There's No Place Like Home pt.1

Famine timidly sat on the passenger seat and folded her apron on her lap before putting the seat belt on. Wrath drove out of the lot and headed back towards the city. They spent the first half of the trip in an awkward silence. Though the driver had little to no idea about the passenger, it wasn't the case for the new diner worker. She was aware of Pride's feeling towards the stern-looking girl.

She recalled the time she spent at their apartment and their interaction in diner, and suddenly it clicked. The times she spent wondering about the brothers' feelings toward Wrath was finally answered. The way Lust spoke and defended her; it was crystal clear that he felt some sort of special connection with her. Sure, he was kind and sweet to her when he helped her out, but the patience he had for his housemate was a completely different thing.

She found herself more nervous than ever being driven by the person she envied. Famine wasn't sure if she should try to be friendly and ask some question or would it be better to stay quiet. Wrath's facial expression was a blurred line between feeling irked and fatigued. She decided to follow her guts and simply stare out of the car window and only speak when spoken to.

More police cars had been stationed around town in the past two days as the fire department gave up on extinguishing the blazing old diner. The mayor had decided to close down the buildings around the fire and stationed security surrounding them to ensure the safety of pedestrians and prevent naughty kids from loitering or throwing dangerous things in. No further action had been sanctioned as of now. No one really knew what to do about it. For all its worth, people thought it was a random fire pit the size of a small house.

"Master, why are you being so apathetic? She probably thought you were a vampire or something," Eros popped up at the back seat.

"Tsk," Wrath glowered at the rear-view mirror.

The sudden noise made her passenger jump on her seat. Realizing her mistake, Wrath looked away before clearing her throat and offered her new acquaintance a piece of gum.

"Thanks," Famine grabbed it.

"So… Are you in high school?" the driver asked rigidly.

"Mhm," she chewed on the candy. "I just started my freshman year. And you?"

"I'm a junior. No wonder I rarely saw you at school."

"Yeah, I'm not technically the type of person people pay attention to. I used to be homeschooled. That's why I repeated freshman year even though I'm turning 17 soon. But I saw your group of friends quite a lot at the cafeteria and the hallways. My brother should be in the same class as you too, but he became really sick at the beginning of this semester.

"Your boyfriend is pretty popular in my class. Most of my classmates kept talking about him and you. They wouldn't believe me when I told them that we lived on the same apartment floor," she stopped herself after catching herself rambling as Wrath stared at her.

What is up with this girl? she thought to herself. "Boyfriend?" she managed to question.

"Oh, you know. Lust, the guy you were with. Don't you guys live together? I mean not that I'm judging or anything. It's totally cool of you to do that. In fact, I may wanna do that too when I'm your age. Well…if I do have a boyfriend by then."

"Um… Lust is my roommate. And frankly, I don't care what you wanna do if you have a boyfriend," she explained. "Also, I'm 16."

Every sentence uttered from her mouth was like a jab to Famine's face.

'Wrath is my age? And they're not dating?!' she said to herself. She wasn't sure how to react or what to reply to the truth bomb her senior just dropped.

"Oh, where did Lust go?" she tried to recover the topic.

"He went home on his bike," she answered indifferently.

"Why?" she regretted asking right as the words came out of her mouth.

It was apparent to both of the parties that neither of them was enjoying the conversation. Famine cringed at her foolish behavior. She was afraid of offending or pissing her new friend off by being a hyper goofball and an obnoxious chatterbox. Moreover, she was frightened of how bold and straightforward Wrath's answers or insults were. Her purple hair radiated a supernatural glow that swallowed Famine's cheerful aura.

"He's pissed at me for making him fight," the unhinged girl surprisingly smiled at her own statement.

'Do they fight a lot in that house?' Famine wondered.

"We're here," she parked the car and turned to face the girl. "Listen, I only drove you cause I felt partially responsible for making you skip work, although no one was really in the diner. And cause my beast of a friend roundhouse kicked your brother's face. So, it doesn't mean that we're friends now. Don't start talking to me when you see me around."

Famine nodded slowly.

"And cause Lust will get angry if I didn't. I don't like it when he's mad... That's my job."

She nodded again.

Wrath took off her seatbelt and went out of the car halfway when she remembered something, " Wait a minute, where's Schnitzel?"

"Um… I left him by the track."

"Oh well, he'll figure it out," she continued to carry her bag out.

Wrath made the girl carry Lust's duffel bag from the car. The girls passed by his bike on their way to the elevator and were greeted by the vehicle's owner. His cheeks were blushing on his pale face. His black leather jacket was puffing up and down on his bare skin as he held his helmet by his side. Lust glared at his weirdly amused friend as he threw his cigarette away.

"Next time you wanna storm off, don't forget to bring your access card with you," the cheeky witch smirked.