hallowcd
Elijah hid his disappointment well. If there was ever a woman that could be so relentless in her determination to make his life that bit harder it was Josephine. Somehow, he wouldn’t change a thing and perhaps that was an earnest speak on his character. Maybe working on Atlantis was lonelier then he thought it’d be. Regardless of his motives, Elijah massaged his temples slowly, not sure what he might or ought to say to her. “Josephine…” He feared if she ever attempted to come for confession he might roast in that tiny box. Her sins would drown them both in the lord’s ire and that would be the end of his mission. Elijah, in the end, shrugged. “You are honest. I must give you that.” He only wished it might be put to better uses.
“Satan is not out to get me.” If he were then the devil had certainly made its home in Atlantis. The island was a sanctuary for debauchery and the most inhumane, unspeakable, acts. The sooner the treaty was signed the quicker life would return to the norm. He might finally be free from his jinn. “I am well, and pray tell me are you fine Josephine?” He imagined she would be, and would come with tales of her latest exploits from reading, or worse, drinking. It was not a habit that suited anyone. Man or woman, it was an ugly affair. “I can’t imagine you’re here for mass,” and besides she’d missed it by at least an hour. Elijah hummed and leant his walking stick against the pews, feeling strong enough to stand around without it. “Something you need?”
He had long since given up hope that Josephine would be a convert, she liked to bicker too much and read a great deal more. Nevertheless, she still visited him. Quite regularly so. People crossing the threshold into church felt like an achievement in itself. “Because I was going to take a walk around the markets this afternoon, unless you are preoccupied with your scheduled sinning? You might like to come with me.”
She’s been in the church for barely a minute, and already the priest was rubbing his temple in, what Josephine thought it must’ve been, exasperation. She’s been in his presence for less than a minute, it must be her new record. “Is that admiration I hear if your voice, Elijah?” She teased him, relentlessly, but with the innocent smile only an infidel can muster. While she wasn’t as nearly as bad as some people out in the world, it didn’t make her any close to sainthood as it did them. If she weren’t so hell-bent on driving the poor priest nuts, she reckons they could’ve had a lovely friendship; but, annoying him was simply too good to pass, even if it earns her a seat in one of the circles of Hell. What would be the punishment of annoying a priest, exactly?
Even if annoying him was the very purpose of her existence, or so it sometimes seemed, it was all in good heart, and she was pleased to hear he was doing well. But, that didn’t stop her from further testing his patience - after all, patience was a virtue, and Elijah was surely a virtuous person; if he weren’t she would’ve been quite impressed, if not only a little pleased by it. “I don’t need anything in live other than a good book and a tall glass of brandy late in the evening before bed, but I suppose you can say I’ve come here to check up on you. It’s been a rather long while since we caught up with each other.” It was only half a lie; all the teasing aside, she had to admit that she was somewhat fond of the priest, though she’d rather walk herself to Hell than admit it.
His offer quite caught her by surprise, but her reply came in form of a soft smirk. “I’d be delighted to join you, actually. The sinning can way for a day. Besides, I’m too curious to hear what sort of debaucheries you had to forgive since we last talked, and it might convince you how my sinning is not nearly the worst one out there. I’m sure reading a book can’t exactly compare with murder or, Lord forbid, adultery.” While she wasn’t exactly innocent of the latter, she wasn’t guilty, either. Her late husband, God rest his soul - or more likely Devil, and she had an agreement that their marriage was of the more intellectual kind and, while they did occasionally lay with each other, they were also free to lay with other people; he wasn’t innocent of it, and neither was she. But, she reckons if she were in a faithful marriage, she would’ve been faithful, too. Having more than one partner was extremely vexing. Thankfully, Elijah didn’t know about that, since it happened long before they met, and it wasn’t a thing she’d go around telling everyone; even a priest.
