A/N: Another giant chapter incoming, and all because of that bloody overgrown first scene! I don't know how that happened it just happened…

Now, this chapter is probably really strange somehow, I don't know it just feels that way for me, because the day before I was going to start writing it (Wednesday, I'm lazy like that) my laptop died ;_; so this chapter was written in a mix of on my super old computer, my grandad's friend's notebook (writing on a notebook is hard) and at the school computers x_x Also the notebook did not have word so there's probably a billion mistakes there from my horrible key aim since I've also had my nails cut x_x; ok excuses over I'll let you all murder me later.

Previous reviewers:

Moofy-fan:

Yes, yes you should have anticipated Matthias's horrible horrible murder as soon as I even mentioned his return, you know that's my style ^_^ At least Pride didn't kill him super gruesomely, and if it's any consolation Pride didn't even enjoy killing him, since there had to be no blood ^^;

I'm glad you liked the newspaper callback, and the callback callback, planning chapter 24 and Wrath's meeting with his wife while writing chapter 15 was a good move after all ^_^ Yeah, Lust is still trying to mess with Pride to get his attention, their relationship is so sad that way ;_;

lol doesn't Envy just. I didn't make that up either, Arakawa said in an interview that Wrath got his second slap from taking Envy's advice about 'complimenting the [woman's] body' XD

I do like mellow tea loving Pride, he isn't here much this chapter, I hope he comes back soon ;_;

Velgamidragon:

Aww, yay, I'm glad you liked Pride being all sentimental and stuff, and yay, Wrath's finally hitched~ ^^

D12T:

It made me happy too, as did your review. Nothing like my feelings for this chapter, I'm still mourning my laptop lol ^^;

Anne Camp:

I wish I could have shown more of their relationship since I adored writing it, but I really doubted Pride would keep following them around after Wrath failed twice, not to mention it would look suspicious of the same paper-boy kept stalking them.

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Sin's Child

Chapter Fifty-Three: Nostalgia in New Experiences

August 28th 1893

It was an unusual sensation, to be travelling at a marginally uncomfortable speed on a peculiar animal constructed from wood, unusual, but not unpleasant. That wasn't to say that it was something that Pride would wish to repeat any time in the near future, and it certainly wasn't an experience that had warranted the extortionate cost of 200 cenz for the little over two minutes of time he had spent on it. That being said Pride found the Gallopers to be interesting it its own unique sort of way, with its collection of carved and brightly paints creatures scattered over its circular base - there we mostly horses, but closer to the centre other things were dotted about: oversized chickens, a Xingese styled dragon or two, a pig designed for a smaller child, but Pride had settled on one of the regal looking birds with blue bodies and a vivid array of painted tail feathers that were apparently called peacocks. Only the horses had names, plaques carved into their necks and adorned with all sorts of ridiculous things, as if animals, whether fake or not, even deserved to have names at all.

Wrath watched him step down from the raised platform where the carousel was planted for the day, he probably could see the slight unbalance in his gait, the idea that he was dizzy from it was absurd, he was merely a tad unsettled from the experience, it was only understandable with what the ride entailed in its motions. Now that he was safely on solid, unmoving ground again it was only a temporary inconvenience that would dissipate soon. The grass was still fresh and vibrant and a perfect healthy green, as to be expected from the military ensuring it was kept in flawless condition all year round. It seemed the population of Central, as much as they demanded technological advances of every kind to keep them happy, they weren't as keen on the constant growth that was eliminating the countryside around the middle of the city, and it was from their many pleas for such that the military had been gracious enough to provide them with a large open space that was open to the public for no fee. Central Park, as it was aptly enough named, seem to answer their desire perfectly, even if Pride had hardly visited it at all since its creation, besides his nocturnal visit where he had stripped that one tree of its blossom so many springs before (the tree had recovered seamlessly enough, though covered in leaves again now). With its wide collection of greenery, flowers and trees and a lake or two within its five hundred acres Pride doubted they would ever find anything to complain about in regards to it.

Whether Wrath noticed it or not he said nothing, smiling a slanted smile as Pride reached him. Pride hadn't seen him watching as he moved around on the carousel, even from the faint blur from the speed there he could have picked him out effortlessly.

"How was it?" The unsightly brush of thick black hair above Wrath's lip twitched as he spoke, but Pride was used to it by now. Moustaches were expected of Fuhrers somewhat, of those that had come before most of them had bore a moustache, so it was only appropriate that he had grown one too, however pre-empted it was, it having started growing in a few months after he was wed. Pride had to admit that he was quite pleased with Wrath's progress thus far, still having no sense he was wearing his heavy military coat, at least now he actually had the possibility to become Fuhrer, hopefully before too long, but they'd been patient for eighteen years, another two or three or four was acceptable for now.

"It was quite interesting, Wrath, that humans have taken such an interest in this 'carousel', even though its only purpose is to entertain them for a few short minutes, but it was satisfactory for my first experience with it. Why didn't you have a go? There were plenty of adults riding on it by themselves. Did you find it too degrading for such an esteemed Major General as yourself to partake in such things?" They strode through the set out paths without any real sense of direction, merely enjoying the sights and the unusually bustling atmosphere in the park, even Pride walked along with a tiny smile, his claustrophobia keeping itself quiet despite the crowds that filled the park on such an important day. The exact date changed from year to year, but it was bound to the last Monday of August - the day to commemorate when the 'Sage of The East' had found the struggling country of Amestris and bestowed upon them the secrets of alchemy, the single act that had ensured Amestris's current and future success. Most only thought it a legend, but everyone celebrated it regardless. Pride couldn't recall if Father had told him the day he had founded Amestris when he was young, or even the month or season. The simple humans had no possibility of remembering such an important event, and probably had only assigned it to August to take advantage of the summer weather for such an important festival. The Central Summer Fête had a certain agreeable sound to it, so it was probably for the best that it take place now rather than any other time of the year.

"I did not think it appropriate of my station, and it doesn't seem too appealing, considering I could run faster." He was old enough to be sensible and to have long stopped making stupid statements, so Pride allowed his sarcastic remark even though Wrath was aware that the ride was intended for all ages, so could not be too fast, humans were ever so fragile that way.

"And what did you do to occupy your time while I was there? I know you left me to do whatever else instead of being patient. Where did you go?" Wrath looked down at him from the corner of his eye, the mischievous glint flickering through it, and Pride knew he wasn't going to tell him, not yet at least, and he let him have his way of wanting his petty secrets.

The local photographer was scurrying about, wanting to perhaps sell his photographs to the newspapers in hopes of making a profit on them if he ended taking a picture of someone of relevance on a fluke. Like he was cursed Pride had wandered into a group at the start of the fair and ended up at the receiving end of the camera's flash yet again, but he was so used to it by now he had spontaneously formed a flawless smile out of instinct, as if he had been expecting such a thing to occur before it actually did. The man gave him another glance, but recognising him from before he moved on without a word, off to find other things he found interesting enough to photograph.

Pride knew that going anywhere near the travelling Menagerie that had parked up in Central park for the fête wouldn't be the most sensible idea, riling up whatever dangerous, exotic animals had been brought with them wouldn't end well at all. Why humans would try to control wild animals and put them on display rather than enslave them so they could do anything useful was a testament to their idiocy, if they could see paintings of the creature why would they feel the need to see it in the flesh and risk dying? It didn't matter anyway, painted along the large wheeled containers they arrived in were elaborate depictions of them attacking their prey and whatnot, their species name in large shimmering gold letters: Tigers and zebras and camels. One trailer had a baby elephant following behind its parent on the side, its trunk wrapped around its tail affectionately so it didn't get lost, something that looked like a dishevelled brown giraffe with striped legs stood at far end where the colours blending from yellow to the dark green of the forest painted on the edge of it. Whether he understood the reasoning behind it or not, humans seemed to enjoy it, which was the whole point of the fair in the first place, to keep them amused and content with what they had for the time being, so Pride knew to just ignore it and enjoy what he could during his act as well.

A human called out through the constant bustle of the fair, ushering anyone who would listen to him closer and shouting something about that being brave enough to even dare to consider entering the small and easily transportable House of Mirrors, probably because of whatever simple minded human incapability to understand common sense when surrounded by mirrors or something so utterly human like that. Pride didn't find the concept interesting enough to warrant paying three hundred cenz to visit just the once and passed it by without a second glance.

Along the edge of the path where the fête had not planted another ostentatious attraction several humans had set up a picnic, families chattering amongst themselves as they shared sandwiches and cakes that they'd probably brought with them to avoid the costly food of the fair. One child from one of the mats played with a kite happily, weaving in between each, making it impossible to tell who the child belonged to. As Pride watched them enjoy each other's company, he wondered, for a moment, why Wrath had come here alone.

"Why did you not bring your wife along with you? It's a bank holiday so I doubt she would need to work today, especially since it seems like most of Central is here." Something flickered across Wrath's face again, but it wasn't mischievous in the slightest, and even the tips of his moustache drooped.

"Lenore wasn't feeling very well today, I offered to stay with her but she insisted that I attend the festival, and she isn't one to argue with. She's probably resting now, curled up on the couch with a book. She'll be fine after a day or two, I'm sure of it." He perked up to his usual indifference, though there was a certain warmth in Wrath's words that Pride had never heard outside of when he was talking about his wife. Even though they'd been married for thirteen years Pride still would never understand what Wrath saw in her that was different from any other human, but there was no point in arguing a choice he had made those years before, so long as it gave the public the correct opinion of Wrath it was nothing of concern.

"Is that so? Well, many humans become ill during the summer, it's nothing to worry about, Wrath." Knowing that that particular topic of conversation had exhausted itself, and that Wrath was most likely unwilling to share the rest of his personal life as King Bradley with him, Pride dropped the subject and carried on along the path. It seemed that he liked to keep what he did in his act to himself, much like Pride himself did, even with how much the camera liked to follow him around, at least Wrath could escape with a little privacy in that regard.

After walking aimlessly along the busy paths and the almost completely occupied grass surrounding them, as the sun began to fall from its high afternoon peak they came across something as interesting as it was a terrible reminder for the both of them. Pride grimaced a tad at the sight of it, though it only showed as a slight quirk in the corner of his mouth. Wrath didn't say anything, only gave him a look, as if he thought he couldn't remember.

The elaborately decorated wooden Shooting Gallery stood looming before them, as if even it knew. The three targets stood out even from this distance, two of them currently occupied, and the collection of prizes for success lined across the shelves either side each target. Pride knew he would have never gotten any better at marksmanship, even if he had remained at the facility until Wrath had been born, it just wasn't something he cared about enough to even desire getting better at. That being said Pride had seen Wrath being equality as terrible in his youth, so what did it matter?

Still, even seeing a rifle again was so peculiar that part of him wanted to see whether others were just as useless at shooting, if the game wasn't fixed at least, which wouldn't surprise him. Pride wandered closer with Wrath following in even steps behind, still not showing any opinion one way or the other. The stall owner flashed him a put-on smile, a far too obvious put-on smile, like he just considered him to be another source of income when he wasted all his cenz on attempting to win whatever object that had caught his childish eye. How presumptuous of him. As far as quality went Pride had been expecting much worse wares on offer, but that just meant that the game was so fixed that the owner had made enough money to purchase such appealing items, which would only serve to entice more people on his travels. It would have been ingenious if it wasn't so disgusting, not such a sign of how devious and sly humans truly were to their own species. Pride just returned the smile completely, leaning on the table that held the rifles and bouncing a little on the balls of his feet excitedly, pretending to jump from one thing to the other with a boundless, endless childish wonder.

"How much is it to try?" The man was rather tall, with a sly sparkle in his eyes. He wore a tattered looking grey top hat with a long curled feather tucked into the side.

"100 cenz for one shot, 250 cenz for three. Hit the Gold and you can have anything at all," the man motioned at the whole four rows of prizes with a theatrical sweep of his arm, like he had repeated the sentence thousands of times over with identical enunciation. "hit red and you can have anything from the middle row," he pointed to the simpler prizes: a box of tea-leaves, a small ceramic pig ornament and a few wooden farm animals. "and hit blue and you can have some chocolate for your trouble." The plethora of four chocolate squares wrapped in tiny clear bags lined the bottom row. Pride reached into his jacket pocket for the correct amount of cenz, still grinning.

"Ok, I'll-" Wrath dropped the 250 cenz on the desk with three little thumps.

"I will take three shots." Pride scowled at Wrath having the audacity to interrupt him, but just ignored him. If Wrath wanted to make a fool of himself by displaying his horrendous lack of skill in marksmanship then Pride wouldn't stop him. He stepped away to give him more room, folding his arms with a barely contained scoff. He had never got a chance to see Wrath's failures at the facility, but now he would be able to have a perfect view.

Looking far too confident than what Wrath was capable of he lined up the sight of the rifle, aiming at the gold ring in the centre, ambition was always one of Wrath's strong points, if he hadn't such a trait he wouldn't have reached the rank he was now. Even then the ambition was futile here; ambition wouldn't get him anywhere if he hadn't any ability at it. Pattering little footsteps sounded behind him, until they were at his side, no doubt staring up towards the stall as well.

"Oh wow, a shooting range, and look at what they have, more bears!" Pride looked up, he hadn't noticed any bears before, but the chirpy voice was right. Hanging on small hooks were small little bears, with light brown fur and dark eyes. He'd never seen such things before, little dolls but animals instead, how curious. One was clothed in a simple pale blue dress decorated with white flowers, the other in a black waistcoat and a top hat. Apart from their clothing they were identical. They were...interesting.

"Oh, can I have a go, please Daddy, please please?"

"Wait until your mother gets back. It's all of our holiday; she deserves to enjoy the fair as well. I could try while we're waiting, just to see." A more gruff and yet still caring voice answered the younger voice, no doubt the father.

"Ok! I'll be 'betterer' at it though, for sure!" Wondering if the child could not get any more over confident Pride turned to see who exactly it was.

It was a girl, with hair of the most inky black pulled back into two plaited pig-tails. She wore a sun hat with a sapphire blue ribbon around the brim and a dress of the same colour, wrapped with a pale yellow ribbon around her waist and tied at the back. A trim of the same colour ran along its edges with thin lace. In her arms was a small bear, only marginally smaller bear than the one hanging at the stall, the female one, with dress. Pride recognised it; he had seen the bears before, at the extremely unfair bagatelle board on the other end of the park. Beside it had been the table showcasing new inventions, but the only thing of interest he had seen was a strange mess of metal wiring that had electricity running through it so that it could burn bread to make toast that the creators had named The Eclipse. Pride doubted such a thing would be safe, and had no use for one anyway so had passed it by. The other side of it had been a 'magic' show displaying something with alchemy, and for the sake of the still failing economy Pride sincerely hoped it wasn't the production of gold.

"But this boy was here before us so we'll wait for him to have a go." She nodded in his general direction, meekly understanding for the sake of being polite. Wrath had already fired two shots, both of which had completely missed the target never mind the gold circle, it was already a certainty that the final attempt would go likewise, even with how determined he looked.

...It hit dead centre easily. Pride winced with a much more expressed grimace. Wrath had been teasing him by pretending he was still terrible at marksmanship. No matter, it wasn't like it was of any importance, at least whatever thing he chose would be automatically given to him for Wrath to remain in good grace with him and protect the hierarchy, which was all for the best.

"Looks like we have a winner. What do you want? You can choose what you like."

"I want the bear. The one in the dress." There wasn't a second of hesitation at all, like he'd already decided on what he wanted before he even considered playing at all. A bear was fine, Pride could appreciate the thought of it at least, especially with others watching Wrath would want to appear genial even with a child who wasn't his own; they could always pass him off as a relative if need be. Melting further into his act Pride hopped up and down as the human unhooked a bear from its peg, and handed it to Wrath with his insincere grin. Now all that was left was to wait for Wrath to give the bear to him and then they could continue on normally to explore the rest of the fête.

...any minute now...

The moment never came. Wrath held the bear close to his chest with a smirk.

"I think Lenore will like this as a 'get well soon' present, don't you think?" Pride nodded beneath his disgust, but letting Wrath think that he even cared in the first place was too shameful, so he just placed the 250 cenz down on the table as he should without a murmur. He still wasn't sure how to hold the rifle, and if he was careless it would rebound into his eye like all those times before. It was going to be shameful regardless, but Wrath had most certainly done so as well, so if it was just the once he could...

"Aww, isn't that romantic, to be given the bear as a gift from someone like that?" The girl squealed into her stuffed bear with a giggle. Why she wanted another bear when she already had one seemed absurd, but if her family had enough money to holiday in Central for a few days then they had enough to spoil her no doubt. Pride needed to focus though, unseen beneath his sleeves two pairs of shadows wrapped around the rifle, holding it tight in place to prevent any recoil whatsoever. Another slipped along the barrel flattening to support where the bullet would travel, ensuring that there would be no margin of error. That still didn't stop him from the most minute flinch as the rifle fired, even with all the strength of his shadows wrapped around it he'd never truly get used to the noise and the forceful recoil. The shadows faded away in an instant, still unnoticed. Pride didn't need to see, he was already sure, however shameful it was at least he could be sure.

"I want a bear too, but the boy one." It was all that was appropriate, to match his jacket (which he'd removed in the summer warmth, it hanging over his arm) and his trousers, his red bow tie, right down to the new spats covering his shoes. Pride hugged it close to him, nuzzling with a delighted grin into it, blush rising in his cheeks, not out of actually winning the bear, but the fact that he had actually fired a rifle without embarrassing himself, whether he had used his shadows to assist him or not was irrelevant. Why should he not be permitted to use them?

The girl congratulated him with a series of excited and barely understandable babbles combined with clapping, her sun hat almost falling off. When she calmed down she stared at him, still smiling, looking...almost hopeful, wanting something but never being so trusting as to believe it until...

But Pride wouldn't oblige her, not for a moment, and he only pressed it tighter to his chest protectively, and pulled away from her. If she really wanted one she could get one herself. He walked off without another word, Wrath following behind.

Later on, when bright amber streaks began to creep into the sky, the two homunculi sat at one of the many tables in the park, four seats, both bears seated opposite each other.

"I don't think it's that important really, Pride. It's just what I won." Wrath set it down on the table, almost dropping it, but a one glare made him place it much more gently.

"Won from what, Wrath?" Pride looked over it tenderly, almost smiling at it, wondering where it had managed to come from so suddenly.

"While you were on the carousel, I played the 'guess how many marbles are in this jar' game nearby while I waited. And as it happens I won this...thing for guessing correctly." Pride pulled the 'thing' closer, running his finger along its edge, its smooth, perfectly round edge, how long it had been since he saw one last, nearly two hundred years before, but it was exactly the same as it had been back then.

"I don't think you can comprehend its importance, Wrath. This must have been so expensive to purchase...I suppose that they hadn't anticipated anyone to win so they could sell it for a profit when they moved on. I doubt you could call that winning though, since you must have used your eye to calculate how many marbles were contained in the jar in the first place."

"I merely used my assets to my advantage just as you did. I did not see why I should hinder myself to accommodate them. Why should I not utilize my Ultimate eye ensure my success." Pride raised his eyebrow at the ridiculous term Wrath had given to his ouroboros marked eye.

"Did you give that name to yourself, Wrath?"

"Well, when I first asked Lust for advice with Lenore, she told me about her 100th birthday, and that Greed, before he ran away, had made up nicknames for him and Lust that reflected their abilities- she was the Ultimate Lance and he was the Ultimate Shield. She gave me one too for luck. Don't you have one, Pride?" He shook his head, more at his disappointment that Wrath had let himself listen to Lust's childish, insolent ramblings more than to answer him, of course he didn't have one. But he wouldn't let Lust sour his mood when she wasn't even here, and thought it better to change the subject.

"Cut the melon, Wrath, so you can be educated in the relevance of their perfection in taste and appearance and how superior it is to all human sustenance." As if he knew that continuing on this topic line would be foolish Wrath nodded and cut the melon into eighths with his sword obediently. Wrath was not one so stupid as to not see the importance of the melon past his first bit of the slice, and Pride pulled a cube off, grinning as he popped it into his mouth like he did all those years before.

"Did you like it, Wrath?" He respected him too much to try and hide it, and nodded as he took a bite from the slice. Well, it wasn't like he had a say in the matter anyway. After two slices each they decided to save the other half for another time, the sun had drooped lower and stretched their shadows out over the grass. The main attractions ending Pride watched the humans file out, most with souvenirs and countless other things in hand. He caught sight of the Central Times reporter scribbling something down in his notebook at the table nearby, no doubt he was going to weave an elaborate tale of the fête's success for tomorrow's morning newspaper.

"So, are you going to take that bear home with you, Pride?" Wrath probably already knew the answer, Pride was sure of it, knew that he couldn't possibly and was spiting him, purely because Wrath had been selfish and not given the bear to him and had forced him to pointlessly obtain one himself. Well, he wouldn't give him the satisfaction of having another bear to give to his ever precious human.

He turned in his chair, staring out into the stream of humans, squinting to try and find, even if it took him until ever last human had left, that certain—there she was, her dress swaying in the gentle wind, her bows tails drifting slowly behind her. There was still only that female stuffed bear in her arms. Pride wasn't taking any chances, and bounded after her immediately; snatching up his own stuffed bear with one hand. He wouldn't let her think it was anything but kindness, and he held it out for her with a reluctant sigh.

"You can have it; I can't take it home with me, and you really wanted one, so…" She gasped, covering her mouth.

"You'd give it to me, really? That's so nice of you! Now they can be a couple." The girl stepped closer, forcing the two stuffed creatures to shake hands. "Thank you so much, I always wanted two of my teddy bears to be friends, and now I have. It's the best holiday ever! But… I'll never be able to repay you now, since I'm going back home tomorrow. How about I meet you here then, so we can talk s'more? I'm Rebecca, by the way."

"I don't know if I can…but I'll try." He wouldn't, but it was better to keep her hopeful. Pride watched her go, and waved after her, not to her of course, but to the strangely sophisticated ursine that he'd almost owned.

He was rather sad to see it go, actually.

0 * 0 * 0

October 17th 1900

Even now it was still rather hard to believe, that Wrath had become Fuhrer over five years ago. He'd been there of course, saw it with his own eyes and observed it all with a delighted smile that Wrath had finally achieved that which he was born to do. After the peculiar and very sudden case of heart failure that had struck down the aging Fuhrer West in the summer of 1895 the only option to consider had been strapping, charismatic and all around perfect Major General King Bradley. All had gone to as they wished, and Pride had been determined to relish in every second of it, that they were even closer to completing Father's Plan, even the sudden photograph from the Central Times reporter didn't ruin it. Wrath had overhauled the stigma on gender, and allowed women to sign up to the military, leaving him to be considered a visionary that could only bring Amestris into a brighter and more illustrious future.

But that was in the past, and with only fourteen years and a few months left until the Promised Day other things took precedence over Wrath maintaining Amestris's morale- like actually finding sacrifices for Father. A fifth alchemic laboratory was beginning construction, next to one of Central's prisons to provide them with a steady supply of souls when needed. Another Crest of Blood was already in hand; Wrath had annexed the nation of Ishval into a part of Amestris in order to prevent a more widespread conflict. For the most part there was little motivation to start a war at the moment, but a series of giggling and vague ramblings from Envy of some terribly ingenious and 'fun' idea for the year after that he had concocted had more than convinced Pride that Envy was going to do as he always did and be the instigator for the bloodshed that was to follow.

"What is this, Wrath?" Pride ran his finger along the round silver thing, it bore the flag of Amestris, the lion-dragon with thin, precise patterns of the same silver, it must have been expensive to produce such a thing. There was a watch contained in it too. Wrath hardly came to visit anymore, so whatever he had come for it must have been important.

"It is the current design for the new 'State Alchemist' pocket watches. To allow us to select suitable alchemists to be potential sacrifices we shall set up the State alchemist program, so the alchemists will join the military, bringing them to us effectively. They would also be under the jurisdiction of the military, so we would be able to utilise them in conflicts as well." It seemed like a solid enough concept, but Pride didn't say anything one way or another, concepts were all well and good but was what if there were no alchemists willing to join the military? No piece of silver was going to convince them otherwise. "We have already chosen a potential state alchemist, a Tim Marcoh working at the third laboratory; he has vast knowledge of alchemy, particularly in the medical field. When the time comes we may be able to force him to perform human transmutation."

"I will discuss this with Father for you, Wrath."

"Thank you, Pride." And Wrath turned on his heels and left without another word on the matter.

After he was sure Wrath was gone Pride lay back down, holding the watch by its chain up above him, letting it sway there, musing, lazily watching the light reflect in the silver and his blurred, distorted reflection staring back at him.

Alchemists owned by the military, how interesting.

0 * 0 * 0

February 8th 1912

In Wrath's act as Fuhrer things were still progressing as well as expected, only two Crests of blood remained to be formed, though with only three years left in which to form them Pride hoped they would be created sooner rather than later, but he trusted Wrath's judgment completely on such matters. Public morale was still as high as it ever was in Central, at least in the relevant and important parts of Central that actually had an effect on things, which was all that mattered, so long as Wrath remained respected and adored, but still revered in a quiet fear as well, it was the only way humans could be taught to be anything near reliable, then everything would work out fine. For the most part everything seemed to be running smoothly and perfectly in every way possible. That, however, did not seem to include Wrath's wife in the matter.

It seemed Wrath's wife was a social butterfly by nature, in her youth anyway, and she flourished in the company of others, which life as the Fuhrer's spouse had provided for her, but even then she was the smallest bit curious about her husband, and as such had asked to meet at least some of his family, no matter how distant, and it wasn't something Wrath could refuse. The results of such weren't really lies either, in a strange way.

They were only too happy to oblige Wrath for the afternoon, posing as some distant relatives of his, Lust and Envy and himself, adopting the roles they had once before during a meeting with the first Fuhrer of Amestris, but it still felt rather natural, and of course Pride's act was as impeccable as it ever was. He peeked out from behind Lust's legs, where he'd hidden himself bashfully away as soon as he'd stepped through the door, shy would work best here, let her drop her guard and allow her to act maternal to him, be the mother she'd never been nor would ever be because she was Wrath's wife through every fault of her own. She looked so much different now, it was to be expected, humans aged so quickly even in only three decades, soft wrinkles were beginning to cut into her cheeks and her hair had faded into a dirty blonde. Her eyes were similar enough, that bottomless pit of rage absent from them for now, and hopefully for the duration of their visit.

"Aww, there's no need to be shy, I won't bite." She looked down at him with a faint, gentle smile, stepping gingerly closer.

"Pay no attention to him; Selim's always like this around new people. He'll be fine after half an hour or so." Lust ran her hand through his hair with a small chuckle at the lies she was weaving so effortlessly, as if they hadn't not been speaking to each other for several decades, it all came back to naturally to her, as if she could actually care.

"My, Selim, what an interesting name that is." There was no point in creating a new fake name for himself, Selim had always been sufficient in the past; it could be equally as sufficient now. Pride poked his head out for a second time, miming a 'thank you', but still unwilling to grow any bolder than that, still tucked close to Lust's waist. Behind her Wrath was beginning to scowl, growing tired of their game far too quickly, he never would be able to perfect his act if he got bored of keeping it up for any substantial amount of time. He would need to be taught just how long they were capable of sustaining it for. Well, they hadn't the time to waste for very much longer, and Envy could hardly be expected to remain impeccable for so long anyway.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you, Lenore, I'm Solaris, and this is my husband… Shaun." Lust shook her hand, light blue gloves covering her real ones, them stretching high enough to be covered by her fluffed up shawl as well, keeping her secured in her act without any of her true clothes showing besides her shoes. "You've already half met Selim, I'm sure he'll come out soon enough. Tea usually coaxes him from anywhere."

"Oh yes tea of course. You must be parched from travelling so far to get here; I'll ask the maid to bring it into the tea room now. We can stay there for your visit today if you like, is that ok for you too, Dear?" Wrath huffed out something that was a most likely a yes, like he was becoming too irritated with them to speak properly. How ungrateful of him, as if it wasn't him that had spouted nonsense about his wife becoming suspicious if she didn't meet some of his family immediately after she had requested such, and that they simply must do him this as a favour to him lest everything unravel and be ruined, as if they did it for any such stupid reason as that. They had agreed to this on Father's orders and nothing more than that. Stepping out from behind Lust Pride inched himself closer, keeping his head down and nervously staring at his shoes, he couldn't be too confident too quickly, he still needed to remain distant and apprehensive of everything. He reached out nervously, waiting for her to take his hand first.

"I…i-i-it's nice to meet you…Mrs. Bradley."

"Nice to meet you too, Selim. Now, I'm sure you're tired travelling so far from home, do you want to have a rest in the tearoom with the rest of us?" he forced a tiny smile, nodding.

The tearoom didn't seem to be anything of much interest. Wrath and his wife sat on two seats at one side of the tea table, while Envy and Lust and himself squeezed onto the couch opposite. Envy pushed at him irritably to try and get more room on the cramped sofa, until Lust lifted him away lest Envy do something he would definitely come to regret. Wrath's wife set her cup of tea down.

"How old are you now, Selim?" Pride was far too occupied with nursing his third cup of tea to answer, and waited for Lust to inevitably answer for him before it looked like he was being ignorant.

"He's going to be eight in May." Using his real birthday? How original of her. "They grow up so fast don't they? It feels like only yesterday he was so small and…helpless," she faltered, and Pride looked curiously up from his place on her lap, how could she fail at her act mid-sentence? Lust recovered, burying her fingers in his hair and forcing a laugh. "but now he's so independent, hardly needs me looking after him at all…I guess it's selfish of me to say that I miss when he used to rely on me for everything, isn't it?"

"Not at all, it must be bittersweet; to be fawning over them constantly one minute and the next they're all grown up." "We can't have children, so we'll never be able to understand, but I like to think that I can empathise at what it must be like." She sighed, bowing her head, not really talking to them anymore. "We realised it early on, and it's down to me, not King, so there's no one I can really blame but myself." Pride didn't truly understand it, he knew that homunculi were infertile, but the intricacies of that were something he had never cared to discover, but he knew enough to see its effects as far as Wrath was concerned now, and that he had forced his wife to believe it was a problem with her instead of him. "I think we've accepted it now though, and we're content with just having each…" Wrath took her hand in his in the gap between the chairs, giving it a comforting distracting her, and he shot them all a very infuriated glower, but she was so wrapped in her melancholy ramblings she'd never notice. How was it their fault anyway, she was the one who had brought the topic up. "Oh look at me talking rubbish again, pay me no mind." Pride just let his smile droop a tad, he wasn't meant to understand what the sensible and sophisticated adults were discussing, so he let it go over his head and didn't say a word, only glancing around, and wilted in his boyish boredom, leaning against Lust's chest, and her hand slipped around his stomach, affectionately pulling him closer.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but medical alchemy is developing all the time, so maybe…"

"Oh no, I'm much too old now anyway…and besides, I shouldn't force my problems onto you, Selim seems like a wonderful boy, I know you must have been raising him exceptionally, so I'm happy for you two all the same." He felt Lust nod above him, an insincere, trying to be curt and understanding sort of nod; Lust probably couldn't understand such things as desiring children either, so there was no possibility of them feeling even the smallest bit sympathetic for Wrath and his wife's very human plight, regardless of the cause being Wrath's species. Knowing that the subject was exhausted, and that if they carried it on for much longer Wrath would only do something foolish, Pride emptied his cup of tea with an undignified gulp. Not wanting to make a fuss he held the empty cup on his lap, Lust still holding him close, like she never wanted to let him move again. In Lust's lap again, for the first time in what felt like forever, what probably was, the only sign that such a thing had ever happened at all was the blurred, barely there memories of the past, only feelings of warmth and love and a complete contentment with everything. But all that was only proof of how weak he used to be to have accepted such things from Lust of all people, and every part of him wanted to push her away and put her in her correct place, but it was an impossibility during his act, and there would be no point pursuing it later, so he accepted it with a sigh. It certainly was not that same warmth from before that flickered faintly somewhere inside him that prevented him from resisting, not at all. It simply was not worth his time to think about, how could it possibly be?

Envy, who had been reserved and silent for the better part of their visit, passing it off as constantly needing to clean his glasses or adjust the bow wrapped around his ponytail, finally cracked in the silence that followed, and decided to speak up just to break the tension.

"So…how did the two of you meet?" Envy knew all too well how Wrath and his wife had been acquainted on the worst of terms, Pride had been there to see it first hand, and had watched Wrath humiliate himself as he relayed the story to his siblings on both of their meetings that had ended atrociously. It was far too obvious that Envy, with the mischievous smirk tugging the corner of his mouth unbelievably high, threatening to shatter his youthful but fatherly façade, if Wrath's reaction to Envy pushing at him wouldn't do that first.

"Oh, now that is an interesting story, I don't know where to begin really, it all happened so fast and before I knew it I'd married. I guess you could call it fate. Well, it was a lovely October day many years ago, I was young and prettier back then, but not as beautiful as you Solaris of course." Lust waved off with the expected reassurance that she was sure that she was beautiful as well, and that she shouldn't sell herself short even at her age. "So, I was on my way to work my afternoon shift, when all of a sudden I hear this-"

"It's long story, one for another time. You said you needed to be leaving soon, correct?" It seemed Wrath did not wish to repeat the elaborate tale of how they had met, and cut her off with a dismissive growl. Pride flinched away from the aggression as he was expected to, returning to his previous nervousness. That unbearably livid gleam began to creep into her eyes,

"How can you say that? They've only just arrived and you're shooing them off like they're not wanted." but even so she turned to them with the same cheeriness she had possessed throughout their meeting. "You three stay as long as you please, it's no trouble at all." She looked down on him, as his apparent fear and bent down to talk to him in a friendly whisper. "Don't you worry about him; he isn't this grumpy all the time."

"We need to be going anyway, so it's fine. Thank you for allowing us to visit again." Lust lifted him onto his feet and set him down and putting his cup on the table, then dusting off her dress with her spare hand as she reached to shake Wrath's Wife's hand again.

"Not at all, it was a pleasure to meet you, it really was. If you don't mind me asking, how are you related to King again? He never said, and here I was thinking he hadn't any family at all, so it was such a pleasant surprise that we found you through King's connections. He works ever so hard as Fuhrer, I'm glad that we managed to have some time with family once in a while." Envy shook her hand too, but walked around the back of the couch to join him so he could avoid awkwardly walking past Wrath. Lust paused to think for a moment, not sure how to really answer the sudden question.

"Oh, I'm his…" Pride stopped himself from rolling his eyes at whatever horribly spontaneous relation Lust was going to make up. "…Mother's cousin's auntie's stepfather's great great great niece. Once removed." There we go. At least it was so convoluted that his wife wouldn't dare question it. "So that makes Selim…just a distant relative, to keep things simple, I don't want us here all day digging through the family tree. We're all pretty wide spread; it's hard to keep in touch with anyone these days. I haven't met any of the family since…at least since before Selim was born. But family's family no matter how distant, we're happy you managed to track us down in the first place. I can't tell you how surprised we were to receive a letter from the Fuhrer himself inviting the three of us here, and that we're actually related!" If he didn't stop them now they could carry on talking for hours, which clearly Wrath hadn't the patience to endure, and letting him be awkward and ungrateful he tugged impatiently at Lust's hand. "Oh, it's ok Selim, we're leaving now."

"Well I hope you can stay in touch the best you can, and thank you for coming to meet us. We'd be happy for you to visit any time you like, wouldn't we, King?" Wrath only grumbled something again, but for his own sake Pride ignored him, waving shyly at his wife before latching on to Lust's hand as she led him away.

"Phew, that was boring!" Envy stretched his arms with a yawn as he returned to his preferred form now that they were outside the house. The almost none existent light of the just rising moon barely trickled over the wall of Central Headquarters, keeping them hidden from sight if there were any humans around in the first place. "The nerve of him, we stick our necks out to do Wrath a favour and he treats it like we forced ourselves in without asking! It's him who begged us. Are we not good enough to meet his precious human or somethin'!? Last time I do anything for him." Pride would have agreed with Envy wholeheartedly, but to agree on such a matter with his younger, less sensible siblings did not feel like the right thing to do if they were to ensure they all remained in the correct hierarchy, if any of them turned against Wrath he would be seen responsible for not teaching Wrath properly, which would be...

"Calm yourself, Envy. Father ordered us to assist Wrath and we did so without hesitation. His inability to tolerate our act is his fault alone; we did nothing we shouldn't have." It was infinitely easier to highlight their own success than Wrath's insolence and disrespect. "I doubt Wrath would be willing to allow us another audience with her anyway, I'm sure he will not call upon us for such a menial favour again, which will be for the best. We should return to Father now and inform him of our observations today." At least once they returned home Pride would finally be able to get out of the terribly ostentatious clothes Lust had chosen for him to wear for the day, the same ones she'd had tailored for him to wear at Wrath's inauguration. A light blue jacket with a terrible pale red tie seemed to be a ridiculous colour scheme that only a child who didn't know any better would be allowed to get away with, but given his high status as one of the Fuhrer's rather wealthy relatives it wasn't something anyone could question.

"Oh, I'm not coming back with you two." Envy tilted his head at Lust's sudden statement, blinking through the dark.

"Why not, Lust?"

"Father wants me to travel East to visit some run down little village, to find someone to trick into helping us someway or another. I need to go now, since the next train to East City leaves in an hour so I can't waste any time going home to pack. Don't worry, Envy, I'll be back for you and Gluttony as soon as I've had a good look around, ok?" Envy seemed to understand, part of his most likely wondering why he was not informed of Lust's mission, but accepting it.

"Ok, Lust. See you later then."

"Bye, Envy." After giving Envy a quick hug she turned to him, like she was actually going to speak to him, to even dare to be so insolent to their unspoken promise and...

"You'll tell Father that I'll be back in a week or so with my report on my progress, won't you, Pride?" but still she dared, and stared down at him with eyes still so sincere and respectful and trusting. Pride didn't give her the satisfaction of any answer, and just nodded with a scowl. If Father had ordered it then he would inform him as he should, but purely because it was Father's will and nothing else.

"Thank you." Lust stepped close to him, as if she wanted to be even more impudent in any way she could, and he hand reached out, but whatever wretched thought she had died instantly and she let it droop. She forced herself to stand straighter, her mouth setting in a firm, emotionless line. "Goodbye, Pride." She walked off, not expecting him to reply, as if talking between them was actually necessary at all. He watched her leave, his mouth twisted into a tighter scowl. But even then, he wouldn't be accused of being ignorant or disrespectful to her while Envy was watching; he couldn't take that risk ever again. So he called after her with a grimace, breaking his promise as she had hers with the greatest reluctance. He'd do it just this once, just once and never again.

"Goodbye, Lust."

He'd be content if he never saw her again anyway.

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Phew, hopefully my laptop is fixed in time for next chapter ^^ because of all the trouble I had this week writing this I'm sorry if it isn't as good as usual ;_; Once my laptop's back I plan to fix it up ^_^

Random Chibi-Rebecca Catalina cameo, on holiday from East City...I don't even... but she's such a hopeless romantic in the series, I think she's ok.

Giant overgrown scene one managed to eat the other two scenes I had planned for this chapter, and now they are cut forever. The first one would have been Wrath's inauguration doubling as Pride's final photobomb of the fic, but it was cut because I felt that Pride couldn't do much but watch and there was nothing I could have done to make it that interesting or long.

The second scene was where Pride would have been in Central in 1910 and would meet Barry in his Butcher's shop, where he would recognise him from his spying around in the shadows from time to time, and consider if he could be of use to them in the future. This would also have been a quick time to make a reference to the similar appearance of Barry's wife and Lust, with Pride describing Lust to Barry and Barry saying that it sounded like his wife, since in an interview with Arakawa she said that Barry's wife looked almost identical to Lust. This scene just got devoured because of the monster word count. Sorry Barry cameo ;_;

See you all next chapter ^^