Greed leans against the bar counter, idly wiping at a wine glass. The bar is quiet now. Not even the most seasoned patrons of the Devil's Nest tend to stay out past one in the morning; Dublith is a quiet, honest town, after all, and the town residents need their rest for their hard work the next day. Greed, however, is different. Two in the morning, to him, is the perfect time to polish the glasses. They need to sparkle; Greed only has the finest of glassware in his bar, and he trusts no one else to do the work of polishing them.

Envy is eerily quiet.

Greed pauses his wiping. Perhaps the squeaking of the cloth against the glass blocked out a mumble from Envy. But the only sound is the static on the radio, and all he can see of Envy is one arm, hanging limply over the edge of Greed's favourite dilapidated couch.

"You fall asleep already?" Ordinarily, if Envy had dared to fall asleep there, Greed would simply push them off the couch, because it was his, and Envy had their own bed, and it was Greed's personal favourite couch. But dealing with a furious (or worse, erratically transforming) Envy at this hour isn't exactly appealing to him.

Greed sets the glass down on the counter, creeping towards the couch. "You awake?" He peers over the edge of the couch. Envy lies sprawled across the cushions, their forearm resting over their eyes. Envy isn't asleep; Greed can tell that much—their mouth is decisively drawn tight in a line. They're upset about something, but whether Envy will explain what the problem is or not is a toss-up. It's almost easier to deal with them when they're screaming and crying than when they're like this, quiet and closed-off.

Greed may as well try to get them to open up, anyway; he won't feel able to finish polishing the glasses until he does. "C'mon, Envy. Don't be like this." He kneels down, folding his arms on the back of the couch and letting his chin rest against them. "What's the problem?"

Envy shifts slightly, clearing their throat, but they don't uncover their eyes. They're quiet again, for a couple of minutes, and Greed's just about to ask them again, when they suddenly speak, in a whisper. "I wanna go home, Greed."

Greed flinches. He should've known, and really, he had guessed that this would come up, but he'd been hoping that it wouldn't.

Envy'd been reluctant to run away with him, but they'd seemed… happy, for the first little while, at least. There were so many new things to see, so many opportunities for adventures that neither he nor Envy had ever had the chance to experience under Pride's watchful eyes. Greed had been able to accumulate things, to build up a collection of treasures, and of people, and he had his bar, and he'd be able to accumulate more and more away from Father. He'd thought that Envy had felt the same.

"I thought this was home now," he offers lamely. He's got to be the calm one in this situation. Losing one possession—really, he's strong enough to handle that, isn't he? But it's been nice having Envy here. It would've been a hard blow to lose all of his siblings all at once; they were one of the only things that were his, back in the days of living with Father. Envy, at least, understood why he was running away, and could be convinced to come, and that was a point in their favour, even if Greed found Envy to be irritating at the best of times.

"It's not home." Envy's other arm comes down to cover their eyes. "It's not the same."

It's not, and that's why Greed likes it. The Devil's Nest is warm and friendly, full of chatter and of his loyal chimeras, and interesting people, and things, his things. Home was cold and unfriendly, and he had so little when he lived there. But he won't let that on to Envy. "C'mon kid. I know how you feel; really, honest. But they can't give us what we want. You know that."

Envy sits up. Their eyes are dark, bitter, and Greed edges backwards; they're more worked up than he'd expected. "At least I almost had something there," they say sharply. "There was Gluttony… at least he looked up to me, even if he was an annoyance. And… and Lust… she… " They let their face fall into their hands, voice falling to a whisper. "Father probably hates me now."

At least they're talking now. Greed can deal with that. "So what if he hates you?" He shrugs. "He hates me too." Envy's delusional if they think that Father ever felt anything more than ambivalence towards his children. "He never loved us, you know. You're just tricking yourself if you think that he did—"

"Shut up."

Envy's voice is harsh, and then they're silent and still, face in their hands. Greed listens carefully to see if they're crying. He's not sure what he'd do if they were, whether he'd laugh, or whether he'd try, and fail, to comfort them. But their breathing is slow and measured and carefully controlled.

Honestly, they're probably calmer than he is.

Finally, Envy breaks the silence. "Nobody here likes me. And this place… it's crawling with humans. I can't go anywhere without being surrounded by them."

And, again, that's what Greed likes about living here. It's fun watching the humans go about their silly little lives, seeing what little joys give them reasons to keep on living. The isolation that was a daily part of living with Father below central is nonexistent, now. But Envy still hates them, even after weeks of being surrounded by them here in Dublith. "Only chimeras live with us, y'know," he says patiently. "The humans are only our customers." Not that getting pedantic will convince Envy to stay, but he might as well try.

"You're derailing." Envy peers at Greed between their fingers, eyes narrow and reptilian. "Chimeras aren't any better; they're basically human. The only difference is that they're happy being your pets."

"And that's why I like 'em." Greed shrugs. "I give 'em a good place to stay, and they give me their loyalty. It's a fair exchange. You could learn from that; maybe you'd make some friends, too."

Envy sinks back down again, letting their head rest against the couch arm. "Yeah, sure, Greed. I'm dying for pathetic mortal creatures to worship the ground that I walk on. I don't need an entourage like you do. I don't want pets. I just…" They stop, taking in a slow breath. "I don't have anything. Still, after all this time. And you said that I'd find something if I came with you, but…" They look up at him with tired eyes. "You lied, huh? Admit it."

Greed almost wants to say something sappy, something that would make Envy form their arm into a blade and stab him, like "You've got me." But he doesn't, even though it'd be half-sincere (they'd never believe that), and takes the safer route, avoiding the question. "What're you even looking for?"

Envy blinks. "I…" They pause. "Just… something that belongs to me only," they say quietly. "Something I can keep." Then they toss their hair. "But you'd never understand. You've gotten everything you ever wanted without even trying."

A bolt of anger pierces through Greed's veil of panic. Envy's the one who can't understand. They can't understand just how much Greed had to give up to gain what he has now. Lust, Gluttony, and the rest… well, it'd been worth ditching them to get his freedom and his crew and his bar. It wasn't like any of them had ever loved him anyway. But it was hard, and it still hurts, remembering leaving them, his siblings, behind. It's hard to think about how much worse he'd feel if he'd had to leave Envy behind too.

"Well, I had to work pretty hard to get you, didn't I?" He says the words casually, as if he hardly cares about the effort he went through to convince Envy to come, and as if he'd hardly care if they left. "And, boy, I'd hate… I'd hate to have wasted all that effort."

Wonderful. His voice is cracking now. Whether it's still from his hidden anger or if it's from something else is beyond him.

Envy's looking at him, their eyes wide and piercing, searching his face. They look almost like when they were newly born, when this body that they wear now was a new invention, when they'd stare at everything, trying to notice every little detail so that they could perfect their disguises. Man, he used to hate the way that they always stared at everything, at him, and how they'd copy his way of walking, of talking, of living. Now, though, so far away from what used to be home, that memory and Envy's current mannerisms are almost endearing.

"You do miss 'em, don't you?" Envy says the words quietly. "You act like I'm an idiot for doing it, but you're doing it too. And you'd miss me too, if I ran off." The corner of their mouth quirks upward. "Heh. Wanting what you can't have hurts, doesn't it? Must be hard, feeling that for the first time. Poor thing."

The idea of Envy of all people pitying him is ridiculous, and he has to say something to counter it, but nothing intelligent comes to mind. "You keep talking, stupid. Maybe someone'll understand what you're saying, 'cause I sure don't."

Tearing Envy down is usually the best way to win an argument, but Envy doesn't seem fazed this time. "Nice try, Greed." They wiggle into a new position on the couch, sitting upright with their legs crossed. "You're the stupid one. Acting like you're so hard done by, just 'cause you can't have it all."

They seem almost calm now, looking him in the eye, and, really, Envy shouldn't be the calm one in this situation. "It's my nature," Greed says evenly, holding eye contact steadily. "It's how Father made me, and I can't change that."

"Yeah, well, mine's wanting what I can't have. And you made it worse, 'cause now I'm not even close to anything I want. They're all so far away…" Envy blinks, looking down, emptiness in their eyes.

Greed grins, seeing their expression. He's in control again.

But, somehow, his little victory rings hollow. It's not fun seeing Envy like this. It's satisfying for a minute, maybe, but—

He really doesn't want Envy to run away.

"Well, I'm here." The words come out before he can stop them. Envy starts, looking up, and Greed presses onward. " Don't know if that counts for anything in your book, but… I'm right here."

Envy stares blankly, for a minute or so, and Greed wonders if he's made a mistake.

"You're…" Envy starts, then stops. Something like a smile slowly colours their face, though the confusion still hasn't left their eyes. "Yeah, I guess. I guess you are." They lightly punch Greed's elbow. "I guess there must be something good about you if I was stupid enough to follow you out here. Can't remember what it is, though."

They're not going to run away, now. Greed's almost positive. The panic slowly starts to fade away. Panic— ha! He wasn't panicked. He was simply watching out for what's his. "Can't remember why I wanted you here, either. You're nothing but a pain," he says with a chuckle. "Now go to sleep. You get more annoying the longer you stay up. You'll miss them all less in the morning. That's what works for me, anyway."

"Fine, since you're so concerned, brother dearest." Envy flops down onto the couch, closing their eyes. "G'nite, Greed."

"That's my favourite couch, kid," Greed grumbles, but he gets up from where he's been kneeling nevertheless, heading back towards his seat behind the bar counter.

Envy doesn't answer. The brat's pretending to be asleep already; as if they could fool him. Greed absently picks up his cloth and idly rubs at the already-sparkling wine glass. Crisis averted. He's a genius at this sort of thing, at talking about emotions and all that. No wonder the chimeras all love him.

Of course, it's not like another crisis with Envy won't come up again next week, or the week after. They always do. But he solved this one, anyway, and that's something.

A sound comes from the couch.

Greed ignores it for a moment in favour of trying to make the wine glass sparkle like a diamond. The noise sounds out again, this time sounding vaguely like a sob. That, he can't ignore, as much as he'd like to. With a sigh, he sets the glass down, pacing towards the couch. He peers down over the edge. Envy's curled into a ball, knees pulled into their chest, shivering. He can't see their face; he can only guess at whether they really are crying or not.

"You awake, kid?" he whispers.

Envy doesn't move, but Greed hears another quiet sob.

It's probably a nightmare. Greed doesn't usually see Envy's frequent nightmares, since they normally sleep in their own room, but boy, can he hear them when they escalate.

He's not going to be able to finish the polishing until he fixes this. This time, though, he knows how to fix it, because he's seen Lust do it a thousand times, and because he's done it five times.

Greed strides over to the easy chair near the couch, pulling the colourful quilt off of it. He carelessly drapes it over Envy, and carefully pats their shoulder. "S'alright, kid. It's just a dream."

He's not as good at it as Lust is, but he tries, anyway.

He takes care of his possessions. He takes care of his chimeras, his bar, heck, even his wine glasses.

Somehow, though, it's so much harder to even want to take care of Envy. Envy's a brat, and the two of them fight like there's no tomorrow. Nobody can make Greed angry like Envy does. But when he does take care of them, when the shivering stops and their breathing evens out, that feeling of accomplishment is incredibly rewarding.

Envy's asleep now; the nightmare is over, and they're not going to run away, and Greed finally feels calm.

"G'nite, Envy," he says quietly, and walks back to the counter.

A/N: Hi, thank you for reading! This was written for a prompt,"I want to hear you say it," from my friend from maybe a year and a half ago (I'm sorry for taking so long, Sarah!). Greed and Envy are one of my favourite BrOTPs, even if their relationship is really toxic. It was fun trying to make them be a little bit fluffy.

Thanks so much for reading!