Her fingers drummed on the conference table, green nails clicking with each tap. These meetings were boring. Maybe at the beginning of their existence, they were necessary, but now as well established sins you would think they could move beyond this. Pride, though, was a stickler for rules, ceremony, and procedure.

"Envy," a cool voice called her name, it's irritation barely contained. "Quit that."

A retort was on the tip of her tongue, but one look at Pride's face and she bit it back. Unlike their fearless leader, she knew when to let a public comment slide. Her fingers stilled, and she pulled them off the table and onto her lap.

"Sloth," that same cool, irritated voice called out the sleeping member of their crew. Sloth lifted her head from where it had been resting on her arm. "I've been listening."

"You were snoring... and you were drooling!" They'd both offended Pride by appearing bored while he spoke.

"Look, Pride. Honestly, can't these become more of a... monthly--bi-monthly, even--thing? We sit here week after week discussing things we already know. Not that we don't appreciate your leadership and keeping us accountable." Lust had a way of getting Pride to listen. Envy felt her hands clench in her lap. She'd brought up the same point a few weeks ago, and Pride had brushed her off; now, however, he was intently focused on Lust and looked like he was actually considering how often they meet. "Business is good," she continued, leaning forward in her chair. She knew she had Pride's complete attention; Gluttony, Greed (naturally), and even Wrath were focused on her, too.

Her nails were beginning to dig into her palms.

"I just think it is important for us to give progress reports."

"Well," Lust chewed her bottom lip as she thought it over. "We can keep you updated, and if anything major happens, then we can have an emergency meeting." It was the same thing Envy had suggested a few weeks ago as she tried fruitlessly, once again, to convince Pride to reconsider weekly meetings. She ought to be happy that Pride was considering it, but all she could feel was the anger bubbling up inside her. Anger that Lust had stolen her ideas, and more importantly she was envious that Pride bothered to listen to her.

"I suppose business is good." Pride agreed, slowly. "Consumerism is at an all-time high, so Greed has been doing well. Lots of cheating spouses and angry spouses, so you and your sister have been doing good work." Your sister. Her hands grew warm, and Envy had to refrain from growling. Her name didn't even get mentioned.

"Great," it looks like we're done here." She snapped, and without another word she rose from the table and tore from the room, unable to stay there a second longer. She would rip Pride's pretty head from his lovely body if it wouldn't have the effect of throwing off the rest of their work. Same with Lust.

"I hate it too, you know." Greed's nasally voice spoke up behind Envy. She spun around, a brow arched.

"The way she gets people to do things. She's my wife, and I'm not really fond of sharing." Envy snorted, and Greed smiled. "I know you and Pride had that thing a few thousand years ago, but you should really move on..."

"It has nothing to do with that."

Greed shrugged. "Maybe not, but if it makes you feel better his attention will last on Lust for a few days at most, and then he'll start bragging about his work, and she'll be put out at the lack of attention being paid to her, and everything will return to normal."

"Until the next time, she talks him into something she wants."

"You wanted this, too." Envy mimicked his shrug from a moment ago.

"We seem to be the only ones who remember that."

Greed opened his mouth to say something else, but the sound of Lust's voice calling his name interrupted them. His eyes went hazy, and Envy felt the anger bubble up again. Pride had never gotten that look in his eyes when she mentioned his name. She wanted just a semblance of the ability that Lust had. He turned to go, and her hand snaked out to grab his, "Don't go." She whispered.

The glaze went from his eyes, and she felt a thrill of victory. "You know she implied something to Pride earlier, that I know she'll follow through on..." she tugged Greed closer. Another thrill went through her when he followed her pull. "I know you like having what isn't yours." They were both thinking about what she really meant: something that used to belong to Pride.

She wasn't sure if Greed could hear Lust's incoming footsteps, but Envy could. She waited until they were just around the corner before closing the narrowing distance between her and Greed. It was a long, passionate, and ostentatious kiss. When they pulled away, she could see Lust standing there out of the corner of her eye. When she turned to face her sister, she could see the flare of green in the other immortal's eyes. Pleased, she turned back to Greed who had that same dazed look in his eyes. It took her a second to realize she had been the one to place that look there. "I'll see you later," she murmured in his ear, before skipping off back to earth to wreak some havoc there. She was feeling particularly inspired.

#challenge #7Sins #Envy

The study was supposed to be simple. I needed the cash, they needed a test subject; it was a simple arrangement. They hook me up to a machine, and I think about different things. Sometimes they let me nap or read a book.

It was easy.

When I joined, there were a lot of forms to sign. A lot of promising not to talk about this with anyone else. Top Secret, the documents reminded me again and again. I didn’t see what the big deal was, but they were paying me well enough that I’d be able to afford rent for a few months until I found a decent job.

My friends had started to notice my increase in wealth. “How come you finally started coming out with us? Did you get a new job?”

I shrugged the first thousand times they asked, but it gets old eventually. “Sort of,” I explained one afternoon, sitting at the bar. “I’m doing a clinical study.” I enjoyed the looks on their faces as they envisioned being poked and prodded, downing strange pills. “Nothing too obscene; I go into a room, I drink a bottle of water, and then they hook up some electrodes to my head and then I just kind of chill for a few hours. Every now and then they ask me questions, but nothing invasive. It pays pretty well, too.”

“Sounds like a sweet deal,” Kennedy observed. I recognized the look of interest (who doesn’t like easy cash?), and I suddenly felt uncomfortable. I wasn’t supposed to be talking about this, but it’s not like I gave out any real details.

I shrugged. “Kind of boring, actually.” I checked my watch. “Anyway, I should be going. Supposed to swing by my mom’s.” I managed to look apologetic for bailing. In truth, I was headed to another session with the Top Secret Team of Scientists. So top secret, I wasn’t even sure what their machines did. Not that it mattered, too much.

As usual, when I got there, they did a thorough search of my person. Searching for wires, or something, I’m sure. Then they insisted I drank a bottle of water, and I they didn’t hook me up until I was all finished. No liquids in the room, they would always explain. The session started off the same as all the others. “Have you told anyone about this experiment.” Yes.

For the first time since starting, I lied. “Nope.” I saw the two men observing the screen exchange a look. I shifted in my seat, and they asked if they were sure. It wasn’t an unusual question, but I still felt nervous. “Positive,” I lied again.

A man I had never met entered the room, then. He looked angry; his brows were furrowed, his round cheeks bright red. “Who did you talk to?” He demanded.

“No one,” but I couldn’t help but replay in my mind the scene at the bar, what exactly I had said.

“Not too much detail,” One of the men watching the screen murmured. I tore my eyes from the angry man, to glance at them. They weren’t paying attention to me, staring intently at the screen.

“She looks familiar, though.” The other man said.

The angry hulking figure glared at me and then stomped over to the other two, shoving them out of the way. He scowled, “You gave information out.” I cowered in the chair; somehow they knew what I had done; I couldn’t think of anything to say to get me out of this. “Worse, you gave information to a competitor.”

Confusion outweighed my fear, briefly. “A competitor? I hardly gave any details, and only to my friends.”

The screen turned to me, and I saw Kennedy looking back at the screen, the same expression of interest painted on her features. The bar was still in the background, and it took me a second to realize that it was my memory of Kennedy at the bar. “She’s not a competitor. She’s a bartender.”

The angry man shook his head, yanking the screen back toward him. I saw the other two men wince at his rough treatment of the machine. “She works for our competitor. She gets paid to weasel information out of unsuspecting employees, and sends it back to her employers so they can get ahead.”

“But... she’s a bartender.”

He snorted, “She’s a corporate spy. What better way to get information than from a bar frequented by members of the scientific community.” He sounded disgusted, and frankly, I felt it. I had known Kennedy since middle school; she was always the most honest person I had ever known. She’d been keeping this secret this whole time? If that was true, what else had she been keeping from me?

“I...” I don’t know what I intended to stay, but the man who was apparently in charge shook his head.

“Get out.” He demanded. “Your study is over.”

“But sir, the research--”

“I said she’s done.”

I started to panic, I needed this money. I still hadn’t found a job, despite how hard I had been looking. I knew this wasn’t going to last forever, but I didn’t think it would end so soon. “No, I won’t talk about it with anyone else.”

“You’ve already broken our trust. Get. Out.”

“Use me.” He paused as he was about to order me once more to leave. “I can give her false information. Tell me what to say, I’ll say it. That way you can complete your experiment and lead her off whatever you’re working on. Please. Clearly, you can check whether or not I actually tell her what you want.”

He paused, still, and seemed to be considering what I had said. When he nodded, I slumped into my chair in relief. “But we are done for today. Leave.” I nodded, and the other two began unhooking the electrodes from my head.

That day is how I began keeping more and more secrets from my best friend. It was the day I lost all trust in her. And it was the day I realized I’d been spilling all my secrets to strangers in a lab.

#secret #challenge