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Who: Greed Narrative [Open to Zoe]
What: After horrible breakups and revelations--Satan's torture strikes!
When: Early Monday morning after this, December 3 [Backdated]
Where: Greed's apartment
Warnings: SADNESS KILLS


It started with a headache. Nothing drastic, just a little pound against the back of his head that shot through his temples. That lasted a few hours until it started to become a little more unbearable. He'd even smoked a little pot with the hopes to just ease right out of it. It helped for the few hours he was high, but afterward he was thrown right back to that pain. He hadn't really eaten, his stomach felt like a rock had been dropped and he couldn't pick it back up. It was no good to be weak, and it was perhaps just the outlet Satan needed to peel back all of Greed's layers. It was the perfect time to attack. As of the weekend Greed had lost more than a fire could have ever vanquished. His puppy, his Lust and his girlfriend.

That's when it struck. It wasn't with a bullet. Nor was it picking apart his fingers as had been done with Sloth. It was that needling in his head. By the end of the week the rings would show under his eyes where his sleep dwindled down to practically nothing. The first time he'd been hit with a nightmare, Zoe was still there (unwillingly) but there. Greed had exhausted her, broken her. He'd refused to let her go or even leave the building. So he held on until she couldn't move and just collapsed in his arms. He'd pulled her into the bed, covered her with the comforter, but she hadn't woken up yet. When his head kept pounding he curled up beside her, watching her as she slept until his own eyes fell heavy. He twitched in his sleep, his head pounding. A train picking up speed and barreling past the stopping point. But these dreams they were something rather familiar.

In the year without a summer he'd not only lost Josie, but he had drawn out the darkest shade of himself. Lust's plot had been simple. She was engaged but with him there they would both reap the benefits of a marriage bed from their spouses and each other. The dirty little game was all okay except he wanted Lust to himself. Her husband was in his way. Greed's wife was in the way. He still remembered the day they'd gone out to the lake for a picnic. It had started to rain and in a fit of jealousy Greed had let Stella drown. He would say the girl had slipped in the mud, but he'd dragged her in until her eyes were wide and lips were blue.

The girl was face down in the water, hair spilled out around her, her white dress pillowing from the water as she lay lifeless. He turned her over, dragging her back to to solid ground, only when he looked down it was Zoe. He dropped the body immediately like it was disgusting, backing away from it and slipping to his knees in the mud. After a few minutes he crawled back towards the body, moving the hair from her face, taking his jacket off and throwing it over her face. He couldn't have her starring back at him.

He hadn't meant for that. He hadn't meant to kill Josie. He hadn't meant to kill Stella. He hadn't....

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Zoe was in a deep dreamless sleep. Her body was weakened from the emotional turmoil of the day and she was pretty sure she cried herself to the point of dehydration. It was the twitching that woke her up.. or maybe she just knew that something was wrong. Panic hit her at first because she didn't recognize her surroundings at all and then everything came back at once, she was at Greed's new place. They'd broken up. Only now it was the dead of night.

At one time the safest she ever felt was with Greed.. the best sleep she'd get was when she was with him but now.. she looked at his hand that was laying in hers and slowly pulled it away so as not to wake him.

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He sat there in the mud looking at that lifeless body, taking hold of her hand. There still on the finger was the wedding ring, pressed into the skin. He rotated the gold metal around until it slid off her cold hand. He pocketed the ring and pulled the coat down off her face. Looking back at him still was Zoe's ghastly face.

"No...no this isn't right..." He stood stomping his foot. He knew where he was, this wasn't real. He remembered this day, his mind was just playing tricks on him. The coat went over her face again as he picked up the body in his arms to take back to the carriage. When he got down the hill and past the large tree where Lust and Devlin sat, the space was empty. There was still the blanket laid out with the lunch, but no one was there.

The rain had even stopped, sun starting to poke out from behind the clouds. "What's going on?" He whispered, Zoe's body still in his arms, but in Stella's dress.

He walked quickly to the carriage, it too empty. It was like someone hijacking his memories. While in the present Zoe stirred, Greed was locked in that dream with nowhere to go. A cold, clammy sweat had started to show against his skin.

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Zoe could use the moment to escape but she watched Greed and he didn't seem to be doing too hot. She touched his cheek lightly and it was almost like he was sick.. but they hadn't been kissing, definitely not. And he didn't have a cold. He couldn't get sick on just emotions could he? She was torn on what to do.. she couldn't just shut off her feelings for him and was worried.. but if she left now he couldn't stop her.

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Greed pulled one of the pillows tightly in his grasp, his arms circling it while his knees drew up and he tossed onto his side. His fingers were ringing the corners of the pillow almost nervously which was not a usual act of his character.

Inside....

The sun was out but he was still drenched in rain carrying this corpse to the carriage where he sat upright in the seat. He was about to climb inside when he heard a familiar laugh. Like a hawk his head whipped around to see Lust and Devlin enjoying the afternoon.

Lust looked over at him, patting the seat beside her as if he were a puppy. "Stella is dead." Lust waved him off, her eyes hooked on Devlin. "Oh darling please, have a seat. Is everything alright now?"

No! This wasn't right.

"Lust---" she put a finger to her lips, shushing him with the action. "Enough now." When she dismissed him a third time he got angry, wrapping his hands around her neck, wringing it the same way he did that pillow. His jaw locked tight, eyes scrunched, and brows contorted uneasily. He was killing her too. Lust.

He cried when he did it because she was gone already.

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Zoe deeply frowned.. something was very very wrong. Greed didn't really dream.. or well, if he did, he never had to the point where he was like this. She'd shared a bed with enough times to know that he was a pretty docile sleeper. She looked at the doorway and then back at him..

"Chance.." she said quietly and moved the comforter back as she sat next to him. Her hand touched his temple and she gently smoothed back his hair, stroking it a few times as her other hand went to his that were mauling the pillow, her fingers tangling with his, trying to get them to still.

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Greed continued to squeeze her neck, but now she was laughing at him. Laugh, laugh, keep laughing he thought, his grip of steel. By the time she dropped to the ground he stood now laughing proudly. "I don't need you. I don't!" His laughter faded though and the rain started to pour again. There was a second body to drag back to the carriage but it felt heavier, like Lust was weighed down with two-ton bricks. The more he pulled her the heavier she became. He ended up tripping over her, her skin a pale shade against her bright red dress. Now was the point he expected her to revive, but she didn't.

He didn't remember this ever happening, but it was there as if it had. He gathered her again trying for the carriage, but the carriage had moved. It was further away now. It was then that present Zoe gripped his fingers, a ghost of a world he wasn't in.

His face was still wet, the clammy sweat a blanket. His grip loosened on the pillow.

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His loosened grip was a positive sign and Zoe took the skirt of her dress and used it to wipe the sweat from his face. She then looked at the doorway again and hated that despite how much pain he caused her, she still was reluctant to leave him. God, she was so stupid. He'd be okay. He wasn't afraid of anything. Nothing got to him. She hesitated but slowly tried to untangle her hand from his so she could leave..

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Greed never once opened his eyes. It was the only way Zoe would get to leave without him trying to stop her. If it were up to him she wouldn't make it past the bedroom door.

He might not be afraid of things, but all creations had fears. They carried no weight if there were no pros and cons to a thought. Greed was an idea, but he couldn't play a side in a dream. Not in a dream that ran like a memory as if it were being written all over again.

He took a deep breath. The hand she tried to detangle was shaking.

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Zoe instinctively gripped Greed's shaking hand but the tears were coming back and she just.. she couldn't do this. He was much stronger than she was. He'd be okay. He always was. She was just being ridiculous and inventing reasons to not leave and just be an even bigger idiot.

She reached out to touch him again but her hand hovered. No! She was never going to leave otherwise. She pulled it back and moved off the bed, her fingers sliding away from his. She pressed a hand to her eyes as she needed to keep it together long enough to get out the door and find a way back home. Then she'd break down and let her heart bleed till there was nothing left.