[fortunately for him, such an answer only keeps him in Emily's good graces rather than anything else...for now, she'll believe him to be morally upstanding.]
It would be my sincere pleasure, Father, no matter who's leading the service. Though I'm sure we won't be limited to just Sundays for meeting.
Oh, no no-- not at all! I can't say I would complain in the least should our paths cross far more often... in fact, I'd dare suspect that to be something of a regular occurrence!
[ is he insinuating he will be harassing dropping by often? is that what is happening? maybe, maybe it is. ]
But I'm quite happy to have met a fellow-- um. Out of towner here, I have to admit! It's a bit strange, isn't it? Conversing with someone and feeling a little... ah. Out of sorts, when you find out they'd probably stare at you like you'd grown an extra eye on your forehead if you told them why you're here?
Or like you need to weave your own version of events to explain where you came from. Too often does someone want to ask about the past, and then you have to build greater and greater fiction to avoid the truth. Being summoned is hardly a fit answer when it comes to "why this town" - you at least can blame a calling, an assignment.
[for now, she was resorting to mentioning "a solid residency" and "recommended programs" - as long as she made it sound official, no one would question the ways of the medical world. a single woman could be shifted about to fill what gaps were needed.]
[ he leans forward to emphatically nod his vigorous agreement!! ]
I mean, how awkward did they have to go and make it, right?! Didn't even give us something of a plausible cover story or anything, just sent us out to wolves~! Callous! Cruel, if you ask me...! I think it's all a scam, you know? But I haven't quite figured out what they're angling for, yet. --But definitely a scam!
...N-no, no-- that, I... that isn't quite what I meant!
[ waving his hands for a moment in denial, here-- ]
I mean-- yes, but m-maybe not when you put it like that! Don't you think it's convenient all of us have something to do with the end of the world, and yet we're all here equally conveniently serving as veritable free labor?! Suspicious! Veeeery suspicious if you ask me...!
If they intended to exploit us, they wouldn't offer payment, and we wouldn't have a choice of where to go. Suspicion is natural and healthy, but so far it's balanced by the evidence against it. We could even walk away fully, go anywhere else in the world.
Perhaps, Father, what ties us to the apocalypse is not ourselves, but the method of our arrival. Something peculiar that we all share - but it be nefits us to assist, does it not?
[ w-well. when she puts it like that... Abel huffs softly under his breath, shifting his weight from one foot to the next and looking quite like he can't decide if he should be contrary or not. just for the sake of it. because sometimes, a man has to be 5 years old. these are the rules. ]
...I-I mean, I suppose you're right.
[ no, she definitely is-- ]
Are you saying that maybe there's some kind of red thread that ties us all together? Have you heard of that fable...? Ah, maybe it's particularly apt, now I think about it.
Well, it's been quite a while since I've heard of it-- but I think it goes something like... people whose fates are tied together are bound by some kind of red string of fate? But I feel like I'm missing part of the fable...
[ yeah, the like, undying love part, soulmates, so on and so forth-- ]
A-anyway, maybe we're all tied together in such a way, Dr. Dyer? A 'string,' proverbially speaking? Though I quite wonder what could bind us all, especially considering how different we all seem to be. Some common experience? Favorite brand of tea? --Say, is milk tea your favorite, too...?
That depends entirely on the type of tea. A good, strong brew does well with milk, but anything where florals start to come into the equation is best enjoyed alone.
[good tea is one of the little pleasures in life. messing it up is...well, she'll drink it, but she won't be happy.]
A thread that connects us through our fate, though...that's a fable only a romantic could come up with.
[ romantic? why does that feel as though that hits the nail on the head so very...
...
--oh. oh. his face colors slightly as it abruptly occurs to him what, precisely, he had been missing from that fable. right-- ]
Funny you should say that, dear Doctor~! I, ah, quite believe you're right actually, and the tale had something to do with soulmates~! Ah, a sharp eye! Or is Dr. Dyer something of a romantic herself...?
Abel-- delighting in this response, shameless a creature as he is-- leans in a little with a wink and presses a finger to his lips as he drops his voice. ]
--Ah, so it IS true!! Don't you worry... your secret is safe with me~! I won't tell a soul, Doctor, any confessions made to a priest in a church are absolutely sacred...
[if she had less respect for men of the cloth or a church, she would raise a little more fuss about this. as it is, she has to take this and swallow down every protest otherwise, for it would only dig the pit she's in that much deeper.]
I...appreciate that, Father, though I didn't realize I had stepped into the confessional.
[she knows with all her soul that she's being teased, and she has no counter. help.]
[ okay, okay, he'll cease and desist; it's cruel to tease her overmuch when she is so endearingly earnest about it...!! goodness, ]
There's never a wrong time or place to listen to matters of the heart, is there? I'm happy to hear you, confessional or not! [ he sends a small glance toward the stained glass windows, depictions of Mother Mary and Christ backlit by sunlight. ] ...Though there may be more comfortable places to discuss those sort of things, I'll admit. It feels a little, um-- you know... like you're being watched, doesn't it?
Ah-- well, you absolutely have the right of it! His eyes are ever watchful.
[ Abel gently touches the rosary dangling from its chain where the heavy weight rests at his stomach with fondness, before...
...he gestures lightly toward the doors. ]
Actually, Dr. Dyer... would you humor me for a walk? I was trying to get the lay of the land when I stumbled upon this place, and if you wouldn't mind... some company and fresh air would be lovely! --If it's no trouble, of course.
[ she's so pleasant?? Abel's smile is earnest and pleased as he nods in return for her acquiescence, before beginning to meander toward the entrance, ]
Then-- would you mind terribly if I asked you where you like to spend your time? When you're not diligently curing what ails Gloucester, that is! Do you have a favorite spot around town?
[at the question, she has to look away a little, wondering what it says of her that she knows the answer well.]
...Honestly speaking, it's difficult to name one, but that's because of how much time I've spent in only a select few places. Still, if I had to name one, I'm rather fond of the beaches - there's one that when the water's low has the most marvelous tidepools. Though I'd say they're all worth exploring.
[ oho? though it surely must seem it's impossible, Abel is perking up further at that answer, ]
--Tidepools, really...? Now that you said it, I don't think I've spent much time near the beach at all... ah-- Dr. Dyer, before you ended up here, did you perhaps live by the coast?
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It would be my sincere pleasure, Father, no matter who's leading the service. Though I'm sure we won't be limited to just Sundays for meeting.
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[ is he insinuating he will be
harassingdropping by often? is that what is happening? maybe, maybe it is. ]But I'm quite happy to have met a fellow-- um. Out of towner here, I have to admit! It's a bit strange, isn't it? Conversing with someone and feeling a little... ah. Out of sorts, when you find out they'd probably stare at you like you'd grown an extra eye on your forehead if you told them why you're here?
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[for now, she was resorting to mentioning "a solid residency" and "recommended programs" - as long as she made it sound official, no one would question the ways of the medical world. a single woman could be shifted about to fill what gaps were needed.]
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[ he leans forward to emphatically nod his vigorous agreement!! ]
I mean, how awkward did they have to go and make it, right?! Didn't even give us something of a plausible cover story or anything, just sent us out to wolves~! Callous! Cruel, if you ask me...! I think it's all a scam, you know? But I haven't quite figured out what they're angling for, yet. --But definitely a scam!
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[it sounds a bit ludicrous, phrased like that.]
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[ waving his hands for a moment in denial, here-- ]
I mean-- yes, but m-maybe not when you put it like that! Don't you think it's convenient all of us have something to do with the end of the world, and yet we're all here equally conveniently serving as veritable free labor?! Suspicious! Veeeery suspicious if you ask me...!
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Perhaps, Father, what ties us to the apocalypse is not ourselves, but the method of our arrival. Something peculiar that we all share - but it be
nefits us to assist, does it not?
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...I-I mean, I suppose you're right.
[ no, she definitely is-- ]
Are you saying that maybe there's some kind of red thread that ties us all together? Have you heard of that fable...? Ah, maybe it's particularly apt, now I think about it.
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[her memory of fables is a bit hazy in general - call it the result of burying herself in work.]
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[ yeah, the like, undying love part, soulmates, so on and so forth-- ]
A-anyway, maybe we're all tied together in such a way, Dr. Dyer? A 'string,' proverbially speaking? Though I quite wonder what could bind us all, especially considering how different we all seem to be. Some common experience? Favorite brand of tea? --Say, is milk tea your favorite, too...?
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[good tea is one of the little pleasures in life. messing it up is...well, she'll drink it, but she won't be happy.]
A thread that connects us through our fate, though...that's a fable only a romantic could come up with.
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...
--oh. oh. his face colors slightly as it abruptly occurs to him what, precisely, he had been missing from that fable. right-- ]
Funny you should say that, dear Doctor~! I, ah, quite believe you're right actually, and the tale had something to do with soulmates~! Ah, a sharp eye! Or is Dr. Dyer something of a romantic herself...?
[ is he. teasing. ...maybe a little, ]
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Well - that is to say, I didn't mean romantic as any sort of negative comment, after all. It's just a touching idea...
[help, she's going to end up putting her foot in her mouth again soon enough.]
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Abel-- delighting in this response, shameless a creature as he is-- leans in a little with a wink and presses a finger to his lips as he drops his voice. ]
--Ah, so it IS true!! Don't you worry... your secret is safe with me~! I won't tell a soul, Doctor, any confessions made to a priest in a church are absolutely sacred...
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I...appreciate that, Father, though I didn't realize I had stepped into the confessional.
[she knows with all her soul that she's being teased, and she has no counter. help.]
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There's never a wrong time or place to listen to matters of the heart, is there? I'm happy to hear you, confessional or not! [ he sends a small glance toward the stained glass windows, depictions of Mother Mary and Christ backlit by sunlight. ] ...Though there may be more comfortable places to discuss those sort of things, I'll admit. It feels a little, um-- you know... like you're being watched, doesn't it?
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Aren't we always being observed at all hours?
[there's probably some verse about it she's forgetting, since she hasn't had a chance to crack open a bible in years.]
And yet...the presence is strengthened in certain areas. As though these windows act as a magnifying glass to His eyes.
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[ Abel gently touches the rosary dangling from its chain where the heavy weight rests at his stomach with fondness, before...
...he gestures lightly toward the doors. ]
Actually, Dr. Dyer... would you humor me for a walk? I was trying to get the lay of the land when I stumbled upon this place, and if you wouldn't mind... some company and fresh air would be lovely! --If it's no trouble, of course.
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[and perhaps being in another setting would make the conversation that touch lighter.]
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Then-- would you mind terribly if I asked you where you like to spend your time? When you're not diligently curing what ails Gloucester, that is! Do you have a favorite spot around town?
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...Honestly speaking, it's difficult to name one, but that's because of how much time I've spent in only a select few places. Still, if I had to name one, I'm rather fond of the beaches - there's one that when the water's low has the most marvelous tidepools. Though I'd say they're all worth exploring.
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--Tidepools, really...? Now that you said it, I don't think I've spent much time near the beach at all... ah-- Dr. Dyer, before you ended up here, did you perhaps live by the coast?