by scorpions-tale
Greedler had been sitting alone idly snacking on marshmallows for the better part of the day while Oncie was out trying to make a sale. Greedler showed no surprise at all when Oncie pushed open the door slowly, apologetic, head lowered like a beaten dog.
“So?” he said, as if he were hopeful.
Oncie held out the unsold thneed in front of him, shameful as if it were a flag of surrender, his eyes wide and watery as he waited for Greedler’s reaction.
“I see,” Greedler said, absolutely monotone, “Well, you can try again tomorrow.”
“What did you do? I mean, if we’re the same person we should have the same ideas, right?” Oncie said, “What did you do differently?”
“Oh, not much,” Greedler said with a wave of his hand, “I suppose a certain annoyance may have motivated me to try harder. A certain annoyance I got rid of for you.”
“Oh,” Oncie said, thinking on that, “Well, what if I needed whatever that was in order to sell it at all?”
Greedler hissed, getting way too close into Oncie’s personal space again, “Don’t you ever blame me for your own damn failures.”
Oncie dropped the thneed and backed down, “I wasn’t, I wasn’t, I just…do you really think I’m a failure?”
“Oh, no, of course not, things like this happen to everyone,” Greedler said, his tone softening as he reached both arms around Oncie’s torso from behind, “I’m sure you’ll do fine, don’t you worry. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with you, or something like that.”
“Do you…do you think that it’s possible, that there could be something wrong with me, though?” Oncie said, leaning back into Greedler’s grasp, “I mean, not that there definitely is, but that there could be, even though I’m just you from the past?”
“Well…I didn’t explain it very well, but this isn’t exactly the same past that I lived through. It’s complicated, I thought I’d spare you the explanation, seeing as getting used to me was tough enough,” Greedler said, running his fingers down Oncie’s arm, “So, while we are the same, we may not be absolutely identical on a technical level.”
“Oh,” Oncie said, shoulders slumped.
“Oh, but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything,” Greedler said, but on his face was the biggest grin, he was glad to be standing behind Oncie right now because he isn’t sure he could’ve hidden it.
That’s right, he thought, I’m the superior one and you know it.
“I don’t know,” Oncie said, “To be honest, since you’ve been here I haven’t really felt like we’re the same at all. I know I’m supposed to be you, but I don’t know how I’m supposed to get there.”
“It’ll all work itself out in time,” Greedler said, stepping in front of him, touching his own hand to Oncie’s.
Seeing his hand against Greedler’s made Oncie feel less confident in himself than ever. It was like a wolf holding hands with a mouse. There was no doubt which one of them was the bigger, stronger, experienced, successful one. It wasn’t really fair, having to compare himself to someone who’s had years more to live. He knew it wasn’t fair. But he was doing it anyways.
“Can we lay down for a while?” Oncie said.
“I’m not tired,” Greedler said.
Oncie gave a look like he’d just been kicked.
“Oh, alright,” Greedler said, “You’re lucky I already washed my suit today. I don’t have anything else to do.”
“Thank you,” Oncie said, sitting on the edge of the bed and yawning.
Greedler got in behind him, waiting for Oncie to lie down before he closed his eyes, although he didn’t doze off right away as he did the previous two nights. Instead, he just lay there, restless, having nothing of his own to work on right now as he waited for his other self to taste the sweet lure of success. A good half hour after getting into bed, he heard something. A sort of sputtering noise.
He felt the shakes and realized it was Oncie, trying his best to cry quietly to himself after he figured Greedler was already asleep.
“What are you doing?” Greedler said.
Oncie jerked up, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, “N-nothing, just got some dust in my eyes is all.”
Greedler couldn’t help but think that Oncie was the worst liar on the planet, something he’d have to learn to work through sometime soon. He didn’t say anything, he just looked down at the puffy-eyed man in front of him, so frail, so confused, so…easily swayed in any direction Greedler wanted him to go. He leaned down and touched lips with his younger self, a full half-minute before he broke away.
“…Why did you do that?” Oncie said, blinking.
Greedler shrugged, and rolled over, not saying anything more. If he couldn’t sleep, he was at least pretending to, now.
Oncie was glad it was too dark to see how much he was blushing right now. He wasn’t at all sure what to make of the situation. Greedler’s actions didn’t make sense to him at all; half the time he looked like he was about to go on a rampage, the other half he was this overly-touchy, weirdly affectionate guy that Oncie couldn’t wrap his mind around. On the one hand, the guy was a jerk and continued to be a jerk, although that might be his own fault, and he spent a lot of time worrying about that, but – as conflicted as he was over that aspect of Greedler, Oncie liked his affectionate side, although even that seemed to have a touch of ferocity to it.
Maybe he’d been alone for too long. He was still worried. And still sad. But he fell asleep and didn’t cry any more. In the morning, he snuck out before Greedler woke up (and left a note to prevent another incident). He didn’t really want to confront him about the kiss just yet.
When Oncie came home again, he was in a very different mood than Greedler was used to seeing. He came without his thneed, slammed the door shut behind him, and sat on the bed with his arms crossed.
“I don’t get these people! I don’t understand! They’re just – just idiots that won’t even look at you unless you’ve got a billboard!” he said, stomping one foot on the floor.
Greedler grinned and edged in next to him, an arm around his shoulder. This was the first time something that Oncie was saying sounded like something he’d say, too.
“Yes, that’s true, but sometimes you just have to put up with it. Not everyone can be as smart as we are,” he said, “What did you do with your thneed?”
“I threw it away. This isn’t going to work. We’re just going to have to think of something else. I’m sure you’ve got some ideas, right?” Oncie said.
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” Greedler said, hearing the telltale footsteps and singing voices coming closer, “Listen.”
Oncie perked up, rushing outside to the adoring crowd. Greedler stayed in. He didn’t need to see this again. It was kind of comforting to see the very start of his business for a second time, but it was awakening some remnants of that naïve optimism in him that he currently found sickening.
He reminded himself of what happened, of where he went wrong, and waited for Oncie to come back in, which he did rather quickly, nearly jumping through the roof with excitement.
“Someone caught the thneed when I threw it out, and they love it! Now everyone wants one! Can you believe that?” Oncie said.
“Yes. I can,” Greedler said.
“What do you mean you…” Oncie trailed off, “Wait, you knew what the noise was, and…and you…did you know that this would happen?”
“Hm. I couldn’t tell you, otherwise you might just throw it at some random person who wouldn’t even care,” Greedler said.
“You lied to me?” Oncie said.
“It was for your own damn good! I told you, you were meant to throw It away on your own, after getting frustrated about it,” Greedler said, his angry side rising again, “I can’t believe you! You’ve succeeded and all you care about is that I lied.”
“I’m going to go out for a walk,” Oncie said, not at all comforted, “Maybe talking to some of those people will make me feel better.”
But it didn’t. Not even enthusiastic buyers and praise could get what was bothering him out of his mind. He understood the lie, and he understood the need to lie, there was just something about the way he’d been treated during the whole thing. He took a deep breath and decided to go confront his future self.
“Are you there?” he said, opening the door just a crack.
“Yes,” Greedler said, “Where else would I be? Have you come to your senses?”
“I don’t care that you lied to me, not this time,” Oncie said.
“Good. Come in then,” Greedler said, tossing Oncie a marshmallow.
“There’s something else I need to talk to you about,” he said, catching the marshmallow but putting it on the table, “I think maybe you went…a little too far, with the lying thing. Not the lie itself, but just, you know.”
“No, I don’t know,” Greedler said, talking slowly and enunciating every syllable as he always did when he was in a bad mood, “You’re going to have to tell me.”
Oncie didn’t like the way Greedler was moving right now, like a vulture circling prey. He knew he was going to have to be careful with this one, “Some of the stuff you said just made me feel like a failure. I really thought there was something wrong with me and you didn’t exactly help. I don’t think you had to be so harsh about it.”
“Well, shows what you know then, doesn’t it?” Greedler said, walking over to take the marshmallow if Oncie wasn’t going to eat it.
“I mean, maybe you could’ve had your reasons for it, but it kind of hurt, like when…least night when I woke up,” Oncie said, not wanting to allude directly to the crying or the kiss.
“I did have my reasons,” Greedler said.
“Okay. But it still hurt. Sometimes accidents hurt, you know? If I stepped on your foot by mistake I’d still say sorry,” Oncie said.
Greedler turned the other way and scowled, seeing that Oncie wasn’t going to give up on trying to get an apology out of him. Perhaps it would be to his benefit to just go along with it this time.
“Oh, of course,” he said, not sounding totally sincere about it, “Of course I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.”
He wrapped his arms around Oncie’s waist, pulling him close enough that their faces were only a few centimeters apart. He grinned and Oncie squirmed, those teeth being pretty intimidating to look at from this close up. Greedler didn’t loosen his grip, and eventually Oncie leaned into it, which was when Greedler took one hand off his waist and guided him into another kiss.
This kiss was different than the last drowsy, half-aware kiss Oncie had gotten and barely remembered. That was spontaneous, awkward, and random as if Greedler just didn’t know what else to do at the time. This was rough, domineering, and definitely well thought through. Oncie felt Greedler’s tongue slipping in between his lips, but he didn’t unclench his jaw to let the other’s tongue explore any further. Greedler finally pulled back, ending with a slight nip on Oncie’s lip, not hard enough to draw blood but still making it very clear that the possibility was out there.
Oncie knew that that wasn’t a real apology. He didn’t think Greedler had even listened to a word he set, much less actually thought about the point that he was making. But after the kiss, he was silent.
This was as close to physically intimate that he’d ever gotten with anyone before, as much as he hated to admit that.
The only thing he hated more was that he was making all sorts of excuses in his head on behalf of Greedler’s behavior again so he wouldn’t have to give it up.
You Obviously Love Oncest 