milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

And, with a mug of weak tea and a very thoroughly bookmarked copy of the Bible (also the Book of Om, in more pristine condition), Mightily Oats is at a table in the bar.

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"Oh!" he nods. "Um, yes. That would ... be my world."

Pause.

"You're from the, er, spherical one, yes?"

The Bible isn't the only thing he's been reading.

"I am, yes. Earth."

Faith smiles at him. "So what don't you understand?"

"Um ... well, the word 'Catholic.' I don't, ah, understand why it's used. And I don't think the holidays-- Easter and ... Christmas? I did a little, ah, additional reading ..."

From somewhere in his voluminous black pockets, he pulls out a small pastel-colored book entitled, "My First Easter!"

"Er ... the eggs," he says. "And the rabbit. What is the relevance of the rabbit?"

Oh boy.

"Uhm. The rabbit isn't at all relevant. Nor the eggs It's a gimmick. A thing to get kids interested," Faith explains. "And Catholic...Catholicism is a branch of Christianity. There's lots of different ones..."

If Faith was an Eddie Izzard fan, this conversation would be a little more entertaining.

He blinks.

"A gimmick?" he repeats. "In the Church?"

Memnoch's version of events is making a depressing amount of sense now.

"Ah, I see ... do you have any idea how many branches there are, by any chance?"

Faith looks apologetic.

"Uhm. Well. No? People aren't perfect, they interpret the book in different ways...I'm not a scholar, by any means. I didn't believe any of it for the first 20 years of my life."

He sighs.

"No, I know. Back in Omnia, we have rather a lot of difficulty getting along. But ... we do have rules. And ... standards." Really. They so do.

"There are rules. There are lots of rules. What to eat, when to eat it, what to wear..."

Faith rolls her eyes. "Too many damned rules."

Oats bristles-- though, because he is Oats, he does so rather damply.

"There are reasons for those rules." Pause. "Most of them. Many of them. There are ... ah, some that are mainly traditional or, um, historical."

Faith just looks at him.

"...dietary habits?"

He shrugs.

"Would you want to eat a seagull?"

Faith stares.

"...no. Obviously your religion has...different rules...than the ones I'm thinking of."

"Actually ..." He riffles through Leviticus, stopping at a violet scrap of paper. Violet is the color code for customs shared between Christianity and Omnianism. "Here. Seagulls are unclean in the tradition of the Twelve Tribes of Israel."

"Huh."

Faith looks at it, then shrugs.

"I've never read it."

He looks slightly sheepish.

"It's very interesting." Though of course interesting isn't the strictly PC way to refer to another person's belief system.

"I'm sure it is."

To some people.

"Er ... yes."

Pause.

"Well, thank you very much, Miss Lehane."

"Faith. Call me Faith. You're welcome."

Some faint part of Oats wants to protest, I can't even call you MISS Faith?

But he just nods.

"I beg your pardon. Faith. Thank you."

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