[ They'd warned her, so many times, against her wickedness. Her own men even -- warned her to be cautious. That those she dealt with would kill her one day.
She would die either way, and perhaps he would be the cause. But she doubted it. There were too many people she had crossed, and asking the devil in was the least of her problems.
After all, she could turn her back on him, and for now, not fear an attack that might come were she with anyone else. With him, she could be alone. Without her men and her killers. ]
You always prefer the dark. [ Her fingers settled on the desk she kept in her small office. Her fingers pressing against the rough wood, running across it's grain before she turned back to him. Hands supporting her as she lent back a little. Relaxed, except for the tension that settled along her spine. ]
The man that killed he who so usually does this for me. [ There was an agitated clench to her draw. But it was gone in an instant, her head tipping with a becoming smile. All sweetness and guile. ] They say it was when he was drunk, caught him being a fool in the street, and they left him with his throat open in one of the back alleys.
[ And she would have believed it too, if it weren't for the fact that there were whispers -- that it was not drunken fight. That the men who had done it, had been wearing Phillip's colours. It took her half a days searching and more gold than she cared for to get the man's name and location.
And she would not have him killed by some amateur. ] I know you have no need of my blade, but my men prefer that you do. [ scared of him, the actions of him that they spoke of in whispers. Skin like hell's fire and a smile when he killed that would make Lucifer jealous. She appreciated it, in a far different way to most. Liked his bloody efficiency, his sleekness and indefatigably.
In the end, the blade had been for her men's peace of mind. A pantomime of violence. Keep it to what they knew best, so they could console themselves as to what their mistress dealt in. ] but you are the best I know. There will be gold. [ She doubted his price would be gold, but the offer was the same. Elizabeth rocked back on her palms a moment, smiling still. But watching him, mostly. Gauging him. So very men she could predict, but him -- she never could. Perhaps that was why she did it. ]
And do you think I care what you humans really want from me? Ha -! You mortal lot think you've got control over everything, don't you.
[His tone was corrective and pleasant; chiding and smarmy. In the end, he didn't really care who or what graced his doorstep. A deal was a deal and when the offer of gold, of wealth, of anything worth his time came knocking at the door, Greed never denied the proposal.]
[But the mortal-lot had plenty to learn and his smile was terrible and wicked. As if he knew her fate in advance, as if he could see it play out piece by piece in the dark. The ticking of her clock in those naked eyes and slit-pupils thickened. Eternity in a flick before they shivered back to sharp points.]
Flattery will get you no where, lovely. But I'll take it anyway. [His heels bounced. Scuffing the floorboards to make dust jump and he circled the table to meet her. While one arm reached back to shuffle and snatch the long end of his coat - ankle length, worn leather, and something a pauper or a tradesman would wear. And probably did at some point, but that was neither here nor there.]
[Besides, the guy didn't need it anymore anyway.]
[The blade sunk in there - between the back bend of his leather slacks and a red-spun sash he wore around the waist. For the time, he both stuck out and blended in. Mistaken for a different breed, for someone high-society would mark an undesirable. But how wrong they were - the definition practically laughable.]
[Because in the end, it was he who desired all.]
Gold's fine, but I think you're going to have to do a little bit better than that this time. Especially since you've been so rude. [Greed hummed, touching his teeth with his tongue and maybe he was serious, maybe he wasn't. It was hard to gauge and she aptly pointed him as such. Unpredictable with his breeding and like the rest, he had plenty of other ideas in mind.]
[But he merely shrugged. Released the length of his jacket to let it fall back. Lapping at his ankles and the Sin dipped to bring his face to her own.]
You know how this works, though. I do this and it might not end well for you, later on. The others? Don't tend to like you and yours. [Greed's lips pressed together as his eyes wandered over her. Tracing out her legs, her thighs - the bump of her hips and the curve of her chest.] Thankfully for you, they're out doing good ol'Dad's work. Shouldn't be much of a problem.
[He moved past. Sliding and slipping, a shadow made of blood and sharp angles. Only to stop at her side, his gaze locking hard with a back wall.]
I know you don't care. I have no wish to control you, but I have a need to control them.
[ And that was what it came down to. Her precarious business, of protecting those of the slums, came so hand in hand in slicing the throats of those that dared to cross her, interfere with the smuggling shipments. All matter of wicked things she did where no one could see her doing such.
And they called her unnatural, but weak for a woman. As if a woman had no stomach for violence.
She smiled still, because he played so will. Enjoyed this more than she should, most in the end bored her quick mind and quicker tongue when it came to deals. ] My flattery does nothing? And here I thought to court you with it. Such a shame. [ As if she were a knight and he the lady. But a courtship such as this, ended in blood. ]
Tell me what I can do to convince you then, to make up for my rudeness. [ Because she caught, so briefly the way he looked at her. And she'd gouged men's eyes out for daring to do so too many times. But she was content to play, with him and with this deal. ] Jewels? Whores? I've a shipment come in from China and my girls are the cleanest in the city. [ She'd feed his greed, even if he'd never be sated, for awhile, she could supply. ]
[ Her head tipped back in laughter at his warning. ] Caring for my well being, Greed? Don't tell me you're growing soft on me. I know what they say of me, what they think of me. [ as far as he lent in, she curled around him. Leaning back into him without touching. Let him look, as much as he liked, if that was what it took. Her fingers wrapped around the pearls that hung low from the neck, twisting them up and around before letting them tumble free, settling over her chest again. ] I am beginning a war by doing this. And believe me, I will win it.
[ Her smile spread slowly like a lion's grin. A mockery of the King's gone before when she likened herself to one. ] Be a dear and fire the first shot for me?
[Outside was a buzz. The nightlife crawling out from the dank and the dreary. To steal and rob, to fuck and kill. Humans had basic instincts and there was no use denying any of them. Despite the many that flocked to steeples and asked for a cleansing, one could not wash the blood off so easily.]
[Greed sunk his nails into the desk. Scratched lines, made the wood peel-back into tightly-spun ribbons. Unlike many he dealt with, she was one of the first who ever challenged. Who dared to meet him at his own game and it was something he could appreciate.] All of it, but make sure the gals aren't hurt. Even I have a few morals, Tudor.
[The Sin turned his head to the window. The night would be chilled, slightly moist. An eerie in between that ushered in the changing of seasons and there would be enough fog to hide and dart: it was the perfect setting for a business proposition such as this. He'd have to thank her for the good timing.]
[But not right now. Instead, she was offering, and he wasn't about to back down.] Going to guess I can't ask you not to come with me, right? [He didn't like showing that side - that ugly side that mocked a smiling skull right back. Especially not to more feminine company, but then again, when was she so feminine. She looked the part, acted the part, but deep down she was something far more.]
[If he thought that she would last, he would have offered her up to replace someone else he knew all too well.] A war, huh? You're thinking a bit too small, but whatever you want, right?
[The Sin released his claws. Urged down the recede of his 'Shield as he slipped hand after hand into his pockets. He turned his attentions towards the exit, then. That smile of his courted and curved as he shrugged. As if this were merely a casual meeting between two good friends and not a ploy for murder and revenge.]
[ There was the same dry laugh, devoid of any true amusement. Some how, disappointed for a moment though she could not place why. ] Of course you do. And the last man that hurt my women was tossed out on the street with a knife in his ribs.
[ No one touched that which was hers. No one harmed them, for they were hers, and it was something like caring, something like savage possession that marked them as untouchable by the rest of the world. ] They're all yours, for the night that you choose.
[ A smile was all the answer he got. Still predatory, her pulse beating in her throat. It was unnatural -- and it was perhaps why they called her so. A vain, cruel, vicious woman. With a bloodlust that belong to the torturers of the tower, rather than to any lady of the street.
But the fact remained the same. It made her feel so alive. Burning and perfect and out of control. Made her giddy like some women blushed over their lovers. ]
For now, perhaps. Whatever you and yours plan is your business until it comes upon my streets. [ Carved out with a rusty blade, but all hers. ]
As you wish. [ She swept him a curtsey, mocking as it was. Then she stepped around him and his claws, ducking past him on sure feet. A dance, as she twisted and skipped -- heaven knows she'd always been fast where most took too much time. Lead them all a merry chase. ] It's past the docks, in the back alleys there.
[ There were things she wasn't telling him, in the end. Things that made her so particularly cruel that no one but a monster would do for it. She wanted him to know fear, before he died, and Greed was so much fear to behold when the darkness took him. With that thought, she hummed as she opened the door. Like it was the first of May and the young girls danced as she did now.
One quick flick of her wrist dismissed her men from her side, and she looked over her shoulder, watching and waiting for him. ]
[Maybe that was why they worked so well: she was just as greedy as he was. Maybe not to the same fever, the same pitch, but he would silently commend her avarice time and time again.]
[Elizabeth moved like she was possessed. As if another one of his kin had taken her by whatever strings of humanity she had left and pulled. Snapping until each cracked back with the tightness of violin strings. Battering the knuckles, gashing them bloody, and she only reveled in it.]
[It was rare to find in the mortal lot: violence not a stranger, but this particular brand more a mutation. Something wrong in the gene pool, something off.]
[But that didn't seem to bother him too much.]
[Greed's laugh was airy and vile. Similar to the blow-out of bellow after collecting so much dust. The use of it stale and he followed behind her. Her shadow - little shadow crawling to bite and lap at her ankles.] So you are coming with me, then.
[The docks were a good place to start - a marked hunting ground for him in the past and he knew the old wood as good as the serpent crawling across the back of his hand. Each notch where someone might fall; where new planks had been applied and other left to rot. Either way, it could be done as a warning or to heed further suspicion to mark someone else for the deed.]
[It was smart and unsurprising that the idea should come from her.]
Gotta say - I've always admired your avarice - what's yours and is yours and what's mine? ["Is mine," he failed to say. She knew it already and as the men parted away, his hand went to the crook of the door. Pulling him out, like a creature from the ooze. Teeth and fangs; claws and eyes.]
[It was him and them that really bumped in the night.]
[Greed showed off his set, snapped at one of them that got too close, a sneer gracing up his jaw.] You still haven't given me a name, lovely. [He said, ripping away his vicious gesture to talk at her back.]
I'm curious to know just who pissed you off so much to come to me.
[ Elizabeth knew every story they had ever said of her. That her mama was a witch, and her father had killed the bitch of a wife when she'd gotten caught bedding another man. That her Papa raised her mean, ignoring her in favor of a baby brother, and she had become twisted because of it. That she had claws, and lips that were covered with venom, so that if she kissed some poor unsuspecting fool, they'd die. That they'd love every minute of it before they drew their last.
The one thing every story got right, apart from her perchance for violence, she had been bemused to note, was that anything she had ever let go of, had claw marks in it. Pried from aching cold finger tips. Perhaps that was she why liked him best. There was no explanation, only a need to have. ]
I wondered that you ever asked whether I would stay behind.
[ A shrug, at his question, at his admiration, as if she had no need of it, but it was seldom a man ever commented a woman for her sins.
Plentiful as they were. ]
Marcus. I do not know his family name, I don't care to. I know his face. It is enough. [ Etched into her mind like only vengeance could mark such a thing. ]
[The cobblestone street was a maze of hazy fog and flickering lamp-light. The last-ditch efforts of mankind trying to drive the darkness away, but it was a futile effort, and when Greed slithered to her side, he moved just like it. Smooth to caress a wall, extending his arm to her peripheral as he showed his hand the door. With a shove, it opened, bringing in everything wicked that came knocking.]
[Which was him and her - her and him. Two matched in bad-business and the Sin rolled out the point of his boot. Made it cut through the thick settlement. And he jerked his head over his shoulder, if distracted by a ghost or two, before shrugging.] Was worth a shot, anyway.
[Really, he didn't care the guy's name - Marcus, Johnathan, whatever - it was just a target, in the end. Like the rest left in his wake. Some names taken, others tossed aside.]
[It was just business.]
[Greed moved down an alleyway. One that twisted behind building after building, growing narrower as they passed. It was here that people spat and hid - darting when they saw him coming. Instincts on high and he could give them some credit:]
[At least they knew when something wasn't quite right.]
[It was bad company all around. The Queen with her claws and the man who harbored demons. Or was a demon. The stories had changed so many times, Greed had lost count in the last hundred years or so. Rumors turned to tales, tales to legends, and legends to bedtime whispers to keep children far away from the streets at night.]
[He pocketed his hands as his strolled, casual demeanor holding his shoulders, his spine. He walked with a practiced sort of motion, as if he had taken the route a million times before, the quip of smile glowing whenever they crossed a shallow window. When flame shivered and he swallowed it. Lapped it and licked it across the sharps of his teeth.]
Did you set him up already, or is this going to be a surprise visit? [Greed said with mild amusement. Though it was a hushed hiss to keep secrets between; to keep matters private as he nudged the jagged opening with a click of his elbow.]
[ Like this, she was all but an extension of his presence. A masquerade hiding a masquerade. His intent hidden by her presence. His savagery hiding her malicious cruelty.
It might of been a dance, how they wove through the streets. The dark parts of the city that those who wished to be respectable avoided, and whores and thugs gave their trade. Her skirts already stained with muck even before this, her feet light as she stepped over the dirt that covered the ground.
But she tossed her head back, walking like she owned the cobble stones herself. The red hair she was so proud of turned to rust in the half torch light of poorly lit streets. Mistress of this place, no matter how ruthless the man she turned her gaze on, they would doff their hat and dip their head to her. And how she smirked for it, proud to the last. How she laughed when they told her as a girl, she should learn to fear the devil that hid in the dark.
They had stopped scaring her a long time ago, not when the cruelest thing she had ever seen was keeping company with her. ]
He drinks, with his fellows. [ There was a sneer. Loyalty came cheap. Whosoever of her men betrayed her often found that the gold was never enough by the time she was finished with them, and by the same contrast, fealty was rewarded in ample.
How happy it was for her, that Phillip's men were all traitors. Her lips parted further in a silent laugh that was between them both. ] He does not know they have sold him out.
[The air was moist and heavy with the scent of low tide. Dregs of oil lapping at the water's edge with the undertone of everything awful the bay could provide. The rotting wash of fish and bait licking with each caress of a gentle wave and it was slippery. Like that of an eel coiling around the thick wood base. In and out, back and forth.]
[Greed peeled out onto the main stretch, his grin smoldering. With a pinch and a flick, a rolled ignited. Helped by a match struck at the thigh, bringing the flames of Hell at his fingers. To caress his face, shining him in oranges that turned gold at his shades and his skin.]
[It was extinguished with a pinch that seemed like charcoal. His fingers suddenly too dark, too sharp and the Sin inhaled, sending smoke down into his core and out. Billows of it like serpents fleeing through his teeth as he tilted his head back in tow with her own. Found the pulse and stole it, too.]
Tsk - that's cruel, even for you. [He said with a slip of his eyes. Purples to watch as light flicked across the inky-black tide. Making lines where the moon crossed and both outlined in silver.] If you weren't human, she might have liked you.
[But he left it at that. Moving away and birthing room as he tossed heel over heel. Crossing and weaving, his neck sunk into his shoulders. He was a monster in every right: from the way he walked, to how he spoke. But unlike the others, Greed kept to a certain creed. He had tossed away the smoke and mirrors preferring the crueler side of the truth.]
[And almost, always, it won him far more favors.]
[Including the one present and the homunculus stopped at the cobblestone outside the edge of the docks. Rolled his shoulders with a slow-moving twist and his heels knocked against the thickly-spaced wood. Clack, went one. Clunk, went the other. Drawling, the proverbial reaper drawing near as teeth sunk into the end of rolled tobacco. Puncturing with a promise and he stopped once with a solid kick-back. Snapping the shelf of his boot to turn a glance over the fur-cuff of his shoulder.]
Last time, lovely. This is your chance to go on home.
[ Her pretty little lips parted in a smile at his compliment, a sweet girl's smile and beguiling. Her smile had always been her best feature, made her a blushing maid of spring. Only they should of revealed fangs, vicious jaws of a predator that dripped blood down her chin, between her breasts. Staining her in some irrevocably. ]
Thank you, Greed. [ a purr to mimic his own. Heady, inviting. She watched him, the tip of her tongue flicking against her top lip before she turned again to keep walking, contemplating what he saw in her with the gesture more than anything. ] I am human, and no one need like me but you.
[ With that she kept walking, confident in where she was going, that no one would dare stop her.
None save him.
She barely even noticed he stopped until the question cut through the evening mist. Her mind gone some place only she dare go to. Might kill anyone else for stepping into, or at least the look on her face said as much, when he asked. Elizabeth took a step forward, to him. Carefully she reached for him. Like a lover, or something else. Her head tilted to the side, not looking to meet his eyes, or not yet. She smoothed up his chest, curling her fingers in the fur and lost her earnest smile. ] Why do you ask me such tiresome questions? Think you to save me? Spare me more blood on my hands? [ She leant close, a whisper to his ear as he rolled his cigarette, like he was privy to some secret. Her eyes on the star as she spoke, lips there to tease and torment in equal measure. ]
I made my choice long before I knew you. Do not ask me such foolish things ever again, I tire of it. [ She let out a breath, kissed his cheek once more, and stepped away. ]
[She took him like a lover, but damned him like a villain. With sweet words laced like poison, but at least he was used to it. Knives that cut - that told him when he was out of bounds and as she coiled to him, Greed merely shrugged. Raised one hand to give the mildest charade of a surrender.] Noted. Just remember that this was your idea.
[Up ahead, torches flicked. A few unloading their gotten-gains. Crate after crate piling high on the planks and they oozed of fresh fish. Still flopping, gasping for air. It was fitting in a way - how every second that passed, there was something just barely hanging onto life. Dying moments waiting in the balance and it wouldn't just be next-day's market that would be begging for the sweet release.]
[Greed walked with her, shoved his nose to the side of her head. He could snap her neck right then and there; have at everything that was to come. All for himself. But he wouldn't and she knew. That despite his claim to fame, she wasn't on the dinner menu.]
[Not yet, anyway.]
[But he watched the dock, his glance far away as it split the darkness and saw. Every fearful glance, every frozen step. Like time unwinding before him and the Sin was privy to everything. Skipped heartbeats, erratic pulses: it was the best sort of drug.]
[And oh, was he just itching for the chance to show off.] But as long as we're being honest with one another, you and I know you're far too gone to be saved. Don't play bullshit with me, lovely. [The homunculus smiled against her hair, against her skin. Let his breath caress her as much as so wanted to. To take her clothes, to steal her skin. Running his claws down her curves to make her sing so loud that even the dregs of the under-city could hear.]
[That wasn't tonight's plan, though. Which was slightly disappointing.] Mn. [Greed let her go and turned his hands back to his pockets. What a witch and such a tease. He was right when he made the comment.]
[Had Elizabeth been something more, Lust would have liked her.]
[Suddenly, Greed slowed his pace. Waltzing instead of walking and each clap of his heel made the whole deck shiver. As if it knew what was coming and he seemed to melt into shadow. Races of black across his skin and he spat his smoke out. Let it roll across the wood until his boot smothered it and it was only hell-fire ash chasing the cuff of his heels, the billow of his jacket.]
Why don't you do the talking first then? [The creature tilted his head, looked down at her at a diagonal glance.] May as well make him comfortable first, right?
[ Like a marionette, her head canted to the side, eyes cold as his breath marked her like a too hot brand. A threat and a comfort. He was there, he was real, and what could they do to her? When the deadliest man in the street wrapped himself around her, they were as nothing.
But her eyes were cold even as he drank her in, watching the street. She watched how he looked, and for a moment, she considered. It would be bliss. She could fuck a man like him, because he wasn't a man at all, and wouldn't fail her like all the others did.
When on earth had her expectations from life gotten so low?] Bullshit, Greed? When have I ever pretend to be anything less than what I am?
[ Her cardinal sin, pride. Wrapped in vanity wrapped in her hunger for more. ( Always, always more. ) She might lie to others, often and as easy as breathing, but with him, she gave more than she did to most, which seemed to suit him.
When his grip lifted, she took the moment to roll her shoulders and sigh deeply. Letting him and all the complications he presented go from her mind, the half meant warnings she wanted to snap out and the welcoming murmurs she wished to give. Slipping from one mask to another in the shadows. A woman had so many that she could don them like dresses, and Elizabeth found herself with more than most. Now it was just a matter of tweaking, tugging her dress down to leave her shoulders bare. Mussing up her hair and biting her lips until they went red and kissed-bruised.
Little more than a street harlot to look at. Might of passed better for it, if her eyes were not half so much worse, all the same, it let her slip by relatively unnoticed. He was gone from her mind then, her own men to meet that she had left on watch, to talk with briefly and give instructions with what she wanted done. When and where and how. They scurried like rats to her orders. And it was only so much time before they heard what she needed. A brief nodded, and she wound her way back to Greed.
Mimicking again, and she ever did. Miming others intention, mocking almost for it. But she smiled and dipped her head, wound her arm around his. Lovers on a promenade. ]
I've a gift for you. Will you come see? [ Angels could not look so sweet. But she nodded ahead to a bar, that seemed mostly empty but for a flickering candle through a grubby window frame.
[Everyone woman had her consort and every witch had her cat. Greed was latter - the black feline to bring the worst of luck to anyone who crossed his path. Whether intentional or not; whether it was just bad timing or worse, it all ended the same. In tears and bloodshed. In a confession spoken not from the mouth, but from the eyes. The dying breath of a soul clinging to life, begging to have and spare.]
[But avarice-incarnate spared little, if any.]
[It was why it worked. Between him and Elizabeth. Eventually, time or the knife would take her and Greed would have to find someone else. But for now, the arrangement was simple: one scratched back exchanged for another and as Elizabeth took the lead, the Sin stayed behind her. Like the looming form of a shadow, the Nosferatu to take her when she least expected it.]
[But she wasn't so innocent and she had summoned him. All under the gaze of pretty lashes, pursed lips, and a naked shoulder.]
[Greed swayed with her stride, clacked when she clicked. As they towed down the length of the dock and the lights became dimmer and dimmer. Bringing in more of the thickness of night, shrouding what lay just below the surface. He could smell it more out here than he could before: the rotting stank of flesh, the crude growing old in barrels packed far over their capacity.]
[Humanity's greed was always impressive.] A gift, huh. [A low rumble from behind her and the homunculus slipped to her side. Watching the dock and the men that scurried when she came prancing across the wood. She was demented - deranged in her mirth. In her promise for carnage and revenge.]
[And Greed, if anything, was more than a little charmed.]
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She would die either way, and perhaps he would be the cause. But she doubted it. There were too many people she had crossed, and asking the devil in was the least of her problems.
After all, she could turn her back on him, and for now, not fear an attack that might come were she with anyone else. With him, she could be alone. Without her men and her killers. ]
You always prefer the dark. [ Her fingers settled on the desk she kept in her small office. Her fingers pressing against the rough wood, running across it's grain before she turned back to him. Hands supporting her as she lent back a little. Relaxed, except for the tension that settled along her spine. ]
The man that killed he who so usually does this for me. [ There was an agitated clench to her draw. But it was gone in an instant, her head tipping with a becoming smile. All sweetness and guile. ] They say it was when he was drunk, caught him being a fool in the street, and they left him with his throat open in one of the back alleys.
[ And she would have believed it too, if it weren't for the fact that there were whispers -- that it was not drunken fight. That the men who had done it, had been wearing Phillip's colours. It took her half a days searching and more gold than she cared for to get the man's name and location.
And she would not have him killed by some amateur. ] I know you have no need of my blade, but my men prefer that you do. [ scared of him, the actions of him that they spoke of in whispers. Skin like hell's fire and a smile when he killed that would make Lucifer jealous. She appreciated it, in a far different way to most. Liked his bloody efficiency, his sleekness and indefatigably.
In the end, the blade had been for her men's peace of mind. A pantomime of violence. Keep it to what they knew best, so they could console themselves as to what their mistress dealt in. ] but you are the best I know. There will be gold. [ She doubted his price would be gold, but the offer was the same. Elizabeth rocked back on her palms a moment, smiling still. But watching him, mostly. Gauging him. So very men she could predict, but him -- she never could. Perhaps that was why she did it. ]
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[His tone was corrective and pleasant; chiding and smarmy. In the end, he didn't really care who or what graced his doorstep. A deal was a deal and when the offer of gold, of wealth, of anything worth his time came knocking at the door, Greed never denied the proposal.]
[But the mortal-lot had plenty to learn and his smile was terrible and wicked. As if he knew her fate in advance, as if he could see it play out piece by piece in the dark. The ticking of her clock in those naked eyes and slit-pupils thickened. Eternity in a flick before they shivered back to sharp points.]
Flattery will get you no where, lovely. But I'll take it anyway. [His heels bounced. Scuffing the floorboards to make dust jump and he circled the table to meet her. While one arm reached back to shuffle and snatch the long end of his coat - ankle length, worn leather, and something a pauper or a tradesman would wear. And probably did at some point, but that was neither here nor there.]
[Besides, the guy didn't need it anymore anyway.]
[The blade sunk in there - between the back bend of his leather slacks and a red-spun sash he wore around the waist. For the time, he both stuck out and blended in. Mistaken for a different breed, for someone high-society would mark an undesirable. But how wrong they were - the definition practically laughable.]
[Because in the end, it was he who desired all.]
Gold's fine, but I think you're going to have to do a little bit better than that this time. Especially since you've been so rude. [Greed hummed, touching his teeth with his tongue and maybe he was serious, maybe he wasn't. It was hard to gauge and she aptly pointed him as such. Unpredictable with his breeding and like the rest, he had plenty of other ideas in mind.]
[But he merely shrugged. Released the length of his jacket to let it fall back. Lapping at his ankles and the Sin dipped to bring his face to her own.]
You know how this works, though. I do this and it might not end well for you, later on. The others? Don't tend to like you and yours. [Greed's lips pressed together as his eyes wandered over her. Tracing out her legs, her thighs - the bump of her hips and the curve of her chest.] Thankfully for you, they're out doing good ol'Dad's work. Shouldn't be much of a problem.
[He moved past. Sliding and slipping, a shadow made of blood and sharp angles. Only to stop at her side, his gaze locking hard with a back wall.]
Just remember - I did warn you.
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[ And that was what it came down to. Her precarious business, of protecting those of the slums, came so hand in hand in slicing the throats of those that dared to cross her, interfere with the smuggling shipments. All matter of wicked things she did where no one could see her doing such.
And they called her unnatural, but weak for a woman. As if a woman had no stomach for violence.
She smiled still, because he played so will. Enjoyed this more than she should, most in the end bored her quick mind and quicker tongue when it came to deals. ] My flattery does nothing? And here I thought to court you with it. Such a shame. [ As if she were a knight and he the lady. But a courtship such as this, ended in blood. ]
Tell me what I can do to convince you then, to make up for my rudeness. [ Because she caught, so briefly the way he looked at her. And she'd gouged men's eyes out for daring to do so too many times. But she was content to play, with him and with this deal. ] Jewels? Whores? I've a shipment come in from China and my girls are the cleanest in the city. [ She'd feed his greed, even if he'd never be sated, for awhile, she could supply. ]
[ Her head tipped back in laughter at his warning. ] Caring for my well being, Greed? Don't tell me you're growing soft on me. I know what they say of me, what they think of me. [ as far as he lent in, she curled around him. Leaning back into him without touching. Let him look, as much as he liked, if that was what it took. Her fingers wrapped around the pearls that hung low from the neck, twisting them up and around before letting them tumble free, settling over her chest again. ] I am beginning a war by doing this. And believe me, I will win it.
[ Her smile spread slowly like a lion's grin. A mockery of the King's gone before when she likened herself to one. ] Be a dear and fire the first shot for me?
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[Greed sunk his nails into the desk. Scratched lines, made the wood peel-back into tightly-spun ribbons. Unlike many he dealt with, she was one of the first who ever challenged. Who dared to meet him at his own game and it was something he could appreciate.] All of it, but make sure the gals aren't hurt. Even I have a few morals, Tudor.
[The Sin turned his head to the window. The night would be chilled, slightly moist. An eerie in between that ushered in the changing of seasons and there would be enough fog to hide and dart: it was the perfect setting for a business proposition such as this. He'd have to thank her for the good timing.]
[But not right now. Instead, she was offering, and he wasn't about to back down.] Going to guess I can't ask you not to come with me, right? [He didn't like showing that side - that ugly side that mocked a smiling skull right back. Especially not to more feminine company, but then again, when was she so feminine. She looked the part, acted the part, but deep down she was something far more.]
[If he thought that she would last, he would have offered her up to replace someone else he knew all too well.] A war, huh? You're thinking a bit too small, but whatever you want, right?
[The Sin released his claws. Urged down the recede of his 'Shield as he slipped hand after hand into his pockets. He turned his attentions towards the exit, then. That smile of his courted and curved as he shrugged. As if this were merely a casual meeting between two good friends and not a ploy for murder and revenge.]
Lead the way, lovely.
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[ No one touched that which was hers. No one harmed them, for they were hers, and it was something like caring, something like savage possession that marked them as untouchable by the rest of the world. ] They're all yours, for the night that you choose.
[ A smile was all the answer he got. Still predatory, her pulse beating in her throat. It was unnatural -- and it was perhaps why they called her so. A vain, cruel, vicious woman. With a bloodlust that belong to the torturers of the tower, rather than to any lady of the street.
But the fact remained the same. It made her feel so alive. Burning and perfect and out of control. Made her giddy like some women blushed over their lovers. ]
For now, perhaps. Whatever you and yours plan is your business until it comes upon my streets. [ Carved out with a rusty blade, but all hers. ]
As you wish. [ She swept him a curtsey, mocking as it was. Then she stepped around him and his claws, ducking past him on sure feet. A dance, as she twisted and skipped -- heaven knows she'd always been fast where most took too much time. Lead them all a merry chase. ] It's past the docks, in the back alleys there.
[ There were things she wasn't telling him, in the end. Things that made her so particularly cruel that no one but a monster would do for it. She wanted him to know fear, before he died, and Greed was so much fear to behold when the darkness took him. With that thought, she hummed as she opened the door. Like it was the first of May and the young girls danced as she did now.
One quick flick of her wrist dismissed her men from her side, and she looked over her shoulder, watching and waiting for him. ]
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[Elizabeth moved like she was possessed. As if another one of his kin had taken her by whatever strings of humanity she had left and pulled. Snapping until each cracked back with the tightness of violin strings. Battering the knuckles, gashing them bloody, and she only reveled in it.]
[It was rare to find in the mortal lot: violence not a stranger, but this particular brand more a mutation. Something wrong in the gene pool, something off.]
[But that didn't seem to bother him too much.]
[Greed's laugh was airy and vile. Similar to the blow-out of bellow after collecting so much dust. The use of it stale and he followed behind her. Her shadow - little shadow crawling to bite and lap at her ankles.] So you are coming with me, then.
[The docks were a good place to start - a marked hunting ground for him in the past and he knew the old wood as good as the serpent crawling across the back of his hand. Each notch where someone might fall; where new planks had been applied and other left to rot. Either way, it could be done as a warning or to heed further suspicion to mark someone else for the deed.]
[It was smart and unsurprising that the idea should come from her.]
Gotta say - I've always admired your avarice - what's yours and is yours and what's mine? ["Is mine," he failed to say. She knew it already and as the men parted away, his hand went to the crook of the door. Pulling him out, like a creature from the ooze. Teeth and fangs; claws and eyes.]
[It was him and them that really bumped in the night.]
[Greed showed off his set, snapped at one of them that got too close, a sneer gracing up his jaw.] You still haven't given me a name, lovely. [He said, ripping away his vicious gesture to talk at her back.]
I'm curious to know just who pissed you off so much to come to me.
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The one thing every story got right, apart from her perchance for violence, she had been bemused to note, was that anything she had ever let go of, had claw marks in it. Pried from aching cold finger tips. Perhaps that was she why liked him best. There was no explanation, only a need to have. ]
I wondered that you ever asked whether I would stay behind.
[ A shrug, at his question, at his admiration, as if she had no need of it, but it was seldom a man ever commented a woman for her sins.
Plentiful as they were. ]
Marcus. I do not know his family name, I don't care to. I know his face. It is enough. [ Etched into her mind like only vengeance could mark such a thing. ]
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[Which was him and her - her and him. Two matched in bad-business and the Sin rolled out the point of his boot. Made it cut through the thick settlement. And he jerked his head over his shoulder, if distracted by a ghost or two, before shrugging.] Was worth a shot, anyway.
[Really, he didn't care the guy's name - Marcus, Johnathan, whatever - it was just a target, in the end. Like the rest left in his wake. Some names taken, others tossed aside.]
[It was just business.]
[Greed moved down an alleyway. One that twisted behind building after building, growing narrower as they passed. It was here that people spat and hid - darting when they saw him coming. Instincts on high and he could give them some credit:]
[At least they knew when something wasn't quite right.]
[It was bad company all around. The Queen with her claws and the man who harbored demons. Or was a demon. The stories had changed so many times, Greed had lost count in the last hundred years or so. Rumors turned to tales, tales to legends, and legends to bedtime whispers to keep children far away from the streets at night.]
[He pocketed his hands as his strolled, casual demeanor holding his shoulders, his spine. He walked with a practiced sort of motion, as if he had taken the route a million times before, the quip of smile glowing whenever they crossed a shallow window. When flame shivered and he swallowed it. Lapped it and licked it across the sharps of his teeth.]
Did you set him up already, or is this going to be a surprise visit? [Greed said with mild amusement. Though it was a hushed hiss to keep secrets between; to keep matters private as he nudged the jagged opening with a click of his elbow.]
Guess it doesn't matter either way.
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It might of been a dance, how they wove through the streets. The dark parts of the city that those who wished to be respectable avoided, and whores and thugs gave their trade. Her skirts already stained with muck even before this, her feet light as she stepped over the dirt that covered the ground.
But she tossed her head back, walking like she owned the cobble stones herself. The red hair she was so proud of turned to rust in the half torch light of poorly lit streets. Mistress of this place, no matter how ruthless the man she turned her gaze on, they would doff their hat and dip their head to her. And how she smirked for it, proud to the last. How she laughed when they told her as a girl, she should learn to fear the devil that hid in the dark.
They had stopped scaring her a long time ago, not when the cruelest thing she had ever seen was keeping company with her. ]
He drinks, with his fellows. [ There was a sneer. Loyalty came cheap. Whosoever of her men betrayed her often found that the gold was never enough by the time she was finished with them, and by the same contrast, fealty was rewarded in ample.
How happy it was for her, that Phillip's men were all traitors. Her lips parted further in a silent laugh that was between them both. ] He does not know they have sold him out.
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[Greed peeled out onto the main stretch, his grin smoldering. With a pinch and a flick, a rolled ignited. Helped by a match struck at the thigh, bringing the flames of Hell at his fingers. To caress his face, shining him in oranges that turned gold at his shades and his skin.]
[It was extinguished with a pinch that seemed like charcoal. His fingers suddenly too dark, too sharp and the Sin inhaled, sending smoke down into his core and out. Billows of it like serpents fleeing through his teeth as he tilted his head back in tow with her own. Found the pulse and stole it, too.]
Tsk - that's cruel, even for you. [He said with a slip of his eyes. Purples to watch as light flicked across the inky-black tide. Making lines where the moon crossed and both outlined in silver.] If you weren't human, she might have liked you.
[But he left it at that. Moving away and birthing room as he tossed heel over heel. Crossing and weaving, his neck sunk into his shoulders. He was a monster in every right: from the way he walked, to how he spoke. But unlike the others, Greed kept to a certain creed. He had tossed away the smoke and mirrors preferring the crueler side of the truth.]
[And almost, always, it won him far more favors.]
[Including the one present and the homunculus stopped at the cobblestone outside the edge of the docks. Rolled his shoulders with a slow-moving twist and his heels knocked against the thickly-spaced wood. Clack, went one. Clunk, went the other. Drawling, the proverbial reaper drawing near as teeth sunk into the end of rolled tobacco. Puncturing with a promise and he stopped once with a solid kick-back. Snapping the shelf of his boot to turn a glance over the fur-cuff of his shoulder.]
Last time, lovely. This is your chance to go on home.
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Thank you, Greed. [ a purr to mimic his own. Heady, inviting. She watched him, the tip of her tongue flicking against her top lip before she turned again to keep walking, contemplating what he saw in her with the gesture more than anything. ] I am human, and no one need like me but you.
[ With that she kept walking, confident in where she was going, that no one would dare stop her.
None save him.
She barely even noticed he stopped until the question cut through the evening mist. Her mind gone some place only she dare go to. Might kill anyone else for stepping into, or at least the look on her face said as much, when he asked. Elizabeth took a step forward, to him. Carefully she reached for him. Like a lover, or something else. Her head tilted to the side, not looking to meet his eyes, or not yet. She smoothed up his chest, curling her fingers in the fur and lost her earnest smile. ] Why do you ask me such tiresome questions? Think you to save me? Spare me more blood on my hands? [ She leant close, a whisper to his ear as he rolled his cigarette, like he was privy to some secret. Her eyes on the star as she spoke, lips there to tease and torment in equal measure. ]
I made my choice long before I knew you. Do not ask me such foolish things ever again, I tire of it. [ She let out a breath, kissed his cheek once more, and stepped away. ]
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[Up ahead, torches flicked. A few unloading their gotten-gains. Crate after crate piling high on the planks and they oozed of fresh fish. Still flopping, gasping for air. It was fitting in a way - how every second that passed, there was something just barely hanging onto life. Dying moments waiting in the balance and it wouldn't just be next-day's market that would be begging for the sweet release.]
[Greed walked with her, shoved his nose to the side of her head. He could snap her neck right then and there; have at everything that was to come. All for himself. But he wouldn't and she knew. That despite his claim to fame, she wasn't on the dinner menu.]
[Not yet, anyway.]
[But he watched the dock, his glance far away as it split the darkness and saw. Every fearful glance, every frozen step. Like time unwinding before him and the Sin was privy to everything. Skipped heartbeats, erratic pulses: it was the best sort of drug.]
[And oh, was he just itching for the chance to show off.] But as long as we're being honest with one another, you and I know you're far too gone to be saved. Don't play bullshit with me, lovely. [The homunculus smiled against her hair, against her skin. Let his breath caress her as much as so wanted to. To take her clothes, to steal her skin. Running his claws down her curves to make her sing so loud that even the dregs of the under-city could hear.]
[That wasn't tonight's plan, though. Which was slightly disappointing.] Mn. [Greed let her go and turned his hands back to his pockets. What a witch and such a tease. He was right when he made the comment.]
[Had Elizabeth been something more, Lust would have liked her.]
[Suddenly, Greed slowed his pace. Waltzing instead of walking and each clap of his heel made the whole deck shiver. As if it knew what was coming and he seemed to melt into shadow. Races of black across his skin and he spat his smoke out. Let it roll across the wood until his boot smothered it and it was only hell-fire ash chasing the cuff of his heels, the billow of his jacket.]
Why don't you do the talking first then? [The creature tilted his head, looked down at her at a diagonal glance.] May as well make him comfortable first, right?
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But her eyes were cold even as he drank her in, watching the street. She watched how he looked, and for a moment, she considered. It would be bliss. She could fuck a man like him, because he wasn't a man at all, and wouldn't fail her like all the others did.
When on earth had her expectations from life gotten so low?] Bullshit, Greed? When have I ever pretend to be anything less than what I am?
[ Her cardinal sin, pride. Wrapped in vanity wrapped in her hunger for more. ( Always, always more. ) She might lie to others, often and as easy as breathing, but with him, she gave more than she did to most, which seemed to suit him.
When his grip lifted, she took the moment to roll her shoulders and sigh deeply. Letting him and all the complications he presented go from her mind, the half meant warnings she wanted to snap out and the welcoming murmurs she wished to give. Slipping from one mask to another in the shadows. A woman had so many that she could don them like dresses, and Elizabeth found herself with more than most. Now it was just a matter of tweaking, tugging her dress down to leave her shoulders bare. Mussing up her hair and biting her lips until they went red and kissed-bruised.
Little more than a street harlot to look at. Might of passed better for it, if her eyes were not half so much worse, all the same, it let her slip by relatively unnoticed. He was gone from her mind then, her own men to meet that she had left on watch, to talk with briefly and give instructions with what she wanted done. When and where and how. They scurried like rats to her orders. And it was only so much time before they heard what she needed. A brief nodded, and she wound her way back to Greed.
Mimicking again, and she ever did. Miming others intention, mocking almost for it. But she smiled and dipped her head, wound her arm around his. Lovers on a promenade. ]
I've a gift for you. Will you come see? [ Angels could not look so sweet. But she nodded ahead to a bar, that seemed mostly empty but for a flickering candle through a grubby window frame.
( And this, was her favourite game. ) ]
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[But avarice-incarnate spared little, if any.]
[It was why it worked. Between him and Elizabeth. Eventually, time or the knife would take her and Greed would have to find someone else. But for now, the arrangement was simple: one scratched back exchanged for another and as Elizabeth took the lead, the Sin stayed behind her. Like the looming form of a shadow, the Nosferatu to take her when she least expected it.]
[But she wasn't so innocent and she had summoned him. All under the gaze of pretty lashes, pursed lips, and a naked shoulder.]
[Greed swayed with her stride, clacked when she clicked. As they towed down the length of the dock and the lights became dimmer and dimmer. Bringing in more of the thickness of night, shrouding what lay just below the surface. He could smell it more out here than he could before: the rotting stank of flesh, the crude growing old in barrels packed far over their capacity.]
[Humanity's greed was always impressive.] A gift, huh. [A low rumble from behind her and the homunculus slipped to her side. Watching the dock and the men that scurried when she came prancing across the wood. She was demented - deranged in her mirth. In her promise for carnage and revenge.]
[And Greed, if anything, was more than a little charmed.]