Fellowship of the Sun
A triangular mass of windows and modern side-panels of an off white, the church the Fellowship of the Sun congregate in is nothing short of welcoming. Its doors are comprised of transparent glass, allowing the world outside a glimpse into a richly carpeted and lavish lobby area. This is the heart of the church's information network; a place where tables filled with pamphlets and educational materials can be found as well as the corkboard holding up all the flyers and notices of recent events that might interest the congregation. Attached is a coat room, and the pair of handsome doors leading into the main chapel of the building, as well as a staircase that leads downstairs, where independent study rooms, the kitchen, and function rooms can be found.
In the room of worship, the walls are lined with magnificent, large windows. Large, fairly spacious, the altar stands proud and elevated like a stage in front of the masses of wooden pews standing sentinel. An elaborate wall of organ pipes make up the back wall, and above that is a golden cross, proclaiming its status as a holy place. The room always seems extraordinarily bright and sunny, a combination of the light colors used to decorate the room and the towering glass walls put into effect.
The heat of the afternoon is at it's peak and the Fellowship offers some modicum of comfort and coolness to it's followers. It was a slow day at the shop and Hana has since closed it for the day, figuring that a few extra hours to go visit one of her places couldn't hurt anything. She sits in the main church area on a pew, reading through a few new pamphlets that the church has put out. It's been quite sometime since she's been seen around these parts and she's taking her 'return' at a leisurely pace. As something of an offering, she's brought some sort of orange gelatin salad that she's forgotten to take to the kitchen. It sits by her in the pew, wobbling slightly. The pineapples, grapes, and cherries in it do a sickly sweet little dance.
It is unlike Hope Tyler to miss work, yet she's managed to take a few days off. She's honestly not really feeling up to being at the church, but she can't put it off any longer. Mr. Wright did tell her things would be okay. That this wasn't her fault. Time to see if others feel the same. With her silver cross now firmly on her neck, and a pretty pink and white scarf tied decoratively about it as well, she marches into the church.
Spotting Hana causes her to freeze. Nervously, she pushes forth with a bright smile. A tentatively bright smile.
Hana is more than happy to see Hope. She's been somewhat concerned about her friend and employee the past few days because of the concurrent illness. She stands up and moves over to Hope, reaching out to try to sweep the other woman in a tight embrace. The scarf is not commented upon — after all, that kind of bohemian airy fairy scarf look is getting popular. "Hope! I'm so glad to see you here. I was going to call you after I left here. Are you feeling any better at all? You know if you need anything you can just holler at me and I'll be glad to drop by with some soup or medicine or somethin'." Hana's starting to feel a little bad that she hasn't done just that already.
An enforced hug. Hana won't see it but there is a cringed look upon Hope's face. The last hug she received that wasn't from Bobby got her bitten. "A little. I should be to work tomorrow. I'm sorry I'm such a pain of an employee. I think maybe it's just…" The truth? "… stress." Not a lie. Just not fully the truth. No point in telling Hana what the issue is. "It's okay. Mr. Wright came over to talk about the campaign, and we had some Thai food." And pizza. And a lot of other food. He ordered a lot. "I think that second wedding order I put in for September… should be put to the side right now. I don't know what's going on there, but they had a big fight or something." Pause. "Have you seen Wright's new campaign posters?"
Luckily Hana does not bite Hope. Again. "Oh, Hope! You're not a pain at all. I just want you to feel better!" The woman is genuine in her feelings. She backs up from Hope a little bit and takes one of the woman's hands, giving it a squeeze. She listens to Hope for a moment before nodding her head, brows knitting a bit. "I'm sorry to hear about your sister and her beau. I'll put a stop on the order tomorrow." At the mention of Mister Wright, Hana nods her head with joy. "Oh yes! He definitely has my vote. He's just the kind of man that we need right now. Did you say that you had Thai food with him? He was in your house? He's so cute! Tell me all about him!"
"He's Mr. Wright! Hana, he's been going to our church forever." Hope laughs, easing a little now that the hug is no more. "Besides Bobby, he is the kindest, sweetest, most sincere man I know. You missed the birthday party because you were out of town to get that special order, but he was there. He came." She's absolutely gushing about her mentor. It can't be helped. "I'm working on his campaign. He asked me to take care of the new posters! Helping design them. Isn't that great? I can't wait until he wins! He's absolutely the best Mayor Dallas will ever have."
Hana blushes a beet red and grins. "What, I can't like older men? Come on, we're both adults!" She says somewhat bashfully before she lowers her voice. Undoubtedly this would cause scandal amongst some of the paritioners. "Well, gosh darnit. Now I wish I'd been there. But I did make good money that weekend." Hana's sigh borders on both disappointed and dreamy as she rolls her eyes to the heavens. "Wow, he asked you to help design them? That is great! Maybe it'll help bring you outta the funk you've been in." Hana bumps the other woman's hip playfully and nods. "Even if he doesn't get elected, I know he'll keep fighting the good fight. He's going to do wonders just opening people's eyes to His way and holy light."
"Oh, no, Hana. He is going to get elected. He has to." Hope knows more than she'd like to know. There are things she'd love to tell Mr. Wright, but he wants to run a clean campaign and so she's going to help him do that. "Mayor McNaab is going to keep treating us like Happy Meals with legs if he has his way. He's so enamored with those creatures of darkness." Bumped against the pew, Hope shakes her head. "You could help with the campaign, I'm sure. He'll need flowers and stuff for press conferences, and photo shoots."
Helping with the election? It was a venue that Hana hadn't previously considered. "I don't want to steal your thunder, Hope. But if he does happen to need some courtesy cards or bouquets, I'll be more than happy to assist him." There's a faint glint in her eyes that says oh yes, more than happy and a slightly devilish smile before she straightens back up. Hana shakes her head a little bit. "That Mayor McNaab can only see the darkness. He has little regard for those of us who know the holy truth — we aren't being shown equal rights at all. And you're right. He just has to get elected."
"He has to." Hope is very adamant about that. "Hana… he's not like that. He…" It isn't her place to tell the story. It really isn't. "… it would look bad if he erm… fooled around with you." The words come out oddly because the Tyler twin knows no other way to say it. "I think you should do some research. See what his past is." Stoutnod.
"Oh." For the scantest of moments it sounds like Hana's feelings might be hurt by that comment for whatever reason. Her shoulders slump slightly before she gives them a shrug and perks right back up. "Maybe I will." There's the briefest of uncomfortable, dead silences before Hana speaks up again. "Anyway, my daddy always told me that my boy craziness would get me in trouble someday. He was probably right — he usually is. You should come by the house and see the new tile I got for the kitchen. It's light blue with baby pink rose inlay."
Hope doesn't tell her this to hurt her feelings, she really doesn't. It's said more to protect Mr. Wright from scandal than anything. With his history, taking up with a woman half his age would be an automatic loss, since McNaab would play on that. "That sounds really nice, Hana. Maybe we can have lunch after services on Sunday? I can't promise to bring anything great but I can whip up a decent macaroni salad."
Hana can't help but laugh, grinning. "Oh, you know that I'm lousy at cooking anything that doesn't come with instructions and isn't contained in a tiny plastic package. You bring the macaroni salad and I'll buy some things from the deli. We should rent a movie too. I don't know what's out though… I guess it doesn't matter as long as there's a cute boy in it, right?" Hana asks with a grin before winking at Hope and then running her fingers through her hair, straightening out some of the curls.
"I'll make sure to leave Bobby at home then," Hope says with another shake of her head. "I don't think he'd be real keen on watching cute guys on the screen." There's a moment where she thinks to invite Rose, but then slips the cell phone back into her purse. "Maybe you should take cooking lessons with me in the fall. They have a night program but I'm not taking it alone." The general idea is Hope will not go out alone at night.
"Ooooo, cooking lessons! That does sound fun. I'd be meaning to enroll for a while now but hadn't gotten around to it. Alright, sounds like a plan to me. And even if it IS at night, we'll be just fine. Gotta stick together in groups if we're going to plan to go out. Besides, the night belongs to us too." There is the small matter of Hana's nictophobia, but she'll cross that bridge when she comes to it. She tucks the pamphlets down into her purse and sighs, smiling at Hope. "I hope that you are feeling better. No pressure to come back tomorrow if you don't want to. Just let me know, okay?"
"No, Hana. The night belongs to us." There is no 'too'. Hope is warring with vampires now, even if it is just her against the big scary monsters. "I'll be back tomorrow with bells on." She eyes the foodstuffs and clears her throat. "Uhm, Hana? You might want to bring that to the kitchen, or it's going to rot in the pew before Sunday."
The jello salad had been totally forgotten about. Hana reddens a bit and picks the jello up, smiling. "You're right. I got excited when I saw you. Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then! Hopefully we won't be too busy, I'm feeling a little too laid back to be much use." Hana smiles at Hope before she starts to hurry along to the kitchen.