candles for the dead
Submitted by chaoticzhen on Wed, 02/17/2010 - 18:12.
who: zhen and open to jamey
where: church!
when: mid morning
Zhen was wandering around town, and happened upon a church. Or, the religious iconography told her it was a church anyhow. She'd been there before, but it had been a few years. Religion always was fascinating for her, regardless of what faith it happened to be. Walking into the church proper, she wandered around, not looking especially repentant, or religious. She just walked, looking at the stained glass, looking at the statues. She paused at the stand of candles, the ones she knew one lit for the dead. Digging through her pockets, she found a penny, and dropped it in, before she looked for matches. She was humming to herself, the sound echoing in the huge cavernous room.
Tagged:
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Jamey walked in through the narthex, shivering once he entered the dark cathedral. While it wasn't snowing, the day was still cold and he was glad he wore his fingerless gloves. About to continue his slow patrol to the cathedral kitchen, the soft sound of a woman's voice caught his attention. Turning, he searched the shadows and corners, trying to find the source of the elusive noise when he finally spotted the small figure by the vigil lights.
Immediately he thought of the news from the morning -- a dead girl, a house fire -- and he wondered what the young woman was praying for. Something joyful, he prayed, and he casually strolled toward her, pausing by the pews nearest her in hopes she would notice him before he startled her.
.
Zhen was an observant sort of woman, and she did happen to notice him. Looking round, she smiled at the man, a sweet, open sort of expression. "Why hello." she said. "Do you have matches?" she asked. "I would like to light a candle, but I don't seem to have anything I can create fire with. And while I suppose I could find paper and light it off of the other candles, I wouldn't think that was such a good idea. I mean, what if the magic of the prayers put into the candles somehow went up with the paper? Would it mean that their hopes and dreams and wellwishes for the departed were lessened? Would it mean that it would override my own with the candle I lit? Serious thoughts, really, so I would prefer that I not go messing with things of that nature. At least not today." she told him, having this whole side of the conversation without any input from him. But she did that sometimes.