[Mushverse: Greeed-party!]

[catcameback]

[Main thread probable post order: Kazari-Ankh-Gamel-Mezool-Uva repeat? For the main thread, anyway, but if any two or three Greeed want to have separate conversations, feel free to make side threads.]

I've got to get Gamel and Mezool back together, mostly because I'm not about to share my parents with Gamel, and also because Gamel really just wants Mezool back. And maybe this time around she can actually give a shit about him instead of just pretending to.

Also I told Ankh that I'd keep him informed and that maybe we should all get together sometime and make sure all the backstabbing and hating each other is in the past. Or at least something we're better able to control.

Something I'm better able to control.

Also that was before Gamel came back, and so now we should probably all get together and talk about what the hell we're going to do if Maki comes back, too.

It takes some figuring out but in the end I send them all text messages telling them to come to the school, which is not in session today, so we can hang out in the courtyard and probably not be bothered.

I asked Megumi to help me make some food, because I think everyone would be in an awful mood if there wasn't any food. I guess it's like a picnic or something.

Ice cream for Ankh, he likes that, right? And no sushi, much to my unending disappointment. Don't want to put Mezool off. No chicken either, so it's mostly rice, vegetables, and sweets, that kind of stuff. I'll survive. I guess.

I bring Yummy too. He is the best cat in the entire world.

Now it's just a matter of waiting to see if they all show up. And whether my first instinct is to betray every single one of them. Again.

Comments

[mislaid]

"I'll try my best, but if they really deserve it," I shrug. Still, I'm mostly kidding. Mostly! I don't have any grudges.

Doesn't mean I'm not willing to start them, though. My temper's no better than 'mine'. Might actually be worse!

I sigh a little, feeling relieved. Kazari's helped me so much already; I can't wait for the future.

[catcameback]

He's joking, being sarcastic, a hell of a lot better at it than I was at first. I am so weirdly proud of him.

I add it to the list of weird-ass feelings I need to ask my parents about, right under 'how come every time I think of this one guy all I can say is that he smells good?'

"See that you do." I smirk. "Try that is. I'm not really ready to take anyone to the hospital, and Gamel's only been back a couple days."

[mislaid]

"A few days? It really did take a while," I murmur, almost softly, my voice trailing off as I considered it more. For once I have the advantage here, and I'm not quite sure why. "Then again, I went first, so maybe there was a large delay."

I think it might be because I needed that time. I had a lot of growing to do, even as a Greeed I was immature. Now I know I'm different from 'me', just a little farther away. There's still that desire to cross the distance, to bridge the gap, but I can't do that.

Humans can't do that. They become close by sharing feelings and experiences and I'm not sure 'I' would want to do that. It's part of why I'm hesitant, for once in my life.

"I'll be good. Just make sure I don't get bored."

[catcameback]

"Yeah, it did." Take a while, that is.

I wish he'd approached me sooner. If he knew where to find us today, he must have been around. And I'd never noticed him? Doesn't seem likely, but then again, I don't spend nearly as much time in the trees as maybe I ought too.

Still. Would have been nice not to be alone. Not that I didn't have my family, but it's different. It's why I even organized this get together, why I took the time to go tell Ankh in person about Uva and Mezool. I want us to be together, like we almost were, at the very end there.

"Well, I'll try. There's always Yummy."

[mislaid]

I feel at home, better, comforted here. Is it something I was trying to chase as a Greeed? That prospect itself was very likely. I glance at Yummy again and consider to myself. Maybe I should ask my parents for a pet bird. It'd make me feel... more close. After all, didn't we have ties to those beings we created? Even then, feeling some responsibility towards a living creature, one I felt kin to seemed like an attractive prospect.

"There is," I smile, and cross my arms. I keep thinking a lot--so much, these feelings are weird and unnerving and overwhelming. I hope, this time, I can stay with them. I hope I can make it along with them, my real family. The Greeed are my brothers and sister, no matter what, and they're my parents as well.

The lines between us are convoluted at best, mixing roles and feelings but... I want this. I want to be here. Is it selfish? Will I be again taking from 'my' plate? Only time can tell.