dr_robchase | Homeplot: The Church

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Homeplot: The Church

Chase hadn't intended for this side trip, but after the conversation in bed, he had grabbed his keys and toyed with the idea of leaving the Doctor in bed to rest, but that meant spending time apart and with everything...he wasn't sure he wanted to do that. But it was a church and not just any church, but St. Patrick's Cathedral was more than just any church.

He went back and forth, changing his mind about a dozen times before getting on his best churchwear and standing in the door to the bedroom.

"Doctor?" he prodded, very quietly. "Wake up?"

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The Doctor slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Hey," he said, and squinted as he looked Chase over. "You look nice. What's going on?" There was a rather solemn air about Chase.

He gestured to the front door with his keys, adjusting his page-boy cap. "I was gonna head out for a couple of hours. Did you want to sleep for a while longer?" It was an open invitation and he wouldn't be mad at whatever answer he got.

Squinting at the clock for a moment, the Doctor shook his head and eased his legs over the side of the bed, padding towards the bathroom. "God, not if it's eleven already, so much day, so little time. Where're we going?"

"Church." It was a singular word, rife with so much meaning for him and he'd taken his rosary with him in the pocket of the grey slacks, staring at his dulled reflection in his shoes.

A tousled brown head popped back out through the bathroom door. "Church. Could you get that suit I wore out then?" And the shower started.

Chase was almost surprised by the quickness of the reaction, but he shook it off as he got the suit out and laid it on the bed, sitting at the edge and staring at it.

The way the Doctor saw things was that they were in Chase's place. And he honestly wanted to do whatever Chase wanted to do, real or not real. Though he also would insist that they stop and get some soda on the way back because he missed soda.

And if Chase wanted to go to church...considering Chase's issues with church, he wasn't about to throw a fit. Wanting things to be right for Chase overcame issues he had with god.

Chase was fiddling with the cuff on his old suit, adjusting some of the pockets as he found a napkin with non-English scribbles and a tiny obscure drawing on it. He was turning it over curiously as he wandered around his room, finding other things, like his camera and old photos of himself.

The Doctor took a quick shower and dried his hair a bit, then popped back out and started to put clothes on. "What're you doing?" he asked.

Chase just shrugged, flipping through looseleaf photos. "Just...reminding myself about all the things I won't have on the island," he said quietly.

The Doctor tugged on the suit jacket and went over, putting one arm around Chase's shoulders. "I'm sorry," he said softly, glancing momentarily at the pictures (a few people he recognised, many he didn't), and squeezed Chase's shoulder gently.

Chase glanced at the Doctor with a genuine smile, leaning back against him. "Hey, don't feel so bad," he protested. "I've got plenty," he insisted, getting his keys and taking a deep breath. "Okay, so...long drive ahead!"

"Long?" the Doctor asked. He leaned in and kissed Chase's cheek before easing away, checking his pockets (the napkin had slipped his mind entirely, but he did miss the sonic screwdriver he didn't have here).

"Well, not short," he replied dryly, heading out the front door and locking up. "Hope you have a good topic of conversation that'll tide us over until we get there."

"I'm sure I can think of something," the Doctor said, getting in the car, and started to babble on about coats and how it was a pity they didn't have more use for them back home and what was Chase's favourite coat, he liked the long brown one he'd got from Janis Joplin but it was too warm for the tropics...

It all made Chase grin widely as he replied with exactly which ones he liked best on the Doctor and when they arrived, he slowly pulled into a parking space, staring up at the looming structure as he took a deep breath. "Okay, so, wish me luck."

"St Patrick's," the Doctor said, getting out of the car and looking up. And up. And up. "Good luck...Rob, what is it you're going to do?"

He himself was going to look at stained glass.

Chase was already heading inside, bracing himself for the musk of the incense. "Confession," he said simply, setting his jaw. "To make way for a new era for myself." And for you, he thought.

"Okay," the Doctor said softly, not really sure what that meant. He waited a moment, then walked inside, starting to admire the glass.

Chase was glad there wasn't much of a line as he excused himself into one of the booths and sat there, taking a deep breath. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been ten months since my last confession."

He went on to list his sins, including the sex with the Doctor, but more to the point, he described it as exactly what it was. A relationship condemned by the text he revered. He described his lust, his greed, his selfishness in wanting the Doctor to himself. His gluttony for lust.

He felt like this would go on forever and he knew he might burn in hell, so it was a surprise when the priest quietly replied, in an Irish accent. "D'you love him then? This man you're committin' all yer sins for." It was..strange to hear, but it was what he needed to.

"Something, I worry it isn't and that one day, I won't be enough."

"Best you talk to him, then," the priest replied. "Five acts of contrition, five Hail Mary's and ten Our Fathers. And figure out what you want from yer life, boyo."

How very stereotypical of his psyche. But nonetheless, he excused himself from the booth and sat down in a pew at the very back of the church.

Having not managed to dodge a well-meaning priest who told him all about the facades and the nave and the acoustics until he thought he really could have stood for a shot of Bushmills if he had to hear much more, the Doctor saw Chase sit down. He gave him a while, ten minutes or so, then sat silently down next to him, looking up at the front.

The fact he was in there without getting hives was something and he wasn't smited down, so that was something else and after the completion of his prayers, he was on his feet, wandering out to sit on the steps of the church to contemplate his acts.

He loosened his tie, gazing out to the street idly, wondering what exactly a contrite act counted as.

After a moment, the Doctor followed him, then leaned against the car (great fantasy, great parking place, apparently). He watched Chase watch the street.

From where he sat, it was all too easy to see the Doctor and his face lit up with a smile he didn't even know he was showing until he brushed his thumb against his curved-up lips and he ducked his head down to stare at the steps. What did he want?

A settled life. A son. A job to be proud of. Someone to come home to and bitch about the day and have more than just sex and a casual relationship. Someone who was his equal and would talk back. Someone who would understand when he started rambling about psychiatric terms and wouldn't mind rolling up their sleeves to cook a little and let Chase taste it as it went.

He wanted someone who would tease him as he got older with the wrinkles and the cricks and the grey hair, who'd sit there with him while he raised a little girl or boy under his name and just...be there for him, every time he needed someone.

And if the Doctor was his Right Person...

He took a deep, long breath, rubbing a hand over his hair.

The Doctor noticed, though he couldn't read Chase's mind by any means, and he saw the smile and then the deep breath.

He waited for him.

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