Saint Agatha (shallnotmove) wrote in nevermore_logs, @ 2011-12-15 06:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | judas iscariot, saint agatha |
WHO: Agatha & Judas
WHEN: Wednesday afternoon
WHERE: A homeless shelter
WHAT: Saints are all about forgiveness.
WARNINGS: tba
For Agatha, nursing training was not a difficult thing. With nurses falling under her patronage it meant that she was naturally inclined to understand their work anyway and every lesson came with memories attached. She'd been a nurse before, during the 1980s, and although a lot had changed in medicine she picked it all up easily. Soon she'd be working in hospitals again and serving the sick. Agatha only felt fulfilled when she was serving those less fortunate than herself.
So she hadn't stopped any of her volunteer work in the city, even though she'd had to cut back her hours. There were so many people who needed help and to not here them but simply not an option for Agatha. Today she'd worked at one of the city's many homeless shelters serving up lunch, but now she had to leave to get to classes.
But on her way past towards the door she felt the presence of someone familiar and turned to look across the tables of people eating. She spotted the dirty red hair and knew exactly who it was, a knowledge that came with a feeling of both relief and - yes, she had to admit it - dislike.
Walking over, Agatha sat down across from him. "I haven't seen you for a while," she told him. Then she frowned. "You don't look good."
Judas had retreated into himself, his thoughts mainly on getting some food and perhaps some alcohol to try and warm himself up. The chill of death was such a difficult thing to shift. The first time he'd died he'd had cold feet for months after.
The soup here was kind of bland, but it was hot and filling, and Judas was glad to have it. He sat silently with the rest, just spooning it in and trying not to dribble much down his beard. Then an immortal presence interrupted his thoughts a moment before she sat down. For a moment he saw only the dark hair and feminine figure, and thought it was Mary. He flinched back, eyes going wide. He had to stop and blink a couple of times before he made the connection that it wasn't her, but St Agatha. Virgin martyr. He shook his head slightly, relaxed back into his habitual hunch, and picked up his spoon again.
"I was killed last week," he replied, his voice croaky from not talking and having a blade severing his vocal chords. He eyed Agatha a moment, then went back to his soup. "What do you want?"
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[info]shallnotmove
2011-12-15 04:20 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
What did one say in response to an admission of dying? Agatha, it appeared, said, "are you okay?" Then she shook her head dismissively, realising it was a silly question. Being murdered was never going to be okay.
It had been four years since Agatha had met Judas and upon learning who he was she'd been horrified. But he had been so obviously broken that Agatha couldn't just walk away. She knew that they meeting hadn't been chance but that God had put her on this path towards the greatest of sinners. Agatha, doing as she believed God would do, internally forgave Judas and then invited him into her home so that she could care for him.
"I work here and I saw you sitting," Agatha told him. "I couldn't just ignore you."
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[info]faithtraitor
2011-12-15 04:25 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
"Why not? Everyone else does." Judas said it matter-of-factly. Agatha was just one of those types who tried so hard. That was why he'd left her last time. She didn't understand that it didn't matter if he smoked or drank or fucked, he was already the lowest of the low. She might be pure, but he was not, and he didn't want to taint her with his touch.
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[info]shallnotmove
2011-12-15 04:30 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
"Well," Agatha said, firm but not unkind, "I'm not everyone else." She wanted to tell Judas that he was too skinny and that he needed a shower, but those things could wait. Instead she asked, "where are you living?"
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[info]faithtraitor
2011-12-15 04:37 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
Judas just gave Agatha a flat look at that question. "Considering my current identity was just murdered, I doubt I still have a job or a lease agreement," he said snarkily. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I'm just a bit worn out. Did you know that Mary is seeing someone?" He shook his head again.
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[info]shallnotmove
2011-12-15 05:00 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
"Then you'll come home with me," Agatha said as though this much was obvious. She wasn't going to have him living on the streets.
Agatha shifted a little uncomfortably at the mention of Mary, her lips tightening. "The actions of the Magdalen are very little interest to me." She couldn't stand anything about that woman - she was crude and filled with sins and Agatha couldn't understand for the life of her why the woman squandered and denied all that she could have been. Mary Magdalene was little more than a cheap slut.
But she she frowned and looked at Judas with concern. "Did she do this to you?"
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[info]faithtraitor
2011-12-15 10:44 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
Judas raised an eyebrow at Agatha's distain, and decided it might be better not to share too much at this point. He picked up his spoon again, then sighed, put it down, and offered it to the man next to him.
"Alright then, Agatha. Lead the way."
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[info]shallnotmove
2011-12-15 11:38 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
Agatha noticed him avoid the question - how could she not? - but she wasn't sure if that meant yes or no. She wouldn't push it if he didn't want to speak about it. Yet. Later on she might need answers to that question though.
Agatha smiled gratefully and nodded to him. "My apartment is just around the corner from here," she told him as they walked outside. "I had a nicer place but Lucifer made an appearance there and decided the carpet would look better in a shade of red, so I had to move. But I'm sure you'll be grateful that I'm not living with Saint Peter and Saint Margaret anymore. I can't imagine you want to shack up with them."
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[info]faithtraitor
2011-12-15 11:50 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
Judas wasn't going to lie, the thought of a warm bed and breakfast the next day was mostly what enticed him at this point. At the mention of Lucifer, however, he paused, unsure. "I don't want trouble with L- him. If he after you or something? Because I'm not- I am not going to deal with that shit, okay. I don't need Them interfering with me. I just do my thing and I don't bother anyone, right?"
The Hell types worried him more than the Holy, but she was right in assuming that Judas wanted no part in any of it.
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[info]shallnotmove
2011-12-15 11:56 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
"You don't have to worry, no one's coming for me," she promised him. "It was a one-off torturing in an attempt to mess with the angels." And she reminded herself now to keep her mouth shut around the forces of Hell while Judas was with her. Not everyone was quite so ready and able for torture. Martyrs just couldn't help antagonizing the other team.
"They won't show up, but if any of them do they'll have to come through me." She pointed then to the building they were approaching. "This is mine."
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[info]faithtraitor
2011-12-15 12:02 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
Judas gave Agatha a look that said, "you better be telling the truth", but there wasn't much chance of her really lying about that sort of thing. She was a pure Saint after all. He felt a bit weird with her promising to protect him though, a slight little thing like her.
"Looks nice," he said politely, following her up to the front door. In the close quarters of the doorstep, he realised that he possibly wasn't the cleanest he'd ever been. "Um, sorry about the," he began, indicating the second-hand coat and straggly hair.
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[info]shallnotmove
2011-12-15 12:13 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
Agatha smiled at his forced compliment and said, "it's somewhere to come home to at the end of the day, that's all I needed." Then she shook her head when he tried to apologize. "Don't worry about it." she led him down the corridor to the first apartment in the building and unlocked it. "You can have a shower if you like."
She let him inside, the door opening right into the combined living room and kitchen. It was small and neat and luckily not as bad as the outside of the building might have suggested. "Now," she said as she locked the door behind him. "I'm afraid I've only got one bedroom so it'll be the couch for you. But it's comfortable and there's plenty of blankets."
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[info]faithtraitor
2011-12-15 12:20 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
Judas shrugged. "I've slept in worse places," he said, glancing around the small flat. It had everything a person could need to stay alive, and Agatha wasn't the type to need more than that. Judas nodded and took his coat off, careful to lay it over the back of a chair out of the way and not mucking up the sofa. "A shower sounds heavenly right now," he assented, glancing at Agatha for a nod of permission to go now.
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[info]shallnotmove
2011-12-15 12:24 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
Agatha pointed. "Through there. You can used the towels on the rack," she told him. "They're both clean. Would you like coffee for when you come out?" she asked, already walking over to put the kettle on for her own coffee.
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[info]faithtraitor
2011-12-15 12:33 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
"You're a saviour," Judas said, walking towards the bathroom. As soon as he said it, though, he stopped and bowed his head a moment. He shook the moment off with a sigh, and headed for the bathroom. He didn't even mind that he was going to come out smelling of flowers, it was just such a relief to get the grime out of his hair and skin. He could swear he could still smell the blood and the alley, and watching it wash away down the drain was a relief. He dried off, then put his old clothes back on because he didn't have anything else.
"Tomorrow I am going to buy a beard trimmer," he said, and realised that was the first time he'd planned for something constructive to do in the future in a long time.
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[info]shallnotmove
2011-12-15 12:42 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
The coffee was brewing when he emerged and the smell filled the tiny apartment completely. "We'll have to find you some new clothes as well," Agatha suggested. "The shelter will have something, but if you don't like anything there then I have a little money."
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[info]faithtraitor
2011-12-15 01:24 pm UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
Judas waved a hand, declining the offer. "I have money, I'll just need to get to it. Except- I don't have my wallet. Crap. Also, I'm dead." He nosed in to see if the coffee was ready, and then sat down on the sofa to wait.
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[info]shallnotmove
2011-12-17 10:55 am UTC (link) DeleteFreezeScreenTrack This Select
"We'll sort something out," Agatha said, setting a coffee mug down in front of him. "It might be time for a new identity." She sat down on the sofa beside him and smiled gently. "But you don't need to think about it tonight. Just relax for now."