only be a matter of time before 18 hit and the androgyny would be no more as Envy's chin finally squared up a bit more, and the age-adequate muscles he did possess would expand – leaving a feral masculine beauty in place of the androgynous sex-appeal. The vindictive sort of feisty Envy was and the truculent air he had about him only made him all the more attractive in a 'must-have' sort of complex – the obvious reason why Greed made a nasty habit of fucking his nephew, was what Sole figured; though the rumor had it that Greed's complex originated more from an incestuous sort of obsession with his sister than anything else. Naturally why Envy's present-day problems began with the renowned Dante.

Sole shook his head, noticing that his mind was straying towards thoughts best not formed. What happened in the Sinshoms' (2) family line was not his business.

Moving on to more delectable matters…

Sole hadn't had a good tumble in a week. No, 'sweet love-making' did NOT constitute as a good tumble to him. His tumbles consisted of raw, creative, hardcore fucking; it was that simple. Obviously, it was a sign from the higher powers that Envy stopped by on the morning after his completely-kosher (gag) 'lover' (gag) left with the entirety of his vegan tree-hugging paraphernalia.

The higher powers were saying something, and although he couldn't make out exactly what…he could definitely hear his libido.

And his libido was saying a fuck on the kitchen counter would do wonders for his week. Ollie did say he should take better care of himself…

But Envy's train of thought didn't seem to be following his. The boy still continued to analyze the scenery outside, ignoring a very horny Sole who had unconsciously started licking his lips in the strange event that his mouth was actually watering now. God, he'd never felt so starved for sex after a week with Ollie. The guy wasn't usually that bad…could he really be getting worse?

Envy's gaze shifted back to the other boy, his head not following the movement but remaining to face the direction of the window in a way that caught Sole off guard. The dusty blond hadn't caught the movement of the alert teen's eyes quick enough and was now bearing the smugness of a catty grin that slowly spread across Envy's face.

"It's rude to stare, Sole." A statement accompanied by the cocking of his head to the side and the shrug of his shoulders to meet his cheek, his eyes now locked on Sole in an exaggerated mimicry of the blond boy's earlier actions – minus the sexual salivating.

"Bite me," Sole replied, chuckling to himself.

Deciding to live up to his spiteful personality, Envy made a show of appearing oblivious to Sole's plight (even though both boys knew better) and planted his hands flat on the counter on either side of him, resting his head on one of the upright shoulders. He resumed kicking out his feet and stared down at the swooshing limbs with a dreamy look on his face. "You shouldn't say things like that to me. You know I tend to take things very literal and to the letter…" A wicked and very toothy, Greed-like grin took up a good half of Envy's face, utilizing the youth's very uncanny talent for making himself look dangerously older.

Sole, who had witnessed this many times before, arched an eyebrow at Envy and winced in the process. He knew all too well what those teeth could do when backed up by Envy's attitude and penchant for lethal mood swings.

The older boy sighed, his teeth pulling at the ring in his lip in thought. "So, did you tell the kid yet?" Sole inquired, choosing to change the subject as he rummaged through his cupboard for a semi-normal box of cereal. Anything but that blasted organic 'Kashi'(3) stuff.

A non-committal noise was heard from Envy before a yawn (that was quite loud actually) and a shuffle indicating the green-haired boy had abandoned his throne upon the counter.

Arms found their way around Sole's waist as very tempting lips played along his neck and tugged at the band his ear lobe sported. "You know…I bet I could make up for all of Ollie's shit in just one day," Envy boasted, teeth still tugging at the earring before full lips wandered over the metallic band to suckle the earlobe. There was still a smirk upon those lovely lips…and Sole wasn't one to turn down such an invitation.

And so initiated a morning of ruthless rutting upon Sole's countertop, one being able to visualize the scene pretty well between Envy's breathless moans (punctuating the ongoing mantra of 'fuck yea's' and 'God's') and Sole's heavy groans.

An hour later, the clock read 12:13 and Envy was ready to hit the streets, dragging along a huge improvement of a man over the one who had so desperately needed a good 'tumble' and some liquor this morning.

"So I was gonna take him to Marlynn tomorrow and have him pierce a few things here and there," the eldest of Greed's household went through his Sunday plans with Sole as casual as ever…but not exactly with the same careless ease with which he drove.

Envy laughed behind the wheel of his black Honda Accord, earning a pleased grin from Sole (who drove no better himself).

"That sounds hot. The kid has the potential to be so fucking hot…" Sole was practically drooling at the prospect. "…but how are you gonna get him to sit still for that? Something tells me he doesn't exactly know of these plans," he pointed out.

Envy shrugged, cutting a champagne-colored Maxima off and making a non-committal noise. "You know I have the most amazing powers of persuasion," he snickered, earning a relenting smile from Sole.

"Well, it sounds like a damned good time to be had by all. Sorry, I can't come through." Sole shrugged.

Envy gave him a questioning look.

"I gotta go somewhere with that Winry girl tomorrow," the older boy explained, grinning as he received a knowing smirk from Envy.

"Of course."

They drove a bit longer, the music blaring away with the words of 'Don't Fear the Reaper'.

"I'm just gonna remind you not to get too carried away," Sole said after a while, the same lazy grin upon his face.

Again, it was time for another questioning glance from Envy. "You wanna explain that to me."

"I'm advising you, dear sir, that you don't get too caught up dolling up your pretty little blond. No matter how much you powder up a doll, it's still susceptible to weathering."

Envy snorted. "Is that another one of Ollie's little drag-show phrases he keeps picking up and bring home to you?" the darker-haired boy asked, a dry tone to his voice.

Sole was unfazed as usual. "Yes…" he began. "But this time, I know what it means!" He clapped jovially, earning a roll of Envy's eyes. "No, but in short…The kid is still very much expendable, and you already know Kimblee's not too keen on the kid rollin' with us. He's young and he's obviously not too smart when it comes to our way of things." Sole ignored all the rolling Envy's eyes were doing.

"Duh, Sole."

"The kid was a nice bonus to your last job well-done, but you know parades do get rained on eventually," Sole stated flatly.

"Mmhm."

"You have a very addictive personality, Envy, and we know how you express your possessiveness at times. If Kimblee says he wants that kid gone, you can't try to overrule him. It's not gonna work," Sole warned, earning another snort from the 16-going-on-17-year-old driving.

"Sole, I don't need anybody watching my ass. What do you think I've been doing for the last 16 years? Twiddling my thumbs?" Envy sneered. He was never one for criticism, not even that of the constructive sort.

"Wait wait wait…Wait." Sole shook his head and sputtered in an exaggerated manner, giving Envy a look of disbelief. "You should be glad you have at least one person on this planet who thinks you're worth a bit more than a good fuck."

A nasty glare was shot Sole's way from the driver's seat and he made a mocking face as if saying, 'joke's on you, shorty'.

It was just the type of scathing comment that would have anyone pissed. But Envy, unfortunately, knew it was Sole's way of being kind; the truthful sort of kind, not the nicey-nice, artificially-flavored sort of kind you got on the Tyra Banks show.

Sadly, Sole was right in a way.

Nevertheless, Envy grumbled the rest of the car ride, only quieting down a bit when he finally tired his ears out with his own foolishness.

Sole was the only one out the group who seemed to bother and watch Envy's back. Always the one to let Envy in the apartment when things were just getting too rough at home because Greed's latest business venture failed or some such thing. The only person to ever hold him in bed, just because he wanted to.

And you repay him by infecting him. There went that voice again…reminding him of the latest and most permanent trouble he'd thrown himself in.

None of that stuff meant Sole really cared about him though. Of course not. Sole was just affectionate and creative. Affection didn't mean love and didn't make Sole any less of what he was: a supposed killer and someone who was aiming to survive…which meant there was no room to care about anyone else but his self.

Just what the hell has been going on with my head lately anyways? Envy mentally scowled at himself, wondering just who he was these days. Maybe his priorities weren't in order? Maybe the HIV was getting to his brain? Maybe he was having way too much sex?

…

Of course not! See? It was things like that that made him wonder if he were really and truly losing it.

In a change of mood very true to form, Envy grinned over at Sole. "Well, long story short – I'm planning on having some fun with the shorty tomorrow. You just do your part with Winry and driving this car. I'm beat – you can be the man behind the wheel for the rest of this crappy drive."

"Alrighty, then." Sole perked up a bit and, with a few cackles and a swerve, they were switching seats and continuing their way across the West Side.

"Let's DO this thing, baby!" and with that, they were speeding off to their next street-centered mission, wondering absently to themselves if they'd live long enough to even see the Southside…with the way they were going and all.

(1) This book is so kool. Well that's what my personal opinion is. I would seriously recommend it. Who doesn't like reading about a plot centered around the memories of personalities derived from DID? It's very easy to get sucked into.

(2) Sins for short. Hehehehehe….. Believe it or not everyone has normal names, but you'll learn those later.

(3) Its this dry organic cereal that seems like it has absolutely not flavor in it. I guess you have to acquire a taste for it.

Author's Note: The theme song for Envy and Sole or any comrades of Envy is now Southside by Moby feat. Gwen Stefani. I think it's quite fitting.