WHO: Greed & Zoe WHEN: February 19 WHERE: Salon where Zoe worked, Jail! WHAT: Getting arrested WARNING: Violence, talk of inappropriate and unwanted touching, darkness, and boyfriend's popping a question~
Greed had not sat idle while Zoe had her weekend with the boyfriend. But when he didn't hear from her, he got antsy. After a mountain of texts (which could have appeared threatening to anyone else). He wasn't going to continue losing time to the raptor that was her boyfriend.
She was at work today, so she had nowhere to run unless asshat crashed that party too. Greed was a bit shaken visibly, he hadn't really slept racking his brain on someone else touching and feeling something that belonged to him. It was about as bad as an anxiety patient off medication.
He waited for her in the seat inside the salon with his leg bouncing erratically. ---------- Zoe was used to Greed's endless messaging at times and it got a bit frustrating but she knew how to handle it. She'd spent the weekend with Mike so the boyfriend helpfully responded to Greed a couple of times when Zoe was unavailable. Zoe had already explained to Greed that she had her own life to live, she could not see him whenever it suited him. And not just because of Mike, she knew she was Greed's 'toy' in his eyes but she was determined to not let him treat her like one completely.
She'd let him know what time she was getting off work at the salon if he wanted to see her after, she had no idea his anxiety would bring him to her job. It was one of the worst days as well since Zoe was nowhere in sight and after a few minutes of Greed being there, a door in the back would open and a cocky young police officer with cropped short hair strode past him and left. Less than a minute later, there were some muffled heated words from the back and then silence as an upset looking Zoe stormed off to the employee lockers despite her shift not being over. The manager would walk up to Greed and smile as if nothing was wrong, "Can I help you?" ------------ Greed watched the policeman go by, stuffing something he'd snitched off the salon counter deeper into his pocket. Handcuffs or not he was not putting it back. He would break out in a run before going down town in handcuffs.
When Zoe broke out of the back with her eyes drowning in tears he too offense. He looked at the owner pointing hid finger to where Zoe exited. "I want her." -------- The owner looked uncomfortable as she looked from Zoe to Greed and then smiled, "I'm afraid she doesn't work here anymore.. but I'm sure if you tell me what you're looking for, one of us can help you." --------- Well that just shook up the sandbox. He stood up waiting for Zoe to make an exit so he could pounce. The cop was still standing outside with a smug grin on his face.
Greed leaned on the counter with half his body, arms wretched across as he tried for a peek towards the employees room. "She doesn't work here anymore? Why? I don't want anyone else. I'm a little particular about who handles my head. I want her!" He slapped his hand on onto the counter. ----------- The owner jumped, looking at Greed like you would an unruly child. "Well I'm sorry but she doesn't--" the owner didn't get to finish what she was saying because the noise had brought Zoe out. "Chance?" she was surprised to see him but seemed almost relieved.
She had been crying obviously but she looked angry and stressed out more than anything else as she walked up to Greed and ignored the owner's withering look. ------------- He didn't like that look on her face. He never did. Especially when someone else put it there because that was stomping on something that belonged to someone else. He reached out to wipe a thumb against her cheek. When the residue of her tears hung on his finger he looked at her expectantly for an answer.
"What did you do to her?" Greed eyed the owner. ---------- Zoe took his hand from her face gently and then looked worried as she put her other hand on his arm and tried to pull him away. "She didn't do anything, come on let's go." she took a physical step back when she saw the cop outside talking on his cellphone and immediately looked queasy as she looked back at Greed, "Let's go through the back..." she didn't want to argue, she just wanted to get away from here and the way she pulled on his arm was with an urgency. They could talk but not here. ------------ The reaction to the cop did not pass by unnoticed. He pointed to the door where the man stood still chatting on his cell. Greed stepped back, his hands holding her face. "What happened?" He asked gently. Didn't these people realize what they were crushing? If he had his way he'd lock her in a steel container so that no one on the outside could come in.
The owner stepped out from around the counter. "Zoe, you need to leave. I'm sorry." She didn't need another scene. ----------- Zoe closed her eyes and shook her head when Greed craddled her face and asked what happened. She put her hands over his to keep him calm, her eyes going to the owner, "We're going.." she looked back at Greed, her eyes begging him, "Please Chance.. please. Come on.." she took his hand in hers and pulled on it to go with her to the back, her eyes drifting to the cop for a moment before looking back at Greed, her grip like iron as she moved backwards and wanted him to come with her. ------- She was startled, unhinged and he didn't like it at all. He looked out towards the cop not beyond just sailing through the window. It was then that he looked down, seeing a wallet that wasn't his own carefully placed on the plastic chair. He reached for it with the hand Zoe wasn't clinging to. It was indeed the cop's..Greed pocketed the cash getting a glimpse of the ID. At least later he'd gamble what was left of his bank accounts on a bet. Greed wouldn't let the cop go form empty handed. Sometimes working his magic under the radar hit a little harder. It bled them from the inside out. Greed took offense when his things were messed with.
Greed let Zoe lead him out as he tossed what was left of the counter. Once out back he pulled back on her hand abruptly. "Zoe, what happened?" She looked like she could crack again. --------- Zoe didn't even notice the wallet she was so frazzled and just really wanting to get away. When they were in private, she jerked to a stop when he pulled her hand. She was upset and angry, just shaking her head, not looking him in the eye, "Nothing.. it was just.. can we get out of this hell hole first?" she looked at him completely stressed out, "Please? I just wanna leave. I'll tell you then but I can't be here." she didn't mean it in the sense that the owner didn't want her there, she meant it as in she was going to lose her mind if she stayed there, just thinking of that cop and the owner being not too far away from where she stood was making her skin crawl. ---------- She was pouting and begging. It distressed him more. He was already anxious over the things he speculated but still had no answer to.
Once they were outside he stopped her in the alley. "Zoe, what happened?" He held a grip on her shoulders so she couldn't go running off again. This was going in circles and he would ask until she caved. --------------- Zoe didn't look him in the eye, part of her felt so dirty and part so angry and ashamed. So she finally blurted it out, "He... touched me." her tone like it was disgusting to say the words even. She had a stiff lip as she spoke and even though her words were heated, it was easy to see she was rattled by the ordeal. "That cop came in for whatever and when I went to wash his hair, he grabbed me." she waved a hand over her backside to indicate her butt. "I got him off and told the owner but," her words were a little watery as her face fell despite how mad she was, "the cop told her that it was a misunderstanding and that I was blowing it out of proportion! But I wasn't! The owner apologized to him and fired me." she touched the back of her hand to her nose and looked to the side. ------------ Greed's hands clenched on her shoulders. That was stamped material. A violation to her was a violation on him. That cop might as well have been the one to burn his apartment. Sometimes mortals were disposible. Suddenly, working under the radar wasn't enough. Greed had to make his claim like a rabid dog. He was already on edge.
He marched right back into the salon, through the door to where the cop stood. Greed tapped him on the shoulder with a hard pound. "Excuse me," he shook his head with a laugh slamming his hand right into the cop's neck to drag him against the wall. He wasn't going to kill him, but he would stun him. "You touched something that belongs to me. No one does that. The Sins all captured some of each other, but right now Greed was channeling nearly all of them.
He fished around in the cops mind for something. He lusted for attention, abusing his position to get away with harassment. Greed seethed like a snake, throwing a wallop of a punch to the man's face. He was reacting a bit careless, but Greed was mixing his anxiety with his anger. His stuff was being abused, he reacted badly. Perhaps it was also latent anger towards Mike because it was a snake who had yet to peel back his skin, this guy was already glistening in sin. ----------- Zoe looked at Greed when he got that look. She looked wary, "Chance...." her eyes went wide when he took off and she chased after him, "Chance, don't!"
The owner was already on the phone with the cops as she looked aghast at what was happening outside the front window. Zoe grabbed onto Greed's arm, "Don't do this, he's a cop!" and then the cop dropped like a ton of bricks, groaning and holding his bloody nose. ----------- Greed pushed Zoe off of him, leaning down to clench the cop's shirt collar with his hand. "Don't," he warned her in a vicious voice. There were too many things standing in his way now of what he wanted, which was Zoe. There were more involved and this asshole on the ground was the topping to the cake. Greed was no walking a fine line of doing something drastic. He had that psychotic look in his eyes. He would chop this guy off at the knees before letting him hobble back to his feet. He did have good taste in accessories, Greed was already eyeing his watch like a hungry wolf.
"Look at that pretty face..." He smacked the young cop's cheek. "It's going to look so much better swollen and bleeding." He smiled, but it quickly faded as he took another swing. He wasn't giving the cop a chance to get up.
Eventually, when Greed got to his feet, more of the cities police circled the salon. Fuck. Now he was trapped. The last time he'd hit the jail cell Patience had been the culprit. He hadn't liked it at all.
The cop he had assaulted had finally been pulled to his feet, slapping a cuff on Greed's wrist and slamming him against the cop car, his rights read to him. He motioned to one of the other officers to Zoe as well. She would go down town just for the trouble. He cooked up some story for the report, shoving Greed into the car, his head just shaving the top of the door. Zoe was pushed in behind him a lot gentler, but not without some authority. --------- Zoe was surprised when Greed pushed her off him and tried again only to be shocked when she got shoved back again, hard enough that she went stumbling back and put a hand on the wall to steady herself. She looked at Greed like he was a different person. She'd seen glimpses of his dark side, she'd heard stories, but he'd never been physical with her or ever taken that tone of voice.
Her mouth dropped open when she was arrested as well, the metal cuffs put on her and she shoved into the car next to Greed. She looked at him with some hesitation, not liking that crazy look in his eyes she'd just seen. Not sure where the guy she cared about was in all there. She stayed on her side of the car and looked at the floor, more stressed out than before. ------------ Neither of them had said a word to each other yet, just that harsh silence. Greed fidgeted on his side, not able to sit comfortably with his arms wrapped behind his back. He was in constant moving, just shy of an anxiety attack. Things were closing in so fast and he retaliated like a child, a dangerous one.
The cop slapped the cage bolted behind his seat. "Settle down!" He yelled. Greed finally came to a rest, laying his cheek against the window. It was the only way he could get comfortable. His dark mood hadn't settled, but it was subdued with Zoe there. He hadn't even realized he'd nearly pushed her too hard. ------------ Zoe was really uncomfortable with this side of Greed but she was worried about him. She was wary of touching him but her overwhelming concern won out and she slowly reached over to touch his arm. -------- His eye snapped open at her touch, his nose twitched against it, his body coiling away. He was fed off her feelings, but now they were still stretched with anxiety which he was already harboring. He didn't want her to lay a finger on him. He still couldn't see the way he snapped at her. ----------- Zoe jerked her cuffed hands back, looking hurt. She looked at him for a moment longer and then lowered her gaze, shrinking away from him. The cops got the silence they wanted.
They were booked into the station which was humiliating for Zoe. She'd never been arrested for anything in her life. The cuffs at least were off and they were each allowed a call before they were tossed into a holding cell that smelled like piss.
Zoe sat on the bench against the wall, curling up in a corner of it, not having said a word to Greed or even looked at him. She hugged her knees to her chest and looked almost like a child protecting herself. ------- Greed didn't like that she shrunk back once they were in a bigger space, still a tight confinement. It was then that he'd had some tome to cool his head, but now all he could feel was the emptiness she presented. He'd lashed out at his toy and now it wouldn't come to him. He felt rejection.
The holding cell was a cage for him, he felt lethargic. It drained him horribly being trapped when he was already tip-toing on edge.
He sat near her but she didn't even look up. "Zoe..." He needed a response or he was just going to die in here. He hadn't even been able to get a response with his phonecall. He was stuck.... -------- When he sat near her, her feet on the bench slid in even closer to her body. She didn't look at him, just sat in that defensive ball, "I called Mike. He'll bail you out too. You can pay him back." she didn't want to talk about anything that happened. She wanted to go home. --------- He continued to look at her, a wounded puppy that wouldn't come out of its corner. She threw in that jab with Mike...he liked to think of that human having no name. He was a thing to Greed and not one he wanted sniffing around. Zoe couldn't see how much this made Greed panic because he was losing ground. Every turn he made she still flung herself into someone else's arms. Not the arms of the one that prized her so much.
His words were a little choked when he called out her name a second time, his hand literally shaking when he saw her feet draw up.
What were the words she'd want to hear? They tumbled out of his mouth without s fight. "I'm sorry..." ----------- Zoe didn't move towards him at all, still held on to her knees in a protective manner. After he apologized, her brown eyes peeked at him from behind her knees but she didn't say anything. There was a cautiousness to her demeanor and while there was hurt in her eyes, there was something there that he'd never seen before when she looked at him. Fear. ------------- It was a side that Lust would swear was his real face, not the happy boy that most saw. But Greed didn't want Zoe to see that. He'd snapped, a rabid animal foaming at the mouth.
He'd done so many other things, but not this. He poked his hands through her invisible cage anyway, eager for her to not be afraid. "Zoe,please," his voice was hoarse. He lightly grabbed her legs, scooting her feet out. "Talk to me." ----------- Zoe flinched at his touch, her feet kicking against the bench to scoot back in towards her. "Don't." she used the same word he had to her when he meant business just a little while ago. When she's tried and he'd rejected her. It wasn't just him, she really didn't want to be touched right now by anyone. But his touch especially.. he'd never touched her before with anything but tenderness... except when he was a full Sin. But this? This was like a dark side to his humanity and it hurt when he'd shoved her hard and then when she tried in the car, he scorned her touch. It burned enough that she definitely wasn't ready to go near his fire yet. "What happened..." she asked quietly, her own voice sounding shaky and near tears. This wasn't the guy she loved, he'd been fine on Thursday and now he was a lunatic just days later. And it wasn't just because of the cop, that much she was sure about because Greed had showed up to her work unannounced. ----------- He was knee deep in snow again watching Josie fall off that cliff, afraid of him. He couldn't help it. Influence aside he squeezed so tight. This meant that much to him, he thought he was keeping her safe by holding off. But he was losing something to cling to each time.
She had spent the entire weekend with someone else without much word and the less time she kept him away the more he lashed out.
"I'm trying Zoe," he couldn't help the break down either. All he could see was himself squeezing the life out of the thing he loved the most. "I can't help it. Letting go..." His voice was choked up as if he couldn't keep his breath. He hadn't even gotten to fully have everything of her and someone else would. He wasn't sure if this display was doing anything, but he kept going. "I'm anxious. I was on edge, and I lost it." ----------- Zoe still stayed tightly bunched up in her corner but at least she was talking to him. She was so confused, "How.. Chance, I didn't ask that asshole to grope me. I didn't want that to happen." because it sounded like he was saying it was hard for him to let her go in connection to the cop. That the cop touching her made him lose it on her. ----------- He shook his head vigorously. "Mike..." He tried to get out but he was forgetting to breathe somewhere in the middle of this display, sounding like a bad case of asthma. He wasn't reacting to loss the way a normal human being could.
"The cop was just there. Someone to take it out on." He coughed trying to get in a breath. -------- Zoe understood better now and while her heart ached to see him like this, she couldn't bring herself to touch him, not after what happened last time. "Then what was I..." she asked in a small hurt voice. Because if the cop had been someone to take it out on, then what the hell was Greed doing going darkside on her? ---------- He closed his eyes trying to picture something other than that lifeless body in the middle of a snow-filled ravine. He held his head down, with his hands pressed on the back of his neck to catch a breath.
"I didn't want you to see....not that. I couldn't hurt you too..." ----------- "You did.." she looked at the floor, "You've never been rough with me before.." it was only a couple of pushes and a recoil at her touch but it was more than he'd done before. "What's going to happen if you get mad and there's no one else there to take it out on..?" he always called her his toy and he'd told her in the beginning that he always broke everything. Did it count for her too? He broke her heart already, if pushed far enough, would she really be disposable to him? ----------- "No, Zoe, no---I was trying to keep you away." His nails dug into the skin on the back of his neck, he pressed down hard. "Because....I'm just a vampire. I ruin everything I cling to the hardest... I'm doing it again....all over again..." His voice got so quiet, repeating to himself he couldn't go here again. He had unleashed his dark side out on Lust in the past. "I wouldn't to you," he stammered through a stiff lip, "I won't...I won't...." ------- "Then stop." she almost pleaded with him. "What're you afraid of? I'm still here, aren't I?" she had worked hard to show him that she wasn't going to leave his life so he wouldn't feel a need to squeeze her but clearly it wasn't enough. "I told you that the one thing that you have to change is just timing. No, I can't be available all the time but you're not available all the time either." or did he forget how much he liked to do his own thing and his visits to Lust?
"You used to be gone for days at a time without a word and you expected me to just deal with it. I at least try to text you every day because I know this is rough on you but I can't.. I don't know what to do anymore." she took a deep shaky breath and wanted to cry, "Gabe is like my brother but you're my best friend," she kicked him with her foot lightly, "So start acting like it." she didn't like them being on opposite ends. She'd had a really stressful couple of days that was just topped off by that asshole cop and she needed Greed to be her eye of the storm but she couldn't find peace even with him. ---------- He looked up at the jolt. He was hearing.everything she had said before, but to feel it? It brought it down in a whole new way. Greed really wasn't used to all these words, he was a man of action. He understood things better that way. Otherwise it was just a kid constantly getting it's hand slapped. Zoe was sitting him in a corner now with no play time, that warranted a much deeper response.
His big blue eyes looked helpless, lashes thick with water. "I don't want to see you down a ravine one day too." It had shaken something in him when Josie killed herself. To lose something out if his own charge, it was no wonder it stuck out in his mind above all else. Zoe's words gave some relief, but he needed more than that. ----------- Zoe sighed, she knew that he always compared her to his most prized and lost possession of Josie. And no matter how many times Zoe had tried to tell him she and Josie were different people in extremely different situations... she just stopped trying now. She didn't like being compared to his former 'love' in the least but...
She reached over and pried one of his hands off the back of his neck and gripped it in a silent promise. "I'm scared of heights...." her own way of saying that he would never see the fate that happened to Josie happen to her. But her body language was such that it still said for him to not come closer to her but she was willing to give him her hand and it was a start. -------- He squeezed her hand tight, touch being a stronger indication than words. He broke through silence with a sigh, slumping his shoulders forward. "I'd jump after you if you did." He might have with Josie if she had grabbed a hold of his hand. Greed had died going after lesser things.
He needed to know if she had spent that entire weekend with Mike a tangled mess of naked limbs, because the imagery he was fighting was vivid. It wasn't fair to her, but she was in constant battle with a Sin of human nature, not just a boy who could turn his nose up at the turn of a heel. --------- Zoe smiled a little, "You'd jump after a gum wrapper.." she knew that while normal people found dying for someone romantic, with Greed, it could be a small thing he owned but he'd die for it just the same. But she held his hand still even though the rest of her made no move towards him. ---------- "What did you do this weekend?" His emphasis heavy on the action. He loosened his grip only to study the lines of her palm, fingers that he was used to touching him and not another face. A hand that held on to his for stability. He was losing his head too fast, Lust would argue that he was a horrible leader. He couldn't even keep his cool over a mortal girl. He had selfishly held on to the title and his own desires. Nothing else seemed important right now, not even the task Lust had given him to do. -------- Zoe didn't say anything at first, she had tried to tell Greed repeatedly that her relationship with Mike was none of his business and maybe if Greed had been a normal boy he would have backed off. But like the movie date, she saw maybe if she just showed Greed what was happening, involved him in the relationship so he could see behind the curtain, maybe he wouldn't go as crazy.
She let him play with her hand, letting him do what he wanted with it as she spoke slowly, "Mike surprised me and took me to a hotel.." she rubbed her lips together, debating on telling him something and deciding against it, "It weirded me out so we left. I spent the weekend at his place. I.. slept with him. Literally. Just wanted to see how that felt again first. Sleeping in the same bed with him." she didn't look at Greed, this was an awkward conversation to have, she just watched his hand with hers. -------- Greed was never going to budge on his curiosity. It wasn't possible. He massaged her hand, it was a calming motion for both of them. At her words he could have swallowed down sharp razors and it not as felt as heavy in his stomach as that.
"In your birthday suit or dressed?" He motioned across his body with a free hand. Yes, she had slept with the rat bastard before. But without ever letting Greed experience that? It felt very selfish of her. -------- Zoe pursed her lips, biting back the urge to tell him it wasn't his business yet again. But his hand massage was rhythmic and soothing, calming her down just a little but not enough that she wanted to get any closer to him, "Jammies." and he'd seen what she slept in, not really anything sexy by any stretch of the imagination. ---------- He couldn't hide the smirk that followed with that information, though it was clear it wouldn't be the last time he would have his head cut off with wondering. He still had pieced together some vivid images that were not going away.
"Is he still laying on the pressure?" Greed was persistent, yes, but as he'd told her back in Kansas he wanted to share that with her, and that was a big deal for him. She had painted a colorful picture of what it could be. --------- Zoe didn't really answer the question as she said, "It's not his fault... he doesn't understand what the hold up is because we have been together before." she sighed. Snuggles and kisses had become satiating for Greed but they weren't gonna cut it for very long with the mortal boyfriend. --------- Greed wasn't impressed. The snake was starting to peel his skin back, but telling Zoe anything bad would look like he was purposefully sabatoging her life. Greed wanted his toy happy, but she was distressed. "So? I told you big boy can amuse himself." Not that Greed ever had that set of problems. ---------- She lightly played with his hand and said, "It's not about sex, Chance.. I mean it is but it isn't. It's a sign of trust. And intimacy. And.. commitment. For me anyways." she knew Greed didn't view sex in that way, but she'd described to him before what sex meant to her and right now Mike might or might not be only after her body but if Zoe went through with it, she'd be giving him so much more than just her flesh. ---------- His hand was frozen in hers. There she was throwing those things in his face that he wasn't capable of, not on that level. There would always be Lust---and Zoe was committing herself to someone else. It was a blow. One that completely knocked the wind out of him.
"If it wasn't about sex you wouldn't be a shit bundle of nerves." ----------- Zoe bowed her head, feeling hurt. Her hand instinctively pulled to try to get out of his but it was like a dead fish when he wouldn't let go. "It's more than just the actual sex, it's about what having sex means. I know it's just fucking to you and him and the rest of the world but it's--" she stopped talking, getting more worked up over it than she should be.
She looked at him defiantly, saying quietly, "You think I'm ashamed of my body or something? Because I'm not. Yes, I get nervous about having sex and I'm rusty at it but for me the biggest thing that weighs on me is that I'm choosing to share something special with someone. I don't go around giving it out like it's candy on Halloween. I want it to mean something. For both of us." it wasn't just about whether she was ready to sleep with Mike, she didn't want it to be 'just sex' for him either. She didn't want to sleep with him if all he wanted was the sex and not the meaning attached to it, the vivid picture she had painted for Greed. ---------- Greed could have dropped her hand. She was disgusting him with all that talk. Instead he held it tighter. His face was sour, his lips sucking in tight.
"Oh, okay. So I'm just whoring myself." He didn't like hearing it from her. He snapped his fingers. "Got it. I had no idea I was nothing more than a container. But thanks for clearing that up." She had never made him feel so useless before. "But next time limp dick says he's ready to go and you aren't, remember me in Kansas saying no." ---------- Zoe made a what the fuck face, "Are you actually offended...? Don't you like doing that? Since when has sex ever meant anything to you?" though he had a point about Kansas. She fell silent because she didn't have a response to that. She just found it strange that he wouldn't let her hand go through this entire conversation. But in some odd way it was almost comforting. --------- "Yes I like doing that, but I don't like you calling me a fucking whore." It actually made him feel dirty and that was bizarre.
He would never let her up for her own happiness, not without making a mess of it. He wasn't about to let some other snake slide in take his dues and leave. Was she absurd? --------- Zoe couldn't believe they were talking about this, "I didn't call you a 'fucking whore'. I never said that. You wanna live your life like that then that's fine, there's nothing wrong with it. I'm just saying it's. not. me." she sighed and rested her forehead against the tops of her knees. "Maybe we should just not talk for a little while.." she murmured. --------- "No, no you didn't. You put it nicely." He smiled but it was forced, this was not the afternoon he'd planned for.
"I don't want you to give in to him." His voice was soft but he could hardly hold back the jealousy. He was still feeding off his fellow Sins. "You make it sound like paradise." And he wanted it. ------- Zoe sighed, "I didn't-- it's your choice to do what you want and there's nothing wrong with enjoying sex like you do."
She lifted her head and looked at him, "I won't. If it happens it'll be because I'm ready and want it to." she sighed again, "It's not.. it's not paradise at all... it's just... me." which was the furthest thing from paradise. "You sleep with the personification of desire, I'm pretty sure nothing can top that." she smiled a little hoping for a truce. ----------- Greed shuffled his feet like a little kid dangling them over the side of a ledge. He went back to fondling her hand and her fingers, looking over all the lines. "It doesn't mean I wouldn't want to experience it." There was a spark there between the two of them, did she really think she had the same spark with the new guy? ---------- Zoe made a slight face, "So glad you'd be willing to slum it..." she rested her chin on her knees not knowing why they were even talking about this still. One of the worries (among many) that she had about sleeping with Greed was that it wouldn't compare to Lust. And here he was agreeing to it. At least Mike was a normal boy and he'd been with her, it wasn't the most amazing thing ever but she wouldn't feel like she was trying to live up to something that was impossible. --------- "Guess you're as determined to have me not find out as much as I am to find out." He elbowed her leg so that it jarred her from her position. When she curled back up he mimicked her, curling his arms around his knees and resting his chin on top. "What afraid you'd be sized up to my sister?" He could hear her thoughts turning. It was as loud as an aircraft taking off a runway.
While they chatted safe inside a steel cage, Mike gripped his entire time to the station. Jail? Really? What was she thinking losing her job in the process? ------- She shot him a death glare when he jarred her and with her free hand, she wrapped her arms around her legs and squished into the corner of the bench against the wall. "Really. Last time I kissed you, you.." she looked to the ceiling as if she was trying to remember, "..accused me of being a virtue trap and bolted from the room." she scoffed, "You aren't finding out jack shit, braveheart."
She glared at him again when he brought up Lust. It was insulting and humiliating for him to even say it. "Fuck you." she said quietly and looked away from him. She was not having this discussion any more. ------- "Because it made me all squishy inside!" He yelled, suddenly dropping his voice as of other ears were listening in. He was not going to let the whole world know he was being less of himself. "It made me not what I am. Only Virtues do that. I've never waited for anything, Zoe."
"No because you're waiting to do that to your limp dick puppy." Greed bit his bottom lip. She wasn't exactly letting him be nice. --------- Zoe looked like she hated him in that moment, "So I make you feel like you're not you. Great." because that's what you always wanted to hear from the person that meant the most to you.
There was a noise from the main door to the room as Mike and an officer came in.
She narrowed her eyes and shot back at him, "Maybe I should take a lesson from you and stop waiting." she got up off the bench quickly and went to the door to greet Mike, relief flooding her face. ---------- "You're not listening to me." That was a compliment to her that she had that kind of power. No one did that.
The harder he pushed the more she ran right into the snake's coil. Greed narrowed his gaze to Mike. He expected to be left there, this was a silent standoff between men.
"Zoe, what is going on?" Mike threw Greed a death glare. "You get fired. Get put in jail. What are you thinking?" ---------- Zoe blinked and looked at Mike, was he kidding her with this. "Well gee Mike, good to see you too. I'm grateful you're here but can you at least give me a chance to explain myself before you start--" she moved to the side when the officer closed the door to the cell behind her. She looked confused, "Why aren't you letting him out?" she asked pointing to Greed. ------- "Ita just a little out if character for you isn't it?" He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, pushing her forward. "You can tell me on the way home." She was out of control wasn't she? She had been stresses for days, he had no idea why.
The officer locked the door. "Only your bail was posted." Greed looked worried, setting his feet down on the floor. This was not going to be a comfortable afternoon. He could already feel his skin crawl. Mike was slick, real slick, he had to appreciate that. ---------- Zoe planted her heels firmly on the ground so he could stop pushing her forward and she shrugged his hands off her. She turned to face him looking upset, "Why didn't you post bail for Chance? I told you his sister can't get him and he'll pay you back, he has the money." -------- "Zoe, please. Let's just get you home. His bail is a lot higher than yours..." He said trying to keep his voice out of reach from Greed's ears. By the looks of if it, it would do Greed some good to stay a few more hours. ------ Zoe put her hands on her hips, "Mike, I'm not leaving him in there, I'd pay for it myself but I don't have the money." she looked at him pleadingly, clasping her hands in front of her, "It wasn't his fault. Okay, he punched the cop but he was only doing it to defend me." She raised her brows, "You can appreciate that, can't you? Please? I'm not gonna feel right about it and I promise he'll pay you back." she had that stubborn look in her eyes, she wasn't leaving without Greed. ------- She was being ridiculously stubborn. He hadn't quite seen as much of this in her before. He had a feeling Chance had everything to do with it. Mike put his hands on his hips, mouth ajar to give her a responsible reply.
"Stop making a scene," he said through clenched teeth, looking around. "Are you really threatening to stay if I don't?" ------- Zoe wouldn't budge an inch, "I'm not making a scene but yes.. I'll stay here if you don't bail him out. I'll call Gabe and ask him if he can borrow some money for us. This wasn't entirely Chance's fault, he doesn't deserve to be locked up and spend the night here. Mike, do it for me, I know you hate him but please? For me?" ---------- Mike bristled. He really hated giving in for Chance's sake, but it kept Zoe in his good graces. He released his arms with a sigh. "Alright," he headed back to the main room leaving Zoe to basically throw down his entire wallet. He'd have to use plastic for this one. "Paying up for the other one too."
Greed felt his heart start to race at the thoughts of spending a night in this metal cage. He stood abruptly when the officer opened up the door, a cat being let out of a carrier. He really, really hated jail. ---------- Zoe had seen how Greed reacted to the cage when they were in there, she didn't think he'd last a night. She wasn't happy with him but she wasn't going to be cruel. She waited anxiously and took Mike's hand when he showed up and squeezed it, "Thank you.." she said as Greed came down the hall towards them.
She leaned in to say quietly to Mike, "His car is at the salon..." making an eeeek! face at him apologetically because he'd know she was asking if they could give Greed a ride. ------- "Now you want me to drive him?" He looked over his shoulder to see Greed catching up. He squeezed Zoe's hand. "There's something I need to ask you, but it will have to wait I guess." Now that he had to truck across town to drop off this guy she couldn't seem to let go of.
When Greed was just within inches he smiled, keeping his hand in Zoe's, taunting Greed. "She says you helped out. Don't know how well it speaks that you landed her in jail, but I'll give you a few weeks to pay up." Mike thought that was fair. ------------ Zoe grimaced, "Well we can't just leave him here..." she knew she sounded like one of those crazy people that took in stray pets but she wouldn't feel right about any of this. No matter how much Greed pissed her off.
She didn't intervene in the 'men's' conversation when Greed caught up. She just kept her hand in Mike's, a clear sign to Greed who she was with and she didn't say anything. She didn't have anything to say to him right now. ---------- Sure they could. He was a big boy. From what Mike had seen Greed was hardly an adult on a normal day.
Zoe's silence was a ton of bricks in the pit of Greed's stomach. He was still high off all kinds of other Sins right now, as Greed he tended to take them all when he was stressed. Greed's lip twitched upward as of he were about to bare his teeth to rip Mile to shreds. The hand holding, the silence, it was all displayed for his benefit. Oh, Greed would give him his money, laced with tear gas.
"You'll get it. After I free up some other bills." More like spend his wallet dry first. When they got outside to Mike's Audi, Greed rolled his eyes. "Barbie drive this car?" He teased as it wasn't sporty enough for his taste. He had to hit below the belt somewhere. --------- Zoe just gave Greed a look. She had to really struggle with Mike to get him to help Greed out and he was really going to behave like an asshole? Of course he would. But she didn't even tell Greed to behave or that it wasn't nice or right. Because Greed didn't give a crap so why should she. She got in the car, slamming the passenger door shut and still refusing to say one word. ------- The car felt like as much of a cage as the one he'd just left. He was being suffocated by false affection. Mike was pretending, or maybe he did really care, but Greed wouldn't believe it. It was more as simple as someone crossing boundaries that were not theirs to cross. He was stepping over Greed's fence and Zoe innocently let him. Greed would not believe that she would continue to play the strings Mike pulled. He was taking away things that Greed adored about her. That was making over something that was already beautiful and he was greatly offended
Greed kicked around in the backseat to get comfortable..it didn't matter because any direction he turned he saw the hand holding, Mike's little pecks on Zoe's cheek. She still kept silent once again the same way she had in the jail.
Greed kneed the back of her seat. She would look at him at least. ------- Zoe was hot under the collar. She was still wound up tight from being molested by a smarmy cop and then getting arrested and her chat with Greed didn't help things. Why was she even thinking about what he said? What difference did it-- she bounced in her seat when he kicked her chair but she just pressed her lips together and folded her arms over her chest. She refused to even look at him, her harsh gaze focused out the window. --------- He kicked her seat again and again and again until she would look at him. Then he went to playing with the window controls. By the time he had pissed off Mike too they were outside the salon where his yellow beast was parked.
Greed opened the door, swinging it wide so it looked as if it could fly off. "Don't be offended if I don't say thank you." He slammed the door behind him, but didn't go to his car yet. He rapped on the glass to Zoe's window. He pulled out his phone to text when the window didn't go down.
I'll sex text you until you talk to me.
That was a warning. --------- Zoe silently growled when Greed would not stop kicking her chair but she would not give in and be a kid with him. She obstinately looked out the window. She rolled her eyes when he of course wouldn't say thank you and she'd be the one stuck explaining to Mike why she kept company with such an asshole to the point she made her own boyfriend bail him out of jail. What was she supposed to say? Well clearly I'm fucking crazy!
She turned her head away from the window when Greed knocked on it, she was looking more and more psycho by the second mainly because she put up with Greed. She looked at her phone's message and seemed uncomfortable for a second. She looked at Greed through the glass finally and held up her phone so he could see her turn the power off. The car went into reverse and she opened her hand and dropped the phone on the floor as they sped off. ---------- The clamp on his phone was tight, so tight the whites of his knuckles were showing. "Watch the shoes!" He barked at the disappearing car. She just skated right out of his hands via a magic carpet. Mike needed to be hung out to dry.
He peeled out of the salon parking lot with smoke and tires. This wasn't over.
Mike reached over and grabbed Zoe's hand. "It's all over now. Maybe you should take a break from seeing Chance for a few days." He squeezed her hand, "I want you to move in with me." ---------- Zoe was about to argue when that last bit threw her, "You want me to what?" did she not hear him right? She seemed more shocked and weirded out, her hand limp in his as she stared at him like he'd grown another head. -------- "Is that such a horrible thing?" He shook her hand which felt like a dead fish. "Zoe, I told you I was serious." He raised her hand with a kiss on top. "I want you to see I'm committed. This is a big step. For both of us." It was almost as if he had decided for her. He'd give her a week. -------- "No, of course not, I mean.." she stammered and then stopped and looked at him as he gave her what she always wanted. A commitment. But it was so much so fast and so unexpected. "Um.. no, I know, I.. this is just really big, Mike.." she squeezed his hand, "I mean Gabe and the apartment and I just lost my job.." she was rambling. --------- "Zoey, this shouldn't be a hard choice. I care about you. This is what people do." It would put a cap on this Chance fellow. He'd have to have boundaries. He couldn't just come over anymore unannounced. Mike could have control of this situation because he didn't like it. "Alright, I'll give you a week to think about it." Here came the jab. Zoey was usually a push over. She was different now and he couldn't help hut think Chance had everything to do with it. "It's stability Zoey. Look at you, in jail, not holding down your job. It's not like you." He was still putting down blame. He wasn't even opening up to what had really happened. He was also out of money because of this guy. "If you chose not to, I'm moving to Jersey. I want to stay here, I want to be with you." He was playing dirty now. -------- Zoe could only look at Mike with her mouth open, "I... I.." and then he threw her a lifeline and said he'd give her a week. She let out a breath and nodded at everything he was saying. He was right. Wasn't he? She jerked her head up and looked at him at that last bit, "You what..? You're.. I mean, I thought you said you were going to put roots in New York, you said you were staying this time." was he really telling her either she moved in with him or they broke up? -------- "I think a week is long enough." He let go of her hand, focused on her driving, but still let it go. "I know I did, I just feel like you still don't trust me. I'm just thinking about it." Which put more pressure on her. It wasnt a fair move to make, but it was worth it if it pushed him into the right direction. ------- Zoe didn't know what to say she couldn't really argue. "Alright.. " she looked lost in thought, this was a surprise development. She and Mike hadn't even slept together again and she didn't know if he was doing this to get a lockdown on that or if he really meant to have a future with her. But that was the thing wasn't it, a future with Mike was at least possible. This was where adult relationships headed, not... not like other relationships she was thinking of. This was normal and she should be thrilled that a guy wanted to commit. But all she really could think about was her bed and how she wanted to sleep so the day would be over.