Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, although a Cow-Dai wouldn't look all that dissimilar to the Cow-Arakawa . . .
Notes: I aim here to reveal the great metaphor each of the 'battles' against the sins are. In this story, when I talk of the seven sins I'm referring to the character traits, rather than the seven we know and love/hate. So let's see what Arakawa really meant when she had characters fight the sins.
Warning: Based on the manga, not anime; incredibly abstract idea of who defeated/was defeated by which sin – might be spoilerish, but I've avoided it as much as possible; characters OOC; some AU, some not.
"To Conquer or to Fall" by Dailenna
The First Battle: How Alluring the Light that is On in the Night
It was late. Very late. So late that the cicadas had stopped buzzing outside the window, but not early enough that the magpies had begun their warbling. Yet he could hear something.
Rather than outside of his window like the natural sounds would be if it was a natural time of the night (Instead of this unholy hour, he thought, rolling over), the sounds were coming from the other room in his house. A squeak of a chair moving – in or out he couldn't tell – and the scraping of . . . something, on . . . something. You couldn't blame him for not knowing – it was the middle of the night, after all.
He tried to get back to sleep – really he did – but when the squeak of the chair on the timber floors sounded again, he groaned and pushed his hair off his forehead with one hand, and blearily opened his eyes. As he expected, the other side of the bed was empty. He sighed and told himself to get up.
Four minutes later, after he'd finally clambered out of bed, he staggered out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, putting an arm in front of his eyes and squinting toward the bright light of the open refrigerator.
"Riza," Roy croaked.
She looked over at him, eyes a mix of mock-innocence and guilt, hand still on the fridge door.
"What are you doing up so late?" he croaked again, coughing to clear his throat.
There was a pause, and even through his sleep-fogged mind he could see her carefully assessing the situation before replying "I couldn't sleep."
Just as she had, Roy also analysed the issue at hand, eyes scanning over the contents of the table. He raised an eyebrow, partly for effect, and partly just to keep at least one of his eyes open. "I don't think that eating . . ." he cast another look at the contents of the table, "all of this week's leftovers is going to help you to get to sleep, honey – it's harder to get to sleep on a full stomach than on an empty one."
She shifted her weight to the other foot, hand still on the open fridge door. Without saying anything, she stepped forward, picking up some of Tuesday's chicken.
Roy's jaw clenched. "Did you plan on going to bed on a full-stomach?" he asked, brain suddenly clicking in to the right frequency.
When she didn't reply – again – he sighed and padded towards her deliberately. "Put the chicken down, honey. I think that that's enough."
"No, I really am just hungry," she protested, stopping in her tracks. He tried to take the chicken away from her, but she snatched it back. Unimpressed, he gave her a flat stare, reaching for it again. She took a step away. "Don't!"
"Riza," he reasoned. "By the looks of it, you've already had the leftover chilli con carne, Irish stew and lasagne. You aren't that hungry."
Unable to think of a reply, she hesitantly gave him the plate of chicken. He sighed and put it back in the fridge before taking the plates from the tables and placing them in the sink. At least now he knew where all of the food had been disappearing to for the past few months.
Leading her back to bed, Roy sighed. He'd have to keep an eye on her in the future, but at least that would be it for the night. It was hard work helping a recovering bulimic into normal eating patterns.
Gluttony tries to conquer Riza, but Roy prevails.
Humans: 1, Sins: 0