Hello my lovely readers. It's that time again, I have the motivation and chance to actually write a chapter. I've been trying not to go any longer then about a month for any of my stories, and have been pretty close to succeeding.

"Pride Speaking"
"Selim To Pride"

Chapter 22

Selim sat on the couch in front of Mrs. Bradley, staring at the floor. After they'd finished crying they moved to another room. Selim had been staring down the entire time, not able to look anyone in the eyes, especially Mrs. Bradley or Fath- Wrath, a combination of shame and fear keeping him locked on the ground. What if they could tell he wasn't their 'son?' He didn't want to find out.

"Selim, dear, why? W-we were so worried," the older woman asked, and Selim nearly flinched at her voice. She did sound worried, he didn't want to lie to her. She seemed like such a nice lady, so much like her mother. Well, he guessed she was almost an exact copy of her, in a way.

"I-I'm sorry. I just… these people, they… they took me, and when I got away, I was… I was really, really scared. P-please don't be mad, I'm sorry…" the black haired boy mumbled, trying to keep a balance between how he really felt and not overacting. He just had no idea really how Pride would possibly act in a situation like this, so he just had to go with what felt right. Mrs. Bradley seemed to be buying it completely, which only made him feel worse for some reason, but he couldn't tell with Wrath. He didn't want to look at him and find out.

"Oh dear, we're not mad, we're not mad," the woman said, pulling him into yet another hug. He didn't protest or hug back, mainly slumped against her. All that crying had made him tired again. If he fell asleep now, he might be able to put off not having to talk one on one with King Bradley yet. He would hopefully just think it was part of the act anyway.

Not thinking it over any longer, it took only a few moments for the child to quickly go out cold. Mrs. Bradley didn't bother to let him go though, the room nearly silent for the next ten minutes. When that was finally broken, it was King who'd done it.

"Well, I'd best start the search for those men Selim had mentioned," the tall man said, striding towards the door. He half expected him wife to protest and attempt to make him stay with his 'son' for a while longer, so he was slightly surprised when she simply nodded instead, not taking her eyes away from the sleeping form of the child in her arms.

"Yes, it's best that they be found, isn't it?" she said in a quiet, calm voice. There wasn't any obvious malice or anger there, but King could sense the underlying threat to the men who kidnapped her 'son' in those words. The homunculus had to resist the urge to chuckle at the scene. What was it that they called it? Ah yes, a typical mama bear, that's what it was.

Mrs. Bradley wasn't sure how long she stayed in that position after her husband left before scooping up the worn out boy gently, walking him to his room. She made extra care not to wake him, not after everything he'd been through. Poor boy deserved his sleep. She had to try and keep herself from breaking out into tears as she watched him. She'd thought she'd lost him, he'd been gone so long. He was here now though, that's all that mattered. Although, she wasn't about to let him out of her sights again, that was for sure.

The next morning, Selim was highly confused as to where he was, but didn't complain in the least. He couldn't even remember the last time he slept on a real bed, and he wasn't about to leave it anytime soon. As the sun filtered in through the curtains to the room, memories of what was happening slowly started to filter back into his head through his sleep dazed state.

He was at Pride's home, and he had an act to keep up. Regretfully, he pushed himself off the comforting bed before changing into a new set of clothes. Clean clothes! He didn't think he'd ever wear clean clothes again. He hadn't even had time to change yesterday, having fallen asleep too quickly. Once dressed, he started at himself in a mirror hanging on the wall. It was on the opposite place from where his back home was. He really was dirty, even after changing, he desperately needed a bath. Running a hand through his hair, he turned to head out of the room.

It didn't take long at all before he ran into Mrs. Bradley. She seemed so happy to see him, hugging him in greeting. Selim ignored the pang of guilt that washed over him yet again as he started talking.

"H-hello mother, is it alright if I took a bath? I fell asleep yesterday before I could," he asked, smiling up at her cheerfully. He hoped he wasn't acting too cheerful, but if he was she didn't seem to notice. He didn't think he had to worry about her noticing anything, really. It wasn't that she didn't care about Pride, it was the opposite, actually. She would do anything for him, and was almost blinded by happiness in the fact that he was back and safe.

"Pride, how could you?" he asked, thoughts completely contradicting the joyous expression on his face. He didn't get an answer from the sin however, the voice choosing to remain silent at the moment.

"Of course you can dear! You head there right now and I'll make sure you'll have a fresh outfit for when you're done," the older woman said kindly. He didn't care so much if it was out of character or not, Selim quickly giving her a hug before she could leave. There wasn't anyone here that he needed to watch out for anyway, and he really missed his own mother right now.

"Thank you…" he whispered, before running off to the bathroom. He didn't stay long enough to see what her reaction was, but like he thought before, she really had no reason or drive to be suspicious of him, not like the others.

Stepping into the water, he started scrubbing as much as he could, almost completely coated in just a layer of grime. He was kind of surprised that Pride hadn't yelled at him for getting his 'container' dirty, but he guessed the inhuman child had other, more important things to worry about. Sighing slightly to himself, the black haired boy tried to give another attempt at speaking with him.

"Pride? You do care about her, right?" Selim asked, rubbing shampoo through his hair for the second time. He'd almost given up on the sin answering when the voice finally started to echo in his head.

"I don't see how that is relevant to anything. My task is to act as her son, and that is what I do," Selim shook his head though, having expected an answer like that if he was going to get one at all. Grimacing at the now brown water, he tried to ignore it in favor of pursuing the topic now that Pride had spoke.

"I know that's what you're suppose to do for your father, but that doesn't mean you can't, I don't know, enjoy it," he suggested, earning a bit of a scoff from the sin. That of course couldn't change the feeling of relief Selim had felt emanating from Pride when they first saw her again, or the mild annoyance he felt from the fake child at being pretty much found out.

"I said it doesn't matter. I may care for her," Selim blinked in surprise to himself at that, he hadn't thought Pride would just admit it to him like that. Either he really didn't care at this point whether or not he knew, or he just knew he couldn't hide it, "but that wont factor into anything. She'll die just as the rest of you humans when Father's plan comes to completion, and there isn't anything anyone can do about it. I wouldn't want to at any rate," Selim wasn't sure if it was just his inability to believe that someone wouldn't want to save his own mother or mixed feelings he was picking up from Pride that made his disbelieve that last part.

"Pride, you can't mean that. If you care about her, then of course you would want her to not die, or then you really don't care," the black haired boy protested as he stepped out of the tub, quickly wrapping himself in a towel once he did. Again, it took the sin a moment before finally answering.

"Then it seems I don't really care about her," he nearly mumbled, only causing Selim to sigh again, frowning to himself. He knew Pride didn't mean that, but it didn't seem like it would do much good to argue with him. He was just too loyal to that Father of his, and for the life of him Selim couldn't see why. Mrs. Bradley obviously cared more about him then that man even seemed capable of, why did he deserve Pride's service and devotion more then her?

Reaching his, well, Pride's room, he quickly changed into the fresh outfit that the older woman had left out for him, thankful beyond belief at finally feeling truly clean since he left.

Realizing for the first time that day that he was hungry, he made his way to the dining room, nearly getting lost a few times. There were several slight differences in the house plan, and he just hadn't been there in so long, his faded memory combined with it made it take a bit longer then he would of liked.

Mrs. Bradley was waiting for him in the room, and he smiled warmly at her as he stepped through the doorway. She already had more food then he thought he could ever eat laid out on the table, and didn't waste any time in ushering him over. They were the only two in the room at the time, and for that he was grateful.

"Come here dear, eat up. You must be starving, you fell asleep before eating last night," the woman explained, and Selim simply nodded as he stared at the food. She was right, he was hungry, although he wasn't sure if he would call it starving. You think going without food for the times that he had it would be worse for him, but that must of just been Pride's inhuman body working for his advantage again.

As they ate, they talked quite a bit, tending to stay away from what had happened since he left, both feeling content in pretending it never happened. Of course, Selim was pretending much more then she was, but she didn't need to know that, not at all.

"Oh yes, you're father promised to be home as soon as possible in order to see you. He went to make sure that those men responsible for all of this get found and punished," Mrs. Bradley said, and Selim nodded, food currently in his mouth. Okay, so he definitely didn't want to see Wrath, but there was no way for him to actually show that. Pride would be happy to see him.

"That's great mother! I can't wait!," he spouted cheerfully. He managed to keep up the act almost as flawlessly as before that announcement, any slip ups he blamed on fatigue. Wrath would probably want to talk to him alone as soon as possible, and he had to be ready for that. Of course, as long as he didn't burst into tears, he should be okay. He'd changed since he last met with the Further, he almost didn't recognize himself.

Tricking him was just one more step on keeping his safety in check as he planned a way out of this mess. It wouldn't be that hard, or at least, that's what he told himself, anyway.

And it's done, and I'm not pulling an April fools either. Huh, I always end up updating all of my stories in short succession of each other, then waiting some undetermined amount of time before doing it again. You think it would be easier to spread it out, but once I start writing, I just want to keep going, and get them all done.

Well, please review.