Saviour

Chapter One

He was always watching. Even in the dim light given by the low burning gas lamp which gave off only a tiny amount of light, he could still see well enough. New people were rare, and always piped up his interest when they were put into this room. Even if he had never left his cage in this room, he knew well enough that there were other places beyond this one.

His head lfited, purple eyes narrowing as two large men came in, heaving something between them. His head, resting on top of his arms which were wrapped, like always, around his knees, turned slowly to the left. His cage was connected to another, seperated by a line of bars. the men dumped the 'something' in his connected cage, quickly leaving and slamming the thick door shut.

"Hey ... wake up." he murmured, voice raspy from not having been used. He was amazed that he even had a voice. For a moment, he studied him, strething out his legs as best he could and sighing. The 'thing' grunted softly, something caught between a whimper and a snarl, and opened dark eyes that reflected back the dim light. "Where am I?" he asked slowly, sitting up to lean against the seperating bars, peering curiously through at his sort-of cell mate.

"Somewhere awful." The 'thing' frowned at the answer he got, scratching his dusty cheek with a dark paw. He stared at him for a moment, before asking, "What's your name?" The other shrugged, reaching out for the sigh that dangled off of a peice of string on his cage. "Maes. Apparently." He stated slowly with yet another shrug. One couldn't be sure here. Maes had no idea who he was, who he had been, just only knew what he was.

The thing grunt-snorted softly, and Maes offered him a small smirk. "And you?" The other person pondered for a moment with an expression that looked as if it made him sad to think of his identity. Maes wondered if he even knew who he had been, or was, seeing as this one hadn't died in the attempt. "Roy." He said after a while, scratching his chin thoughtfully. Maes went back to studying him, trailing a hand through his dirty dark hair with a sigh. Chimers were currently the flavour of the month, it seemed. From the murmurings that Maes had heard, there had been quite a few created recently. They were all different, all failed attempts at some goal. Except this one. Maes knew that because he had ended up in this room.

Roy was staring at him, as if he was in some sort of pain, both sad and wistful as well. Maes wouldn't be surprised if he was in pain - his body was in a state of disarry with its new parts. He noted how his eyes mirrored back the light, giving him an eerie look. "You're not gonna get any food for a while." He said suddenly, almost musingly. He watched Roy's expression turn from pained to crest-fallen, emotions flickering over his pale face.

Maes offered him a small smile, shifting closer to the bars. There was a small bowl set into the metal floor of the cage, which was half-filled with some kind of porridge-y sludge, that would be refilled every nine days. He didn't really need to eat that much, so he wasn't complaining. "C'mere." He said slowly, scooping a handful of it up. Roy stared at him warily, but edged closer nonetheless. Maes poked a hand through the bars, crooking a finger at Roy. He had expected him to take it from his hand, scooping it into his own, but instead he ate it straight from Maes' palm like some wild animal, briefly nipping at his finger. Maes could hear a soft rumbling sound coming from him as well - purring, despite the awful situation.

Instinctively, Maes reached up, gently scratching at his black ears. "Not a bad kitten." He mused with a soft snort, pulling away to wrap both arms around his own knees. Roy was staring at him again, one ear twitching slightly. He licked his lips, pressing himself against the bars, leaning through as best he could to rest his head against Maes' shoulder. The homunculus glanced at Roy, purple eyes narrowing slightly in confusion.

Then he smiled again - the second true smile in his entire life, no doubt. He reached out, giving Roy's head a gentle pat. "Good kitten, huh?"