x

“Ah,” Ras said flatly. Place like this had no shortage of clashes, and he sometimes had a solution in stock. A well applied taser was a cheap and often permanent source of conflict resolution. Still, he didn’t go about advertising his business because he was likely to be found by a cop instead of a reliable customer. “If you’re avoiding a hassle, escape is the way to go,” he said carefully. “How long has this been going on?”

~

Raising both of his eyebrows and his hands in surrender, he replied, “I never said you weren’t. I wasn’t attempting to lecture, sorry. Just showing concern for an old friend.” He laughed and gave her space back to her, “I could, but if you’ve already found an extra why not share? I could pay if that’s what you want. This guy’s loaded.”

“Old friend. Is that what we are?” Whim asked, her eyebrow flicking up as he spoke. “Because I don’t share, En. I never have. I love the idea of money but I love the idea of you fending for yourself too.”

Fed up. The phrase makes her huff in a breath almost close to laughter. “I wouldn’t know if Ghel is nice. Never been. What makes it so nice?”

“It’s essentially the closest thing we have to a vacation planet since Rwaddi took the hit. Warm weather, real weather — not just that artificial shit they have pumping here, you know. Don’t know how to explain it.”

He raised a brow. “Who’s been annoying you?” Her casual comment indicated that she lived in a vastly different world than his own, despite sharing a planet. He couldn’t imagine travelling on a impulse; every move of his was calculated.

~~~

Envy raised an eyebrow and stepped just a little closer to her, “Do you wanna check it out yourself?” It was an invitation, maybe they could have fun again, but he wasn’t going to be upset if she said no. He’d share his space with her though, if she wanted to move up. “Honestly… just be careful. Hop out before it dies so you aren’t stuck in a body you can’t move. And I haven’t tried a Bhevor myself, but that sounds pretty nice. If you find one with a friend, call me?”

“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t,” the passenger answered truthfully, although an adventure with the other passenger did not sound that appealing to her. “I don’t need your advice of lectures, En. I’m a fully capable woman. And you should be perfectly capable of finding your own bodies.”

“I’ll pass. Things to do. You usually planet hop for fun?”

~~~

“Maybe, but I have a nice condo in the second richest district, so I’m happy.” Envy took a step back to look over Whim, wondering if he could help her keep the body alive a little longer with the knowledge Charles had. The question was why would she wanna ride it into the ground? “Maybe the baggage will find you a better body. I miss being in a body that lasts longer than 80 sometimes.”

“How nice of a condo is that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at the comment. “I really doubt it. I think he’s one of the Jensen family members, if I remember right. Rich bullshit family, but doubtful that they could actually help him out. I just want to hop into some Bhevor and ride that for a few hundred years. I’m sure this thing isn’t going to last a few weeks, anyways.”

THE GIVER: 64% MATCH

THE ACHIEVER: 40% MATCH

THE INDIVIDUALIST: 79% MATCH

THE INVESTIGATOR: 82% MATCH

THE SKEPTIC: 76% MATCH

THE ENTHUSIAST: 52% MATCH

THE CHALLENGER: 49% MATCH

THE PEACEMAKER: 98% MATCH

THE PERFECTIONIST: 70% MATCH

~~~

“I said exactly what I meant, Whim.” He liked to pick on her, when they were together. Maybe it was the same for her, so he didn’t take any offense. “That sucks… I’m sorry it happened. At least, you know, you aren’t stuck with it. Just uh… move on like I did.” Envy looked down at his body and smoothed his suit, “Guy’s a doctor. Surgeon, mostly. Made a shit load of money saving people. Decided I wanted him, so I took him.” He shrugged, “If you need help, maybe I can help you? Since we’re friends and all.”

“You’re just as much as a shit as you were back then, you know that?” Whim said, cocking a brow. “And I know I’m not stuck. The baggage with mine  ——  he tried forcing me out of this body. Now I just want to run this dying mess into the ground. It’s only fair. I said he could have her back for a million credits and a hand-picked new body, so... doubt that’ll happen.”

~~~

“I only meant…” he shook his head and sighed, “I just meant the Whim I knew, obviously.” Envy looked her up and down, then stepped back on his heel and put his hand under his chin to study her. “Yeah, you’re definitely that Whim.” A smile crept across his face, “So Whim, what are you doing here?”

“You only meant what, En? Is your mouth moving faster than your brain?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. Whim was never one to back down from harassment of others, even if they had been romantically linked.  “I’m just having fun. I picked the wrong body this time, she has way too much baggage.”

~~~

His eyebrows drew together in contemplation and he scratched his chin. What a small world this would be if this was his Whim. “What’s wrong with my name?” He questioned, now feeling offended. That Whim, if it were her, was in a relationship with him once a long time ago. He thought they liked each other enough, but neither of them seemed to want it long term. Still, how fucking weird would it be. “And… I might be your Envy. I like riding humans mostly, but I think I was in a Ghel when I was with my Whim.”

“Your Whim? What makes you think you can refer to me as yours? I just graced you with my presence if that was the case,” the brunette replied. “And I was in a Rwaddian. Not my favorite body, but I was with a Ghel Envy for some time.”

“I don’t care about whether or not she deserves it, she’ll get it if it means you can have your body back,” Lucky responded. “No. No. Manon, I can’t… I can’t let it get that bad. I’m going to help you before that happens.”

“That’s — that’s not fair,” she said, finally pulling her hand away from her temple. “I don’t th-think everything will be fixed...”

“I don’t care about whether or not she deserves it, she’ll get it if it means you can have your body back,” Lucky responded. “No. No. Manon, I can’t… I can’t let it get that bad. I’m going to help you before that happens.”

“...I d-don’t understand you. I don’t... I d-don’t know wh-why you want this s-so badly... don’t you live... l-like... forever?” she asked, trying to remember whatever he taught her about bhevors. “You’ll b-be fine... I wouldn’t l-last long enough to b-be worth it.”

“What do you mean she doesn’t deserve it?” Lucky asked, furrowing his brows in confusion at her.

“She... the thing in my head — she doesn’t d-deserve money,” Manon said. “Y-You can m-maybe stop her when sh-she leaves me. When she... wh-when she has to.” In her death. Manon couldn’t justify anyone spending money on her. What was the point? She hadn’t lived a life yet, was she magically going to get one now?

“Yes, I do,” Lucky insisted, doing his best to get her walking again. “You’re worth it to me. And you can’t live at home, you do that and your parents are going to sick you on another Passenger.”

Manon held a palm to her head as it started to ache, waving at him with her free hand in disagreement. “No, Luck, n-no... I don’t — I don’t want that f-for you,” she insisted, trying not to appear too uncomfortable. “You’re  — w-wasting money... she d-doesn’t deserve it.”

“Manon, just trust me on this. I’ve got it handled. I’ll get you your treatment, I’ll get her out, and everything will be just as it was before. Well, better actually, because you can come stay with me,” Lucky had begun rambling without realizing.

Manon didn’t budge, just staring him down with concern. “Why? Y-You — you don’t n-need to spend all th-this money on me... I... I-I’m not  — I’m not w-worth it or — l-live with you? Wh-Why? I don’t  — I c-can live at home.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he answered. “It’s not a waste, it’s just coming out of my trust fund. I have more where that came from. Good news is that soon you should be back to fighting form.” The truth was that he didn’t. He had a friend on Bhevor hack into the tightly-secured bank account where his money resided, and there was little to no guarantee the rest of that would ever see the light of day. Not that he cared.

Manon stopped walking, looking up at him with concern. Why wouldn’t he tell her? Why did he need trust fund money for it? All of this felt incredibly unfair, especially when she had done nothing to deserve it. “... Why? L-Luck, why?”