Be careful if you think you stand. You just might be sinking.

[hamonatrix]

Who: Lisa Lisa hamonatrix, Abel 13sugars, monsters
Where: In a dark alley of the cliched Discedoan variety.
When: Sunday afternoon, 9/20
Rating: PG13, for violence and peril
Summary: Lisa gets Sunday schooled on the practical application of 1st Corinthians 10;12, Father Nightroad comes to the rescue, danger and drama ensues.
the log:

Comments

[13sugars]

Lovely indeed, Abel couldn't bear to stay inside on a day where he could actually see the street. No falling ash, no acid rain, no snow, no fog, no flesh eating butterflies, no zombie hoards. For the first time, in what felt like forever, he was going to have a normal, relaxing, cheerful stroll through the city. It would help to take his mind off of Esther, and perhaps he'd get a chance to see if the rest of the people here had gotten started on building the safe house.

Well, that had been the plan, at least. Up until a rather peculiar sight caught his eye. You know, normally, he'd hear a scream first...

But then again, when he caught sight of just who was twisting and dodging to avoid being stabbed to death, he frankly wasn't surprised that she hadn't uttered anything. What on earth was that thing

[13sugars]

He slipped the glasses back on, pulling his coat a bit closer to him for a moment. To be honest, he had somehow expected a similar reaction to Zukos. The boy here had tried to beat the priest to a bloody pulp when he found out what he was, but... then again, he had a very, very good reason to. He didn't even know much about Lisa Lisa like that. He didn't know terribly much about her at all, actually. But... all the same.

"Why? Why would I act like your friend? ... That's a silly question." He gave her a weak, reassuring smile. "Because I am your friend, Miss Lisa. I will always be your friend." The comment about false security caused the smile to falter a bit. Did... she really not trust him anymore? "... No... No.. I'd never..."

The bleeding! He had almost forgotten now! He took a nervous step forward, as if worried she might fall. Walk with her? "Of course I will. I... I'll try to explain... as best I can."

[hamonatrix]

She swallowed hard. She hated trusting people, getting close to them, only to have that bond ripped apart. She hated losing friends, lovers, family. "If I ever find out that you're lying to me, as God is my witness, I..." What? I'll kill you? How could she say that to a priest. Hadn't she done enough killing? Had it brought any of them back? Had she ever saved anyone? Maybe. Joseph was still alive.

"I'd take you on right now," she said, "But I don't feel like dying today, and I don't believe in fighting except in self defense." Still, she was doing her best not to have to lean on him for support. Not this time. She was having a rather hard tome of it, though. "I want to believe you, Father, but...mine is a long story too."

[13sugars]

"No.. No, I..." He paused, and let it go, lowering his hands from their position, having wanted to try and hold her up. He understood that she was angry, that was what he could see. Something else was being hit here, but... he couldn't quite tell what.

But he dared not delve into that right now. Not with her like this. He could ask her later.

"... And you'd win." He spoke firmly, meeting her gaze directly with his own. He wasn't joking at all. "... I would never hurt you, Miss Lisa. And... I would never kill you." He walked close to her though, if only for fear that she would fall. "... I want to know, but... I'll ask you later. I should, shouldn't I?"

[hamonatrix]

Lisa paused mid-stride, eying the father as he spoke. What did he mean? That he wouldn't fight back if she attacked him? Was he crazy? She sighed, letting go of the scarf that she'd wound around her wounds. He hadn't left her to the beasts. He'd taken a serious wound himself, even if there was no evidence of it left. Didn't that count for something?

She glanced down at the knife in her hand. It wasn't very conducive to reconciliation, was it? She reached for the hem of her skirt, but stopped short, and would have flushed if there had been more blood in her face.

"Would you...avert your eyes a moment?" She wanted to be modest in returning the knife to the thigh-sheath, for his sake at least, but she wasn't ready to turn her back on him in case he wasn't the flighty clergyman he seemed to be.

[13sugars]

That was exactly what he meant. He wouldn't touch her. In a place like this, where death was only an inconvenience, he'd just be brought back with a chip. As bad as it would be to be left powerless and open to attack again, he figured that it would be better than fighting her and hurting her anymore than he already indirectly had.

She didn't even have to tell him. He followed her down with his eyes, curious, and then turned a rather lovely shade of brilliant pink, snapping his head around to stare at a wall before she even spoke.

"O-of course, I'm sorry..." He said quickly, pausing as he waited for her to finish.

[hamonatrix]

"No, don't apologize," she said, quickly sheathing the knife. "It's done." She straightened slowly, feeling just a little light-headed, reaching out instinctively as her balance faltered and she swayed on her feet. Somehow, she knew that he would catch her if she fell. Her pride had cost her enough already, to stubbornly try to stand alone.

[13sugars]

Of course... He'd do it anyway though. He looked back at the go ahead, watching her waver. As she reached out, what else could he do? He reached out as well, to grab her hand to steady here. It was better than catching her, he knew that. If she wanted her pride, he'd try to give her as much as he could.

"Please... let me help you."

[hamonatrix]

She held his hand, taking a step closer to him, leaning on him as she steadied herself. Blue eyes blinked up at him searchingly, then she nodded. She would let him help her in whatever way he felt best.

[13sugars]

He smiled faintly, letting her lean. As soon as he felt she was ready enough, he started walking. Slowly, carefully, to make sure she would not fall.

"... I'm... sorry that you had to see that." He said he'd explain. "If I had a choice... I would have never shown you anything like that. I... don't like using it as it is."

[hamonatrix]

She sighed, concentrating on getting her breathing rhythm back. It helped in keeping her head clear, and keeping her feet steady. "What...what are you apologizing for?" she asked. Even if he was a vampire, it wasn't as if she'd seen him kill or devour a person. "It seems to me you dealt with those monsters much more efficiently than I. Would you have me be ashamed of my hamon?" Maybe he was just an angel in disguise. Maybe she was a little delirious and grasping for threads of hope.

[13sugars]

"For frightening you." He knew. He saw it, and the tone he used when he spoke then was proof that he was well aware of it. "I don't want to frighten anyone, or hurt anyone. I don't like using that when I can help it, it's..." He shook his head.

"It's not the same. It... How do I explain this..." He stared at the ground as he walked, thinking. How else? "It is a mark of my sins. Your hamon... it had to be learned, right? Developed? You had to be taught to use it. And even then, even though it prolongs your life, you're still human, right?" He never looked up from the ground. "I never was human."

[hamonatrix]

Lisa listened quietly, resting her other hand on his arm as they walked. Maybe she was leaning on him, maybe it was her nurturing side starting to show through.

"All have sinned, father," she said, wishing that he would look at her. "I am sorry that my reaction hurt you. My hamon...I had to train to become as skilled as I am, but I was born with a talent for it."

She sighed. "I'm still human, yes, but not all hamon users have remained so. Some of us, like my adoptive father, have fallen to the temptation to seek out greater forms of power and become...something else."

She wouldn't say the word vampire. It felt too much like an accusation. "So you've sinned. So have I. Even if you were never human...it is how you live that counts as sin or righteousness. Isn't it?" She shook his arm. "Isn't it?"

[13sugars]

And some sinned more than others. He wouldn't tell her what he had done. He never could bring himself to that. He'd lose her forever. Instead, he held his tongue, walking beside her silently as she spoke to him now.

"It... It's something you get used to. Eventually. It's nothing." He spoke freely, masking the actual pain that it caused. He had worried that she'd leave, and he would have lost yet another friend here. Not Lisa. He couldn't stand to lose Lisa. "So you could always do that?"

"... I see. I'm... I'm sorry to hear that, Miss Lisa. My condolences."

"... It does. I guess it does depend on that." He smiled. It was.. hard to tell if it was real. "That is how things are supposed to be."

[hamonatrix]

It wasn't nothing. She could see, could feel that it wasn't nothing, but she didn't want to push him any further away than she already had. She wasn't about to confess her sins to him--he was her friend, not her priest--and she didn't expect him to list his faults to her, either. She just...wished she that she could make amends.

"I couldn't always do it that well," she said, "And today was not one of my best moments." She sighed. "It was wrong of me to judge you based on the scars of my past experience."

[13sugars]

Make amends? He didn't feel like he was the one that was wronged. SHe was his friend, and... like he had with all his friends, he hadn't told her something that was vitally important. He still wasn't, but if she had given him such a look for simply knowing what he was, he couldn't bear to see her face if she found out what he had done.

"You still did wonderfully. I've never seen anyone cut something with a scarf before." He offered meekly. As for her last comment, he shook his head. "No... No I understand. It... It's scary, isn't it? ... I scare myself sometimes."