Re: Foot of the stairs: Burden/Audrey
Part of studying to be a priest, it involved a whole lot of talking with folks. He'd seen plenty of head ducking and blushing, and he understood there were plenty of reasons for it. But it was still something he associated with women, and he knew that was societal. It would be real easy to think studying to go into the church, that it only involved books on the Bible and belief, but it involved a whole lot more than that. He wasn't an expert on folks, not by any means, but empathy and understanding had always come especially easy for him. Just like talking with her now felt fine and easy. He wasn't particularly overzealous about the church's teachings, and his voice wasn't that of a zealot. He just sounded kind, his speech slow and deliberate some, and his smile was the same.
He shook her hand without any type of pressure that indicated a power-play, and he looked around again when she said what she'd done to prepare for this collection of folks to congregate. He didn't recognize any of the names she mentioned, but that wasn't real surprising; he was new to the area, and he wasn't even in Repose full-time. "I think it looks real pretty, and it all smells nice as can be. There ain't a lot of home cooking when you live in a dorm in the Capital," he told her, and that was true enough, though the food choices out there were a whole lot finer than the ones here.
He glanced on down at the engulfing and bright coat. "I was studying in Tennessee a spell, and a traveling version of Joseph came around. They use local children for the choir in the show, and the children I was teaching at the time were in that choir. It was real fun to see how everything was put together, and the kids loved it a ton. Just like folks seem to be enjoying being here," he commented, setting his water on the end of the stair's banister. "I reckon folks just want a reason to gather and talk to other folks, and this is a nice setting to do it in. I know it's your housewarming, but I reckon it's a kindness for them too." But he followed that on up with a laugh. "You're shy about your heroine's fictional inventions? Now that there's a first."