My Sins

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor ever will, Fullmetal Alchemist or the characters within.

Pride – Actor

Pride was an actor. He had been acting for most of his life. His stage was not one of the new moving picture houses that were becoming popular or even one of the old theatres with their redolent scents and cold backstage rooms. His was the grandest stage there was. Ruler and Fuhrer of the whole country.

He smiled with an open friendliness and his voice was a welcome invitation to strangers. Harmless and friendly, he wore those faces every day of his existence. He used them as efficiently as he used his sword. It was a character he created, a persona he took on. It was the face he showed to the people around him.

Through the window of his large office he could see a red-coated boy and a large suit of armour walking across the Parade Grounds. The smile that formed was very different to the one that had accepted that same boy into the Military a week ago.

"You're to leave him alone until you are told otherwise," he said in a voice that left no doubt that questions would be most unappreciated and completely ignored.

The slender soldier he addressed shrugged, unaffected by the hard tone. "I know my place in this. Just don't leave it too long before you decide you need me," the soldier said casually as he moved away from the window and headed towards the door. "It does require some time to properly train a sacrifice you know."

"Just do it properly this time, Envy," Pride commanded and Envy sighed theatrically as he stopped just short of the door.

"My sacrifices will be fine. I think you need to train yours a bit more," and purple eyes flared briefly before the soldier left the room.

Pride stared out of his window for a long time before he moved. Putting on his amiable expression he left his office. A quick side trip had him collecting a few of the melons he favoured and then he began to move through the huge complex.

Melons. He failed to see the allure of them but it was an eccentricity and humans responded well to eccentricities. It enforced his harmless image, it made him appear as human as they were and it was interesting to see the expressions people would make as he approached. Expressions that he catalogued and remembered and would then practise later when he was alone.

It was a tool, a way to grow and learn. And he used it to keep them unknowing and blind to himself and his intentions. The truth behind his truths required it, and he took all steps to ensure his secrets were protected and safe.

Pride walked among the soldiers, slipping easily into conversations with a single remark before moving on again, never stopping in one place for too long. For all his size he moved gracefully, smoothly, never missing a beat or an opportunity. His hidden eye saw it all and he followed the currents of the very air as he spread his influence in the most innocuous of ways.

It was in a corridor, empty and quiet that he suddenly dropped the melon. Before it hit the ground his sword had flashed and cut, silver steel moving faster than normal eyes could see.

"That was stupid," he told the blue clad soldier and withdrew his sword from the man's throat. "Don't test me again, Envy."

"Your reflexes are still good," the soldier smirked as he placed a hand to his pierced throat.

"And you risk everything by playing these little games where people could see."

"I made sure we were alone first." His eyes flickered purple and he stretched lithely. "Now that the brats are here, we'll be gone for awhile. There are some things we have to do."

"Very well, I will keep my eye on them."

"You'd better," Envy snapped and Pride chuckled.

"It irks that you are unable to touch them, doesn't it?"

Envy moved, shifting to attack with inhuman speed and the sword was in his chest before his kick could land at the side of that dark head. They held their positions for a long moment before they parted and the sword slipped back into its sheath as Envy repaired his uniform. Without a word he turned and left and Pride watched him go, his lips curving before he picked up his melon and continued on his way.

A dark head had him pausing by a window and he looked over to see a slender Lieutenant-Colonel with a blonde Second-Lieutenant at his side walking towards the mess. His eye watched the swing of arrayed gloves and saw the air shift around him. Whimsy was an expression he had catalogued and he brought it into play now as he remembered Envy's earlier words. Perhaps he should train his sacrifices more.

It would make the moment of revelation all the more pleasurable. What expressions would Pride be able to see and catalogue? Just how deep could he make that betrayal? His smile broadened and he began to walk back to his office, thoughts and plans running through his mind. Once seated there he sent a message through channels the military couldn't trace before calling his secretary in.

"Let's make Mustang a Colonel. Assign him to East City Command. Draw up the papers and then call him in tomorrow. I want to see his face."

Miscellany: "Pride the first peer and president of hell. " Author: Daniel Defoe.

Author's Note: I had the urge to work on this before the dragon consumes me… and this is anime Pride...

silken :)