For Dust Thou Art (Open-Mingle)

[true_noir]

WHO: Anyone (Open-Mingle)
WHERE: The Local Catholic Church
WHEN: Ash Wednesday, Noon or Evening
WHAT: Worship, Coffee in the church hall afterwards
WARNINGS: Religious Stuff for those not inclined


(OOC: Don't feel that you have to tag Chloe for this. This is just an open mingle for religiously inclined/catholic characters. If you'd rather not get a tag from Chloe specifically, shoot me a PM)
Setting A) The Chapel
Though, all told, things weren't necessariy that bad in the city, there had been just enough insanity that those inclined might have wanted a bit of a dose of religion in their lives. Well, for those who were looking for the Christian persuasion, they were in luck. It was Ash Wednesday, which meant the season of giving things up, getting ashes put on their forehead and feeling penitent for their wrongs. And for all those working-class people who were too tired for evening mass, there was a noon one, perfect for one's lunch break. The sermon was even shorter, just for them.

Before the services, the large cathedral hall was mostly quiet, though people did tend to whisper in the back rows and in the small alcoves. It wasn't hard to find a place to get a word in edgewise before the priest began. It was a chance sometimes people took to catch up on the lives of those who they only saw through the church, after all. And after a few whispered conversations, there was always the service, somber and emotionally distant.

Setting B) The Church Hall
No sweets, no heavy potlucks this time around, but the local priest did seem to have the idea that giving people who came a chance to relax, to speak and to remain together as a community. So, the next door meeting hall had coffee set out and percolating away, along with tea for those less interested in it. It was a more open chance, if one had the time during their off hours, to speak with friends and share a moment. The mood was far less religious, since most people at the church couldn't maintain the somber air for long after the service was concluded. But, at least most didn't wipe the ashes off until they were back at work, or later.

Setting C) Wildcard
-Hey, there's plenty of other things one can do in church on an Ash Wednesday. Feel free to set something up.

Comments

Chloe - OTA

[true_noir]

Option A - Shhhh!
Chloe was good about keeping quiet in church as a rule, but some people that she wanted to see might have made an appearance, so she sat in the back pews, near one of the small alcoves, and looked towards the door with expectation and a bit of hope. If someone she recognized happened by, she patted the pew next to herself and beckoned them over, putting a finger to her lips for them not to be too loud in talking before the services began.

Option B - Beads for Tuesday, Coffee for Wednesday
After the service was done, Chloe milled around near the coffee to see if there was anyone that she knew, the ashes still fresh on her forehead. Heathen that she was, she had a cup of tea in her hands instead, preferring that over coffee as a rule. The styrofoam warming her hands, she had to admit that this whole experience helped her feel... not good, but at least normal again. It was something she could wrap her head around after all, something normal and familiar. Faceless people gabbing away in a church hall, the semi-anonymity of souls she rarely saw except when they showed up for mass. Many of them only ever came for the festivals, and she was no better. It all felt hopelessly banal and normal.

Sometimes normal was good.

Option C - "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned"
Any conversation that began with 'It has been six months since my last confession' never ended well. So, somebody was spending a bit of time after worship in the proverbial dog-house, running through hail-maries and the like. She'd made sure her schedule was set up so this wouldn't impact work, since she had half expected it. It was not to say, however, that someone couldn't come by and see her, either as she was going to confession or coming out of it.

She even managed to look a little abashed.

b

[me_matey]

May, like her old man, was a lapsed Catholic to say the least. Both were sorry, hopeless sinners at the end of the day, even if May's heart was gold. But some things were basically habit, and that included everything leading up to Easter. So May also had the ashes in place, and at least did Chloe one better by having coffee in her cup, straight black.

"Bet you didn't think I was Catholic, huh?"

[true_noir]

"I will admit... I had not quite expected you to be the religious sort," Chloe said with a faintly amused tone as she saw the girl emerge nearby and speak with her. She smiled, though, pleased to see May. It was nice to see someone that she'd been getting to know lately, after all. Most of the people here had little to no understanding of her recent troubles.

"I shouldn't be so surprised, though. They say the high seas are perilous. It does not hurt to have a higher power on your side, does it?"

[me_matey]

May dismissed Chloe's words with a wave.

"Like I said before, my faith isn't that strong. This is mostly just habit for me. The old man was Catholic, so it just stuck with me," the orphanage was strongly Catholic influenced, though not directly under the Church in any way. May sipped at her coffee, letting out a sigh.

"You know, one of those types that only shows up to services on the big holidays."

[true_noir]

She nodded in understanding, pretty quickly in fact. The few times she had visited church back home and all the time here, it had often been the same. It wasn't as if she was much better. "I won't pretend my faith is that abiding. I think there is something there, and I appreciate what the church does," she said, sipping her tea. "But my mother was the faithful one. I came because she cared about it. The ceremonies, they are what I draw from."

She smirks. "So I suppose we are similar, like many Catholics. I'm sure it annoys the priest."

[me_matey]

"Eh, I'm sure they're happy so long as we're here and paying the occasional tithe," May shrugged, taking a looong sip of her coffee.

"Ugh, this stuff tastes burnt..."

[true_noir]

Chloe nodded distantly to herself. She was never quite so certain when it came to priests whether or not they were pleased by just the token participation. They were always so distant, after all, and their sermons really never changed one way or another. "Perhaps so..." she murmured before smirking. "Ah yes, the coffee always gets burnt quickly. They make it too far ahead of time, so I prefer the tea. Hard to burn it when I am preparing it myself, yes?"

[me_matey]

"Never could get in to tea. It feels too mellow for me. I pretty much subsist on black coffee and diet sodas. Not the healthiest thing, but eh...," May shrugged, taking another sip.

"So long as I hit the workouts every day, I'm sure I'm fine."

[true_noir]

"You should consider Earl Grey. It is a much darker flavor, though neither is too bad. And it can't be bad, can it? It is, after all diet, is it not?" Because that was surely the end of the story.

Setting B

[scarlet_devil]

Before long after the service, Chloe will be joined by her friend, Émilie, who was here with her family as was expected of her.

"Hey, Chloe." Naturally, she too had tea.

[true_noir]

Chloe looked up and smiled as she saw Emilie. This was a face that she expected to see here, and so was a pleasant sight. She grinned at her, keeping a bit more of a reserved distance than usual. It was church, after all. "Well, hello. It seems we both have our little traditions to bear, yes?" she said, taking a sip. "I hope you didn't have too hard a time in confession today. I waited far too long, it seems."

Admittedly, she never confessed everything. She'd always heard the priest here was rather ... traditional.

[scarlet_devil]

Émilie had her secrets, and of course... didn't confess everything. Maybe her worries about Nina. The heiress will be telling Nina that she'll love her no matter what. "Oh, that we have. I couldn't skip this, in the end."

[true_noir]

"There are some services. This, Easter, Christmas. It just would not be a year without them in my life. so, I know how you feel." Everyday worship, though, was more for her mother. The familiarity of home for her was... not enough of an excuse to deal with certain judgmentalism she always felt ever since leaving a little country church nobody cared about.

[scarlet_devil]

No wonder she's, well, a lapsed Catholic. She still comes because it's what people expect.

"...Yeah."

[true_noir]

It's how most lapsed or holiday Catholics were. They were expected to come, and so they came, at specific and assumed time periods. But, enough of that. That was depressing talk, and Chloe wished none of that.

She smiled, shaking her head. "So, how are you, Emilie? Other than services of course."

[scarlet_devil]

"I've been well, Chloe. How are things with you?" She gives her friend a small smile.

[true_noir]

She pulled out a fork and showed it to her, frowning. Yes, she'd kept that fork slipped up her sleeve for some strange reason. "Retrospec mailed me this, for some unexplained reason," she said, shaking her head. "But other than that weirdness constantly invading my life, I've been well, better than a couple weeks ago. It was good to come."

Anise | OTA, will match formats!

[killyoubastards]

B: Church Hall

After the ceremony, Anise got herself a cup of tea and loitered about in the hall. Her parents seemed to be deeply engaged in a conversation with some other couple, so she didn't have much to do but to wait for them. It didn't bother her, though. They were regulars at this church, and she knew both the ceremonies and the community were really important to them. Just like at their old church...

As she sipped her tea, she spent some time thinking to herself. Come to think of it... there was something kind of important that she forgot all about until just earlier, during the service. Was it too late? No, it was probably fine. She just had to think of something now.

If someone were to linger too long in Anise's vicinity, she'd look to them with a nervous smile and ask, "So, um... Have you thought of something to give up for Lent?"

[true_noir]

Chloe considered that as she was asked, and simply nodded. "I have," she said, and that decision had been made because of a hangover today. She was not above agreeing to certain things to give up that should probably be given up regardless. Besides, giving up alcohol didn't mean giving up on going out to have fun, now did it? "And what about you, miss?"

She looked over at the young lady and smiled, sipping at her own cup of tea and just enjoying the collective warmth and company.

[killyoubastards]

"I... haven't really decided yet," Anise replied, looking down into her cup and watching the tea swirl around. "I put it off, thinking I'd know what to do when the time came... but I'm totally drawing a blank."

She sighed, then looked back up to the young woman. "What did you decide on?" Maybe hearing about other people's choices would help Anise think of something.

[true_noir]

She chuckled and shook her head. "I believe Jesus once said that we shouldn't make too big of a deal of such things," she said, not really wanting to openly admit that she drank on occasion, considering fake IDs were involved. She thought about it for a moment before she spoke up, thinking she had a decent idea for one.

"But, maybe you could give up sweets, or soda? I would think those are common."

[killyoubastards]

She dodged the question. Some kind of embarrassing secret, maybe? Anise couldn't help but wonder.

"Mm... that's what a lot of people do, I guess," Anise said, tilting her head as she considered it. "But I don't actually eat sweets or drink soda that much. I only really have treats and stuff when other people give them to me, and I don't wanna be ungrateful to someone who's trying to do something nice for me..."

[true_noir]

"Mmm, well in that case, something nice that you enjoy, but that you can live without. That would be my suggestion. The point is to recall penitence, after all, and to remember that much was given up for our sake, is it not?" Or at least that's how she'd been taught when younger. It usually just ended up being an excuse for better life habits really.

And yep, totally dodged the question, and totally going to keep dodging.

[killyoubastards]

Remembering what was given up...

The woman seemed to mean that in a religious context, but Anise's mind kept going back to her parents. It was her fault that they had to leave their old home behind, and every day they kept working their hardest to provide a normal, happy life for her.

As far as penitence went, giving up lying would've been ideal... but probably not realistic. Anise wasn't going to commit to something she couldn't follow through on.

After another long pause, she spoke up again. "Oh! I guess there's also, like... Some people decide, instead of giving something up, to take something on, right? Like challenging themselves to start a good habit or try to be a better person." Another curious glance was made at the woman. "People do that, right?" Anise didn't really talk to people about this kind of thing often.

[true_noir]

Hmmm, did people do that? Chloe honestly didn't know if they actually did something like that sometimes, but as far as she was concerned that certainly seemed to suit the purpose of a fast. And what was it that it said, somewhere in one of those prophet books somewhere? Rend your heart and not your garments? Or something like that. She really needed to read it more often, honestly. The point was that it seemed appropriate enough.

"Yes, I think that would be fine. If you want to be sure, you could ask the priest, but I see no reason why you couldn't do that," she answered, nodding in what she thought was a sage fashion. "Either way, you're reflecting on improving how you behave, right?"