Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

"Bishop Arden is simply explaining why he's here, and offering to help us out, right?" He confirmed, his eyes darting from Arden, to Azaiah, and back as he warily held his own coffee. "He, uh... He apparently met up with Laura and Makai on his way here, and offered some advice. Granted, I don't think many people will be willing to talk to me, let alone help out. Everyone has pretty much locked themselves away, Bishop. No one seems to want to talk to one another, and it's pretty... unnerving? I think I could manage to work on my own, with Azaiah and you helping, mostly because I know no one would try."

He then took a soft sip of the coffee, his brows knitted by the strict aura. He respected those above him, such as Arden, so read no bad intentions. Of course, with Azaiah, he trusted the demon as well. As a weak attempt to calm them both, he motioned Azaiah to take a seat.
 
"Oh, you met up with them. Interesting, that. It all makes sense now," smiled Azaiah rather cryptically, the usually open man being uncharacteristically sly and mysterious as he slid to take a seat and a cup for himself, pouring out the coffee with his eyes never really leaving the Bishop's. "You know you have the look of a guilty man, don't you? I'm good with auras and the like. I see right through you. Have you sinned, Father? I'm real good on the topic of sinning. I have a friend whose job it is to punish those who sin-- well, it's his future job, anyway. Maybe he'll see you again one day."

"You speak in riddles, you know. It's rather troublesome trying to work out what you mean. Amusing, but troublesome," laughed Arden without any flicker in his expression, which had been Azaiah's hope. He was holding out for Arden to look nervous or glance away anxiously at his unsubtle words, not to sit back, relaxed, without having so much as batted an eyelid. "Your friend's funny," he smiled to Ivan just as calmly. "I see why you keep him around."​
 
"... What are you two talking about?" He asked obliviously, though his nervous laugh was proof that he at least knew the air had grown dark. "A-Aha, um... Azaiah, is there something wrong? I'm confused. Look, let's not talk about anything bad! We should focus on the church, eh? How about we start with the floor. I have the polisher somewhere, and I can do that..." He insisted, before getting to his feet after a heavy chug of coffee.
 
"I suppose I'd best be off-- but perhaps I can join you for dinner tonight? I'd love to catch up in a more homely environment, and Father Robert suggested to me before I made the visit that I ought to try your homemade tomato soup. If it's not too much trouble, tonight would be fantastic. I do want to talk more conversationally. I'll be visiting a lot, and I feel it's best to have some personal connection with you, Father. Makes it easier when I visit, or else things tend to get awkward. Until tonight, then-- your sister told me where you live. She was far too helpful, really."

Smiling sarcastically up at the man until he graciously exited it, his eyes landed back on Ivan in disbelief. "You don't believe all that spiel, do you? He reeks of guilt, it's palpable. He's such a hypocrite. Granted, you're no angel, but he's acting all high and mighty, looking at me suspiciously when he's a sinner himself? Fucking hell, I could have really lost my temper, you know?"​
 
"What on earth are you talking about, Azaiah?! What do you mean, he's a hypocrite? He's a Bishop, he's my superior. I'm offended that you'd act so rudely to him, to be honest. He's trying to help us, and yes, I'm a bit peeved that he spoke to my sister, but that's no big deal! Jeez..." the priest sighed, while rubbing his temples wearily. "I don't understand you, really. What is he a hypocrite for? Is... he a bad guy? Do you know him personally or something?"
 
"I told you, I can sense these things. Not always, but sometimes, and he's just... I don't like him. Do I need to give you evidence, or are you going to trust me on this one? I am sort of your boyfriend, even if you won't put a label on what we have. I'd like you to be like 'hey, Azaiah, you stuck by me through everything, I'll totally trust you on this one', y'know? That'd be real nice of you. He's a Bishop, he ain't the Archangel Gabriel. He's prone to mistakes too. He's human. You all make dumb errors, it's natural," he shrugged to himself, a little offended that he was being shown distrust-- though he did figure it was only natural. He had lied about being human at first, and he was a demon. That was probably enough for Ivan to be wary of him.

"I just think he's been doing stuff he shouldn't. I'm a demon, I... know sinning when I see it. Like I said, not all the time. If I could sense that, I'd work for the police hunting out criminals. I'd have a success rate of, like, 100%-- it's just him. He's been up to some real bad shit if I sense it, that's all. But hey, he's your buddy, your superior. You trust him, not me. That's cool, Ivan-- understandable, too. Don't sweat it. I'll prove it tonight at dinner, then you're gonna have to kiss me pretty hard to make up for it~"​
 
"It's not that I don't trust you because you're an untrustworthy person, it's just... what would he have to do to be so noticeably bad? It's hard to grow in the ranks when it comes to the church, so he must have been pretty dedicated and determined. The Vatican actually cares about it's Bishops, unlike small town priests like me. I... I dunno. He seemed nice to me, but I guess I'm not a hundred year old demon, eh?" He whispered, before cracking his back wearily.

"Look, let's put that aside. I was serious about cleaning up today, so lets get that floor polisher before Mass starts. You... You really don't have to be here, if it doesn't make you comfortable. I don't want to force you through Mass with me."
 
"Two hundred year old demon, actually. But hey, a hundred years for someone immortal like me really doesn't mean a lot. And honestly, I'm not... telling you he's a murdering psychopath. I just think he's not squeaky clean is all, and I would like you to trust me a little on this one-- but yeah, I guess you don't want to discuss it further," he sighed once noticing the highly unsubtle change of subject-- though he respected and liked Ivan far too much to proceed with his suspicions of the Bishop. Ideally, he would have wanted to, but he didn't want to lose what he had with Ivan. He already had so much from him, after all.

"Hey, I'll attend Mass! I want to, really. I mean... I'm not going home for awhile, and so if old Lucifer finds out what I've been up to somehow, I'll... accept the appropriate punishment. But really, he won't find out, and if he does, I'll have Makai's mother to defend me. She says I'm a sweetheart~" Boasted Azaiah rather proudly. After all, he did feel useless down there, so to have Lucifer's own wife happily defend and genuinely care about him was always a nice feeling-- and boasting about it whenever he could was something he would do without caring how big-headed it seemed.​
 
"It's really nice to know that you're willing to do so much for me," he admitted, before taking his hands in his own. Offering a genuine smile, he went as far as to offer a soft kiss on the demon's lips. "I've never really had anyone sacrifice much for me, you know? Hm... Just, let's do some cleaning up a bit, set up for Mass, and just see if anyone decides to show up. I... I don't think anyone will. Even if Makai left and lost his influence, it'll be awhile for things to fit back into motion. Once that works, we can finally relax and I can show you Macon properly:"
 
"...If nobody shows, it's their loss, ain't it? I'm a demon, and I'm attending, so what's their excuse?" Smirked Azaiah as all thoughts on the Bishop melted the moment he was given the kiss. Unlike Makai, he really couldn't hold onto a thought longer than a few seconds, and fortunately, this was one of those moments where he was caught up in something else and had abandoned all talk of the previous one.

"I already like Macon, it's real sweet, behind all the chaos. You're here, for a start," he reminded, snatching a few cookies for himself and shoving them into his pocket, in case he needed an energy boost during the cleaning up. "I wanna take you out of Macon, on some vacation. You haven't left, have 'ya? And I haven't been anywhere else on earth, so it'd be great for both of us~!"​
 
"I've only left Macon for more than a few hours once, and that was the zoo in the other county," he admitted shyly, before offering a nervous snort. "How dad is that, Azaiah? Laura can go off to the opposite side of the country, and I'm left here? It's not that I would want to live anywhere else, hm? I love this town, and I'm the only priest in all of it! So... it's okay. I always dreamt of going to Miami and lounging on the beach, though. I've never been to the ocean!"
 
"Miami? Wherever that is, we'll go and lounge on the beach and-- hey, we'll be able to, like, kiss one another without anyone really caring, won't we~? That's an incentive to go in itself. The ability to kiss on some sandy beach without fearing judgement from people we know. Sounds rad," he blurted excitedly, his mind and heart now set on heading off anywhere just to be able to have a slice of normality in their very early relationship. It didn't have to be soon, granted, but he wanted the vacation to arrive at some point. It would do them both the world of good-- Ivan especially, given all he had had to deal with.

"I can get us away at any time, you know? Say the word, and whoosh, we'll be off," he cooed, eyeing the doorway cautiously before stealing another quick kiss. He was wary that literally anyone could wander on through, but he would risk it a further second or two just to show the priest how much he liked him.​
 
"No, no... I want to work to get there, you know? Or, at least make sure everything here is fixed first. Maybe I'll make sure Laura is okay first, o-or something... I dunno. We're still really early- whatever this relationship is- so it doesn't matter anyway." He insisted, before taking a reluctant step back. With a heavy sigh, he wandered down the stairs to the main part of the church with a frown. "Let's just get this over..."
 
"Gosh, cheer up. The place will be nice and clean in no time, and people will start returning to Mass again. You need to smile and cheer the heck up, Ivan. Who's going to come in if you're all miserable~?" He cooed playfully, leaving the topic of vacation to the side and moving past it with ease, as he usually did. His main motivation was to try and get his friend to be less... well, down. He had a lot on his plate, but he did have a lot of positives in his life too. He had Azaiah, and the demon felt that he was at least enough to make Ivan smile a little more.

Grabbing a broom to begin his usual routine of dusting up and clearing aside broken pieces of wood and glass, he shot another smile to the priest. "Really, this is fun, ain't it? Dusting up with my sorta boyfriend, what's better than that?"​
 
"You've got some odd ideas of fun," he replied, and offered a smile over as he worked a bit to the side in cleaning the blood off the pews. He was no moron, and clearly could tell the other was trying to cheer him up, so The least Ivan could do is try and do just that.

"I mean, if the Bishop knew we were... dating... I'd be ruined," he whispered, his eyes darting around for extra measure. "I don't want to think about what would happen if he found out. I'd have to beg him to not tell, and he'd probably just laugh at me..."
 
Azaiah's reaction to the worries, though, was to simply shrug and go as far as to chuckle. Not at Ivan's expense, not at all, but because he found the worrying to be ill-founded and, ultimately, useless. He seemed to be certain that the Bishop was hiding something, after all, so for Ivan to be concerned while the man he admired was hiding sinful secrets of his own was a little amusing for the demon. Though, he did quickly grow irritated by it; not maliciously, but more in exasperation.

"Honestly, quit stressing. That guy's sinned far more than you have, and when I find out that I'm right, you'll have nothing to be worried about. Hell, he'll probably turn a blind eye to our relationship when his own sins are exposed-- because I know they exist, he's so unsubtle about it in my eyes. Smirked right at me when I glared at him. Asshole," he quietly muttered, feeling his blood boil simply at the mention of the Bishop, even if he was the one who was prolonging the talk about him. "...Whatever. I know he's a jerk. You don't have to agree with me."​
 
"I'm not saying I disagree with you, I just- I dunno. He's my superior, a-and I admire him, you know? You don't want to look down upon someone you look up to, I'm sure there are people in Hell that you admire. Not going to lie, though, I'm curious to what he allegedly did wrong..." he admitted, before hurrying over to the other's side to sweep up the broken glass and whatnot into a dustpan, using it as an excuse to be close to the demon. "I don't know if I want to say we're dating until he leaves, you know? I can't have that term going around. I... I love you, but I'm just nervous, you know?"
 
"Hold up, you love me~? D'aw, aren't you the cutest? I'd scoop you up in my arms and shower you with kisses if we weren't in the house of your dear Lord. I think he's pissed off I'm even in his house, let alone kissing one of his devout followers, so let's leave the kisses until later. I can be respectful, see? Not that I respect the man, but I can respect you, and... I'm trying to show you that me being a demon doesn't mean I can't respect 'ya," he admitted-- though he did still press a kiss to his forehead regardless. It was an affectionate move that didn't scream of the amount of passion he did desperately want to show him. It was a compromise - it was respectful enough, but still showed him how much he cared.

"Oh, that Bishop guy? We'll find out eventually. I mean, nobody can hide these things forever, not if he's done something as bad as I think he's done. At least you have the moral highground. What you're doing isn't wrong, I don't think. At least, your 'sin' really isn't comparable to whatever shit that guy's got himself in," shrugged the demon, who sat back on a pew to apparently take a break to eat the rest of his cookies in one sitting - he wasn't very good at resisting temptation, after all.​
 
Meanwhile, Ivan had no problem picking up the slack and finished the last of the debris, only to sigh and return to cleaning the pews properly. The church wasn't gigantic, thank God, but it was impresssive enough for a small town, hence why he had little hopes in cleaning the place up quickly.

Within hours of the two cleaning, the church wasn't perfect but it was certainly pretty damn close. Once that was out of the way, Ivan had explained the usual Mass instructions and, to his genuine shock, was faced with a good dozen people. It wasn't at all the same as his normal crowd, but he couldn't complain much.

After Mass, he introduced the few people to Azaiah, and let them explain why they decided to come, and how they were. When the few left, it was hard not to notice just how beaming Ivan was with happiness. This was his LIFE, after all, and it was validating to see people leave smiling.

Once finished, cleaning all of the proper things from the Mass, he sighed in relief as he wandered towards the parking lot, and shot Azaiah a wide grin
 
"...It took everything in me not to give that old woman a good ol' slap, you know. How rude was she? I liked the whole thing, it was really nice seeing you in your element, hon, but if she's going to turn up every week, I'll lose my mind. I don't think she should tell me how to dress. Gosh, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this blazer. It's Makai's, and he only wears fashionable items," blabbed the demon grumpily. Until the rude intervention of the stereotypically gossipy woman who had took issue with Azaiah's clothing style (apparently, he couldn't 'pull off' something so stylish), the man had genuinely enjoyed himself. He really shouldn't have, given he was a demon and this stood against everything he held dear, but seeing Ivan so happy and doing what he loved made the religion aspect irrelevant in his eyes. He had ignored most of the Biblical chatter, focusing instead on just watching the man he was starting to dearly like in his element.

"What now? We're going for lunch, right? My stomach keeps growling, Ivan. I'm starving," he whined, pouting for good measure as he leaned against the car to wait for it to be unlocked. "Can't we go get a burger again, like the other day? Those fries were amazing."​
 
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