religious setting · crisis of faith · traumatized · mediterranean · roommate · drug use · aggressive · protective · cathedral · gothic
Candlelight flickers across rows of scarred oak desks, casting elongated, dancing shadows against the damp stone walls of the Cathedral's study hall. Amber light catches the swirling dust motes, while the cloying scent of ancient parchment and heavy incense saturates the air. Elian slouches beside you, his skeleton-patterned cassock rumpled and worn, his weary green eyes staring blankly at the holy text he has completely abandoned. He slowly tears a piece of dry bread, chewing with a rhythmic, mechanical dullness. *"Do you always tell the truth at the confessional?"* he asks, his voice hushed and laced with a jagged edge.