7 Shades of Sin

Gluttony

     'Hmm, certainly promising, but no.' Gluttony thinks as he moves among a crowded fast food restaurant, passing a plump man with multiple bags of food and one stomach. No…he needs to find someone so vastly different from himself that by changing them, he'll automatically win the contest.
     'Oh, sweetie, that's quite disgusting,' he wrinkles his nose at a girl who's scarfing down burgers, oblivious to the sauce staining her cheeks and shirt. 'Charming, but no.'
     Honestly, don't you want to be picked to take part in this contest? He sighs. These humans are all so incredibly worthless that it'd be hysterical if it didn't mean limited options for Gluttony.
     None of them are quite as voracious or grotesquely indulgent as he is, which means they're not good enough. Then, all of a sudden, it hits him just as an athlete walks through the door for his cheat day. What if the contest calls for someone that isn't yet affected by Gluttony yet?
     It's an interesting concept, and Gluttony is willing to dwell in it a little longer. The man with the lean, lanky build and curly red hair certainly poses a challenge in his sweaty volleyball uniform. He's careful when he orders his food but eats it with gusto.
     Gluttony decides to entertain the notion of choosing this human, and gleans his mind and memories. Alexander Gallagher has always been athletic and energetic, which is perhaps fortunate because he also possesses a huge appetite. Gluttony can work with this.
     Even though he is twins with Sloth, Gluttony feels as if he's more similar to Greed, as much as it pains him to admit it. She's just so disgusting and mindless, and he's just so much more…hmm, actually, he's quite simple as well.
     There's not much to analyze about Gluttony. He's sure you could go on all day about how Envy is fifty percent scheming and fifty percent teeth grinding, but most people just peg him as a morbidly obese creature with eating and drinking problems.
     How rude.
     First off, he isn't trapped in a meat sack--er physical body, like humans, so he is most definitely not drowning in his own fat, thank you very much. Second, he is so much more sophisticated and complicated than mere food and drink. At least, that's what he tells himself.
     He does not have an obsession with food…he just needs to sample everything again and again to…make sure that the taste has not changed in the last five seconds. Yes, that's it!
     Besides, food is the very reason for existence. He's sure many people will agree on that fact. Back to Greed…ah yes, he finds his thoughts drifting all the time, and he must stop himself before he goes off on a very questionable tangent. There are multiple instances of which he does not wish to ever speak of again. Minds can think up strange things.
     But Greed. To put it simply in one word, Greed is associated with obsession. Period. It can be about anything. Clothes, cars, houses, food, lovers, anything. That's what makes her so…well, greedy. But Gluttony…it does irk him a little that people usually define him using his sister.
     In fact, Gluttony is described as 'habitual greed or excess in eating,' according to Google. Greed gets a fancy description like, 'intense or selfish desire for something,' but Gluttony is stuck with the hand-me-downs. Is he intense or selfish? No, he resembles his sister.
     It's just not fair.
     Of course, there's a 'mild', one-sided rivalry between brother and sister, but only because Greed is so blinded by herself that she won't even spare a glance at Gluttony. No matter. He'll win this contest, if it's the last thing he does.
     Sloth has always told Gluttony that he's a bit too overboard. Even though this is coming from his sluggish idiotic brother, it's somewhat true. Alright, he'll admit it. Gluttony is a bit like Greed in the way that neither of them know when to hit the pause button.
     They're both driven by a bottomless desire to obtain everything.
     Gluttony wants to add Alexander to his collection. This young man is extremely easy to influence, and it takes a mere thought from Gluttony for Alex to order one of everything on the menu. Truth be told, human food doesn't look that bad, and Gluttony curses the fact that he can't eat anything in this world.
     For a second, he wants to pull a Vanity and collapse in a melodramatic mess. Oh, woe is him!
     For the time being, he must settle with staring at Alex eat. Every satisfying crunch, each burst of flavor, the pure deliciousness…everything shows on Alex's face. He's like an open book. Gluttony watches everything obsessively, eyes wide and glued on the man's mouth.
     He considers the possibility of one of his siblings seeing him like this and shrugs the thoughts away. Everybody has perverted, morally wrong hobbies, and his just happens to be indulging in his fantasies of food by getting aroused watching things being consumed. Oh, that does sound dirty, doesn't it?
     Never mind that.
     Alexander is quite promising. As the weeks go by, Gluttony leads him to stray farther and farther from his beloved sport and closer to the grasps of delicious, succulent food. However, because of his passion for volleyball and the practice he puts in, he's far from being overweight, at least for now.
     Even Gluttony doesn't really have an idea what his ultimate goal is. Maybe just turn him fat? Eh, he'll come up with something. Still, no matter how much he makes Alexander eat and drink, it's still incredibly boring.
     It's like a version of My Talking Tom, except a lot less amusing and cute. Gluttony pictures the advertisement. 'Download My Eating Alex from your app store now! You can feed him and watch him grow!'
     Sometimes, he hears news about his brothers' and sisters' progresses. Apparently Anger's done something horrible to his human again involving violence and Vanity's given some girl her patented makeover of doom. His brother, Sloth, being himself, has made minimal progress.
     It's not much consolation however, as this is the same guy that once complained about complaining. It used up too much of his energy.
     He does learn a bit about Alex in his free time, however. This boy is a middle blocker on his team, and quite a good one at that. Apparently, he's good at reading his opponent's moves, anticipating where the ball is going to go, and has a very high block along with quick reflexes. All the makings of a fine athlete.
     His best friend, Kaden, is unfortunately cursed with an average height that casts him at a disadvantage among the giants on the court. He's a…what was it? Oh yes, libero. Specializing in defense, was it? The other friend, Kayla, is a skilled setter on her team.
     Gluttony has to think for awhile to recall the positions in a volleyball team. He's not that big on sports. Still, in all the games he's watched, it's the spikers that stand out, so he's a little disappointed that this little volleyball group doesn't include a wing spiker or something.
     However, it does seem that there's more to volleyball than slamming the ball down and doing cool looking jump serves. Hmm. Maybe this volleyball thing can be a hobby of his. To watch, of course. He doubts he'd look good in a jersey, physical body or not.
     The trio is currently eating at some diner. Kayla and Kaden (Gluttony is abruptly reminded of the Kardashians because of all the K's) look on as Alex wolfs down his mountain of food.
     "Hey, slow down there, buddy, before you choke and I have to do the Heimlich maneuver." Kaden snorts. "Practice wasn't even that hard so why are you stuffing your face like you haven't eaten in three days?"
     Alex shoots him a glare as he pauses. "I'm not. I just wanna eat faster so I can get more food."
     Kayla looks at him skeptically. "I know you have a big appetite, but like, you've been eating more than a bear each day."
     "And you've seen a bear eat?" Kaden asks dryly.
     "When you live with a dad and three brothers, you start to see resemblances with wild animals."
     Alex nods, too busy finishing up his hamburger. A stack of them awaits him on the side. They joke about it now, but after a few weeks, it starts to turn to worry. Alex is still practicing as hard as ever, but the food he consumes doubles then triples. It's threatening to multiply even more.
     He never goes anywhere without snacks, because 'just in case.' He has a closer relationship with food than volleyball now, which frankly, is quite relatable.
     Eventually, and this is extremely exciting for Gluttony, Alex starts to get pudgier and his stamina is not as good as it used to be. He's slower, and even his reactions aren't as fast. The other day, the ball passes right through Alex's outstretched arms as he reaches to block. When he lands heavily on his unsteady feet, one of his ankles give out.
     Later, when he tries to dive for the ball, his chin smacks painfully against the floor as he lands short. And then when Kayla sets the ball perfectly to the height he usually spikes at, he doesn't jump high enough. The ball falls and bounces forlornly on the floor.
     "Bro, even I can jump higher than that!" Kaden snorts.
     "Shut up." Alex scowls. He doesn't know what's wrong with him. Why can't his body move like it used to? Why won't his limbs do what he tells them to do? Gluttony snickers. Later, after practice, Alex hears the whispers of his teammates as they discreetly glance his way. Kayla pats his back sympathetically, before retracting her hand at the unexpected pudge.
     "Have you put on weight?"
     "So what if I have?" Alex snarls. "Aren't we all against body shaming?"
     "Well yeah." Kaden pauses, unsure of how to say it. "It's just…you've been sort of…er, how do I say this? Well, it's like everyday is your cheat day but with ten times as much food. What's up all of a sudden? It's like you're pregnant or something."
     "Kaden, don't be rude." Kayla shoots him a look. "Pregnant people carry the future in their stomachs. This dude here just carries a shitload of junk food in his."
     "We're not trying to body shame, but there's a certain physique that's required for volleyball, and you've always had that until recently. It's just kind of sudden."
     "Look, I like food. Is that a crime?"
     His friends exchange looks but wisely choose to shake their heads and continue with their day. Their words get to Alex though, and he grows more and more insecure. He's always liked to eat, but it is true that his clothes are startlingly tight in some places. Maybe there's something wrong with him.
     But that can't stop him from gulping down food like there's no tomorrow. It becomes a sort of addiction that distracts him from the fact that he can't run for more than two minutes now without feeling like he's dying. He was once the star of the team, but now he's struggling to catch up with everyone.
     People are concerned about him and they offer advice, but it's really hard to control his urge to eat. Maybe it's because he's a growing boy. Yes, that's what Alex convinces himself of. He's a growing boy and he needs his food.
     But the bottom line is that he's not hungry most of the time that he eats, and if anything, the snacks are starting to make him feel nauseous. But there's something making him stuff a handful of cheetos in his mouth. Maybe it's the artificial flavoring.
     Or maybe it's Gluttony, who has lost track of time in the mortal world. How much time has passed? He pauses in his mission to search the Earth, only to find that most of his brothers and sisters are still there. Not to brag, but it seems that he's made the most progress on his human.
     Hmm. How much progress is enough for this thing to be over? He can no longer remember why in the world he wanted to even participate in the challenge in the first place nor why he even wanted the stupid prize. Was there a prize?
     Auuughh. Gluttony is booooored and Alex is boooooring. Stupid humans and their stupid habits and stupid Envy with her stupid, boring ideas.
     He's out of here.
     Gluttony takes one last look at pathetic Alex, who's currently enjoying a large pizza, and leaves before he can throw up. And he doesn't even have a stomach.