(Untitled)

[singintheoven]

Hedwig is in a mood tonight.

Not a very good one, but not exactly a bad one either--it's a feeling of restlessness, maybe; she's waiting for something that she doesn't know what it is and so isn't sure how or even whether she'll know when it arrives. If it arrives

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[notagoodpriest]

Well, there is a tall, lean and strong man at the bar, sporting a shaved head and bare feet. His attire is... interesting, some loose trousers that saw better days and a simple t-shirt he does not seem entirely comfortable with.

He's having tea.

[singintheoven]

He gets her attention, that's for sure.

A welcome distraction from what is sure to be a long night of drinking.

"Don't believe we've met before, honey," she says with a small smile. "New around here?"

[notagoodpriest]

The man offers a nod, and a polite smile. "Yes. And still wondering why and how." You see, it is hard to just accept such a strange shift from what was his reality.

[singintheoven]

"Just one of those mysteries of life," she says.

Or unlife, in her case. Afterlife. Whatever.

"But they've got good food, good drinks, decent music and good company, so... make the most of it, I say."

[notagoodpriest]

"Hm, maybe. But whatever force brought me here neglected to send along my jade pouch, so..." Wren raises the cup; no money, so he's having tea. "I'm Eliezer Wren."

[singintheoven]

"Hedwig Robinson," she says, "a pleasure to meet you. What is it you do?"

Clearly, by the looks of him, he is a man who does things. No couchwarming slacker, this--unlike a lot of the men she has known.

[notagoodpriest]

That is a good question. "I... well, for a time I was a priest." He is a man who did many different things. "Quite a few years."

Before and after that, its a matter for a long talk.

[singintheoven]

"Oh," she says. "What kind of priest? If you don't mind my asking, of course. You can tell me to stop, if you want."

People don't usually tell her to stop.

[notagoodpriest]

"An Itinerant of the Order of the Immaculate Dragons." And of course, that raises the need for more explanations. "The Immaculate Faith is the official religion of the Realm and its tributaries, preaching the gospel of self-improvement from life to life, until the enlightened join the Elemental Dragons."

[singintheoven]

She has no idea what any of that means.

Buddhist, maybe? Something Eastern and exotic.

He reminds her a little of her husband, but she's not sure why, aside from a very faint physical resemblance.

"I've always believed in self-improvement," she says.

[notagoodpriest]

Something like it. "I hoped to get some of it, when I joined the Order."

Implied is some disappointment.

[singintheoven]

"Life never works out the way we plan," she says, and takes a sip of vodka. "So maybe organized religion isn't right for you. That doesn't mean you can't go onward and upward on your own."

[notagoodpriest]

"To tell the truth, miss." And now he gets a bit philosophical. "After seeing how most people in supposedly high places are, I am not so sure I want to go up."

"Or at least, their definition of 'up'."

[singintheoven]

"You get to choose," she says. "You can go all your life thinking that there's only one real path, only one way to make it through the world--you go to school, you get married, you have some kids, you have a boring job that pays the bills--but it's not true. You can do anything you want."

[notagoodpriest]

"And I did choose. To change my life, but the choice was not what I thought it would be." Hmm, tea. "The real challenge is doing what you want to do, not what the Gods and the Exalted want you to do."

[singintheoven]

"I've always done what I wanted to do," she says, "but then I was raised as an atheist. For me, every religion is about the same as some old and dead mythology; something to study, but not to practice. But I don't judge people who have a faith."