Sloth

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Acedia
•†•

8:05 a.m

Ugh, seems like I fell asleep. On the sofa. Again.

Somehow, this happens frequently. Too often actually.

It's been bothering me now.

"Good morning, mate!" My head thumped when I heard Snow's high-pitched voice. I just figured it out but this guy is the greatest source of my headaches. I heard him snicker so I craned my neck to look at him only to see him smirking at me.


"Glad to be of service," he said as he hands me a cup of coffee—woah. He made me coffee. Something's not right. I sat up and looked incredulously at him.

"Don't be so judgmental, I was feeling lucky." He shrugged.

I hesitantly took the mug from his hand and smelled it, just trying to be sure nothing weird is in there. C'mon, we all know how Snow is.

"I didn't put anything in there. Don't be thinking that my hobby is to drug people and do something despicable to them," he protested in disbelief.

I raised a brow at him. Oh, is that not his hobby? Was I wrong?

He gave me a deadpanned stare and shook his head. Hah! His mind reading is so convenient, I don't even need to speak. Besides, it really is his hobby.

"What happened?" I asked, and sipped on the coffee. Wow it's actually good. Does this have to do with chemistry?

"What do you mean?" He answered and sat down beside me, fiddling with his phone.

"I have to check my blood. I get nauseated frequently. And I pass out, I'm becoming unproductive. Maybe it's Anaemia."

"Hmm, anaemia huh," he muttered. "What if it's acedia." He snickered.

"Acedia?"

He looked up from his phone and smiled smugly at me. "Sloth."

I stared, gaping at him for about two seconds until I became lost in my own thoughts. That's right, what if this is some kind of side effect before Sloth comes out? This is the first time something like this happened. I never get sick easily, of course, I'm a biologist, I should check myself more often than most, right?

"Where's Stiles? And Lux?" I asked.

"On a date."

"Ew."

"Homophobic." He sneered.

Not really, I meant "ew" for Lux. You don't know he might have HIV. It's been three days since he showed up and he's been hanging around Stiles unattendedly. The guy's creeped out and I think Lux needs to stop bugging him.

"Excuses." Rindelle Snow smirked at me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Ah, Rindelle Snow; always assuming what people feels."

"Most of the time I'm right," he replied. "And if I'm wrong, I make it right." He smirked to himself.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. Well, that's what he does.

"We have work today, mate," he said.

"I know."

•••SEPTEMPECCATOMORTALIA•••

6:00 p.m.

I'm at the pub.

Don't get me wrong, I work here, part-time. I remember mentioning that before, if you haven't been paying attention, of course, you wouldn't know. Snow and I work here to pay our rent—speaking of Snow, the twat is not here yet. For some Godforsaken reason he went out earlier, saying he has an unusual meet up with someone; meeting not specified since the shit has always been very cryptic.

But it makes me wonder: where does he disappear to every Saturday?

Speaking of the devil; he's finally here! He collapsed in front of me—which I forgot to say I'm inside the counter, cleaning glasses and arranging rums—like he ran all the way to here. His flushed face and sweaty forehead says it all, his chest ascending and descending in a concerning behavior.

"Where have you been?" I asked, not that I cared but I was curious.

He stopped and looked at me in an insultingly bewildered way and so I raised a brow at him.

"Are you my Mum?" He smugly teased.

Rindelle Snow, always answers a question with another question when he doesn't want to answer your question. He smirked as if knowing what I was thinking; maybe he does.

"We should not be upset that others hide the truth from us when we hide it so often from ourselves," he said after composing himself and catching his breath.

"Thanks, but I don't need your philosophical shit right now, Mahatma Snow. If only you could get dressed and finally help, that would be great." I rolled my eyes at him and he just smirked at me while saluting. He ran off to the staff room to get changed and I was left alone with my job and a persistent headache.

Suddenly I began feeling dizzy, oh, shit. Not again. I lost balance and was about to fall face first on the floor—maybe I'll be lucky and hit my head on the counter first—when some hand caught me.

"Frank Martin," ah, this voice. "Are you okay, Bruv?"

"Alexandre," I called, my ears are ringing.

"It's Alec."

"Well, it's Frank, just Frank or if you might prefer, Stein." I looked up at him and saw him smirking. I stood straight and steadied myself, hoping that the nausea would subside.

It didn't.

"Hey, hey, take it easy big guy, why don't you sit down a bit," he said, worry colouring his voice. He guided me and let me sit on the corner of the counter, on the floor, beside the bottles of wine.

"Thanks, 'Dre."

He sighed. "Alec."

I chuckled. Alexandre Weiss, or as he prefers to be called Alec, German, is a frequent customer of ours. He has raven dark hair, height like mine, and a hunger-pang frame. His light green eyes are fantastic too, it illuminated with the lights. My eyes are green but a darker shade than his. I wonder what the ladies prefer?

"Where's Snow when you need him the most?" he teased.

"Here, standing in the corner watching you two have an affair behind my back."

I glared at the twat spouting nonsense, standing smugly at the end of the counter, looking down on us. At least he's wearing his uniform.

Alec laughed and stood up.

"Hey Snow, how's life?"

"You tell me, I'm kinda stuck in school."

Alec went back on the other side of the bar while Snow shuffled to give him the drink he always have.

"Well, I always consider myself lucky I don't go to school like you guys," he smiled. That reminds me, Alec doesn't go to school. Reason was, college bores him.

"Yeah, well, I have the brains to be in one," Snow shot back with a patronizing smirk. I wanted to laugh at that but thought better of it. I don't want to make an enemy of Alexandre Weiss, I consider him a friend.

But Alec laughed.

"That's true, I hope you guys graduate with flying colors."

Snow smiled warmly at him. Maybe he felt Alec's sincerity.

When I felt a little better, I stood up and helped Snow brew liquor.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks."

"You're late," Alec said which caught our attention. He was talking to a guy with the same height as he, with silver hair and a calm demeanor. He kind of look familiar.

I looked at Snow and he has a peculiar expression. Does he know this man?

"What can I get you?" Snow asked the silver man.

He stopped to look at Snow for a moment then he smiled like he didn't know him—maybe he really doesn't and Snow is just weird—and told Snow what he's having.

"I have this friend at work," Alec suddenly said after having drank a few drinks. "He died after hanging himself in the ceiling of his apartment last month. Said it was suicide, also left a suicide note. It was his handwriting, but words . . . those words weren't his. I knew how he talked and how he expresses himself but never . . . polite." He drank from his glass. "Up to this day it boggles me."

"Maybe it really wasn't his," Snow interjected. Alec and the silver guy looked at him with question. "It's not that uncommon, y'know? People killing to make it look like suicide?"

"You seem to know a lot," the silver man commented with an unusual raspy voice.

Snow beamed. "It's always been a hobby of mine to know things."

"Be careful though, some things are better off not knowing."

"You seem to hide a lot," Snow's voice caught me off guard. Who is this guy and how did he make Snow detest him?

The guy smiled lopsidedly at Snow. "We all have secrets."

"I know, no matter how much we try to be honest there're always things that we keep."

"Just like your friend that died." The silver man pointed at Alec. "Maybe you just don't know him fully."

"But—"

"Consider all probabilities; in a normal standpoint, everything we see is reality, but not everything we know is the truth," the silver man stated and I was blown away. This man seems so wise, and now I have an idea why Snow hates him.

Hah! Snow finally found someone like him.

Not a genius, but a show-off.

"The reality," Snow interjected and placed a shot glass in front of the two gentlemen. "Your friend died." He placed another shot glass beside the first one. "He hung himself in the ceiling." And another. "A suicide note."

"Your point?" I asked.

He looked at me smugly. "That it was suspiciously in order."

I raised a brow. "So?"

His face fell. "You are so slow for a genius." He rolled his eyes. "This can be a murder!"

"Didn't we just agree that not everything we know is the truth?" I questioned the kid's sanity. I don't know what he's saying anymore.

"Yes! And what we know is that he died because of suicide!" He snapped his fingers. "Which means . . . ?" He gave me a knowing look.

"I won't answer your question because I don't want to entertain you," I deadpanned.

He beamed. "It's murder."

I rolled my eyes and ignored them. I don't want any part of this ridiculous conversation.

"That reminds me, you don't know each other yet, right? Let me introduce you—" before finishing what he's about to say, Alec got cut off by the stranger.

"There's no need for that."

"I don't really want to know who he is." Snow interjected. He and the Silver man exchanged a peculiar look.
What the hell is going on?

•••SEPTEMPECCATOMORTALIA•••

3:00 a.m.

I'm now lying on the bathroom floor. I was puking just a minute ago. Those girls went hard and gave me free drinks. I told them I didn't want any, but I saw Quinn with a different guy and I didn't like it, so, I drank the night away. Before I knew it, Snow was dragging me home and now I'm here, regretting every decision I made last night.

Fuck.

"Stein, your son's here," I heard Snow announced just outside the bathroom door.

"I don't give a fuuuuuck," I replied. I'm not in any condition to talk to that brat.

"BRUV, WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG, I WANT TO TAKE A PISS," I'm guessing that's Stiles, aside from Snow he's the only person I know who sounds so sissy.

"PISS OFF!" I shouted.

Someone pounded on the door out of annoyance.

"Chill man, he's pissed." Snow snickered, making a pun out of the word 'piss'. Well, we all have different meanings with it. I decided it's better to just ignore them and realised it's probably the best decision I've ever made. If I'd done this to Snow before, my life would've been easier.

Then I blacked out.

When I came to there are two guys sitting on the sofa. One of them were clutching a pillow whilst giving me a bored look, the other one is Lust and he's amused and confused at the same time.

My body feels sore.

"Good morning, amigo!" I heard Rindelle Snow ecstatically greeted from somewhere in the room. "You have given birth to a bouncing baby boy!"

"I don't see any bouncing baby boy anywhere, only a teenage boy who look so done with his life," Stiles commented, his voice coming from where Rindelle Snow is. "AND FUCK, BRUV—" there's the reaction I'm waiting for. "H-HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" he screeched.

I tried sitting up and looked at the sofa where my bouncing baby boy is. Basing on his appearance: pale hair and skin, bags under his eyes, he looked so tired that I felt bad. Snow's right, this one's Acedia.

"So, you're Sloth," I began and cleared my throat. He just looked at me and sleepily blinked. "Too lazy to even answer me, huh."

"ANSWER ME GODDAMNIT, STEEEEIN, WHAT IS THIS MYSTICAL SHIT?" Stiles screeched and lunged at me, strangling me to death. What the fuck is wrong with this guy?

"How can I fucking explain when you're killing me?" I manage to croak out. He stopped and let me go, I coughed so much and glared at him. "What did you even see?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"Well, when you were in the bathroom, Stiles couldn't take it anymore so we resorted to picking the lock—I did the picking—then we saw you splayed out on the floor, cringing violently, like having an epileptic attack." He sneered. This bastard had fun. "Then while Stiles was peeing, Lux and I held you by the legs and pulled you here."

They fucking dragged me from the lavatory to here. Are they fucking serious.

"When I went outside to check on you, something is materialising in front of your disgusting body, and the disgusting figure became bones to veins to flesh and skin, now it's a full grown boy. What the hell was that sorcery?" Stiles said. Quite spooked.

I sighed. I began telling him everything. Snow interjecting once in a while to give mocking comments and events that I forgot to add. Explaining everything to him would've made me dread it but seeing Stiles's changing reactions was pretty entertaining.

"Wow," he managed. "This is totally insane I'm packing my bags."

Snow and I quickly grabbed him by the legs and arms. "You're not going anywhere when you already know the truth, you twat," I threatened.

Snow let out a menacing grin. "I might look weak and small but I know how to break your arm, would you like a demonstration?"

I can hear Stiles debating in his head. Then he sighed and plopped down again. "I was joking," no he wasn't joking at all, he was ready to bail. "But what do you do? Do you just . . . wait? Don't you want to get closer to them before . . . you know, they do something bad? They are, after all, deadly sins."

He's got a point. I looked at Snow for support but he's looking at my sins like they were some kind of science experiment. Oh boy, here we go again.
"Stein! Holy shit, I just had this horrible thought!" Snow screeched. I knew it.

I raised my brows at him. Waiting for him to lay his "horrible thought" down.

"The murder, last night," he started, eyes sparkling like neurons have been connected.

"It was suicide, there's no proof about it being a murder," I deadpanned.

"It was murder. Pride left for about a week now, he's not good at acting but he's good at copying handwritings." He looked at me. "I know because I saw him one time when I left to sell 'meds', he's holding a crumpled paper then he wrote on a blank one, exactly the same as the one in the paper."

I stood up and grabbed his collar. "And you didn't tell me this because?"

"I forgot. I got caught up in bad shit that day too."

I sighed and let him down. If Superbia really did kill Alec's friend then, I may need to protect one of them. But then if one of my sins die? What would happen to me? I can't risk that can I? So I should find Pride first—

"Sleep," Acedia said with his soothing, sleepy voice, then he snapped his fingers. Suddenly Snow and Stiles dropped dead.

"Sloth specialises in hypnotism," Luxuria said and smiled. "Fantastic, innit?"

"Whose clothes are you wearing?" I asked because he's not naked. It might not be the time for that but it bothered me.

"Stiles," he sleepily answered.

"Dad, you should know, all the sins have things you can call . . . talent." Luxuria sighed. He pointed at himself. "I can seduce people, no matter the gender. Manipulate them, I'm great like that." He pointed at Acedia. "He can hypnotise people. Pride has great leadership skills and strategic mind. Greed is good at gambling. He'll win. Wrath is strong, he knows martial arts. Envy can impersonate anyone. Gluttony . . ." He just smiled, like it's pretty obvious.

"What would you do with those skills?" I asked. I feel like there's a lump stuck in my throat so I tried to swallow it down. It's still there.

"It depends on the situation," he said. "Pride has certainly acted upon something." He looked at Snow. "That man is remarkable, I can see why you want to best him, he's dangerous."

"He isn't. You guys are." I gritted my teeth.

"Ah, but we are a part of you." He looked like he's in pain. "You are dangerous too. And for the record, Father?" He stood up and stopped in front of me and pointed at my face with his index finger. "This is all your fault."

10:00 a.m.

I can't get things out of my head. When Snow and Stiles woke up they seem to remember what happened but they don't know how they fell asleep. Luxuria left, he didn't say why, but he just left. Acedia's at the house. Obviously sleeping.

Me and Snow's in front of the Uni, waiting for Quinn because she said she wanted to show us something. Stiles's at work. Who knew he had part-time?

"So, what now?" Snow suddenly asked out of the blue.

"I don't know, Mate." I sighed.

"Semester's almost ending. We have time to go on an adventure before the second sem starts." He grinned. "Then we can find a med school near where your sins are to do our On the Job training, right?"

"That's charming, but where to?"

"It's obvious, Pride's at Strygwyrs. Lux and Gula would most probably be there too."

"Snow there's something I have to tell you—"

"There you are!" Quinn cut me off before I could tell Snow what happened in a dream I had, and about earlier. "Come on, because you might not believe me if I don't show you."

"What do you mean?" Snow and I exchanged a knowing look: Quinn went nuts.

She led us to a crowded place. Like people are looking at something. Then there, lo and behold, a dismembered body of a boy. There are bite marks on his limbs. Like an animal had eaten him.

I left the crowd and puked in a corner. Fuck. This is the first time I've seen something disgusting as that. Snow looked like he's used to that. His eyes were as cold as his name. Quinn looked like she's sorry for making me see something so awful.

"Why did you bring us here?" Snow asked on my behalf.

"Because the bite marks," she stated.

"And?"

"Those are Gula's."

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