InsaneJournal

WHO: Greed & Lust w/NPC Devlin
WHEN: 1816
WHERE: Devlin's country estate, France
WHAT: The death of Devlin
WARNING: Death & Threat


Months passed after Stella's death and Devlin's melancholy did not wane. Lust's time was split between him and Greed but it wasn't even by any means. Devlin needed her more and it was easy to see that Lust was beginning to care for him, he wasn't just a toy or a joke, he was starting to mean something to her. She hadn't used influence on him unless it was to distract him, and she enjoyed how much he craved her of his own free will. She still slept with Greed and babyed him but she never wanted to talk about Devlin with him. She'd insist he was just a favorite plaything of hers right now and Greed's mind was playing tricks on him if he tried to accuse her of anything more. But when Greed would watch his sister in private with the mortal, there was a tenderness in her touch and look that she never shared with Greed. Lust didn't even realize she was doing it because she was unaware but any fool could see that she wasn't pretending to be a wife to Devlin, she was learning how to be a wife to him. A slow process but an effective one, Stella's tragedy had garnered Greed sympathy but it had ultimately just brought his sister and Devlin closer together.

They hadn't left the country estate since Stella's death even though the rains were in full force now making the land outside muddy. They were supposed to have been back in the city but Devlin was not ready to go. Greed stayed with them, Devlin would of course never throw out his brother-in-law. After all, he suffered a loss, just like he did.

A storm crashed around outside while Lust snuck into Greed's room in the dead of the night. Her passion for him wasn't any less as she climbed on top of him but he didn't have her 100%.

------

Greed had appeared as choked up as he could, moping around the mansion lazily when Lust would divide her time. The fact that he still came second, that she catored to her mortal chew toy on a daily basis hit him like razorblades. He was sure she was purposefully doing it now just to piss him off. Devlin looked like a kicked puppy, but he still hadn't suffered enough. Greed wanted him gone. Expelled out of the picture. The sooner he plucked Devlin from Lust's grasp, the sooner she could focus on him.

It wasn't unnoticed that Lust became more and more detatched from him. He could see it in her face, as if he was a chore. It only made him hang onto her with an iron grip until they'd both worn themselves out.

Greed still wasn't satisfied.

-------

Greed wasn't a chore to Lust, he was her brother, her lover, her child... but he wasn't her sole focus anymore. Devlin was her husband.. and that was starting to mean something to her. Not enough that it would keep her out of Greed's bed, but for a Sin, a selfish sin at that, the ability to mean anything... it was a foreign and dangerous area. Greed didn't get to keep his prize of Josie, she wanted to get away from him. Lust, who never wanted the precious thing of intimacy, had it thrown in her lap, and Devlin didn't run from her, he wanted to be with her.

Lust gave as hard as she got with Greed between the sheets, she hated when he held hard enough to bruise because it was difficult to explain to Devlin but she hit just as hard back to Greed. The nerve of him. Finally she was asleep, she hadn't planned on it but Greed's acrobatics and the day just tired her out. The storm was violent outside, the entire house dark and everyone was asleep at this time of night. Except one person. Devlin was in the living room, he'd poured himself a drink and was watching the storm, fully aware that his pretty little wife hadn't been in the bed when he woke up.

------

Lust was turning into a wife, a woman who seemed okay with just being a woman around Devlin than using him to her whims. It was obvious her influence was being used less and less, she seemed annoyed when Greed fucked a little too hard these days.

Greed was becoming less descreet and it was drawing out more rumors. In a society that was concerned about appearances and status he fit right in, he didn't care what lies were spread because they were all true.

He padded down the stairs in an open house coat and pants. When he stepped in on Devlin he drew a very amused smirk. Lust had been in his bed tonight not that depressing lump of a husband.

"Can't sleep?" Greed asked, slinking out from behind Devlin like a cat ready to pounce on its prey.

------

Devlin's fingers were placed around the edge of his glass that was half full with scotch. He could feel Greed before he heard him. The only light in the room was from the moon and lightning outside but still, the room seemed to get darker when Greed came in it. Devlin didn't even turn to look at him, his voice heavy, "No... not anymore." he didn't seem to get much sleep these days.

-------

Lightening flashed in the room, brightening it for a moment only to draw it back into shadows a second later.

Greed took a seat beside his brother-in-law, pouring himself a glass of scotch. "It's been tough, I know." He tried to sound sensitive, but it came out more like gloating.

"Aloisia and I were just talking about---" he pretended to get choked up. "Seems so lonely on nights like this." Now he was just throwing jabs.

------

Devlin didn't look at Greed and he wasn't mad or vicious but he was a little drunk. His normal gentleman like behavior had evaporated and the town's whispers were like cannonfire in his ears now. He lifted his glass, "Is that why I'll find her in your room instead of mine..?" he didn't mean room, he meant bed. They both knew it.

------

"Well, well, jealousy isn't something I ever thought I'd see on you, Dev." It made Greed snort onto his glass. It was watching the dominant male come down with fists ready. Great, Greed was ready draw Devlin down to the limp sac of bone and muscle he was. Starting first with his weakest link. Lust was never his, she was only playing the part.

"She's exhausted," he said in a hushed but insensitive tone. "I wouldn't bother her just yet." Lust was his prize, while central to this, not necessary in where it would end.

------

Devlin stayed mostly quiet, he didn't comment on his jealousy. He was jealous. But it was more than that. Why should he be jealous? Greed was her brother. Devlin was her husband. But then there were the rumors about the siblings.. and the deaths. He brought the glass to his lips, "Maybe if you behaved like a man instead of an infant for her to take care of she wouldn't be." there was more than just alcohol lacing his tone, there was bitterness.

------

Oh, so Devlin got a bit of lip on him when he was under the guise of alcohol. This was going to be fun. Greed gave him a smug and very satisfied grin. Eat shit you little mortal toy. He'd bleed nicely.

"She will always chose me over you, asshole."

------

Devlin took another healthy gulp, his voice was soft and pained, "Will she? Does she? I'm not so sure anymore." his eyes were bloodshot from drinking but they were also a little hollow, "There are rumors about the two of you.. I dismissed it as gossip fodder but.. even I cannot deny that misery seems to be your constant companion, Eugene." that glass raised to his lips, the hand shaking for a split second, "I wonder at times if I invited death to stay with us by welcoming you into my home." because not only did Stella die, but so did his friend, in fact, Devlin's life was pretty good until Greed came into it.

-------

"Yes, she will. " Greed was confident. "Because you will never be me. You will die eventually and she will always have me." His voice spat out with claws, his eyes full of hate. It was a threat, one Devlin was never going to escape. "You stomped on my things by putting a ring on her finger. You took her from me. You are in the way. The same way that Stella was." Greed wasn't going to hide the fact that he'd killed her anymore, that was a hard, cold confession.

------

Devlin was resigned to his fate. The night had a sense of doom, like something was coming for him. And who was he to fight it? He had lost his sister and his wife was not his wife. His lashes lowered, his gaze going to the alcohol when Greed admitted to killing Stella. But that was the only reaction he got. Devlin.. well, he always kind of knew. He wanted to believe otherwise but the evidence, the talk, it was just too much. "What are you..?" he whispered. "No mere man could ever have such darkness in him as you do. One that is so blind with jealousy and hatred that he cannot see love when it stares him in the face." but whether he was talking about himself and Lust or what Stella had for him, he didn't clarify. "So I ask you.. what are you?"

------

"I'm the devil." He threw his voice low, his eyes piercing under his brows. It was a serious moment that Greed took lightly at the expense of his own amusement. He snorted down the rest of his drink, slapping Devlin on the back.

"I'm Greed. And my sister you like fucking is Lust. And you can't have her any more."

-------

Devlin choked on his drink some when Greed slapped him on the back. It was unclear if he believed Greed's claims of being devil or sin. He sat in his chair and took another mouthful of liquor, "That is a decision for my wife to make." Devlin, unlike Greed, never laid any claim of ownership to Lust. He proposed because he loved her, he married her for the same reason and if she ever wanted to leave, he wouldn't stop her. She chose to be with him.

-------

"She's not your wife. She was never your wife." Now he was just pissing Greed off. Looking at his pretty face, talking about what little hold he thought he had on Lust. "She is a fantasy, but I can't let you have her for another day." He clenched a fist, gritting his teeth.

-------

Devlin said the words Greed wouldn't understand, "I love her." and it was the one thing that Greed could never give Lust. It was the thing he wanted to have and didn't. To Devlin, it didn't matter what Lust had done, what Greed had done. He loved his wife and he was willing to start fresh, with her, without Greed.

------

How dare Lust have it first! Greed just launched himself at Devlin, his hands going around his neck ready to choke the life right out of him.

He squeezed his hands tight with an intent look on his face, sweat beading down his brow. Greed actually found himself counting down each second as he squeezed Devlin's neck like a boa constricter.

-------

Devlin made a strangled sound, the glass dropping from his hand and shattering on the floor and his hands flew up to Greed's around his neck. He looked at him with wide eyes, trying to pry him off. His teeth clenched and he instinctively fought for his life. But while the house slept on, one pair of eyes opened because of the ruckus.

------

Greed's grip was too tight. When Devlin struggled he squeezed tighter, dragging him now down to the floor. It was only the two of them in this epic battle, he didn't even hear or feel Lust enter the scene. His intent was to kill, never letting Lust feel what he couldn't have. Devlin would never be able to tell her again.

But even as that body writhed in its last attempts to hang on, lips purple and blue, Greed wanted more. He pulled a knife from the kitchen stash, its fine blade aching to coat itself with Devlin's blood like a sacrifice.

"If this had been a different set of circumstances I would have liked you." He held the blade at the man's neck.

------

Devlin was near death but not quite dead yet as he felt Greed's blade at his neck. He was still alive though so his eyes went to the doorway where Lust stood, body naked under a thin wrap. Her green eyes were narrowed into slits of emerald fire as she stared at the scene, "Let. Him. Go." she said the words with icy sharpness to Greed. She wasn't joking. And while Devlin was no match for Greed, Lust could provide him with more than a challenge.

------

Greed gave Lust a manical laugh. They had toyed with humans before, she was often far more cold-hearted than this. But, Greed was still stuck in a bad place, under a dark cloak of madness since he'd come to her. Now she was tip-toeing into love? He hated her for finding it. He'd only ever wanted it for himself, he'd tried and it failed. She couldn't keep it!

He stood with his chest puffed out, his smile turning shout, the knife blade still clean of Devlin's blood. "Don't make me do this Lust," a part of his usual side peeked through under those unsure brows. He didn't want to do this, but he would.

"You're talking about love here Lust. If I can't have it..." He turned with a grin, sliding the knife just over the first later of skin on Devlin's neck, still not drawing blood, but threatening to. "Why should you?" He asked with all the curiosity of a little boy. There were even tears pricking his eyes. This wasn't fair!

------

Lust put her hands on her hips as she leaned forward, "Make you do this? You stupid, horrible, Sin! I don't want love. But Devlin is mine and if you punish me for what he feels then I will pay you back in spades, little brother." and the spades she was talking about were shovels. She'd bury and kill everything that Greed held dear if he did this. But amidst all the rage in her face there were flickers of fear in her eyes. Lust, the leader of the excess was fearless like her brothers, but something about the sight of possibly losing her mortal was troubling her.

------

Lust was talking about---"Are you IJ love with him?" It was possible even of he couldn't have it. If Lust could----he grew angry again, jealous now not just of her but jealous that she wanted to keep Devlin. She wanted it over him, the asshole had been right. Greed was without now in all ways and that burned.

He let a slip of blood hit the knife, still keeping the man alive. "Why are you doing this to me?" As if he could expect any different from a Sin.

------

Lust looked disgusted, "In love? Are you crazy?" She was Lust. Gross things like love were her enemy. Love often got in the way of desire. "Love has nothing to do with what's MINE!" she shouted at him, her voice louder than the storm raging outside.

She moved forward, coming straight for Greed, "Stop it!" but there wasn't just anger in her voice, there was panic, there were cracks in the Sin she was, peeks of humanity showing through which Lust had never had before.

------

Greed could see the cracks. He'd seen for months her falling into this man's hands one kind word at a time.

"But its not yours!" He spat back. "It's what should have been mine!"

------

Lust was enraged, "HE is mine!" and she punched at Greed's head. It was more than just the fact Devlin was hers, she had an insane need to protect him. She was always on Greed's side but this was something different. He had lost his grip because of that mortal that messed with his head.

------

Her hit would have been a nasty one but he dodged it, twisting his hand into Devlin's shirt dragging him out of the kitchen. Why spill blood on all the pretty furniture. He wanted Lust to take him serious because he would do exactly what she feared. It hadn't stopped him from killing Stella.

"This hurts me Lust," he said in a strained voice. He really didn't want to do this but he would.

-------

"It won't hurt half as much as what I'm going to do to you!" She went after Greed again, "Let him go or I swear I'll cut out your black heart and feed it to you!" she ran after him, trying to tackle him to the ground before he could drag Devlin outside.

-------

It was hard to know what he wanted worse right now. Her or the love he lost and never had that she had flaunted in his face for months. She wasn't even screaming at him like herself, she was someone else.

His grip loosened on Devlin's collar, the rain beating down in fat pellets, masking the swell in his eyes. They were already bloodshot. Josie had rejected him. Now---now it was Lust. The only thing he had.

"You think it can go back as it was?" He dropped Devlin into a lump in the rain after dragging him through the mud. The bastard was still alive, but Greed was focused on Lust. "I let him live then what? You go about your business putting me last," she didn't get that he needed her now, but she had taken herself from him.

He tossed the blade into the watery grass.

He wanted both of them dead now. Lust's words stung. "You made me a deal and now its void." He sniffled, wiping his arm across his nose. She was the scolding parent and he didn't want it. He'd wanted Josie. He'd wanted what Lust so painfully had.

-----

Devlin wasn't moving but he wasn't dead yet. Lust's eyes softened when she looked at Devlin but they were enraged when they fell back on Greed. "It always goes back to the way it was! It's always you and me in the end! Don't you remember that?" she shouted to be heard in the rain, her thin wrap clinging to her body as she moved closer to them. "He'll die, Greed. He'll eventually die, you don't need to do this right now! You and me have eternity so stop." her voice broke on the last word and it was unlike her.

When he tossed the knife aside Lust ran at him to try to get to Devlin. If the deal was void then the gloves were off and she was getting her husband no matter what the cost. She might not care about love but the mortal meant more to her than a trifle, she wasn't ready to lose him.

-------

He was already dying, Greed didn't see the point in letting his blood soil the ground. He wanted to hurt Lust, letting him hang on a few seconds longer and then croak was far worse then just ending the misery.

Lust made her choice, she could suffer with it.

"It's not the same. I needed you right now." His words were spit with hate. He hated her right now. Greed was ready to go off on his own again. It was time. He'd done what he'd intended, but his obsession with Lust had dropped, now he was just jealous.

------

Lust dropped to her knees next to Devlin and just looked at him, she looked like a child whose brother had viciously ripped apart a painting they had so lovingly made. He looked at her and despite near death, he tried to smile a little, his eyes dimming. His lips moved but she couldn't hear him until she leaned down closer and his words shocked her. They weren't of love, they were of something else a Sin never got, and had no need for. But just the same they hit her in a profound way.

I forgive you.

Lust's hand went into Devlin's and after a brief grip from him it went slack, his eyes still remaining partly open with rain water falling in them. There was a scream from the house as one of the maids watched them and then alerted the others. Lust nor Greed were popular among the staff and it looked like they both had killed their master. Lust could only look at Devlin, she wasn't moving. But the men from inside the house were coming, if she or Greed were found, they'd be hanged for sure.

------

Greed grabbed Lust's arm forcefully. "We got to go." He dragged her and that sheet through the rain and mud. Both of them were soaked to the bone by the time they'd reached somewhere to stay. He pulled his housecoat off and draped it over her shoulders. It wouldn't keep her warm but it would keep her covered.

------

Lust never cared about being human and having love, all those wretched things Greed went on about wanting to have just for the sake of having. Devlin was supposed to be like the others but he'd managed to sneak under her skin in a way she hadn't known possible. Maybe it was better he was dead before he could expose her more.

All the humanity that he gave to her welled up in her eyes that just stared at him and Lust never cried. Greed did. Big blubbering crocodile ones like a child. But tears were weakness and since creation Lust had never shed them. But now, like blood from a stone, one tear fell from an unblinking eye and she was yanked away from Devlin's body before he, the rightful owner of such a rare gift, could claim it.

When they finally didn't have to run and sat there, Lust didn't yell at Greed, she didn't fight or hit him. She looked at the fire in the common area of where they'd stopped as she spoke softly to him, "One day.. if you find something that means more to you than me.. it'll be my turn." and that was it. She was not going to have a discussion, and she wasn't going to forget this. Greed had done a heinous act against his mirror and a mirror was a reflection.. and Lust planned to do the same thing to him, ten fold, no matter how long it'd take.