Envy, Lust, and Gluttony have always intrigued me the most out of the FMA characters. Therefore, I have decided to do a fic centered on those three. It will take place from about ep. 40 to the end of the show, and well.. I'll let you figure out the pairing yourself. Also! The first two chapters in my opinion are not very good and I plan on rewriting them when the story is completed. In my opinion, it starts getting good in the third chapter so.. please stick around until at least the third chapter xD

A warning to those of you who don't like Gluttony.. I have a very different opinion of him than most people. You'll see just how different.. soon (haha).

Disclaimer: FMA and all its characters belong to its original creators.

The Simpleness of Love

I am a simple man. Even I realize this. However, I am not capable of declaring my love for someone, even to her, she who was most precious to me. She occupied my thoughts day and night, but I could never say those words to her. They were simple ones, not so complicated that not even I couldn't say them. No... the only way I could express my growing affection was to be by her side, backing her up whenever she needed it. I could do nothing when another took her away from me, said what I could not bring myself to say, and stole her heart.

I could do nothing when everything spiraled out of control. Like always, I was helpless, unable to do a single thing. I berated myself for my weakness, but I couldn't win, couldn't convince the Sin inside of me to shut up and follow the lucid part of me.

It was that weakness led to her death, the death of the woman I loved more than anything. No matter how much I cared for her, there was nothing I could do to help her when she needed me most.

I could only watch. Watch, because that was the only thing I was capable of when it came to anyone else other than myself. Because I was too much of a coward to step forward and back her up in front of everyone else. I was too afraid of the consequences.

And now, even though I had learned my lesson, it was too late. Because when I could have done something, could have changed her fate, I hadn't. And so I would have to suffer the consequences for as long as I lived.

Which I could tell wouldn't be long now. My mind was already beginning to slip away. I was slowly becoming the person everyone believed me to be: a simpering, fat, idiot who could barely even begin to speak for himself. I was retreating into myself, and I never wanted to come out again. The only thing I had left were my memories, and even they were beginning to disappear, consumed by my Sin.

Well. I wouldn't let them. Because they were all I had left of her.

Chapter One

In Lior, the city of recent turmoil, two figures stood overlooking the capital city like they always did. The moon hung high above them in the black blanket that was the night, and the two figures' shadows stretched long before them until they mixed together to become one. Lust, the woman, easily blended into the darkness with her raven hair and slinky black dress. Her manicured nails, painted black, shone softly in the light of the moon. A hand was to her chin as she stood thinking, and her eyes, a hard violet, flitted all over the place as she plotted hidden thoughts.

The man at her side could have been mistaken as an oaf from first sight. His thick arms hung uselessly at his side and his round white eyes were blank. He was chubby, but it didn't matter, for out of the Seven Sins, he was Gluttony. A mouth that could eat anything and everything was what he had for his power. He could eat whatever and whenever he wanted. That was what distinguished him from the other Homunculi, artificial humans created during human transmutation. Each of them had their own special abilities, but lacked a true soul in exchange for their gifts. They were named after the Seven Deadly Sins according to why they were created. Because Dante, their leader, had required a way of storing the Philosopher's Stone, human Gluttony had been killed and resurrected to who he was now. Lust on the other hand, had been created out of love, resurrected by an Ishbalite who wished to be reunited with his beloved. But no matter how each of the seven homunculi was created, it was all their quest to find and use the Philosopher's Stone so they could become human.

For some however, revenge was the reason. Their names did come from the sin of why they had been created after all, and that wasn't something the homunculi could forget easily. Envy for one was fiercely envious of his half-brothers, even if they were brothers in spirit only. No one quite remembered why he had been created in the first place, but because Envy was his name, Lust figured it had something to do with Hohenheim being jealous of death or maybe even Dante. But what did it matter? Envy was someone else, not her, why was she even thinking of him?

They were extremely close to creating the Stone now, Lust thought to herself, continuing her musing. The scarred man from Ishbal possessed the power they needed and the hatred that accompanied the creation. Scar, was that his name? Lust wasn't too sure, but names weren't that important in her world. She wanted so much to be human and to be rid of her desire for so many things. Sometimes she didn't even know why though; was it becomes Dante, their leader told them this? Or was it because she was tired of her life? It gnawed at her all the time and consumed much of her mind. Gluttony, she knew, always devoured more than he wanted, which was what he had received when becoming a Homunculi. She almost pitied him, but she could never tell if he actually did want to eat as much as he did or hated it.

Her ears caught the soft landing of someone behind them and she turned. Speak of the Devil, she thought amusedly, and he will appear. It was a human saying, but one that, despite her dislike for humans, certainly fit well. Lust smiled wryly, her black bangs almost covering one violet eye. "Envy. How kind of you to drop by."

A young man of about eighteen was crouched behind them on the wall. Moonlight silhouetted him against the building, and dark green hair flowed down his head with parts of it covering his face. A black bandana with a red symbol etched on it was tied around his head. Clay, stated the three dots positioned into a triangle. Clay, the malleable substance that could be turned into just about anything, just like Envy. It matched him perfectly, although Lust wondered how he could have made such a reference to himself. After all, humans were the masters of clay. By wearing such a symbol, was he referring to the fact that humans were his master? He had been created by one, and he was currently serving a human, but Lust knew Envy was too volatile to live like that. Perhaps another reason then?

"You caught me," Envy said with a light chuckle. His violet eyes passed over the other man, but he ignored him completely. After all, the oaf was too stupid to figure anything out for himself. Also, he was ugly. Envy was disgusted by his beady eyes and large nose. They looked disgusting on Gluttony's fat body, and he hated even thinking about it. Even if Gluttony had the ability to speak properly, Envy wouldn't have been able to respect him because his looks were so disturbing. And on top of all of that, Gluttony was bald, too, missing the beautiful crop of hair he, Envy, had. Envy couldn't for the life of him figure out who wanted to resurrect such a man, even if the man was for storage only. Why not a more beautiful creature? Sure, he understood that only something ugly would not be missed, but still. Did Dante have to choose the ugliest being she could have possibly found? He certainly would never have chosen Gluttony's vessel as a sin.

Neither could he figure out why Lust and Gluttony were always together. Lust, with her beauty, her craftiness, her... lust for anything that caught her attention. She was intense, attractive, and frightening. He loved her power, which had given her the nickname, "Ultimate Lance" She was a better companion for Envy than Sloth, who always clung to Pride anyway. Hmph. Lame. Sloth was just like a human in that matter.

Lust smiled craftily and despite himself, Envy felt a rush go through him. She was indeed a devious one. He would have to watch out for her, for she excited him in ways his unlucky victims never did.

"So what do you want, Envy?" she asked.

Envy raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think so little of me that whenever I show up, all you wonder about is what my motive is?" He brushed back his hair, deciding to throw her off. "How are you today?"

She was taken aback, he could tell. Usually he didn't concern himself with the other Homunculi unless he wanted something from them, and she knew this. It was uncommon for him to make chitchat with them. Envy was too high above everyone else. After a brief second however, she was back to her usual composed self. "Gluttony and I traveled around today. Visited Lior to see how the city was doing. That place is a mess now," she added as an afterthought. "You?"

"Wrath and I explored the area around Lior. Checked some places over, that kind of thing. A few chimeras were wandering around, so we killed them."

"How interesting," Lust replied. Not really, but she felt like she had to continue the conversation anyway. Now that she had started, she might as well continue.

Envy rolled his eyes. "You're kidding, right? Compared to how things used to be?" Damn. Everything was so mundane in his life. He needed excitement, and he knew Lust could offer it to him if he asked. After all, she hadn't been given that name for no reason. However, he said nothing, mainly because he didn't want her to think that he liked her. Not that way at least. He had a reputation to uphold.

Lust smiled, thinking back to earlier days where she had stirred up war and when she and Gluttony had killed Conero, that cursed priest who had failed at the easy task they had assigned him. It just went to show that one could never rely on humans. "Are you still playing the part of that priest?" she asked.

Envy snorted derisively. "Nah, I let him die. It's just too boring and ugly a part for cute lil' me!"

Lust snickered at that, laughing to herself at the light lilt in the other's voice when he had concluded his sentence. "Envy, you're just lazy."

"Lazy, lazy!" Gluttony mimicked.

Envy glanced at Gluttony in disgust. "Playing that part won't help me in my goal in any way, so why should I do it just to satisfy that old woman?" He shrugged angrily. "Besides, people kept on coming to me for help, and you know how much I hate that, especially from weak and stupid humans!" He muttered some more under his breath, but Lust couldn't quite catch what he said and decided it would be better not to ask him about it.

It was a known fact that Envy hated humans after all. He hated the fact that they often let emotion overrun sense, hated the fact that they flipped so quickly from side to side. He saw them as weak and dependent on one another. At the same time, he was jealous of them because they had so much while he so little. It was almost a love-hate relationship for Envy; love because he was obsessed with them, hate because he couldn't stand being with them for longer than ten minutes before killing them. Envy did not have a patient or tolerant temperament, and it showed. If one wanted to rile the homunculus up, all one had to do was mention humans, especially a certain golden-haired man, and Envy would immediately be thrown into such a great rage that his features became unrecognizable and his strength increased threefold.

A smirk came over Lust's face as she remembered all of this. "Sometimes, you need to do what you hate in order to get things accomplished. If you continue to wreck havoc, the Elric brothers will feel even worse for the horrors they've brought to that city by killing Conero in the first place."

Envy stroked his chin and glanced at Lust. "You're a smart chick, aren't you? I could do that, but it would be too much trouble." He jabbed a finger in her direction. "However, remind me to consult you next time when a situation like that arises again."

Lust lifted up her shoulders and arms in a "what can I say?" manner. Then she curled her fingers together and turned her wrists out. "I'm brilliant, what else is there to it?"

Again, Envy's eyes slid to Gluttony's for a brief moment. At least your brilliance makes up for your idiot companion, he thought. If he ever came up with anything like that, I would seal myself. Seriously. I can't believe you even hang out with him.

To Gluttony's face however, Envy said nothing. He figured there was no point because it wasn't like the homunculus was going to understand him anyway. Besides, he didn't want to break his conversation with Lust, not when they were on such a roll. It was only more proof that the two of them were perfect for each other.

The two of them talked a little longer, but finally Envy said he had to leave. They bid their farewells, but for the first time, his eyes lingered on hers for a few seconds. Then the moment broke, and without another word, he left, leaping from roof to roof until he had been swallowed by the night.

Gluttony dumbly watched the remaining homunculus as drool dripped from his open mouth. His blank eyes looked imploringly at her. "Lust? What are we going to do now?"

Lust hadn't taken her eyes from the direction Envy had taken. A blush had risen in her normally pale face, and she stroked her arm thoughtfully. "Envy..." she said softly. "What an interesting person, don't you think?"

Gluttony didn't respond, for his mind had drifted yet again, and his thumb was in his mouth as he sucked it. "I'm hungry," he finally said.

Lust laughed gently and touched his shoulder. "Let's find some food for you then, shall we?"

x x x x x

The touch of her hand on my shoulder burned my skin, but what was I supposed to do? I couldn't control my urge to consume things whether or not I was hungry. How was I supposed to compare myself to Envy? He was strong and handsome, could do things I couldn't do. Why wouldn't Lust be attracted to him? Me, I was lunky and waddled, almost barreled my way through everything. Compared to him, I was nothing.

But then again, I was the one that Lust had chosen to partner with. Why had she chosen me anyways? I had always wondered, but did not think my place to ask. It still wasn't in my eyes. Was it because I had been one of the first Homunculi to greet her? Why did I care so much about her attraction to Envy anyway? If she liked him, I couldn't do anything about it. He was our leader after all. But still, in my cold self, I felt a stab of pain at the thought of the two embracing.

Tell her. You must tell her before it's too late.

My mouth opened. The words were almost at the tip of my tongue, but drool suddenly poured out and I couldn't make them come out. Quickly I stuck my thumb in my mouth in an effort to stop the pour. Lust was talking, but I concentrated on stopping the drool. When she stopped however, what I had been about to say was wiped from my mind. By the time I remembered, I had delayed too long, saying the first thing that popped into my mind as she waited for my response. Hungry? Wonderful phrase to say to one's love.

What I wouldn't have given to rewind that moment. To give her a better view of myself, the way I really was, not the starving cannibal I always seemed to be. I couldn't say what I wanted to say now. But was it going to be too late when I finally said them?

Lust was moving on, and my head was tired of thinking. For some reason, I could never focus my thoughts for long. My moments of senility in my own mind were always short bouts that appeared at random. Because this bout was about to end, there was nothing more I could do. I followed after her lovely figure and stuck my thumb in my mouth. Another night. I would sort it all out another night.