About 2 more weeks had gone by, and both Luce and Greer both refused to take the money. Dewi, being Dewi, decided to just have some fun with it. Each day the pile of money just became more and more fancy. It started simple with a pillow for it to rest on, then making a little tent, and then slowly turning the bills into flowers and animals. Greer came back from work and went to set down some more cash..... to see a wedding scene happening on the coffee table. She also saw the apple at the front of the entire scene. Knowing Luce wouldn't be back for a bit, she picked up the apple to eat and dropped off the few twenty she had pulled out.

"You ate the Officiator....." Dewi's voice was a mix of disbelief and joking.

She looked and took a very big bite after shrugging a little. "Well.... He’s tasty"

"How is the salt and pepper supposed to get married now?"

Greer placed her hand on her heart. "They are married in their hearts. The rest is just boring paperwork. Maybe they can take apart the swan for a judge."

Dewi pretended to be crying into his hands. "They put so much effort into their wedding and you decide to eat the one leading the ceremony....."

"It's alright, He was going to steal their rings and run off to pawn them. He's got a gambling problem." She sat down and started checking some papers she had, ignoring the over-dramatic roomie.

"Then I guess we should thank you for murdering him before he did so." Dewi laughed at how elaborate this story has already gotten. Everyone else would have said ‘It's just a stupid apple’ by this point. It was like having the sister he always wanted, but couldn’t have.

Greer took another bite, not looking but definitely smiling. "I'll worry about the cops later, then. But there, I marry you both." She waved the half eaten apple over the wedding.

Dewi made the salt and pepper shakers do a little bow each and gave them a funny voice "Oh, thank you greatly, kind madame. However could we thank you.... Please accept all our money for your kindness."

Greer eyed Dewi and sighed. "Nope, give it to someone else." She leaned back and looked at the papers again, setting them on the table so she could get out a pen.

He stopped playing with the shakers and turned to Greer. This was getting annoying, even for Dewi. "Why are you so against accepting monetary thanks from others while also so insistent that you pay back your own perceived debts? You are leaving all this money for rent so you can 'pay us back' for just being kind to you."

She sighed, counting the reasons off on her fingers. She felt too tired for this right now. "Lets see.... Blake went into a panic attack because of the event. I didn't want it. I didn't earn it so it feels weird. I AM driving up your costs for food and water. And if no one is going to take it I may as well use it to get a rent by the week place so I'm out of everyone's hair and space. Really I wouldn't have even gotten that cash if you hadn't suddenly had to go help Blake out. So really it's practically yours. And LOOK, you are having fun with it."

Dewi flopped back and sighed. "It's not just the money....... It's like you can't accept others' kindness... like you feel compelled to never be on the receiving end of a plain and simple good deed. You're so selfless it's like you're afraid of wanting good things for yourself if someone even helps you a little to get it."

Greer groaned as she took another bite. "Didn't know you moonlighted as a shrink. What did Cronos tell you? Cause he obviously knew part of stuff."

"Cronos doesn't tell me anything other than he still loves me..... I mean, I know where he keeps the really important info, but I'd never read it...."

She rubbed her forehead a bit, figuring this was proper talk time. She was hoping Dewi would get it at least. "Alright... well I know you heard the luck power registration bit at the library. He let that slip. People have been convinced I had luck powers since I was 5. Imagine being in a small town where folks get that into their head. They only notice when good things happen. When I went a lucky prize, or get the rare trading card. They are convinced it happens constantly." She stared up at the ceiling leaning back as far as she could in the couch taking another bite. "Imagine being told it's not fair to let me play anything that may be luck based by adults, so all the kids follow suit. That people say your hard work and your family's hard work, and the few friends you... have hard work is only luck. Imagine a freak chance happening and that causing some lazy ass agent to list you with luck powers and now being told participating in raffles or anything that's a random winner thing could get you arrested..... you get told folks are going to press charges because they think you’re twisting luck in your favor solely, causing others to get into accidents or lose things they needed or wanted.... it getting to the point you can't even work in the job you love anymore." She closed her eyes, no tears… she couldn’t cry right now she was better than that. "I can prove hard work.... I can't prove chance.... I just dropped off that ring, no info for me given. You saw. If you didn't give out the info, no one should have known I did it. And meanwhile I'm fighting to prove I don't have luck powers because I have no real signs of it besides two unexplained events, this and when my dad got robbed and I ended up tripping and stopping the robber as a result."

It was rare Dewi got to see anyone this hard headed. The others were trying to ignore it but that wasn’t helping. "And you think not accepting help is going to change any of that? All you're doing is treating us like those people treat you, like our kindness means nothing..... If your hard work has meaning, why can't human kindness? Yet you want to belittle it by trying to offering something in return. It makes it seem like you think our kindness has conditions instead of just being from the goodness of our hearts."

Greer looked at him, this hurt. She didn’t know why it hurt so much but it did. She had flashes of memories from when she was back in her hometown. "Ok, um wow. Fine if that's how you feel...." She got up and started tucking her things in a bag. "Apparently it doesn't matter if I'm uncomfortable either. See how it is. Luce scares Blake into saying something he doesn't want to because what? Luce is gonna threaten some old lady? You ask and I explain why I don't feel comfortable and I'm the bad guy? Sorry I apparently tick y'all off." She put her shows on without thinking, part of her rain screaming of what was she thinking.

Dewi shifted so he was between her and the door just a bit, folding his arms and giving her a hard look. "That is how I feel. I get that accepting kindness can be hard, but running away from people for speaking their minds just makes you seem like a brat not getting her way. You just hear what you want to hear..... I point out how your actions can be perceived and you cry victim, that I called you the bad guy.... I've met real bad people and you are only a brat."

Greer dropped the apple and was trying not to scream. Who was he to call her a brat? He didn’t get it. He didn’t get it at all. "And I am tired of being told that what I think and feel don't matter! And I don't think your kindness has conditions. I just don't feel comfortable sitting back and doing jack all and I don't think that's wrong!" Greer noticed her pocket knife on the floor, the same one her father had given her.. Tears started coming fast now, she couldn’t hold it back anymore, "I can't... even go home..."

"I never said your feelings don't matter, I'm just asking you to think about everyone else too...." Dewi moved to be next to her on her level. "We don't need your help. Someday we might, but right now all we want is to pay a favor forward so you can someday be able to do the same.” There was so much she didn’t know, so much he wanted to tell her so she knew better what was going on. “We.... we've all been hurt, lost. We were lucky enough to find each other. If we see someone in the same situation, how can we not reach out a hand? I'm not saying you can't find some way to 'repay the favor' if it'll make you feel more comfortable, but think about how to take other's feelings into account when you do."

Greer put her head in her arms on the couch and kept crying. She tried to choke out some words but couldn’t. Dewi knelt there silently, rubbing her back. The entire time she had been here, he hadn’t seen tears from her even once. Yelling for certain, being mad and even being happy; but breaking down like this? There was obviously some things he didn’t know either. It felt like when they all first moved in with each other. After a bit she stopped and slowly, with great effort, took off her shoes. Greer then pulled out her quilt and laid down on the couch. She was drained and tired, she just… couldn’t right now. ".. I'm going to sleep..."

He nodded and picked up the few things on the floor. "Then I'll let the others know not to wake you... Sleep well." She was asleep so fast he wasn’t even certain she had heard him. So he picked up her things and put them carefully into the bag. After a bit more cleaning up he noticed the pen next to the papers.

Dewi began looking at the papers Greer had been marking up earlier. They were a mix of ads for rent by the week places and proper apartments. With little notes about what she could and couldn't afford. It looked like she was strongly considering the bad part of town. The rent was cheaper there so of course she would think she’d be fine and dandy there. Dewi was going to have to help fix this.