Re: [Church: Burden & Damian]
Damian could not speak upon what may or may not be correct and appropriate for a lector of such a place to act. But, he did not believe he was being converted or ministered to. That said, the man was intimately aware of what was appropriate for an heir such as himself. This was not. He was not to idle. He was not to seek out others for any purposes that did not ultimately serve toward his goal. He certainly was not to engage in conversation with a boy upon the steps of a Christian church in the middle of a pleasure distract for the simple reason that he found him interesting. However, while Damian was not oblivious to these things, he flouted them. He could ascertain why quite easily, I am certain, but he chose not to. It was true that, in terms of perspective, he and Burden were misaligned—disaligned? Unaligned? Unaligned. This did not bother Damian. Perhaps it would at a later time, when he was left alone to wonder what it was he had been thinking.
But, this time was not now. Now, he was positioning himself upon the steps. He was not distressed at the potential state of his clothing. He had taken a care he had not known he possessed in assembling his outfit, yes, but, the other details were dismissed. It did not matter what happened to the fabrics and so on. It was, perhaps, less a gesture of being unconcerned over his appearance, than it was simply that such was a non-entity to Damian.—But, though he had said he did not cling to anything, the repetition of his words back to him gave him pause. It was an untruth, of course. But, Damian could no further decipher what it was he 'clung to,' than he could perceive his motivations this evening. Regardless, he responded with confidence in the affirmative. "Yes." The word had only just left his mouth when his attention was captured, and introspection became inspection. Burden smiled and he peered at Damian closely. Damian looked back at him, his gaze moving over the boy's face as if unable to find a perch, until it was diverted to the bouncing tip of the cigarette held at the corner of the boy's lips. Damian forced himself to move his gaze upward and to meet Burden's eye. "You enjoy knowing people," Damian said, as he wondered how very many people this boy knew. How many had he talked to with the same keen attention and the same inviting smile? And why did Damian care?