Trust

Well… after writing this fic, I've come to realize that not only is it short, but it seems to lack a point. I wrote this for a trade with Mikael-Macbeth (Ei-sama on deviantART) but I'm afraid this just isn't up to par. For that, I'll probably write her another fanfic. I did, however, have fun writing this. It probably wasn't the best idea to write this while I'm supposed to be working on a case study, but it was totally worth it.

For you, Ei.

Maybe there was a reason why Greed brought those whores back. Kimbley tapped a spoon on the counter idly, watching Marta teach Dorchet dog tricks, which he seemed more than a little pissed about. Law was in the corner, reading something (He can read? Kimbley thought dryly.) and then that strange, crazy lizard thing Bido was sticking to the wall for no apparent reason.

So the Crimson Alchemist was staring, bored out of his skull, at a certain spiky-haired Homunculus. Well, really, who else was he going to stare at? A decade (had it really been ten years?) in prison… and all he had to look at were monsters. Literally. Look at the chimeras—they weren't human! They were dirty animals! And Greed? Oh no, he couldn't be human. Kimbley had seen that strange blue shield… well, that's what Greed had called it.

Staring at the back of his head wasn't going to help, was it? Nope, probably not. So Kimbley walked over, eyeing the whores thoughtfully. Lots of flesh. Probably supple, but he wasn't all that interested in them. No, Kimbley had a wild side—an attraction to danger. And really, the most dangerous monster here was the violet-eyed beauty covered in slutty women.

"Hey, sharkface."

That earned him a response, said Homunculus surfacing from the pile of whores much like a shark would surface the water to bite someone's arm off. "Whaddya want, Kimmie?"

"Don't call me that." Kimbley snapped, looking at the women disdainfully. Why the hell did he bring them home anyway? They were whores, sluts! They couldn't even be good in bed. Wouldn't a virgin be more to his tastes? All tight and screaming in pain as he punctured—

"Then you don't call me that." Greed retorted, shuffling a little under the whore-pile. "What the hell do you want?"

I'm making him uncomfortable. Kimbley noticed with a smirk. He loved that—the feeling of making people squirm around. Mustang had been an easy target during Ishbal, but now Kimbley was playing with something better than fire. "I just want to make something go 'boom,' y'know? Preferably something fleshy… maybe nice and soft…"

He watched in delight as the whores scattered, leaving Greed looking rather barren looking. Though there still were smudges of red and pink lipstick all over his exposed neck and cheek. "Eh, what the hell was that for, Kim?"

"I told you not to—"

"You told me not to call you 'Kimmie.'"

Kimbley fumed, realizing he was right. That sonofabitch was right. He grumbled something rude before flopping down beside Greed. Hmm. Where had the other monsters fled to? Oh, did they think Kimbley's threat was aimed at them? Well, it could have been. He frowned, thinking about it. Yes, it could have been aimed at them.

"Seriously, what do you want?" Greed quirked an eyebrow and dropped his sunglasses down from the top of his head to the bridge of his nose.

The mad bomber frowned, finding those stupid circular frames to be obscuring those dangerously violet eyes. So he did the logical thing and stole them, slipping them on his own nose. "Nothin' much. Just gettin' bored of the scenery. Every day it's whores, whores, whores. Don't you have anyone else?"

The expression on Greed's face clearly read What the hell do you mean? And Kimbley had a feeling that Greed took that a different way than intended. "F—k off." Greed growled at the alchemist, folding his arms, crossing his legs, and pouting.

Greed. Pouting. Kimbley almost laughed. "I didn't mean it like that—well, okay, I did. I meant, why the hell don't you bring anyone else home? Like a virgin for once?"

"Why would you care?" Greed snapped back, turning to face the alchemist and uncrossing his arms, placing a hand on either side of Kimbley's non-existent hips. Now leaning over the much shorter alchemist, curious, and apparently not recognizing what the gesture meant.

Kimbley grumbled something and explained, "Well, whores are loose. You're Greed. You want the best—am I right?"

"No, not really. I just want everything." Greed gave a half-shrug but didn't move. Kimbley was beginning to suspect Greed knew more than he was letting on. "If I want women, I'll have women. Power—I'll get that too. Money? I've already got a lot, but it will never be enough. Catch my drift, Kimmers?"

"Don't—!"

But Kimbley wouldn't get to finish his sentence, instead getting silenced by Greed's lips rather than his words. The alchemist's golden eyes sprang wide open, surprised by the gesture. But it wasn't like he didn't like it. No, he'd anticipated this ever since he laid eyes on the Homunculus. He knew that this sort of thing was going to happen.

"What the hell are you looking at?"

"Depends. What are you looking at?"

"Why the hell should I even bother telling a monster like you?"

"Well, if I'm a monster, then what 'bout you? I heard it from the chimeras—you're the one who was laughing while you slaughtered innocents with your bare hands."

"Not all of 'emwere with my bare hands…"

"That's not the point, and you know it. You're just as monstrous as I am."

"You're not human, you're a sin."

"And you're not?"

Kimbley found his eyes drifting closed, in one of those sappy romantic scenes as Greed nibbled on his bottom lip, asking for entrance. Of course the alchemist let him have it—no one could deny Greed what the sin wanted. Though he'd never admit it, Kimbley had missed this kind of contact; no, he missed any contact. He missed having hands running up and down his sides, now one sliding up under his shirt to play across weakened muscles; now one down into his pants to—

"No you don't." Kimbley growled, biting Greed's lip as he pulled away, catching the Homunculus' roaming hand. "I don't want sex with you."

"Why?" Greed asked, though there was something in his eyes that explained that he was genuinely curious. Maybe even a little hurt. "Why not?"

"You're a monster. You're not human."

"Since when have you cared?"

"Since when have you cared?"

"Shut the f—k up. I'm allowed to care if I want to."

"You're the one who said that 'life isn't worth living, we're all bomb materials' or some shit like that."

"So? What if I did say it?"

"Then what are you so afraid of?"

"I'm not…!"

"I don't want it, alright?" Kimbley shoved Greed's hands away and growled something else rude, huddling his knees up to his thin chest. Prison hadn't been good at all to him—he was so damn scrawny now. He looked like some anorexic sixteen year old. Girl, in Greed's opinion (which he of course expressed daily).

"You don't want it because you're scared. You don't want it to hurt." Greed mused, tapping a finger to his chin thoughtfully.

The alchemist snorted. "Well, you are the Ultimate Shield."

"But I also have control."

"Is it because of what I can do? Or because of what you can't do?"

"No. Look, I said I'm not—"

"It's because you want to be more powerful. You want to be like me."

"Don't kid yourself. I'd never want to be a monster."

"Will you join me if I promise to be careful?"

"How can I trust you?" Kimbley snapped, resting his head against his knees, for some reason having the urge to just wrap himself up in his own world and forget about all this. "You aren't…"

"I know, I know." Greed grumbled, lying back on the couch and resting his arms behind his head. "I'm not human. Because being human makes you all the better."

"No, it's not that." Kimbley glanced up over the sunglasses, eyeing the other warily. "I don't know what to expect from you. How can I trust something that I have no knowledge of?"

"You just have to believe me." Greed smiled, not a toothy grin at all, just a smile. He held out his hand, murmuring, "Will you trust me, Kimbley?"

He paused, looking at the offered hand. It wasn't human—to long, to perfect. But he grabbed it anyway. "Yes. I'll trust you."

"You'll make a great ally, Kimbley. Will you join us?"

"Why would I? You all aren't human, you don't have any semblance of humanity!"

"And you do?"

"…"

"That's what I thought. Come with me. Take my hand. Trust me."

"I will."