Take Me to Church - ITF!Verse, Closed
When Ella had suggested that Anders come with her to a ULA meeting, Anders had originally resisted the idea. It wasn't that he disagreed with what they were trying to accomplish, but if he was being honest, his drive to activism was something that had evidently died along with his body four years ago. He was content to just live, as much as an undead walking corpse could be said to be living, in mutual ignorance with the living members of his community. Still, Ella had insisted, on the grounds that he could at least make some new friends, if nothing else. And he had agreed, albeit reluctantly, because she was right--he had nothing else going on, no other purpose for getting out of bed in the morning except for a drive to make something of the days he'd been given. It seemed a waste to lie in bed all day, when he'd been raised out of doing the exact same thing in a coffin in the ground. He had to admit, he was surprised by how "homey" the whole thing felt. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, when Ella had showed up wrapped up in a plush black jacket to pick him up, but he was fairly certain it hadn't been this. A homey little bungalow, the living room packed full of people with the white skin and white eyes of fellow zombies, all of them reverently and raptly listening to one of their own. It felt weirdly like a family gathering, or like a private church service, neither of which fit with what he had heard of the ULA. It did make more sense for sweet, gentle Ella to belong to the organization, though, especially if all their meetings were like this. He half expected the man sitting on the edge of the sofa and expounding about--something or other, zombie pride, maybe, to pick up the guitar that leaned on the cushions next to him and start singing Kumbayah. The sweater he was wearing should have been a sin, Anders thought privately, as he lingered in the doorway while Ella picked her way through to sit with a small knot of people she evidently knew. She gestured at him to join them, but he hung back, shaking his head. A few people followed Ella's gesture, glancing at him in the doorway with a mix of surprise and curiosity, but he wasn't mobbed by the faithful and forced to join in, so he didn't. He just hung back, and listened.
