[Something jumps from his side. Something harsh, something static, biting across both their connection and whatever's been shoved into the pit of his chest. Oh, he hates it when they do that. When they try to dig deeper and push against something they had no way of knowing how far it actually goes. Greed's teeth set (a clap like sharp glass), and that grin of his stretches. A maw that'll smile through everything if only to avoid the inevitable.]
Do you, now? Think you've got me all figured out? [The Sin's eyes turn, and a whiff of heat floats past his face; a sigh of steam, peeling off his skin.] Dunno, Yuuto. Takes a lot more than that to hurt me. [Physically, anyway. He's not going to get into the details of the rest of it. Not here, not with him, not with anyone. Sleep's already done enough damage, pulling out some of his secrets. And avarice, ah. How it does like to hold onto what's his.]
[Which may be why he meets Yuuto's gaze through the Murmur without a hint of hesitation. As he leers forward, wild as ever, like a fire-line of brush, inching towards a main road.] Comes to terms with it? GAHAHAHA - ! [The former homunculus throws his head back, false ponytail and all, as he barks smoke at the ceiling.]
You sure got some crazy ideas, Suits. Just what do you think I have to come to terms with? I don't really care what she does. She's just another dwarf in the flask, far as I'm concerned. [A tell, perhaps, of how far his defiance really goes. Whatever he means.]
[But then, Yuuto shoves in the pick, and the Sin bows his head. His smile never leaves (couldn't, really), yet the tension of it: it's forced. Forced because he knows no other way to be, no other way to react, no other way of understanding, save the pulse of his want, pounding constant behind his ribs.]
[So, he gives a simple answer:] It's because it was the last one I had. [Ah, and that's a truth he hasn't shared with anyone.] Call it an old memory.
I don't know. I believe I could hurt you quite easily.
[ Interlacing his fingers, he believes this very much to be true. While he can't do anything about the physical state of Greed; he is certain he could peel away his smile. ]
But I'm not that mean.
[ A dismissive reply, even though he is attempting to kill him with a million tiny, little cuts. ]
However, as you are asking me, I believe it's something too painful to name or even talk to anyone about, which means it will one day choke you.
[ His head lifts to meet his "gaze" through the Murmur. His smile just as placid as ever, just as empty, just as friendly in its emptiness. Still, there is something sympathetic in how he talks to him. ]
I'll call it an old memory, then.
[ A beat. ] How long do you intend to be mired in your old memory?
[His smile is obvious. Not kind, not vicious, but menacing all the same. A tiger showing its teeth while it dared men to try.]
You think so, huh. [Greed wanders, numb, and his claws find the comfort of a shallow glass.] All right, Suits. Call me curious. [The tips of his nails circle, then; their points, running the rim like hooks, dragging loathsome on the floor.] How do you think you can hurt me? Ah, but be careful. You might not like what I have to say, after.
[A warning, though, it's a mild one. He's already claimed the man as one of his. And there still are rules, after all.]
[The former homunculus lifts his drink, taking in the faint smell of smokey scotch. He's pulling from the top shelf today. He deserves it.] Mn. Good thing I don't have much of a gag reflex then, huh. [He lifts the glass to his mouth and as he breathes against it, it's fire. Fire and brimstone, baking into the surface like boiled lead.]
As long as the hag wants, I suppose. Don't exactly have a timer for this sort of thing. [With little ceremony, he throws back the liquor; every lick of it, sucked to the bone. Greed tosses the glass somewhere and as it screams on quickly drying sweat, he tips over his hips; the lean of his body as hovering as a vulture, trying to peck itself in, in, in.]
How long do you intend to ask questions you might not like the answer to?
[ It's through the Murmur that he reaches out to lightly poke the Sin's forehead. ]
Don't ask me to hurt you then threaten me with a good time.
[ His smile returns just as friendly and pleasant as always. He retracts the feeling of him reaching out to literally poke the bear, as it were. ]
I'm one of yours and working with you under my own volition, of course. [ A soft laugh follows after. ] If you vanish from this place, if you die, I am certain there are those that will mourn that passing but I'm afraid... I will forget all about you because your memory isn't worth holding onto after you're gone.
[ However, that is how he feels about anyone. Even someone he attempted to save the life of. He doesn't dislike anyone. ]
You're just a life of one sin who burning ever so brightly yet obviously crying out for something he doesn't have the courage to name.
[ Again, his hand lifts as he lightly chuckles. ] I don't know what that might be, but I do think it's painful to watch.
[ However, it isn't just Greed. ] Everyone's running from something, I suppose... but you should try to make it a little less obvious how much you're sprinting. [ And he interlaces his fingers and smiles. ]
I suppose I'll keep asking until you decide to turn around and face me.
[Greed stops short, causing the phantom ends of his coat to trail along his ankles. It's funny. He actually doesn't care that much about all that. About whether or not they'll remember him, or think of him fondly (or scornfully, should the case may be) when all is said and done. That's one thing he's learned about humanity. Grief can take years or hours, but eventually, they do have to move on. Their days are short, after all. And carrying the burden indefinitely?]
[It isn't impossible, but it's highly, highly unlikely.]
[The former homunculus bows his chin before his head snaps back again, and the laugh that comes billowing out of him is so loud, it rattles itself into the building's very walls.] GAHAHAHA - ! Oh, Suits, if you're looking for something sentimental, I'm sorry, but you've got me all wrong. What? You think I give a shit about all that? [Again, his smile breaks his face, forcing a triple threat to mask over it: one, Ling Yao's. The second, himself. And the third, something built from cold and carbon, warping his teeth into tusks and his eyes into hollow, burning sockets.]
[He's heard every line in the book: monster, foul usurper, demon. Homunculus. Even at the end of days, most of the people he'd fought with didn't bother learning his name. Easier, maybe, to distance themselves from the creature that went against all that was true and natural.]
[He didn't take offense then, and he doesn't, now. It's just the same tune, playing back its spitting melody.]
[Greed plays tricks with his cigarette, making it flip between his knuckles in a shoo of twinkling ash.] Then stop watching, simple as that. [He says and as he steps forward, it's Ling he leaves behind. No longer smiling and biting with fangs that could (and would) tear men to shreds, but with a frown strung about his face and a hole in his chest, sealed shut by an angry, blistering scar.]
[The former homunculus brings the cigarette to his mouth, sucking it down, down, down.] And how would you have me face you? Don't think you're really asking for me to take you on. [Not that he would, anyway. Damaging his went against every part of his core.] Y'know, for a bureaucrat, you really got some mouth on you, Yuuto. [He pushes himself further into the Murmur; that grin of his seeming to edge through like something foul, hiding behind a curtain of soot.]
So, why don't you go ahead and get to the point. You could have left anytime. Told you before, I'm fine. [Which, by all accounts, he is. Heat and aches aside, the transmutations hadn't killed him.] Or do you just like hearing yourself talk?
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no subject
Do you, now? Think you've got me all figured out? [The Sin's eyes turn, and a whiff of heat floats past his face; a sigh of steam, peeling off his skin.] Dunno, Yuuto. Takes a lot more than that to hurt me. [Physically, anyway. He's not going to get into the details of the rest of it. Not here, not with him, not with anyone. Sleep's already done enough damage, pulling out some of his secrets. And avarice, ah. How it does like to hold onto what's his.]
[Which may be why he meets Yuuto's gaze through the Murmur without a hint of hesitation. As he leers forward, wild as ever, like a fire-line of brush, inching towards a main road.] Comes to terms with it? GAHAHAHA - ! [The former homunculus throws his head back, false ponytail and all, as he barks smoke at the ceiling.]
You sure got some crazy ideas, Suits. Just what do you think I have to come to terms with? I don't really care what she does. She's just another dwarf in the flask, far as I'm concerned. [A tell, perhaps, of how far his defiance really goes. Whatever he means.]
[But then, Yuuto shoves in the pick, and the Sin bows his head. His smile never leaves (couldn't, really), yet the tension of it: it's forced. Forced because he knows no other way to be, no other way to react, no other way of understanding, save the pulse of his want, pounding constant behind his ribs.]
[So, he gives a simple answer:] It's because it was the last one I had. [Ah, and that's a truth he hasn't shared with anyone.] Call it an old memory.
no subject
[ Interlacing his fingers, he believes this very much to be true. While he can't do anything about the physical state of Greed; he is certain he could peel away his smile. ]
But I'm not that mean.
[ A dismissive reply, even though he is attempting to kill him with a million tiny, little cuts. ]
However, as you are asking me, I believe it's something too painful to name or even talk to anyone about, which means it will one day choke you.
[ His head lifts to meet his "gaze" through the Murmur. His smile just as placid as ever, just as empty, just as friendly in its emptiness. Still, there is something sympathetic in how he talks to him. ]
I'll call it an old memory, then.
[ A beat. ] How long do you intend to be mired in your old memory?
no subject
You think so, huh. [Greed wanders, numb, and his claws find the comfort of a shallow glass.] All right, Suits. Call me curious. [The tips of his nails circle, then; their points, running the rim like hooks, dragging loathsome on the floor.] How do you think you can hurt me? Ah, but be careful. You might not like what I have to say, after.
[A warning, though, it's a mild one. He's already claimed the man as one of his. And there still are rules, after all.]
[The former homunculus lifts his drink, taking in the faint smell of smokey scotch. He's pulling from the top shelf today. He deserves it.] Mn. Good thing I don't have much of a gag reflex then, huh. [He lifts the glass to his mouth and as he breathes against it, it's fire. Fire and brimstone, baking into the surface like boiled lead.]
As long as the hag wants, I suppose. Don't exactly have a timer for this sort of thing. [With little ceremony, he throws back the liquor; every lick of it, sucked to the bone. Greed tosses the glass somewhere and as it screams on quickly drying sweat, he tips over his hips; the lean of his body as hovering as a vulture, trying to peck itself in, in, in.]
How long do you intend to ask questions you might not like the answer to?
no subject
Don't ask me to hurt you then threaten me with a good time.
[ His smile returns just as friendly and pleasant as always. He retracts the feeling of him reaching out to literally poke the bear, as it were. ]
I'm one of yours and working with you under my own volition, of course. [ A soft laugh follows after. ] If you vanish from this place, if you die, I am certain there are those that will mourn that passing but I'm afraid... I will forget all about you because your memory isn't worth holding onto after you're gone.
[ However, that is how he feels about anyone. Even someone he attempted to save the life of. He doesn't dislike anyone. ]
You're just a life of one sin who burning ever so brightly yet obviously crying out for something he doesn't have the courage to name.
[ Again, his hand lifts as he lightly chuckles. ] I don't know what that might be, but I do think it's painful to watch.
[ However, it isn't just Greed. ] Everyone's running from something, I suppose... but you should try to make it a little less obvious how much you're sprinting. [ And he interlaces his fingers and smiles. ]
I suppose I'll keep asking until you decide to turn around and face me.
[ A casual reply. ]
no subject
[It isn't impossible, but it's highly, highly unlikely.]
[The former homunculus bows his chin before his head snaps back again, and the laugh that comes billowing out of him is so loud, it rattles itself into the building's very walls.] GAHAHAHA - ! Oh, Suits, if you're looking for something sentimental, I'm sorry, but you've got me all wrong. What? You think I give a shit about all that? [Again, his smile breaks his face, forcing a triple threat to mask over it: one, Ling Yao's. The second, himself. And the third, something built from cold and carbon, warping his teeth into tusks and his eyes into hollow, burning sockets.]
[He's heard every line in the book: monster, foul usurper, demon. Homunculus. Even at the end of days, most of the people he'd fought with didn't bother learning his name. Easier, maybe, to distance themselves from the creature that went against all that was true and natural.]
[He didn't take offense then, and he doesn't, now. It's just the same tune, playing back its spitting melody.]
[Greed plays tricks with his cigarette, making it flip between his knuckles in a shoo of twinkling ash.] Then stop watching, simple as that. [He says and as he steps forward, it's Ling he leaves behind. No longer smiling and biting with fangs that could (and would) tear men to shreds, but with a frown strung about his face and a hole in his chest, sealed shut by an angry, blistering scar.]
[The former homunculus brings the cigarette to his mouth, sucking it down, down, down.] And how would you have me face you? Don't think you're really asking for me to take you on. [Not that he would, anyway. Damaging his went against every part of his core.] Y'know, for a bureaucrat, you really got some mouth on you, Yuuto. [He pushes himself further into the Murmur; that grin of his seeming to edge through like something foul, hiding behind a curtain of soot.]
So, why don't you go ahead and get to the point. You could have left anytime. Told you before, I'm fine. [Which, by all accounts, he is. Heat and aches aside, the transmutations hadn't killed him.] Or do you just like hearing yourself talk?