For lilysaid: "Trickyfish that takes place in a catholic church. I'm not saying that one of them has to be a priest but that would certainly be nice."

Lance wasn't Catholic, but that didn't mean that he couldn't appreciate the fact that the Catholic mass, and the cathedral built to house it, was the pinnacle of Western culture and civilization. He'd started praying in Catholic churches when he was in college and the Methodist church was a ten-minute bus ride away while the Catholic church was within walking distance, and afterwards just hadn't ever gotten out of the habit. He still called himself a Methodist, but there was something about the smell of frankincense and myrrh that made him want to immediately hit his knees and start praying the rosary.

The tiny church in Kildare was no different, except it had the added benefit of being the most quintessentially Irish thing he'd seen so far on his vacation: well-lit, warm and welcoming, with the weight of years that somehow seemed comforting and not oppressive the way that some of the churches he'd been in on the mainland had seemed. He dipped his fingers in the font and crossed himself automatically as he entered, and then turned his head to the altar and nodded his respect. It wasn't his tradition, but he honored it anyway.

"You're not from around here," came the voice from behind him, soft with the lilt that every voice he'd heard contained, and he turned to see the priest watching him curiously.

"What gave me away?" Lance asked, with a smile. "Usually, they wait until I open my mouth to say that."

"The shoes," the priest said, and nodded downwards. "They've none of the dust on them."

"I'm on vacation," Lance said. "And I'd never been to Ireland, but one of the girls in the office had been, and she said it was lovely here."

"And is it?" The priest held out a hand. "I'm Chris, by the way."

"Lance. And yes, it is." Lance took the proffered hand to shake, and then blinked, because something seemed to leap between them, charged and electric and more than half-sexual, when they touched. "I, uh. I feel like I've been here before, or something."

"Perhaps you have," the priest said, and lifted his other hand to Lance's forehead to make a sign of blessing.

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