Saintsmourn

[giveanything]

"Bless me father, for I have sinned," the words tumbled past his lips, ingrained in the well worn pathways of his memory from the years he'd spent in catechism and as an altar boy. Not that Liam was devout anymore -- how could he be, given what he'd become, given what he did and continued to do. The confessional booth was small and dark, light filtering in only dimly through the door and its screen that kept him hidden from the sanctuary beyond and from the priest he assumed would be on the other side.

"It has been... a very long time since my last confession."

What was he doing here? This was ridiculous. He couldn't possibly expect forgiveness and absolution. There had to be true repentance for that, real contrition, and Liam knew he couldn't manage either. He hated what he did, despised every moment of it, but he wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop. The price for disobeying was far too severe, and he would not be the one to pay it. The price for his disobedience and his failure would be paid by his brother, and he couldn't live with that.

So William had made his choice, made it again and again, putting that one life ahead of so many others. And oh he was good at what he did, talented at ruining people, in shattering whatever it was in a human being that kept their souls in place, until they were ready to throw it away. His watcher commended him for it, in a sick and sadistic sort of amusement.

Today's lost soul had been... fuck. It had been hard. She was young, barely nineteen, and her road had already been a hard one. He'd played the game with her for the past few weeks, insinuating darkness and doubt into the cracks of that already-battered soul. Today. Today she'd shattered, and there would be no recovering from it. Another soul for the demon who owned him.

He could feel the panic rising up in his chest, cold and hard and threatening to freeze his lungs so he couldn't draw in enough breath. In the dimness and silence of the confessional, all the carefully constructed walls and facades trembled and fell away. Gone were the easy smiles and quite literal devil-may-care attitude, all the charisma and charm that he relied on in his cursed excuse for a job. It was him and his breathing and the silence and the faceless priest in the chamber beside him. Liam wondered if he could hear the panic in his breathing.

"I... sorry. This was a mistake. I should go. I'm sorry, Father, for wasting your time."

Comments

[eblouissant]

They had cookies between them now, that would at least break the spell that Liam had cast over him. But the attraction was very mutual, and it would be hard for him to hide it. It was not even a physical thing, he could have dealt with the physical side of things as he had before-- but there was something both profound and inherently profane in the way his skin seemed to tense with energy, contract with awareness.

Riley had a terrible poker face.

He concentrated on the chocolate chip cookie which had been given to him fresh by one of the nuns in the cafeteria who had taken him under her wing to feed the Priest. So Riley was given extras of all the baked goods since it had been noted that he had a riotous sweet tooth.

"The summer before seminary, myself and one of the guys I was on the swim team with decided to take a weekend camping trip and well.." he gestured a little bit. "A kiss happened." A lot more than a kiss had happened, it had been his last hurrah before seminary.

[giveanything]

Well, at least his gaydar was fully functioning. But then the way that Riley had been looking at him, the way there's a sudden frisson of energy between them each time their eyes meet, it was impossible to think otherwise. This was the first time that Liam had ever really felt anything like it. He was being bold here, in the flirting and the romantic overtures, and asking about the good priest's last kiss, but part of that was covering for what amounted to an extremely limited amount of experience. The fact of the matter was the entirety of his experience was with the demon who owned him -- the pact consummated when the contract had come due on his eighteenth birthday and again and again whenever Gregory wanted to remind Liam who he belonged to -- and the occasional 'friend' that Gregory loaned him out to.

So honestly a camping trip and some stolen kisses, among other things, sounded cozy and romantic. He smiled around another nibble of his cookie. "A farewell to the flesh before you settled into the clergy, mm?" Tragic really, that priests were supposed to forego physical intimacy of that nature. There was something achingly human about wanting connection -- in so many ways -- that to bar one form of it so completely seemed, well, it seemed foolish to Liam. Always had.

"Do you miss it? Being so close to someone else that you can't say for sure where they end and you begin?" As if Liam knew the feeling beyond mere overwhelming desire for it, missing something that he'd never actually had. He was, after all, a broken mess of a man.

[eblouissant]

That was such a ridiculously personal question, he was almost scandalized by it-- almost. Instead he turned a shade of pink that thankfully his wind whipped hair managed to hide quite cunningly though he did think about the question and then he shrugged ever so slightly. "I do not know, I have never had an experience like that before." not the sort of thing that was portrayed in movies and books; no-- it had been awkward and fumbling, and he was sure that it had been him wanting to get in that last bit of something before he had to lock in.

Most of my encounters, as a teenager was slightly awkward and disjointed though I suppose what makes them nostalgic is the fact that they were firsts, I suppose? I certainly would not look back on them and think that they were instances I would ever revisit."

Good really, that meant that he did not have anything to long for.. save for that whispering 'what-if' that danced in the back of his mind like a black-winged butterfly.

[giveanything]

Liam was used to scandalized. He wouldn't blame the priest for it.

So when Riley actually answered him, Liam found himself quite pleasantly surprised. He hummed, a low and thoughtful sound. "Neither have I. I wonder if it's real or just some pretty piece of poetry from love stories." Deep down, and hell not that deep, Liam was a romantic, and he believed it was real. He wanted it to be real.

He would not comment on firsts, since his own was, er, complicated. To put it lightly.

For a moment he was silent, like perhaps he'd dropped the topic out of some newfound sense of mercy for the poor priest who he was so drawn to, so eager to tempt. But that wasn't the case, as would be obvious when the next words slipped past his lips seemingly of their own volition. "Would you like to help me find out?"

[eblouissant]

This was a terrible idea, Riley knew this for fact.

The absolute worst idea that could have ever blossomed between them and yet he could not help but be only slightly curious. Perhaps it would be nothing, just a kiss. In fact he was convincing himself that it was all that it could be-- just a kiss like the kisses he'd traded in his youth. "Only a kiss."

It could not go further, a kiss was not truly a world turning experience, it was not sex in all of it's forms-- it was not even making out. He could not allow it to flutter beyond a kiss, and he thought it would be easy, but those slightly melancholy eyes? They pulled to him with their aria of sadness.

[giveanything]

Liam's eyes widened. For all that he'd been the one who asked for it, he hadn't really expected that he'd ever be lucky enough for Riley to actually agree to it. Even if it was just a kiss.

That magnetic pull he felt towards the priest seemed to surge all the stronger, a deeper knowing than could be attributed to human consciousness. Whatever it was, it knew that this man was who he was meant to meet. Liam pushed that thought aside and sat up straighter, turning his body to face the other man.

"Only a kiss," Liam agreed, voice unexpectedly breathless, a small flicker of hope surfacing in dark eyes -- a wholly foreign thing for him these past years. His hand found its way to cup against Riley's cheek once more, this time urging him closer even as Liam leaned in.

[eblouissant]

Perhaps that was because of the pull between them, curiosity that it was hard to resist. He did not know what had possessed him, but it was a testament to how much the subconscious within him recognized Liam as someone magical, someone special. The priest tried to push it down, tried to make it so that it rendered itself into a packaged ball of repression.

Just the touch sent shivers down his back, and he leaned forward-- sending his cheek even more firmly against the palm, his eyes slid to Liam's where their gazes collided. And then his tongue slid out to wet his own lower lip, and that gesture was nearly done unconsciously. "Only one kiss."

Speak it more than once, to make it the truth.

[giveanything]

Who was Riley trying to convince right now? Liam couldn't help but wonder. Still he smiled at the words, nodding. "One kiss."

So he planned on making it count.

One more caress of his thumb along Riley's cheek and he closed the distance between them, finding those absurdly beautiful lips with his own. It started soft and tentative, but that pull was impossible to resist and he moved to kiss him more certainly, claiming that mouth like he'd been yearning for it for far longer than he'd known the priest.

His fingers slipped back, to sink into blond hair, curling and gripping at soft strands.

[eblouissant]

Riley was trying to convince himself, it was himself that needed that little push of remembrance. The softest touch of fingertip to his jawline, against check and then the flutter of lips against his own. He'd almost been tempted them to fall back and to retreat. Every cell within him screamed it, and yet he remained there and their mouth collided them on purpose.

It was like the indecent rush of alcohol running through his blood on a face track to his brain. Parted mouth against his own and he was almost impossible to resist his. His lips were moistened because of his tongue, casting beautiful pliancy to the kiss and then there was his hand which was clenching while he attempted to resist the urge to rest his hand against a shoulder.

Gods, thankfully he did not disgrace himself by doing that.

Oh indeed, it was fire and it was gravity rolled up in one. Everything a kiss should've been, a world that had nearly crashed on it's axis and hurtled into hubris.

[giveanything]

One kiss Liam repeated to himself silently, a mantra that he was trying to cling to because the first touch of those lips made something warm explode in his chest, racing through him like the blood in his veins. No kiss had every felt this way before, had never had his heart facing and butterflies fluttering madly in his stomach.

He lingered though. He lingered as long as he could, learning the taste and feel of those plush lips on his own. It took all his self control not to wind his arms around Riley and lean into him, or just straight up invite himself into the priest's lap. So far that willpower held at least.

A brief brush of his tongue along Riley's lower lip before he reluctantly drew back to break the kiss. But he did not go far, resting his forehead against the other man's to linger in that proximity, eyes drifting open to seek out Riley's.

[eblouissant]

His own mouth felt the graze of tongue, lightly glazing his lower lip with the glisten of saliva. A deep sigh, lips parted so that Liam could taste the agony there. Oh gods, this was a mistake, this was such a mistake and he was almost keenly aware of it.

Because he could not become unaware of any time before having kissed Liam.

The mouth was a promise of poetry against his own, it was everything that had been written about by all the grand poets. It made his heart surge painfully and his heart constrict. He could not-- he should not, he jerked back because his entire world had been shaken and then upended. And those chocolate honey eyes, he could become lost in them.

A cookie clattered on the ground, breaking into two parts and then he tried to put at least some distance between them. He looked like a dear in the headlights, that had been caught doing something forbidden.. not permitted. His cheeks flushed and he poured himself something to drink to whet his throat-- but the taste of Liam still lingered.

[giveanything]

Liam could feel Riley drawing away, that quick jerk back enough that he released his grip and let his fingers slide free of Riley's hair. For his part, Liam did not move, instead just watching the other man with a soft sort of wonder playing over his features. He could still feel the ghost of the warmth of Riley's lips on his own.

Unconsciously, he lifted his hand to touch his fingertips to his own lips as if trying to prolong the memory. A smile, soft and almost shy, and he looked back to the priest who was looking very much on the teetering edge of some sort of panic. He felt bad for that, truly, but still, they'd both quite clearly been affected.

"Wow," he murmured the word quietly. "Thank you. You know, that was my first time kissing someone human."

[eblouissant]

"What do you mean, human?"

Riley said after a few moments, and at this moment he did not see the look on that face because he dared not look at him, fearing that if he looked at him again they would kiss again.. a second kiss.

His fingers gripped the glass even as he regarded the contents. His heart pounded like it had run a marathon and all the while the taste of lemonade was nothing next to the feel of Liam's mouth against his own. He thought that he'd been strong.. but clearly.

[giveanything]

Liam very much would like a second kiss. Maybe a third. And a fourth and then maybe more, but Liam was trying not to be as greedy as he felt when it came to wanting the priest. That kiss had been a match to dry tinder ready to become a conflagration, and it had done exactly that.

He looked over to Riley at the question. "I mean human. Not a demon. I mean, they're generally human-shaped most of the time. But it's different. They're empty, and there's no warmth there." At least the demons he had known. One shoulder lifted in a faint shrug. Somewhere deep down in himself he realized that what he was saying was not even remotely normal, but it was all he'd known. Normal was relative.

Another moment where he couldn't quite stop himself from reaching up to brush his fingers along his lips, the sensation of that warmth already fading back to memory, where he expected he'd treasure it.

[eblouissant]

It had to be a cookie crumb trail to temptation, though honestly he would be thinking of how he felt with the other man's lips on his own-- it would figuratively haunt him in the depths of sleep, and out of it.

Just enough moments like that and he may just cap-size like a boat, regardless of intentions.

And was his eyes drawn to the way that Liam touched those lips, so much that he had to look away once again. He had learned however that normal was not often times the case, he set the glass aside and then he clasped his hands together. "So you've kissed people who have been less than human?" kissed was probably not the right word at all.

[giveanything]

Step by tiny step. Liam could be patient, after all. But he was already fully in over his head, and he recognized that. Maybe that was why he was acting so recklessly about it, bolder than he had any right to be.

Or maybe he was just desperately lonely and the spark of connection and attraction and something else that Riley had set to glowing in him was the first warm little light he'd felt in a very long time.

A nod at the question. "Or they kissed me, if we're assigning agency here." Among other things yes. The way he understood it, demons drew energy from sexual release with humans, even when the demon wasn't specifically an incubus. For incubi it was a much more pressing need that fed their very survival.

[eblouissant]

It was something that would pull between them until they acted on it-- the Priest so close to sin, his soul so ripe for the taking; he had taken vows and that bright pure flame within him was like candy to those who seeked to devour it. At this moment, there was nothing to be done-- they were on a collision course like two asteroids who would eventually crash, and then twining flames to the ground within their own hubris.

"I.. so you do not choose these things?"

Oh Riley had a temper, normally he was fairly placid and calm but he could become waves upon the sea, crashing in a stormy rage if he was provoked enough. It was rare but it could happen.

[giveanything]

Liam didn't want to do anything to ruin that brightness in Riley. He ought to realize that was exactly what he'd do though. He was poison, the sort of thing that tainted everything he touched. Really, shouldn't he know that by now? But he was blinded by the warm light in Riley and how it called to him, drew him in.

His shoulders rose and fell in a shrug that was far too casual for the subject matter. "It's part of the contract, part of the price of the deal I made." A life for a life. His keeper owned him body and soul. Really, the only thing that was his own anymore was his heart, and that was a battered and broken thing anyway.

[eblouissant]

Riley was instinctively drawn to battered and broken things, perhaps it is because he wanted to assuage the pain of those who needed it-- perhaps because he read so many conflicting things in the weight of Liam's presence. Confidence and yet vulnerability, flirtation and yet-- also something child-like in him, like he'd been forced to grow up far to fast.

Whatever he had to do, with his dubious consent-- it made Riley bite the inside of his cheek.

"I wish you did not have to go through that." he could not save anyone, but he had to try and the sadness made him perhaps even more resolved; beware demon you now had a foe in Riley-- whether that became formidable remained to be seen. "No one should have to go through that."

[giveanything]

Riley would be the first to see through him. That confidence and flirtation and bravado got him through most of life. Even his brother thought that was the real Liam these days, never considered that it was all a carefully crafted defense.

He looked over at Riley in surprise at that. For Liam, while he wasn't exactly happy about any of his end of his contract, at least warming Gregory's bed didn't do any damage to anyone else, as opposed to the soul collecting which tore at him each and every time he ruined a soul and a life and saw the cracks spread through someone because of him. Not that he'd admit that to anyone.

"Don't worry about me too much, Father. I deserve what I have. I have no illusions about that. There are much better places to invest your kindness." More deserving places. More people who could actually be saved.

[eblouissant]

It was words like that which would get stuck in Riley's head, settling there where he would obsess over it as he stared up at his ceiling at night, of ways to save Liam. There had to be a way, there was always a way. He looked over to Liam then and he smiled just a little bit. "I am doing it for Maurice." the orange cat with a single braincell. "He clearly needs a dad, and he has chosen you so..."

In so many words, "Also I have promised to come visit him, have I not?" him and Liam.

They were a package deal, according to Liam.

"You know, animals are good judges of character."

[giveanything]

"Well... I wouldn't want to keep you from Maurice. He's an excellent cat." And Maurice had clearly taken to Riley as well. His gaze flickered to the side, making the beautiful mistake of meeting the priest's eyes, captured immediately in that fathomless blue. Could you drown in the sky? Liam might be finding out in this moment.

For his own self preservation he looked away out over the ocean before laughing. "I'm not sure orange cats count. They're not known for their wisdom."

But generally animals did like him, and Liam liked them. If he'd not had his soul snatched up by a demon bargain when he was too young to know better, there'd been a light in him as well, one that was being strangled and starved moment by moment, though some small spark remained.

[eblouissant]

The Priest could see the goodness in the other man, it was a spark but it was there, as long as there was something he felt like he could work with that. It was temptation to be around this man, but he also knew that he was not bad, just that sometimes he did bad things. He carefully reached in the basket and then pulled out another cookie, offering it to the other man.

"Orange cats have quite a bit of heart so I have determined, even if they are less than wise. Leave the wisdom to other people, just let Maurice's preference for your company count for something." offering a smile that touched at the corner, and illuminating his eyes just a little bit.

[giveanything]

"All right. I'll trust Maurice's taste, but only because he is an excellent cat." Liam had already decided that he had to do some shopping to make sure Maurice had what he needed. Litterbox and food bowls and a scratching post and a cat tree and bed and toys. He would spoil his new stray cat son and his utter lack of braincells.

He leaned back into the bench, letting silence fall between them for a few minutes. He couldn't shake the feeling that Riley saw him in a way no one had in a very long time. It was intoxicating and terrifying in equal parts.

"I can still feel your lips on mine..." he broke the silence with the downright wistful statement.

[eblouissant]

Those words ran through him, and spoke to something deep within him.

He looked out to the sea, in the same direction that Liam was looking-- the windbreaker provided very little true warmth but that was fine, the sun was out and shining on them which helped mitigate it. One of probably the last nice weeks before true autumn settled into the trees and leaves, sea and rocks.

"I can as well."

He admitted, he could not lie.