Dinner preparations were silent, as tense as though Greed were still present. Envy chopped vegetables as though it had a personal vendetta against them. Kimblee was suddenly very tired of it all – Greed's voracity, Pride's scheming, Envy's fierce insecurities, and above all else his part in it all.

"Is this the way you're going to be," he said, when the silence became unbearable, "every time I have a friend over?"

Envy slammed down the knife with emphatic impact, turning to face him with eyes flashing. At least Envy had set down the knife.

"He's not your friend! He's my brother. I know him better than you ever will, and I know he can't be trusted."

"Can't I be trusted?"

Envy regarded him a moment, as though asking itself the same question. Finally,

"…Pride says you're hiding something from me."

"And you believe him?"

"Is he lying?"

Was he? Kimblee frowned. He certainly wasn't above being a traitor, but he preferred to at least know when he was. When exactly had this become a secret, a clandestine plot? And yet since it apparently was, he didn't see it as his plot to unveil.

"Ask Greed first. If he doesn't tell you than I will, but you ought to hear it from him." Let Greed try and explain, deal with the fallout. It was his damn idea in the first place.

"So there is something." Envy's voice was resigned; defeated.

"It's not my intention to hide anything from you. It's just…there are things that are for him to say, not me. It isn't my place to say."

Whatever was between the two siblings – love, hate, both, neither, everything and more – he wasn't up to acting as their interpreter.

"Isn't that the same as hiding things?"

"Talk to him, and then you tell me."

.

A short while later, Greed caught sight of Envy lurking in the dark corners of his usual haunt. At any other time he might just have ignored his sibling, yet in the way which he was always drawn to things he wanted, he found himself shrugging off the company of his human companions, both male and female, and cutting a straight line through the crowd.

Upon seeing his approach, Envy turned and slipped out the backdoor, out into the ally which ran behind the pub. Often, drunks and beggars could be found there, but that night was too cold. Greed's breath rose in pale clouds, as he joined Envy outside.

Envy's body showed no such signs of warmth or life. The look on its face was unfamiliar to Greed. The younger sin didn't look mad, but still seemed far from happy.

"Enough." Said Envy, when they stood facing each other.

"Of what?"

"Of this, whatever you're doing. I know threats won't get me far with you. It'd probably just encourage you. So I'm asking: please, don't come between us." He recognized the look on Envy's face then. Fear. Desperation. "I'll do anything; give you anything. Replace the cars if you want, although it'll take a while. Name it. Just don't ruin this for me."

"You think that's what I'm trying for?" Greed's voice was quiet. This wasn't going at all according to plan. He found he didn't know how to confront this side of Envy.

"I know you had your eye on him. Am I supposed to believe you conveniently decided to step aside when I got in the way?" Envy shook its head. "I know you better."

"I'll admit I want him. No point in denying that, but I'm not trying to ruin things between you two."

"In your mind you're probably just looking for another fun night, but it will sure as hell ruin things for me if it's with him."

"What if it's with you?"

There was a moment of silence. Then Envy laughed, a dry and bitter sound.

"So that's your approach – get me to cheat on him first? It's a long shot, but I'll grant it's not a bad strategy. Short of you raping him, that's the only possible scenario where I wouldn't kill him for having sex with you, so you're even being relatively considerate. Well played."

And it was back to same old irrational, bitter denial. Greed took in a deep breath, fighting irritation. "What can I say, to make you believe that I want you, and he has nothing to do with that?"

"What you just said, but not phrased as question." Envy had played enough of Greed's games to know the line between deception and an outright lie.

"I want you, and he has nothing to do with that." Greed said, levelly.

There was a moment of shocked silence in which Envy stared at him, expressionless. But the typical anger and suspicion quickly surfaced again.

"What if this is your first lie? You can at any time, you know. You just choose not to."

"You just said you'd believe me if I said that!" Greed exclaimed, incredulous.

"I'm not the one who claims to be honest all the time, am I? Since you love the truth so much, this is it: there is nothing you can say that will make me trust you! Because I know you don't want me! The only thing you've ever wanted is to hurt me!"

"Now that is a lie and you well know it!" Greed lost his temper at last. "I never wanted anything to do with you one way or another, and you couldn't stand that. You're the one who's wanted to hurt me. You're the one who brought hate into it."

"That's bullshit!"

"I don't lie, sweetheart. Not today."

"Don't call me that! I'd prefer monstrosity if it's a choice between the two!" Although cold, Envy was on fire with hatred for it's brother - his cruelty, his disdain, his selfish manipulation. It was surpassed only by hatred for itself, for still, somehow, wanting Greed in spite of everything. Envy felt physically ill with loathing.

"Why the hell do you always do this?!" Greed demanded. "If there's anything I hate, it's that –the way you'd throw everything away out of petty spite."

"I'm not throwing away anything that wasn't ruined a long time ago." A deranged grin split Envy's face. "You say you want me? Fine. Fuck me right here and now, if you promise you'll leave us alone after that." Envy spread its arms wide. "Here I am, take your only chance!"

"You're sick."

"And you're a filthy lair."

"I am not. Charm like yours would turn off anyone." He turned back towards the door to the pub. "We'll see how long it takes with him." Greed paused on the threshold, returning the hateful smile. "I don't need to mess things up between the two of you, you know. You're good enough at ruining things all by yourself."

Greed slammed the door behind him. The sound seemed to echo in Envy's mind.

In the dark, Pride laughed. It wasn't cruel. It didn't have to be. The genuine amusement was dreadful enough.

"Your human threw you to Greed like a bone. I've been wrong the whole time Envy, you're so loved."

.

From the moment his door burst open, Kimblee knew nothing good had come of Envy and Greed's conversation. Figured.

"How could you do this?" Envy asked, standing in front of him where he sat on the couch, book in hand.

"What have I done?" He asked, marking his place and setting his reading aside.

"Whore me out to my worst enemy!"

"Is that what Greed said? Or is that Pride's take on the situation?"

Envy felt a moment's surprise at the human's grasp of their family dynamic, but it wasn't enough to assuage Envy's anger.

"So what if it is?! At least he tells me things!"

"Pride tells you what he believes will hurt you."

That was true, but it didn't make Envy feel any better about the whole thing. Bad as Pride's intentions were, what he said had been true enough, hadn't it? Greed, how do you even tell where truth ends and lies begin? I'm lost in between. And damn it, why am I thinking about you?

"And it would be so easy for you, to see me with someone else?" Envy demanded. "How can that not hurt me?"

"If it was an experience we shares and enjoyed, it wouldn't need to be hurtful. If that's not possible – and I never expected it would be – consider the option closed. You'll never hear another word about it."

Option closed. But it wasn't closed, something like that couldn't be closed once it was opened. Not where Envy was concerned. Not where Greed was concerned.

"You wanted him enough to risk me." Envy said. "Everything we have, for the chance to have him, too."

"What was I risking? If you didn't want him, he was yours to turn down."

"But you want him. You didn't turn him down."

"I chose you."

"And yet you chose to try and get a little extra."

"Invidia…When all I say only incriminates me further, what can I say?"

Nothing, and Envy said it, turning on its heel and slamming the door behind it.

.

For the second time that night, Greed was visited by someone who he would have liked to see, under any different circumstances. Kimblee was more direct than Envy, walking up to where Greed sat with cards in hand and chips on the table in front of him. Kimblee said nothing, merely stood there in silence, waiting.

"Right." Greed said at length, chagrined. "So I fucked up."

"You did." Kimblee leaned down, heedless of the other players, so that Greed could no longer avoid his eyes. "You broke this. You fix it."

Greed sighed. Fair enough, so why did it seem like such a raw deal?

"What makes you think I can? Seems to me I stand a better chance of making things worse."

"You could do either; make things worse or better. Quite easily, in fact." The ghost of a smiled played across Kimblee's face, and for a moment he seemed melancholy. Now Greed was meeting his eyes, he found he couldn't look away. "Envy is jealous of us, of whatever we have or might have. But in reality, I'm the one with cause for jealousy here, were I the type for it."

"Envy has enough of that for all of us." Greed said.

"Exactly." Kimblee smiled more fully, with his familiar Cheshire-cat slyness. "Have fun with that."