AN: Hello there :3 Thank you for reading my story! Hopefully you like it. This is my first fan fiction, so please be kind. I know my grammar and punctuation aren't the best T_T Sorry about that, I've been having trouble getting in contact with beta readers. Reviews, messages and Constructive criticism are wonderful, but not required

Important: 1 cen= 1 penny, 100 cens= 1 dollar.

Chapter 1: Twenty Five Hundred

"Wa-was my cooking not good enough?" A short full-figured teenager asked the old man on the other side of the cafe order window.

"No, no your cooking was superb." He replied, stroking his elegantly groomed beard.

'You didn't make the cut, brat. Now stop bitching and get out of the way for the people who have a reason to be here!' Greed mentally snapped at the back of the girls head. The little conversation the pair was having had costed him at least two minutes. Of course he was keeping track, time was another one of the many, many things he was greedy about.

"It's nothing to do with skill, miss Mary." The chef said with a shake of his head. "I just don't have the money to hire anyone more right now."

"Oh." The girl he called Mary cast her eyes down "Well I understand, thank you for your time" She said with a small bow and left, looking very depressed.

Greed couldn't have cared less about any of that though, all he was thinking about was that he was one step closer to real food. He didn't need to eat nearly as much as a normal human, but he could taste just the same. He'd sworn that if he had to experience any more canned food, or Roa's attempts at "meals" he would rip his tongue out. Not that, that would really help, it would just grow back.

"Man, I really feel bad for her." Said a teen bussing a table right behind Greed.

"I know what you mean." Added a passing by waitress "She's trying to get a job so she can have money for school, but it looks like all the other university freshmen beat her to it."

"Yeah, she said something about trying every shop in town. She must be desperate by now." Another bus boy commented.

"Poor kid." The waitress said "It's a shame, chef said she was a really good cook too."
Greed gave a mental jerk, he couldn't help but hear the conversation and an idea was forming in his mind.

Looking for work,
Desperate,
Good cook.

His mouth watered a little bit as he grinned at his own intelligence. In one sweeping movement he left his place in line and was out the door. He looked back and forth as he exited the shop, luckily the girl was still in sight and was walking straight down the street.

'Okay, I have to make this look smooth.' Greed turned down an alley to his right and ran so he could head her off further down the block.
'Phase one complete' He smirked when he saw the same downtrodden figure coming toward him. 'Gotta time this just right.' He thought as he leaned against a building wall in a suave manner. He actually put much more effort into looking cool than people thought.
The girl came closer. Then she was even with him. One step past. Two steps past…

"Hey, kid!" Greed interjected, as he straightened up. The girl jumped nearly a foot in the air at his unexpected call. She turned around sharply and gave Greed a 'Are you talking to me?' look.

"Yeah, you." He said as he took a step toward her "I hear you're looking for a job."
The young woman looked him up and down a few times.

"Sorry mister, but I don't think I'm interested in any kind of work you're involved in." She said flatly.

"Geh! It's nothing like that!" he barked offended. "Why's everyone think I'm some kind of pimp!?"
The girls grey eyes darted from his sunglasses, to his furry vest, to his leather pants as she quirked an eyebrow.

"How did you know I was looking for work?" She changed the subject while Greed glared at her for the look she'd given him.

"Couldn't help but over hear you in that café" he said, expression softening. He continued before she had a chance to wonder how he'd gotten ahead of her.

"The staff were saying you needed money and that you were getting desperate-" 'Uh-oh, guess I said that wrong.' He thought too late, as the girls face tensed and she quickly started walking away.
"Shit" Greed muttered under his breath. "Wait up!" he called as he sped to keep pace with her. It wasn't difficult, he had nearly a foot of leg length in his favor. "Come on! I told you it wasn't like that!" he said, but he must have been making himself sound worse, because her pace just kept increasing.
"Look, I need a cook okay?" He called.

It might have been what he said, or it could have been the faint desperate edge to his voice but something made the girl stop and turn around.

"A cook?" She repeated, a shocked look now on her round, pale face.

"Yeah," Greed said as he ran a hand through his dark spiky hair. "No one in my crew knows shit about cooking and if I have to eat any more dried food I might actually die."
'And trust me, that's a lot harder than you think, kid.' he added mentally.
The teenager didn't say anything but she did turn to face him fully, Greed took it as an invitation to continue.

"You'd cook two meals a day for me and my subordinates, and handle the grocery shopping." He didn't think it was a bad work agreement, especially for having come up with it in a few minutes. "Whadaya say kid?"
The girl looked at him and bit her bottom lip, he couldn't tell for sure what she was thinking but he could guess what was going through her head. The girls mind was at war over his seemingly sincere words and his appearance. Her desperate need of cash versus a life time of being taught to avoid people like him. She tore her eyes away from Greed and fidgeted the hem of her simple black dress.

"I don't know mister" she mumbled after a few minutes. "Maybe you should find someone else..." with that she started to turn away.

But Greed didn't want someone else. He had already decided that he wanted this person and damn it, he was not going to lose! It was just another aspect of his greedy nature, he didn't take 'no' for an answer. However, he also knew from his over two centuries of experience that nothing was free, there was always something he had to trade to get the things he wanted

"I'll pay you twenty five hundred cens a meal." In this particular trade, it happened to be money.

The girl whipped around with speed that could have broken a sound barrier or two. Greed had to contain a bark of laughter when he saw the girls eyes almost literally the size of dinner plates. She stared for a moment just gapping as she did the math, which made Greed want to laugh even more.

"Twenty five hundred…" she finally repeated.

"A meal" he finished, a smirk crawling up his face.

If there was a war going on in the girls head before, Greed had to guess that a universal cataclysm was closest to her state of mind then. He watched with barely containable amusement as the girl's face did a marathon of expressions. Her and Greed stood off like that for quite a while but Greed didn't really mind, he knew from the moment that he said 'Twenty five hundred' that he'd won. Besides, watching the girl's inner turmoil was proving to be quite fun. In the end, after much muttering, finger counting and pulling at her short, caramel colored hair she responded.

"Alright!" the girl practically screamed at him, red in the face. Greed did his best to keep his smirk down to a crooked grin as he had a little victory party inside his head.
"But!" her voice broke into his imaginary celebrations. He focused back in on the teen, who was now sporting a very stern expression. "If you try anything, and I mean anything! I'll be calling the cops before you can blink! Got it!" She snapped, pointing a commanding finger at his chest.

Greed stared blankly for a moment. Then he look at the teenage girl. Then looked to her small outstretched hand. Then he burst out laughing.
What he wouldn't have given to see what it must have looked like as a baby faced teenager, who couldn't even stand eye level with him on her tip toes, tried to intimidate him! The image was to funny for him to take!
After a minute he managed to compose himself and look back to the now very confused girl.

"Alright kid, you've got yourself a deal!" He barked out, still not totally over his laughing fit.

He stuck out his hand to the girl. For a second she still looked very confused, then a spark of realization lit in her eye. She slowly began to lift her hand, then stopped half way up. Greed quirked an eyebrow at her, but she didn't seem to notice. The young woman closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then shook Greed's muscular hand with her small one. Greed tried to give a friendly smile as they shook, but it just looked threatening with his sharp teeth.

"After you?" he motioned back the way they'd come, toward town. Cautiously she obeyed. And thus the journey began, with Greed still smirking over his new possession, and miss Mary wondering if she'd just made a deal with the devil.

A/N: That's the first chapter :D I have a fair bit of it already written out, so the next chapter should be out by next week!
PS. If anyone is interested in beta-ing this story for me, please send me a message!~Pandoru