Mean Gods

Chapter 5

Chapter 11: Horace

The dinner was… ugh… interesting.

Gula downed the entire cooked chicken she had brought from the supermarket, then ate the chips, then the salad, then washed it all down with a couple of soft drinks. Then she leaned in for the corn flakes, which Acedia protected, close to her chest.

The kitchen table hadn’t been used since his parent had left. He usually ate at the sofa while watching some series or on his computer. Having people over made the use of the table a necessity, and Horace was glad he’d done so because the mess looked a lot easier to clean up afterwards.

But he had to admit he enjoyed eating dinner with company. The fact that it was two ladies also helped.

Gula punched a fist into her chest a couple of times, then burped gently. Her expression content, she leaned back on the chair.

“Full?” Horace asked.

“For now. Thank you, Horace. Here’s my token.” She motioned gently in the air before her as if blowing on a handful of leaves.

Horace checked his app. Indeed, there was a token. He collected it, and it said the word Gluttony in Greek, ΛΑΙΜΑΡΓΙΑ.

He couldn’t help himself checking the stats. It was addictive, like all games were, even one as strange as this one. What would he actually do with all the tokens?

He needed to ask the girls some pointed questions.

Evil Thought

Tokens

Gula

1

Luxuria

0

Avaritia

0

Superbia

1

Invidia

0

Ira

1

Acedia

2

“Gula, how long are you staying?” he asked.

She shrugged and smiled at him, wiping her mouth with a napkin. She was still full of crumbs on her large chest, however. “For as long as success takes. Or failure.”

“How cryptic,” he nodded, grinning. He made a mental calculation of his bank account. Most of the groceries they’d bought were gone. Or, all over the table and the floor. Gula was a messy eater. Acedia, on the other hand, could nibble on a crumb for two hours. Both were maddening.

If he kept this up his cash would be gone in a week.

He needed to get out and look for a job tomorrow. Hanging out with Acedia was nice but he couldn’t postpone it.

He stood up and washed the dishes. Acedia still munched on a cornflake, and it could still very much be the same one he saw her holding earlier.

“I’ll help,” Gula said and pushed him aside with her butt. “Actually, let me do them all.”

“Okay,” Horace agreed. “I’m tired, didn’t get much sleep yesterday. And I slept on the couch which is terrible for my back.” Then he realised he had guests over. “Ugh, sleeping arrangements, right.”

“Wow. I’ll sleep on the sofa. It’s my spot,” Acedia said slowly, raising a hand.

He opened his mouth to argue but he didn’t really have the strength for it. “Fine. You, Gula? The guest room is right down the hall. You can sleep there. It’s practically turned into an office space but the bed is comfortable. Got anything you might need?”

She turned her pretty face and nodded towards her backpack. “It’s all in there.”

“Excellent. Well, ladies, make yourselves at home. Not that you haven’t already, but here it is formally,” he chuckled. “Goodnight, I’ll bring down clean sheets and some extra pillows and I’m off to bed.”