mojo_rising (mojo_rising) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2012-08-31 04:13:00 |
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Entry tags: | day three, mojo, mojo and wren, wren |
Faith and Fate
Characters: Mojo and Wren
Setting: Spiritual room, late afternoon
After her morning spent with the survey and a handful of back-and-forth comments with the others, Mojo had thrown herself together in a slapdash fashion, pulling on clothes and tying her hair back before heading out for some proper exploration. She’d taken her time with it, rooting around the common areas aside from the library, mindful of the visits or whatever they were going on inside.
But there was plenty to check out even without the library, and Mojo managed to fritter away more time than she would’ve guessed at just learning the place and what had been provided for them here. Finding the spiritual room nearly last, she’d decided to linger here for a bit, basking in the silence before Mojo set herself to work gathering candles. They were simple things, obviously meant for the many different faiths that had observances marked by lighting one, but there were so many of them that she figured no one would miss one or two. Or a dozen.
With her shirt stretched out as an impromptu basket, Mojo moved away from the cabinet where she’d found the candles, dumping them and a small handful of tapers onto a chair with a little smile. All she’d need now was some paint for her room, and with the candlelight factored in? It’d be almost liveable.
Wren had decided to see the spiritual room after Wu had mentioned it to her, and she was just getting around to it. Walking in, she was in a very good mood, even if that was only marked by the light smile on her lips. When she saw she wasn't alone, she stopped in her tracks, watching the other girl. "Are you stealing?" she asked, though there wasn't necessarily judgment in her tone with the question. More she was just wondering if that was what she was seeing.
“Not if we’re a community, since that clashes with the core concept of communal living,” Mojo answered with a smirk, pushing it away before she looked to the sound of Wren’s voice. The other woman was... well, it was hard to say. There was some air about her that struck Mojo as odd, but then there was also a chance that it was just a defensive note over the not-really-an-accusation. “Just gathering. I’m not big on public displays of my private faith.” Or on faith itself, for that matter, but it sounded better than ‘Yeah, my room should look sweet by candlelight’.
Understanding the bit about communal living, Wren didn't protest that at all. What she didn't quite like was the other part. She tilted her head to the side as she eyed the girl. "You need candles to engage in your religion?" she asked. "Are there any left for anyone else?" she asked, taking her eyes off of the dark haired woman to look around the place more thoroughly. She didn't so much have a 'religion'. More an outlook. And she was aware it was kind of...screwed up. She'd been told that a whole lot in the past few years.
Mojo smiled faintly, head shaking at the question as she tucked the edges of her hands in her pockets, working for a slight impression of discomfort. “It’s not really religion. That’s a little more framed-in than I like, more just faith? Like I light a candle and send a prayer or a hope,” she explained, remembering times when that had been true. These days were more about aesthetics. “And yeah, there’s a ton in that cabinet,” Mojo went on, turning to point back at where she’d found the candles. “I wouldn’t take these if they were all we had. And, uh, hey. I’m Morgan, everyone calls me Mojo,” she greeted, opting for something more hesitant with Wren, but more sincere than she’d been with, say, Reece.
Finding that interesting, Wren walked closer, focusing on the girl instead of the room. "Hello, Morgan." Wren said, smiling at her. "My name is Wren." she introduced herself. "So you light candles, and put thoughts out into the world?" she asked, trying to understand. She had done similar things. She didn't know that she so much 'prayed' as just asked Fate to be kind. Even if she knew Fate wasn't exactly an entity to request anything of.
“Yeah,” Mojo answered with a slight nod, relaxing the sheepish stance a touch as Wren seemed to warm up to her. “And Wren like the bird? That’s beautiful, I used to watch them every chance I could.” She gave a more earnest smile, something that tended to lock focus on her as Mojo reached up to tuck stray locks of hair behind one ear, then nodded at Wren’s question. “That’s pretty close, too. I guess a lot of people would just call it praying? But it’s like... it feels different to me, it’s hard to explain,” she ventured with a shrug. “You’ve got the basics, though. Light a candle and hope for things to be better in the ways that I think matter.”
"Thank you. People used to call me 'little bird' sometimes." Wren said, smiling pleasantly as she was complimented in a way. But also to hear that Morgan had watched birds. At her further explanation, Wren gave a firm nod. "I understand." she told her. "I think that sounds like a nice way to do things." she added, going to sit down. "I've not got much experience with religion. I understand what you're talking about better than some other things."
Mojo positively lit up at the pleased reception to her compliment, slipping into a soft, pleased expression as she moved to follow Wren and took a seat of her own. “I have... kind of a lot of experience with it? Can’t say I ever liked it much,” she said. “We visited a lot of churches when I was little, they always seemed too fixed on people following their rules before they were worthy of help or anything. And that just seemed totally backwards, you know? How do they know what I should believe better than I do?” Mojo asked rhetorically.
Listening to what Mojo said, Wren found herself nodding. "How does anyone know what to believe at all? All I believe in is Fate." she said. "But I don't really see why there's differences in people. We're all just...people. That's a lesson I learned the hard way, though." she admitted. "I was taught that we were 'different'." Though her tone suggested 'different' meant 'better'. "After I met others, however, I saw that was a flawed perspective."
It wasn’t hard to pick up on that fact, not with how open Wren was in discussing it with someone she’d just met. Mojo was game for it though, playing up the earnest thoughtfulness that Wren was giving her in kind. “I think that if there’s a difference, it’s in trusting what you believe instead of what people say you should believe,” she said with a little shake of her head that was meant to dispel Wren’s obvious doubt. “And it sounds like you’re trying, which is more than most people can say.” But she needed to know more for that to be true; thankfully, Mojo was generally good at shifting focus. “And Fate? Like... predetermination?”
Smiling, Wren nodded. "That's it, trusting your own beliefs." she said, liking that too. There'd been a bit too much following other people's vision in her life. Not that she could have helped it, or so she'd been told it wasn't her fault, but still. She might have said more about trying, but Mojo hit on a topic Wren couldn't resist. "Yes. Fate, destiny. I have a...connection, I suppose. I read tarot cards, runes, other things." When she said ‘runes’, she touched lightly some of the rune tattoos around one wrist, their flow only interrupted by a scar or two.
In neat time with the explanation, Mojo’s eyes went a touch wider as she leaned towards Wren a bit, surprised by the idea. “Oh awesome,” she breathed softly, smiling at Wren. “Can you do them for other people? And can I...” Mojo trailed, the first question carrying a curious and hopeful note even as the second, unfinished one was joined by Mojo’s outstretched hand moving towards Wren’s wrist, stopping before it made contact.
Wren held her arm out towards Mojo, fine with her looking. "I've got them all over, along with some others." she said. She'd had a lot of tattoos done over the years, markings added here and there, all to do with being the Prophet. "And yes, I can do them for other people. Would you like me to do a reading for you some time?" she asked, happy to offer it. It actually made her feel better that people were interested. It felt like she had purpose again.
It went a step farther than looking for Mojo, though she was raptly studying the underside of Wren’s wrist as she reached out to brush the tips of two fingers up the tattooed skin, stopping just at the edge of her palm. “Really?” she asked of Wren’s offer, looking up with a brightness blooming. “I’d love it! The last time I even had the chance was in New Orleans, and my dad said those people were con-artists.” Though even that was a good memory, judging by her expression as she finally nodded at the idea. “Any time you’d like, really. I think we’ll have a lot of free time in here.”
"I'm sure we will have a lot of free time. But I'd really like to be able to do readings for you. I miss doing them every day." And now that she had her cards back, she was much happier. "I suppose whether or not people were 'con-artists' depends on the person, and how much you believe in the cards themselves, or the idea of fate, divination...some people do, some people don't. Most people I talked to in prison looked at me like I was...unintelligent." really people had flat out told her she was a 'backwards idiot', but she wasn't sharing that explicitly.
“Well, no one likes to judge as much as those who’ve already been judged,” Mojo offered, frowning a touch at Wren’s recollection. “And I never really knew if I believed in divination or not, there weren’t many chances for me to find out.” There had been some in Denver, sure, but at that point in life? Mojo had been working through a crash course in living in one place. “Where did you learn all of this?”
"I learned in the commune I lived at. I was taught from an early age, because Brian recognized me as the Prophet for the Order." Wren said, recounting it like it was normal, even if part of her was aware she usually got Looks for it. She wasn't going to make something else up, though.
Oh. Ohhhh, Mojo thought, things suddenly making much more sense, if Wren’s words meant what they seemed to. Commune, Prophet, Order? Mojo could hear the capital letters in there, and with terms like those it wasn’t too hard to guess the common threads. Still, instead of balking at it? Mojo just frowned in vague confusion, shaking her head a little. “The Order?” she asked, hoping for details.
"The Order of the Loom." Wren said. "A group of people dedicated to Fate, things of that nature. I'm told we are what the rest of the world considers a 'cult'." she said. Then she frowned, looking down at her hands. "...were." she corrected herself. Past tense. The Order of the Loom didn't exist anymore, everyone was dead.
Ohhhh shit. That was recognizable even to Mojo, who’d only had a short span of years in the loop of current events. And even those years had been more devoted to chasing good times and learning about music, movies, and everything else that didn’t really benefit her much. “I remember reading about that, and I...” Mojo trailed, averting her eyes for a moment, “I’m sorry you had to go through that, I can’t even imagine how awful it must’ve been.” She’d seen the newspapers in her old diner, remembered the headlines splashed with body counts, and knowing that a survivor of it all was here? Well, now Mojo wished she’d actually read the articles.
"Thank you," Wren said, accepting the sentiment. "I still dream about it. But I'm told that's common, as well. I hope one day I can leave it behind, move forward, but I don't know how well I will do without any real experience in the world. I went straight from there to prison."
“I could help?” Mojo offered uncertainly, more as if she doubted Wren would want it than she doubted herself. “I mean, I’m not totally an expert on it, or anything else, but I could try? Like... we’ve got so much time in here, and you already offered to do a reading for me, it’d be the least I could do to just hang out when you felt like it and talk about stuff.” And it’d keep her apprised of Wren’s priorities, which Mojo was going to guess would be... odd.
"I would be very appreciative of any advice or insight you could give me, honestly, so if you were willing, I would be grateful." Wren said eagerly, nodding and giving Mojo a smile. "I don't need an expert, I need real opinions. I need people to tell me when I'm doing things incorrectly, or just tell me what things are like out there." Since she had little to no idea. Her education in the real world was pathetically small.
“Now that I can do,” Mojo asserted with a brighter smile, nodding agreeably. “I’ve seen coast to coast twice, been through all the big cities, lived on my own in one for a while too? So I’ve got a pretty good grip on dealing with people. It might mean trying some new things, but y’know, that’s how you learn what you’re looking to learn.” And she was ready for the challenge, too; Mojo had adapted fast on her own, but helping someone else (like Wren in particular) was going to be a very different beast. “We could start tonight, I heard there was usually group dinner.”
Wren's eyes widened. "You've been that well traveled?" she asked, clearly amazed. "Wow, that's...impressive." She sat up straighter. "I am willing to try whatever I need to, I am a very good student." she assured Mojo. She wasn't going to shy from testing things out, especially if Mojo was willing to help her. She'd take anything she could get, really, and she seemed so nice, so far. Warm and giving, attentive. She already liked her, much like she'd taken to Ryan right away as well. "I would be happy to start tonight. I need to go listen to music with Leandro later, but I will need to eat."
Mojo’s brow knotted at the unfamiliar name, though she really only knew two people in here. That’d change, she was confident of it, especially with a start like this. “Leandro? Haven’t met him yet, but I’d like to. Especially if he’s big on music. It’s kinda one of the things I got to indulge in when I’d been growing up,” Mojo explained, tugging up her sleeves to show the tattoos under both biceps. “My dad encouraged me to keep exploring it, and some of it’s just... it’s beautiful in a way I think only ever makes sense to you and you alone, when you hear what’s right. These are from one of my favorite songs.”
"He linked me to some songs, I really loved it. So I'm interested in listening to as much music as possible." Wren told Mojo, clearly excited by this idea. "Anything and everything, I'd love to hear it all. I didn't know music could be like that, so I'm very interested in learning more. If you have any suggestions for me, I'd be very grateful." Wren then focused on Mojo's tattoos. She read the words there, and smiled. "Interesting." she said, and she meant it.
She lit up at both the praise and the request, nodding with enthusiasm as Mojo pulled her sleeves back down. “That’s from a guy named Jeff Buckley, I think you’d love his music. A lot of it’s about faith and acceptance of our fate, understanding what the end entails. And if you really mean that? It’s just a drop in the bucket of what’s out there. Do you know what the songs from Leandro were?” Mojo asked, figuring that she’d probably try to branch out from there, with some idea of what appealed to Wren so far.
"I would need to write them down, though he linked them on the...journals?" Wren said, hesitating over the word because she wasn't positive it was the correct one, but it seemed to work. "You could find the list, I'm certain. Though I believe my favorite of those linked was a group called Delirium." she shared. "But I appreciated all of it." she rushed to add.
“Okay, I need to meet this guy if he even knows Delirium,” Mojo gushed, laughing a moment later. Maybe this’d be a lot better than she thought, and so far? Mojo hadn’t thought it wouldn’t be that bad at all. “And I’ll have to look up his entry. That thing is kinda weird to use, the whole terminal? I didn’t have a computer or anything before this place, though, so it’s awkward for me to figure out.” Which she was betting Wren could understand.
"There was a lot to listen to. Music with so many layers, and vocals, and instruments, and beat changes...it was amazing." Wren said, excited. "It made me want to dance! I'm likely no good at it but I didn't care, it was all just...it felt like it was pulsing through my veins!" It sounded silly but it was the best way she could describe what she'd felt. "The computer is awkward for me as well. We had one, but it was a far less advanced model than this. So I'm still working out how to get things done on it." she admitted, utterly sympathetic to that.
Mojo laughed delightedly, infected by Wren’s zeal for what the music had done for her. “No, we totally can dance!” she assured the other woman. “Soon, even! It’s just... it’s one of those things you shouldn’t care about being good at, just about getting lost in how the music makes you feel. My motto? Dance like no one’s watching.” And really, the prospect was exciting for her, too. It could be helpful for Wren, maybe a chance to draw out Reece, and it didn’t hurt that Mojo just loved it. “It’s like a heartbeat,” she agreed, following Wren’s description, “But a bigger one than yours or mine or everyone in here’s put together. And when you hear it? You want to match it, right?”
She was somewhat radiant from it all; the talk itself, the prospects coming with it, the idea that tonight could just be wonderful no matter which direction it took. Really, it was the effortless love of life itself showing in Mojo. “And I figure someone in here’s got to be good with those machines, right? Maybe I’ll find out who and have ‘em teach us both the basics.” If it was someone who could be charmed, at least.
Wren took that advice to heart. Dance like no one's watching. she repeated to herself. She would definitely keep that in mind. When Mojo kept talking Wren nodded eagerly, agreeing. "I'm sure we can find someone. Perhaps we can just ask on the journals for someone to help with the computers."
“That’s a good call, and really? I need to meet everyone else in here. I... I worry about some of them,” Mojo confessed with a momentary pause. “I know not everyone’s going to be okay in here, not like you or the man who helped me find my room, Reece. But I don’t think I should avoid them anyway, right?” she asked, hoping Wren might support the risk of it all. “Not if we’re going to be living together for however long. And... and maybe I’ll meet someone else who’s really great? Like you or Reece or Leandro?” Yeah, deep down? She was dying to see who else was in here.
"I don't believe in avoidance." Wren said. "Fate is Fate. There isn't some way 'out'. One has to face one's destiny, no matter what that entails." she said gravely, sighing. She looked slightly startled but smiled at being tossed into the 'really great' category. "I'm glad I've met you. So, it would be a shame for you not to meet others, I'm certain you will make a lot of friends."
It was so... so blindly trusting that Mojo felt bad for even pushing out some extra zeal on her own part. Wren was genuinely sweet, if odd, but to be so accepting of whatever happened? It was going to get her hurt if she didn’t have someone looking out for her. Which, Mojo supposed, could be her part in things, if she truly bought into the Fate concept that Wren was selling so hard. “I think we both will,” Mojo stressed with a wider grin, starting to gather her candles back up. “And I’m glad I met you too, Wren. If you ever need anything? I’m down in room three, come knock any time.”
"The Empress." Wren said, smiling. "Not a bad connotation." she shared, standing up herself. "It was very nice meeting you as well, and I am sure we will be spending much more time together in the future. Let me know if you need anything, or want to listen to music."
“No?” Mojo asked uncertainly, giving Wren a crooked smile as she gathered up her things and rose. She wanted to know more, sure, wanted to know just what the Empress might say about her, but there’d be time. There would be so very much time to learn all about her, to share her own self with Wren. “I’ll hope it turns out to be a good one, and soon you’ll have to tell me why,” she requested warmly. “And I’ll let you know if there’s anything at all. I’ll see you soon,” Mojo added in parting, backstepping away with a smile until she’d reached the door, then turning with a spring in her step. All in all? She seemed very much a woman who was elated by everything that had happened. All in all, it was the utter truth. Prison or not, things were looking up here.