UGH. Late chapter is late... insanely late. XD
Sorry about the wait guys, I really am! I haven't been in an FMA mood in forever, and right now I'm in a pretty mean one lol. I'll try to get a few chapters written beforehand so you don't always have to wait so long for updates.
In the meantime, this is a bit short, but I felt like writing it. GOD am I obsessed with Envy or what lately? X'D
Anyway, hope you enjoy! Hopefully more coming in the not-too-distant future! :)
It was hard for Hershey to even try and get any sleep that night. She was terrified of what Envy would do if - when - he came back. Being ripped from everyone she knew was bad enough, but to be in a house full of homicidal maniacs who would probably kill her if she stepped one toe out of line? Or like Envy, who took every chance to kick her when she was down whether or not she'd done anything wrong?
For a good while all she did was sit on the ground by the bed and cry. What else was she supposed to do? Try to break out? Escape was impossible; someone would catch her and turn her over to Envy, who would then probably say something along the lines of, "At least I know how to break more than a stupid window," while he snapped every bone in her body.
What, was she supposed to just sit here and wait for everyone to realize she was missing? It would be a week's wait for them to even notice that she was gone, considering how few true friends she had. Mostly it was just Mari, who of course would be too shy to speak up; Kain Fuery, who was too swamped with work to miss their not-daily conversations; and Kimblee, who was too busy rotting in a prison cell to worry about her.
After a while she bucked up a bit and decided that if she wasn't going to get through this with dignity, she wasn't going to get through it at all, so chin up. You cry, you die. She wouldn't give Envy the satisfaction of seeing her tears, nor would she just sulk around in a little blobby heap on the floor. He'd given her a room with a bed for a reason, so why not use it? Obviously he wanted her to sleep.
Sometime around midnight was when she guessed she'd fallen asleep. It was an uneasy sleep, not very relaxing, and she kept waking up. She did get a little rest, though it wasn't quite the rest she'd hoped for. She'd have preferred her sleep not to be disturbed by every little noise that might be one of the Homunculi coming to viciously murder her.
Finally she woke up one too many times, and was already facing the window, so she looked out. The sun was rising, which meant it must have been pretty early. "Well," she sighed, turning over, "the early bird catches the - WHOA!"
When she turned over, in the direction of the door, she found herself staring into the face of a short, fat, bald man. He was dressed in black, the way all the Homunculi seemed to be, so her one guess was that he was one of them. "Um... h-hello," she greeted lamely, sitting up and never taking her eyes off him.
His own eyes seemed to be focused, almost trained, on her. The smile he was giving her was actually almost a little creepy, but other than that little bit, it almost seemed friendly. "Hi!" he piped in a high-pitched voice, leaning forward a little. "Lust sent me to wake you up. I asked her if I was allowed to eat you after I did, but she said that Envy said I'm not allowed unless he tells me to."
He acted... childlike, almost. She was a bit put off by the fact that he'd innocently admitted that he'd have eaten her if Envy hadn't said no, but at least it gave her an idea as to who he was. Besides, he hadn't actually disobeyed Envy and eaten her anyway, so she supposed she should be grateful that she was still alive.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, rubbing at her neck. "Um... thanks for not eating me, then," she giggled nervously. Putting her hand down, she stood up. "So... you must be Gluttony, am I right?"
"Yep, that's me!" He waddled toward the door, then looked back as if to ask whether or not she was coming. "You're smart. What's your name? Lust didn't tell me."
"Uh, I'm Hera. But I don't like people calling me that, so call me Hershey. That's my nickname."
He smiled dully, opening the door and heading out. "That's cute! Do you actually taste like a Hershey, do you think?"
She raised an eyebrow. "No... no, I, uh, I think I'm human-flavored. I mean, is there such a thing as human-flavored?"
"Not really," he replied, leading her down the hall. "Every human tastes a little different. You smell good, but Lust and Envy say I'm not allowed to eat you, so I won't. Not unless they want me to, because I think you'd taste good. You might be kind of chewy, but that's okay because I like chewy humans. I don't like little humans because they're always too crunchy."
"Oh, okay..." Well, in some way or another, she assumed she ought to take that more as a compliment than anything else. On the other hand, she couldn't believe she was having a serious conversation about how her species tasted... and how she might taste. "So, um, where are we going?"
"Hmm?" He glanced up at her. "Oh! Envy and Lust and Greed are already awake, so Lust said that Envy wanted me to bring you to the kitchen. I think he said something about you making breakfast for him." He tilted his head a little to one side, blinking. "Will you make breakfast for me, too?"
Shrugging, she stopped when he did, at a small door that had no knob. "Sure, I'd be happy to. You might have to wait till I finish Envy's though. He's kind of demanding."
"Oh, that's alright anyway. I already ate some, but I'm starting to get hungry again. I can wait till you're finished, if your food's as good as Envy says it is." He pushed the door open, walking in ahead of her. "Lust, I found Hershey!" he called, scampering over to a buxom woman with long, wavy dark hair who was leaning against the counter. "Did I do well?"
The woman nodded, and Hershey was actually a little surprised that she didn't, like... pat him on the head or something. From just her initial impression of the two, it seemed like they had an amiable relationship. "You did very good, Gluttony." She then looked up at the other woman. "So... your name is..." She wrinkled her nose slightly. "Hershey?"
She swallowed. "W-Well, actually it's Hera - Hera Taylor. But I prefer people to call me Hershey. I like it better, is all. And you're... Lust?"
"Yes, I am." They regarded each other with a hint of shared feminism, though it seemed that Lust was far less curious about Hershey than Hershey was about Lust. Eventually it seemed that Lust decided she'd leave the new girl alone for now, and she crossed her arms over her ample chest.
"Finally, there you are!" After giving her about sixty seconds to interact with the female Homunculus, her captor and apparent boss grabbed her by the arm. "Do you know how long I've been waiting for something to eat? Lazy girl! Next time if you don't get up, I'll slit your throat!" He sure liked using that particular threat, didn't he?
"You're a Homunculus," she stated flatly, giving him the closest thing to a blank stare she could muster this early in the morning. "You don't technically need to eat, right?"
Everything seemed to go quiet in the room, and Hershey caught the faint sight of Lust smirking out of the corner of her eye. After a brief moment, Envy rushed forward and pinned the alchemist against the opposite wall via a hand around her neck. "You don't technically need to speak," he mocked, his free hand transforming into some kind of blade. It edged ever closer to the side of her mouth. "So how would you like it if I carved out your tongue?"
She tried not to move lest the blade actually catch her lip, but her fear betrayed her by causing her to shake violently. She had to suck in a few quivery breaths before she could even get a tiny answer out. "I-I wouldn't..."
He wasn't really going to cut her tongue out, was he? He wouldn't. He was just trying to make a cruel comparison, to illustrate his point. He was bluffing.
He was bluffing... wasn't he?
AAAAAND I'M CRUEL FOR LEAVING IT ON A CLIFFHANGER.
But I swear I'm going to write more, as soon as I update! I SWEAR! GIVES ME ONE LAST CHANCE~!
Envy: *snicker* That's right, human. Beg for your pathetic life - I mean reviews. GROVEL IN THE DIRT! *kicks me while I'm down*
Palm-tree-haired asshat. XD
Hope you enjoyed, all!
Thanks for reading and hopefully reviewing! ^^