pleonexia

Magnus sighed. He hadn’t even been in this place for a day before he decided that he hated it. No one took the High Warlock of Brooklyn from his home and forcefully put him into another world.. Unless you counted the time that a Shadowhunter got him drunk and imprisoned him in hell..

He supposed that he should learn more about the place– It would probably be more to his advantage later on.. He wasn’t paying much attention as he briskly made his way through the forest that he had been dropped in.

He bumped into the other and he stumbled back, feeling embarrassed. Had he just bumped into a tree..? Thank god that there was no one around to see that. He brushed his shirt up and looked ahead, gasping softly at the ‘tree’. Lucky him. He had bumped into someone else. Hopefully they weren’t mad. 

Greed grinned at the person who’d run into him, not bothered in the slightest. If nothing else, he could always pick their pockets, see if they had anything of value. There was no telling if their money was any good, but that didn’t bother him overmuch. 

He wasn’t quite sure what had drawn him down to the forested area he was in now, but Greed definitely wasn’t going to complain, especially given his newfound company. They were a definite looker, and Greed was always ready to flirt with lookers.

“You look a bit new. You lost or something, doll?”

You were so sure that the honking sound in the distance was Gamzee, but the father in it takes you the more you realize following its siren call was a mistake. You’re no closer to finding your friends than you were when you started and now you’re lost. Yet the melody still invites you to traverse along the stems of light, lulling you into a sleepy state of unawareness as you make your way to the city.  Dreary and light headed from smoke and the smell of soporifics, you lean against one of the light stems. Your sickle is loose in your grip as you nod off for just a second. A footstep brings you back to the waking world and you notice a figure in front of you. Giving a sharp sweep to the left you poise your weapon for a deadly blow, but noting the humanoid shape of the neck you falter. 

Letting your hand drop, you smile easily; nonchalant friendliness has always come easy to you. Whether it’s natural or a gift from Father, you don’t know. Maybe you don’t want to.

The sight that greets you is strange. A small creature, grey-skinned and horned stands before you, all glares and fury. You’ll be honest, you’ve never seen anything like this before. Confusion is plain on your face, and your smile falls.  This is just gonna be one of those days, isn’t it?

       IT HAD only been a week in this place, and already it        was more overwhelming than Zexion could have ever        thought.  He didn’t know anyone here, didn’t have any        interest in making friends, and was still struck with a        sense of bewilderment over how it had even happened.          All he could remember was the schism in the Organization,        the power struggles, and then a sense of it all fading away.

       WALKING HELPED.  Exploring this new place was helping him        clear his head and feel more in control of the situation.  The        more he knew, the less powerless he felt.  Though he remained        alone in his walks, preferring to avoid the strange populace.  He        had never been any good at creating connections, especially with        those he had absolutely no information on.

       THE UNEXPECTED arrival of another surprised him, jolting        Zexion out of his thoughts to look up at the stranger.  He spied        an apple in one hand and a smirk on their face.  He raised an        eyebrow skeptically, lips pressing together before opening to speak.

“Apple for your secrets? Of your hair, I mean. Never seen that color before.”

Was he so shallow that his main concern about this new person was an unknown hair dye? Yes, yes he was. Greed matched strides with the person, which was a slower pace than he usually kept. The apple was still dangling from his hand, a careful grip the only thing keeping it from falling to the ground. 

“I’m not lucky enough that I could get your name, am I?”

“Hhmm, it is a good suggestion! There’s lots of places around here that have low fences and walls….you can see past them outside.”

He tilts his head in thought, eyes cast up, attempting to reclaim a memory.

“Maybe we can find a ladder….?” His words are drawn out and airy as he thought, and hoped there was a ladder rattling around in his head, but no such luck.

“Oh!” This was also a sound of realization, but of something different. He approached Greed and put a hand out to him.

Their intrusion into his space drew him sharply from his reverie, and only long years of dealing with people kept him from bristling. He was being offered a hand, it seemed. Taking the kid’s hand in his own, he shook it gently. 

“Nice to meetcha. I’m...” 

He paused, lost for a name he could use. In the Devil’s Nest, they all called him ‘Boss’, or pet names. Greed couldn’t use those here. Not for this kid, not for someone not his. But he also couldn’t use his real name. It made him feel unsafe. 

“Eh, my name’s not important. You can call me Crim.”

Ishigaki knew it wasn’t polite to stare, but he ended up doing so, lost in his own mind trying to come up with reasons as to why the man before him was trying so desperately to get up the wall. 

Was he an acrobat? Was it training? It didn’t seem logical to think he was trying to find a quicker route to somewhere; if that was the case, he would have stopped trying to climb and have gone around by now. 

Finally he felt awkward, and called out, “Um, sir! Do you….need some help?”

Greed whirled around, the hand at his side instinctively clawing, though no shield crawled up his skin. When he saw the teenager, he relaxed. No threat there- not yet, anyway. 

All smiles now, the homunculus shook his head. “Nah, I’m just...ah, it’s nothing. I’m just messing around. Trying to see if I can get out of here.” He gestured at the city around them. “Can’t go out on foot, so I thought maybe up?”