"Why do you want to keep them so bad?" Envy said suddenly, breaking the post-coitus silence in the room with sharp words, and a sharp voice. There was no doubt in Greed's mind of what it referred to- in fact, he was rather surprised that the subject had taken this long to come up. And now that it was here, he should really do his best to diffuse what was surely a point of potential violence- but being frank was no fun, when he could be coy instead.
"Hmm?" he hummed into its hair. "Keep what? My jackets? My watches? I've got a lot of stuff, now. You'll have to be more specific."
Envy growled dully into his chest, and he could feel its make-believe spine shifting under his hands, fluid, at any moment ready to change. Uh oh, Greed hadn't thought of that- perhaps he should tread more carefully. It wouldn't do to have all his new toys squashed. But then, there would be something charming about even that.
"Don't play with me," Envy said in a deep voice, and it looked up at him, eyes burning with incredible heat that he could practically feel on his skin- the contrast to its still-cold flesh was remarkable. "Your pets. Why? Why do they matter?"
Greed sighed a little- no dodging that one- but he understood. He was surprised with himself, too. These last few months had been different, he had never spent time with specific people for so long, family excepted. Why would he do that? Why did he care? There was no logical reason for it. His dear dad was such an arrogant man (or man-thing, if he could be called even that), he had always considered himself superior to humanity, it was intrinsic, a truth in his mind as simple and basic as the sun's rotation around the earth. It was a belief he had passed on to his children, through nature and nurture, a gross and presumptuous attitude that had slipped into them all-
(all, save one, only one had been shouldered with Father's few insecurities and false bravado, he held it now in his arms)
-and Greed was no exception. There was no part of him that had been made to feel compassion or companionship for humans, nevermind chimeras, artificial monsters that were lower even then that. By all rights he shouldn't give a shit about anything beyond the value those beasts had as objects, weapons or servants or tools, things for him to use. Greed was supposed to be obsessed with things, the physical and valuable and material, he wasn't meant to have a heart. And he had been so convinced of it for so long that he hadn't realized how empty it was to live that way. But somewhere- sometime, maybe, along the winding paths of the calendar, between the neat maps of Dublith and the South- he had changed. When or where exactly, he wasn't sure, but he had a feeling it had been before he had met these people, the ones now known as the Devil's Nest gang- the broken but strong, the forsaken beasts that lived on, individuals each with unique personalities and lights behind their eyes. It had started, probably, before he had left, before he had discovered himself open to the creature lying with him now, whose dark hair was wound through his fingers. He didn't know when he had started to see people as people, not inferior beings, and had begun wanting them just for that.
(He wouldn't admit this to himself just yet, but there was a part of him in the back of mind that knew- the ultimate desire of the greedy was for companionship, a closeness his creator scorned. That was what he had been really dumped with, Father's undesired wishes for the weakness humanity called a strength.)
He didn't know if Envy would understand, were he to try and explain this. It was similar, he knew, in its core it was much the same, but he wasn't sure if it was capable of realizing that like he had. Or- and this option was much darker, much more bleak, Greed desperately didn't want this to be true- it was possible that Envy wasn't capable of true closeness at all. If you desire the traits of someone else, surely that means you don't yourself possess them. Could the universe really be so cruel, to allow for the existence of a creature that wanted desperately to love and be loved, but would never be capable of actually doing it? He hoped not.
"The fuck's wrong with you," Envy said suddenly and Greed realized he had been silent for too long, lost in his own thoughts. With superhuman strength his little sibling changed their position, shoving him over and down so it was now on top, knees and hands sinking deep into the bed on either side of his shoulders and hips. Its hair fell in a graceful curtain across both their faces- really, that was the only graceful thing about Envy at all, and the randomness of that thought caused Greed to chuckle out loud.
"Don't laugh at me," it snarled, and for a second a flicker of green darted across its skin, and Greed shut up instantly. "And don't think. Just tell me."
"Aww baby, you're not gonna like it. I don't have a good answer for you." He tried to stroke it, patting it in ways and places that another man might use to comfort an injured animal, but it didn't look impressed. He sighed.
"They're good folks, the lot of them. Good to keep around, don't you think? Isn't it nice? Having a group of people to support you like that- they're not pets, sweetheart, they're like fa-"
Greed suddenly didn't know if he would be able to finish that sentence. That was way too scary a thing to say, and Envy was way too scary a creature to say it to. There was something growing in its eyes now, their faces were close enough that it was easy for Greed to see that violence looming, swelling in seconds from a pinprick to an inferno. Then the light was gone, it shoved him as hard as it could into the bed (which was very, very hard) and clambered off, seeming to shake the earth itself with its footsteps, and the air crackled as it gave its figure clothes again.
"Wait," Greed found himself saying, sitting up and reaching out for it like a child. He didn't want it to go, and he didn't understand it, either. "Where are you going, baby? What's the matter?"
Envy stopped in the doorway and looked back at him over one muscular shoulder, and its face was terribly open, a wash of mixed emotions exposed on its face. It was angry, obviously, but also hurt, and of course underneath all of that there was that terrible layer of green. The one colour, the one feeling that Envy could never shake. For a second he thought it wasn't going to reply- that it would just storm off into the night, become someone or something else, go where he couldn't follow, but it didn't. Instead, it spoke.
"Then why do you keep me?" Envy said, and then it bit its lip like the question had been unintentional, slipping out without its permission. Those huge purple eyes were glittering, little diamond drops gathering there, ready at any second to fall.
"If they...if they're your new family, then I...why would I matter? No one-ghhk-"
Air caught in its throat awkwardly and it swallowed, closing its eyes, and in one more sharp indrawn breath it was composed again, dry and cold and mean. Its left hand gripped the doorway so tightly Greed wondered, in the back of his mind, if the wood would splinter, and then it relaxed completely.
Envy tossed its head back with a burning confidence, curling its lips to reveal those subtle little fangs, and that bold appearance was in dissonance with its words.
"No one would ever want me if there was something better. I'm Envy. Envy the Bizarre, the revolting, the pathetic little worm, less than trash in the bottom of a dumpster. So what's wrong with you, huh? Do you like collecting garbage?"
There was a pause where the air in the room was tight with the question, electric, like someone had just done a transmutation. Greed looked Envy up and down- those strong legs and shoulders, white skin, slender waist and marvellous mop of spikes- and then he found himself laughing out loud. Somehow, the sound changed the colour of the atmosphere more perfectly than any amount of inelegant human science could.
Envy was glaring at him outright, and that indignant expression only made him laugh harder.
"Oh, come on babydoll. You don't get to tease me, either. No more playing games. I mean, I know you've got problems, but you can't seriously expect me to believe you're that blind."
At that Envy cocked its head like a lizard, and Greed could feel himself grinning from ear to ear.
"Look at yourself. You're strong and powerful and smart, a great liar and trickster. You can do things us regular folks only dream of- like fucking flying, for one- and if anyone pisses you off you can just backhand them and they'll go through a fucking wall. You can be anything you want to be…"
As Greed said these things, he slid slowly off the bed, taking careful steps towards Envy, as though it was a feral dog that would flee if he moved too fast.
"...and the look that suits you best is super cute, and also pretty damn sexy, if you ask me."
By now their faces were close enough to kiss, if Greed had wanted to, and during his approach Envy had curled ever so slightly towards him, relaxing, though its eyebrows were still pressed together in a knot. Cute, just like he'd said.
"This isn't what I really look like, and you know it." Envy grumbled, and Greed just shrugged, putting one hand on his chin to stroke an imaginary beard.
"You know, that's something I've been thinking about, and I've come up with a little...theory, I guess. Wanna hear?"
Envy just glared at him, but it was a familiar kind of glare, not a sign of true danger anymore. He knew it was listening.
"So, most people don't get to choose what they look like- whatever you popped out as, that's what you're stuck with. It's more to do with what the fuckers that made you look like, than who you are. Outward appearance doesn't really reflect what folks've got going on in their heads, so it's not really a great way to determine someone's true character- you've got to get to know them before you can figure that out. Beautiful people ain't always so beautiful on the inside, and vice versa. But you…"
Greed let his hand fall to Envy's cheek, the pad of his thumb resting gently on the cold skin there. He couldn't read its expression anymore, and he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing just yet.
"...you can choose. You don't have to be what Father spit out. And if this-"
Greed made a little sweeping gesture, up and down that lithe figure, his knuckles catching on strands of dark hair.
"-if this is what you want to look like, then as far as I'm concerned this is what you look like, and you look pretty damn good. Nevermind all that shit about worms, or whatever. That's all Dad. This is the really real you."
By the time he was finished Envy wasn't looking at him anymore, its eyes had drifted down to his chest and off into some world inside its head. Its expression was perfectly blank, emotionless save for, perhaps, a little touch of shock. Greed wondered if he had broken its brain. Pretty difficult concept to grasp, maybe, for something that was obsessively insecure about its "true" form. Really, he had expected it to start crying, he could deal with that, but this vague, confused look was a little concerning. Cute, too, but concerning. To fill the silence he spoke again.
"So don't worry about the chimeras. They're great, but I'll always like you more, you're my most prized possession. Come on, Envy, let's go back to bed."
Envy swallowed slowly, still staring at nothing, and then it shook its head.
"No," it mumbled, and in a few precise reptile blinks it came back to itself somewhat, reaching up to slowly run hands through green hair, pulling the heavy spikes from its face. "No. Not right now."
Greed reached out to touch its shoulder, wanting to pull it in somehow, words forming on his lips to indicate that he didn't mean sex, they could just cuddle or sleep or whatever, but Envy cringed ever so slightly away, and dammit, that hurt.
"I'm going out," it said dully, turning its back to him, and there was nothing in Greed that could argue that, though he very much wanted to. He didn't like that empty expression at all, and he had no idea what it meant. Envy was a very vibrant creature, expressing all emotions in the most vivid colours, even its misery was huge and explosive and loud. This kind of face was weird, and it didn't suit Envy at all.
But somehow Greed didn't feel that he could interfere. Even if he wanted to just grab it and shake it- or kiss it, whatever- until it looked right again, he couldn't bring himself to move. Perhaps he shouldn't have said all that. He had thought it would help, but what did he know?
When the doorway was empty, and the soft sound of Envy's footsteps on the floor had faded even in their echoes, Greed felt very lonely. In fact, he felt a lot like he had before, in the Underground, when his own supposed 'home' had been a prison to him, with not a friendly face to be seen. How pathetic- here he sat in a kingdom of his own making, surrounded by luxuries and pleasures and loyal servants, and all of it seemed hollow without his...what? What was Envy exactly? More than just a lover, now. Something more important than that.
Unwillingly, Greed felt himself sigh, and he sat back down on the bed, slumping his shoulders in defeat. He might as well get some sleep, but he didn't want to move enough to turn off the light-
Suddenly, a sound touched his ears, a rapid thump thump thumping that made the floor vibrate, and he had only enough time to register what the noise meant before Envy whipped back around the doorway, eyes bright and hair flying. It didn't pause at all, coming towards him with such purpose he had a feeling it might attack, and the Ultimate Shield itched under his skin- and then, with no presentation or preamble in the slightest, it kissed him on the mouth.
Greed made an inelegant little noise in the back of his throat, and then relaxed, closing his eyes. The kiss was purposeful and firm, but also chaste, closed lips as cold as ice pressed against his, the slightest touch of inhuman fingers on his jawbone. Then it pulled away, violet eyes on fire, and left just as quickly as it had come, a flash of black and white and green and elephantine footsteps, retreating in seconds to silence.
For a few moments Greed was struck stupid, sitting like an ape with one hand tracing his lips, and then he came back around and found himself laughing again- he was a silly man, like Roa said, and he lived in a silly world, populated by equally silly- and magnificent- creatures of every sort. What was he to do with himself?