InsaneJournal

First it was the car. That gorgeous yellow sports car had seen better days after she'd been marred with cult symbols of the satanic variety. It was cute really, it had brought a tear to his eye because now that beautiful baby was scarred. It must have looked strange for a grown man to be petting his car like a pet, running his hands lovingly over the scarred finish with promises that he would get her fixed up. Those fanciful promises turned red in the face when the leather interior was just as damaged as the outer finish. Greed did not like damaged possessions, it was as good as stealing from him.

That was the first strike. The second came later. Greed wasn't stupid, he'd been moving his most prized items out of his apartment for days and depositing them in various storage lockers that no one knew about, not even Lust herself would squeeze that out of him, no matter how tightly she had his balls in a vice grip. Zoe was kept at arms length because she was a possession too and she was to be kept safe. Greed would not have everything pulled out from under him. With Zoe was the button bracelet that had once belonged to Josie. He knew if his human pet was safe, then so was one of his favorite possessions. Greed could get new things at the will of his pockets and stealthy ninja stealing skills, but as with any child who had more than they could hold down---there were favorites. The toys that got kept for safe keeping to touch, pet and handle when he wanted them. Those were the possessions even Greed would come back to. It wasn't always about the new. Avarice by very definition meant miserliness. As much as Greed loved to consume, like an anorexic he could also refuse food and have a refrigerator full to the brim. Greed's desire to hold on to what was already his was as important to his nature to acquire more. He was both sides of the same coin, so taking from him was a federal offense and he would die to keep what he had declared his property.

He'd spent the entire weekend with Lust, making up, schmoozing despite the fact she'd burned him about as hard as hellfire itself. That invisible line he'd crossed before was turning red by the minute. If he wanted to keep his human pet alive then he had to keep certain Sins on his good side. Lust was the last Sin he wanted against him. She was a worthy ally, but as an enemy she would destroy him and make him miserable. They were selfish things, vindictiveness ran heavy, but more so for Lust than Greed no matter how alike they were.

The firemen were already there at his complex trying to break down the fire that had started on his top floor apartment. The neighboring streets had been roped off, all the people out of the building that they could get, but the building was ablaze like damned beacon on a light house. Greed simply had too much stuff. His house could be the next episode of hoarders on TLC with as much shit as he'd crammed into that apartment. It was tidy, Greed had his own filing system, but the average person could get lost in the mound. He'd asked Lust to park a street down as his car was put away for repairs. He'd thought that that had just been coincidence, but he'd been wrong. He wasn't paying attention to the display ahead as he pulled out his phone. He'd just gotten Zoe on the line, not really wanting to have conversation with Lust glued to his side. There were a few more things he wanted to haul out before Lucifer or anyone else in their clan decided to carry out their verbal threats. Greed had a feeling he had eyes on him since then, and he'd not been wrong but he'd underestimated the hell king. Lucifer had already gotten to his stash before he could, which now as he looked up turning the corner, smelling the smoke and seeing the rain of ash proved that those verbal threats had been real.

Zoe had just picked up the phone because the ringer had stopped, but all Greed had gotten out of his mouth before he hung up was "Shit". He went racing toward the apartment building, stopped by a line of cops and fireman. All he could see was that red, orange and yellow reflection bouncing around laughing at him. Lucifer was laughing at him. Greed pushed and pulled to get closer because that was his stuff. It would take Lust to keep him back because Greed was ready at hell speed to go right into the inferno and collect as much as he could that hadn't already been burnt to a crisp. All the fanciful reporters, cops and firemen wouldn't keep him from that building if he got in.

Right behind him stood the evening news, cameras scanning across the open street full of people while Greed yelled and grunted his way through. The headline would ring through that it had been an accidental household fire, but it was a lie. It had been a blow right to the gut, and that was just plain dirty.