I have been acquainted with all of the seven deadly sins and their respective vices. Long before I gained an affinity for controlling the metaphysical beings that represented these sins, I had read Dante's Inferno. The book was all but a user manual in regards to what sin promoted what actions, a textbook in explaining the explicit territories each cardinal sin reigned over. Their descriptions were thorough, leaving fairly little to the imagination while my attention was lost in the fantasy that these things were actually manifestations and that they controlled humanity's whims to a degree. All of my thoughts on the matter might have led me to believe I was overindulgent and therefore most familiar with what I had come to know as Gluttony. When I was younger, I don't think I would have mentally portrayed Gluttony to exist with the visible attributes that he did; Gluttony existed as a rotund, obscenely wide, over-indulgent male with small eyes and an eternally childish look on it's face. The word meant far more than the dictionary description of overindulgence and overconsumptions; too much of anything and Gluttony would appear with glee. Perhaps after Gluttony was my companion, Envy shared her time with me. And after Envy, I much preferred the companionship of Wrath and Pride. Wrath was acute and harsh and seductive while Pride stood tall beside her as if ever the support Wrath needed to exact her nature. I preferred their company until they became actual entities and no sooner did I want to see their disappearance. Lust, however... She was an entirely different story.

"That's Lust."

There was no real explanation for what the sin was. My Shadow offered up bits and pieces of itself in order for these sins to manifest; I don't think It was a part of the Shadow, though. The Shadow was much to personified, much too characteristic of its own traits. Seemingly quelled of any desire to wreak havoc while busy dancing in the arms of Lust, the Shadow seemed to pay us no mind while the Sin chose to offer her direct attention to us once and a while. How was I supposed to explain both my lack of ability to control her, and my lack of attempt to do so? Lust's presence was powerful even when she appeared for other people... But when she appeared to grace me with her presence and promote my own lustful thoughts, it was rather pleasant and I wasn't sure I wanted to get rid of her. Besides, with that brief of an explanation, Serafina would gather all the necessary information from it, so there was no need to delve into loquacious justifications for the Sin's appearance. Instead, I was free to indulge myself by giving into the desires that Lust's appearance justified, silencing words that hadn't yet made it off my tongue. Her lips were sweeter than I expected, and the kiss was much shorter than I would have liked.

All the more reason for Lust to stay.

While the silence that followed was reminiscent of things not said times before, I found myself caring less about what she was thinking and more about the fact that she was no longer within reach. Her gaze was heavy against mine, and for once it was truly captivating to be met with a look as intense as mine often were â€" and want only to rise to the occasion. How I had wanted to act on incredibly explicit thoughts since the moment her lips had touched my cheek in the back of the cab all those months ago. It had been desperately tantalizing â€" her hands on me, regardless of how dire any injuries had been. She was so fucking tempting, yet there was nothing in me that could make me have taken a step further with her until I knew more than the wicked, seductive smile that tugged her lips or the way her eyes brightened at the idea of an adventure. I couldn't have simply known her name, known where she lived, trivial information. I had needed more before I felt like it was appropriate to act on impulse and all but meld her against me.

As if I'd forgotten what I said, my brows furrowed briefly at the mention of living in Russia. Wait... what had I asked? Maybe I had actually forgotten in the wake of the heat of her body on mine. Instead of answering her or paying attention to the wicked smile I noticed only briefly, I stood as she did so I could catch her hips before she turned, drawing her against me again in a mild attempt to sate some of the impulsive desire encouraging me to listen to Lust and pay heed to her.

"I guess you're right. Some stereotypes are."

Brazenly far more interested in her than in the tab I'd closed, I stood to acquiesce to Serafina's wanton and amusing 'come hither' grin. Her taste in alcohol wasn't something I was incredibly worried about â€" Finley and Elenore kept the bar in my apartment stocked with a fair variety that we could indulge in once in the confines of four walls that didn't include dozens of strangers' prying eyes.

"I'll admit â€" sometimes my ideas aren't that great but," I started, lazily resting an arm around her waist. The physical contact was something I hadn't offered her before, no, but now that I had there was going to be no convincing otherwise. " I'll agree, this is one of my better." The cab the bartender had arranged, encouraged by the Shadow who punched the numbers for him, was idling by the curb only a few dozen yards outside of the bar. After opening the door for Sera and slipping in myself, I gave the driver the address to my apartment; pleasantly surprised was I to open my phone and find that Finley would be nonexistent for the evening, leaving us alone with the company of my feline menagerie. The quick exchange allowed me to have free hands moments later to find Sera's knees and easily lift them over my own so she would be closer and her lips within reach of my own. Hardly worried about the brief glances from the driver, which I might have been had it been any other given moment, I drew her lips to mine not only to explore that opportunity, but to keep from trying to smoke an anticipatory cigarette in the man's cab. Abruptly, the cab driver smashed his right foot on the breaks to alert me that we'd found my apartment and he wanted nothing more to do with us. Unperturbed with the fare, I left the corresponding bills on his front seat before closing the distance from the street to my apartment, guiding Sera to the correct door with a hand on the small of her back.

The air was refreshing when I unlocked the door as it was far cooler inside than out. "After you," I gestured mildly, inwardly far more surprised that Finley wasn't actually lurking somewhere. Church greeted us with his characteristic howl and charismatic suicide-bomb type of leap from the top of the fridge, careening happily to the floor when he realized there was a new person to worship him. The others weren't yet friendly enough to greet a guest, and stayed hidden in the recesses of the apartment.

"Don't leave shoes on the floor," I suggested offhandedly, immediately grabbing two glasses from the bar and a bottle of Vodka that my brother had left to pour in her glass before I filled my own with my typical poison: scotch. As I reached out to offer her a glass, I felt a bit of a sheepish grin touching my lips. "The cats will take them and do unspeakable things to them." I nodded to a shelf built out of reach of the felines where shoes lay, before justifiably shutting myself up with a small sip of my drink and the briefest graze of my lips on hers afterwards. " Now tell me something," decidedly finished with the drink for the moment, I took the two glasses to set down before immediately turning to hoist her off of her feet and wrap her legs around me, my hands finding the skin at the base of her spine and pressing her tighter to me. "How attached to this dress are you?"