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[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

WHO: Greed & Zoe
WHEN: Backdated last Tuesday night
WHERE: Zoe's apartment
WHAT: Can we talk?
WARNING: Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear


The apartment was dark, the only light on in Zoe's bedroom, her door closed. The place was too empty and quiet and she tried to convince herself that she wanted to be alone right now anyways. Zoe was in her jammies of PJ bottoms and a tank top and she sat on her messy bed with a book in her lap, only occasionally stopping to make notes. She was trying to keep her mind off things. She'd turned her phone off since the day before, since.. it happened. She didn't know what would be worse, hearing Greed's excuse or finding out she didn't have any messages from him at all. Both scenarios were pretty bad so she just left the blasted thing off.

Her morning with Patience had drained her and left her more confused and upset than ever. She tried hard to not let what he was saying get to her but she knew it did. And she couldn't even ask Greed about it because he was God knows where.. who cared, he wasn't here. She felt like an idiot.

Comments

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

"You see a side I present. I'm sure Patience tried to sell you that number too." No matter how honest Greed was he was still showing a side and she was giving him the attention he desired. "I show what I want to show you." He tried to grin, playing up his usual give but for some reason around her he didn't know how to react when she threw in the feelings.

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

As always it was difficult to hear. She didn't know what was worse, knowing Greed couldn't feel for her or that she might be feeling things for something that wasn't real.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "If that's true.. then why would you want to show me this?" he was hurting, and no matter how much attention it got him from her, he knew there were other ways to get her affection. He didn't have to show her this side, he didn't have to relive his pain or talk about it, he was doing it for a reason. Zoe had to believe that.

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

Damn all that understanding stuff. It was landing him in deep. "Because you let me. Because you're not exhausted yet." And she should be. Greed no matter how much he held back on her, was still going and fighting back. He could admire her spirit.

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

Zoe smiled a little, "Then.. maybe it is a side. But it's a real one. And if it's real, it's part of who you really are. Who knows.. maybe you're not showing me a side. Maybe you're just showing me.. you." she'd like to hope anyways. But she'd settle for it being real. She wondered though.. did he even know who he really was?

She lightly rested her head against his, "You're exhausting but you're not gonna exhaust me." and she said it with certainty.

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

"Aren't they all my side?" Greed snorted. "You haven't known me since...shit since I was born. I don't have a real side." Why was she being so damned likable? He was trying to push and pull enough to see if she would reel back in. She was buying him hook, line and sinker. Just when he thought he had this she gripped him as tightly as he clung to her.

He rested his head back against hers. "But I will. One day I will and you'll end up just like Josie." He swallowed that down heavy. He didn't like seeing things break so soon.

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

Zoe gave him a look, almost wanting to laugh because he was so stubborn and frustrating. "This is your real side. With me." and she had to believe it. She had to or she couldn't see him ever again. And she didn't know if she could survive that.

She sighed and stayed close to him, "You think I'm going to die trying to get away from you?" she angled her head so he'd have to look at her and asked him softly, "Who was running from whom the other day?" that was one thing that didn't make sense in all the things that Greed and Patience had said. That Greed took, he controlled, he gripped so tight that it broke the person, he never let go... but the other day, Zoe was willing and Greed didn't take. He ran.

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

Greed looked onto a blank space in the room, his eye catching a glimpse of that television. Too small. Not big enough. "You weirded me out. I expected you to stay to baby Patience. Usually I got nothin' on a Virtue." They made him look all wrong.

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

"I weirded you out? Why would I choose Freddie over you?" she wondered if he realized the ridiculousness of what he was saying.

She bumped her shoulder against his and said, "Regardless, the point is I didn't run. I didn't leave you. You ran. You left me. So.." she looked off to the side with a tilt of her head, "If anything, you're not the one that should get to feel sad right now. It really looks like I'm the one that's gonna have to worry about not getting to keep you." she looked at him, only half joking.. but there was something to her words.

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

"Quit calling him Freddie, its so personal," he pouted. "Patience is one of the good guys. Though I have to admit it felt so good breaking his nose," he got a little bouncy thinking about it. "Virtues always ruin my vibe." He'd bolted because that's what Greed did when the walls were closing in and he wasn't sure how to handle it. "It wasn't like I wasn't coming back. I told you. You're mine."

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

Zoe made a face, "It's his name.." she wasn't comfortable calling them by sins and virtue names yet.. it was still all weird. She sighed but smiled when he talked about punching Patience. She should have been horrified but she wasn't thrilled with Patience herself so.. "He is not a good guy, just like you're not a bad guy."

She picked up a cookie from the plate and broke a small bit off and put it in her mouth, "Doesn't matter. You ran. You left me there. And you still haven't explained to me why." she broke off another piece of the cookie and shoved it in his mouth as she wrinkled her nose, "I can't just be part-time yours. That's not how it works." and she gave him a look as if to say those are the rules.

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

"It's so...its a horrible name." Not that Greed was any better in choosing his own. He dropped his head in her lap, rolling onto his back and slapping his feet on the end of the couch.

"Why does there have to be a why?" He rolled back on his side curling into her lap like a child. These tactics usually worked on Lust, and being that it was all he had to compare to in being close to someone.

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

Zoe lifted her hands up when he plopped into her lap. She gave him a look but she knew it wouldn't do much good. "Make yourself comfortable.." she murmured, something she'd said before to him in a similar situation.

"There's always a why." she put a hand on his shoulder and then frowned a little, curious.. "You don't find it a little odd that.. you claim me as yours. And you're scared or well concerned I'm going to leave you but when I show that I wouldn't, you leave me. Not only that, you didn't just leave me.." she looked down at him, "You left me with Freddie." she nodded, "Practically gift wrapped for him and you don't seem to like him too much. So yeah, there's a 'why' there."

The more Greed fought against finding the answer, the more Zoe wouldn't let it go. It was something that went against what he and Patience claimed his normal behavior was. If it meant that Zoe wasn't just some common shiny target.. she'd hold on to that.

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

"I'm trying to get comfortable. You're ruining the moment of me squisjing my face in your lap." He was used to having Lust baby him, letting him keep to himself when he chose to. Out of habit he was pulling his usual tactics and Zoe was squashing them. "You made me panic. I'm not used to planning escapes with a second party." He always seemed to end up running when Patience was near.

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

She smiled, "Oh good. Tell me what else I can do to ruin the moment."

She turned her lips in for a second and nodded, "Ah, I see. My fault for choosing you. Good to know that you'll leave me behind whenever there's trouble." she flicked his ear where the tattoo was and grinned a little, "All you had to do was not ditch me. You didn't panic because of a lack of an escape plan.. which by the way constituted all of the genius of 'run!'. Try again. Why." Greed often said that he would die for what he wanted so she was damn sure it wasn't as simple as he was making it out to be.

She hoped anyways.

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

Greed grumbled as she poked again, sitting up again and putting his face in front of hers so that their noses were near touching. He gave her a quick kiss as if that would seal her answer. "I didn't expect you to do that." Part of it was push and pull to see her reactions. He liked that it kept him guessing but when she threw him curve balls it was a momentary stunt. If she had said know he'd have drug her with him. Without the charm, "I have no leverage with you." His fingers were in but there was more to lose.

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

Zoe didn't budge when he got right in her face but she scrunched up her lips and fought a smile after he kissed her, her gaze lowering for an instant. She shook her head as if to say don't try to distract me. "Is it boring for you if you don't have to hassle me into doing it?" she was genuinely curious about that. More she resisted, the more he pushed. But when she gave in willingly, it freaked him out.

She gave him a look like he had so much to learn and yet so did she, "Why do you need leverage with me?"

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

"I'm not used to not wiggling my fingers to get what I want," he wiggled them for emphasis but there was no force behind it. "You and Josie," his voice cracked a little at saying her name again, "its different results." Her liking him for him in the beginning before he had locked eyes was a tailspin. "I'm learning." It was a new bag of tricks. "No, I'm not bored, I'm curious. I'm not close to..." He paused. He hadn't exactly brought out Lust to Zoe, and the same applied to the reverse combination. He wanted to keep playing with this on his own without getting anyone involved. "I'm not close to many."

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

Zoe took his hand when his voice cracked, "Careful... someone might mistake you for human." but she said it with a soft smile. Not using mojo to get what he wanted? Blasphemy. Emotion at the name of a beloved lost one? He was more human than he thought he was.

That smile became wry when he said he wasn't close to many, "Yeah, me neither.." she stroked the back of his hand idly with her thumb, "You don't need leverage with friends." she looked at him, "I'm your friend. You have to just... trust me to want to be around you and on your side." not that she'd admit to him that trust was one of those difficult messy things that even she had a hard time with.

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

"Trust isn't quite in my genetic code." He paused her soft ministrations against his hand with her fingers, casting a glance across his shoulder at her with thick lidded lashes. "You're a first." A first in a lot of things. He felt like a virgin Sin all over again, learning the world under Lust's wing.

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

He didn't sound like he wasn't human.. he just sounded like someone who had the parts but didn't have the tools or the instruction manual to put it together. "Trust isn't in humans genetic code either. It's something we learn. Try to anyways."

She seemed thoughtful when he said she was a first and looked at him, unable to keep a smile from her face, "So are you." she quickly looked away, back at the floor, smile still in place and a blush hitting her cheeks as if he'd kissed her.

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

"It isn't? Virtues have it..." He pondered like she had just opened the door so wide. He wasn't sure he put trust in his siblings, they were all just as selfish as he. Lust and Glutt were his closest and he didn't put any stock in trust with them either. It fell into a Sins mood. They were vindictive assholes.

He poked her cheek with his finger. He liked seeing her flush.

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

Zoe chuckled a little and swatted his hand away, "You really are five.."

She shook her head, her mood souring when he brought up Virtues, "No, they don't. Freddie didn't trust me to make my own decisions. He thinks he knows what's best for me and that's not trust. Virtues, from what I've seen, aren't these shiny angelic beings. They have their own agenda and any agenda isn't a good thing. Maybe you're not exactly squeaky clean, but if Freddie is anything to go by, 'Virtues' seem to be fully capable of playing dirty." since she knew Freddie's emotional bashing of her was something he was fully aware of and wanted her to feel like shit and guilt and the whole range of crapness so she'd stop seeing Greed.

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

"That's always been my thought! I hate Virtues! They spoil everything." One would have to wonder if Greed didn't have some sway on her system there, he didn't, he was just damn glad she saw things his way. He leaned into her, dropping his chin on her shoulder, right in the crook of her neck. "I'm not five." She probably didn't really want to think about how old he really was.

[history-repeats.insanejournal.com]

Zoe gave Greed a look but grinned, "I don't hate them, just.. I'm not happy with the way Freddie handled things. At first he told me I should give you a chance and that the more difficult it is the more rewarding it is and then when he finds out it's you he beats me with an emotional baseball bat.." she shook her head, just not liking the way he did it. She could understand it to a point but it didn't make it any better.

She turned her head a little to look at him and smiled, "Wow. You just made this creepier than Twilight.." and she scooted away from him. Nope, she did not want to think about his actual age but him saying he was five did pop it into her head he was definitely not in his 20's.. or 50's.. or 100's... It was certainly a new take on 'robbing the cradle'..

[better-than.insanejournal.com]

"Wait you talked to him about me?" He grinned as if he had a cake sitting right in front of him. There was a sneaky vibe coming off in waves. "If he'd known it was me he would have followed you home that day. I wasn't lying, he found you out as soon as he knew it was me."

He reared his elbows on his knees, hands together under his chin, giving her those baby blues and lashes, as if enticing her to stay where she was. "Oh please, Edward Cullen has nothing on me. Him and that pale, skinny ass is not attractive."