Rock n' Roll pt.1

- 1.45 P.M. -

Pride woke up with a banging headache as he accidentally rolled off the sofa. His jersey was wrapped around his shoulders. The living room was dim as the curtain was partially left opened. He smelled himself and regretted it immediately.

His mouth reeked of booze and the rest of his body was sticky with his own sweat. A white streak formed from one corner of his mouth to his cheek. The shooting pain at the center of his forehead didn't seem to budge as he massaged his temples.

He army crawled his way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. His mouth was parched, and he could barely taste his own saliva. Simbi watched the pathetic creature wriggle its way to the closest counter and grasped at anything for support.

Pride eventually managed to stand up and filled a cup full of water from the sink before chugging it. Tap water had never tasted better in his life. Now that his thirst had been quenched, his stomach grumbled as a reminder that it needed to be fed.

"Dammit, now I have to deal with this cooking bullshit,' he mumbled.

Pride steadied himself, rummaged the fridge for something edible and simple, grabbed two eggs and a pack of yogurt, and made scrambled egg for breakfast. He cracked the eggs right into the sizzling hot pan.

Some of the eggshells made its way into the mixture of egg and butter. The high heat overwhelmed him and resulted in a botched white and yellow egg with mildly burnt bottom and ununiform seasoning of kosher salt and a patch of pepper. At least the dish was heavily coated in butter.

"The tablespoon of butter definitely helped with the swallowing process,' he said as he irked at his own creation.

After cleaning up a portion of the house, he decided that the stench coming from his own body was getting unbearable. He put his clothes in the wash and scrubbed his body from the sweat and whatever residue he managed to stain himself with.

Pride wore Lust's sheer black top and grey checkered pajama pants. He rubbed his eyes as he saw the spitting image of his older brother. But it was none other than himself. His own eyes fooled him as the uncanny figure bore its gaze at him. A strong semblance with tiny discrepancies.

"It really is him. Though they acted as two contrasting individuals, they both carry a fragment of a whole soul," Simbi deduced.

"You are correct. Them being brothers was not a mere coincidence. Their souls are reaching out to each other. The traction was prevented once before. Now our duty is to make sure that we avoid it again," The General commanded.

"But what about Master? Should we tell her about it now?" Simbi asked.

"No, let Eros take care of her and the other fragment. His part of the soul has awakened, just as I thought it would. But I need more time to figure out why. Keep an eye out on this one for me. Report immediately should anything unusual happen,' The General grimly stalked Pride before disappearing again.

Simbi hovered around Pride to observe him closer, searching for any visible sign. Being a spirit herself, she should be able to pick up spiritual anomalies invisible to the human eye. It might be in the form a birthmark or ancient inscriptions.

She never would have thought that she would be babysitting a potentially dangerous human in the form of a moronic high school jock. She had never been stationed to watch over the house alone with Lust. And her first encounter with him proved to her that they were not the ordinary people they were raised to be.

Their whole demeanor, abilities, personality, and physical features had pointed to the dreaded conclusion. It was back. Wrath's power was needed now more than ever. But time was not on their side. Now that it was clear to the army of the spirit realm, she needed to learn to control her newfound power in order to subdue the menace she would face. It was only a matter of time until she would have to face her fear and make a choice.

Pride shook away the weird feeling hanging on his back and went about his day. The evening was relatively quiet compared to the constant nagging of his neighbor, Famine. He lounged on the living room sofa and mopped around as his hangover stuck around.

He would get up to grab a glass of water or head to the toilet from now and then. Otherwise, his butt was glued to the sofa and his hands to his phone. The house became overbearingly lonely as the sun sank into nightfall. Pride gathered the courage and video called his friend.

"Hey! What's up? Haven't heard anything since Wrath ran away," Gluttony said.

"Yeah, everything all right now?" Sloth chimed in.

"Oh yeah, no. Everything's under control. How are you guys? Heard anything from the rest?" Pride answered.

"We're good. Heard the girls were heading to a bar tonight. But what's new about that, right? We're about to start a game of COD. Wanna play?" Gluttony informed.

"Sure, just one game. Need to make dinner soon," Pride accepted.

"Why are you making dinner?" Sloth asked with an unusual excitement.

'I'm an idiot,' Pride thought to himself. "I just wanted to be more in control of my calorie intake. I was thinking maybe Gluttony would have some suggestions."

Simbi couldn't help but feel a second-hand anxiety.

"You're talking to the right person. I'll send you some recipes after the game," his friend agreed happily.

"Thanks, man. I have a game coming up next week. We should have another team meeting after," Pride informed.

"Can we do it at the bleachers after the game? Our headquarter is so far from my house," Sloth proposed.

"I'll decide on the time and place later on. But I'll take that option into mind. Let's start the game. We'll talk business later," Pride changed the subject.