OOM: Orpheus

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve has had a busy day--busier than he anticipated, in fact, and he'd rather go back to base fresh than worn out.

And he has the key Orpheus gave him.

So it's one supersoldier, one sleepy shower and a solid eight hours later, who's asleep in Orpheus's bed.



[ooc: Adult content warning.]

Comments

[golden_lyre]

"What does that mean to you?" Orpheus presses.



[ooc: Aaaand, then it was a very quick stop. :)]

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve swirls the coffee in his cup, thinking.

"Comfort," he says finally.

[golden_lyre]

"Huh," he says again.

Comfort is a word he'd associate with very few gods, and with those only very recently.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Though that would probably be more with Mary than with God Himself," Steve muses. "But they're kind of entangled for me."

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus settles back against the headboard, his knees drawn up, coffee cup curled in his hands. "But she's not a goddess?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"She's a saint. She's Jesus's mother."

[golden_lyre]

"Yeah, I know who she is. I just don't know what she is. 'Saint' is...I don't know. I've never understood that."

He'd even tried once!

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Saints are holy people. They intercede on behalf of the rest of us.

"For instance, when I applied to Cooper Union, I prayed to the patron saint of artists that I'd get in. Cooper Union only accepts five percent of the people who apply there, at least in the art school. Obviously I got in."

[golden_lyre]

"But they're not gods. They have a domain and they...I mean, what does it mean to be the patron saint of something?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Well," Steve says, frowning in thought, "it is kind of like being a god of something. When you need something specific, you go to that saint.

"Or, I was named for St. Stephen. I think because my mother hoped I'd be as strong as he was."

[golden_lyre]

"But you don't...worship them?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"No. You ask them to appeal to God for you."

[golden_lyre]

"Why does it matter what they're patron of, then?"

Steve is not the first person to try to explain this to him. He still doesn't get it.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Because they have specialties, I suppose. I don't really know--it's just how it's done."

[golden_lyre]

"Doesn't it seem needlessly complicated?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve laughs. "That's why the Protestants came about. To protest what they saw as corruption."

[golden_lyre]

"I thought that was about priests having too much money."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Well, that, too. And making money off of repentance. There were a lot of reasons."

[golden_lyre]

"It's a dangerous thing when religion runs the world," Orpheus says. "No matter whose it is."

Though secretly he thinks the Buddhists might do a decent job of it.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I know. I took world history."

He pauses. "It's not going to interfere with us, if you're worried about that. I'm not going to try and baptize you. I don't even go to mass that often, like I said. I haven't taken communion or gone to confession for a long time, and I probably won't for a while."

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus chuckles. "I did sort of assume that if your religion were going to come between us, it would have done so before we slept together."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Exactly.

"All I want is to eat fish on Fridays, just like I always have."

[golden_lyre]

"I can do that," Orpheus says.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve leans over to kiss him. "Thank you."

[golden_lyre]

"You're welcome," Orpheus says, setting aside his coffee to kiss him properly.