Participants:
| Scene Title | I Long For Absolution |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Amato seeks absolution from Abigail, the only person he thinks who could possibly give it to him, and to regain his hand. Abigail delivers, seeking absolution from him in return for her own actions. |
| Date | May 24, 2009 |
The Hangar - Amato's Room
Wasn't just church that she had been late to. That she'd had to skip in entirety thanks to the scooter and it's recharger. She was envisioning everything that would be associated with fixing it. Where would she find a damned mechanic for these things that wasn't going to rip her off. Abigail had Alec drop her off in front of her building and then take off once he was out of sight.
Through the streets of Greenwich she went, Sunday best and scooter helmet in hand, till eventually the red head was at the hangar. She'd been here often to learn from Alistair the fine arts of Computers. AKA, this is how you turn it on and move a mouse. So she was granted entrance easily enough, and when asking for her summoner was directed further into the house. A man named Amato. She had not a clue who that was. Missing a hand and had questions about healing it, possibly back to how it had been. So in her white wrap dress, pink flats and leather jacket, the healer knocks on the doorway of whatever room she was being directed towards. "Hello? Abigail Beauchamp, they said you were in need of some healing?"
The door is barely closed, and so it opens easily under even Abby's small fist. Inside, sitting on the Ferryman issued bed, is Amato Salucci, otherwise known as Benjamin Sall. "Miss Beauchamp," he greets her as he stands and extends his left hand, palm up, with grace. "It is good to see you again."
"Mr. Benjamin" Takes her a few moments to recognize him. Lucrezia's date at the dinner, just before the whole thing went to pot. OR well, just before Vanguard opted to try and take out the world. It's with quite a bit of hesitation that Abigail reaches over, closed her hand around his and shake it firmly. "And now.. things make a bit more sense" Blue eyes searching his.
There's a moment when Abby takes Amato's hand when the man tenses and his eyes flicker closed. But it is brief, and he is soon able to get control again with a deep breath. "I'm glad the fog has cleared for you," he says as he releases her hand. "But I am afraid that it may get cloudy once again. I have a request."
Abigail takes her hand back when released, letting it drops down to on top of her helmet. "You can ask, Mr. Sall. I can only hope that I can fulfill it. May I take a seat?" Her momma raised her well and even though he's.. him, Abigail's still polite and well mannered.
"Please," Amato says as he moves his hand toward the bed and backs toward a lone chair in the sparsely furnished room. "I know that I have done terrible things to your friends and to so many others, either by my own hand or by helping others in their dark deeds." Amato takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "Every day, I think of these things. Every day, I pray for forgiveness. Every day, I long for absolution. I think that perhaps you are the one who may be able to give it to me, as a vehicle of God's mercy.
The lone chair is taken up by the healer, easing down into it as she hears out Amato. Great attention paid to his words, seriousness on her face. When he finishes though, when each word has been weighed in her mind, Abigail tilts her head to the left slightly. "Do you think, Mr. Sall… that you deserve it? Absolution for your actions in the past?"
Leaning against the bed's frame at the foot, Amato crosses his arms and shakes his head. The stump of his right arm is tucked into his left elbow, but his long-sleeved t-shirt doesn't do much to hide it otherwise. "I don't. No one deserves grace, least of all me. But I know if any mortal being can forgive me, it is you. And if you can, then I will be absolved. Then I will have no need to bear the mark of my sins any longer."
His arm. She knows what he means by his mark of sin. The crease across her palm has been gone nearly two months now somewhat. "IT's not in me to judge anyone, for what they have done, what they will do. You know that if I give you pardon, if I forgive you for what you did, that doesn't mean that when your time comes to stand before the lord, that you'll still have to answer, that same as I will have to answer for killing Mr. Volken, yes?"
Amato nods, his eyes tightly closed. "Of course. That is no mystery. But if I can say that the woman with the purest heart I have ever seen was able to forgive me of the darkness staining mine own, acting as a living saint to free me of the chains that shackle my ability to do God's will?" A small, hopeful smile ghosts across the man's face. "I cannot believe I was meant to be in agony forever. Not here, at least. I still have time to do as I was meant to do. To be a hand of God."
"Can you forgive me for using god's gift to take away the life of a man Mr. Sall?" Abigail offers up. But she's rising none the less, moving the chair in anticipation of an answer, to the positive or the negative, she doesn't care. The leather jacket is off next, neatly placed on the back of the chair, Helmet tucked beneath it with it's shimmery green and white stripe.
"The man you vanquished had killed countless innocents without a second thought." Amato keeps his eyes locked with Abby's as she nears him, his face tight with seriousness. "In destroying Kazimir Volken, you saved millions of lives, including my own. Still… if you need forgiveness for that act, I give it to you freely. Don't let it stand in the way of you doing your good works."
"But I'll still stand before God and have to account for the taking of his life Mr. Sall." Back down in the seat she sits, letting a smile drift to her face. "As I forgave Gabriel Gray for what he did, and for what he shall do to me in the end, I forgive you Mr. Sall. To not would be unchristian of me, and I am always, even in my darkest moments a stalwart women walking god's path. You understand that what you did, was not right. Nor fair, and you want to make amends to the good Lord. Promise me that in your heart you'll continue to seek god's forgiveness and to make amends in any way that you can?"
"I promise you, and the Lord that very thing," Amato says steadily, his face darkening and becoming somewhat gaunt. "But I am not Sall. My name is Amato Salucci. So shall I stand before the Almighty God."
"A pleasure to meet you Amato Salucci. I'm Abigail Marie Beauchamp" Offering her hand out to the man, no hesitation this time. "It's a very handsome name"
Swallowing, Amato stares at Abby's hand for a split second before he uncrosses his arms and lifts his left to her. The hand at the end of it, it would be upturned and pleading, as if to lift her into a carriage or ask her to dance. "The pleasure is mine," he chokes out, his icy eyes shrouded with a layer of tears yet to fall. When Abby's hand is resting in his, Amato bends to place a gentle kiss on it's back. A proper gentleman's greeting.
"It has been.. a long time since anyone kissed the back of my hand. I think it was.. the Jasper's boy at a church picnic when I was .. oh heavens, fifteen. My Dah done near lopped his head off for making eyes at his baby girl" Abby's hand tightens around him, the other coming to cover it and squeeze when his lips have pulled away from her. "Do you want me to try and make your hand whole? That'll be the test, I suppose, of god's forgiveness. if he'll let me do it"
The story brings a small smile to Amato's face, but he then nods at the question. "Only if you feel it is right. Ask Him, and do as he wishes you to." Then again, whether or not Abby is able to do it is a prayer in and of itself.
"Okay. Well" She takes pulls her hands back, rubbing her thighs, making the white fabric beneath rub back and forth in turn. "First, I need to see someone about uhh caffeine, and I need to eat a couple protein bars. I think.. " She glances at the obvious stump, biting down on her lower lip in thought. "About an hour? Maybe two. It's the hand, lots of little bones. Those are the worst. But it can be done in one go. I haven't taken care of anyone in two days… I'll be back in a moment" Getting up from the chair with a grin.
Amato rises as well and nods, sitting again only once Abby is out of the room. He sighs, then closes his eyes and bends to rest his elbows on his knees to pray.