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[a_sin_for_him]

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LATE some night... [action]

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar and Lust had taken to trying to spend time together after Lust was finished with her weekly training for her trapeze act. Usually, it was only for simple meals and conversation. Scar realized one night, however, that she had forgotten her gym sneakers with him. Naturally, he decided to return them.

But, in his typical Scar fashion, simply calling ahead and scheduling another meetup made far too much sense. He knew where Lust was. He could simply return them to her home and she wouldn't have to worry about coming out this late at night. The last thing he wanted, however, was to be caught by one of her housemates. He liked to think that their regular interactions (he'd be damned if he called it a relationship) were hidden from the rest of the people living in Lust's house. He liked to keep it that way.

And he straight up did not want to talk to Greed or Envy if he didn't have to.

So, Scar was snooping around at some ungodly hour, gym sneakers in hand as he sought Lust out in the dark silence of Shark House.

[a_sin_for_him]

There were always those days where nothing serious went wrong, but all manner of annoyances cropped up. It had been one of those days. And nights. Which was why Lust was still awake, having spent a good hour in a hot bath with a glass of wine.

Now she was in the kitchen, Guttle at her heels. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, left that way after her bath. She was wearing her most faded and worn bathrobe - it wasn't pretty, but it was comfy and no one else was up at this hour. As far as she knew.

Which was why she went so far as to get her cake out of the fridge and sit it on the counter. The plates were in the cabinet. Silverware was in a drawer. Both were on the other side of the room from where Lust sat on a stool at the counter, the already sliced cake right in front of her.

"Our little secret," she muttered to Guttle. She pulled a paper towel off the roll and simply picked up a slice of the chocolate cake, holding it like a slice of pizza, and began to eat it.

It had been one of those days.

[envy_the_sinners]

Their little secret, it turned out, save for the serial killer currently looming just outside the kitchen.

"You forgot your shoes."

Because how else would he announce himself? Scar dangled the sneaker by their laces, staring completely deadpan and unaffected by Lust's undignified current state. He honestly would have assumed that her evenings involved shoving down sweets, anyway.

[a_sin_for_him]

Lust froze, the half eaten cake not quite reaching her mouth.

She was an absolute mess. There was frosting and cake crumbs on her face and hands and robe. She wasn't dressed like she normally was for Scar's visits, and her bare lower legs were plainly visible under the hem of her robe. No one was ever supposed to see her like this, least of all Scar!

"What are you doing here?!?!" the words came out a quiet hiss.

[envy_the_sinners]

...Wasn't it obvious? Scar glanced to the sneakers in his hand. She could see them. She had obviously heard him...

"Returning your shoes."

[a_sin_for_him]

Lust just gaped at him. She finally set down her cake and attempted to brush herself off.

Which only smeared frosting into her robe. She was keenly aware of how hot her face felt, and she knew she was blushing. God, she hated when she did that! But she couldn't help it. Was that really his only answer? Her shoes?

"Why didn't you call? Or knock? Or give any indication you were coming here?!?! I'm not fit to be seen!"

As though that weren't obvious.

[envy_the_sinners]

Lust's frustration genuinely did not compute with Scar.

"I was already in the area, and I didn't want someone else answering the door." It seemed obvious to him. Scar frowned. Any other woman, and it would cross his mind that he shouldn't be seeing her in a state of even partial undress, but Lust had always cared so little about that that Scar sometimes forgot to care.

Naturally, he didn't realize that that wasn't the point in the least. So, out of what he assumed was politeness, he stared off to the side rather than at Lust with a grumbled apology.

[a_sin_for_him]

"Then send a note! Call me! Don't just come into my house in the middle of the night!" Lust got off the stool and moved to the kitchen sink, turning on the water to clean herself up some. Her face was smeared with cake. It was all over her fingers. God, there seemed to be cake everywhere at the moment.

"This is...my private time!"

[envy_the_sinners]

It was starting to dawn on Scar that he had made a booboo. He paused, struggling to find something to say at the moment.

"Sorry." His thoughtful scowl had adopted that vague 'kicked puppy' look it always had when he knew he had messed something up with Lust. He had thought he was being helpful.

"I'll leave them by the door."

With that, he turned to do so.

[a_sin_for_him]

"It doesn't matter now, you've already seen...you've already seen."

Lust sighed. She scrubbed her hands and hoped she hadn't gotten any cake in her hair. (She had.) What had possessed him? How had he thought this was the proper course of action? No one was supposed to see her when she was getting close and personal with dessert like that!

"I had a long day," she began to explain. "It's not as though I do this normally!"

[envy_the_sinners]

Already seen...? Why was she reacting so strongly? It was obvious he still didn't quite comprehend what had her so flustered. Scar set her shoes down, standing awkwardly on the threshold of the kitchen.

"It's preferable to drinking," he suggested.

[a_sin_for_him]

Lust just looked at Scar, her expression somewhere between hurt and disbelief. She had been drinking. She glanced at the mess on the counter and back to Scar, not certain what to say. Why did it bother him so much? She'd just had some wine to relax, but between being caught at her secret shame and her deep seated fears about somehow letting Scar down, she felt guilty and ashamed.

"Why do you think I was eating cake with my hands?!?! Stone sober people don't do that!"

[envy_the_sinners]

Oh. Scar was only making this worse every time he opened his mouth, wasn't he? Except this time, it wasn't anger he was instilling. Now he had to play damage control before she outright threw a fit in the kitchen...

"It didn't cross my mind," he said honestly. People did strange things when they were alone. That was true to everyone.

Tentatively, he stepped forward to pick a bit of cake out of her hair, contemplative frown still on his face.

[a_sin_for_him]

"...you think I just like to eat desserts like a toddler in the middle of the night under normal circumstances?"

She was tired and tipsy and still thrown off by Scar showing up, her mind was struggling to make sense of everything. And not doing the best of jobs. She only sounded dubious and skeptical, though, not offended.

"I had a glass of wine in the bath. It's relaxing on occasion, I listen to music and light candles. Then I eat cake. It cheers me up."

[envy_the_sinners]

"I did not ask for an explanation, nor do I need one.' Again, it was stated as simple fact with no irritation on his part.

"I read Miriam the same princess story every night before she sleeps. People do strange things when they're alone."

[a_sin_for_him]

"You don't like that I drink, I feel like I have to justify it. And to be fair, I was mostly explaining the...cake massacre you accidentally bore witness to."

She shook her head and sighed, shoving down the unfortunate well of emotions that had sprung up. And then she surprised herself with a sudden small laugh. Scar had officially seen her at her most private and vulnerable. And in exchange had shared some small secret part of himself, and it was inappropriate cake consumption and princess stories.

This was their intimacy. She covered her mouth and leaned her head into Scar's chest, shoulders shaking as her wild rush of guilt and embarrassment and shock gave way to hysteria.

"I'm not laughing at you," she managed.

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar blinked. Then he blinked again.

"How much did you say you had to drink?" was all he could manage as Lust rested her head on his chest. He wasn't used to this sort of contact at all, and she was behaving extremely emotionally.

[a_sin_for_him]

"Just a generous glass. It's late, I'm tired, it was a long day...and we're an utterly ridiculous couple." But she knew she wouldn't have it any other way. Ridiculous and unconventional as they were, Scar was what her heart wanted.

He didn't even seem to care she'd been smashing cake into her mouth like a degenerate. He'd brushed it out of her hair and dismissed it as though he'd come upon her doing any mundane sort of thing.

"I don't let anyone see me like this. No one else ever has." And it was ridiculous that that was important, but it was important.

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar only made a quiet 'hmph' at her explanation.

"And you're embarrassed by utterly ridiculous things," he countered.

Says the man who snuck in to avoid being caught talking to her.

He didn't know what else to do at the moment, so he stayed still.

[a_sin_for_him]

"Anyone would be embarrassed. There's a reason I was doing it in the middle of the night alone." He wasn't pushing her away or pulling away from her, so Lust stayed where she was, leaning lightly into him. There was just something comforting and soothing about his physical presence.

"This is what you get for not sending a message first."

[envy_the_sinners]

"What is what I get?" Awkward physical contact? Anything was better than that near-fit she was throwing a minute ago.

He was just glad that was over.

[a_sin_for_him]

"Me like this. I wasn't prepared for company tonight."

She showed him more of herself than she did most, but she still kept up walls. They both did. They were private people who weren't comfortable with emotion and unfamiliar with this sort of attachment and need for someone else. She prepared herself to spend time with him, mentally and physically.

She'd had none of that preparation this time.

[envy_the_sinners]

"I barely noticed a difference beyond 'mildly buzzed and angry at me," he said honestly, still standing awkwardly still. Scar hardly noticed or cared about physical preparations. If anything, it was less nerve-wracking to be around her when she wasn't so put together.

[a_sin_for_him]

"...I'm not certain I like the deeper implications of that." But Lust made a noise that was closer to laughter than anything else.

"You can relax, Scar, I'm not angry at you. You just caught me off guard at the end of a frustrating day. Haven't you ever been caught doing something silly you didn't want to be caught at?"

[envy_the_sinners]

"I am relaxed." Yes, and the sky was green.

"And of course I have. Everyone has." He wasn't too keen on giving any recent examples, though. And he didn't dare say that he never looked like he was about to burst into tears when it happened.