✞22 Days since my Last Confession✞
Apr. 1st, 2010 11:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
13th_crusader[✝]Luke 22:14-22
And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.
And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed![✝]
[☨]The moaning of the church doorways overshadow the exasperated sigh of the Archbishop as he re-enters that Holy Sanctum. Had he died since his last entry? To the irritation of the Fates and whomever else, no. He had been but confined to the sterile fortress of the Hospital again, which might as well have become a second home to him at this point.
Only he had been carried there kicking and screaming against his will by an unruly giant who's strength beat out Maxwell's unruly mouth. Setting his commlink down on a pew as he reaches the end of the aisle-ways, begrudgingly glancing around at the mess of glass littering the floor, Maxwell dabs his sweat-beaded forehead, muttering to himself in half a daze after his escape.[☨]
What day is it...?
[☨]Surrounded by drab white and dilapidating walls oft had him losing his sense of time... Merciful God, he had better not have missed Easter.[☨]
Che?
[☨]Pulled from his insidious thoughts of how he was going to berate the Paladin till he was deaf for making a mess of his precious church, abandoning him in the Hospital, and canoodling with some harlot, the doorway's mewl had him turning, a leer vexing across his misty gaze at the beast in the threshold.[☨]
Now where in God's Name have you been?
((ooc: Backdated to Thursday Evening. ))
And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.
And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table.
And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed![✝]
[☨]The moaning of the church doorways overshadow the exasperated sigh of the Archbishop as he re-enters that Holy Sanctum. Had he died since his last entry? To the irritation of the Fates and whomever else, no. He had been but confined to the sterile fortress of the Hospital again, which might as well have become a second home to him at this point.
Only he had been carried there kicking and screaming against his will by an unruly giant who's strength beat out Maxwell's unruly mouth. Setting his commlink down on a pew as he reaches the end of the aisle-ways, begrudgingly glancing around at the mess of glass littering the floor, Maxwell dabs his sweat-beaded forehead, muttering to himself in half a daze after his escape.[☨]
What day is it...?
[☨]Surrounded by drab white and dilapidating walls oft had him losing his sense of time... Merciful God, he had better not have missed Easter.[☨]
Che?
[☨]Pulled from his insidious thoughts of how he was going to berate the Paladin till he was deaf for making a mess of his precious church, abandoning him in the Hospital, and canoodling with some harlot, the doorway's mewl had him turning, a leer vexing across his misty gaze at the beast in the threshold.[☨]
Now where in God's Name have you been?
((ooc: Backdated to Thursday Evening. ))
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 06:46 am (UTC)Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 06:55 am (UTC)I'm well as to be expected, Il Papa. Hopefully this last committal shall truly be the last.
Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 06:57 am (UTC)Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 07:03 am (UTC)I suppose I was spoiled by the Vatican's pleasant weather. I was never one to brave such baltic lands.
Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 07:08 am (UTC)Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 07:11 am (UTC)...Speaking of which.. you, Your Holiness, would not happen to know where I might procure unleavened bread?
Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 07:26 am (UTC)Will you be p-preforming Mass of the L-Lord's Supper?
Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 08:01 am (UTC)Mnn.. and of sorts. The Passing of the Bread and the Wine was asked of us in Commemoration, and so it shall be done even in these harsh conditions.
Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 08:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-02 06:59 am (UTC)...
Wait. Something is off...
But from this point of view, the girl just can't quite put her finger on it. ]
Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 07:08 am (UTC)Angelina... For returning my cassock in one piece.
[He's not very good at this sort of thing...]
...You have my eternal thanks.
1/2 || Voice
Date: 2010-04-02 07:16 am (UTC)Aah... How embarrassing. Since she can't rely on her words, sometimes it comes off as plain gawking.
Though she shakes it off, listening patiently... ]
Text
Date: 2010-04-02 07:19 am (UTC)Wow. What could you say to words of appreciation like that?
Nothing without a smile to go with it; that's what. ]
You're very welcome! I tried to take good care of it.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-02 07:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-02 07:53 am (UTC)Voice; Clearly /touched/ by an angel
Date: 2010-04-02 07:55 am (UTC)If you will, ask what you will of me if you are in need, Angelina.
[I'll have Anderson take care of it.]
[Action!]
Date: 2010-04-02 08:12 am (UTC)[A deafening silence shrouded the Gothic structure as it neared the Midnight Hour, a disturbing quietude enough to make one ill at ease. The atmosphere seemed oppressive, if not completely foreboding, made even more so by a soaring immensity blotting out the celestial body in the sky through the opening of the entryway, double-doored hinges swinging inward with a querulous sigh.
Shards of glass crunched under boot had the figure shuffling forwards at a lumbering gait, a spark in the Darkness revealing a pair of broken frames still perched atop the bridge of the Priest's nose. Soon, the sorry state of his clothes, and the oddly jutting angle of his right arm were evident even in the diminished lighting, the candles only making the dried blood appear more gruesome.
'Drip, drip'..
Melon green eyes fixated straight ahead at some unseen interest and he nearly stumbles across a pool of his own blood, trudging down the aisles until his feet would not carry him anymore, the blade in his hand clattering to the floor and his body lurching forwards towards the Bishop.]
[ ooc: Taking place right after this fight. (http://community.livejournal.com/discedo_logs/414808.html) ]
[Action!]
Date: 2010-04-02 08:32 am (UTC)A..Anderson!
[Down the great pillar and cornerstone of his church fell.. yet into withered arms Anderson found himself braced. The collision had the archbishop's legs trembling under the man's intense weight, yet for whom it was curled tight in his grasp, Maxwell did not waver.]
Father... why didn't you listen. . .
[Action!]
Date: 2010-04-02 08:58 am (UTC)[The right sleeve of his cassock was completely drenched through and torn in several places, clerical garb utterly ruined. The fabric hung in tattered strips about his abdomen and chest, though remarkable his collar remained untouched.]
....O-o'ch...O'...Nn..T-thaet smarts, ye ken.
[Real pain. He, Alexander Anderson, Regenerator of the Judas Iscariots, feel pain?! Oh, yes. Very much so. Like bursts of white-hot lightning being fed through a tube into his skin and setting his nerves aflame, sensory-receptors exploding all-too-happily.
His threshold, among other things, had been significantly reduced, including how much punishment he could endure.]
[Action!]
Date: 2010-04-02 09:31 am (UTC)[Allowing his irritation to mask over his deep-seated concern for his spiritual father, Maxwell maneuvered the man's weight onto his shoulder, letting his uninjured arm to sling over his own back.]
Let us... get you cleansed..
[He would tend to that arm as soon as he got the giant seated. With a wicked inner laugh, Maxwell had thought for sure with the man's re-arrival, his life here would have lessened in it's strenuousness. Ha!]
With you shackled down like this, those freaks have the upper hand... Please, you must show some discretion.
[Such words he followed himself were the only decree keeping himself alive in his den of demons. With a small grunt he managed to deposit Anderson unto the pew right in front of the baptismal pool, it's water just short of being stagnate; still usable.]
[Action!]
Date: 2010-04-04 05:26 am (UTC)There was nothing more to Give. Nothing more to Prove. The Paladin had sated his ferocity, but at what cost to the Body? Of what cost to the Mind?
And the chastisement would make him hang his head like a lectured school boy, albeit a very large, murderous, blood-covered one.]
...O'...Today's...Holieh Thursday, es et nae so?
[Action!]
Date: 2010-04-04 07:13 pm (UTC)Si.. it is. I have something that will commemorate it and assuage you if even for a little while.
[How incorrigible was his foolhardy priest. So alike in that regard, Maxwell could not find it in his cruel body to reprimand him any further. After all, he was doing God's work, and in turn, working and slaving for himself.]
Un momento, caro Padre.
[Uttered in a most doting way, the Archbishop left with a sweep of blond tresses fluttering behind his graceful steps to the back rooms. He returned some five minutes later, a slight crease in his brow as if he had done something rather.. strenuous. Under one arm was what looked to be a bundle of ripped cloth.. in his hand was a steaming saucer, and under his other arm was the bottle of wine the priest had procured for them both the week beforehand.]
Lay your ill thoughts to rest, father, and let me wash you clean.
[And just as on that night their Sovereign washed the feet of his disciples, to show that the humble and the meek would inherit God's kingdom, Maxwell knelt before the priest upon the pew and dabbed one of the silky cloths.. upon closer inspection.. were shredded from the man's prized bed-sheets.. into the disc of warm water and began to swath away the blood from Anderson's weather-beaten face.]
[Action!]
Date: 2010-04-04 09:01 pm (UTC)The normally frigid icicle of an Italian shied away from physical contact, let alone a kind of contact that involved dirtying his perfectly manicured nails. What had changed him? Did this place have the power to transform a man so completely?
He heard his Bishop speak in dulcet tones and gave himself permission to let limbs go lax at once, like a trickle of flowing water streaming into a placid pool. For once the turmoil boiling below the surface did not swallow him, but rather the void of exhaustion fed the nothingness and swallowed it.
He could barely move. Every flex of joint and muscle agitated fresh wounds, making him flinch even when he registered that swiping cloth being cooled against his aching flesh.
The dried browns and bruising crimson soaked the fabric through and turned the water to a reddish-pink, revealing the pale sheen beneath bronze, how utterly ghostly he truly appeared, as though he neared an End.]
. . . Maxwell.
[Action!]
Date: 2010-04-04 10:26 pm (UTC)With the return of the man who shepherded him and shielded him with silver wings, Maxwell received his answer and took it graciously when the fear of the Lord clouding his mind finally lifted like a veil.
Drawing white lines through the grime and blood, parting folds of clothing to expose damaged flesh and tourniquet the wounds well with that perfectly absorbent cloth, he tended to the man gently in turn, knowing well with Anderson's strength, his own salvation would be solidified. Bandaged and bound with all the care the older man had reflected on him in his youth, Maxwell then pulled away to bite down on a cork, popping it from the bottle of unadulterated wine.. pure from the vine, yet aged well.
Upon his knees, resting his hand upon Anderson's own, he bowed his head to bless the communion they would take in honor of their Lord's one request.
This means my blood. Keep doing this in remembrance of me.]
Bless, O Lord, this drink which Thou hast created, that it may be a salutary remedy for all who partake of it, and grant that all who taste of it may, by invoking Thy holy name, receive health for body and soul.
[Pausing, he took a long savoring gulp of the untainted wine, it's heavenly sensation causing his misty eyes to flutter, before he drew it away and touched the lip of the bottle to Anderson's own.]
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
[Action!]
Date: 2010-04-08 05:23 am (UTC)[He repeated softly, bowing a blood-stained crown in reverence for the commemoration evoked in the name of the Lord. His heart twisted and ached in response to having his broken body assuaged by the one he was sworn to Protect, and consequently, as the glass kissed his own mouth he drank deeply in sincere gratitude.
The flavor that coated his tongue couldn't have been sweeter, and it drew a contented little burble from chocolate-toned tiers, the soothing product of the vine sating both palate and his parched throat.
Tiny ruby droplets bead down the corner of his chin and he leans precariously forwards, having to grip the pew instinctively, which only sent another jolting pierce of anguish up his right arm.
The Priest grit his teeth, and released, feebly moving those fingers though the arm itself was useless. Every movement was pure agony . . . And even a man like Enrico would be able to perceive his pains, no matter how badly Anderson wanted to hide it.]
[Action!]
Date: 2010-04-30 11:12 pm (UTC)[The priest's agony was unlike any he had witnessed before, drawing a disquiet line down Maxwell's thin mouth. How this world could dare inflict such a piteous Warrior of God was heresy unto itself, and seethed the innermost parts of himself.
His shepherd, his minister, his teacher... his last companion. Maxwell let his fingertips smear away the carlet dribbling down the priest's chin, bracing his jawline to keep him upright, and lips touching the beaded hairs to mop the last remnants away.]
Take your reprieve.
[He murmured against a robust throat, watching the shudders of pang ripple through his knight, and praying the drink and their sanctum around them would soothe his ails.]
You've earned this much.
[Action!]
Date: 2010-05-02 08:03 pm (UTC)The trials of Christ were borne anew; but where the Betrayal of the Lord transpired, Father Anderson was blessed.
The softest smile set upon the humbled holy man's steadfast tiers, the sincerity of a Bishop beheld in compassionate murmurings more of a blessing than the vindication he'd sought before. Anderson's esteem for his superior knew no limitation; Like the Disciples who witnessed the agonies of Christ, Maxwell would comfort and care for him, cherishing in Brotherly affection the true Shepherd of the Lord.]
...A'...
[A subtle distress surfaced in him when the one who he'd sworn to protect drew closer, tearing gasps away from weakened flesh. What guilt and sorrow would wash over him, who was treated with an undeserved kindness.
Yet the more his tongue was sated by the garnet liquid the stronger the compulsion set upon his ailing mind. Yes, he was set at ease...But perhaps not in the way the other would be expecting.]
Maxwell...
[Action!]
Date: 2010-05-05 06:12 am (UTC)[Pale lips smoothed over the end of that glazed bottle, a velvet pallet slaking down another over-generous quench till the archbishop was mewling in the warmth of red spirits spreading up his torso. It had been so long since he had found a moment of peace like this, the quiet of the sanctum for once was welcoming, now that it was filled with a presence that was tangible. Lithe arms crossed over Anderson's lap, till locks of heavy tressed blond pooled over robust thighs, and a noble crown laid itself down to follow.]
I'll take mine as well.
[Even with his shepherd's injuries, knowing he could withstand the burdens this callous world through at him whilst shackled down, gave the inquisitor hope for their coming exodus together. Nestling into that cradle of warmth, he was the picturesque of the moment they had last seen eachother alive... Back in Midian... Back where Maxwell's nightmare began and still plagued him.]
I've had such dreams of torment, teacher... for the months captive here I have not a single respite.
Breath comes.. and yet I cannot feel it's relief.
[No matter how he gasps, the ache in his chest still lances him with many pains.]
Shutting my eyes, there is nothing but anguish.. yet opening them..
[Tilting his head up, till the back of his crown was comfortably nested, there was almost a ghost of a smile etching it's way along Maxwell's slender mouth as he looked up to his minister, and allowed his fingertips to brush that marred cheek fondly.]
I'm released.
[And what he could touch, certainly must have been the truth.]
I think my very subconsciousness is betraying me.
[Action!]
Date: 2010-05-15 10:18 am (UTC)['Canst thou draw out Leviathan with an hook? Or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put an hook into his nose? Or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Will he make many supplications unto thee? Will he speak soft words unto thee? Will he make a covenant with thee? Wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? Wilt thou play with him as with a bird?'
The vision of tumbled gold and suffusion of porcelain with damask streaked retinas white, the eidolon of the Bishop's lifeless husk flashing before him. He nearly choked back a dry convulsion in his throat, the partially stifled noise swallowed down again like the quivering of his spirit.
To see the progression of the Church's Prelate from narcissism and vanity to charitable cherub had given him Hope that the Peccancy would be washed away...Somehow. Yet the Terrors they had succumbed to made him less than enthusiastic about the exchange for diligence and bestowed royalties when he Knew. Betrayal was not so easily erased, even after his Return.
The scar that twitched beneath tapered retractiles hardened, his lips beset in a grim line that accounted for his Imputation. Guilt, heavier than the burden of Atlas bore down on his broad shoulders, slumping him down in distressed silence. How could he tell him...?
'Ah, but you owe him this...Do you not?'
Excused he was not. His Sovereign he could not obtain for royalties nor charity, nor by force or steal, or in defense of his life or actions.
And much like the Scriptures themselves, Anderson was an open book, especially given the loosening of his tongue where Truth unwound from the Paladin's stalwart clutches.]
...'Rico...Pleas'...Ye 'ave tae understand...
[His fingers curled over Enrico's own, holding them there though he trembled, his eyes downcast.]
Seein' ye agaen...Ah ne'er expected tae....
[Action!]
Date: 2010-05-15 11:56 pm (UTC)Tender and maternal. As if he would shred as a butterfly's wing beneath glass.]
Anderson...?
[Maxwell sat up, watching the man's usual noontide glow beginning to drain and pale like himself. A mountainous countenance shaken before him, that almost piqued his own sense of dread at the very sight of it.
The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceived you. You live in a rock fortress and control the mountain heights. But even if you make your nest among the peaks with the eagles, I will bring you crashing down.]
Teacher, I'm listening now...
[Action!]
Date: 2010-05-16 12:40 am (UTC)We were nae meant tae....Nae meant tae meet agaen. Ye lost control..
[He spoke low, and when his lips parted his own frailties poured forth like a raging river, thumb smoothing gently over the back of his palm. Unravelling the secret he'd bound close was more difficult than he'd originally thought...When he knew he couldn't pray for absolution.]
Ah'll nae expect yer forgiveness..Maxwell...
[The Shepherd lifted his head to stare at the other level, looking more brave than he felt.]
Et was nae a dream.