Poison in your Tea [Traverse Town; Open]

[crimson_apathy]

Only when the sounds of life are muffled by the silence of your thoughts are you truly dead.These words were what swarmed in his mind, what he took to heart for as long as he could remember. It was because it was a constant reminder of the painful truth that all Nobodies had to suffer. And no dead person was in this much pain; no matter how hard

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[ultimate_shield]

"I didn't mind it," Greed replied easily. While most would have found it a difficult thing to discuss, he could talk about such things as if they were talking about the weather. "I didn't want to serve under that old hag." He'd paid for it dearly--with 130 years of solitude--but Greed didn't like to think what those years had been like if he'd been twisted around Dante's finger. "So if I'm branded? Too bad. I'm already marked."

Said marked hand continued to pick at his food. Greed didn't seem to notice the fact that the stranger had moved any closer--either that or he didn't care enough to acknowledge it openly. "I am."

[ultimate_shield]

"People aren't valuable if they aren't loyal," Greed said, his tone having a certain somber quality to it. He'd been betrayed before and even knew the thought process that would lead to such things. He had betrayed others himself, after all. That didn't mean he liked having a taste of his own medicine. "I need to have people that will stand by me. Of course, people aren't going to be blindly loyal, so I'll probably have to earn it." He'd done so with the chimeras. He could do it again.

The question about money was somewhat out of the blue, but he responded to it anyway. "You give others money with the idea that you'll get something for it," he mused. "Though other things can be used as payment." Both of them seemed aware of that fact

[crimson_apathy]

"Munny is so tasteless to give in circumstances like these, no matter how beneficial it may be to either." And Axel was never one to be bland if he could possibly help it. He always enjoyed a little bit of a twist in everything with his lifestyle, it was all that he really had left after losing everything. Chances like these were sparse, almost like how many virgins he knew that were loyal.

Which was close to none, of course.

"Information I can give, but my name I cannot. Just like loyalty, it has to be earned." He murmured, gazing out at one of the several streetlights that lined the First District. But he turned to Greed after a quiet moment and gave a small smile.

"I tend to lose my touch with people who know my name."

[ultimate_shield]

Considering the stranger had already paid for his meal, money wasn't really what he wanted. Besides, that sort of thing was easy enough to obtain. If he was going to ask something of the redhead, it had to be something that would be difficult to get any other way. Information was one of those things, so he'd take advantage of whatever he might know.

"My main concern is having a base of operations. Back home, I had a bar where I kept all of my things." The Devil's Nest had been a crowning achievement for him. He really liked what he'd done with the place and it was going to be hard to recreate it. But hell, he'd give it a try.

[crimson_apathy]

"A bar?" The idea sounded appealing enough, and it fit especially well with a demeanor like the latter's to have their hideout be somewhere shady. Yet this required a lot of thought, especially considering the more lighted atmosphere Traverse Town seemed to radiate no matter how much of a refugee world it became.

This type of contemplation required Axel to stand, reaching into his pocket to pull out what appeared to be a random sum of Munny and set it neatly in the middle of their table.

"Let's walk and talk, shall we?" He considered, already beginning to meander away from the café.

[ultimate_shield]

Assuming whatever amount of cash the stranger provided for the meal was correct considering what had been ordered (and really, if it was a bit off, he hardly cared), Greed stood from his seat, nodding to the other as he began to follow him. This allowed him to get a better feel of Traverse Town, as well.

Hands in his pockets as he trailed after the redhead, he started to think. What if there was nowhere good to set things up here? He had to find the perfect place, after all, and Traverse Town just might not have that...

"It can be on any world, since there seem to be quite a lot of them," Greed offered to the one who seemed to be in deep thought about location.

[crimson_apathy]

"Well at least that broadens my horizon a bit." He half casually spoke, other half with a mischievous tone ringing near the end of his answer. But Axel wasn't really paying attention to the conversation, more of tracing the cobblestone ground with the tip of his boot, uninterested by the whole ordeal.

Yet for those who knew the redhead better knew that looks could be deceiving.

"And it depends on how densely populated you want your desired world to be."

[ultimate_shield]

"Ahh," Greed said, seeming to agree as he nodded his head. His eyes, unlike the Nobody's, were up and alert, glancing at the peculiar sights of Traverse Town as they strolled along.

"It would be better if there were a good amount of people around," he said. "Otherwise, it sort of defeats the purpose." Sure, he could own a bar, but if it was on an uninhabited planet, that did him no good.

"Guess that'll make things a little harder, huh?" he asked. Though he shrugged, as if he didn't think the stranger would have too hard of a time thinking of something satisfactory.

[crimson_apathy]

"It does, actually." Axel replied with a short sigh, arms resting behind his head whilst he gazed up at the familiar pattern of stars in the night sky. But who said he never liked to have some kind of challenge every once in a while? Yet as he agreed to this he knew he was just adding another chore to his growing list, and he wasn't sure if he was successful in any of them yet.

Naminé hadn't been found as with Riku, Zack wasn't back in Castle Oblivion, Sephiroth was still alive, Zexion was still alive and Sora wasn't locked up in a tiny cage in the corner of his room.

But multitasking was such a pain. One at a time always brought the best results anyway.

"I can't pinpoint an exact location right this instant, but time was never an enemy for me."

[ultimate_shield]

"Not for me, either," Greed responded easily, a hand placed confidently on his hip as he stopped for a moment to examine the surrounding area. It was difficult to tell if he was looking for something particular or just taking everything in--perhaps a mix of both.

But yes, he had all the time in the world to get things done. He would just prefer if things started happening sooner rather than later.

"So you'd have to get back to me on that?" he asked, glancing over at the stranger with a tilt of his head as he started walking again. "I can take a rain check, so long as I know you'll hold to your word."

[crimson_apathy]

Axel didn't know that the latter would've been so willing to wait for a promise made by a complete stranger, especially since his stature seemed so convincing of this assumption. Yet the man must've been desperate for any kind of ownership, and the redhead always enjoyed a person who could take risks.

"If you really want I can present some kind of collateral until I do find a place." He offered without a second thought, turning and throwing in a charming smile.

[ultimate_shield]

"Sounds good to me." Oh, Greed was used to collateral. It wasn't as nice as instant gratification, but that sort of thing was generally rare, anyway. He was willing to take what he could get at the moment, though he hoped he didn't seem too desperate. If that were the case, this redhead was going to think he could do something like... take advantage of him.

That wouldn't do.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, glancing at his fingernails offhandedly as he continued to walk, wondering if they were actually going anywhere or just wandering around.

[crimson_apathy]

"Honestly, I'm not sure myself. It just seemed like the right thing to say at the time." Axel admitted, stopping nearby one of the several buildings and traced his gloved finger along the rows of bricks. To anyone else it looked like he was just taking his dear sweet time with answering. But the redhead always knew when to hide his thoughts.

"But..." He finally spoke up. "There is something that's taking up too much room in my own vicinity. Perhaps you can hold onto that for me until I find you a suitable location?" Axel offered with a grin.

"If you have a thing for leather you might actually like it."

[ultimate_shield]

While Greed didn't understand what the point of stopping to play with the wall was, he wasn't going to question it. This man was the best chance he had at the moment and he probably wasn't going to find someone as willing to help anytime soon. If the guy wanted to stop for random ventures, he didn't mind.

"Leather?" he asked, shrugging nonchalantly. "I guess that'll work, but we've got to make sure we're in contact somehow." He had no idea how that was going to work if there were different worlds everyone could pass between, but the redhead seemed to know much more about the way everything worked, so perhaps he'd have a solution.

"But hey, I'll take it. Though I'll be expecting you to get back to me."

[crimson_apathy]

"Don't worry. I plan on personally returning that to its owner, so if anything happens to it our deal is as good as dead." It was as simple as that and the redhead expected no other qualms about it. The fingers that were idly sketching imaginary pictures on the wall eventually stopped, his whole hand pressing up against the uneven brick layers. It wasn't really certain what he was doing until tendrils of darkness began spilling from where he was touching the wall, cascading around and forming a dark void just big enough for him to fit in.

"Give me a second to go get it." Axel hadn't been in the mood to bring about a fiery show like he usually did, so a simple portal into the Realm of Darkness would be enough to get the job done.

And without another second wasted he slowly crept in, the void swallowing itself right afterwards.

[ultimate_shield]

Well, wasn't that a handy little trick. Most people might assume the stranger had run off on them, but Greed didn't get that feeling. Whatever he had made, it was obviously a portal of some sort. Too bad he didn't have something like that. It would make getting from place to place a hell of a lot easier. Which made him wonder: if there were so many worlds, how did one go about getting from one to another? He'd have to ask.

In the meantime, the homunculus was intrigued by what the redhead had done. He paced over to the wall where the portal had just been, running his hand over the bricks in a similar manner. He didn't expect anything to happen, but he wanted to inspect it anyway.