Games without Frontiers

Interlude: Waiting for the Song to Start

Rating: PG

Soundtrack: The Phoenix - Fall Out Boy

There were four shadows under the cover of moonlight, waiting. One was a thing of more beauty than anyone had yet described. Another was not really a shadow, but made itself that way through misguided subterfuge. The third was… well, the third; the shadow of a shadow. And the fourth, one shadow who was more than one, watched, holding themselves just outside of the rough circle.

The beauty looked at her bloated ever-faithful shadow and said the same thing that had been said a million times before:

"Please wipe your mouth."

As the nasty thing did as he was told, Envy wondered where such blind and unshaken devotion came from in such a creature completely devoid of one redeeming quality. And why such blind and unshaken devotion had never been directed toward them. Gave it a moment of thought, then shrugged. They didn't need such slavering attachment. They had enough faith in themselves to carry them through any fucking thing.

In any case, the next thing Lust said was far more important than the first, and it was directed at them:

"The boy is going there."

"For what?" they asked, casting their glance around the mismatched assortment of tents that they could see from their perch on the wall. The thick, torpid locks of hair that swept in front of their face made the campfires play raucous games with the canvas tents. They watched the hectic dance for about four breaths, then, "Didn't he get his infinitesimal ass beat enough by your friend over there the last time he stuck his snot nose somewhere? What, didn't he get enough ass-whipping from Crazy-Eyes over there?" They jerked their head at the man who thought he was a shadow leaning against the wall on the other side of she shapely one. The man's strange colored eyes, and moonlight-colored hair drew in all of the light and cast him in eerie contrast of the rest of their darkness. He stood out like a boil on the backside of humanity.

They were irritated by his presence, at his attempt at civility. They could practically see the soul leeching away from the man, every time he drew breath. He might have been useful to the four shadows before him; but his dammed integrity stood in the way.

"I don't know," the womanly shadow said. "I would have thought that you had ample opportunity to find out." She gave them a long look from beneath her luscious eyelashes. "You've spent more time around him lately than I have."

"That's only because you were too busy keeping a close eye on your so-called brother-in-law to pay attention to the task at hand." Envy leaned down and met her stare unflinchingly. "Did you forget our purpose while you were over there diddling him?"

The man in question flinched at the implication. The woman laughed delicately and took a few graceful steps toward Envy.

Envy watched the sway of her hips beneath the incongruous black gown and told the growl burrowing its way up from the bottom of their throat to go back where it came from. This bitch had been made the way she had been made for a damned good reason, and fuck if they was going to succumb to it. Anymore.

They had better things to do. Bigger fish to fry. Tighter asses to fuck with.

"I remember our purpose, dears. I can never forget it. Recall that I didn't ask for this any more than you did."

"No, I didn't ask for this gift, but I sure as hell ain't gonna look the horse's ass who gave it to me in the mouth." Envy jumped from the wall then and began to pace. Their thick ropes of hair slapped their shoulders with each step. "Damn that little shit! He can't stay put if you nailed him in place. We should have realized that the punk would have completely ignored our orders. We should have known better."

The pipsqueak, after all, was as smart − if not smarter − than his father. And his father was a formidable man.

"So, are you suggesting that we challenge him now? So soon into the game?" Envy shook their head. "I don't think that'll be a good idea. He's too skittish. Too… distracted."

The woman tilted her head in curiosity. "Distracted by what?"

They looked her up and down and concentrated a significant glance on the thing between her very sumptuous breasts. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know."

"Really? Do tell."

"Heh. It's all real interesting, now that I think about it. I'll let you figure this one out on your own. Just rest assured that part of his brain is on other pursuits. And we had nothing to do with it this time."

As much as they hated it, human nature did come in very handy every once in a while. Perhaps when all of this was over and they could walk among humans without being detected, they would study it further detail. Like they had planned to before all of this bothersome shit started.

"Hm… well, then I suppose that we should just leave another little trail of bread crumbs this time. Perhaps if we told him gave him more on the laboratory…"

"Perhaps if we stuck our foot up his ass too while we are at it?"

"Envy, could you stop thinking about your personal vendettas for just one moment?" Lust whirled and actually stomped her pretty little foot. "This is a careful path we all have to tread. He is only one option among several. And you know we've been told."

"Yeah, yeah… the more irons in the fire, the better."

"And we can't let those irons trip over each other on the way to our goal. We must make sure they stay on divergent paths."

"All paths leading to the final destination?"

"Of course."

"Now where have I heard that before?" Envy said sarcastically.

Lust suddenly turned her attention to her other companion. "Gluttony, leave that rat alone. You don't know where it's been."

"But I'm hungry."

"I know, dear. That will be taken care of soon enough."

The other person in their party suddenly spoke, his voice rough with fatigue. "How can you… what he did…" he pointed at Gluttony, "with that innocent little boy over there… woman, you know that is a crime against nature. And you allowed it!"

Envy crossed their arms over their chest and gave the scruffy man a look of contempt. "And who are you to talk? Killer. You take our pretty toys and blow them all to pieces."

"Mine is a holy mission!"

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that and maybe one day you will really believe it." Envy leaned in, leering at the man. "You're a destroyer. Same as us. Only you're not honest enough to call it what it is."

The man stared back at them, his eyes unseen beneath the glitter of the tinted lenses he wore. Envy didn't like those things. Maybe if they plucked them off and shoved them down his…

"Leave him alone, Envy," Lust said, her voice deceptively low.

Envy sneered at her again and withdrew. She would always defend this pitiful excuse for a human. Always. And for what? Some half-remembered familial loyalty? Please.

"He has his part in all of this as well and you know that," she continued. "Our task here is simple. You need to stay focused on that for now. Do you think you can keep to it and not get distracted by your own personal issues?"

"As long as I can get a chunk out of the pipsqueak in the end, we're all good."

Lust sighed and turned to the other man. "You will lure him to the location."

"I will not." The man stood his ground firmly. "I won't lure anyone into a trap such as the one you intend to set."

"Oh, you'll just kill him yourself?" Envy said. "How noble."

"At least the death I bring him will be clean and not… repugnant. I know you would have this… creature devour him."

"Oh, dear man," Lust said, a smile on her delectable lips, "I would do no such thing. The boy is too valuable by far for the moment. I only wish to guide him on a path that will be beneficial to all."

"To use his perversions for your means?"

"And yours, Scar." Lust moved close enough to the man for her breasts to brush against his chest. "Scar." She chuckled. "What an interesting name you have given yourself."

"I did not give myself that name. I have no name."

Lust continued as if she hadn't heard him. "Don't you want to know why you carry that mark on your arm? Don't you ache to know why your brother gave it to you?" She reached up a hand and touched a light finger to the light patch of skin between his eyes. "Don't you want to remember where this came from?"

"Get away from me." The man's voice held a slight note of desperation. Envy watched and listened to the exchange the same way one would watch a predator would watch its mate take down prey. Despite her underhanded means of getting what she wanted, the bitch was good. They had to give that much to her.

"Why? Your brother was very… special to me." She touched Scar's neck, her nails extending just enough to graze skin. "And you are your brother's keeper, after all."

"Please…" the man gritted out, refusing to plead.

"Will you do what I ask?"

"Fine," he grated. "As long as you keep your part of the bargain."

"It is the least I can do… for your family." She ran her hand down, over his shoulder and down, barely grazing his right arm and the pattern of black lines etched there. Envy noted that she was very careful not to actually touch him. As it was, something in her skin must have come in contact, for the merest glow of red phosphorescence glowed where her fingers passed and she gasped.

Envy frowned. They realized then that, despite their earlier assumptions, they would have to watch this sin very, very carefully. They were wrong to underestimate her; she was as reckless as the whole group were. They just had to make sure that her recklessness didn't detract from their ultimate goal.

After all, if they had to keep their own private needs in check, so did she.

"Lust…" Gluttony suddenly whined again. "I can smell…."

Envy felt something too; not quite a scent, more like a sensation raising the fine hairs on their forearms. They looked toward the end of the alleyway and saw two dark figures, sweeping through the night, cloaks sweeping behind them that dark angel wings. One of them stopped, and remained still for a moment. Curiosity thrummed all around the figure and Envy watch as he turned slightly in their direction. Envy knew that no one could make the four of them out among the shadows; all the same they cast their ultimate mask over the rest of their group.

The three Sins all movement and conversation and just absorbed what was in the air.

Lust looked like she was taking them with slow, deep breaths, letting their essence soak into her skin. "They are male," she whispered. Envy snorted – of course she would know. Pheromones were like life's blood to her. "Dark and dangerous. Delightful." She took another breath. "And they blend… like smoke swirling over the embers of burning sandalwood… and… black cardamom." She smiled. "They blend like scotch and soda… or maybe a warm cognac, mellowed by time. They know each other… in more ways than one."

"They smell like cinnamon to me," Gluttony moaned, "cinnamon and brown sugar and black tea…" His fat tongue took care of the drool around his bottom lip. "Sweet dessert. So hungry…. Can I eat them?"

"No, Gluttony," Lust said as she stepped away from Scar. "We'll take care of you soon."

"All I'm getting is fingernails running across a sheet of slate," Envy said.

"It would feel like that to you," Lust said, smirking.

There was a sudden rumble, clap and percussion of a spectacular explosion. Envy froze. They all followed the sound with their eyes, at the flash of red, yellow and white in the northeastern sky, and then when Envy looked again, the two distant shadows had disappeared.

"So," Envy asked, "About our other target. What is going on with that one?"

"Careful subterfuge," Lust said. "I have been told to just watch that one carefully and not to engage just yet. That one must be led more carefully than the little boys."

"Why?" Envy asked. "Because he's a conceited fool?" That one. All flash and fuck all else. An empty, brainless idiot who was so full of shit he sloshed like a sewer when he walked.

Lust gave Envy a knowing smile. They hated that smile. "Not at all, dears. He has a deepness that has yet to be plumbed. He keeps his cards close to his chest and allows people to see what they want to see. There is nothing dense about him. His desires are more … sophisticated than the boy's needs. The power he craves is a different type. He is the last resort, because he will be more difficult to subdue."

"And the pipsqueak is easy?"

"We have what he needs; and he has what we need. It's an easy thing to develop the idea of… equivalency… with him. The young have simple needs. Despite all of the knowledge that rests in the back of his brain, he only sees in black and white, especially on this subject. He will be tempted by the bread crumbs we leave for him. And then-,"

An odd shuffling, sucking caught the group's attention.

Envy halted mid-step and turned in the direction of the whispering, slick and smooth sound. Having heard it enough times in the past weeks, they knew exactly what it meant.

The four shadows turned toward the sound and waited until the new shadow broke through into the one beam of moonlight.

The fifth shadow gave them a cold, green stare. "There have been developments," the shadow said in a flat voice that slid over them like a glacier. "Our plans have transformed. Slightly." The fifth shadow looked at the only human in the group, the glance passing over him like smoke on water. "Let us discuss this elsewhere."

And, like that, they left the human behind, still gathering all of the moonlight to his rugged frame, standing there like a beacon to the two who would be approaching.

Envy licked their lips as they heard the new plot and grinned even more. Interesting. Finally, the fun was about to begin. Let the dice fly, boy. Let the dice fly.