girls of effulgence | bts

thirty-two

"How are you today?"

That was stupid, Greed thought to himself. Extremely stupid, who even asks that?

Only those who are clueless about what to say, he replied back. He realized then that it was quite silly to talk to one's self inside one's own mind. Only humans did that.

"W-What?" The voice asked, confused, and once again Greed's heart jumped with tension. That was stupid, he said again. Now you've just made a fool of yourself. She doesn't even know what to say.

"I mean, I guess I'm okay," the voice said in a nervous whisper. "It's just weird for a sin to ask how I've been. Because you're sinning." The eyes squinted from behind the door they hid behind. "Which one are you?" She asked, cocking her head slightly. "You all look the same."

We don't look the same! Greed automatically retorted, feeling the tension in his arms once again but for a totally different reason, anger. We look extremely different! Said his inside voice yet again. Have you not seen us enough to tell the difference?

At that moment, Greed realized that she probably hadn't, unless the room they vegged in for so long had invisible walls that he had no idea about.

"I'm Greed," he said gently, trying to keep his real feelings at bay with his sharks. "You know, the whole reason why you steal things." Immediately Greed had the urge to steal confidence from something because to him that felt like an idiot's way of describing one's self. He could feel perspiration falling down his face like tears would in his eyes. He wiped his hands on his pants with haste, trying not to make it seem noticeable or a big deal.

The eyes grew huge, and the door they hid behind came closer to closing. The eyes looked down in worry, making Greed feel tension once again.

"It's just who I am!" He said rather loud, out of anger and not meaning to.

"Sorry," he added quickly when he saw the eyes shame themselves.

"It's just..."

But what was it?

"It's just, we've found some hope," Greed said, finding his actual voice in amidst of his haze. For some reason, saying the word hope made him immensely happier.

"We've found some help and some hope that will bring us back to how we were. Well, you guys were." He laughed in embarrassment, thinking it was funny that he was one of the ones that orchestrated the damage to them. "I just wanted to let you know that, because we'll be leaving in two days to get that help, and all six of you will come with us so you can get it all immediately." Confident, he smiled for the first time in a while.

The eyes listened patiently to Greed's small speech. When he was done, not only could Greed see the eyes, but he could also see the face and body that the eyes belonged to.

To his dismay, just like the eyes, the body was also dull, but the smile that the face had was clearly not fake.

Generosity, Greed's opposite, smiled, and for the first time in a long time, she felt hope. "You denied it, the first time that I mentioned hope," she said, trying to hold back a laugh. "You said that hope wasn't a thing, and that it should be ridden of it there ever was such a thing."

Greed grinned and rubbed the back of his neck shyly. He had said that, and it now felt weird that he was agreeing with something he hadn't in the past. "I guess opinions change."

Generosity nodded. "Indeed they do."

This felt like the right time to leave Generosity and come back to the other sins, laughing triumphantly. He felt like a small kid again that had accomplished something so small but it was actually something anyone could do if they had enough care to do it. Greed waved at Generosity and turned around to go, his message done. He was quite eager to get away from her, as happy as he was.