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Post by Bobby Drake on Aug 23, 2007 21:44:31 GMT -4
It was a relatively quiet afternoon at the chapel. At this hour of the day, whatever hustle and bustle that was taking place everywhere else in the world seemed unable to penetrate the holy walls of this place of worship and prayer.
The light was filtered out by a glorious display of stained glass windows, casting colorful lights and shapes about the room in a mesmerizing display of tranquility. Thick walls meted out any noise pollution, and if one were to spend any amount of time in undistracted introspection in there, it would almost make one feel transcendent, simply by the psychology of architecture that positively radiated ‘otherworldly’.
The chapel door slammed open and Bobby Drake ducked in. He shut the door behind him to a crack, peering out of the crack and breathing way too hard. It took a minute before he calmed down, and then he looked around. Blue eyes widened as he looked way up to the display of a cross of lights.
His voice reverberated in the sacred hall.
“Holy crap!”
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Post by Gambit on Aug 23, 2007 21:56:25 GMT -4
When one’s profession depended so much on the random appearance of others, free time was something that came in abundance. Luckily the chapel was large enough that cleaning took up much of this time; the priest refused to have an inferior do so for him. He was a servant of God and it would not be right to have others serving him. Besides that, it was a peaceful task that he enjoyed. Just himself, the serenity, the silence… and a young man who appeared to be hiding from someone.
“If dere must be ‘crap’ here, one can only expect it t’ be holy,” Remy replied from his position to the left and above the boy. His silhouette was visible by the light of the stained glass window that he had been cleaning. Dropping the washcloth back into the bucket, he descended the ladder, hopping down off the last few rungs and landing gracefully on his feet.
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Post by Bobby Drake on Aug 23, 2007 22:06:41 GMT -4
Bobby hadn’t seen the father dude standing up there in the shadows near the colorful windows. That was why he jumped and even squealed (just a little) at the sound of the voice.
He was a little jumpy, and his hand covered his heart as he watched with enormous eyes the priest descending the ladder.
“I didn’t mean any...” He pointed at the door and then he looked around. “I mean, sorry for cussin’ and shi...cra...er...stuff.” He was rambling nervously, trying not to look at the priest’s fiery red eyes of judgment and hell fire.
“It’s just that I haven’t...” His eyes caught the confessional over to the side. “My friend hasn’t been to confessional in a long time. And she...he wants me to wanted me to confess her sins for hi..her.”
He nodded his head and looked around.
Bobby hadn’t been to church since he was ten. He fancied he was doing fairly well, aside from the lying to a priest thing.
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Post by Gambit on Aug 23, 2007 22:24:03 GMT -4
Remy’s eyebrows rose higher and higher with each word the poor, jumpy young man tried to utter. It didn’t take much to figure out that this was the first time in a long time that he had set foot in a church. It seemed to bring out the discomfort in those who were not regulars.
But if this was merely a hideout from whatever he was running from, perhaps his discomfort was due more to the fact that he simply didn’t believe. Whatever the case, if it was sanctuary he sought, he had come to the right place.
“It’s quite alright, m’ child. Don’ t’ink dat y’re de first one t’ experience such a slip o’ de tongue aroun’ me. I seem t’ bring it out o’ people,” the priest replied, a kind smile on his lips. Approaching the young man, he bowed his head in a respectful greeting. “If y’ are ready, I would be glad t’ hear de confession o’… y’r friend.”
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Post by Bobby Drake on Aug 24, 2007 10:54:26 GMT -4
Bobby wasn't sure he wanted to be the dude's child, but it didn't really come off as weird or creepy. Still, it could possibly go that direction, so Bobby just kept his guard up and his wide eyes sharp. It was a little disarming to see that the priest really wanted to help him in some way.
For some reason Bobby suddenly felt like he had a lot to talk about. But he'd seen enough movies to know you didn't just blab it all out in the open like this. "Shouldn't we be in a booth or something?"
He felt extremely uncomfortable all of the sudden. "I haven't really been...well, it's been like a few years since..." Dude, quit starin'! "Sometimes I look at naked women on the computer," he blurted out real fast without thinking. He was totally unnerved all of the sudden. "Not totally naked most of the time, just boobs."
A thin bead of sweat developed on his brow.
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Post by Gambit on Aug 24, 2007 21:57:56 GMT -4
Nodding at the initial question, Remy had just started to lead the young man toward the confessionals when the confession started right then and there. This was unfortunate. Although the confessionals were meant to protect the identity and offer privacy for the confessor, they were also quite useful to the priest for they hid his expression.
At this moment he really could have done with that screen and the poor lighting.
“Yes. Well.”
Confessionals also allowed a little extra time to think of a response without being stared right in the face. As it was, he could do little more than stare back at the twitching, sweating... voyeur.
“De confessionals are dis way.”
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Post by Bobby Drake on Aug 25, 2007 6:46:21 GMT -4
It was totally stupid, being so nervous around a priest. Bobby wasn’t even sure he believed in God or anything like that...but he blamed it on the fact that this church was creepy, and the priest kept looking at him with those eyes and junk.
It was hot in here. He extended a small fraction of power to cool it down a little. It helped only a very little as the awkward silence stretched out between them before the priest spoke.
“Yes. Well...De confessionals are dis way.”
Actually there were a lot of things pushing their way to the front of Bobby’s heart. Things he hadn’t told anyone about ever. Things that actually sometimes made it difficult to sleep around. He nodded and followed silently behind the priest, chancing one last glance at the chapel door to make sure he wasn’t being followed.
“So do you like, live here or something?”
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Post by Gambit on Aug 26, 2007 12:32:27 GMT -4
Whatever it was that this young man was hiding from had already set him on edge, and while some would find comfort in seeking sanctuary in a church, this was not the case here. Even with the glance toward the door, he appeared no more comfortable now than he probably had outside.
“Oui, dese walls have been m’ home fo’ several years now,” he admitted as they walked. He worked here; he lived here; he saw little else than the interior of the church and the vast and beautiful gardens that surrounded it. It was a peaceful existence, if not sheltered.
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Post by Bobby Drake on Aug 27, 2007 6:59:46 GMT -4
The words peaceful and sheltered weren't exactly the ones Bobby had in mind right now. Walking toward the little closet thingies, he kept looking around at the tall ceilings and looming shadows everywhere. Creepy. That was a word.
"Well," he said trying to be polite. "I...like what you've done with the place." Not.
Standing before the booth, Bobby tried to remember what he was supposed to do. His mother had taken him to church, but it was a long time ago, and the only thing he remembered was that you were supposed to be really respectful to priests and nuns and that was actually something that came pretty natural.
Clapping his hands to his side he stood straight, and then stiffly bowed to the priest before ducking into the dark little box. In the shadows without those creepy eyes watching him, he felt a little more comfortable. Silently he began to wonder what he needed to say. Thoughts of family, friends, work and every aspect of his life began filtering across his thoughts.
To his surprise, there was a lot that Bobby Drake felt bad about.
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Post by Gambit on Aug 27, 2007 9:01:50 GMT -4
Even having reached the confessionals, the young man still didn’t appear to know what to do with himself. The bow was unexpected, but the sudden dive into the booth was not. Was this all really just nerves? As bumbling as he appeared, the priest couldn’t seem to believe he had committed any horrible sins. Although, he did appear to be running from someone.
Taking his usual seat in the other booth, Remy took the bible from the bench beside him, place it on his lap and folded his hands upon it.
“Whenever y’ are ready,” he said quietly after a long moment of silence.
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Post by Bobby Drake on Aug 28, 2007 6:56:39 GMT -4
Bobby settled himself into the booth, trying to get comfortable on the wooden seat and finding it impossible. That was probably the idea, he supposed. Keep you uncomfortable and in the dark. Actually...the dark was about the only thing he liked right now. For some reason the dark made him feel safe.
"Well..." he started hesitantly, "...it's been a long time since I've done this." He sighed and looked down at his shadowed hands. Maybe he wasn't as much of an atheist as he prided himself to be. When it came right down to it he had a few questions that were nagging at him.
"How can you tell if you're going to Hell?"
Of all the things he had done wrong in his life, a few of them filtered to the surface. Things that had started out minuscule now seemed mountainous.
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Post by Gambit on Aug 29, 2007 20:24:55 GMT -4
The boy was troubled, but it didn’t seem to be one particular sin that troubled him. Perhaps by stumbling into the church today, he had been forced to face possible ideas, realities and consequences that he was not prepared to face. The priest knew how difficult that could be on someone.
“God is merciful and fo’givin’. Repent; atone, and when de time comes t’ face y’r mortality, dese deeds won’ be fo’gotten,” he replied, his voice calm and soothing.
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Post by Bobby Drake on Aug 29, 2007 22:17:55 GMT -4
"Well...I've never stolen anything," Bobby sounded as if he might be a self-appointed attorney in the afterlife. "And I never killed nobody. Unless you count in games like Splinter Cell or Halo or something, though those were aliens. Can you be held for killing people in video games?"
He was so screwed if you could.
And of course he was stalling.
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Post by Gambit on Aug 30, 2007 16:29:32 GMT -4
The priest chuckled.
“If dat’s y’r worst crime, den I don’ t’ink y’ got anyt’in’ t’ worry ‘bout,” he replied.
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Post by Bobby Drake on Sept 1, 2007 15:41:52 GMT -4
Bobby's shoulders slumped.
"I wish," he said under his breath. By this time he was pretty sure he knew what was wrong. Taking in a deep breath, Bobby summoned the courage to say it aloud. Somehow it never had been real until the moment he gave it breath.
"Tell me what you think," he said as he leaned in toward the screen a little. "If someone lies to a friend, is there any way to get out of it without anything bad happening? Or maybe is it better to just pretend it never happened and try to do better in the future?"
He said the last part kind of hopefully.
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