victory_road | Sept Catch-All for Sharkhouse [Closed]

"Hey, nerd."

The butt of a cold soda can nudges the back of Envy's head. Heather has made her way back over from the vending machine with a pair of soda pops, because guess who had become the champion of predicting what she was about to say ever since she regrettably taught him the 'Jynx! You owe me a soda!' game?

Setting it down on the rock wall between them, she swings her legs up and hops up to take a seat herself, popping the tab on the other one.

It's late afternoon and they're hanging out in one of the many small parks scattered throughout Goldenrod, people-watching after a long day of whatever the hell it is they get up to. Usually battling or pissing off property-owners by parkouring all over the place, although admittedly these days, their recreational activities have tended more towards murderer-proofing the house to Henry's satisfaction.

Although the brimming tension back there had evaporated remarkably now that Henry and Lust both knew about their... well, situation, it's still nice to get away a little.

Envy's shoulders hunch up slightly at the surprise chill on the back of his head, but then he just laughs, reaching up over his head to grab his Winnings.

It's true that with them not having to sneak around, things have gotten a lot easier. But the house is still a tense place to be, and the candles all over every available surface don't let anybody forget what's going on for more than a minute. Getting out into the city once in a while means they can have a bit of normalcy...or what passes for it in Johto.

Taking a sip of his own soda, Envy reaches with his free hand to give Heather an affectionate punch-nudge on the shoulder.

"I'd say that someday you'll beat me, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to win every time forever."

She retaliates with a pinch to his arm. Sore loser? MAYBE.

"Ehhh, I let you win. I could choose to stop being nice any time."

Then she leans against him a little, because she's not so dedicated to maintaining her shitty playground meme superiority that she's not going to take advantage of their actual newfound freedom. Because while they'd certainly had room to stretch their legs as a couple in Kanto, there had still been that secrecy by omission they'd had to maintain.

And that still subtly influenced things, even when there were no cameras on.

"It's nice out. I'm glad we're getting some fresh air."

"Oh, I'm sure that's why you keep having to buy me sodas."

And, for the same reason, he's happy to let her lean away, shifting his arm down to hold on loosely around her waist. It's just so nice to be able to do anything like this in this city, the one that's very firmly become their home these past few years.

"Yeah. We get to smell things besides candle smoke."

Nobody begrudged Henry the candles or other murderer-proofing things, not really. Except for maybe when there was no room to prepare food on the counters, but even then? They all wanted their friend/brother to feel at least as safe as he could. But it's still nice to get away from for a bit. He leans over to dramatically sniff at her hair.

"Well...I guess we smell like it too now, don't we?"

GOD, ENVY, THIS MOMENT WAS ALMOST CUTE.

She makes a face, mouth full of soda, and leans away again in order to not spray it right in his face while it's shoved into her hair.

"--don't even joke, I'm literally almost considering sleeping outside to avoid transforming into a Mankee Candle store employee overnight."

Heather begrudges Henry for it less than anybody, but that doesn't mean she likes the house smelling like the part of the Department Store that you have to hold your breath in order to walk past.

"You know, we always could camp out in the yard and say we're guarding for intruders. It's not like we haven't been sleeping outside plenty this year."

He's only half joking. The candle smell is so strong, even if most of them are the plain unscented white ones. There's so many that all the scented white candles are still filling the house with a none-too-flattering mix of coconut, lily, cookies and cream, "dragonfruit", and pina colada. To name a few.

"And since our secret's out...I really doubt anybody would want to come out and check on us."

INSERT STUPID EYEBROW WAGGLE HERE.

"Honestly? I wouldn't be opposed to it."

Even though they're well into September at this point, the nights are still fairly temperate. And definitely nothing compared to trudging up to Blackthorn right as December came marching in.

Of course, then the brow-waggling happens, and she snorts, reaching out to plant a hand against his face.

"Man, we get an inch of freedom and you take a mile, don'tcha? Ooh, I know what you want-- one big, slobbery kiss comin' right up!"

SHE LEANS IN MENACINGLY.

He makes an indignant noise against the offending hand, wrinkling his nose and leaning back.

AND THEN LEANS BACK A LITTLE MORE ONCE THE HAND IS GONE AND SHE APPROACHES.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it! I take it back!"

This is one of his favorite of the little games they play, honestly.

She'd be lying if she tried to claim it wasn't hers, too.

Doing that deep-throated, malevolent laugh she's perfected ESPECIALLY FOR THIS GAME, she slips her arms around his waist and... delivers a completely non-sinister, non-slobbery kiss next to his ear.

He's never sure whether he should actually expect a gross slobbery kiss on the ear or not, enough so that the normal kiss is pleasantly coming out on top of a coin flip.

His resistance dissolving into an affectionate snicker, he turns his head around enough so that he can kiss her back lightly on the lips.

Because secret being out or not, they're still not going to just start making out in the middle of the park.

What was that about secrets and everything being safe again?

Al was out on a walk for very similar reasons to his housemates, needing to stretch his legs and get away from the smell of wax and artificial scents and the nervous air that hovered around poor Henry even more than usual. It's also an excuse to get out and collect his thoughts, especially after his two more significant run-ins with Envy lately.

But when he spots Heather and Envy up ahead, he doesn't divert his path or speed up. They're talking, and he can pass by and say hi quickly before being on his way, no reason for things to be--

...awkward.

Al stops short.

They're...what are they doing?

Are they kissing?!

Oh, hell no. With France, that was one thing. Clearly well established, and a huge reason Envy had stabilized as much as he had. But Heather?!

"What the hell is going on here?!"

And just how long has it been going on for in the first place?!

SURPRISE!!!!!!

Heather's eyes snap open.

... Oh, no.

They hadn't told Alphonse.

Whether or not that was deliberate or a matter of genuine forgetfulness in the face of the whirlwind of chaos raging through the house right now, it's hard to say. Maybe a little bit of both, more of the former on Envy's end and more of the latter on Heather's. But either way, being suddenly faced with her wayward boyfriend's HORRIFIED HALF-BROTHER is literally the last thing Heather expected would happen right here, right now.

She pulls away so fast that she can almost hear the popping noise of their lips separating. If it were ANY OTHER SITUATION, the sheer cartooniness of that would be freaking hilarious, but right now, she's mostly in panic mode.

"--Al!"

Oh shit.

He looks... REALLY UPSET.

THEY DIDN'T TELL ALPHONSE.

Envy hadn't intended to tell Alphonse. Part of it was that he genuinely hadn't thought of it, but a large part was that he only really wanted to tell people who weren't going to...well, act like this.

And of course, he immediately goes on the defensive, scowling.

"What does it look like?"

Al starts stomping over to the pair with a story expression, his voice raising to an indignant shout.

"It looks like you're trying to mack on someone that's--she's not even a quarter of your age!"

He doesn't mean to dismiss Heather's maturity here, really--it's just his anger and grudge make it easier to pick and choose from the facts he has available to fling around.

"How long have you been running around behind everyone's backs?!"

What started as shock and minor panic... quickly evaporates into shock and anger when Al starts to talk.

He's a very mature kid for his age, she's always thought so. Even during his frequent squabbles with Envy, he's still ALWAYS been... well, at least somewhat justified, I mean come on, even Envy's best friends know that he frequently deserves what's coming to him. Especially when it comes to the unwanted brother that he had no shame in openly antagonizing for so long.

But this, this is the first time she's ever looked at Al and seen a little boy shooting his mouth off about something he knows nothing about. And oh, man, does it piss off the big sister in her. Unlike Envy, her first instinct had not been to go on the defensive immediately, but she's sure going there now.

Fingers curling into fists, Heather stands.

"Excuse me? I am a grownass adult and if I wanted to mack on Father Time, that's my business. Not yours."

Envy's hands curl right into fists without him even having to think about it. There are so many things here to be angry about. TRYING to mack on--?! As though he'd just decided that it would be a fun time to seduce Heather for no reason! And going for the age thing!

But she's already got that half of Al's remarks taken care of.

"And what do you mean behind everyone's backs?!"

They'd kept it a secret, sure. But what Al is implying here isn't quite the same thing.

Very suddenly Alphonse's righteous anger and rage are thrown off-kilter by Heather, and he stares up at her in shock and vague confusion for a few seconds.

That.

Um.

...what if he just...didn't address that now. Yeah.

Turning back to Envy, he scowls and balls his hands into tight fists. "Well I sure haven't heard anything about this, and it's not like we haven't been in touch!"

There had definitely been an underhanded aspect to the way they'd been sneaking around, but when you got right down to it... it really wasn't anybody else's business. As dramatic and important as it all always seemed, relationships weren't exactly a crime. And especially given that the biggest reason they'd kept it a secret had been to give Lust time to recover from her loss without having a couple shoved in her face...

Heather literally grits her teeth as she looks down at Al. The way he'd dodged around her own protest certainly hadn't gotten past her. Even if all it probably means is that he wasn't able to come up with anything to counter that on the spot (not surprising), it's still clearly discounting her own power of choice from the equation and zeroing in on Envy as though he's some kind of aggressor taking advantage.

And oh boy, she does not like that.

Truth be told, standing up there on the rock wall with the sinking sun at her back and a glare that can only be described as livid on her face, she honestly probably looks kind of scary.

"Nobody owes you a detailed confession of their love lives, Al! And with all this other shit going on, can you fucking blame us for not mentioning it? Especially if you were gonna react like THIS?!"

People previously out on walks or playing with their Pokemon in the rest of the park are kind of staring now, but dammit, she's mad! LET 'EM.

Now it's Envy's turn to get up to his feet--if there was a time to use the phrase "hopping mad" in reference to him, it would probably be now. He's livid, a lot more than he has been at Al in a long time, but without that murderous edge that usually goes hand in hand with being this angry at his half brother. No, right now he's just fucking PISSED.

And don't think he didn't notice how Heather's rebuttal got...well, basically ignored. He's not the slightest bit happy about that, for much the same reasons she is.

And you know what? Instead of going off on Al himself and giving him something else to ignore Heather about? He's just going to make Al deal with what she's saying.

"Well?!"

WHAT ARE YOU GONNA SAY TO THAT, AL?

"What--that--"

GODDAMNIT THIS ISN'T GOING HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO GO! Does Heather not even get how screwed up this all is?!

Al grits his teeth and glares right up at Heather, not seeming to be affected by the (admittedly rather comical) looming of the other two. His anger and frustration has reached a boiling point, and his admittedly long fuse has finally fizzled out to the end.

And when an Elric blows up, it is always spectacular.

"I'm freaking worried for you, Heather! Yeah he's gotten better, but I know what he can be like!"

Deep down... deep, deep down, Heather knows Al's heart is in the right place. Really, it is.

But the time for thinking about that will be later. Because right now, there is only vinegar boiling up in her throat. The survivor in her is enraged at the suggestion that this little boy somehow knew what was best for her. Even if there might be a kernel of truth in there stemming from the pair's violent history? There was just so much that Al didn't know. Too much for him to ever be more capable of making this decision for her than she was.

Her voice darkens to a growl.

"Get lost, Al. Right now. Beat it."

That strikes a nerve.

Because of course, he can't actually argue about what he used to be like. He just very recently experienced what he used to be like. And the fact that he can't argue makes the sick anger boil up even more.

This isn't like when Henry gave him the obligatory "hurt her and I'll beat you up" threat. With Al it's a legitimate accusation.

"Fuck off."

Really?

Really??

"Fine! FINE!!"

He is done. He is so done with his brother being an asshole and his friends not listening to him when he knows that stupid bastard, he knows just how bad he can get, how he can utterly lose it and put everyone around him in danger! Put sure, they can just fucking ignore him! Who cares what he knows, he's just a kid, right?!

Turning back down the sidewalk, Alphonse marches off with a furious expression, grumbling and throwing his hands up in the air.

"Whatever!"

When he whirls off and stomps away, Heather doesn't go after him.

Just stands, fists and teeth still clenched.

It's been a long time since she's felt that angry at any member of the household.

"... That kid needs to stay in his lane," she finally growls, after a good three minutes of trying to summon words that weren't just garbled angry noises.

There are times when Envy really, really wishes he still had access to his powers. Now is one of them, because it would be SO satisfying to stomp his foot down on the wall and create a mini-crater.

But that's not really an option right now, and he knows that if he stomps his foot all it will do is make a really UNsatisfying 'thwap' noise on the stone. And hurt, probably.

But when Heather finally speaks, it gives him an outlet for all that anger to burst up in words.

"Damn right he does! Who does he think he is?!"

He gestures sharply in the direction Al left in and pitches his voice in an inflection that's clearly supposed to be a mocking imitation of Al, "It's not like we weren't in touch! What the hell?"

Sept Catch-All for Sharkhouse [Closed]

DRAMABOMB, 9/18

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