[Open RL - Accidental Incest is only hot/funny when it's other people.]

[material_guy]

It would be fair to call Greed a man of strong psychological constitution. Little things could set him off, odd things, and he was prone to mood swings from time to time, but he tended to swing back just as easily, prone to joie de vivre at his own ambitions.

It would be appropriate to call Greed a man of an extremely hardy physical constitution.

Comments

[objectofhope]

"Greed."

That was all Rei had to offer by way of greeting. She was standing nearby, alone, so immobile it almost seemed more plausible that she'd appeared out of thin air than walked over. There weren't any signs of stress or indeed any other emotion at all on her face - if she knew about the ghosts, they weren't visibly bothering her.

[material_guy]

He jerked, stiffly and slowly turned to the girl whose approach he had never heard coming.

Shit. Shit. Envy would pick a girl's form. It's the safest. But there had to be easier girls to pretend to be, had to be hotter girls to get in close with... but Envy blew his chunks back then, too, so, maybe someone he could be pretty sure Greed wouldn't try to molest would be best. The problem was figuring out his angle.

"...Yo." He answered belatedly with a hand raise, deciding to feel the situation out.

[objectofhope]

There wasn't much to feel out. Rei stayed as she was for several long moments, observing him. From what she knew of him, his mood was uncharacteristic. Although the likeliest cause behind her sudden appearance on an apparently haunted vessel was the community, just as it was for her disappearance of over a month, it also left many things unexplained.

"You appear tired," she noted.

[material_guy]

Greed watched her, watching him watch her watch him watching her. He wasn't sure quite where the cycle stopped, but she seemed more introspective than he ever was, so, ultimately the one paying more attention was probably her... Or would be, if it were her, which was why he was watching.

This was the kind of thinking that wore him out.

"Nn. Maybe a little."

He brought his hand over his face and sighed, thinking better of it quickly and darting his gaze through his fingers towards Rei. Envy could move closer without a sound, if her sudden appearance was any indication. He'd never actually seen her in person before, so, while he wanted to say that kind of stillness suited her, he harbored his doubts.

"How's that stuff been workin' out for you?"

He'd keep it vague. He could barely figure out their conversations half the time. If Envy knew anything about his connection to her, he would probably be just as lost. Maybe he'd bluff something and get caught in the act.

[objectofhope]

"I am uncertain of what you refer to, but there have been no incidents worth speaking of," Rei answered, ignoring the fact that she had no idea how she'd skipped a month of time and taking a few steps forward toward the banister. She looked out over the ocean, some part of her enjoying its motions and its sounds, the regularity of it placid even as it roiled. The ship was large enough to move only barely along with it.

[material_guy]

That was a safe answer. He had a hard time picturing her saying anything about anything specific without a prompt, but that was probably why Envy picked her. It made sense, now. She was an easy role to play.

As she stepped towards the banister, he made a skittish two and a half steps away, watching her watch the ocean and just waiting for her to look over at him. She was doubtlessly waiting to get him off guard.

Greed hated the patience game, but he could try it out. Envy's latest disguise wasn't very talkative. Envy loved running his mouth and if he was going to come at him as a game, he probably didn't want it to get boring. Silence was usually boring.

It was a double edged sword, but he'd deal with his own boredom by staring at her and taking in her every subtle movement and expression.

Which might have been a most excellent plan if he weren't attempting to wield silence as a weapon against Ayanami Rei of all people.

[objectofhope]

It was already backfiring. Rei was perfectly content to stand as she was and stare out at the ocean, ignoring him entirely. She could feel his eyes on her, but that in itself wasn't unusual; in the past, people had stared at her frequently. She was strange, somewhat inhuman. She didn't fit in.

She didn't mind.

The silence stretched out between them, Rei's thoughts angling toward the circumstances of her life, the paradoxes she found herself in. She still couldn't completely devote herself to living again, or living in the first place. It was complex, and confusing. All she wanted to do was insure the safety of Shinji Ikari, which was the one thing she absolutely could not do.

[material_guy]

As if Rei's thoughts and circumstances were not confusing enough, there was Greed, a confusing fellow in his own right, flinging out a potentially dangerous question given the target.

"Are you really you?!"

Greed snapped under the entirely one-sided pressure, first. He sounded decidedly more desperate than angry; of course he couldn't believe any answer given, after all.

[objectofhope]

She turns her head to watch him, and blinks, actually considering that seriously. "I am the being known as Ayanami Rei."

[material_guy]

Well, that does sound like how she'd answer, now that he thinks about it; cool and collected, without even asking what the hell kind of ridiculous question that is, but... Just to be safe, he asks again.

"...Seriously?"

[objectofhope]

"I am the fourth to take that name," she offers, wondering if that was what he was getting at.

[material_guy]

Not what he meant, but if her mind did immediately go to what he meant, it would have been a giveaway. But then, Envy had played this game enough to know how to handle that sort of question by now, hadn't he? Greed wonders if asking if she was serious again would do any good to clear up his doubts, but gives it up with a sigh, turning to lean against the banister while facing the deck rather than the ocean

[objectofhope]

People don't ordinarily make much logical sense to begin with, so Rei barely bats an eye at his explanation, only returning the glance. It is, to her mind, a valuable concern. She frequently questioned who she was, and what defined those around her. She simply didn't have any answer of merit that would help him in that pursuit.

"I had not recalled it as a goal," she says finally. "My priorities have been changing. However, lately, I..."

A frown mars her delicate face, thinking of the dreams she's been having. Nightmares were the more accurate term, most likely. Rei's mind drifts back to them, and how they make her wake up gasping, or with her heart pounding, or tangled in the blankets. They're all new sensations for her. She was finding that she didn't like dreams and wished they would cease, so she could return to the status quo. Everything changing... perhaps 'disturbing' was the word.

Off in her own thoughts, she didn't realize (or particularly care) that she hadn't finished her sentence.

[material_guy]

Greed could wait longer out of genuine patience than he could as a tactic. Waiting for a finish that never came for several long minutes, he watches her profile, vaguely entertaining the notion that Envy was making expert use of her and the subtle illusion of disquiet to spur him to action; Greed was known to pick up strays causes, a trait Envy pointed out far too often not to bet on, himself.

Eventually, he takes the mile wide opening in the conversation to speak. "Thought not havin' much important enough to prioritize was the problem. Found some stuff important to ya and having a hard time gettin' it in order?"