➥ PROMPT | brothel

[nestingdevil]

"Now see - that wasn't very nice."

It was the sound of cracking bones; of steel against flesh. The crunch of tendons and the snap of skin. And the whining made for a brief pause inside the well-mannered walls of the brothel. A few curious onlookers pausing between their sessions, lazy eyes following the source of the sound.

But it seemed it was business as usual.

Greed tilted his head. Turned his skull on his spine as eyebrows coiled up. Made his lids heavy as talons clicked against the offender. Tapped at the protruding tendons of the male in question. "See, I don't let anyone take what's mine."

Mine; the word to her was like a dagger. A threat. A means to steal, a means to claim, and she had made it clear a very long time ago that she wanted nothing to do with it. But as her would-be boss held the other man tight, she could understand his sentiment.

Because for avarice incarnate, his possessions were just that.

They were his.

The Sin released the other. Let the man recoil on fast-scurrying heels as he gripped at the wound, hissed with fingers wrapped tight against his wrist. "I didn't want to have to do that, friend," Greed drawled, voice thick with a low tone. "-but she's not interested."

And Babydoll watched; watched as the man retreated back into the belly of the pit, knocking against tables and patrons alike in his desperate attempt to escape. And while she could have handled it herself, for once she finally understood the concept. The idea that Greed had told her all along.

A hand smoothed over her cheek. "You didn't have to do that - " She said, voice still a bit stern. A bit icy. A means of keeping spaces between her and the creature she worked for. And for a second, there was a peculiar look over the Sin in question. Lip puckered out before he sank back into his spine, into his shoulders. Hand retreating from her face to toss up behind the backside of the seat they had been sharing.

"Eh-," he started, noise dragged out as he shut one eye a bit lazily. "-sorry, lovely."

His arm trailed away, smoothed over the backside of leather as he pushed himself right with the help of his heels. Dragged his body over the shelf of his hips, bent his spine in a direction that would have been uncomfortable to any normal man. But Babydoll had learned early on that he was far from it; a monster by any other means, but the title didn't really match the description.

"Going for a refill," Greed started, fingertips pinching his signature glass of scotch. And he rattled the ice, shaking his wrist just so. "-anything you need?"

"No," she said, a bit too forcefully. Which only earned her a growing frown. A push of the lips, a knitting of eyebrows to make lines of the Sin's forehead before he shrugged it all off. Pushed his shoulders up so that the fur around his collar grazed his ear.

"Suit yourself."

When he left, she reclined. Sank into that leather and let her eyes fall momentarily shut. The threat was over, there was time to relax. But in a place like this, it was hard for her to do so. Her defences were up, her own proverbial shield raised.

Because those that lived here, that worked here, and that did business here were the true monsters. Were the true terrors in the dark, even with their pleasant faces and smooth promises. They were the threat and as she turned to briefly watch that leather-clad back at the bar top, Babydoll silently smoothed a thumb over her cupped drink. Touched the sweat there.

He never lied to her. Never sugar-coated it to her. Gave everything raw, out in the open. Nothing forced, no wrist turned in his favor. He had made her actual promises and while they sounded like a cut from the devil himself, it was merely the way he was. A creature that went against the grain; that splintered the wood with a snap of the jaws, with a toss of the wrist.

Because he was different.

A hand on her shoulder broke her of her thoughts and she instinctively jerked away. And as per usual, Greed lifted his hand. Released her and for a moment, there was guilt in her gut. "I'm sorry, Greed -"

"No need to apologize," the homunculus purred. A voice like the rich amber liquid that now floated happily between thick blocks of ice. And he took a silent pull, watched her for a moment as the liquor poured down his throat. As his teeth sliced the cubes and dropped them into the 'pit.

When he was finished, he flicked his wrist to send the drink to the table. A smooth slide on that condensation before it stilled just at the edge. And he rounded their shared couch, body moving like a serpent. But before he sat down to entertain himself for the rest of the evening, Babydoll quietly set her drink aside.

"Can we leave?"

Greed paused; his fingers sliding over the leather armrest. But despite the curious look on his face, he merely grinned. Teeth lacing together, eyebrows raising above his shades. And he barked lowly, grabbing a coin or two from his pocket to toss up with the drink. "If that's what you want," he started with his usual quip. "-besides, it isn't like there's anything here I'm entirely interested in."

Leaving was an entirely different matter; a drawn out process. And while there were some virtues with the Sin, Babydoll couldn't help that disgust prickling on her skin as she watched him leave. As grand as he came in, small whispers to nameless women, the pin-pricks of his nails on their skin. But despite appearances, he knew he meant what he said - she knew that his words of no harm held true.

That despite the name, he did have some standards.

When he was finished, he followed in tow behind her. Like a shadow cutting through the dark and his heels were crisp; cut sharp just like the rest of him and for a second, she slowed. Curious to see the reaction and he seemed to take the hint. Clacking falling silent when she stopped.

She dropped her arms to her sides. Thought a moment, then wrapped them over her chest. Folded them as a protection. "Greed - can I ask you something?"

The homunculus made a noise behind her; something loud, something obnoxious. A drawn out noise through his throat and she could picture that look. That almost-innocent gesture on his jaw, the drop of his lip, the perking of his eyebrows, the fall of his shades.

"You know you don't have to ask, lovely - " He spoke from behind, keeping his distance. Keeping spaces she had drawn out and for a second, she hesitated. Felt the slight chill from the late-spring night touch her skin.

And instinct took over. "Why them?"

It was then that he rounded her. That the noise of his curved boots thudded in her ears. And she saw as he curved, as he moved heel over heel - a sidewards waltz against pavement. "Why?" A repeat, grin tightening on his hard features. "You've known me a little too long to be asking something like that, don't you think?"

And she turned to face him. Turned to watch those dark sunglasses, that eerie smile. And she was reminded of the day they met; of the 'pit below, of ocean water above, of threats from all sides. But he was the angler in the deep; the razor-sharp predator under the warm glow of a bar sign, just waiting for someone foolish enough to get too close.

Someone foolish enough to break down those barriers.

Because it didn't need words, didn't need permissions. And as her hands fell to the sides of his head, as they lifted those shades off slowly, she could feel that anxiety fighting. Fighting to stay, fighting to keep her alive, to keep her safe.

But she reminded it that there were worse monsters out there in the dark.