EV stands behind the service desk, watching as Wrath heads up the stairs. What would that be like, he wonders. Not even knowing your own name? I already struggle with not knowing things—I can’t imagine how that must feel. How miserable would I be if the questions that I couldn’t answer were about me? Wrath disappears beyond the balcony and EV begins looking through the drawers behind the desk. He starts looking, as he always does, not knowing what he is looking for or why he is looking. Several drawers and a tray full of blank business cards later—he’s already tapping his fingers on the desk. He looks over to his tapping fingers. “Agh,” he groans and scrubs the back of his head. There are no chairs to spin in so it seems like a good time to venture elsewhere. Where did Gluttony wonder off to?

Greed walks in from a side door with a table in tow. EV looks around the lobby and sees plenty of tables nearby so he is a little confused at why they would need another. Greed finally sets the table up in the middle of the lobby. As Greed unsheathes his spear and slides it into an umbrella hole in the center of the table, it suddenly makes sense. The spear then begins to glow, illuminating the darkening lobby.

Greed looks over to see EV’s appraising stare. “Hey big guy, give us some credit,” Greed says with a smile. “We’re not savages .”

EV smiles and nods before setting off to find Gluttony. His bracers begin to glow and follows the nearby hall, seeing all the things that are typically on the first floor of a hotel. He passes a business center and a gym before finding a room with an open door. He gets distracted when he sees the door and walks to another room to try the handle. It opens without resistance even though it has an electronic lock and no power. He suddenly remembers the sporting goods store being unlocked as well and tries to remember if he ever came across any locked doors at the airport. Did everyone just decide to unlock everything when—whatever happened, happened? He is biting his lip when he hears his name. “Hmm?”

“What are you doing,” Gluttony asks from the door that had been ajar.

“Oh, hey Lu, I was just looking for you.”

“Ugh—remind me not to let you take a shift as a lookout—and did you just say hey you?” Gluttony smiles playfully. “I have a name you know?”

EV chuckles and shakes his head. “No, I said Lu, not -you—and I’m aware you have a name. Lu just happens to be shorter.”

Gluttony laughs and shakes his head. “Lu huh? I guess I could do worse.” He pushes the door open wider and waves EV inside. Lu walks to the nearby couch, sits and points to nearby chairs. “Sit wherever.” Thoomp! “I’m surprised you’re not upstairs, pestering the new guy.”

EV walks past a high back chair and opts for the one at a desk, but is immediately disappointed and returns to the high back. “How did you know—oh wait, did you see him walk by or something?” Lu nods and takes a long drink. “Where are you getting that stuff?” Lu’s cheeks are protruding like a chipmunk and he holds up a finger. A moment later, the jug glows and then dissolves. “Wait—you can dissolve and reshape that too?”

“Mhmm.” It reshapes in his hand with the cork installed. Thoomp! “It doesn’t run out either.”

“That’s so crazy. It’s just like my book then.”

Lu nods along. “Until we met, my jug was the only thing I ever saw that could be dissolved like a weapon.” He begins smiling as he thinks back. “Pride had once asked me about that—how are you able to dissolve that? I said, that’s a mystery—then I pulled out the cork and looked him in the eyes—but I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

EV laughs and shakes his head. “No you didn’t.”

“Sure I did and he sure called me an idiot afterwards but that didn’t stop him from grinning like a crazy person.”

“I bet,” EV says, becoming thoughtful. “Hey, do you think there’s other stuff we could learn to dissolve?”

“Oh I haven’t a clue but I guess it’s possible. You did say you found the book right?—Maybe so, then.” He proffers the drink and EV initially waves it off. “Come on. It’s rude to let someone drink alone.”

“Is that really a thing?”

“Well, right now it is.”

EV relents, takes the jug and sniffs at the opening. “It smells sweet.” Lu just waggles his eyebrows, making his eye covering appear to bounce. EV just shakes his head and takes a drink. He swallows and his eyes go wide as the raging inferno roils in his throat. He starts coughing, covering his mouth as tears stream away from both eyes, only being able to speak the accusations with his eyes as Lu laughs and rocks on the couch.

The coughing finally subsides and EV wipes away tears with his wrists. Just shaking his head as Lu continues laughing and picking at him. EV tries to form words but only rasps, having to clear his throat a few times. “What’s in that,” he finally whispers.

“Just love and friendship, —obviously.” EV narrows his eyes but Lu just swats at the expression. “It gets better. Only miserable the first time.” Lu takes another drink and smiles. “Greed drank with me once.”

“Really,” EV rasps.

“Oh, yep and boy, let me tell ya—when he drinksh, he talks—a lot. I was thinking he’d never hush up. Like today. You saw that right?”

“Yeah,” EV says, smiling as Lu continues to wind down.

Lu wipes his forearm across his mouth after having another drink. “I think it had something to do wizsh what he told me when we was drinking. Before now. He didn’t say it before.”

“Didn’t say what?”

Greed saw tha—Wrath was hish name?—saw he hadda necklace. Greed, he needs some jewelry stuff for a door? Or maybe was a scale? Was something! That’s why he wears that stuff here.” Lu gestures at his own neck. “Around hish neck. He is gathering it. Supposed to help him bring someone back. That’s nice right?”

EV nods. “Yeah, I heard him mumbling about paying something during their fight—so that’s what he was talking about? Trying to pay for someone to come back? How much does he need?”

“That’s what I shed! —I ashked how much was enough but he got mad. Said I should mind my own business—and he don’t drink no more now.”

“That’s wild.”

“Yeah, that’s people though. Shumtimes they drink to remember—shumtimes to forget—I think—maybe heez rememberin too much.” Lu nods to himself as he thinks about it.

“So which one are you then?”

Lu looks at EV as if to scrutinize something or maybe to try to understand the question. After a moment, Lu dons his usually smile and leans over on the arm rest. “I drink to teach—to show othersh how to have em a good time.” He smiles again and seems to grow still.

EV stares at him for a moment and can’t help but to feel sad for some reason. He stands, takes the jug out of Lu’s hand, and sets it across the room. He leaves Lu to rest and goes to the room across the hall. His head is swimmy and it’s not just from the booze. He crawls on the bed and shapes the book, laying it in his lap. So which one are you then, he thinks back. Lu’s expression no longer felt like it was from thinking. It seemed more like hesitation—reluctance even. EV stops turning the pages and his eyes fall on a Socrates quote: “People only see what they are prepared to see.” He closes the book in an embrace and falls back on the pillows, not being able get Lu’s expression out of his mind—afraid to think about what he would have seen if the bandana hadn’t been there. He squeezes his eyes shut and pleads for his mind to be still long enough to get to sleep.