Greed's head was a mess of white noise, the constant hum of flickering memories just out of reach. They buzzed at the edges of his mind like gnats—fragments of something he couldn’t quite grasp. Annoying as hell. He'd been told they were echoes of the last Greed, the one before him. Whatever that meant. He wasn’t too keen on inheriting anyone’s leftover feelings. Frankly, it pissed him off.

“Stop brooding,” Ling’s voice internally cut through the haze in his head, sharp and impatient. “If you can’t focus, let me take over.”

Greed’s grip on the railing tightened, the metal groaning slightly under the pressure. He scoffed, mentally brushing off the prince's nagging. “Nice try, kid. You’re not taking control that easily. Besides, it’s my body now. You had your fun being the big hero, but now it’s my time to stretch my legs.”

Ling didn’t respond right away, but Greed could feel his presence there, hovering at the edges of their shared consciousness, waiting for any slip.

Greed had been patrolling the streets of Central for what felt like hours now, the night unusually quiet—no fights, no chaos, just an endless stretch of boredom. His patience, never strong to begin with, was wearing thin. The constant hum of past lives and the prince’s meddling thoughts didn’t help.

“You’re getting sloppy,” Ling pressed again in their shared consciousness, clearly restless in the back of his mind. “At this rate, you’re going to lose it completely.”

Greed snarled under his breath. “How about you shut up for once and let me enjoy the quiet, huh?” But even as he said it, he knew Ling wasn’t wrong. He’d been feeling... off. Too much time in his mind, and it was starting to wear on him.

Then, like a jolt of electricity through the fog in his mind, he saw you. “Well, would you look at that,” Greed murmured, his voice low as a smirk tugged at his lips. “Looks like things just got interesting.”

“What are you—” Ling started, but Greed shut him out, focusing all his attention on you. He sauntered toward you, "Hey, beautiful."